Is there historical evidence of near-death experiences or do we merely see what we want to see? : The wondrous world of the Dutch painter ; If I have not charity, I am nothing: essential questions of our existence ; Are abnormal psychic sensations a basis for exceptional reports? ; Arrived at a marvellous place: a report from Plato ; Caught up into Paradise: a report from Paul the Apostle ; The light was such that I cannot describe to you: an account by Gregory of Tours ; A fire that reached from earth to heaven: reports by Gregory the Great ; Mani and European spirituality ; From a state of apparent death to near-death experiences: new wine into old wineskins?
Problems and contradictions : Non-specificity of experiences ; Near-death experiences in different cultures ; Cluster structure of the term near-death experience ; Exactly when in clinical death are experiences generated? ; Reprocessing of experiences under a person's cultural land religious views and publication bias ; Religious contradictions from a philosophical point of view ; Near-death experiences in esoteric movements: a modern Gnosis?
Medical theories : Do neuropsychological basis phenomena exist? ; What is special about out-of-body experiences? ; Near-death experiences in clinical death: result of a severe brain function disorder? ; Pharmacological and neurotransmitter theories: ketamine, serotonin and dimethyltryptamine ; Near-death experiences in other mental states ; Near-death experiences in blind people ; Constancy or inconstancy of experiences ; The model of pathoclisis: a theory of everything?
Opportunities and limitations of heuristic methods
Does a diathesis-stress model of near-death experiences work?
Between the poles of science and religion
Explanations of scientific terms.
