What Can Science Say about the Soul | Richard Swinburne

Lecture Title - Humans Consist of Two Parts: Body and Soul The cerebral cortex of the human brain, on which all our beliefs, memories, and conscious life depend, consists of two hemispheres—a left hemisphere and a right hemisphere. Recent neuroscience has discovered that humans continue to have much the same conscious life, memories, and beliefs if either their left hemisphere or their right hemisphere is removed. Suppose the cerebral cortex to be removed from the brain of each of three humans; and the cortex of one of these humans, Alexandra, to be divided into its two hemispheres, and one of these hemispheres to be integrated into the brain of one of the other humans, Alex, and the other hemisphere to be integrated into the brain of the other human, Sandra. Then both Alex and Sandra would have some of the brain and almost all of the memories, and type of conscious life of Alexandra and would both claim to have been Alexandra. For each of these persons, for example Alex, it is totally compatible with everything we could ever know about the brain and mental life of the earlier Alexandra and the subsequent Alex, that Alex is Alexandra; and it is also totally compatible with everything we could ever know that Alex is not Alexandra. But there could only be a difference between Alex being and Alex not being Alexandra if there is something extra beyond the brain matter and beyond the mental life which makes that person Alexandra, and that must be an immaterial soul. I go on to develop the consequences of this scientifically possible experiment for the nature of humans, and to reject philosophical objections to my interpretation of it. Richard Swinburne (Diploma in Theology University of Oxford) is Emeritus Nolloth Professor of the Philosophy of Christian Religion at the University of Oxford and a Fellow of the British Academy. He is author or editor of over two dozen books, including The Existence of God (Oxford University Press, 2004) and The Coherence of Theism (2nd edition) (Oxford University Press, 2016). His work has been translated into twenty languages. The Henry Center for Theological Understanding provides theological resources that help bridge the gap between the academy and the church. It houses a cluster of initiatives, each of which is aimed at applying practical Christian wisdom to important kingdom issues—for the good of the church, for the soul of the theological academy, for the sake of the world, and ultimately for the glory of God. The HCTU seeks to ground each of these initiatives in Scripture, and it pursues these goals collaboratively, in order to train a new generation of wise interpreters of the Word—lay persons and scholars alike—for the sake of tomorrow’s church, academy, and world. Visit the HCTU website: https://henrycenter.tiu.edu/ Subscribe to the HCTU Newsletter: https://bit.ly/326pRL5 Connect with us! https://twitter.com/henry_center https://www.facebook.com/henrycenter/ https://www.instagram.com/thehenrycenter/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/thehenrycenter

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This is our archive of public lectures and conversations where scholars and pastors offer careful reflection on a range of biblical, theological, and ecclesial topics. The HCTU seeks to bridge the gap between the academy and the church by cultivating resources and communities that promote Christian wisdom. This is accomplished through a cluster of initiatives, each of which is aimed at applying practical Christian wisdom to important kingdom issues—for the good of the church, for the soul of the theological academy, for the sake of the world, and ultimately for the glory of God.