Kalam Islami

Kalam Islami

A critical look at neurological and physiological explanations of near-death experiences Hamidreza Shakarin[1] [1] . Assistant professor of “Research Center for Islamic Thought and Culture”, faculty of logic of understanding religion.

Author
Hamidreza Shakerin
Assistant professor of “Research Center for Islamic Thought and Culture”, faculty of logic of understanding religion.
Abstract
Near-death experienceis not a new phenomenon and have been a long-standing issue among various human races, Meanwhile looking on it from a scientific perspective is relatively new and dates back to the second half of the 20th century. What is currently preoccupying many scholars, especially those involved in theology and philosophy of religion, is the meaning of these experiences, their degree of realism, and their value of truth and epistemological validity. From the aforementioned perspective, the question arises as to whether such experiences play a role in realism and self-evident truth. This issue has caused a serious challenge between the two naturalistic and supernaturalistic approaches. The naturalistic movement tries to employ scientific and natural explanations of these experiences in order to strengthen physicalism and deny the realism of near-death experiences. Among these efforts is the presentation of various physiological and neurological models in this field. Given the significant role of this issue in confirming or weakening a number of religious knowledge and beliefs, the upcoming research aims to identify and evaluate the aforementioned perspectives. The research method will be in the form of library collection and rational-analytical judgment. The result of the research is that none of the natural explanations presented in this field have been successful and are not supported by reliable scientific evidence. Moreover, even if successful, it does not imply the unreality of near-death experiences and is not successful in supporting them.
Keywords
Assistant professor of &ldquo
Research Center for Islamic Thought and Culture&rdquo
, faculty of logic of understanding religion