Near-Death Experiencers’ Beliefs and Aftereffects: Problems for the Fischer and Mitchell-Yellin Naturalist Explanation

Summary

People who have had near-death experiences often report lasting changes: they fear death less, become more moral and spiritual, and feel more certain that life has meaning and that an afterlife exists. Some supernaturalists claim these changes happen because the experience is real. Philosophers John Martin Fischer and Benjamin Mitchell-Yellin offer a naturalist alternative: they interpret NDE narratives metaphorically, preserving their meaning while rejecting supernatural causation. This article argues that Fischer and Mitchell-Yellin’s psychological explanation fails to adequately account for near-death experiences.

Study at a glance

Abstract

: Among the phenomena of near-death experiences (NDEs) are what are known as aftereffects whereby, over time, experiencers undergo substantial, long-term life changes, becoming less fearful of death, more moral and spiritual, and more convinced that life has meaning and that an afterlife exists. Some supernaturalists attribute these changes to the experience being real. John Martin Fischer and Benjamin Mitchell-Yellin, on the other hand, have asserted a naturalist thesis involving a metaphorical interpretation of NDE narratives that preserves their significance but eliminates the supernaturalist causal explanation. I argue that Fischer and Mitchell-Yellin’s psychological thesis fails as an explanation of NDEs.