Edexcel GCE A level Religious Studies Spotlight on... - 6.1 (d) Replica theory

Oct 20, 2026

Replica theory in Edexcel GCE A level Religious Studies examines how religious ideas about life after death connect to identity. The material focuses on John Hick’s view that human identity is primarily physical, challenging dualistic notions of a non-physical soul. It also explains Hick’s interpretation of biblical language about “the soul,” presents “soft materialism” arguments, and evaluates evidence such as parapsychology, telepathy, and crisis apparitions. It further uses thought experiments with an identical replica to test whether continuity of memories supports personal sameness after bodily death.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryExam

FormatPDF

Pages4

Reading Time10 min

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6.1 (d) Replica theory

John Hick’s view of identity and the soul

Soft materialism and non-physical evidence

Challenge to misconceptions about life after death

Thought experiments using an identical replica

| Edexcel GCE A level Religious Studies
A Spotlight on… | | | --- | --- | | Replica theory
This section of the specification requires students to explore Replica Theory, which suggests that a person can die in one body and continue to live in another while remaining the same individual. This includes the notion of life after death and its implications for identity. |
chachar / 123RF | Topic 6.1 explores the influence of developments in religious belief regarding life after death. Abrahamic faiths such as Christianity often believe in the resurrection of the body at the end of time. This poses a philosophical problem as bodies decay and it would therefore be impossible to them to be immortal. Some Christians prefer to argue for the immortality of the soul and view the afterlife as a disembodied spiritual state. In the Dharmic traditions, ideas of reincarnation of souls in different bodies, or ideas of rebirth without a continuous personal identity are more prevalent. John Hick’s Replica theory recognises some of the philosophical issues that are present in the ideas above and offers a way in which someone may be said to be the same person as the one who died despite the continuity of the same body | Topics | What students need to learn | | | --- | --- | --- | | 6
Influences of developmentsin religious belief | 6.1 | d) Replica theory: notion that one can die in one body and continue to live in a different body while being the same person, including after death. | Edexcel GCE A level Religious Studies Spotlight on...Replica theory Page 1 of 4 A Spotlight on… 6.1 (d) Replica theory John Hick (1922-2012) suggests that religious ideas of the soul are incorrect. He argues that human identity is mainly physical. Our character and personality are heavily dependent on our genes, our unique DNA. He argues that dualists such as Plato are quite wrong to suggest that everything that is important about us comes from this mysterious non-physical soul. It can all be explained by our physical make-up. He argues that the idea of the soul has got more to do with how early Christians such as Augustine read the works of Plato rather than anything found in the Bible. Hick suggests that when we examine the Bible carefully, it seems to use the word soul to refer to the whole person. Similarly, when we speak about the soul, the words we ascribe to it are really mental characteristics or personality traits: it is a way of speaking about ourselves and others that gives value. Hick notes that the SOS call (literally ‘save our souls’) is not asking that our rescuers preserve only our non-physical aspect! Hick states that the self is ‘a package of genetic information that has programmed the growth of a living organism in continuous interaction with its environment’. Our uniqueness is due to the random arrangement of our genetic material, so Hick is more of a materialist than a dualist in this aspect of his views. He notes that some Christians may worry that a materialistic view of identity may bring our ‘uniqueness’ as being made by God into question. However, Hick does not think that this needs to be the case. Our genetics are incredibly complex, and this makes us both unique and beyond prediction. Hence it is not contrary to religious teaching as whether we are physical beings or whether we have a soul, our uniqueness suggests we are ultimately dependent upon God However, although Hick rejects the soul in its dualistic sense, he does not completely rule out the possibility that we are more than just physical beings. His position is sometimes referred to as a kind of ‘soft materialism’. The mind and brain are not the same thing. He suggests some unusual evidence to support this non-physical aspect such as experiments in parapsychology and telepathy as well as the success of some subjects in predicting the symbol held on an unseen Zener card. (there are 5 symbols so statistically a person stands a 20% chance of guessing accu

FAQs

What does Replica theory claim about personal identity after death?

Replica theory suggests someone can die in one body and continue to live in a different body while remaining the same person. It includes implications for life after death and whether that person is still the same individual.

How does John Hick challenge the idea of a separate non-physical soul?

Hick argues that human identity is mainly physical and that dualists are mistaken in claiming the non-physical soul explains what matters most. He also claims biblical references to “soul” can be understood as referring to the whole person.

What thought experiments does Hick use to test sameness after recreation?

He proposes scenarios where an identical replica appears elsewhere, with the same appearance, fingerprint, mannerisms, and memories. He then uses this to argue that, given continuous memories and an all-powerful God, the replica could be considered the same person.

Oct 20, 2026

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