Further to my published research on Shepherd (see previous posts here for my ebook 'Research Thoughts on ...Lady Mary Shepherd - Volume 1), here's a fascinating article on consciousness I've just read which is relevant to my research on Shepherd's writings on consciousness and death:
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/techandscience/where-do-you-go-when-you-die-the-increasing-signs-that-human-consciousness-remains-after-death/ar-BBIWSKB?li=AAmiR2Z&ocid=spartandhp
This article summarises key points discovered in studies published in 2016 and 2017 and indicates how the field is scientifically progressing and what remains to be discovered. My summary of this article's main points of interest for Shepherd's philosophy are:
- brain cells don't all die immediately upon bodily death and that bodily death is also not as clearly demarcated as once thought
- genes have been observed to continue working (and even "increasing in abundance") after a person is considered dead
- "the period immediately following death, our bodies start reverting to the cellular conditions that were present when we were embryos." This means that Shepherd may be on the right lines when considering whether we become more akin to a foetus-like state and simplicity after death.
- all of us does not die at the same rate: aspects of us die at differing rates. "...some cells are more resilient to death than others.." but, it would seem, scientific research is yet to understand why this is.
- "In a 2016 study published in the Canadian Journal of Biological Sciences, doctors recounted shutting off life support for four terminally ill patients, only to have one of the patients continue emitting delta wave bursts—the measurable electrical activity in the brain we normally experience during deep sleep—for more than 10 minutes after the patient had been pronounced dead; no pupil dilation, no pulse, no heartbeat. The authors were at a loss for a physiological explanation." This is interesting because Shepherd explores dreams, sleep, the unconscious in themselves as well as relating them to life and death.
- Parnia argues "...we have a consciousness that makes up who we are—our selves, thoughts, feelings, emotions—and that entity, it seems, does not become annihilated just because we've crossed the threshold of death; it appears to keep functioning and not dissipate. How long it lingers, we can’t say.” So Shepherd is right to explore but leave the possibility of memory, emotion and a clear sense of a continuous self an open question in her discussion of the afterlife.
This is very exciting because, firstly it shows the importance of philosophy in furthering our reasoning and understanding of the world and secondly, that philosophy can play a vital role in supporting other disciplines, such as science (quite apart from others ranging from politics, maths to the arts). It is also astounding that Shepherd is already, during the 18th and 19th century when she's reading, thinking, discussing and writing her treatises, formulating theses which are so accurate that they are still relevant today. What's more, when scientifically studied today, with the aid of modern, sophisticated equipment, they are still not much further along than her reasoning concluded!
