“I Celebrate Myself, and Sing Myself”: Dehātmavāda (Body as Self) in Ancient Cārvāka Materialism and Modern Science

The question of connection between the physical body, the invisible mind and the non-material soul has haunted human civilization since its beginnings. Most cultures, including the Indian ones, took it for granted that there is an imperishable essence bestowed on human beings by some transcendental force that outlasts the body and is rewarded or punished by heavenly powers. However, there have always been sceptics and atheists who expressed doubts about such beliefs. In India the most conspicuous are the Cārvākas who believed in a completely materialistic world, devoid of any supernatural powers, transcendental beings or supranatural entities thereto. They refused to accept the existence of a state of being, soul or jīvātma that cannot be empirically perceived. Consequently, they argued that consciousness is a property of the body alone. Their argument that various elements in the body blending together in a specific configuration produce consciousness which does not survive the death of the body is congruent with findings of modern science about neural activities.