I understand the fact that Atheists do not believe in the existence of spirits and of course the supernatural. Christians however distinguishes between human spirit and soul. Now my question is directed mainly at Atheists and is this:

What is the general Atheist concept of soul?
Do Atheists have soul?

Note: Let no one ask some silly questions like: show me a soul?

Atheists are monists; that is, we generally believe that the mind is a product of the body, and that death of the body is also death of the 'soul'. However I'd guess that most atheists would say that they cannot prove this.

Atheists are people like you and i, it is just that they dont believe in existence of supernatural being or God.

I'm no Atheist but i will answer your question according to my level of reasoning.

Soul is nothing but a mere psychological feeling. The existence has to do with feeling of being physically present, your interaction/relationship with NATURE and all that is encompassed are a result of your innate ability to feel, touch and perceived. Therefore, the soul is immaterial, evaporated like substance that cannot be logically proved or feel by a mere mortal.

As for the second question, you must first explain the basic concept of the said soul before we know if Atheists possessed one or not.

Atheism justifies its stand by proclaiming a strictly materialistic worldview.
The irreparable human death disproves this nonsense.

They all got their different philosophy of life, lets see.

Btw, good question Op.

YES WE HAVE BRAINS JUST LIKE EVERYONE ELSE DOES

(This long message may have just appeared from nowhere...baba I booked space and slept abeg)

The soul is a metaphysical concept. The idea is that after we die, we still exist in another form which we are conscious of.

For many reasons, I refuse to believe the atheists' POV that it's all materialistic, and we totally cease to exist and lose consciousness when we die.

There was a case of one Eben Alexander III, a Harvard neurosurgeon, who suffered a near death experience: he was in a week-long coma, and brain scans showed that his entire cortex (the parts of the brain that give us consciousness, thought, memory, and understanding) was not functioning. However he later managed to wake up and claimed to have been awake in another realm - "heaven".

Well wherever this man's 'mind' went to during his coma (be it a dream, a vision, any other kind of psychological experience or perhaps reality even), the thing is: normally he requires his brain cortex to be at least active for him to even be aware/conscious of whatever he was experiencing - yet it wasn't even functioning then. This just means our true consciousness is beyond the physical brain that we attribute it to (the brain is a factor, yes, but not totally).

I also read articles that quantum physics may as well have proven that our consciousness (life in fact) continues after death, which obviously this feat cannot be achieved by the physical body. There are a number of quantum physicists who supported this even.

If you venture into the study of metaphysics, you'll see that the concept of a soul is not too hard to grasp.

Basically, we're within a parallel realm that's beyond our normal senses/perception, it involves a lot of phenomena which transcends the physics we know, and we are connected to this realm in one form or another (not through our body, but through our soul).

Too long didn't read: Yes, there is a soul

¡ʇᴉƃǝl sᴉ ʇᴉ ʇnq 'uɐɯ pɐɯ ɐ ʎq pǝdʎʇ sɐʍ ʇᴉ ǝʞᴉl ʞool ʎɐɯ sᴉɥ┴

shadeyinka:
I understand the fact that Atheists do not believe in the existence of spirits and of course the supernatural. Christians however distinguishes between human spirit and soul. Now my question is directed mainly at Atheists and is this:

What is the general Atheist concept of soul?
Do Atheists have soul?

Note: Let no one ask some silly questions like: show me a soul?

What a question! Your academical education stands for nothing if you fail to understand what it means to be an Atheist. A person who is has withstood religious brainwash . Those who are not Atheist (usually vulnerable people like yourself) are yet to question the belief that has institutionalized their structure of thinking.

Everybody has a Soul.The Soul is an energy-informational structure which is the identity of an individual. It is like a diskette that saves all the parallel life information of an individual.

onetrack:
Atheists are monists; that is, we generally believe that the mind is a product of the body, and that death of the body is also death of the 'soul'. However I'd guess that most atheists would say that they cannot prove this.

Another vocabulary I am learning today. The first was Deist and now I am learning about Monist. LOL...justifying Atheism is a complex affair!

noun (uncountable)
Monism
The doctrine of the oneness and unity of reality, despite the appearance of diversity in the world.

Seriously, If I get you right can we say that Atheists believe that the soul is the Brain or a product of the Brain?

yemmit90:
Atheists are people like you and i, it is just that they dont believe in existence of supernatural being or God.

I'm no Atheist but i will answer your question according to my level of reasoning.

Soul is nothing but a mere psychological feeling. The existence has to do with feeling of being physically present, your interaction/relationship with NATURE and all that is encompassed are a result of your innate ability to feel, touch and perceived. Therefore, the soul is immaterial, evaporated like substance that cannot be logically proved or feel by a mere mortal.

As for the second question, you must first explain the basic concept of the said soul before we know if Atheists possessed one or not.

Your definition of the Soul is the strangest I've ever heard..a psychological feeling?.

My definition:
The Soul is that invisible part of you that you call "I !" or " ME!" . It defines you as a conscious identity and the center of your Will, Emotion and Intellect .

I could be wrong but I think that the difference between Theists and Atheists with respect to the soul is that Theists believe that the soul can live without/outside the body while Atheists see it as a Brain function and as such when a person dies his soul dies too.

winner01:

Atheism justifies its stand by proclaiming a strictly materialistic worldview.
The irreparable human death disproves this nonsense.

They all got their different philosophy of life, lets see.

Btw, good question Op.

AmenRa1:

YES WE HAVE BRAINS JUST LIKE EVERYONE ELSE DOES

I guess it is easy for some Atheists to dismiss the concept of soul without really critically examining it. I see it like looking at a computer from a strict hardware perspective. But we know that the life of a computer (soul) is the Software of which we have the operating system and application packages.

Check out the definition below:

My definition:
The Soul is that invisible part of you that you call "I !" or " ME!" . It defines you as a conscious identity and the center of your Will, Emotion and Intellect .

If we agree, then we can debate in context and arrive at a point where one can say concretely whether or not the asoul is a pure brain/biological function.

Strawman:
If you venture into the study of metaphysics, you'll see that the concept of a soul is not too hard to grasp.

As far as skeptics of religion are still alive, the study of anything metaphysical will not move forward.

While few helpful scientists are busy finding out how some paranormal things could be actually possible, some douchebags are busy just downright rejecting the entire idea.

Strawman:
(This long message may have just appeared from nowhere...baba I booked space and slept abeg)

The soul is a metaphysical concept. The idea is that after we die, we still exist in another form which we are conscious of.

For many reasons, I refuse to believe the atheists' POV that it's all materialistic, and we totally cease to exist and lose consciousness when we die.

There was a case of one Eben Alexander III, a Harvard neurosurgeon, who suffered a near death experience: he was in a week-long coma, and brain scans showed that his entire cortex (the parts of the brain that give us consciousness, thought, memory, and understanding) was not functioning. However he later managed to wake up and claimed to have been awake in another realm - "heaven".

Well wherever this man's 'mind' went to during his coma (be it a dream, a vision, any other kind of psychological experience or perhaps reality even), the thing is: normally he requires his brain cortex to be at least active for him to even be aware/conscious of whatever he was experiencing - yet it wasn't even functioning then. This just means our true consciousness is beyond the physical brain that we attribute it to (the brain is a factor, yes, but not totally).

I also read articles that quantum physics may as well have proven that our consciousness (life in fact) continues after death, which obviously this feat cannot be achieved by the physical body. There are a number of quantum physicists who supported this even.

If you venture into the study of metaphysics, you'll see that the concept of a soul is not too hard to grasp.

Basically, we're within a parallel realm that's beyond our normal senses/perception, it involves a lot of phenomena which transcends the physics we know, and we are connected to this realm in one form or another (not through our body, but through our soul).

Too long didn't read: Yes, there is a soul

¡ʇᴉƃǝl sᴉ ʇᴉ ʇnq 'uɐɯ pɐɯ ɐ ʎq pǝdʎʇ sɐʍ ʇᴉ ǝʞᴉl ʞool ʎɐɯ sᴉɥ┴

Thanks for your post. I can see that you have taken the case with a conclusion that the soul exists AND that it is NOT a brain/biological phenomenon.

Actually, except we can explain away the experimentally/scientific verified phenomenon of Near Death Experiences, the Soul exists OUTSIDE the body and it may not just be a Biological/Chemical reactions in the brain.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QE7B2SJSC8

NDEs cannot be Dreams or Hallucinations because usually the brain activity is dead. I guess its something sincere Atheists need to examine. Its not really about finding God but finding Yourself.

Although, if a person can exist as a soul outside his body, then his arguments against the spiritual fall down like a pack of cards.

ifenes:


What a question! Your academical education stands for nothing if you fail to understand what it means to be an Atheist. A person who is has withstood religious brainwash . Those who are not Atheist (usually vulnerable people like yourself) are yet to question the belief that has institutionalized their structure of thinking.

Everybody has a Soul.The Soul is an energy-informational structure which is the identity of an individual. It is like a diskette that saves all the parallel life information of an individual.

Hey Bro, you sound ANGRY! We are not quarrelling; are we? LOL.
I haven't mentioned Religion and I haven't advocated religion.

What is religion?
It is simply what men do to please/attract the favour of a divine being.

I understand if you hate religion! Its is obvious to see that many of thoughts who are proponents of religion have caused more harm than good in the society. But we don't do away with money just because we discovered counterfeit money in existence. Actually, Tue more valuable a commodity is, the higher the chance of it being counterfeited. So it is with religion, pls bear with us.

The question posted was not an attack on Atheists: it was a philosophical question that needed answers. I respect the fact that Atheists will believe only that which is not subjective like FAITH, reason is objective isn't it? The laboratory of philosophy is sound reasoning.


Your definition of soul is strange to me, you being an Atheist.

Everybody has a Soul.The Soul is an energy-informational structure which is the identity of an individual. It is like a diskette that saves all the parallel life information of an individual.

For you seem to acknowledge that their is a software component of animals(including humans). This negates the spirit of Atheism...I could be wrong. For a software (sequence of logical instructions) cannot write itself.

I can imagine that given enough time, a Dell computer can self-assemble itself from particles in the environment however, it is impossible for the software to install itself in the compuer.

Your definition of Soul is correct! And Everybody has a Soul.

Strawman:
(This long message may have just appeared from nowhere...baba I booked space and slept abeg)

The soul is a metaphysical concept. The idea is that after we die, we still exist in another form which we are conscious of.

For many reasons, I refuse to believe the atheists' POV that it's all materialistic, and we totally cease to exist and lose consciousness when we die.

There was a case of one Eben Alexander III, a Harvard neurosurgeon, who suffered a near death experience: he was in a week-long coma, and brain scans showed that his entire cortex (the parts of the brain that give us consciousness, thought, memory, and understanding) was not functioning. However he later managed to wake up and claimed to have been awake in another realm - "heaven".

Well wherever this man's 'mind' went to during his coma (be it a dream, a vision, any other kind of psychological experience or perhaps reality even), the thing is: normally he requires his brain cortex to be at least active for him to even be aware/conscious of whatever he was experiencing - yet it wasn't even functioning then. This just means our true consciousness is beyond the physical brain that we attribute it to (the brain is a factor, yes, but not totally).

I also read articles that quantum physics may as well have proven that our consciousness (life in fact) continues after death, which obviously this feat cannot be achieved by the physical body. There are a number of quantum physicists who supported this even.

If you venture into the study of metaphysics, you'll see that the concept of a soul is not too hard to grasp.

Basically, we're within a parallel realm that's beyond our normal senses/perception, it involves a lot of phenomena which transcends the physics we know, and we are connected to this realm in one form or another (not through our body, but through our soul).

Too long didn't read: Yes, there is a soul

¡ʇᴉƃǝl sᴉ ʇᴉ ʇnq 'uɐɯ pɐɯ ɐ ʎq pǝdʎʇ sɐʍ ʇᴉ ǝʞᴉl ʞool ʎɐɯ sᴉɥ┴

Eben Alexander has been shown to be a fraud.

shadeyinka:




NDEs cannot be Dreams or Hallucinations because usually the brain activity is dead. I guess its something sincere Atheists need to examine. Its not really about finding God but finding Yourself..

The part in bold is false. NDE can easily be induced in the lab using drugs. It occurs when you starve your brain of somethings like oxygen for example. NDE occur when the body is fully active. Out of body experience is what is understudy and uptil now nothing concrete has been established on that. Just some fringe group using people's fears to make money with bogus stories.

Czar01:


As far as skeptics of religion are still alive, the study of anything metaphysical will not move forward.

While few helpful scientists are busy finding out how some paranormal things could be actually possible, some douchebags are busy just downright rejecting the entire idea.

You are right and correct. The concept of the soul is easy to understand.

Once a person come to the understanding of the fact that what makes up the computer is not just the hardware, but there exist also the software component, then even as an Atheist, the concept of the soul shouldn't be difficult


The argument may of cause be:
Are Emotions, Will and Intellect just brain waves?

shadeyinka:


Actually, except we can explain away the experimentally/scientific verified phenomenon of Near Death Experiences, the Soul exists OUTSIDE the body and it may not just be a Biological/Chemical reactions in the brain.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QE7B2SJSC8

NDEs cannot be Dreams or Hallucinations because usually the brain activity is dead. I guess its something sincere Atheists need to examine. Its not really about finding God but finding Yourself.

No it isn't. NDE reporters are always alive at the time they claim to experience the NDE and their brains were always at least in a partially functioning state. A permanently brain-dead person has never reported an NDE.

We do know that without certain physiological structures present in the brain, a person can be rendered incapable of functions that have historically been attributed to a soul: a sense of self/personality, the ability to recognize & process faces, sights, smells and other sensory inputs, the ability to show empathy or care towards others, to name a few. When a person suffers Alzheimer's for example, they can lose all sense of what it means to be "them" and cease to recognize friends, family members, or their own homes.

The reasoning that follows this information goes like this: if losing physiological brain functions while alive can result in loss of "soul-related" attributes, then certainly the death & decomposition of the entire brain would damage all of such attributes.

Despite everything we know about the brain so far, we still have MUCH more to learn. To me, it doesn't make sense to jump to the conclusion that an immaterial soul exists, when the functions of the brains that we know are required for sensory experience, personality, movement, information processing, ect. - are still being uncovered and understood. It just appears to be wishful thinking/confirmation bias at work, and the low standards of evidence often used to support the claims reflect that imo.

dalaman:



Eben Alexander has been shown to be a fraud.

There are several sources of NDE...and even Several from even non christian sources. Near Death Experiences have been scientifically proven.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QE7B2SJSC8

See a longer documentary below:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NRub9z8hPA

shadeyinka:


There are several sources of NDE...and even Several from even non christian sources. Near Death Experiences have been scientifically proven.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QE7B2SJSC8

See a longer documentary below:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NRub9z8hPA

These documentaries are christians apologist and evangelical nonsense. NDE are true. They are induced in labs using drugs and the effect is the same regardless of religion. It is what your experience when your brain is fried as a result of lacking somethings like oxygen.

dalaman:


The part in bold is false. NDE can easily be induced in the lab using drugs. It occurs when you starve your brain of somethings like oxygen for example. NDE occur when the body is fully active. Out of body experience is what is understudy and uptil now nothing concrete has been established on that. Just some fringe group using people's fears to make money with bogus stories.

Agreed that their have been some claims saying that NDEs have been simulated by drugs... It doesnt prove that it is a chemically induced "dreams". After all it has been scientifically proven that in dreams, the brain is active. One can actually distinguish between normal brain waves in dreamless sleep and brain waves in dreams.

Justify the fact that in the majority of the clinically verified NDEs no drug was involved. Cause of death varies from cardiac arrests, accidents, pregnancy related, B.P, suicide, drug overdose..

If Brain Activity is DEAD, (from Atheistic Materialistic point of view) it is IMPOSSIBLE for any form of CONSCIOUSNESS or DREAM or HALLUCINATION to occur! Check that out.

You cannot affordbto be over simplistic is throwing away a record because of one small data.

cloudgoddess:

No it isn't. NDE reporters are always alive at the time they claim to experience the NDE and their brains were always at least in a partially functioning state. A permanently brain-dead person has never reported an NDE.

Sorry cloudgoddess, you are wrong on this one. Several Near death experiences have been documented clinically with ZERO brain function among other indicators of death. Intact, the new scientific position is trying to re-define death away from the traditional definition.

I think the problems is that Atheists are sceptical to a point of becoming unreasonable and just being obstinate.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vIyFSqblMQ

cloudgoddess:

We do know that without certain physiological structures present in the brain, a person can be rendered incapable of functions that have historically been attributed to a soul: a sense of self/personality, the ability to recognize & process faces, sights, smells and other sensory inputs, the ability to show empathy or care towards others, to name a few. When a person suffers Alzheimer's for example, they can lose all sense of what it means to be "them" and cease to recognize friends, family members, or their own homes.

Your argument is like this:
You: Softwares don't exist. The computer is just hardware..after all we have opened up several computers and no one can see any software.
Me: Why do you say that?
You: We removed the RAM and the Hard Disc Drive of a computer and the computer couldn't function again.
Me: So what's your conclusion?
You: It takes no software to run a computer. Evidence has shown that what runs the computer is the RAM and HDD.

You can clearly see that your point holds no water!

cloudgoddess:

The reasoning that follows this information goes like this: if losing physiological brain functions while alive can result in loss of "soul-related" attributes, then certainly the death & decomposition of the entire brain would damage all of such attributes.

Could this not be seen that the Brain is the Hardware while the Soul is the Software part of an individual? Must something be physical to exist?

cloudgoddess:

Despite everything we know about the brain so far, we still have MUCH more to learn. To me, it doesn't make sense to jump to the conclusion that an immaterial soul exists, when the functions of the brains that we know are required for sensory experience, personality, movement, information processing, ect. - are still being uncovered and understood. It just appears to be wishful thinking/confirmation bias at work, and the low standards of evidence often used to support the claims reflect that imo.

I think it is the Atheists who have biasedly ignored evidences which do not support their position even when it information that seemsbto support their position is INADEQUATE! Science indeed still has much to learn

What feels pain? The body or the soul?

dalaman:


These documentaries are christians apologist and evangelical nonsense. NDE are true. They are induced in labs using drugs and the effect is the same regardless of religion. It is what your experience when your brain is fried as a result of lacking somethings like oxygen.

NDEs are NOT exclusive to Christians. Sorry once again, even though NDEs or OBEs have been clinically induced, my point is by Atheists argument, if there is no Brain function/Activity, consciousness cannot exist.

Several NDEs (not OBEs) have been clinically proven with ZERO Brain activity.

Are we saying that chemicals in the brain and NOT electrical activities is the carrier of neural information?

I could show you experiences of non christian NDEs. It just prove that the experience is not from "Biased Christian apologists". At least non Christians are not trying to connect you with their god unlike the christians


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PAPt8I6Dxoc

davien:
What feels pain? The body or the soul?

BOTH:
Your Body feels Physical Pain and
Your Soul feels Emotional Pain

shadeyinka:




BOTH:
Your Body feels Physical Pain and
Your Soul feels Emotional Pain

Are you sure you're educated? Or lemme rephrase,did you go to school?

Emotions and physical pain are both relayed in the brain, both are neuro processes.

Your thinking is no different than ancient Jews that thought thinking came from your physical heart(yes, you read that right).

Yes. Every Life has Soul. Atheists Souls are Scraps pleading for Re-use. And only God, The Instructor, Director and The Discernment that Atheists, whose Hearts,Souls,Minds and Bodies repel, can reuse Atheists Souls. Please don't worry about Atheists Scrapped Souls because Worry is a Sin whose wages is death.

shadeyinka:




BOTH:
Your Body feels Physical Pain and
Your Soul feels Emotional Pain

Lolz, i use to think like this sometimes ago until i met a guy who was in a coma for 1 week. He was miraculously survived death at that time, then i asked him if he dreamt or found himself in any realm other than when he was alive.

To my utmost surprise, he said he knew nothing until the moment he woke up.

What we called SOUL is a product of the BODY and it completely perish with the death of its producer(body).

shadeyinka:


I guess it is easy for some Atheists to dismiss the concept of soul without really critically examining it. I see it like looking at a computer from a strict hardware perspective. But we know that the life of a computer (soul) is the Software of which we have the operating system and application packages.

Comparing the soul to a software is almost accurate...

Yes, the software is the immaterial part of the computer and can be regarded as the heart or soul of the machine, but because its immaterial doesnt mean its indestructible.

Take a look at the human brain, it is made up of 87 billion neurons with trillions and trillions of connections, it is the most complex object that we know of in the entire universe right now. How does it work?, it uses Neurotransmitters to send signals from one neuron to the other, how it creates a sense of self?, we dont know, not because its unknowable,but because its very complex. Ultimately the brain is a computer, a very complex computer that is processing information in such a complex way that creates awareness.

Back to the software, software instructions are just electrical pulses of ones and zeroes stored in the RAM and once the RAM is destroyed, so is the socalled "immaterial" software, it doesnt survive the death of the computer and for that exact reason did they create a mechanism for users to copy out the contents of the memory to an external device in the event the degradation of the RAM occurs, the contents wont be lost.

Now, the moment you show me how that process can be replicated with the human brain and all of its electrical activities, then i would agree that yes, the soul does indeed survive the death of the brain, until then, the soul is truly like a software, immaterial in such that it is the activity of the brain and not the brain itself, and if the hardware in which it is running on gets degarded, it stops existing...

davien:
Are you sure you're educated? Or lemme rephrase,did you go to school?

Emotions and physical pain are both relayed in the brain, both are neuro processes.

Your thinking is no different than ancient Jews that thought thinking came from your physical heart(yes, you read that right).

You had a broken foot due to a football excercise and you whent to see the Doctor. He says, where are you feeling the pain. And you reply the pain is IN MY Brain.

I guess you quest for argument did NOT allow you to read the question. Questions are answered correctly only when in proper context.

Davien Asked:

davien:
What feels pain? The body or the soul?

Who doesnt know that the Brain is the Central Processing Unit of the Body. All Pains are felt at their respective PAIN Receptors

orisa37:
Yes. Every Life has Soul. Atheists Souls are Scraps pleading for Re-use. And only God, The Instructor, Director and The Discernment that Atheists, whose Hearts,Souls,Minds and Bodies repel, can reuse Atheists Souls. Please don't worry about Atheists Scrapped Souls because Worry is a Sin whose wages is death.

Actually Atheists do not know that they are under some invisible influence who blindfolds them to reality. I guess maybe after their death, they will find out the truth but of course then its too late.

yemmit90:


Lolz, i use to think like this sometimes ago until i met a guy who was in a coma for 1 week. He was miraculously survived death at that time, then i asked him if he dreamt or found himself in any realm other than when he was alive.

To my utmost surprise, he said he knew nothing until the moment he woke up.

What we called SOUL is a product of the BODY and it completely perish with the death of its producer(body).

What a shame. Coma is competly different from NDE. In a coma, there is still Brain Activity. In NDE no Brain Activity.

http://www.near-death.com/science/evidence.html#a1

shadeyinka:


You had a broken foot due to a football excercise and you whent to see the Doctor. He says, where are you feeling the pain. And you reply the pain is IN MY Brain.

I guess you quest for argument did NOT allow you to read the question. Questions are answered correctly only when in proper context.

Davien Asked:


Who doesnt know that the Brain is the Central Processing Unit of the Body. All Pains are felt at their respective PAIN Receptors

You certainly are illiterate.