Atheists, do you believe in ghosts?

Question

I'd class myself as an atheist.

But what about ghosts? If I were to lock you up in complete darkness in the dungeon of Edinburgh Castle, would you be scared?

If you believe in ghosts then you have to believe in souls ... there's no other option. So where do souls come from?

I have my own answer for that, but I want to see what other people say.

1) I'm an atheist. I'm not trying to prove a God through the use of ghosts ... no point talking about FSM or IPU either. FFS, read the question and related comments ¬_¬.

2) How sad that some of you need to word your answer in a hostile way. Get the stick out your a55?

David, surely you can interact with people in a civil manner? Did I kill your father or mother for you to be so pi55ed?

Shall I write in the same tone as you:

I would've thought it'd be obvious how I came to that conclusion, it's really simple. I guess I overestimated your ability ... such a waste of potential really.

Ghosts are often reported as apparitions of people of the past. The conclusion is simple (maybe if you think hard enough you can grasp it) ... there needs to be a link between ghost and person. A soul maybe? Obviously no-one knows what one is, but it's a word that encompasses many meanings, and I use it in that capacity.

Simple enough for you? Did I use too many long words or do you want it explained as a picture?

Ms Taurus ... it's not.

Answer 1

Hello,

(ANS) I'm an Atheist & an existentialist and No! I definitely DON'T hold any belief in ghosts.

In my opinion ghosts are on the same level as God & ALL Religions. Ghosts are a concept invented by humans for humans. Ghosts are NOT an externally experienced reality. No! matter how real a ghost may seem, the experience is still within the field of human consciousness.

We (humans) project our fears & anxieties onto external objects or even into the darkness and we rationalize our fears by calling them ghosts. The one thing I have noticed about us humans is that we cannot stand to not label, identify or put a name to something we don't know. We seem to hate mystery, we hate not knowing, we hate not having a term or a classification for something. We hate the fear & anxiety of NOT knowing, of not being able to control something.

**There is no such thing as a soul either in my opinion. There is only the form called the human body and when you die your body returns back to where is came from dust to dust, back into the primal void.

**We humans rarely if ever see beyond our own invented delusions & self created illusions. I think Zen Buddhism comes closest when it says, seeing true reality is like trying to catch a fleeting glimp's between the cracks between two worlds.

Ivan

Answer 2

Don't talk such total rubbish.

"If you believe in ghosts then you have to believe in souls ... there's no other option. So where do souls come from?"

How do you come to that conclusion? As an atheist you have funny ideas if you make the leap from a religious concept of a soul to the conclusion that the soul becomes ghost. Where is your evidence and how do you possibly reach that conclusion? That is the sort of junk reasoning that the bible thumpers use to 'prove' the existence of their god.

If ghosts exist, there could be a thousand other options. Something is unexplained until research and evidence explains it.

As to whether there are ghosts, well who knows? Unless there is some compelling evidence/proof, they don't.

Answer 3

I don't believe in ghost and I consider myself sort of an atheist.
(sort of is the general state of any atheist... as in, awaiting further proof)

If I'd be in some dark dungeon and I'd would see something that might be a ghost, I'd react in two possible ways.

I'd be calm/angry and walk towards it and either expose it as being some insect or a prank by something in which case I'd prod it in the kidneys for being an ***.

Or I'd switch to primordial fear and just run my *** off until I either hit my head against a wall or until I reached a lighted area.

I know that in deep darkness, the brain goes crazy looking for patterns. You'll end up seeing patterns that aren't there.
I also know that being a ghost just to haunt a dungeon/castle is a very, very stupid way to spend eternity.

So, there you have it.
Either investigate it or go scared out of your mind.
No god, no religion, just common sense or common primordial sense.

Answer 4

No, I do not believe in ghosts. That would mean belief in some form of afterlife and immortal spirits and as an atheist I don't believe in any of that.

However, I do think that some people truly believe that they have seen a ghost, maybe through optical illusion or hallucination. Some have had jokes played on them. Some are just nutcases. Some are just liars. Ghosts as spirits of the dead do not exist.

Answer 5

I do not believe in ghosts. There is no credible evidence. And, besides, ghosts were scientifically debunked centuries ago Leonardo DaVinci.

But, ASSUMING, that ghosts did exist, there could be a dozen different possibilities outside of ghosts being lost "human souls." Ghosts could simply be other entities like Casper the Friendly Ghost. Ghosts could be a simple scientific phenomena not related to an intelligence at all. Ghosts could be demons. When you speak of Ghosts, you are in the realm of Fantasy, where anything is possible.

But nice try, attempting to prove God's existence through ghosts.

Answer 6

I thought atheists just didn't believe in God... I dont think I am atheist and I know I am not religious but I believe in ghosts and I suppose I believe in souls although I think a soul is more to do with the brain than the heart.

Answer 7

I have been in the bowels of Edinburgh and while it was interesting, I felt no spooky presence. I would be more afraid of creepy spiders.

By the way, there is a total misconception about what souls are today. The soul according to Aristotle is nothing but the animating principle, that is life itself. All living things have a soul according to Aristotle, even plants.

Answer 8

i'd be scared if you locked me in edinburgh castle, but not of ghosts. i am absoloutely terrified of dark corners. not the dark generally, just places that are darkER. like under the bad, or in the corners of the wardrobe. stuff like that. i bet a creepy old castle is full of em.
i think that mostly people are scared not of ghosts specifically, but just of 'what's out there' no-one seems to know what that is, it's just an unnameable fear of an unnameable thing.

souls are a sketchy subject. i assume you use the word to mean a person's character, ie. likes, dislikes, moral values, principles etc. if so, then i think souls are created as you go through life. when you're born, a bit of them is already filled in by genes from your parents. but the rest comes from your upbringing and surroundings. if you are born into a religious family, you're more likely to beieve in God all through your childhood. if you're born to poverty in Africa you learn to go without, and you become gratefull for the things we take for granted. if you're taught all your childhood that atheists and people of other religiouns than yours are sinful, that tends to be what you believe.

that's just what i think.

Answer 9

I don't believe in ghosts and I won't be scared in the dungeon as long as there are not lots of poisonous spiders in the same room, or any medieval torturers trying to convert me to their beliefs.
Souls are not organs, they come from the human mind itself as a concept of what makes us different from other animals. It's the presumption that we humans have a spirit and other animals don't. What in fact makes up the "soul" is how your brains are hardwired, and how you are programmed (raised). When you die, your "soul" dies, exept for your legacy.

Answer 10

A "soul" is not the only option... who the heck knows, maybe some essence or energy of a person sticks around rather then a "soul."

If your answer for where "souls" comes from has anything to do with any kind of "higher power," then you are not an atheist.