disembodiment the immaterial state of existence of a person who previously had a body. Disembodiment is thus to be distinguished from nonembodiment or immateriality. God and angels, if they exist, are non-embodied, or immaterial. By contrast, if human beings continue to exist after their bodies die, then they are disembodied. As this example suggests, disembodiment is typically discussed in the context of immortality or survival of death. It presupposes a view according to which persons are souls or some sort of immaterial entity that is capable of existing apart from a body. Whether it is possible for a person to become disembodied is a matter of controversy. Most philosophers who believe that this is possible assume that a disembodied person is conscious, but it is not obvious that this should be the case. See also PERSONAL IDENTITY, PHI- LOSOPHY OF MIND , PLATO , SURVIVA. E.R.W.