Ghosts do not exist

piloteer

Booo!

Neopesdom

Casper the Friendly Ghost is the protagonist of the Famous Studios theatrical animated cartoon series of the same name. He is a pleasant and personable ghost.



Are you convinced that this ghost exists? If not contact Viacom for confirmation.

If that is not enough to convince you, perhaps this will tip the scales...

Have you heard of the The Rolls-Royce Ghost?

The Rolls-Royce Ghost is a British full-size luxury car manufactured by Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. -wiki

In folklore, a ghost (sometimes known as an apparition, haunt, phantom, poltergeist, shade, specter or spectre, spirit, spook, and wraith) is the soul or spirit of a dead person or animal that can appear to the living. -wiki

Their existence is impossible to falsify. -Bunge, Mario. Philosophy of Science: From Problem to Theory. Transaction Publishers; 1998. ISBN 978-1-4128-2423-1. p. 178.

Mac

@ZeusAres42
If I'm to go with the presumption that you mean an entity that departs from a lifeform once it is deceased, how does one come to the conclusion that ghosts do or don't exist, as opposed to being open to the possibility either way by means of being provided valid demonstration?

Dee

Well to me anyway the burden of proof is on the one making the claim as in you claim they do not exist , how do you go about demonstrating this for a fact? 

For those who say ghosts exist , my position is I lack a belief in ghosts as in i’ve not  seen evidence that would convince me as to their existence , so likewise the burden of proof is on them to demonstrate such 

SghShj

I personally do not believe ghosts exist. However I do believe in an afterlife. I was raised in a religious family and went to church nearly every sunday from birth until I was 16 years old (beginning of my rebellious stage). This instilled my belief in an afterlife however it's not on earth with the living. If anyone is curious of understanding more of my beliefs on the afterlife I was raised LDS (the Mormons).

I feel like I am a very logical person and have read past studies regarding people and the belief in spirts among us. Simply put, the studies have proven that the belief in ghosts is simply a defense mechanism for our minds. Basically whether you realize it or not our mind is always looking for answers and it doesnt like the unknown, so much so that we give false reasoning for unexplainable events.

There is a reason behind everything that occurs in this world. But to simply ignore any possible causes to sometimes frightening events and explain it away as ghosts does not help you in future experiences.

Over the last year I have began experiencing sleep paralysis on and off, almost always of the same woman. She now haunts my dreams and on occasion I believe I've seen here while awake. Its terrifying. As crazy as I may sound, I have been able to actually keep myself sane even while in my paralysis state I can literally see and hear her talking to me because I am able to focus on the fact she isnt real. I have all the reason in the world to believe in ghosts after the things I've seen with my current mental state however I refuse because as I've said, theres a reason for everything.

A_Free_Thinker

I do not believe ghosts exist because I have seen no credible evidence of it. If I ever saw such evidence then I would change my mind.

jesusisGod777

What could be posted here would make you repent.

Romans 10:9
.

Jesus is Lord

BrainSocks

(Coming from an Atheist) I believe we have no way of communicating with them, but after death spirits are free to dwell in the universe and watch over those that are still alive. Kind of like spectator mode in a game.

Art (In this case games) imitate(s) life

xlJ_dolphin_473

@Neopesdom
I believe you are wrong. Here is why.
The scientist Paul Davies was once asked by a friend: How do you deny the existence of ghosts, but accept the existence of neutrinos, particles which are far more ghostly than anything else, and have never been directly observed, when many people claim they have observed ghosts?
If this was my friend asking, this is the response I would give:

Firstly, while many people claim they have seen ghosts, it is very hard to take these claims seriously. Almost every 'sighting' has had a rational scientific explanation. There remain some 'mysteries' but science tells us that if our past experience is anything to go by, this appears one way but in real life is another. Why do people claim the existence of ghosts? Humans have fertile imaginations, and if they see anything out of the ordinary, they tend to immediately jump to the supernatural conclusion before reviewing all of the scientifically plausible scenarios. This is created both by a lack of rationalism and a desire to impress, to see what others have not, to know what others do not. 
As of neutrinos, the reason I (along with the vast majority of the scientific community) believe that neutrinos do exist is because they fit into complete, well understood and practically tested mathematical theory. Ghosts, on the other hand, do not.

The fact that a kids' cartoon features a friendly ghost bears no proof whatsoever that ghosts exist. Similarly, the existence a vehicle with the name of Rolls-Royce Ghost does not even remotely prove that ghosts exist.
Are you convinced now?
You say that their existence is impossible to falsify. Fair enough, but then so is the existence of ogres, giants, unicorns and monsters. Even if no one knows for sure that they don't exist, we can come to a fairly confident conclusion that they don't based on the fact that their existence has never been scientifically verified.
To prove extraordinary claims requires extraordinary evidence. If you have any extraordinary evidence please PM me.
That is why I believe that ghosts do not exist.

Neopesdom

@xlJ_dolphin_473

>>>The fact that a kids' cartoon features a friendly ghost bears no proof whatsoever that ghosts exist.

Are you saying that Casper does not exist? That's just outrageous! lol

According to the "two sense" view of existence, which derives from Alexius Meinong, existential statements fall into two classes.

When I say "Ghosts exist", this implies existence in the wide sense, for it implies that something exists somehow, if only in the imagination, an idea, or in folklore. But it does not imply existence in the narrow sense, for I deny existence in this sense by saying that ghosts do not exist.

Can something exist and not exist at the same time.. apparently so.

xlJ_dolphin_473

@Neopesdom
If you take that point of view, that something can exist if only in the imagination, you are essentially saying that anything you can dream up exists. I'm sure this debate title doesn't mean... Can ghosts be imagined and therefore exist in the imagination>