What is the soul?

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.

My answer wasn't "Philosophy of the Mind." It is the philosophical thought based in the Greek Philosopher Aristotle and the Midieval Philosopher Thomas Aquinas. This is the view currently held by many who study philosophy and metaphysics.

I gave you facts of what the soul is. This is philosophy. What don't you understand? This is not vague wording, this is technical wording. What else do you need?Further are we to so boldy assume that the physical material is the only existing substane? I say then, what created this mess? What caused this all to exist?This message has been edited by smak_84, 04-21-2006 06:27 PM

Look at my earlier post. I gave a philosophical dissertation on what the soul is. What else do you need?

I apologize I thougt you post was concerning something I wrote. Valete my brother Catholic!

In the study of Philosophy by Aristotle, Thomas Aquinas, et cetera, there is something referred to as the form. In order to understand this, your mind cannot be closed into the philosophy of gross materialism (meaning the full existence of the universe is physical in the sense of it being matter, electromagnetic waves, et cetera). There needs to be an open possibility of moderate dualism where there is not only material things (matter, electromganetic waves), but immaterial things as well - things that are not made of the same stuff as material things -- existing things not made of matter-energy that Einstein postulated with (things we would not be able to measure as we can only use material measuring devices thus far).Further, a philosopical "form" is an immaterial thing (id est it is not physical material -- rather, it is approximated to what spirits would made of - which is best estimate that I can give to someone who hasn't read philosophy). The form then is the determining element (immaterial) which enters into the basic physical makeup of all finite beings (sorry I messed up what I was trying to say last time). It is what your mind abstracts from a sense impression that recognizes something for what it is.For example: you see a tree. What is it about a tree that makes it a tree? Branches? Well, saplings don't have branches, but you can identify them as trees. Leaves? Well flowers have leaves as well (and pine trees don't have them - they have needles). There's something that your mind abstracts when looking at a tree that it can tell it's a tree. This is the mind's ability to recognize immaterial forms. It is that which makes a tree to be a tree (and not something else - and there must be something that causes this, because nothing cannot effect something). Ergo, there is an immaterial thing - a form that effects the physical matter, that your mind recognizes, and is particular to every tree (no matter if it is an oak tree, an elm tree, a cherry tree, or a pine tree). The form cannot be attributed to DNA, because DNA contains things not essential to being a tree, only that particular type of tree (id est some trees have needles, some have leaves, based on the particular differences in DNA nucleotide sequences). If you assert my proposition here to be false, please, tell me all thing properties that are necessary to make a tree that and not a bush, grass, or something else (I'll warn you, you'll have a difficult time).Therefore, the human being has an analagous from called the soul. The human soul. The human soul, however is unique in the sense that it can exist independent of matter (as can angels and demons as they are fully immaterial beings, and have no corporeal bodies).The soul is essentially united to the body as apposed to accidentially united (as in we are not souls running around in machines made of carbon, calcium, oxygen, et cetera).Agree tenativly that the soul is the form of the corporeal (physical) substance we call the body. If the form is removed, there is no longer anything making the body to be that which it is. Therefore, why wouldn't it just fall apart (not necessarily immediatly)? If you take the support beams out of a house, what happens? It falls apart.Therefore, the breath of life described in Genesis could be the infusion of an immortal human form - that immaterial principle which makes us human and not an ape or some other animal (id est the soul).Read some Plato, Aristotle, Aquinas, Maimonidies, et cetera for a better understanding of Philosophical concepts like forms, accidents, essence, substances, essential unions, accidental unions and the like that modern science really has no way to assert or deny (as we're dealing with immaterial (not material) substances that devices made of material substances would have a hard time measuring).

The would have an abstraction of something wouldn't they? They wouldn't necessarily be able to label it correctly. It didn't convey what it was called(that is a label - that is a human invention), but I was able to recognize others like it when I saw them. I'm throwing in a philosophical discussion on the soul that includes me defending a position on philosophical form -- this doesn't imply Anthropocentrism.

I'll look into Wittgenstein, it sounds like his philosophy has something to it. I wouldn't necessarily say eternal. If I implied that, that was a mistake. But there is an existence independant of the mind. I wouldn't say forms are transferred at all. They are recognized and sense impressions are created. Like when you see a color. You recognize the color, and your eye picks up on the wavelength and creates a sense impression in your mind abstracting the color (but the form for color exists independantly being the cause of the color's existence). Same as such with the form. You abstract what the form is from the sense impressions of an object.Forms work like this:Why do I fall down out of a tree?
Because the effects of gravity pull me toward the earth.What is gravity?
It is the attraction between two masses.What causes this attraction?
...?There are theories, but nothing definite.The same arguement can be applied to attractions between atoms and more specifically - subatomic particles. What is the cause of the attraction of these pieces to each other?Why do opposites attract?There are theories. How about a Philosophical Moderate Dualist theory:"There is an immaterial substance (form) that causes these things to attract each other. An immaterial substance which is unmeasurable (as we only have material devices to measure things)."

The "form" I propose is related to the unexplainable attraction between masses - the happening called intermolecular forces.I unfortunatly cannot continue this discussion, as I'm beginning work that's going to keep me from the internet, so don't reply to any more of my posts, because I won't be able to read them. I thank all who've helped me deepen my understanding of this subject.