(February 26, 2016 at 4:29 pm)Crossless1 Wrote:(February 26, 2016 at 3:04 pm)Huggy74 Wrote: That's actually taken from the definition.
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.
Yes, but the example shows why problem solving doesn't equal reasoning.
(February 26, 2016 at 4:29 pm)Crossless1 Wrote: Do chimps, rats, or crows have souls?No, think about it, animals don't know how to discern right and wrong, which is crucial to ones ability to reason.
(February 26, 2016 at 4:29 pm)Crossless1 Wrote: Is the ability of an organism to engage in self-reflection the hallmark of having a soul?I would say that is one of the criteria.
(February 26, 2016 at 4:29 pm)Crossless1 Wrote: If so, do people in vegetative states that result from disease or accident retain a soul somehow, or is their soul lost?There have been plenty of people who were pronounced clinically dead (no functioning brain), yet were able to recall everything that happened in the operating room. which shows that their consciousness existed somewhere, or else they wouldn't remember.
(February 26, 2016 at 4:29 pm)Crossless1 Wrote: If lost, what's the difference between "having a soul" and having certain higher brain functions?
The soul has nothing to do with the brain. Take love for example: "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends".
Animals are all about self preservation. An animal will abandon its offspring to predators to save it's own life, While a real human mother would give her life for her child without a second thought.
