I started a thread some months ago to gauge your opinion on whether you believed that we evolved or were created by a superior entity etc. In a similar vein, I thought that I would pose the question to you: do animals have souls? I suppose that it's a somewhat philosophical question, but it would be interesting to see what the folks here who love animals a tad more than the average joe think. My own opinion is based on logic rather than faith or belief: Maxim 1: All animals have souls 1. If humans have souls, then non-humans must also have souls, as we are all animals. Maxim 2: No animals have souls 2. If a non-human does not have a soul, then humans must also not have souls, as we are all animals. I am a fence-sitter, BUT, I definitely do not believe that humans can have souls whilst non-humans cannot. I suppose that we can extend the discussion to include heaven/hell: if animals do have souls, then where do the souls of non-humans go after death? Thoughts?
I would suppose doggy-heaven (well, at least dogs would) - I wonder if there's a thylacine-heaven, or a dodo heaven, or a Vietnamese javan rhinoceros heaven [boy, if this is the case I want to go to one of them ones ] But in seriousness, if there ain't animals/zoos in heaven, I ain't going!
Before you ask this question, you must first answer the question, do humans have souls. Show evidence from scientific literature to support your argument.
Souls, faith, and science, don't mix very well. One does not have to necessarily answer the question "are motorcycles safe?" when discussing whether sedans are safe. Instead, I suppose that one could consider the definition of "safe". This is what I said in my original post: "My own opinion is based on logic rather than faith or belief: Maxim 1: All animals have souls 1. If humans have souls, then non-humans must also have souls, as we are all animals. Maxim 2: No animals have souls 2. If a non-human does not have a soul, then humans must also not have souls, as we are all animals. I am a fence-sitter, BUT, I definitely do not believe that humans can have souls whilst non-humans cannot. "
I assume that a soul means some sort of unseen essence to our being that has the ability to transcend this plane of existence. So I take the word 'soul' to mean the thing that supposedly goes to heaven or hell when we die - assuming that heaven and/or hell exist. Assuming that when we die, we don't cease to exist like a light bulb that has been switched off, then a soul might be what remains. That's my interpretation of it.
Under that definition, I don't believe either humans or animals have souls. Defined simply as 'unseen essence to our being' without the afterlife connotations, then the term 'soul' could be used to describe the unique pattern of nerve connections and suchlike that constitute our 'self' within the brain, in which case anything with a multicellular brain (or an equivalent structure) could have one, and I'd say it's something that exists within most or all vertebrates to a degree. An interesting question would then become, how complex does a brain (or a brain analogue) need to be to produce a sense of 'self' or 'individuality'?
And what of those humans whose brains are underdeveloped or damaged? Might they have a sense of 'self'? Or do we generalise by specie instead of individual?
you know in a few months when there is no longer a connection between the two threads people are just going to think "man that Pygathrix sure can't spell!" (or conversely, taking my response into consideration, "ha ha, that Chlidonias must have spelled species specie's in some other thread!")
Bah. In a few months time no one will remember this thread. Instead, we will all be voting on a thread created by Moebelle asking "Which cichlid do you prefer to see in a zoo?". Anyway, back to animals and souls, what's your belief?
Western religions consider that one physical body has one spiritual entity. But other religions consider other possiblities. For the mesoamerican religions various souls can be in a single body. souls are part of humans, but also of animals,mountains and great trees. But these are different kinds of souls. Some humans also have animals souls which allow them to transform themselves, these are naguales. According to african religions this a life force, ache, that is in humans, animals, tree and some plants. it is passed from one being to another. Ache is inmortal but its recipients are not. The transmigration of human souls into animals and viceversa occurs in hinduism and some folk faiths. So after this little bit of world religions 101 , understand that the question you ask maybe answered in many ways.
I respect all faiths and cultures, and do not have the elements to state that any one is better than another. This is called cultural relativism and is part of general anthropology 101. So if asked if animals and humans have souls i will answer it depends on your culture and religion.
