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Essay on In Defence of Immortality
Praised for its accessibility and comprehensiveness, Philosophy: The Quest for Truth provides an excellent selection of classical and contemporary readings on nineteen key problems in philosophy. The fifth edition offers selections from Plato, Rene Descartes, John Locke, David Hume, William James, Bertrand Russell, and John Hick etc. Philosophy is both an individual and a social activity. It requires staring-out-the-window time and give-and-take-with-others time.
By working jointly with another person, one will encounter new viewpoints, learn to express ideas clearly, develop self confidence, learn how to deal with people who differ from others, gain new insights, build a sense of shared identity, and increase appreciation for the value of others’ contributions. John Hick's convoluted ideas of resurrection, which include the proposal that the replica of an older person may at first grow younger in the after-life until it achieves prime condition, Edwards compares Hick to "A pauper who imagines himself a millionaire and then debates with himself how he is going to spend the money"(Edwards, 240). John Hick maintains that exclusivists often manifest a sort of arbitrariness or arrogance (Hick, 1989, 235), they too appear to be challenging the moral character of those who attempt to convert others to their perspective. According to Hick, the most influential proponent of pluralism, three factors make a pluralistic perspective the only plausible option. First he argues, is the reality of transformation parity. An efficacious salvific process is not just other-world centered — does not simply give individuals a "ticket" to eternal existence with God.
It begins "the transformation from self-centeredness to Reality-centeredness" in this life (Hick 1984, 229). That is, an efficacious salvific process changes lives in the sense that it begins to turn people from thinking about, and acting only to enhance, their own personal well-being to viewing themselves as responsible participants in a much greater.........
