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Do We Have Souls?
Do We Have Souls? Do We Have Souls? On the question of 'Do we have souls' and 'Can they survive after death', this writer will attempt a reasoned explanation and defense of my views to this philosophical question. After careful explanation of my own views , thoughts, and careful examination of the selected materials for this paper; I have come to this conclusion: unlike the problem of free will, the question of human beings having souls and their survival after the physical body is deceased, is not an easily argued topic. The problem of free will [as an example] can be more rationally discussed and analyzed through tangible means such as patterned and learned behavior and its like, but in dealing with the question of souls and in accepting their existence, it is an intangible thing which cannot be proved or disproved [at least as long as the physical body is existing]. This writer believe that a discussion , no matter how seemingly rational or even irrational is purely speculation and can have no real physical proof of that existence. Of the read philosophers on this topic, all are speculatory in their attempt to prove, disprove, or even clarify their position of the topic in question. This writer will first contribute his own speculation and proceed to explore the selected philosophers material on this subject. Though it first must be said that most of the read material is or seems to be question-begging and therefore leads only to more questions from myself. The question of having souls and their existence after the physical body is deceased has always been on men's minds. From the first beginnings of written history from the Ancient Near Eastern civilizations [Egyptians, Mesopotamian] , men [people] have always regarded the afterlife and the question of souls. It was not given much philosophical thought until the ancient Greek sophists, in the decline of their city-states that this topic was explored, but not only explored but started to gather acceptance among the people. Again, only when 'physical' life was becoming less cherished due to the decline and unhappiness with their earthly surroundings. Though the Hebrew people spoke and thought of an afterlife for their spirit, it was really not until widespread Christianity came about, and again this was at the time of decline of the Roman Empire. My initial point being that the idea of souls and their existence seemed to grow stronger at times of great depression or strife [much like when people pray to God when they only need something]. It was then that faith and hope for a better life after this one was at its greatest. Thus the emergence of the powerful religions such as Christianity and Islam, who base their teachings of faith on the fact [or non-fact] that there is a better life after this one, but to get there "you must join us and participate within our rules and propagate our faith that we give you". This is called conditional immortality [A.E. Taylor, p.601]. The ability to believe one has a soul and its existence after the physical body dies is not only for the participants in organized religion. I believe that the human body and mind work together over a lifetime to develop what I will myself call a soul or spirit, and with the advent of this soul - a place for it to exist without the physical body. I feel that the real close-minded thinking comes from the thought that life [in any sense] is over at the time of physical death, just as it may be close-minded to think that we are existing alone in the vast cosmos. I will concede that with our earthly rational thought that it is difficult to rationalize an existence after this one, so I am able to understand why some people believe that when the physical life is over, it truly is over. To give an analogy on how I believe the soul is developed: the development of the soul is like the programming of a computer it is fed all the various information and it is that information when it is in the computer that it defines itself by using the definitive information it has been given for the...This is ONLY a preview of the article. If you would like to view the entire document, you must subscribe to Electronic References. Please register below now! Get This Full Article After Registration
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