I am looking for help with a survey for my philoso

I am currently taking a intro course to philosophy and for my final I am to do a survey on a topic of my choice and thought that this would be a good place to find some people knowledgeable who might be willing to help thank you.

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Age

Religion

Do you believe in a soul?

If no please explain.

If yes where do you believe the soul resides?

What reason do you give for believing the soul exists?

What do you believe happens to the soul while you are asleep?

What do you believe happens to the soul after death?

Do you believe it is possible to lose the soul? (please explain)


Please feel free to add anything that you may fee would be benificial to my survey.

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Thank you for your help it is very much appreciated.

I think it would be much easier if you made it multiple choice and didn't tell people that it was for school. Explaining my views on the soul would take pages, and people who come to this site don't want to do that.

Just advice. I've done surveys before, and making it multiple choice attracts more people. Always include an "other" option. Never include more than six options.

Hi cntryluv, I agree with Attolia - it would take pages for me to answer your questions. But also, your questions presuppose certain beliefs about the soul. I feel that rather than answering your questions, I want to explain why I can't answer them.

To start with, the question "where does the soul reside?" I don't think of the soul as a physical entity, therfore it does not reside anywhere. The closest analogy I can make is that if my body is a car, and my mind the driver of that car, my soul is the road upon which the car is travelling. It's a clumsy metaphor, but the best I can come up with.

Hope this is helpful to you in some way.

I too want to be a philosopher

>Age

34

>Religion

Christian

>Do you believe in a soul?

Yes

>If yes where do you believe the soul resides?

The soul is associated with each person's body but it is a spiritual association not a physical one. To reside someplace one must have physical attributes - since the soul is not physical but spiritual it literally resides no where. To be metaphorical, the soul is the breath of God given to man and it imparts to us certain divine attributes like rationality, creativity and conscience (knowing good from evil).

>What reason do you give for believing the soul exists?

I know good from evil - I have a conscience.

>What do you believe happens to the soul while you are asleep?

It is present in the same manner as when one is awake.

>What do you believe happens to the soul after death?

For Christians, to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.

>Do you believe it is possible to lose the soul? (please explain)

No.

Age – 40 something

Religion – Celtic Reconstructionist/pagan

Do you believe in a soul? -Aye

If yes where do you believe the soul resides? –
The soul, a part of the spirit self tied to the body, resides with the body, but remains in contact with the spirit self.

What reason do you give for believing the soul exists? –
Through empirical testing, and research of several religious beliefs, numerous books and writings.

What do you believe happens to the soul while you are asleep? –
Although normally the soul stays with the body, one can send it forth, during what is termed a Dream Journey, through Shamanic practices. The soul can readily do this on it's own when necessary however, resulting in dreams that tell of warnings, or otherwise assist in the well being of the person.

What do you believe happens to the soul after death? –
The soul returns to the Spirit Self on the astral plane. Under extreme circumstances, part or all of the soul may remain for a time on this plane, resulting in the many 'ghost' sightings.

Do you believe it is possible to lose the soul? (please explain) –
The soul is the person, to loose the soul, or parts of it, are to loose you. Through deep personal loss, substance abuse, or abusing others in any way. One who looses part or all of their soul will exhibit marked and sudden changes in behavior, becoming increasing withdrawn, or even antisocial and amoral changes will take place. The body will live on without a soul. Some theories state that at this time, another soul may move in and take over, usually of a benign nature, and may result in 'possessions' when negative spirits inhabit the shell.

Please feel free to add anything that you may fee would be benificial to my survey.
Although I cannot remember the author, as it was years ago, there is a man who followed Houdini around years after his death, talking to those Mediums the magician could not disprove. Each Medium, who had no contact with each other, said exactly the same thing. A short search in the library should find the author and title.

Age - 18

Religion - Atheist

Do you believe in a soul? - Yes, after a fashion. In the sense that we each have a soul, but in effect no one else does. The soul is a piece of information which says "I perceive out of this body and not another's body"

If yes where do you believe the soul resides? - I have absolutely no idea.

What reason do you give for believing the soul exists? - Well I am a conscious being who happens to see out of this body, and not another body. There is no physical reason why this conscious being is tied to this body and not another body. I call that reason "soul". But its not worth getting psyched up about.

What do you believe happens to the soul while you are asleep? - It doesn't receive any information so in practice it ceases to exist (not counting dreams).

What do you believe happens to the soul after death? - Ceases to have any function, effectively ceases to exist.

Do you believe it is possible to lose the soul? (please explain) - No.