Eben Alexander’s near-Death experience: How an esquire article distorted the facts.
Journal of Near-Death Studies 2016 DOI: 10.17514/jnds-2016-35-2-p65-93 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Historical analysis Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Near-death experience |
| Key points | The author argues that Luke Dittrich's 2013 Esquire critique of Eben Alexander's Proof of Heaven contained inaccuracies and misrepresentations, and concludes that Dittrich's work, rather than Alexander's, was erroneous. |
Abstract
In July, 2013, journalist Luke Dittrich wrote an article in Esquire magazine critical of neurosurgeon Eben Alexander’s 2012 book Proof of Heaven. Dittrich cited several malpractice lawsuits against Alexander, in one of which Alexander allegedly had altered medical records to cover his errors. Dittrich made this allegation his theme for critiquing the story of Alexander’s NDE: that Alexander altered the facts of his story to make them more dramatic. In particular, Dittrich questioned the central premise of the book: that Alexander’s experience was the result of a brain all but destroyed by meningitis. He contended that Alexander’s hyperreal experience of the heavenly Gateway Realm with the beautiful girl on the butterfly wing and the knowledge he gained from The Core were all hallucinations resulting from a medically induced coma and that Alexander stood to gain financially by representing his experience as genuine. In this article, I critique Dittrich’s article point by point and uncover a pattern of inaccuracy and misrepresentation of facts on Dittrich’s part. I conclude that it was Dittrich’s work, rather than Alexander’s, that was erroneous.
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on near-death experience, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Otherworld Journeys: Accounts of Near-Death Experience in Medieval and Modern Times | 1987 | Historical analysis | |
| Neuroscience and the Near-Death Experience: Roles for the NMSA-PCP receptor, the sigma receptor and the endopsychosins | 1990 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Implications of near-death experiences for a postmaterialist psychology. | 2010 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Near-Death Experience as a Probe to Explore (Disconnected) Consciousness | 2020 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Near-death experiences between science and prejudice | 2012 | Theoretical or philosophical paper |