Arguments against Soul

[Belacqua]

It seems to me, just to point out that, consciousness is a function of physical processes in a physical brain. 

Yes, agreed. 

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There is no need that I see, to invoke a soul at all. Whether the soul is coequal or equivalent to consciousness or not. 

Well, I'm not the one asserting that soul = consciousness. I agree that if soul = consciousness then we don't need two words. 

The trouble to me is that people are just assuming, without argument, that when we talk about consciousness or mind we are talking about soul. How has that been established? 

Since we lack a coherent definition of soul, it may be that we are just kind of sliding sideways and talking about the mind instead. But that's a bit sloppy, I think. 

There is evidence for physical brains, there is evidence for physical brains producing activity, and there is evidence for consciousness. Where is the evidence in any of that where a soul fits in? 

Since no one has defined soul yet, I can't answer that. 

Do we think that consciousness is related to soul? Or is soul something else? Have we determined that your soul is gone while you're unconscious? Brain dead? Can souls go to sleep? 

None of these things has been answered -- it has merely been assumed that mind = soul. And then because we know that mind comes out of brain, people announce that soul is irrelevant. So we are repeating facts about brain and mind and claiming they tell us about soul, when we don't even know what soul is. 

How would you explain, things like, complete changes in personality, memory, tastes, etc, when someone has a brain injury? Yet you are saying that even after the ultimate brain injury, brain death, there is something left, that can lift off of the brain and continue to survive.

I have an aunt that had a fall about 8 years ago, and had bleeding in her frontal lobe and temporal lobes. After her 'recovery' she went from being the nicest person you'd ever want to meet, to a raving bitch.

So, what are the attributes of her soul? The nice person she once was, or the bitch?

First tell me what soul is, and then I may be able to answer. Everything you've said there is relevant to mind, but whether soul is related or not has not been argued.

In the classical version of soul that I've been discussing, all of this is explained. Mind is an activity that depends on the presence of matter. Soul is the way we categorize all of the forms, functions, and activities that are related to a specific hunk of matter. The brain injury to the material of the brain meant that the form changed and therefore the function changed. Nothing spooky. 

But several people want to stick to the spooky version of soul, without even telling me what that is, so I can't answer their questions.