When people say they do not believe in a 'soul', what is this 'soul' in which they do not believe?

Question

Greetings
What ever is so wrong with the thought of having a 'soul'?

Does having one spoil the party?

Please say?

Answer 1

a soul, by their definition, is something that is god's, so they believe that to have a soul would be to controlled by god. in christianity.

so if they don't have a soul they can't be controlled.

Answer 2

I don't have a soul but am a soul, it's the combination of a physical body, brain and cognition. Animals are living souls too i think.

Know that won't be a popular answer but if it's any consolation there is evidence for the possible existence of conscience. The heart has a functional *brain* that works independently of our cranial brain, could well be something to the heart being the seat of motivation school of thought. =)

Answer 3

A timeless, non egoistic part of the self connected to the Universal. There is nothing wrong with this- it's just that people can only recognise things that they can think about, and for some I expect that the soul is a concept too interconnected with religion, and that it's not always in the realm of rationality for which they have a preference.
It depends what the party is like.

Answer 4

Nothing is 'wrong' with having a soul. Just as nothing is 'wrong' in believing in dragons.

However, there is no evidence for dragons to exist, so most sane people conclude that they are not real.

Why do you need a separate soul to drive your brain? Your personality, your ego and id is made up of the unique and changing electrochemical activity and physiology of your brain. This can be clearly demonstrated by interfering with it.

So with no evidence for a soul, an no evidence for dragons, why do you come to opposite conclusions on their existence?

Answer 5

>What ever is so wrong with the thought of having a 'soul'?

The problem isn't in believing in souls per se, it's believing in things that the evidence does not suggest exist (and such things happen to include souls). In the long term, conscious beings such as we humans can best solve our problems by accepting and working on the truth, not by believing in lies which, while perhaps comforting, are still false.

Answer 6

The bible talks about the Soul

the Soul is like your inner person and it never dies!

just like the Conscience, is deep inside of You!

and God is gonna judge the Soul, because this body will die, the Spirit will come back to God, and the soul is what is left to be judge!

Answer 7

I'm Agnostic and while I'm usually in agreement with most atheists, I do, however, leave open the idea that we might have a soul and that god might exist. I've not seen proof to prove OR disprove it so that's why I consider myself agnostic and not an atheist.

I think that's why Christians have issues with atheism, is because they don't want to lose the special, fairy-tale, "I'm going home when I die" element right out of death. I'm thinking there's a possibility of an after-life/soul/god. You can't prove it either way (the bible isn't proof) so... who knows?

Answer 8

There's nothing wrong with having a soul except that it's one more thing that lives forever and quite frankly we haven't found even one thing that lasts forever. Believing something exists doesn't cause it to exist.

Answer 9

There simply is no evidence for a consciousness that exists independent of a physical body. That is the "soul" that i don't believe in. Our consciousness is an emergent property of our brain's activity. It doesn't "go" anywhere when you die, it just ceases.

Answer 10

You're asking us to describe this "soul" which we do not believe exists. Have you thought that one through before posting it ? Nobody can describe the non-existant.

Answer 11

In truth, in the Bible, the soul comprised the entire person. It is religious doctrine that defines it as something spiritual.