Keith Devens .com

Entry 18

Found a cool link at Lingua Franca:

Soul Survivor: The Logic of Reincarnation.

I didn't realize that Plato believed that reincarnation accounted for our knowledge of forms. Unfortunately it doesn't work, since, 1. if the soul isn't eternal, where did we first learn the forms anyway? 2. if the soul is eternal, then why believe in reincarnation rather than just an a priori knowledge of all forms? and 3. regardless of whether the soul is eternal or not, his entire system requires an infinite number of forms and collapses under its own weight.

I liked the article though, although it didn't ask the obvious question: why believe in reincarnation in the first place? It may be impossible to prove one or the other empirically, but it's arbitrary to believe in reincarnation. What reasons can one give as to why he believes in it? Arbitrariness is not a way to set up one's worldview.

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