The one life
‘While life is yours, live joyously;
Carvaka, The Sarva-Darsana-Samgraha (c. 600BCE)
No one can avoid Death’s searching eye:
When this body of ours is burnt,
How can it ever return again?’
The idea that this life is our one and only life is not new.
Below we will explore some of the reasons humanists might have for rejecting the idea of afterlives. In Part 3 we will explore some of the questions that might follow from this: ‘Should we be afraid of death?’ and ‘If there is no afterlife, do our lives have any meaning?’
How do we know?
It is impossible to prove there is no afterlife. That is not the humanist aim. For humanists, however, the only life we have good evidence for is this one, and so, in the absence of any persuasive reason to believe in a life after death, they live their lives with a focus on the here and now.
Many people do believe in an afterlife (although it is surprising how many religious people are also sceptical: according to the British Social Attitudes Survey, nearly half of all Anglicans say they probably or definitely don’t believe in life after death). Sometimes believers will claim to have evidence, pointing to ‘sightings’ of ghosts, channelling by mediums, and the features of ‘near-death experiences’. There is little here, however, to persuade those who are already sceptical: many ‘sightings’ have been revealed as hoaxes, we are subject to hallucinations, mediums can employ ‘cold reading’ to trick people, ‘near-death experiences’ provide no hard evidence of a life after this one (after all the person did not die).
Of course, for some, their belief in an afterlife is not a matter of evidence – it is a question of faith. The existence of an eternal spirit or soul is not something that is subject to scientific testing. But, for humanists, without good evidence, the rational position is to remain doubtful.
Reasons to think we have only one life
We also lack irrefutable evidence that this is the only life we have: another life after this always remains a possibility. But, for humanists, there are many good reasons to believe we do not survive our physical death.
One argument has its origins in Lucretius’ poem De Rerum Natura (On the Nature of Things):
‘Look back on the eternity that passed before we were born, and mark how utterly it counts to us as nothing. This is a mirror that Nature holds up to us, in which we may see the time that shall be after we are dead.
We have no recollection of any experience before we were born, so why should we think it will be any different after we die? The argument proves nothing, but it raises questions.
Perhaps more important for humanists is the overwhelming evidence that our experiences are dependent on our bodies.
‘All the evidence goes to show that what we regard as our mental life is bound up with brain structure and organized bodily energy. Therefore it is rational to suppose that mental life ceases when bodily life ceases.’
Bertrand Russell, What I Believe
Science has explained many of our feelings, behaviour, and capacities, without the need to reference anything non-physical. Our physical agency is dependent on our bodies. Our mental properties are dependent on brain activity. When the brain dies, all signs of conscious life are absent.
Sadly, we are also aware of many cases where head injuries or dementia can greatly change a person. When the brain is damaged, personality can be transformed or even destroyed. Our physical brains would appear essential to our identity.
Each new piece of scientific evidence we uncover about our nature adds further weight to the argument for a physical model of human beings. Of course, none of this might persuade those who believe in an afterlife or an immaterial soul, but for humanists it provides persuasive reasons to feel secure in the rationality of their beliefs.
If there isn’t an afterlife, why might people believe in one?
‘Humans feel a need for permanence in a world that is obviously transient and impermanent.’
Jeaneane Fowler, Humanism: Beliefs and Practices
‘If we were not afraid of death, I do not believe the idea of immortality would ever have arisen.’
Bertrand Russell, What I Believe
One possible explanation of the origin of human beliefs in an afterlife lies in our fear of death. It is natural that many people feel a need for reassurance that death is not the end. Such a belief can console us when a loved one dies and might provide reason to be less afraid of our own death. In Part 3 we will explore how a humanist might find alternative sources of support, and explore the belief that an acceptance of our own mortality can have positive consequences for living the one life we know we have.
‘If we put all our eggs into the afterlife basket instead of into this life then we are only living a half of a life.’
Jeaneane Fowler, Humanism: Beliefs and Practices
Question: Is the humanist belief that this is the one life we have the rational position, or are there good reasons to believe in a life after death?
Explore further
What sense can we make of a life after death? (video): philosopher Peter Cave describes some of the different possibilities of an afterlife and the questions they give rise to