The Quest For Immortality

A book about the problems of life after death, the phenomenology of death and the question of whether immortality would be truly desirable. Looking at personal identity, the mind-body problem, near death and out of body experiences, Stephen H. Smith, delivers his core thesis that no theory of post-mortem survival can be successful without due consideration of the nature of personal identity. The Quest for Immortality investigates arguments put forward by philosophers and theologians such as Antony Flew, John Hick and Ludwig Wittgenstein, all of whom have treated the topic on a scholarly basis. Informative and thought-provoking, The Quest for Immortality is aimed at the general reader. The ultimate aim of this book is to show that when traditional popularist notions of life after death are subjected to philosophical scrutiny, they encounter intractable problems, all of which are debated here.