Animals, do they have a soul?

Question

for those who believe in no religion, what would a soul be to them?

People say that the soul helps us to feel, to know whats right and wrong, and gives us feelings deep down in the pits of our stomachs sometimes as warnings as in, "Don't trust 'so-and-so'", but, the brain handles most of that. The brain sets off alarms if we shouldn't trust someone, and our animal instinct does too. Yes, I said animal instinct, we all have instincts, referred to as animal instincts. And why would an animal not be able to have a soul if humans can? They feel the same emotions and such, which are the type of tags used to identify a soul. Why are they any different? Because our brains are more complex. Coincidence?

Answer 1

It's interesting to me how people tend to answer questions according to their own agenda, not according to what the question was intended to get at.

It's also interesting when somebody asks a question, and it's left a bit open-ended, and I can't figure out what angle they're coming from.

Because your question doesn't talk about religion and the like, you don't seem to be asking about immortality. You don't define any set ideas of what you think a soul is or should be in the first place, so that leaves alot of space.

I don't personally believe in a traditional concept of "soul", but in your sense, it seems that yes, animals got soul. There's no reason to think they don't "feel things in their gut", albeit with a much less sophisticated "thought process" that may accompany those "feelings".

Commonly, arguments on this subject revolve (devolve) around arguments about the superiority of humans or certain religious dogmas. But that's boring and tends to be off-topic.

The bottom line is that when we're afraid, we run from things. When we love, we try to obtain or keep things. That's what we do in a nutshell. Isn't that what animals do too?

All of those things we do are associated with feelings, which we only know about because we can communicate them through our behavior (for example, through language or expressions). Animals behave in ways that resemble our own emotional expressions, and it's reasonable to assume that if they could speak to us, they could tell us their feelings.

Answer 2

No, animals do not have a soul.

But then, nor do humans. Which isn't too surprising, given that we're just animals as well.

This is because there is no such a thing as a soul.

And that goes a long way toward explaining why I don't do religion. At least not in any conventional sense. You see, in the world of the fen tiger there is no god and there is no devil. There is no heaven and there is no hell. There is no right and there is no wrong. There is no soul and there is no afterlife.

You're born. You Live. You die.

There is nothing else.

Answer 3

I believe animals have souls and I also believe that objects like trees and mountains have souls. You might disagree with me, just like some people might disagree that animals can have souls. So the question is what are we basing our assumptions on? Is it just because we could not communicate with objects that we believe that objects do not have souls? Is it that we think that objects do not 'feel' and hence they don't have souls? If that is the case then soul = feelings. But we know that is not the case. So what is really soul? Does soul needs to be sentient?

My point is that we do not and probably will not know for sure what a soul is and therefore, if you believe that soul exists, you should be open to the fact that everything else could have a soul be it living things or inanimate objects.

Answer 4

No, I do not believe animals have a soul. Animals don't argue questions of philosophy over the internet. People do. And people would have to have souls to make life altering decisions. You don't see a communist party form in the Australian Outback.

Though animals do react to different situations differently. I wouldn't label that as enough of a cause for a soul living inside the animal.

Answer 5

Everything have a soul , acording to my theory ( I see the "Soul" as a enegry transformation )

the differ is that they are not very thinkfull creaures.
But if i'm right , and my theory is true - then - every kind of soul after the death can be not very thinkfull transformation of energy.
Even worse - just a one type of enrgy ...

About your question : "People say that the soul helps us to feel, to know whats right and wrong, and gives us feelings deep down in the pits of our stomachs sometimes as warnings as in,"
animals have some kind of taking descisions , even very semple ones, it can be seen even in plants - trought environmet taken descisions...

Answer 6

The answer depends on your point of view. A traditional Christian would say no, because animals cannot achieve conscious salvation. Buddhists would wonder why you asked; life itself is sacred to them, and is indivisible from spirit.

If you define soul as a moral barometer, the answer has to be no, because you cannot anthropomorphise animal behavior, or judge animal behavior by standards of human civilization. But if soul to you is the life spirit, the only answer is yes.

Answer 7

I know animals that have more of a soul than many humans I know. I don't think brain capacity has anything to do with it--I know people who have advanced educations that I know have no soul (trust me--I'm a lawyer--I have first-hand experience). But at the same time, I know animals with almost nothing but love in their hearts.

Answer 8

We are all animals. There is an energy, but we cant explain or see it yet. Many animals have thoughts and feelings, just not as complex, but as powerful. As such i asked the question once. Dinosaurs were here for millions of years before us, did they have gods?

Answer 9

What difference between man and animal?we eat,sleep,produce offsprings,have blood,just like animals.Animals also love or hate,so they have feelings.And animals are sometimes smarter than humans:there were not many deaths during tsunamis,as they fled to higher grounds!So,animals have intelligence!
Logically,they also have soul...the only difference is the shape of bodies-intelligence....and they don't like to be killed and eaten!
The christian teologists said they have no souls as they like to eat animals!Such demons....and now all christians do the same except some veg christians.

In paradise,animals and humans will live together in peace.So why not train yourself to behave as angels?

Answer 10

I say no. Plus, I consider us humans to be animals. I believe the soul to be a total concoction of man, designed to give us a possibility for immortality. Because, while the flesh may whither and die, the soul exists infinitely.