The Case for the Afterlife

Chris Carter has made an excellent case for the afterlife in his thorough approach to the evidence for life after death in this wide-ranging book, making it a significant contribution to the field. I myself published a book on this subject 40 years ago, covering much of the same ground, and also arguing for proof beyond reasonable doubt based on a legal framework, and inference to the best explanation. Chris gives a tool kit in the first part, then sets out five independent lines of evidence presenting the best available data in the second part, and puts the nail in the coffin of so-called Super ESP in Part Three – although many (pseudo-sceptics) who hold this position in order to avoid the survival hypothesis are not open to any evidence to the contrary, despite the protestations. As Chris points out, true scepticism involves suspension rather than refusal of belief.

The assumption that the brain produces consciousness is often taken for granted, though it is almost always unstated. Chris unravels this in a chapter on the mind-body relationship, correctly arguing that the possibility of survival cannot be dismissed on a priori grounds. He further discusses the nature of evidence and standards of proof, as well as the nature of science as a method. In the second part he considers near death experiences, deathbed visions, apparitions, children who remember previous lives, messages from the dead, display of skills, evidence for design, and mental characteristics pertaining specifically to deceased communicators. He brings forward many strong cases and deals with standard objections and alternative explanations, drawing significant conclusions in each area. He discusses in detail a very strong case involving a professional chess game with the deceased grandmaster Geza Maroczy, totally inexplicable in ordinary terms.

The argument is both cumulative and convergent, since the significance of case histories in the various areas considered is mutually reinforcing. To these, Chris could have added a further converging line – recent studies of after death communications. Of the 1,000 case histories analysed by our research team led by Evelyn Elsaesser and Chris Roe, a significant proportion feature items unknown to the percipient and subsequently verified. I agree with Chris’s conclusion that the Super-ESP hypothesis provides no positive evidence, only proposing imaginary possibilities unsupported by actual evidence. The open-minded reader will find his conclusions totally logical in view of the arguments and cases presented in this lucid, accessible and rigorous overview of the field.