CHAPTER 8. Immortality: A Pragmatic-Processi ve Model

Abstract

Just as it is unacceptable to advance a belief in God without venturing some guess as to the character of the divine, so it would be fruitless to present a belief in immortality that did not-however tentatively and sketchily-suggest what a new life would, or at least ought to, involve. As John Hick has noted: "A doctrine which can mean anything means nothing. So long, then, as we refrain from spelling out our faith it remains empty."1 In the same vein, H . D. Lewis contends that "no one can expect or believe anything without having some idea of what it is that he expects. "2 The task of this chapter, then, is to suggest a model of the cosmic process that would justify belief in immortality as attractive and as life-enhancing. In keeping with the experiential character and this-worldly focus of the pragmatism I espouse, any acceptable model will have to offer possibilities for the enhancement and enrichment of life. It will be unacceptable to the extent that it is an escape