Case 1: In 1975 Raymond Moody published Life After Life a study of over a hundre

Question

Case 1: In 1975 Raymond Moody published Life After Life a study of over a hundred near death experiences. Moody premises his conclusion that life (in the form of consciousness) exists after death on interviews conducted of individuals that revived (either mechanically or on their own) following cardio-pulmonary failure. Moody examined interviews for commonalities such as bright or white lights, feeling of out of being out of body, the recounting of details of the surroundings of their bodies, and positive emotional feelings.

1. What might best express David Hume’s assessment of Raymond Moody’s conclusion in Life After Life?

                a. Moody’s conclusion fails because it does not provide evidence of a causal correlation that life exists after death.

                b. Moody’s conclusion fails because he does not provide enough evidence that the relevant     similarities                 outweigh the relevant differences.

                c. Moody’s conclusion does not follow with necessity from his premises.

                d. Moody’s premises even if true do not add to the probability that his conclusion is true.

2. How might Hume assess Moody’s reliance upon interviews as the support for his conclusion?

                a. Moody should be more cautious because his interviewees may be mistaken.

                b. Moody should be cautious because his interviewees may be lying.

                c. Moody’s reliance on interviews does not provide the necessary statistical analysis.

                d. Moody’s interviewees do not provide enough diversity to support the analogy.

3. Why might Hume caution readers of Moody ‘s book?

                a. Moody has only chosen interviews that support his conclusion; hence, he commits confirmation bias.

                b. Moody’s belief in life after death is not proportional to the evidence.

                c. Moody does not provide sufficient grounds of the existence of near death experiences.

                d. Moody is comparing apples to oranges.

4. Today, we might assess Moody’s conclusion in Life After Life to be indicative of what error of reasoning?

a. Weak analogy              b. Mistaken cause            c. Hasty generalization d. Post ergo propter hoc

Explanation / Answer

1. What might best express David Hume’s assessment of Raymond Moody’s conclusion in Life After Life?

b. Moody’s conclusion fails because he does not provide enough evidence that the relevant similarities outweigh the relevant differences. As in the analysis researcher focused only on similarities not on differences.

2. How might Hume assess Moody’s reliance upon interviews as the support for his conclusion?

c. Moody’s reliance on interviews does not provide the necessary statistical analysis. As no statistical tool was used to find the co-relation.

3. Why might Hume caution readers of Moody ‘s book?

c. Moody does not provide sufficient grounds of the existence of near death experiences. As near death experience is very subjective and definition given by Moody is very selective.

4. Today, we might assess Moody’s conclusion in Life After Life to be indicative of what error of reasoning?

Hasty generalization (As sample size is very small to deduce the hypothesis)

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