What exactly is a soul?!

[WayOutThere]

1)So far as I can see there are three definitions of "soul". These are not mutually contradictory and I think we mean all three of them when we talk about the "soul".

a) A non-material, non-physical something that holds our memories, thoughts, feelings, and beliefs.

b) It is what gives life value. Possibly, it is what seperates humans from animals.

c) It is what survives the death of our bodies and goes on to the next world.

2) According to (a) anything with memories, thoughts, feelings, and beliefs so humans and animals.

According to (b) and (c) only humans (at least that's what many religionists would say when using those two definitions)

3) according to (a), no

 

[clericalerror]

In my opinion I would say a "Soul" is the word the churches and religions around the world have defined as being the part of your consciousness that passes from current world to the next (resurrection, heaven and hell, limbo, the manifestation of your ghost, etc).

The religious leaders who use this term are often using it to scare you into living by their rules. Eg: If you are gay your soul goes to hell, if you are a bad person your soul will manifest in the next life as a snake or good as a better off person, if you die in combat for Allah your soul will be granted 42 virgins and go to heaven (do not pass go and do not collect $200), etc, etc.

In some context people are asked to "search their souls" or "feel something in their soul". In these cases it's usually assumed they are to look to their own conscious to make a decision if something is right or wrong. This is more a modern concept than a religious one, but both have become intermingled in modern day terminology so one would assume that the "soul" is the part of your brain that determines your personal morality combined with the rationalizing part of your brain that fears death and wants you to believe that it's not all over when you die.

Whether you believe in souls or not is not part of the thread, defining it was the question.

 

[Arkhangelsk]

1. What I like to call 'The God Part'. It's what makes us more than simple creatures with pattern behavior. It's our consciousness, the one that makes you question existence, the part of you that is completely undefinable. It's what goes beyond the normal spectrum of life. And it is according to my beliefs what goes to the "afterlife".

2. Since we can't read the minds of other creatures, I'm gonna go out on a limb and say all creatures with a brain.

3. Yes, but they'd be condemned to a life of simple existence, no purpose or actual "life" to it.

 

[neoontime]

A concept. Nothing more.

It's just a way of trying to make sense of our conscious minds and how they work, and to provide a possible reason for an afterlife. (the body dies, yet the soul lives on somehow)

To answer your points, assuming for the sake of argument that souls do in fact exist (because I'm not convinced they do, as anything beyond a mere concept):

1: It is our personality, our character traits, our memories. Basically everything that makes us who we are.

2: Everything alive, I would imagine.

3: Depends on your definition of "survive".

Any Douche bags who tell me souls don't exist can stay out of this thread!

Also, insulting and ignoring people that may not believe the same things that you do for the sole reason that they believe something else? Nice.

I'm sorry, I only meant for people to just tell me what they think it was and to keep it clean of all the post saying why they don't exist. I mean I wasn't being very serious, I was just looking for a quick answer.

 

[neoontime]

escapist, for a while now, three questions have been stuck in my head

1. What exactly is a soul?

2. What has one?

3. Is it possible for someone to survive without one?

Any Douche bags who tell me souls don't exist can stay out of this thread!

Believing in souls is a belief. You can't call someone a douchebag because they don't believe in them. If you don't agree then I think Christians, vegans and Psychics are all douches.

I personally don't believe in them. We're organisms that just happen to be intelligent enough to think about this type of thing. I see everything that the soul is represented as, as part of someone's psychological state and frame of mind. And so everything should have a soul. Also, with my above 'theory' anything without a 'soul' also isn't alive.

I hope you understand and accept my views.

To repeat myself
I'm sorry, I only meant for people to just tell me what they think it was and to keep it clean of all the post saying why they don't exist. I mean I wasn't being very serious, I was just looking for a quick answer.