If you reject the existence of the soul then you are an Animist?

by Seraphim23 149 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  Viviane

  For the purposes of this discussion soul is synonymous with consciousness.

  Why? How?

  For the purposes of this discussion soul is synonymous with consciousness.

  So, right now, all evidence points to consciousness arising from a physical brain. What evidence to the contrary do we have?
• 

  Finkelstein

  Full Definition of CONSCIOUSNESS

  a : the quality or state of being aware especially of something within oneself b : the state or fact of being conscious of an external object, state, or fact c : awareness; especially : concern for some social or political cause 2 : the state of being characterized by sensation, emotion, volition, and thought : mind 3 : the totality of conscious states of an individual 4 : the normal state of conscious life <regained consciousness> 5 : the upper level of mental life of which the person is aware as contrasted with unconscious processes

  Examples of CONSCIOUSNESS

  1. The medication caused her to enter an altered state of consciousness.
  2. The events have become part of the national consciousness.
  3. He hopes that he can raise public consciousness of the disease.

  Related to CONSCIOUSNESS

  Synonyms

  advertence, advertency, awareness, cognizance, attention, ear, eye, heed, knowledge, mindfulness, note, notice, observance, observation

  .

  If one were to look up the word consciousness in a dictionary or encyclopedia, you do not see the word soul used as a description .
• 

  Seraphim23

  I already addressed those points way back.
• 

  Viviane

  You never answered. Heck, you still haven't even addressed the central logical flaw in your argument of trying to claim "not A = A".

  You haven't addressed anything.
• 

  Seraphim23

  Didn’t I mention near death or terminal lucidity as evidence way back?
• 

  Viviane

  You did. It's not, though. It's anecdotal. Actual evidence shows a burst of activity in the brain after the heart stops and oxygen levels drop. All physical, no spirits involved.

  http://www.uofmhealth.org/news/archive/201308/electrical-signatures-consciousness-dying-brain
• 

  Finkelstein

  Perhaps then you could offer up some evidence Seraphim23 that when a person dies that a soul or consciousness

  (your definition) of the person lives on.
• 

  Finkelstein

  Since the belief in souls stems from ancient mythological beliefs and superstitions thats where and only

  source a person such as Seraphim23 would be making a stand to support this assertion.

  Seraphim23 needs to realize that ancient mythology is full of ignorance, lies, fear and superstition.

  The basis of what makes up most religions in existence today...... including the JWS.
• 

  Seraphim23

  Viviane, a burst of activity in the brain doesn’t explain the phenomena as the memories are not there to stimulate by such activity, as it is brain destruction that is the very thing killing dementia patients. Also the experience of brain states does not mean that whatever is experiencing those states is in the brain. Indeed consciousness itself is entirely anecdotal.

  Finkelstein, it might be better to get evidence first of all of what consciousness actually is, as opposed to correlates of consciousness found in the brain. I can provide any amount of different forms of anecdotal evidence that consciousness is non-local to the brain, which is but one minimum requirement to a soul living after death, but that probably won’t be good enough for some, even though the same is also true for consciousness itself being real as opposed to an illusion. Anecdotal evidence that consciousness is real is all there is in terms of evidence that it is real. Looking at a brain wont prove anything about the reality or lack thereof of where of what does the experiencing.
• 

  Finkelstein

  I can provide any amount of different forms of anecdotal evidence that consciousness is non-local to the brain.

  Really ?

  So provide we await with abated breath.