Okay, so I am doing this paper for philosophy class. The subject is: Do animals possess a soul? And if they do or do not, if there is a heaven do animals get to go there too?
I would really like a lot of opinions on this so that I can give the perspectives of others views on the subject.
Appreciate it! Thanks!:-6
Do animals possess a soul? What is a soul?
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Tigersmeow
- Posts: 55
- Joined: Fri Feb 24, 2006 6:37 pm
Do animals possess a soul? What is a soul?
Tigersmeow wrote: Okay, so I am doing this paper for philosophy class. The subject is: Do animals possess a soul? And if they do or do not, if there is a heaven do animals get to go there too?
I would really like a lot of opinions on this so that I can give the perspectives of others views on the subject.
Appreciate it! Thanks!:-6Well, I just read http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soul to see if there was a simple way to summarise any of it, but I truly don't think I could. It's a good place to start, though.
I would really like a lot of opinions on this so that I can give the perspectives of others views on the subject.
Appreciate it! Thanks!:-6Well, I just read http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soul to see if there was a simple way to summarise any of it, but I truly don't think I could. It's a good place to start, though.
Nullius in verba ... ☎||||||||||| ... To Fate I sue, of other means bereft, the only refuge for the wretched left.
When flower power came along I stood for Human Rights, marched around for peace and freedom, had some nooky every night - we took it serious.
Who has a spare two minutes to play in this month's FG Trivia game! ... My other OS is Slackware.
When flower power came along I stood for Human Rights, marched around for peace and freedom, had some nooky every night - we took it serious.
Who has a spare two minutes to play in this month's FG Trivia game! ... My other OS is Slackware.
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chonsigirl
- Posts: 33633
- Joined: Mon Mar 07, 2005 8:28 am
Do animals possess a soul? What is a soul?
Yes, animals have souls. In the Bible they are described as having spirits in the original Hebrew, identical word used for humans and animals.
Do animals possess a soul? What is a soul?
I think that animals are made of the same loving energy that we are all made of and if that energy is what we call our soul, then yes, they do.
Live the questions now. Perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it, live along some distant day into the answers...Rainer Maria Rilke
Do animals possess a soul? What is a soul?
A soul is essential quality. Animals....domesticated or wild, share the same characteristics as us humans. They can show their emotions by how others interact with them and in return can shower us with love and understanding. Without a soul, this would not be possible. I do believe that when an animal dies, his spirit goes to heaven and he's reunitied with family.
Do animals possess a soul? What is a soul?
What's missing on this thread is an answer to the second half of the question, "What is a soul?". Once we have agreed the meaning of the word, we have a basis for discussing it. Different religions and philosophies have different beliefs which affect their descriptions of the soul. Anyone who offers their own religion's description is ignoring other perspectives. If they say, as justification, "we Christians possess the truth and all those heathens are just plain ignorant" then fine, that's what bigots tend to say whenever they open their mouths. I'd so much rather they prefixed their comments with "Christianity tells us" than stating an opinion as if it were an undeniable fact.
I think we'd agree that the soul is an aspect of a body which gives it life. Can a body be anything other than dead meat without a soul? Can it walk around? If it can't, where does describing someone as "soul-less" come from?
Assuming that it's the animating aspect of the body, does the soul exist before the body? Does it survive after the body? That's where religious belief systems come up with answers. Does the soul retain memory, or is memory a function of the body?
If the soul is just another word for "mind", then it's hard to see how it exists without a living physical brain to support it. If the soul is something additional to mind, then it's presumably free of the body once the body has died. But don't we associate memory with mind, rather than soul? What's left of the person if the memory is removed?
I don't see the point of having two words, mind and soul. I know my own mind. I have a soul. I don't expect the one to survive the other.
I think we'd agree that the soul is an aspect of a body which gives it life. Can a body be anything other than dead meat without a soul? Can it walk around? If it can't, where does describing someone as "soul-less" come from?
Assuming that it's the animating aspect of the body, does the soul exist before the body? Does it survive after the body? That's where religious belief systems come up with answers. Does the soul retain memory, or is memory a function of the body?
If the soul is just another word for "mind", then it's hard to see how it exists without a living physical brain to support it. If the soul is something additional to mind, then it's presumably free of the body once the body has died. But don't we associate memory with mind, rather than soul? What's left of the person if the memory is removed?
I don't see the point of having two words, mind and soul. I know my own mind. I have a soul. I don't expect the one to survive the other.
Nullius in verba ... ☎||||||||||| ... To Fate I sue, of other means bereft, the only refuge for the wretched left.
When flower power came along I stood for Human Rights, marched around for peace and freedom, had some nooky every night - we took it serious.
Who has a spare two minutes to play in this month's FG Trivia game! ... My other OS is Slackware.
When flower power came along I stood for Human Rights, marched around for peace and freedom, had some nooky every night - we took it serious.
Who has a spare two minutes to play in this month's FG Trivia game! ... My other OS is Slackware.
Do animals possess a soul? What is a soul?
I've died and left my body beofre. I got to see the back of my own head, that was quite an experience.
While I was out of my body, I saw many souls, thousands even. They were my people and they were waiting for me. They looked like little candle flames, except they didn't flicker, just kind of hung in the air softly glowing.
I don't see why some of those souls could not have been animals. Animals that I had owned even.
While I was out of my body, I saw many souls, thousands even. They were my people and they were waiting for me. They looked like little candle flames, except they didn't flicker, just kind of hung in the air softly glowing.
I don't see why some of those souls could not have been animals. Animals that I had owned even.
All the world's a stage and the men and women merely players...Shakespeare
Do animals possess a soul? What is a soul?
Jives wrote: I've died and left my body beofre.Died's a relative concept, if you can go and come back from it. It's interesting how the mind interprets out-of-body experiences. I'm not trying to be dismissive, Jives, it's an odd part of life entirely.
Nullius in verba ... ☎||||||||||| ... To Fate I sue, of other means bereft, the only refuge for the wretched left.
When flower power came along I stood for Human Rights, marched around for peace and freedom, had some nooky every night - we took it serious.
Who has a spare two minutes to play in this month's FG Trivia game! ... My other OS is Slackware.
When flower power came along I stood for Human Rights, marched around for peace and freedom, had some nooky every night - we took it serious.
Who has a spare two minutes to play in this month's FG Trivia game! ... My other OS is Slackware.
Do animals possess a soul? What is a soul?
spot wrote: Died's a relative concept, if you can go and come back from it. It's interesting how the mind interprets out-of-body experiences. I'm not trying to be dismissive, Jives, it's an odd part of life entirely.
In this definition, I call it "died," because my heart and breathing had stopped. During the experience, I was cognizant and crystal clear, but of course I have so much trouble believing it myself, that I do not expect anyone to believe it that hasn't experienced it.
Here is that post if you haven't read it:
For a year, I was getting sicker. The doctors couldn't figure it out. I felt like I was filed with wet cement, I was getting stiffer and stiffer, and the pain was incredible. (They tell me now that it compares to childbirth) By the time the year was up, I literally couldn't walk. I had to use a cane and I could barely shuffle, and if I sat down, I couldn't get up. I was even beginning to have trouble focusing my eyes. Since I couldn't eat due to the pain, I had lost over 70 lbs. and looked like a Holocaust survivor. My friends told me I looked like a living skeleton.
One night, about midnight, I woke with a terrible feeling. I was sick! Something was desperately wrong with me! Not just the pain I had been feeling, but something much, much worse! I tried to call out to my wife, but my voice wouldn't work. I fell out of the bed and managed to crawly upwards to a standing position using the dresser handles. As I stood there holding on to the dresser, suddenly....I was outside my body!
I was standing behind myself. I could see the back of my own head. And that's weird, because usually you don't get to see that angle. I was looking at the curls that I have back there and my first thought was, "Geez, I need a haircut."
Then, my body lost its hold on the dresser, fingernails scratching the top as the body collapsed heavily to the floor in a heap. It didn't even try to catch itself. I stood there shocked thinking, "Wow, that looked like it hurt!"
Then I realized it...I was outside my body. The recognition was instant and hit me like a wave. Suddenly, I was afraid to move. I felt like I might pop myself like a soap bubble. I turned my "head" slowly to the left...the room was quiet. My wife was still in the bed, sleeping softly. A feeling washed over me. It was a feeling of calm and peace. I was so relieved, the pain of my body was completely gone, I thought, "Oh, that feels so much better!" (I hadn't truly realized just how much pain I had been in until it was lifted.)
Then I saw them....
They looked a lot like candle flames, larger at the bottom and tapering to a smaller and rounded top, but not flickering at all, just softly glowing a warm, white light. They were a little bigger than a football and were hovering all around the room at various heights.
I kept scanning and noticed that they were also out on the lawn, and in the street. Through the trees, I could see that they were even on the next block. There were thousands of them! That's when I suddenly realized I was looking right through the wall! Now, you have to understand, this was not some hazy, out of focus vision. Everything was crystal clear. The details of the room were crisp, even more than normal, my sight seemed to have improved.
I realized that these were people, and that they were my people. I wonder, "Why do I have so many people?" The answer came to me as a thought, "down the generations" I got it right away, a family goes back in time thousands of years, these were all my people from all time.
For what seemed like an eternity, I stood there, feeling the cool night air and drinking in the sensation of being free of the pain. I don't remember breathing, though. I wasn't hungry, thirsty, or anything else in fact. Funny thing that.
The little candles flames did nothing however. They seemed to be waiting for something.
But i still felt the love coming from them.
I looked to my left slowly, to see my body huddled on the floor motionless. The next second there was a flash of light and BAM! I was back in my body. I was a little disoriented and it took a second for me to realized where I was, the angle was strange as i could see under the bed and the room was very dark again. I realized I was back in my body. My first thought was, "Damn! That DID hurt!" My body was aching in a hundred places from the fall and the pain had returned.
My wife heard my moans and woke up. I told her to take me to the hospital and with great effort we managed to drag my body to the car and drive to the hospital.
The doctors told me that I had had a "coronary incident" and that my heart had stopped beating for as much as two minutes. (I didn't suffer any brain damage, thought, since I'm an avid swimmer, and can hold my breath easily for that amount of time.) Since I had technically "died", they decided there might actually be something wrong with me.
They ran 300 blood tests, every one in the book. When they came back the answer was as clear as a bell...RA. Rheumatoid Arthritus, the worst kind. It's not just an inflammation of the joints, it's the exact opposite of AIDS and in the old days, every bit as lethal. My own white blood cells could no longer tell the difference between bad bacteria and my own tissues. They were literally eating me alive.
Once they got to the internal organs, I suffered the heart attack. it was no problem after that, a dose of steroids, an auto-immune suppressor and I was literally dancing a jig (on atrophied muscles) by the end of the day.
I'm back to normal now, a strapping, barrel-chested 240 lbs. I can swim, run a short distance, and I'm even hoping to ski again next year. But I'm changed in a big way. I really never took life for granted, I always knew that every day was precious, but now it's not an abstract concept to me. I smell the flowers. I ride my bike, I make sure to kiss my girl and tell her I love her every day. I made a tire swing for my grand-children and I swing in it myself every chance I get.
I was certainly never afraid of death, but it's different now. I find it of infinite comfort[U/] to know that you don't cease to exist when your body dies. I had faith before, but it's infinitely stronger now. God was very kind to me for some reason.
I guess I still have something to do here!
In this definition, I call it "died," because my heart and breathing had stopped. During the experience, I was cognizant and crystal clear, but of course I have so much trouble believing it myself, that I do not expect anyone to believe it that hasn't experienced it.
Here is that post if you haven't read it:
For a year, I was getting sicker. The doctors couldn't figure it out. I felt like I was filed with wet cement, I was getting stiffer and stiffer, and the pain was incredible. (They tell me now that it compares to childbirth) By the time the year was up, I literally couldn't walk. I had to use a cane and I could barely shuffle, and if I sat down, I couldn't get up. I was even beginning to have trouble focusing my eyes. Since I couldn't eat due to the pain, I had lost over 70 lbs. and looked like a Holocaust survivor. My friends told me I looked like a living skeleton.
One night, about midnight, I woke with a terrible feeling. I was sick! Something was desperately wrong with me! Not just the pain I had been feeling, but something much, much worse! I tried to call out to my wife, but my voice wouldn't work. I fell out of the bed and managed to crawly upwards to a standing position using the dresser handles. As I stood there holding on to the dresser, suddenly....I was outside my body!
I was standing behind myself. I could see the back of my own head. And that's weird, because usually you don't get to see that angle. I was looking at the curls that I have back there and my first thought was, "Geez, I need a haircut."
Then, my body lost its hold on the dresser, fingernails scratching the top as the body collapsed heavily to the floor in a heap. It didn't even try to catch itself. I stood there shocked thinking, "Wow, that looked like it hurt!"
Then I realized it...I was outside my body. The recognition was instant and hit me like a wave. Suddenly, I was afraid to move. I felt like I might pop myself like a soap bubble. I turned my "head" slowly to the left...the room was quiet. My wife was still in the bed, sleeping softly. A feeling washed over me. It was a feeling of calm and peace. I was so relieved, the pain of my body was completely gone, I thought, "Oh, that feels so much better!" (I hadn't truly realized just how much pain I had been in until it was lifted.)
Then I saw them....
They looked a lot like candle flames, larger at the bottom and tapering to a smaller and rounded top, but not flickering at all, just softly glowing a warm, white light. They were a little bigger than a football and were hovering all around the room at various heights.
I kept scanning and noticed that they were also out on the lawn, and in the street. Through the trees, I could see that they were even on the next block. There were thousands of them! That's when I suddenly realized I was looking right through the wall! Now, you have to understand, this was not some hazy, out of focus vision. Everything was crystal clear. The details of the room were crisp, even more than normal, my sight seemed to have improved.
I realized that these were people, and that they were my people. I wonder, "Why do I have so many people?" The answer came to me as a thought, "down the generations" I got it right away, a family goes back in time thousands of years, these were all my people from all time.
For what seemed like an eternity, I stood there, feeling the cool night air and drinking in the sensation of being free of the pain. I don't remember breathing, though. I wasn't hungry, thirsty, or anything else in fact. Funny thing that.
The little candles flames did nothing however. They seemed to be waiting for something.
But i still felt the love coming from them.
I looked to my left slowly, to see my body huddled on the floor motionless. The next second there was a flash of light and BAM! I was back in my body. I was a little disoriented and it took a second for me to realized where I was, the angle was strange as i could see under the bed and the room was very dark again. I realized I was back in my body. My first thought was, "Damn! That DID hurt!" My body was aching in a hundred places from the fall and the pain had returned.
My wife heard my moans and woke up. I told her to take me to the hospital and with great effort we managed to drag my body to the car and drive to the hospital.
The doctors told me that I had had a "coronary incident" and that my heart had stopped beating for as much as two minutes. (I didn't suffer any brain damage, thought, since I'm an avid swimmer, and can hold my breath easily for that amount of time.) Since I had technically "died", they decided there might actually be something wrong with me.
They ran 300 blood tests, every one in the book. When they came back the answer was as clear as a bell...RA. Rheumatoid Arthritus, the worst kind. It's not just an inflammation of the joints, it's the exact opposite of AIDS and in the old days, every bit as lethal. My own white blood cells could no longer tell the difference between bad bacteria and my own tissues. They were literally eating me alive.
Once they got to the internal organs, I suffered the heart attack. it was no problem after that, a dose of steroids, an auto-immune suppressor and I was literally dancing a jig (on atrophied muscles) by the end of the day.
I'm back to normal now, a strapping, barrel-chested 240 lbs. I can swim, run a short distance, and I'm even hoping to ski again next year. But I'm changed in a big way. I really never took life for granted, I always knew that every day was precious, but now it's not an abstract concept to me. I smell the flowers. I ride my bike, I make sure to kiss my girl and tell her I love her every day. I made a tire swing for my grand-children and I swing in it myself every chance I get.
I was certainly never afraid of death, but it's different now. I find it of infinite comfort[U/] to know that you don't cease to exist when your body dies. I had faith before, but it's infinitely stronger now. God was very kind to me for some reason.
I guess I still have something to do here!
All the world's a stage and the men and women merely players...Shakespeare
Do animals possess a soul? What is a soul?
Jives wrote: I have so much trouble believing it myself, that I do not expect anyone to believe it that hasn't experienced it.It didn't cross my mind for a moment not to believe it, Jives. I haven't the slightest doubt of your honesty, which puts you in a fairly select category of person. OK, I needed to type that. I'll go and read the post now.
Nullius in verba ... ☎||||||||||| ... To Fate I sue, of other means bereft, the only refuge for the wretched left.
When flower power came along I stood for Human Rights, marched around for peace and freedom, had some nooky every night - we took it serious.
Who has a spare two minutes to play in this month's FG Trivia game! ... My other OS is Slackware.
When flower power came along I stood for Human Rights, marched around for peace and freedom, had some nooky every night - we took it serious.
Who has a spare two minutes to play in this month's FG Trivia game! ... My other OS is Slackware.
Do animals possess a soul? What is a soul?
Thanks for sharing that jives..it is obviously a very personal and close thing to share, and yes it does reinforce our faith.
I truly believe animals have souls, as they are Gods creation as we are.
I belive the soul to be the innermost part of anything, the part that feels, expresses , senses etc.
I am very close to my animals, i study their every move, and they are capable of showing compassion etc exactly at the times when these feelings are needed. If i am not well they feel it with me and are ever so gentle around me. When i am okay they are boisterous.
I have no doubt about it at all, and i do believe the soul survives after the body, and i hope there is only one heaven where we can still have the company of these little wonders of Gods creation....:-6
I truly believe animals have souls, as they are Gods creation as we are.
I belive the soul to be the innermost part of anything, the part that feels, expresses , senses etc.
I am very close to my animals, i study their every move, and they are capable of showing compassion etc exactly at the times when these feelings are needed. If i am not well they feel it with me and are ever so gentle around me. When i am okay they are boisterous.
I have no doubt about it at all, and i do believe the soul survives after the body, and i hope there is only one heaven where we can still have the company of these little wonders of Gods creation....:-6
Do animals possess a soul? What is a soul?
Jives wrote: In this definition, I call it "died," because my heart and breathing had stopped. During the experience, I was cognizant and crystal clear, but of course I have so much trouble believing it myself, that I do not expect anyone to believe it that hasn't experienced it.
Jives, this is a very unique tale of an out-of-body experience. I've never heard one quite like this before. there's been rising to the ceiling and looking back down, and there's been looking down a tunnel towards a bright white light. But nothing like yours.
Jives, this is a very unique tale of an out-of-body experience. I've never heard one quite like this before. there's been rising to the ceiling and looking back down, and there's been looking down a tunnel towards a bright white light. But nothing like yours.
Do animals possess a soul? What is a soul?
Tigersmeow wrote: Okay, so I am doing this paper for philosophy class. The subject is: Do animals possess a soul? And if they do or do not, if there is a heaven do animals get to go there too?
I would really like a lot of opinions on this so that I can give the perspectives of others views on the subject.
Appreciate it! Thanks!:-6
I think your first step must be to define what a soul is. Otherwise, how can you determine whether animals have one, or even if humans do?
I would really like a lot of opinions on this so that I can give the perspectives of others views on the subject.
Appreciate it! Thanks!:-6
I think your first step must be to define what a soul is. Otherwise, how can you determine whether animals have one, or even if humans do?
Do animals possess a soul? What is a soul?
theia wrote: I think that animals are made of the same loving energy that we are all made of and if that energy is what we call our soul, then yes, they do.
That was so perfectly put, I'll just say.......I agree!
That was so perfectly put, I'll just say.......I agree!
Do animals possess a soul? What is a soul?
No.
Please save my soul, if I have a soul........ Animals don't have the free will to make this choice.
Please save my soul, if I have a soul........ Animals don't have the free will to make this choice.
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Tigersmeow
- Posts: 55
- Joined: Fri Feb 24, 2006 6:37 pm
Do animals possess a soul? What is a soul?
OpenMind wrote: I think your first step must be to define what a soul is. Otherwise, how can you determine whether animals have one, or even if humans do?
My own definition of a soul is: its what makes you, you. Your thoughts, feelings, senses-everything that is not physical about you. And the body is the transport for the soul. The soul uses the brain to interpret and store information while the soul resides in the heart. The body is merely just a vessel for the soul. At least that is my definition of a soul, I still need to research on the philosophical definition of a soul.
I do believe that animals possess a soul, because just like animals, humans are just another species and have realized that they possess a soul.
My own definition of a soul is: its what makes you, you. Your thoughts, feelings, senses-everything that is not physical about you. And the body is the transport for the soul. The soul uses the brain to interpret and store information while the soul resides in the heart. The body is merely just a vessel for the soul. At least that is my definition of a soul, I still need to research on the philosophical definition of a soul.
I do believe that animals possess a soul, because just like animals, humans are just another species and have realized that they possess a soul.
Do animals possess a soul? What is a soul?
Tigersmeow wrote: My own definition of a soul is: its what makes you, you. Your thoughts, feelings, senses-everything that is not physical about you. And the body is the transport for the soul. The soul uses the brain to interpret and store information while the soul resides in the heart. The body is merely just a vessel for the soul. At least that is my definition of a soul, I still need to research on the philosophical definition of a soul.
I do believe that animals possess a soul, because just like animals, humans are just another species and have realized that they possess a soul.
That's quite interesting and quite close. The soul cannot be seen, touched, heard, or otherwise. When everything else that makes up the body is stripped away, there is just a sensation of something else that you cannot quite grasp.
The soul does not reside in the heart. Rather, the emotions of the heart, as are all emotions, are manifestations of the soul as it reacts to spiritual energy. Likewise, not all thoughts are from the soul. Most spontaneous and subconscious thoughts (not necessarily in 'word' form) are, however, derived from the soul.
Since animals experience emotions, then it follows that they, too, have souls. But, defining the soul is nigh on impossible.
Out of interest, my dictionary gives this definition:
"Noun. The immaterial part of man regarded as immortal, or as subject to salvation & damnation or as animating the body or as existing independently of it or as the true self or as the organ of emotion & thought & will...". Food for thought.
I do believe that animals possess a soul, because just like animals, humans are just another species and have realized that they possess a soul.
That's quite interesting and quite close. The soul cannot be seen, touched, heard, or otherwise. When everything else that makes up the body is stripped away, there is just a sensation of something else that you cannot quite grasp.
The soul does not reside in the heart. Rather, the emotions of the heart, as are all emotions, are manifestations of the soul as it reacts to spiritual energy. Likewise, not all thoughts are from the soul. Most spontaneous and subconscious thoughts (not necessarily in 'word' form) are, however, derived from the soul.
Since animals experience emotions, then it follows that they, too, have souls. But, defining the soul is nigh on impossible.
Out of interest, my dictionary gives this definition:
"Noun. The immaterial part of man regarded as immortal, or as subject to salvation & damnation or as animating the body or as existing independently of it or as the true self or as the organ of emotion & thought & will...". Food for thought.
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daffodil52
- Posts: 183
- Joined: Wed Sep 21, 2005 6:45 am
Do animals possess a soul? What is a soul?
sorry I'm out of er I though u were talkin motown,,,, soul music
no they havent.... pigs and cow,,,,, may have it soul meat opps a mean soil... lol daffy52 its just not possible... they do not speak our tongue,,,,,,
we eat them,,,, their food... and if their bigger than us, well were their food
dr dolittle is needed here.... soul turn it in will er ducks
no they havent.... pigs and cow,,,,, may have it soul meat opps a mean soil... lol daffy52 its just not possible... they do not speak our tongue,,,,,,
we eat them,,,, their food... and if their bigger than us, well were their food
dr dolittle is needed here.... soul turn it in will er ducks
Do animals possess a soul? What is a soul?
Tigersmeow wrote: Okay, so I am doing this paper for philosophy class. The subject is: Do animals possess a soul? And if they do or do not, if there is a heaven do animals get to go there too?
I would really like a lot of opinions on this so that I can give the perspectives of others views on the subject.
Appreciate it! Thanks!:-6
Not even the Bible knows where animals are going.
I would really like a lot of opinions on this so that I can give the perspectives of others views on the subject.
Appreciate it! Thanks!:-6
Not even the Bible knows where animals are going.