Oblivion (eternal)
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
|
Related e |
|
Featured: |
An eternal state of oblivion, or lack of awareness, is believed by some to occur after death. This belief contradicts beliefs that there is an afterlife, such as a heaven or hell, after death. The belief in "eternal oblivion" stems from the idea that the brain creates the mind; therefore, when the brain dies, the mind ceases to exist. Some reporters describe this state as "nothingness".
Many people who believe in an eternal oblivion, believe that the concept of an afterlife is scientifically impossible. Such views are typically held by atheists.
Quotes
Benjamin Franklin writes about this in A Dissertation on Liberty and Necessity, Pleasure and Pain, stating:
- In a sound Sleep sometimes, or in a Swoon, we cease to think at all; tho' the Soul is not therefore then annihilated, but exists all the while tho' it does not act; and may not this probably be the Case after Death? . . . . Now upon Death, and the Destruction of the Body, the Ideas contain'd in the Brain, (which are alone the Subjects of the Soul's Action) being then likewise necessarily destroy'd, the Soul, tho' incapable of Destruction itself, must then necessarily cease to think or act, having nothing left to think or act upon.
Isaac Asimov said, "When I die I won't go to heaven or hell, there will just be nothingness".
See also
