Death and Consciousness

I read this book perhaps 15 years ago and it still stands today as one of the most interesting writings on the topic. Lund shows that consciousness and death are inextricably linked in such a way that survival of consciousness beyond death is intellectually defensible. The most curious part of the book is the discussion about brain states and consciousness. Mainstream science assumes consciousness is *produced* by the brain. Yet an equally plausible scenario is that the brain is a tranducer or receiver of consciousness whose source may lie outside the brain itself, like a television set which is the receiver and not the source of the signal. Smashing the TV may destroy the set but not the signal which lives on. So where's the evidence for this mode of consciousness? Lund turns this argument around and asks, Where's the evidence that consciousness is generated by the brain? The answer is surprising and one of the reasons this book should be read widely.

Most books on the survival of death simply review the vast amount of material in other books regarding the issue. There will be chapters on NDE's, OBE's, apparitions, reincarnation, and communication through mediums, and the objections of the skeptics will largely be ignored, or briefly discussed. Dr Lund's book is different.Yes, there are chapters devoted to summarizing the available evidence, but these comprise only about half of the book. The rest of it (the first half) discusses in great detail (and with great fairness) the various skeptical objections to survival. All are shown to be based on unwarranted assumptions. Lund concentrates mostly on the skeptical objection that consciousness is produced by the brain, and therefore cannot exist without it. Probably the best chapter in the book is called "Is Consciousness Produced?" in which he shows that the argument that consciousness is produced by the brain is fundementally flawed. The second half of the book is mostly dedicated to discussing empirical evidence that seems to suggest that consciousness can at times operate independantly of the brain in the living, and that the consciousness of of least many of the deceased has in fact survived death of the body.The book is philosophically sophisticated, but written for the layperson. If I can think of any criticism, it is that the book should be updated and republished, because since 1985 new evidence has been gathered (NDEs in individuals with flat EEG readings, veridical NDEs in the blind, repeatable experiments with ESP - see website for Jessia Utts, UC Davis) that further strengthens the case for dualism.