BEMIDJI, Minn. (Feb. 26, 2010) — Can a person survive without its body or a properly functioning brain? If so, what is it exactly that makes a person a person?

Dr. David Lund, professor of philosophy, will discuss his book “Persons, Souls and Death,” exploring the connection between souls and bodies and how those disparate entities combine to form our perception of a person, on Thursday, March 3. The lecture is part of Bemidji State’s Honors Council Lecture Series and will begin at 7 p.m. in Hagg-Sauer Hall room 112.

Awareness of mortality is the price of intelligent consciousness. Lund’s book, “Persons, Souls and Death,” argues that a person is essentially an immaterial subject of conscious states who, though intimately linked by causal ties to the body, is nevertheless distinct from it.

In the book, Lund also examines apparently paranormal occurrences supporting the belief that some persons have survived bodily death. Cases of near-death experiences, apparitions, reincarnation experiences and mediumship phenomena are presented and discussed. Though it might seem contrary to natural law for a person to exist apart from a body and properly functioning brain, these cases suggest otherwise.

Lund, a native of Roseau, Minn., spent his undergraduate years studying the natural sciences and earned a master’s degree in psychology before he discovered philosophy as an academic discipline and pursued his doctorate from the University of Minnesota. He returned to his native northern Minnesota in 1972 when he joined the philosophy department at Bemidji State. Lund has published several books, including “Death and Conciousness,” “Perception, Mind and Personal Identity” and “Making Sense of It All.”

Lund’s is the fourth of six Honors Council lectures offered as part of the spring 2010 schedule.

ON THE WEB:
• Dr. David Lund’s books at Amazon.com.

2010 Spring Honors Council Lecture Series remaining schedule
• March 3: David Lund, professor of philosophy, “Persons, Souls and Death.”
• March 18: Michael Hamann, assistant professor of biology, “Nuts, Bolts and the Cytoskeleton.”
• April 15: Larry Skillin, assistant professor of history, “From Proclamation to Dialogue: The Colonial Press and the Emergence of an American Public Sphere.”

For more information about the Honors Council Lecture Series, please contact the honors program at (218) 755-3984.

FOR YOUR CALENDAR
March 3 – 7 p.m. – Honors Council Lecture Series: Dr. David Lund, professor of philosophy, presents “Persons, Souls and Death.” Location: Hagg-Sauer 112. Admission: free. Information: (218) 755-3984.