I have a Spirit but I do not have a Soul.
Many of you may be confused by that opening title statement... but it is true, we all have spirits but we don't have souls [at least, no one can prove we have souls].
Both terms are quite similar, and both terms can come to mean many different things.
What's the difference?
Well I focus on the Dictionary.com's first and primary definition for each statement.
"Soul - the principle of life, feeling, thought, and action in humans, regarded as a distinct entity separate from the body, and commonly held to be separable in existence from the body; the spiritual part of humans as distinct from the physical part." - Dictionary.com
"Spirit - the principle of conscious life; the vital principle in humans, animating the body or meditating between body and soul." - Dictionary.com
Quite clearly, Spirit and Soul are different words and refer to different things, at least they do the way I use them.
A "soul" is a consciousness or living entity that lives separate from a human body during life [using it as a shell] and apart from it after death. - There is NO evidence whatsoever that this thing exists at all.
So, no, I do not believe I have a soul.
Christians [and laymen] sometimes get "soul" and "spirit" mixed up. - Probably because "spirit[s]" [the plural] can sometimes refer to multiple incorporeal entitities, but that is not the kind of "spirit" I am referring to.
Rather, in my definition, a "Spirit" is the human's personality that is made up of any number of internal and external influences. While this is almost the same definition as a "soul." One should be careful in making the assumption that it IS the same, because it's not.
Unlike a "Soul" a person's "spirit" [the essence of their "self"] is not living apart form their physical body... it is a part of it. It is the combination of body to brain, brain to body, and brain to brain communication that tells the person "this is who I am" and gives them all their thoughts, ideas, memories, and perceptions of the world around them. The Spirit is "run" by the brain, like electricity is powered by a generator. Unlike a soul, when the brain dies, the spirit dies too.
To deny that I have a spirit, is to deny that I have an identity, a personality, a sense of self.
But to assert that I have a soul, is to go beyond the boundaries of my knowledge and either become naively delusional, or out-right lie.
Both terms are quite similar, and both terms can come to mean many different things.
What's the difference?
Well I focus on the Dictionary.com's first and primary definition for each statement.
"Soul - the principle of life, feeling, thought, and action in humans, regarded as a distinct entity separate from the body, and commonly held to be separable in existence from the body; the spiritual part of humans as distinct from the physical part." - Dictionary.com
"Spirit - the principle of conscious life; the vital principle in humans, animating the body or meditating between body and soul." - Dictionary.com
Quite clearly, Spirit and Soul are different words and refer to different things, at least they do the way I use them.
A "soul" is a consciousness or living entity that lives separate from a human body during life [using it as a shell] and apart from it after death. - There is NO evidence whatsoever that this thing exists at all.
So, no, I do not believe I have a soul.
Christians [and laymen] sometimes get "soul" and "spirit" mixed up. - Probably because "spirit[s]" [the plural] can sometimes refer to multiple incorporeal entitities, but that is not the kind of "spirit" I am referring to.
Rather, in my definition, a "Spirit" is the human's personality that is made up of any number of internal and external influences. While this is almost the same definition as a "soul." One should be careful in making the assumption that it IS the same, because it's not.
Unlike a "Soul" a person's "spirit" [the essence of their "self"] is not living apart form their physical body... it is a part of it. It is the combination of body to brain, brain to body, and brain to brain communication that tells the person "this is who I am" and gives them all their thoughts, ideas, memories, and perceptions of the world around them. The Spirit is "run" by the brain, like electricity is powered by a generator. Unlike a soul, when the brain dies, the spirit dies too.
To deny that I have a spirit, is to deny that I have an identity, a personality, a sense of self.
But to assert that I have a soul, is to go beyond the boundaries of my knowledge and either become naively delusional, or out-right lie.
-
Comment by Michel-san on February 2, 2010 at 4:31pm -
Great post!
Mentioning "existence" and "soul" together makes me think of Duncan MacDougall's experiments to find the weight of a human soul.
-
Comment by Shine on February 2, 2010 at 5:13pm -
I likes it! I agree with Adriana that "spirit" does carry a lot of semantic baggage, but Sky's post reminded me of a passage I just read the other day:
"Spirit" comes from the Latin word "to breathe." What we breathe is air, which is certainly matter, however thin. Despite usage to the contrary, there is no necessary implication in the word "spiritual" that we are talking of anything other than matter (including the matter of which the brain is made), or anything outside the realm of science. On occasion, I will feel free to use the word. Science is not only compatible with spirituality;it is a profound source of spirituality. When we recognize our place in an immensity of light-years and in the passage of ages, when we grasp the intricacy, beauty, and subtlety of life, then that soaring feeling, that sense of elation and humility combined, is surely spiritual...The notion that science and spirituality are somehow mutually exclusive does a disservice to both. Carl Sagan, The Demon Haunted World, pp. 29-30
I think that he addresses what both Sky and Adriana mentioned.
-
Comment by Shine on February 2, 2010 at 5:42pm
-
I'm glad that you like it, Adriana; it really struck me the other day. Like you, I generally avoid using "spirit" or "spiritual" because so many people use it interchangeably with "soul." I found it really interesting that the Latin root of "spirit" is "to breathe," although it makes sense now that I think about "respiration" in English, or "respirer" in French and "respirar" in Spanish. It lessens my aversion to the word, although I still worry that others will misunderstand my meaning.
-
Comment by Kirk Holden on February 2, 2010 at 6:45pm -
I am with Adriana on the unfortunate reference to dualism.
What I do believe in is an emergent quality of consciousness. Some whole which is greater than the sum of parts emerges from individuals and by the extended phenotype propels human social interaction.
-
Comment by Wesley on February 2, 2010 at 7:58pm -
Spirits, souls, but what do we really 'know'? http://sites.google.com/site/themysticaldimension/
Comment
What's new today
Forum
What Is TPP? Biggest Global Threat to the Internet Since ACTA
Started by Morgan Matthew in Announcements. Last reply by Gallup's Mirror 26 minutes ago. 23 Replies 2 Likes
Blog Posts
Consolations of Atheism
Posted by richard vitzthum on May 25, 2013 at 11:38am 14 Comments 3 Likes
Events
Services we love
Check out our new mobile/tablet version of Think Atheist! www.ThinkAtheist.com/m
© 2013 Created by Morgan Matthew.
You need to be a member of Think Atheist to add comments!
Join Think Atheist