where does the soul reside and how does it interact with the body? if the soul is not at all material then how does it influence or affect the material plane, i.e. our bodies?
this may be an old topic here, but i'm fairly new - so ignore it if it's old and tired. just though i'de bring a little cartesian dualism to the forum. decartes is responsible for my favorite example of circular reasoning to prove the existence of god, so it seems as though it would fit right in here.
Originally posted by nomind where does the soul reside and how does it interact with the body? if the soul is not at all material then how does it influence or affect the material plane, i.e. our bodies?
this may be an old topic here, but i'm fairly new - so ignore it if it's old and tired. just though i'de bring a little cartesian dualism to the forum. decartes is responsible ...[text shortened]... ar reasoning to prove the existence of god, so it seems as though it would fit right in here.
Your question presumes the existence of a soul. That would need to be proven before determining its whereabouts.
Originally posted by amannion Your question presumes the existence of a soul. That would need to be proven before determining its whereabouts.
Actually it gets more complex than that. The first question is of course what is existance. If the soul is outside of the universe, can it still be said to exist. If it is outside the universe but interacts with the universe should we only say that the interactivity exists. The real question is that if the soul is not detectable does it matter weather it exists. If it is not an essential part of conciousness then life after death is hardly meaningfull.
Of course much of the above applies to the concept of a God that is seperate yet interacting with the universe.
All we can say in science is that if God or souls exist then thier interactions with the universe have never been detected with scientific instruments and they do not significantly affect the laws of physics and to all intents and purposes can be ignored. If NASA had to contend with genuine 'acts of God' then we could never send spacecraft to mars.
i should have known that no christians would jump on this one, but to save the thread - what about the mind-body split then? substitute mind for soul and tell me how the mind interacts with the body. where does the mind reside? in physical space?
i used soul because i felt it would be more readily answered in this forum, but i suppose the mind/body question still has significant spiritual implications.
Originally posted by nomind the soul is inside the brain? is it contained in the brain? i thought that the soul was immaterial, so how can it reside anywhere in physical space?
The soul is a separate immaterial entity and, although not part of the material brain, manifests itself through the biological faulties of the brain... at least, while we're alive!
Originally posted by FreakyKBH The soul is a separate immaterial entity and, although not part of the material brain, manifests itself through the biological faulties of the brain... at least, while we're alive!
but how does it manifest through the biological faculties of the brain? how does an immaterial entity "touch" the material world? also, if it were possible to grow a brain in a jar, would that brain be able to take on a soul?
Originally posted by nomind but how does it manifest through the biological faculties of the brain? how does an immaterial entity "touch" the material world? also, if it were possible to grow a brain in a jar, would that brain be able to take on a soul?
If by "how" you mean to ask the mechancial/chemical breakdown, I have no idea. To my knowledge, no one has been able to show how it works in that area.
It is not possible to grow a brain in a jar, so i shan't speculate on the impossible.
Originally posted by FreakyKBH If by "how" you mean to ask the mechancial/chemical breakdown, I have no idea. To my knowledge, no one has been able to show how it works in that area.
It is not possible to grow a brain in a jar, so i shan't speculate on the impossible.
what if god wanted to grow a brain in a jar - that's not possible? i know that no one has been able to show how a soul/body interaction works, that's why i asked it. there must be some answer that a theist has to that question. if there is no reasonable answer, does that diminish faith? how many unanswered questions does it take before faith should be surrendered? i already know the answer of course, faith should never be surrendered in the face of reason. so why all the discussion and debate on spiritual matters if the believers will believe anyway, and the non-believers won't?
Originally posted by nomind what if god wanted to grow a brain in a jar - that's not possible? i know that no one has been able to show how a soul/body interaction works, that's why i asked it. there must be some answer that a theist has to that question. if there is no reasonable answer, does that diminish faith? how many unanswered questions does it take before faith should be sur ...[text shortened]... ebate on spiritual matters if the believers will believe anyway, and the non-believers won't?
As reason and logic are necessarily derived from God's being, the Christian engages others in matters relative to the field, reasoning with them in areas of thought, refuting their illogically-held beliefs.
Is faith diminished by what is not known? Absurd! What is known, what is available, that is what faith is based upon. Were belief in a position shown to be illogical or unfounded, it is expected that the one so holding the belief would relent or revise. We have seen this simply is not the case for a great many people.
Originally posted by FreakyKBH As reason and logic are necessarily derived from God's being, the Christian engages others in matters relative to the field, reasoning with them in areas of thought, refuting their illogically-held beliefs.
Is faith diminished by what is not known? Absurd! What is known, what is available, that is what faith is based upon. Were belief in a pos ...[text shortened]... lief would relent or revise. We have seen this simply is not the case for a great many people.
i would say faith thrives on the unknown. one doesn't need faith if they have evidence. faith is not based on what is known, faith is based on what cannot be known.
Originally posted by nomind i would say faith thrives on the unknown. one doesn't need faith if they have evidence. faith is not based on what is known, faith is based on what cannot be known.
Sounds like you are describing the US monetary system and the "Federal" "Reserve."
Originally posted by nomind i should have known that no christians would jump on this one, but to save the thread - what about the mind-body split then? substitute mind for soul and tell me how the mind interacts with the body. where does the mind reside? in physical space?
i used soul because i felt it would be more readily answered in this forum, but i suppose the mind/body question still has significant spiritual implications.
May not be exactly what you wanted but there's some interesting new research on the mind that suggests that consciousness might be partly a result of the human body's interactions with the world around us - in other words, our consciousness may not be wholly contained or resulting from our brain which is the usuall thought.
Haven't got any links - I'll look them up.
dualism
26 Mar '06 20:33
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