(February 26, 2016 at 3:04 pm)Huggy74 Wrote:(February 26, 2016 at 1:55 pm)Crossless1 Wrote: "Rational" is just a restatement of "reason" so that's much help.That's actually taken from the definition.
(February 26, 2016 at 1:55 pm)Crossless1 Wrote: What I'm getting at is whether reason, to you, necessarily involves symbolic thought or just problem-solving? Other species, after all, exhibit problem-solving intelligence. Do they have souls?
Computers have the ability to problem solve, yet they can't reason... you know, the whole "Cogito ergo sum" thing
Fair point, but computers aren't other species. Do chimps, rats, or crows have souls? Is the ability of an organism to engage in self-reflection the hallmark of having a soul? If so, do people in vegetative states that result from disease or accident retain a soul somehow, or is their soul lost? If lost, what's the difference between "having a soul" and having certain higher brain functions?