GZ tan could you please explain how a 'soul' is not simply fantasy ?

The soul is the expression of who you are, including the emotional, motivational and intellectual life demonstrating you are a living human as distinct from a soulless tree. The soul is you. Say it! "I am a living person. I am a soul". The soul of who you are departs the organic body at death. You have been a part of the eternal history of the universe. It is your life, your character, your attitudes your actions, your personal revelation that is much more relative to the universe than the chemistry of your body that will return to dust to form many other living organisms, which you already now contribute by excreation, exhaling and pirspiration.

The more relevant question West, is not is there such thing as a "soul", but rather are you or am i a "soul" or "spirit" or non-material entity or simply a combination of organic matter, chemicals, neurons, and what have you. Do you as you know yourself arise from the function of the body and the brain or is the function of such things subservient to you as an entity above this?
It becomes fantasy when you talk of soul in the third-person but when you consider it in terms of consciousness and the ability to think and reason it becomes a proposition that is more real.

Here's another interesting question to consider:
If a person dies but their body is still young and intact, and if the conditions that brought about death were removed, and the body was repaired of all damage and stimulated back to working order, would it stand to reason that the person would go on living again as they were prior to death?

West,

Philo explained soul. But I tend to mix up spirit & soul (perhaps I don't care)

First, my problems with the concept of a supernatural everlasting soul/spirit :
1. God does not seem to show up. (Though I do accept God may choose not to do so)
2. soul/spirit of the deads never seem to manifest. (Though this can be explained away also)

Still, I believe soul/spirit is no fantasy:

1. Observations that humans are distinct from non-humans in very special ways suggest to me that humans possess something special. Call it soul/spirit if you may.

2. I do have an innate difficulty in believing that when we die, we are simply void. (You may rightly regard this a pure fantasy).

3. "Unfortunately" there are such things as religions that tell us spirit/soul is not a fantasy. I think you may only attribute a 50% chance that ALL religions are pure fantasies. So you are not winning here either.

4. Do you agree in fact science is unable to explain our existence? Creationism provides an explanation even if you disagree. Creationism is part of religions that tell us about spirit/soul. Unless science can explain life in a way that disproves religions, then spirit/soul is not a fantasy.

5. When I was little I played a Chinese version of "wiji board". We invited a "ghost" (through chantings) to move a little dish (with our fingers on it). That damn thing actually moved, and moved wildly at times. That we used to obtain answers to some questions. No matter how you explain away this supernatural phenomenon, I'm convinced that movement of our dish was NOT a result of pushing by our little fingers.

I suspect that "devils or satans" are more than happy to manifest themselves (even if God will not). But why is there apparently no "scientific research" into "devils or satans"?

Just then I quickly googled "wiji board" (for the FIRST time since I started surfing the Internet) and gee there are heaps on the web.

Perhaps some people do know a lot more.

West,

In the end, did some research and have much summarised an article in the Catholic Encyclopaedia on the Soul:

The soul subsists outside the human mind and body. It incorporates latent energies and ideas which are outside the mind but interact with consciousness, having free will and the ability to contact the mind. The continued existence of the soul after death is tethered to the spiritual “substantiality of the soul” after death.

Well now we have it. A three layer cake [soul: mind: body], which operates as of a spiritual realm, something like consciousness beyond the mind working through the individual [Jung would like this.], guiding us via the conscious mind and in “vegetative”
states (sleep), and is carried into the after-life, after death. [Where I think, Philo might add, the soul exists for eternity in a non-spatial, non-dimension?]

Sells and Philo,

[To Christians] The above would suggest the existence of the animated spiritual “through” the organic physical and the continuance of the substance of the former subsequent the demise of the latter.

If I can review nullifying perspectives to my perspectives. I find it hard to understand why religionists do not read material antagonistic to faith. It is good science specifically, and, makes good sense generically.

If one reads Middle Eastern history a few centuries either side of Augustinian Rome, it is clear why there was Jewish unrest and many Messiahs afoot. Likewise, gods and theocrasia studied from the view of cultural anthropology build sound perspectives… The dots are joined. The pieces come together. Fides quaerens intellectum [faith in search of understanding] is arresting methodologically.

One can’t see where one are wrong, based on an “I am right, stop,” as the primary premise. If we all thought like this, any Jesus could not have been a carpenter (carpentarius), becuase the wheel would not been invented.

The definition of a soul is a construction which serves to be a gap filler to try and make anomalies in the immortality/salvation/afterlife claim to appear possible. The fact still remains the foundation of the concept and belief in the soul is based on fantasy. Nobody has yet spoken factually about souls.

Souls are important because the soul is central into religion decieving the mentally vulnerable into becoming superstitiously paranoid about the afterlife, which is also occult conjecture based on fantasy.It is the economic bread and butter of organised religion. Without superstitious paranioa religion would have to depend on a god which is not there and so they will go extinct instead they depend on the money which allows them to exist. Money is the life blood of religion and the concept of soul is central to their advertising spin.

The probability a soul is likely to exist is the same probability Titan is populated by three headed English speaking mackerel. One could argue the possibility exists based on the existence of heads, fish and the English language but at the end of the day is there three headed English speaking mackerel on Titan and what is that claim based on. Certianly if there was it would be by pure luck of random guesses and not by knowledge such a claim was based upon?

If Titan was populated by whistling krill , no doubt the Titanese Mackeral claimant would swear black and blue this is what he meant.

Think about what you are suggesting. A soul based on absolutely no knowledge and what a soul does (saved, damned) without any shred of evidence for a soul in the first place. Clearly you make the soul up, certainly the soul is fantasy.