A Journey with the Soul
Does it exist?
A research paper for my Philosophy class that earned an A-. The question was: Do souls exist, is it a part of our brain, and does it live on after life?
Is there such a thing as a soul? If it does exist, is it a part of our mind? Does it live on after we die? Questions that have wavering answers depending on who you ask. The dictionary definition of the soul is the spiritual or immaterial part of a human or animal. The word spiritual is an important component of that definition because to believe in a soul, one would have to have some type of understanding of the spiritual realm or be spiritual in general, in my opinion. However, many theories have been brought into context on what the soul is and whether or not it exists.
Understanding the soul is the ability to understand that there are many parts to it. It’s not just something that exists — not only does it exist, but it plays a crucial part in who we are. I believe that the soul does exist and you have to be somewhat of a spiritual person to believe in it and all that it means to our lives. To believe in something that is beyond our reality needs some level of belief in spirituality. I also believe that our soul absolutely lives on after death. We are just occupying this flesh of a body, but who we are is our soul. We are our souls. This also means that our souls are directly connected to our brain. If we are our souls, then our souls are needed for our brains to function. Again, we are only occupying this body. Without the soul, this body is just flesh. It will not work, it will not function.
In a dissertation written by Lester Newman that speaks about the concept of the soul regarding Plato’s theory, it states that Plato believes the soul is before all things and has knowledge of the world in “pure forms”. It also states that Plato describes the soul as “divine intelligence nurtured upon true knowledge.” He also believed that the soul is indestructible and immortal meaning that nothing can destroy it. Plato’s theory aligns with my theories on the soul very closely. To say that the soul is indestructible and immortal means that it lives outside of our body. This flesh that we are occupying is not indestructible, in fact, in the blink of an eye, this body can be destroyed. Plato’s theory directly correlates to the notion that the soul not only exists but lives on once we die.
However, Epicurus had a different theory on the soul — one that does not align with my theory or Plato’s theory. Epicurus’ theory states that the soul is composed of atoms and it is dispersed after death and loses the power it had while in the body. This theory suggests that when we die, our souls die. This contradicts anything within the spiritual realm — in fact, it is more scientific than it is spiritual. To believe that our souls disperse when we die and lose their power suggests that the soul is destructible. It also suggests that the soul is one with our flesh, which, is not necessarily the case. Are we occupying this body we are in? Yes, we are. But, although occupying the body, the soul and the body are two separate entities. When we die, the soul will not die with the body. To back up this theory, I quote directly from the King James Bible: Revelation: 6:9 When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne. They cried out with a loud voice, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” This verse suggests that the souls were still conscious and aware even after death. “How long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on earth?” That means that those souls, although their bodies died, they were still living on and able to speak to God.
This leads me to the objection to my position. The objection states that the soul is not the mind and that one can believe in minds without believing in souls which came from a journal from Cambridge University Press titled “Do Souls Exist”. I object to this belief. I believe that without the soul, there is no mind. Our soul is who we are. We are only occupying the flesh which is our outside makeup. However, our souls are what is alive inside of our bodies and transmit thoughts for our minds to work and to have any thought to begin with. We can also refer to Plato’s theory in which the soul is divine intelligence and nurtured upon true knowledge. If this is the case, then how can it be true that the mind is not the soul or vice versa? We need the soul for our minds to work and for us to have any knowledge at all. To think, make informed decisions, make mistakes, and learn, we need our soul. Right after our soul, we need a brain to transmit these thoughts so that our flesh can act. Although they all work together, they are all separate entities. You cannot believe that there is a mind without the soul. You cannot have a body functioning without a soul occupying it. They are not all one thing that will die together, but they are separate parts that are all needed for humans to function, live, and make decisions.
The old ways of science also object to my theory on the soul. According to an article by Robert Lanza, in a traditional sense, science has actually “dismissed” the soul as an object of human belief. It’s very black and white in the scientific sense. We live, we die, that’s it. There is no spirit or soul involved. Science does not recognize the spiritual world at all meaning that it will always go against the theory that a soul exists without our bodies. We are nothing more than atoms and carbon particles. There is no deeper thought or connection with the possibility that the soul exists. I cannot agree with that stance whatsoever as a spiritual person. There is a deeper meaning to life — to all of it. Can it be directly proven? Not exactly. However, this is where your faith and spirituality come into play the most.
So, does the soul actually exist, and is it a part of our brain? Do we really live on after we die? The answers to these questions will probably never have solid evidence to be true. However, these theories on the soul are quite thought-provoking and beg the question of what more is there to us, to life, and to the afterlife. These questions are ones that even the most non-spiritual person would probably ask at some point in their existence. My theory is there is no human life or human experience without the presence of the soul. We are our souls and when this flesh gets old and gray and dies, turning into the same dust that was used to create our bodies according to the bible, our soul will live on. To believe any of this, you have to have a connection to spirituality in some sense or else it will sound absurd. But referencing the Holy Bible once more: The human soul is imperishable, and every human soul will be somewhere for eternity, Daniel 12:2. Eternity is key to this entire argument. Our flesh will not live on for eternity, now that is a proven fact. If there is one thing we know for certain on this earth, it is that this flesh will die at some point. But, our souls will be somewhere for eternity according to the Bible. We ultimately will live, somewhere unknown right now, but we will be somewhere. Our souls will be here forever and those who are spiritual can take comfort in that theory.
References
Johnson, D. K. (2013). DO SOULS EXIST? Think, 12(35), 61–75. https://doi.org/10.1017/s1477175613000195
Lanza, R. (2021, March 21). Does The Soul Exist? Evidence Says “Yes” | Robert Lanza, M.D. — Biocentrism. Robertlanzabiocentrism.com. https://www.robertlanzabiocentrism.com/does-the-soul-exist-evidence-says-yes/
Lorenz, H. (2009). Ancient Theories of Soul (E. N. Zalta, Ed.). Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy; Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University. https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/ancient-soul/#4
Newman, L. I. (1958). The concept of the soul in Plato and in early Judeo-Christian thought. Open.bu.edu. https://open.bu.edu/handle/2144/6233#:~:text=The%20soul%20is%20not%20visible
