ie. does a soul exist? why or why not, do you believe it?

i personally believe that the mind IS the body and there is no separation; this body is all that there is. i have not seen any evidence to support the idea of a separated mind and body. so far, all paranormal phenomena that i have come across have had a non-supernatural explanation.

I agree with Steven Pinker that "mind is what the brain does."

There is no reliable evidence that minds can exist apart from (biological) machinery.

Certainly the mind can not exist without the body. As for the soul, well, it's like all the other metaphysical phenomena, if you personally accept that it exists, and you have belief and faith that it does--then-bingo- it does! Just leave the people who choose to not believe alone! It really is a question of belief, and not proof.

Ellis, you should consider putting Steven Pinker's "How the Mind Works" on your reading list. I see it as a natural fruition of ideas promulgated by Marvin Minsky in his "Society of Mind."

Does Steven Pinker believe that the mind (which is, in this discussion, equated with the soul, something which could be debated too) is capable of survival without the body, as that is what is believed by people who believe in life after death? And who knows that they are wrong? I think they are, but I do not know they are, any more than they know they are right.

As I quoted previously, Pinker believes that "mind is what the brain does." I doubt he thinks the mind is capable of survival outside the body. I don't understand the rest of your questions.

Sorry, I assumed that you meant that the mind/soul was capable of separate existence outside the body, which is not sensible at all. My further point was that actually it would be impossible to prove what I just said, ie. that the mind/soul cannot exist outside the body. However I am sure that it cannot. I certainly believe that 'the mind is what the brain does, in fact it is the reason for the brain!

It's conceivably (extremely remotely) that minds could exist in some other machinery, other than brains. But I might wonder if that would change the mind.

Experiment that we cannot now conduct (and may never be able to):
Clone a brain (not too far out)
Copy contents (seems incredible at this point)

Would it still be the same 'person'?

FF- In one of those synchronistic moments which makes you reach for the garlic necklace there was a brilliant article in the paper today, which if I would I would have posted if I had ever learned how! It was called The Evolution of Morality and was by Steven Pinker (now my new hero!) His thesis was that morality, and the variety of what we understand as ethics are innate. He has a very interesting point of view.

Pinker is pretty good reading. Typically, religionists of various stripes resort to supernatural explanations for morality. In fact, they view it as very strong evidence for deity, the source of all morality. This was argued by C. S. Lewis and continues to be argued today by various fundamentalists. The argument, as with so many of them, is a 'proof' by assertion, "Evolution CANNOT account for morality."

'Typically, religionists of various stripes resort to supernatural explanations for morality. In fact, they view it as very strong evidence for deity, the source of all morality. This was argued by C. S. Lewis and continues to be argued today by various fundamentalists. The argument, as with so many of them, is a 'proof' by assertion, "Evolution CANNOT account for morality." '


well then they clearly don't understand what morality is
(lol, ironic)