Oct 04 2007
Do Atheists Believe in the Existence of a Soul?
At an after-work party yesterday a friend asked me if atheists believe in the existence of a soul.
That’s one question I haven’t heard or thought of recently. Before I answered the question I prodded a bit to see if there was more to the question. My friend was mostly interested in the idea that if there is no soul there can’t be after-life. Also if there is no soul you can’t have a soulmate.
She did not make any belief statements though. She was just pondering the fact that if one grows up hoping to find a soulmate but then it turns out she doesn’t believe in the soul, could she still believe in finding a soulmate?
What intrigued me was that this conversation had absolutely no religious context to it. No one mentioned churches, denominations, religious books, nothing that would be stemming from a particular set of beliefs. The question had a rather romantic source to it and it was the absolutely most unassuming question anyone had ever asked me about atheism.
So I loved the intro to this conversation. The chances to discuss atheism without confrontation are rare, and the pleasure I got from it was immense. I seriously got a high off of it. Or maybe it was the drink I was having at the time.
Regardless, the answer I gave her was that I would guess agnostics would say there may be a soul, but we have no proof for it, but a strong atheist or even a de facto atheist would probably say that humans are defined by biology (brain chemistry, cognition, genetics etc) and thus there is no soul. Based on the “soulmate” question I had assumed that soul in this context meant an intangible source that concentrates our emotional being, which is able to survive beyond our physical body (as in, it existed before the body was conceived and it will exist after the body dies).
However clear these answers may be to an atheist it did get me pondering romance. Do atheists believe in love?
10 responses so far
Would you also agree that humans are composed of physics, therefore energy and matter? Conversely what would be the definition of a soul? Could someone argue that a soul is also energy with lack of matter? Soul mates then being the merge of previously combined energy sources? As spatial energy matters circle one another throughout time.
I know this is stretching it a bit, but I would argue nothing can be definite before first defining the subject matter. To that end how can one accurately define an intangible non-experienced belief of a soul?
Since “atheism” simply refers to the lack of theistic belief (i.e., that a god or gods exist), belief in a soul is not necessarily excluded by atheism. In addition to being an atheist, I am a materialist in the sense that I do not believe in any sort of spiritual entities, souls, angels, demons, etc. But I could imagine that some atheists might believe in souls just as some atheists believe in ghosts.
Cel, I think you’re right in that this discussion depends on how one defines soul. And this idea probably applies to vjack’s comment as well. How can one define” an intangible non-experienced belief of a soul”? Scientists have measured all sorts of intangible things, such as particles, and even brain chemistry, but yet there is no scientific proof for a soul. There is consciousness, and cognition, could these be the modern interpretations of soul?
Vjac, I agree that the concept of soul does not have to be associated with religious belief and in that sense it’s not theistic. I would argue though that the concept of “soul” has two faces, one is theistic and one is philosophical. The theistic set of definitions is mythological and involves the supranatural–it includes the Roman concept of “anima,” the greek “psyche” both used to represent spirits of the dead that are the dominion of one god or another. The concept of the soul doesn’t get any more theistic than when used to represent spiritus dei. On the other hand we have the philosophical concept of soul, in the Socratic and Aristotelian tradition, as mind, reason, intellect, emotions.
So, as an atheist I don’t believe in the existence of a soul in the theistic tradition, but I accept the existence of a biological set of rules and mechanisms that create cognition and consciousness.
Good post and good discussion in the comments.
It must be down to definition.
We don’t have any other words to describe the essence of people’s being so I suppose it’s unavoidable to think of people having metaphorical “souls” or “spirit.” As you say,
“On the other hand we have the philosophical concept of soul, in the Socratic and Aristotelian tradition, as mind, reason, intellect, emotions.”
When we think in terms of “soul”, though, there’s always a danger of forgetting its a metaphor and absent-mindedly pick up the religious or romantic baggage that goes with it.
Heather, thanks for your comment. “there’s always a danger of forgetting its a metaphor and absent-mindedly pick up the religious or romantic baggage that goes with it.” This is a very valid point. I would never use the term soul in a discussion about consciousness, because ’soul’ is a vague concept for one, and as you said, carries enough theistic baggage do open the door for paranormal interpretations.
But I’d say we agree, atheists can believe in love.
I agree with VJack. For example, Platonic atheists reject the existence of a God, but are not materialists because they believe in the existence of abstract immaterial objects. A platonic atheist could agree with Plato that there is a soul, but deny the existence of God.
I think one of the confusions that often surrounds the term “atheism” is conflating it with materialism or naturalism.
Mana,
The only soul I have is this one. When I die my soul will be dead.
P.S. If the “old ones” return to claim earth, please take refuge in Chuck Norris. A brick house or potassium iodide will not help you at this time… only Chuck Norris.
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