The Quandry Analysis

The main message of “The Quandry” is about faith and our inability as humans to prove one way or the other if we are more than just a complex assembly of body parts, or are endowed with a soul that defies physical proof. In the story, two sisters, Melissa and Melinda are given the task of deciding their brother’s fate after he is involved in a traumatic motorcycle accident which has irreparably damaged his brain. After visiting their brother in the hospital and getting the news of his living will’s instructions giving them power of attorney to decide whether or not to keep him on life support .The two sisters spend time immersing themselves in different philosophical works at Matthew’s house while trying to come to a mutual decision. Melissa’s opinion is that all that made Matthew who he was is gone due to the severe head trauma. Melinda opinion is that Matthew’s soul is what makes him who he is and that it still …show more content…
She would explain that the quote used by Dave by from “The Enquiry” by Hume, “Commit it then to the flames: for it can contain nothing but sophistry and illusion” (Millican E12.34), shows that the existence of the soul has never been documented or proven so it should be discarded as a topic of debate. Melinda would counter that Hume’s intent was that the existence of a soul must be taken on faith and any attempt to try to prove of the existence of a soul would be fruitless and impossible. Additionally Melinda would counter with a quote from Hume, “Such topics, therefore, ought entirely to be forborne; as serving nothing to the discovery of truth, but only to make the person of an antagonist odious” (Steinberg 64.) to further prove that Hume was not denying religion or the existence of a soul, but more that since it could not be proven one way or the other, that even entertaining a discussion on the topic would be