Rebirth and the Stream of Life

Mikel Burley is Associate Professor of Religion and Philosophy at the University of Leeds, UK. He is the author of three previous books, including Contemplating Religious Forms of Life: Wittgenstein and D. Z. Phillips (2012). He is also a co-editor of Language, Ethics and Animal Life: Wittgenstein and Beyond (2012).

Acknowledgements
Abbreviations

Introduction: Thinking about Rebirth
‘Stream of life’
Terminological matters
An expanded conception of philosophy of religion
Chapter summaries

1) Varieties of Rebirth
Soteriological orientations
Retributive correlations
Affinitive and consanguineous continuities
Concluding remarks

2) Remembering Having Lived Before?
‘Infamous puzzle cases’
Rebirth and remembering
Remembering and merely seeming to remember
Lived examples
Concluding remarks

3) Finding Meaning in Multiple Lives
Allegedly fatal objections to rebirth
The ethical significance of ‘same person’
Simultaneous multiplicity
Rebirth and the spirit world
Concluding remarks

4) Integrating Rebirth and Ethics
Transmigration and moral outlooks in ancient Greece
Eschatologies and ‘ethicization’
Instances of non-karmic ethical integration
Concluding remarks

5) Demythologizing Rebirth?
‘Demythologizing’ in theology and the study of religions
Karma and rebirth without personal continuation
Critical discussion
Concluding remarks

6) Karma and Evil
Karma as a principle of moral guidance
Is the doctrine of karma incoherent?
The problem of ‘blaming the victim’
A deep disagreement
Alternative aspects of karma
Concluding remarks

7) Conclusions
Disrupting assumptions
Diversity and dispute
Methodological reflections

Bibliography
Index