Ep. 55: What Really Happens When We Die? – Tom Clark

In this episode, we talk about death with Tom Clark, a philosopher and the creator of Naturalism.org. Without a heaven (or hell), is there just an empty void awaiting us after our deaths? This is a mistake, says Tom. Rather, using thought experiments about the nature of consciousness, Tom suggests there is just more experience after our own deaths, though not *our* experience. We explore this idea, called Generic Subjective Continuity, and ask what its implications are for thinking about death, and ethics more generally. We also learn whether a True Naturalist can believe we’re just a brain in a vat being experimented on by a mad scientist.

In the bonus section, available exclusively to supporters on Patreon, we ask Tom for his thoughts on whether we live in a computer simulation (and if it would make a difference if we were). We also talk about free will and the idea of time as an illusion in a “block universe.”

Check out some of Tom’s articles:
Death, Nothingness, and Subjectivity: https://www.naturalism.org/philosophy/death/death-nothingness-and-subjectivity
Naturalism and Well-Being: https://www.naturalism.org/worldview-naturalism/naturalism-and-well-being

Nathan and Todd recently appeared on the Graceful Atheist podcast: https://anchor.fm/gracefulatheist/episodes/Nathan-and-Todd-Beyond-Atheism-e1qmpe9

Follow Nathan on Twitter: https://twitter.com/NathGAlexander
Or on Mastodon: https://zirk.us/@NathGAlexander
Nathan’s website: https://www.nathangalexander.com/

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Beyond Atheism is produced and distributed by Atheists United Studios: https://www.atheistsunited.org/podcasts