Mankind has struggled with the question of what happens after death for ages. Two arguments, a posteriori and a priori, propose different views on this subject. A Priori arguments are based on general claims independent of what exists in the world. These always depend upon some innate awareness or idea in humans. A Posteriori arguments are based on the existence of the world of things or facts about the world. They always depend upon the ability humans have to observe and reason. Near death/after death experiences supports a posteriori argument. This essay will look at an a posteriori argument dealing with near death/after death experiences. .
Near death/after death experiences come from people who have been clinically dead, not biologically dead. With clinical death, life signs such as consciousness, pulse, and breathing have stopped. Biological death will occur if no measures are taken to reverse this process. Biological death is irreversible.
The near death experience can occur at different stages of clinical death. Many of these experiences occur in the hospital under close medical attention such as a cardiac arrest, surgery, or a trauma situation. Many of these people report having similar experiences, including leaving the body and watching from above as medical staff work on them, entering a dark tunnel, seeing others, meeting a spiritual being, and experiencing an overwhelming sense of peace and love. They describe their strong desire to stay in this peaceful and loving place, but are told or have a strong desire to return to their physical bodies. Intriguing is the fact that these people have very similar experiences. .
I believe that near death/after death experiences are the strongest in support of an afterlife. We cannot doubt that people have these experiences, because to them, they are real. The problem is how to understand or explain them. Arguments have been made that these are products of hallucination induced by drugs/medication or chemical reactions in the body to their medical crisis.