|
Register | Sign In |
|
QuickSearch
EvC Forum active members: 65 (9162 total) |
| |
popoi | |
Total: 915,815 Year: 3,072/9,624 Month: 917/1,588 Week: 100/223 Day: 11/17 Hour: 0/7 |
Thread ▼ Details |
|
|
Author | Topic: What is the soul? | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
robinrohan Inactive Member |
Uhh, lets just say "soul". thats what the thread is about The question was, what is the soul? My answer: it's another word for "consciousness."
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||
kjsimons Member Posts: 821 From: Orlando,FL Joined: Member Rating: 6.7 |
Uhh, lets just say "soul". thats what the thread is about...
Well that right there is the problem, nobody can agree what a soul is or even if it exists. It's as pointless as trying to figure out how many angels can dance on the head of a pin. With there being no verifiable data about angels (or souls), no meaningful answers can be found.
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Faith  Suspended Member (Idle past 1444 days) Posts: 35298 From: Nevada, USA Joined: |
To me it does. Ok, let's just say "consciousness." OK, I see that "mind" can be the equivalent, but "soul" doesn't have the ambiguities that "mind" does. Or maybe you just aren't used to using the term so it doesn't have a clear meaning to you. I think it's the least ambiguous of all the possibilities. "Soul" sounds more substantial than "consciousness" too, like we're really talking about a personality. When we say "soul includes mind, emotion and will" we should probably say "intellect" instead of "mind." That would probably be clearer. The older word was "the understanding" -- medieval I suppose. I think emotion and will had different terms too but I don't remember for sure.
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||
robinrohan Inactive Member |
OK, I see that "mind" can be the equivalent, but "soul" doesn't have the ambiguities that "mind" does. Or maybe you just aren't used to using the term so it doesn't have a clear meaning to you. I think it's the least ambiguous of all the possibilities. "Soul" sounds more substantial than "consciousness" too, like we're really talking about a personality Ok, I see your point. Let me explain what prompted this idea of mine that "soul" is an unnecessary term. In traditional metaphysics, one might be a materialist, a dualist, or an idealist. Now, when an idealist says that only the mind is real, he might as well say, only the spirit is real, or only the soul is real. It all means the same thing. It's all being opposed to matter. We have mind and matter. That's all there is.
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||
jar Member (Idle past 394 days) Posts: 34026 From: Texas!! Joined: |
Well, neither of those are evidence of a soul. At best they might be unexplained events.
But that also misses the second question I asked. If we can test and measure 'soul' then is it not just another material object and not spiritual? This message has been edited by jar, 04-21-2006 03:46 PM Aslan is not a Tame Lion
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||
New Cat's Eye Inactive Member |
nobody can agree what a soul is or even if it exists Come on now...nobody? A lot of us agree that it exists and we can also agree on what it is, with a simple definition. We have our own ideas on what it encompasses when we start getting more specific with the definitions but to say that nobody can agree what is a soul is not true.
With there being no verifiable data about angels (or souls), no meaningful answers can be found. WRT science I agree that no meaningful answers can be found but from a spiritual point of view I think that a lot of meaning can come from a discussion. You, personally, might consider those answers to lack meaning but that's just your prerogative, as it is mine that they do.
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||
New Cat's Eye Inactive Member |
We have mind and matter. That's all there is. What a bold assertion to claim knowledge of the non-existance of something. You can't know that something doesn't exist. I agree that we have mind and matter but I think we have a soul too. IMHO, when we die the mind and matter die but the soul moves on, its an immaterial component of our existance that is connected to the matter via the mind.
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||
robinrohan Inactive Member |
What a bold assertion to claim knowledge of the non-existance of something. You can't know that something doesn't exist. I was speaking in terms of traditional metaphysics. Very bold of me, I know. It's like saying, there are two ways we can logically think: induction and deduction. How dare I say such a thing? Or it's like saying, That which contradicts itself cannot be. How dare I say such a thing?
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||
New Cat's Eye Inactive Member |
the part I found bold was "That's all there is."
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||
robinrohan Inactive Member |
the part I found bold was "That's all there is." Logically, that is all there is. But who cares about logic?
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||
New Cat's Eye Inactive Member |
robinrohan writes: Logically, that is all there is. OMG, not this crap again.
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||
robinrohan Inactive Member |
OMG, not this crap again. That's the horrible thing about logic. It does tend to limit possibilities. That's not very romantic, is it? "A man with a good car doesn't have to be justified"---Flannery O'Connor
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||
PaulK Member Posts: 17822 Joined: Member Rating: 2.2 |
I agree with you that Robin's idea of logic is somewhat lacking. And he doesn't know much (if anything) about the philosphy of mind, either.
However the best evidence we have tends to favour materialism, and causes some serious problems for Cartesian dualism. One of the most telling results is the effect of the so-called "split brain" operation - severing the corpus callosum. This breaks most of the communication between the two hemispheres of the brain producing what appears to be two mostly-independant consciousnesses. If the mind is an immaterial entity how could it be divided by severing part of the brain ?a
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||
smak_84 Inactive Member |
How about I propose this for the soul.
For starters the soul is the philosophical form of the human being. The soul is an immaterial thing which is the first and most basic organizing principle within each living being (in this case a human). Further the philisophical form is the determing element which enters into the basic physical makeup of all physical things. It is that principle by which you live, move, and think (rationally). The soul is essentially (as in it is part of what makes a human a human) united to the body. Further, the occurance called death is the separation of the soul from the body (observe that if we do not enbalm the body it will return to the base elements after it rots). So in a sense it is the "breath of life." It is that which makes us human beings alive.
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||
robinrohan Inactive Member |
I agree with you that Robin's idea of logic is somewhat lacking. And he doesn't know much (if anything) about the philosphy of mind, either. That's what happens when one is close-minded.
|
|
|
Do Nothing Button
Copyright 2001-2023 by EvC Forum, All Rights Reserved
Version 4.2
Innovative software from Qwixotic © 2024