Should metaphysical universals and abstract phenomena have an eternal existence, and if they can be interacted with by human beings, then a person might obtain a degree of immortality by interacting with them.Mystic approaches to immortality include those of the ancient Chinese Taoists and European medieval alchemists, seeking an elixir of life.For example, in Homer's Iliad, Achilles is already nigh- invincible, so his primary motive for fighting in the Trojan War is recognition and everlasting fame. This view of immortality places value on how one will be remembered by generations to come. Fame itself has been described as a method to "achieve immortality", if only semantically, so that the name or works of a famous individual would "live on" after his or her death.
Eternal life or eternal damnation is the choice that mankind will have to make. This belief is related to the philosophy of dualism.Ĭhristian belief is that never die only our bodies and souls go to the grave and will be raised in God own order. The belief in an afterlife experienced by an immortal soul is a dogma of many branches of Christianity, Zoroastrianism, Hinduism, Islam, and Judaism.2.3.5 Mystical and religious pursuits of physical immortality.2.3 Prospects for human physical immortality.Wittgenstein, in a notably non-theological interpretation of eternal life, writes in the Tractatus that, "If we take eternity to mean not infinite temporal duration but timelessness, then eternal life belongs to those who live in the present." Mortal or immortal, an must die."Ī timeless existence is also not known for certain to be achievable, or even definable, despite millennia of arguments for eternity. Michael Shermer believes there is no significant scientific evidence for the proposed methods of achieving physical immortality, and says of them, "All have some basis in science, but none has achieved anything like scientific confirmation." Jacques-Yves Cousteau, in the preface to his book The Ocean World, expressed his meditations on physical immortality, as a part of life and its adaptive processes: "Death is fundamental to evolution," and "evolution is fundamental to survival." Cousteau concludes that, biologically speaking, "immortality does not present a possible means to avoid death. Biological forms have inherent limitations in their design - for example, their fragility and slow adaptability to changing environments. What form an unending human life would take, or whether the soul exists and possesses immortality, has been a fundamental point of focus of philosophy and religion, as well as the subject of speculation, fantasy, and debate.Īs of May 2008, human physical immortality is not known to be an achievable possibility. The Epic of Gilgamesh, one of the first literary works, dating back at least to the 22nd century BC, is primarily a quest of a hero seeking to become immortal. Immortality (or eternal life) is the concept of living in physical or spiritual form for an infinite length of timeĪs immortality is the negation of mortality-not dying or not being subject to death-it has been a subject of the greatest fascination to mankind since at least the beginning of history. The Fountain of Eternal Life in Cleveland, Ohio
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