Observations placeholder
Lord Nelson
Identifier
003529
Type of Spiritual Experience
Background
A description of the experience
Phantoms in the Brain – Dr V. S. Ramachandran [Professor and Director of the Centre for Brain and Cognition, University of California and visiting fellow All Souls College, Oxford]
After Lord Nelson lost his right arm during an unsuccessful attack on Santa Cruz de Tenerife, he experienced compelling phantom limb pains, including the unmistakable sensation of fingers digging into his phantom palm.
The emergence of these ghostly sensations in his missing limb led the sea lord to proclaim that his phantom was 'direct evidence for the existence of the soul'. For if an arm can exist after it is removed, why can't the whole person survive physical annihilation of the body?
It is proof, Lord Nelson claimed, for the existence of the spirit, long after it has cast off its attire.