Why do you think humans have 'souls'?

It seems to me the central dominant arrogance of the human race to think they are so high up on the scale they alone of all the creatures on Earth to have this attribute.

How specifically would you define a soul though?

Originally posted by PsychoPawn
How specifically would you define a soul though?

I presume it to be something central in our psyche that lives on after our body dies.
And apparently humans are the only beings on Earth to possess that trait.
Of course some people still believe in the devil, evil spirits, ghosts, ufo's and Bigfoot too, so go figure.

And why did you say that only humans have souls? There are plenty of peoples that recognize anything (living or otherwise) as to having a soul

Originally posted by sonhouse
I presume it to be something central in our psyche that lives on after our body dies.
And apparently humans are the only beings on Earth to possess that trait.
Of course some people still believe in the devil, evil spirits, ghosts, ufo's and Bigfoot too, so go figure.

the bible recognises that animals are souls as well.

Originally posted by sonhouse
It seems to me the central dominant arrogance of the human race to think they are so high up on the scale they alone of all the creatures on Earth to have this attribute.

I just dont think humans should be lumped in with the rest of the animals. I AM NOT SAYING WE ARE BETTER. I am just trying to point out the obvious, which is that humans have the most power on this planet at this time. We have the power to create,preserve or destroy other animals and their habitats(just to start with).
'Souls' are just a linguistical conception to explain our relationship with the Divine.
Like a lot of other liguistical tools, the word 'soul' is useful up to a point in orientating ourselves with...OurSelves. These conceptions will be discarded after they have no use.

Originally posted by robbie carrobie
the bible recognises that animals are souls as well.

I know quite a few animals that would be offended to be lump in with humans.

Originally posted by sonhouse
It seems to me the central dominant arrogance of the human race to think they are so high up on the scale they alone of all the creatures on Earth to have this attribute.

A significant proportion of Christians do believe animals have souls.
What is arrogant, is the belief that we are significantly superior. In many ways it is justified, but I think it is harder for a theist to justify than an atheist.

Originally posted by TerrierJack
I know quite a few animals that would be offended to be lump in with humans.

yes, most truly, for they do not kill for ulterior motive nor destroy their environment.

Originally posted by sonhouse
It seems to me the central dominant arrogance of the human race to think they are so high up on the scale they alone of all the creatures on Earth to have this attribute.

What an arrogant statement to make.

You don't see my dog sitting in his quiet spot gazing at his navel, do you?

I believe the Creator has skillfully tuned the creation so that humans have a certain self consciousness about both their connection to and distinction from the rest of creation.

We are obviously among other living things and are a kin to them. And we are obviously distinct from all others too.

We can neither be too proud nor too self effacing (false humility).

It is curious that there is no other creature on earth quite like human beings.

Originally posted by sonhouse
It seems to me the central dominant arrogance of the human race to think they are so high up on the scale they alone of all the creatures on Earth to have this attribute.

Blame it on God.

Originally posted by FreakyKBH
What an arrogant statement to make.

You don't see my dog sitting in his quiet spot gazing at his navel, do you?

Well at least we agree on music🙂
Notice I did not say anything about inherent intelligence, of course we are smarter than dogs and such, maybe not whales or dolphins, that is debatable at this point but even if they are smarter, we have a big advantage, FINGERS!, and we live on land, no accounting for the damage we can do there, eh! At least dolphins can't destroy the whole Earth biosphere.
Contemplation is not the same thing as possessing a soul. IMO no life forms at least on Earth, have this thing called souls.
For one thing, look at the accounting problem. If animals and humans both have them, there are quadrillions of the things floating around and that from just one pipsqueak little planet in the middle of Galactic nowhere. Multiply that times all the other life forms surely extant in the universe and you have one hell of an accounting problem, I.E., what the hell do you DO with all that soul mass? Is that what Dark Matter is? It outnumbers regular matter 5 to one so maybe that's it, Dark Matter=Souls all floating around hanging around their home galaxies and getting in each others way all dressed up and no place to go......

Originally posted by sonhouse
Well at least we agree on music🙂
Notice I did not say anything about inherent intelligence, of course we are smarter than dogs and such, maybe not whales or dolphins, that is debatable at this point but even if they are smarter, we have a big advantage, FINGERS!, and we live on land, no accounting for the damage we can do there, eh! At least dolphins can' ...[text shortened]... und their home galaxies and getting in each others way all dressed up and no place to go......

There's apparently research on the weight of souls. When a person dies, they lose 21 grams. Many people attribute this to being the soul.
But the whole speculation on dark matter/energy is interesting. I've read and talked about how people claim it to be the Dao, souls, et cetera.

Originally posted by ua41
There's apparently research on the weight of souls. When a person dies, they lose 21 grams. Many people attribute this to being the soul.
But the whole speculation on dark matter/energy is interesting. I've read and talked about how people claim it to be the Dao, souls, et cetera.

In other words, grasping at straws, anything, any old theory that fits the bill, to save the concept of Earthly life having this thing called 'souls'