Why or why not?
2007-06-09 12:35:57 · 17 answers · asked by gomakemeasandwich 4 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Philosophy
No.
Why not? How can I answer that? Why don't we have purple horns? There are millions of things that we don't have.
And jtspgs, thank you for not contributing to the conversation at all. If asked if there is a soul, "you should believe in one b/c it's safer" is not a real answer.
2007-06-09 13:12:12 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
No, because all things are composites. There is no "core essence" that gives that thing it's "thing-like" quality. An apple, for example, has no part of its composite that is the "soul" of the apple, and when you start to eat the apple, at what point would it cease being an apple? It's only a concept that gives the illusion of a single thing, and concepts are what is needed to reduce complex relationships into a more generic model so mental resources can be allocated to further computate the implications of that concept in the larger system. We are just composites of matter with little bits of nothing in all of the right places to make an organized structure.
A deeper look at the human nervous system (or any nervous system for that matter) quickly reveals that a system of neurons store knowledge in their RELATIONSHIPS. This entails having 'weights', 'thresholds' and 'action potential'. Weights are how much authority one neuron has with another. Neurons who have a greater weight, say 1.0, will have more influence on the system then a neuron with a weight on 0.4. The distribution of weights between neurons is random at first (genetics and environmental situations) and over countless epoch s (cycles of stimulus, response, and error correction) behave as a more cohesive group retaining knowledge based on their actions and adjustments. Memories, for example, are not stored in any one place in the brain, but in the subtle relationships between all neurons. Were you to replace one neuron with a silicon chip that behaved in exactly the same way, nothing would change. Thus, we are inherently empty of any "essence" or "soul". That emptiness is the common canvas on which we are all painted.
The mystery of it all is still maintained, however, because when I say things like "just a concept" and "matter" and such, these are all concepts as well, blocking the realization of what they represent. When I say "I have a bag of golf clubs" that is the generic concept for the complexity that is a full set of clubs, some balls, some tees, pockets, straps, etc. When we speak of that concept, it conveys that these things are inherent, but specifics about the contents are ignored unless they pertain directly to the definition of the "bag of golf clubs", such as saying "bag of broken golf clubs". It is this illusion that our conceptual facilities cast on us that make things seem whole and undivided, but they never are.
2007-06-09 20:00:37 · answer #2 · answered by neuralzen 3 · 2⤊ 1⤋
No. However the concept of soul is made necessary by our two perspectives materialism and spirituality. As neither of these perspectives alone accounts for an acceptable vision of reality the soul was mentally created to give meaning to life.
2007-06-09 19:44:51 · answer #3 · answered by Wizard 2 · 2⤊ 1⤋
yes, we have a soul . body is a combination of matter and spirit . the gross body is made up of chemicals, but it becomes active in the presence of soul. a car has a body, but it runs when there is petrol in it. in the same manner soul activates your body, if not what else?
2007-06-16 02:40:13 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
Your soul is the first act of your potentially living body and a
first act exists in anything with being. Therefore it is well defined.
2007-06-09 20:53:31 · answer #5 · answered by knashha 5 · 1⤊ 1⤋
I believe what people consider a "soul" is the holy spirit if you believe in God that guides us and motivates us into action or not. it is what we need to feel special and not just another human being.
2007-06-10 01:00:55 · answer #6 · answered by Uchechi A 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Do you believe in LOVE? if we didn't have a soul we could not feel it's presence, we would only be a machine.
2007-06-14 19:09:36 · answer #7 · answered by awakenursoul 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
yeah how could we feel so deeply for something or someone without a soul! Hope this helped!
2007-06-13 16:01:42 · answer #8 · answered by misty j 1 · 0⤊ 1⤋
We do have a soul .Our creation by God is both mortal and immortal.The mortal part is our physical being and our immortal part is our soul,or spiritual being which are fused together to make us whole.
2007-06-10 01:49:19 · answer #9 · answered by ROBERT P 7 · 0⤊ 2⤋
yes, when u die ur soul still lives on, ur soul never dies,the reason we have souls r for everlasting life.
2007-06-14 06:51:31 · answer #10 · answered by fancy face 1 · 0⤊ 1⤋