In spite of the many expert and scholarly affirmations of the reality of NDEs, Western empiricism typically leads mainstream scientists and medical workers to conclude that consciousness ends with death. Their argument runs something like this: The brain is the repository of consciousness. Therefore, brain death must mean the end of consciousness. Therefore, so-called NDEs must be subjective mental phenomena or drug-induced hallucinations.
儘管瀕死體驗不乏學者專家背書，但在西方實證主義思潮下，主流科學家和醫界人士仍認為，人死後意識不可能存在，唯一保存意識的是腦，腦死即一切結束，因此所謂瀕死體驗只是當事人主觀的心靈現象，或是藥物引起的幻覺。