Back to Soul Beliefs: Causes and Consequences - Unit 3: How Does It All End?
Rutgers the State University of New Jersey

Soul Beliefs: Causes and Consequences - Unit 3: How Does It All End?

Throughout history, the vast majority of people around the globe have believed they have, however defined, a “soul.” While the question of whether the soul exists cannot be answered by science, what we can study are the causes and consequences of various beliefs about the soul and its prospects of surviving the death of the body. Why are soul and afterlife beliefs so common in human history? Are there adaptive advantages to assuming souls exist? Are there brain structures that have been shaped by environmental pressures that provide the foundation of body/mind dualism that is such a prominent feature of many religions? How do these beliefs shape the worldviews of different cultures and our collective lives? What is the role of competing afterlife beliefs in religion, science, politics, and war? This course explores several facets of this relatively unexplored but profoundly important aspect of human thought and behavior. The course consists mainly of 70 to 80 minute lectures, typically broken up into 3 segments, recorded from a course offered by Rutgers University School of Arts and Sciences. These videos include slides and some embedded video clips. Most lectures are accompanied by slides used during the lecture, also including recommended reading assignment which may provide additional opportunities to reflect on your studies. Due to the lengthiness of this class and natural progression, the online course has been separated into 3 units, this is Unit 3.

Status: Science and Research
Status: Anthropology
Course15 hours

Featured reviews

PK

5.0Reviewed Sep 8, 2017

Amazing, thought provoking, engaging, and educational course

JS

4.0Reviewed Jun 2, 2017

Culminates a 3 mooc series. They get increasingly abstract as they go on. This had some good info on science vs. religion.

JC

5.0Reviewed Apr 6, 2018

Very interesting and engaging course. Loved the work that Professors Ogilvy and Hamilton did to put the 3 units together.

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