Animals and Death

[robvalue]

I'm very sorry to hear of your loss. To me also, animals form a part of my family, and it is devastating when they leave us. I like to think of them running free in a place where they are happy all the time, free from the horrors of this world. I know it's not true, but it's a comforting thought. And as long as I remember them, and try to concentrate on the happy memories, they do "live on" in that way.

I think the religious/spiritual idea of humans having souls and that they continue after death is all part of the idea that we are in some way special. Instead of viewing ourselves as just another animal that happens to have a special knack for certain things, we think we are some ultimate species and that every other animal is in some way below us. That's probably why (in religion at least) some/all animals don't also get souls, because that would elevate them to our status in some way.

Of course there is no evidence that souls exist at all, even in humans. I think they are a mixture of wishful thinking and an attempt to explain our self awareness.