TITLE:
Do Human Beings Stop Existing at Their Deaths in Aquinas’ Account?
AUTHORS:
Khanh Trinh Quang
KEYWORDS:
Survivalist, Corruptionist, Incomplete Person, Soul
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Philosophy,
Vol.13 No.2,
May
26,
2023
ABSTRACT: Thomas Aquinas persistently defended the idea that the soul survives physical death. But what exactly is the rational soul that becomes separated from the body at death? When a person’s body dies, do they cease to exist? Over the past few decades, a nuanced debate has developed between “survivalists” and “corruptionists” over whether or not a separated soul is still a person, leading to impenetrable disagreements in which neither side can seem to sway the other. In this research, I propose a previously unexplored answer to this contentious query: that a person whose soul has been separated from their body is an incomplete human being.