Eternal oblivion

In philosophy, eternal oblivion (also referred to as non-existence or nothingness) is the permanent cessation of a person's consciousness upon death. This concept is often associated with religious skepticism and atheism, and is based in part on the lack of objective evidence for an afterlife.

Consciousness is the basis of subjective experience, agency, self-awareness, and awareness of the surrounding natural world. According to neuroscientist Giulio Tononi, consciousness is "all we are and all we have: lose consciousness and, as far as you are concerned, your own self and the entire world dissolve into nothingness."

In the process of brain death, all brain function permanently ceases. Many people who believe that death is a permanent cessation of consciousness also believe that consciousness is dependent upon the functioning of the brain. Scientific research has discovered that some areas of the brain, like the reticular activating system or the thalamus, appear to be necessary for consciousness, because damage to these structures or their lack of function causes a loss of consciousness.

Through a naturalist analysis of the mind (an approach adopted by many philosophers of mind and neuroscientists), it is regarded as being dependent on the brain, as shown from the various effects of brain damage. Paraphrasing philosopher Paul Edwards, Keith Augustine and Yonatan I. Fishman note that "the greater the damage to the brain, the greater the corresponding damage to the mind. The natural extrapolation from this pattern is all too clear - obliterate brain functioning altogether, and mental functioning too will cease".

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