John Hick argues that human beings are psychophysical persons free essay sample

John Hick argues that human beings are psychophysical persons. He believes a person can be resurrected through a divine act of recreation. How does he defend this position? Do you agree with Hick? Why or why not? Please provide reasons to support your claim. John Hick believes psychophysical re-creation and parapsychology is evidence for life after death. He says the soul cannot be destroyed, unlike the body. Hicks believe man is not an immortal soul attached to a predetermined body, but man is a mortal with a psychophysical life that has to rely on God. To explain what Hicks means, he uses John Smith, a man who disappears from the U. S. and is the same person in India at the same time. Since John Smith is exactly the same people would have to accept him as such. Hick then proceeds to say that if John Smith died and a new John Smith appeared, people would have to accept new John Smith as who he was. We will write a custom essay sample on John Hick argues that human beings are psychophysical persons or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Finally, John Hick goes a little further and say that if John Smith were to die and his mental and emotional qualities were to appear in another time, at exactly the same time as the original John Smith, then John Smith’s psychopersona was recreated by God. I agree with Hick in the sense that the soul is not attached to the body forever, and once the physical body dies, the soul lives on. I do find Hick’s point of John Smith dying and then appearing in another country is unlikely. Once the body dies, I believe that the soul lives on and the soul goes to either heaven or hell, not another place on the earth. 4. After reading all of the assigned articles for this module, in your own words, how would you define the self? How can the same person exist at different times? Please provide reasons to support your claim. According to Bing Dictionary, self is a perceived personality or an aspect of somebodys personality, especially as perceived by others (bing. com). Self is all the characteristics and qualities that help shape a person. Their personality is formed around their self. Are they kind? Are they disrespectful? There are may instances in life that held develop what someone will be, and how they will look at themself. In order for someone to define themself, it requires looking deep into their life experiences and determine what has helped form us into who we are. We cannot define our self by our others see us, but only by who we truly know we are. I do not feel there is a way that the same person can exist at different times, at least here on earth. There is one person, per body, that has one soul. Once the physical body dies, then the persons soul lives on. I guess someone could look at a person exising at different times, such as their personality traits and qualities in their children. I have heard many say, Your daughter is so funny and has the same personality as her father. Does that mean that in a sense, my husband is existing at different times in himself and through my daughter? Im not sure. There is one way for sure that the same person can exist at different times, and that is during life here on earth and then after death when the soul moves on to either heaven or hell, depending on the the life choices the person made while living. Self. (n. d. ). In Bing Dictionary online. Retrieved from http://www. bing. com/search? q=definition+of+selfsrc=IE-SearchBoxFORM=IE8SRC 5. How much of your self-identity is formed through your interactions with other people? To what extent do you think your identity is determined by your culture and by family, friends and so on? Please give reasons to support your claim. I believe a lot of a person’s self-identity is formed through interactions with other people. Self-identity is the recognition of one’s potential and qualities as an individual. The reason a person’s self-identity is formed through the interactions with other people is because others have the capability of revealing the true the positive and negatives of people. A person’s self-identity is formed from how others treat them. If someone is teased, especially as a child, they learn to believe the negatives and form their mindset around how they were treated and what was said about them. These people tend to have a difficult time succeeding in life. On the other hand, those who were praised as child and had a lot of positive feedback tend to feel good about themselves and have a higher chance of succeeding in life. That being said, I feel as though a large majority of a person’s self-identity is determined by their culture, family, and friends. A person who comes from an abusive relationship, especially as a child, has a tendency to repeat the vicious cycle and abuse those in their lives. A young boy who watches his father beat his mother up, will grow up to beat his wife, because he was taught that’s what a â€Å"real man† does. On the other side, a young girl who watches his father beat his mother up, will grow up thinking it is acceptable to be beat and will not leave the abusive circumstance. At the same time, those who grow up with a tight knit family, who are supported and pushed to succeed, end up building a tight knit family through the years to come because that is how they were raised, it is a part of their self-identity, as an individual and a family.