Do animals have souls ?

Maybe they do, maybe they don't. Why don't you ask one?

Originally posted by twiceaknight
Maybe they do, maybe they don't. Why don't you ask one?

ask a chimpanzee theyre smart now for some reason. i wouldnt doubt if we're doing weird experiments on them to make them smarter

Originally posted by EcstremeVenom
i dont believe anywhere in the bible it says animals do or do not go to heaven and i especially never heard that pets go to heaven cuz they make us happy; that sounds like a fairy tale. where at least the bible is believable by some people

Santa Claus is believable by some people too ...

I think animals have souls. My reasoning is that when their life is threatened , they try to save themselves. They fee l life.

I think the same is probably true of vegetation.but we cant detect their screams when they are eaten or picked.

There is a food chain to be maintained and we take our part.

Its also our responsibility to look after the animals , we are ton the whole their caretakers. we should protect them more and not use them just for our own satisfaction.

I eat them myself. I have no problem with that.

Originally posted by celticcountry
I think animals have souls. My reasoning is that when their life is threatened , they try to save themselves. They fee l life.

So feeling life gives you a soul?

What is a soul in your opinion?

Originally posted by DoctorScribbles
Do plants?

How about coral?

What about stuffed animals?

Animal crackers?

Yes.
Yes.
No.
No.

Originally posted by sonhouse
What about electrons? Why can't they have a soul?

Because they're not alive.

Originally posted by DoctorScribbles
No reason at all. When you're making stuff up, anything goes! That's what's so fun about fantasy.

"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." - Arthur C. Clarke

In your case, that should be "Any sufficiently advanced [philosophy, or theology, or any other academic discipline] is indistinguishable from fantasy".

Originally posted by lucifershammer
Because they're not alive.

So in your opinion what is life?
If a living computer is created in the future will it have a soul?
Do viruses have souls?
Replicating chemicals such as DNA?
Skin cells that have fallen off your body but not yet died?

Originally posted by celticcountry
I think animals have souls. My reasoning is that when their life is threatened , they try to save themselves. They fee l life.

I think the same is probably true of vegetation.but we cant detect their screams when they are eaten or picked.

There is a food chain to be maintained and we take our part.

Its also our responsibility to look after the ...[text shortened]... d not use them just for our own satisfaction.

I eat them myself. I have no problem with that.

Acting in self defence to save your life isn´t evidence of a soul. A desire to live means a greater likelyhood of survival and, by extension, the survival of the species as a whole: you can´t breed if you´re dead. Perhaps willingly putting your own life in danger to save another is evidence of a soul but I´m not 100% about that, or on the existence of a soul at all. I am however firmly of the belief that there´s no such thing as a completely selfless act.

If there is such a thing as a soul, what are the requisets for having one? If humans are animals then either all animals have souls or only humans do. If it´s only us then intelligence would seem to be the required property: it´s what makes us different from them, we have more of it than other life on this planet. If it´s not just us then some other factor must be involved, perhaps having a brain and being able to reason and think.

If humans are not animals but rather above them (perhaps made in God´s own image, or whatever) then it would seem that only we have souls, to make us more responsible for our actions etc.

If a living computer is created in the future will it have a soul?
Do viruses have souls?
Replicating chemicals such as DNA?
Skin cells that have fallen off your body but not yet died?[/b]

Originally posted by twhitehead
So in your opinion what is life?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life

"The systemic definition is that living things are self-organizing and autopoietic (self-producing). These objects are not to be confused with dissipative structures (e.g. fire)."

Do viruses have souls?

If they are alive, yes.

Replicating chemicals such as DNA?

Replication is not the sole determiner of life.

Skin cells that have fallen off your body but not yet died?

To the extent that they exist autonomously, yes.

Originally posted by DoctorScribbles
No reason at all. When you're making stuff up, anything goes! That's what's so fun about fantasy.

I can buy that! While we're fantasizing, I often wonder about this
'dark matter' thing. "matter", maybe, maybe even not, but the stuff interacts gravitationally with normal matter in the universe but thats about all. I often wonder if that may be the source of paranormal activity, humans or even animals tapping into that ghost matter somehow, maybe as a storehouse for information. Totally extemporizing here of course, not a shred of evidence one way or the other but with the extraordinary amount of anecdotal evidence concering paranormal stuff, maybe there is something to my little pet theory. Nothing science could put their hands on for sure, just more or less a suspicion on my part, there is something going on that overwhelms our matter pound for pound by several times over. That has to give anyone pause. Just what is that stuff anyway. I'm sure there is a Nobel prize in that question for whoever answers it.

Originally posted by lucifershammer
Yes.
Yes.
No.
No.

Facinating. Is this a personal opinion or is this something upon which
the Church has commented?

If the latter, could you link to a document, essay, or lecture that
talks about this?

Nemesio

Originally posted by Nemesio
Facinating. Is this a personal opinion or is this something upon which
the Church has commented?

If the latter, could you link to a document, essay, or lecture that
talks about this?

Nemesio

I can't wait to see the coral reefs in heaven, God bless their souls.

I've never before heard anybody assert that a blade of grass has a soul.

Suppose, 100,000 years from now, a neuroscientist could shape the neurons in may brain gradually such that they changed from being in a regular human configuration to being in a regular canine configuration.

Suppose dogs don't have souls. Would I lose my soul in the process?