Heaven, Hell, and Life After Death

Undergraduate / Graduate

What happens after people die? Nothing at all? Does the same thing happen to everyone after death, or is there some form of postmortem reward and punishment? If heaven exists, what is heaven like? How do beliefs about life after death influence behavior in this life? This course engages with these questions as we explore the development and diversity of afterlife beliefs in Judaism and Christianity, from antiquity to the present day. We will pay special attention to the various functions of afterlife beliefs at different points in history, including in our contemporary society. Is Marx correct that belief in heaven and eternal life legitimizes the social order and contributes to oppression on earth? Conversely, does the idea of postmortem rewards and punishments actually contribute to a more just society by motivating individuals to strive to live virtuously? By the end of the course, students will not only be familiar with Jewish and Christian conceptions of the afterlife, but also conversant in perspectives on postmortem existence found in classical philosophy that continue to inform how we think about death in the contemporary world. There are no prerequisites.