Do animals have a soul?

Question

Please state the reasoning behind your answers.

Answer 1

yes I believe they do. because animals have personalities and I believe your personality comes from your soul.
I also believe this because people claim to have seen spirits of animals...how can there be a spirit without a soul.
3rd. it would be completely egotistical to believe that humans were the only ANIMAL with a soul. I dont understand why humans think that they are the superior species on the planet. We are just one of millions and millions of species...and to even think that we are at the top of the food chain is stupid....bacteria eat at us everyday...wouldn't they be at the top???

Answer 2

The soul or spirit is the life force in the body. Wherever there is life, that is the spirit soul giving that body life. Therefore all species of life have souls. The body, whether in the form of a human, animal, fish, bird, amoeba, or microbe, etc, is never alive. The body is a bag of chemicals only and cannot exhibit any symptoms of life without the presence of the spirit soul. Even cloning and invitro fertilization require the use of tissue or the sperm and egg of a once living entity. So the creation of a living being is not possible simply by the amalgamation of inert organic chemicals and ingredients.

The spirit soul is the eternal, spiritual energy of the Supreme Lord and in this material world the spirit soul can inhabit any of 8,400,000 species of life. We are now in the human form of life, inhabiting a planet that is in the middle planetary system of this insignificant universe. There are billions of universes in this material world, some larger and some smaller than this one. And all of them are chock full of spirit souls going sometimes up to the higher planetary systems and sometimes going down to the lower planets-- enjoying or suffering as the case may be-- in higher forms such as demigods or humans or lower forms like animals and insects and plants. The difference between the higher forms of life is the body and accompanying degree of consciousness that is exhibited in that form. But the spiritual energy, the spirit soul, is the same quality in all bodies.

The second chapter of the Bhagavad-gita, available online at the link below, has much more info about the nature of the spirit soul.

Answer 3

A better question might be - Do humans have a soul?
It's a question of belief in our (humans') case, so I see no reason why people shouldn't also believe that other animals have souls, as well.
I rather like the way this veterinarian put it:
"Do Animals Have Souls?
by Stacy Mantle

I was talking with a coworker the other day and he informed me that animals do not have emotions. This is just after he told me (the day that I put my dog of 17yrs down) that animals do not have souls and therefore will never enjoy the concept of heaven. Now, this coworker has the disadvantage of being, what I refer to, as a "bible-thumper." He is, in fact, a born-again Christian. Please bear in mind that I have nothing against Christians, nor do I have anything against religion in general. I do, however, have a problem with this coworker passing along faulty information.

Animals do have emotions and they also have souls, and I'll tell you how I know that. In over twenty years of working with animals, I have never seen a kitten duct-tape a live human baby to a freeway. I also have never seen a cat find enjoyment from setting a human on fire. I've never gone hiking in the desert to find a child that dogs have left tied to a stake, without food and water, subjecting it to a painful death in the desert heat. I have never seen a chicken force two unwilling humans to fight in a ring with razor blades attached to their feet while the chickens place bets on who will be the first to die. I haven't seen a puppy place eight children in a gunnysack and drown them in a river. Neither have I seen an eagle aim a shotgun at an unarmed human. I have yet to see a bear kill a human simply to place a head on the wall of their cave. And to this day, I have not seen a pigeon drive a car down the road and aim for humans who were walking around the park.

Let me tell you what I have seen. I have seen my own cats sleep next to me so they may keep me a little warmer while I was ill. I've seen my dogs play games with me just to force a smile to my face. I have seen a cat rush into a burning home not once, not twice, but six times to save her kittens, nearly losing her own life in the process. I have seen a ferret pull a frightened kitten out of a deep hole in the ground. I have seen a coyote fetch another dog so that it may get the proper medical care that it needs. I've seen a dog, who loves to jump on people, avoid jumping on me when I injured my back. I've seen elephants cry. I've seen monkeys scream in empathy when one of their own were injured. I've seen puppies whine all night long when they were separated from their mothers. I've seen a dog pull a child away from a fire.

These are only a few of the things that I've seen. To list them all would take a lifetime, and I think you get my point. As for the soul thing? Well, it is my humble opinion that if you have emotions, any kind of emotions, then you have a soul. Ironically, the pope of the Roman Catholic Church recently stated that he feels the same way.

Now, I can't prove that animals have souls. But then, I can't prove that you or I have one either. And for all those people who firmly believe that animals don't have souls - well, I suppose if there really is a heaven, you'll probably have the job of cleaning out all the litter boxes..."

In the interest of full-disclosure, I must admit that I have 2 dogs and 1 cat, and I suspect that all three of them have a much better chance of entering heaven (assuming it exists) than I do.

Answer 4

Yes, in the Western Tradition animals are considered ensouled. Things are complicated because soul is usually limited to those human capabilities such as moral choice. The older tradition allowed for a more varied definition of soul including a vegetable soul and so on. Aristotle's 'On the Soul' discusses much of this.

Answer 5

Animals don't have souls.

And there is no reasoning behind my answer because things like "faith" and "soul" and "God" are religious terms. And religion and Reality don't mix.

For example: We could say that an animal - any animal - is merely the result of various biological processes, just like humans. We have the egg, the sperm, the growth cycle, the birth itself, and the fact that all this is based on living matter, which is simply a collection of cellular or multicellular organisms that are born, multiply, and die.

Humans invented religion.

And this simple fact gave animals their "souls." Because if humans had souls, then every living organism has a soul, right? You could argue that, right?

But let's remember that sharing isn't a famous human characteristic. For example, the phrase, "All men are created equal" didn't really apply to Black slaves, did it?

So does the phrase, "All humans have souls" apply to animals?

I doubt it.

So it was our domestication of animals that brought about the concept of their own souls, and gave them a place in our Heaven and therefore gave them eternity in the sense that Blacks upgraded to actually being treated as "All men."

So no, animals don't have souls.

We gave it to them. Just like we gave them to ourselves.

Answer 6

we do not know if souls exist.
it is comforting to assume that they exist and we as individuals continue to live in another form even after death.

But by definition, each living entity has a soul which is its real self - with its will power and destiny.
So yes all animals and each Bacteria and Virus has a soul.

Hindus believe that we live 8.4 million lives of other beings (non-human beings) before we get our human bodies. That's how precious it is.

EnJoy

Answer 7

That's a good question, I would think they do, simply because in Heaven animals will indeed live along with those who put there trust in Jesus Christ. There is a song, that is qouted from the Bible where it tells you the Lion will lay down with the Lamb.

Remember, the only proof you can have and understand, is by living a life for Christ, turn your whole self over to Him and the Holy Spirit will tell you what is right and what is false. So, yes there is proof, it's just having the courage to make that step and follow Christ the rest of your life and you will be rewarded with a home in Heaven for Eternity with Jesus and all God's creatures.

Answer 8

I think so. I had a bird and I could see his soul behind his eyes. Generally, when I look into the animals' eyes, or observe them carefully, I see an intelligence behind their eyes. I call that soul.

Animals are more self-sufficient than most people are, and are happier as a result. Animals are intelligent, but are limited by their body and brain capacity; otherwise they could be as human as we are (which isn't much...).

Answer 9

'The saying "To err is human" is true insofar as animals do not err, or at any rate only the cleverest of them do so.' So said G.C. Lichtenberg in the 18th century.

Not only do animals not have souls, biology and philosophy teach us (in their different ways) that humans don't either. At any rate, the concept 'soul' raises more questions than it solves, so we're better off without it.

Answer 10

Do you have a soul? You're an animal