2011-03-08, 06:39 PM
This is more pointed towards the "religious" members but feel free to post your response if you don't fall into that kind of group.
Background of Question: My class was in a discussion about "Nature" and to make a long story short someone basically tried to win a debate by saying that because we have souls we are more worthy of existence where as animals are expendable due to a lack of a soul.
I responded to her: "What's a soul?" and after an exchange of "pretty philosophical words" she eventually concluded that she couldn't answer it. She then tried to use some failed logistics to try and deface my claim of the possibility that souls don't exist and made a fool of herself, but that's neither here nor there.
However I considered the win to be "cheap" when you consider the average person is not well prepared or knowledgeable on their religious beliefs beyond the basics. So for the sake of curiosity I'm asking:
What's is a soul and what is its value?
Note: I'm not asking you to do the impossible and prove the existence of a soul. I'm just asking what you believe an accurate description of a soul is and what do you think it's non-monetary value is (E.G. does having a soul make something better then something else).
EDIT: Also when does the soul enter the body and how does it get there
Background of Question: My class was in a discussion about "Nature" and to make a long story short someone basically tried to win a debate by saying that because we have souls we are more worthy of existence where as animals are expendable due to a lack of a soul.
I responded to her: "What's a soul?" and after an exchange of "pretty philosophical words" she eventually concluded that she couldn't answer it. She then tried to use some failed logistics to try and deface my claim of the possibility that souls don't exist and made a fool of herself, but that's neither here nor there.
However I considered the win to be "cheap" when you consider the average person is not well prepared or knowledgeable on their religious beliefs beyond the basics. So for the sake of curiosity I'm asking:
What's is a soul and what is its value?
Note: I'm not asking you to do the impossible and prove the existence of a soul. I'm just asking what you believe an accurate description of a soul is and what do you think it's non-monetary value is (E.G. does having a soul make something better then something else).
EDIT: Also when does the soul enter the body and how does it get there