Can you say if Jehovah Witnesses are dualists or monists/materialists? They say that when someone dies, for example, they are fully asleep and see and hear nothing because, they say, that's what some verse in the Old Testament of the Bible says, Ecclesiastes for example, which says the dead see and hear nothing. The Jehovah Witness will even say the person doesn't exist, after death. They say the person can only exist again after resurrection in a new body. This implies monism, or the idea that the mind and conciousness must have a body either in this world or the next. That implies a kind of materialism. What do you think?     4:32 AM


You're right to pick up on the apparent contradiction between traditional religious views of the soul and the Jehovah's Witnesses' teachings about death. Based on your description, the Jehovah's Witnesses' view on death strongly aligns with **monism, specifically a form of materialism or physicalism**.

Here's why:

* **Rejection of a Separate Soul:** Their belief that consciousness ceases entirely at death, and that a person only exists again after a physical resurrection, directly contradicts the dualistic idea of a soul that survives the body.
* **Emphasis on Physical Resurrection:** The need for a "new body" for resurrection reinforces the idea that consciousness and identity are inextricably linked to physical form. Without a body, there is no person.
* **Sleep Analogy:** The "sleep" analogy further supports this. Sleep is understood as a state of reduced or absent consciousness tied directly to the state of the physical brain.

**Why this is Materialistic/Physicalistic (leaning toward):**

* **Materialism:** The simplest form of materialism would assert that only matter exists. While Jehovah's Witnesses would certainly believe in God and spiritual entities, their view on death suggests that human existence (consciousness, identity) is entirely dependent on physical matter. No matter (body), no person.
* **Physicalism:** Physicalism is a broader term that includes the idea that all phenomena, including mental phenomena, are ultimately reducible to physical properties. The JW's belief that a resurrection requires a *physical* body lends itself to this idea.

**Important Nuances:**

* **Religious vs. Philosophical Materialism:** It's crucial to distinguish between religious beliefs and philosophical materialism. Jehovah's Witnesses hold their beliefs based on scriptural interpretation, not necessarily on a philosophical argument for materialism. They might not even *call* themselves materialists.
* **Spiritual Resurrection:** While emphasizing a physical body, their concept of a resurrected body is still undoubtedly *spiritual* in some sense. It's not simply the reassembling of the old body, but a new creation enabled by God.
* **The Nature of the Resurrected Body:** The exact nature of this resurrected body is likely considered a mystery. While *requiring* a body, it will likely be viewed as very different than our existing bodies.

**In conclusion:**

While Jehovah's Witnesses have distinct religious doctrines, their view of death and resurrection as you've described it is very much in line with a monistic, materialist (or at least physicalist) perspective in philosophy of mind. They reject the concept of a separate, immortal soul and emphasize the necessity of a physical body for conscious existence.     4:32 AM