What is meant by immortality? Objectives Investigate what is meant by death. Investigate ideas about the afterlife.
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Everyone dies eventually
What is meant by death? One thing on which everyone agrees is that people die eventually. Death is when a person's physical body stops functioning, and their life on earth in their current physical form ends. The medical profession considers that a person is dead when brain activity stops. Everyone agrees that this is what is meant by death, but not everyone agrees that it is the end. Some people believe that there is survival after death in some way. Some people argue that death is not the end of life, and that we continue in some form after death. There are many different ideas about the form that survival after death might take. They include: the continuation of our genes in our children and their descendants the view that we live on in our life's 'work' the view that we live on in the memory of others the immortality of the soul the resurrection of the body reincarnation or rebirth.
Key terms Immortality: endless life or existence; life after death. Soul: the spiritual rather than physical part of humans. Resurrection: rising from the dead or returning to life (applied to souls after death).