主観的記憶喪失モデルに基づく意識の連続性と死後存続に関する論考/On the Continuity of Consciousness and Post-Mortem Persistence Based on a Subjective Amnesia Model

This paper attempts to offer a philosophical framework regarding the metaphysical and epistemological questions of post-mortem persistence of consciousness (so-called "afterlife") by introducing the "Subjective Amnesia Model." In conventional debates surrounding personal identity, the continuity of the self has often been presumed to rely on the preservation of psychological connectedness or physical persistence. However, this paper focuses on the subjective perception of time passing and the impossibility of experiencing absolute "nothingness." It argues that a transition to a new conscious state accompanied by complete subjective amnesia can seamlessly connect from a first-person perspective. By critically re-examining the requirement of memory retention for personal persistence, this model clarifies the compatibility between subjective continuity and memory loss, thereby reconstructing the logical possibility of the post-mortem persistence of consciousness.