Immortality Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Immortality - Essay ExampleThe influence of immortality has had a basis in human society for thousands and thousands of years. Whereas many people leave behind fantasise about the idea that our physical bodies may surpass their lifespan, it is now universally accepted that no one spate live forever (in the physical sense) yet the debate as to whether there is some essence, namely the human soul, that lives on after our physical embody has passed away continues to fuel much debate. Thousands of years ago the search for the Philosophers Stone, a red coloured compound which was believed to greatly prolong human life, as surface as turn metal into gold (and thus bring wealth as well as long life), became the holy grail of the medieval world. Buddhism in particular places much emphasis on the belief that our essence moves from creature to creature through reincarnation, that we are reborn into a new body each magazine our physical one dies, and that our actions in the last body determ ine which new body we are put into. Christianity, unlike Buddhism believes that our actions in this life determine whether we top the rest of eternity in Heaven of Hell. There are many people who will indeed go on to argue that if a individual does not go to Heaven or Hell, they will become trapped in Limbo, wandering in between the astral planes. Christian beliefs seem to have derived a dish up from the teachings of Plato, be it that the changed theologys to God. The fact that immortality has played such an integral role in society and religion raises many questions. It begs an answer to the question what is motivating people to facial expression for things (namely religious beliefs and actual objects, such as the Philosophers Stone), that will secure their immortality Why do people want to live forever Moving on from this question then we can ask are religious systems and people in powerful positions manipulating peoples belief (particularly in the immortality of the soul, a nd hence the fate of it after death), in immortality to control their actions A King, for object lesson in medieval England could use the Church as a vehicle for ensuring that all his subjects obey his every order. Yes, it was believed that a King had divine right, but were these rights believed to be from God or were they a creation of the Monarchy, or an age old belief that the monarchy had corrupted The King could easily have, and did, punish heretics, using their deaths as a warning to others that if they too committed heresy their souls would be damned to hell, because an insult to the King is an insult to God himself.It follows from this that I am sceptical of the idea that the soul will ascend or descend to its Christian resting place. Whilst I too humour the idea of the soul, I find myself drawn towards the idea of reincarnation. Perhaps it is my ego, yet as I sit and think, I cannot help but recall the teachings of Hume. He stated that we could never know our true self,1 be that our soul or something else, because all we can ever experience (Hume was a renowned advocate of Empiricism2), is our perceptions. I am aware that I am constantly in a perceptive state (thinking, reasoning, unconsciously or consciously), I cannot see how