Given the nature of these forums, I guess it’s no surprise to see frequent references to the human soul. As someone who doesn’t have a spiritual bone in his body, it’s tough to get a real feel for what’s being discussed. Which is not a problem in the sense that my natural sceptic’s instincts tell me this is an area where reality might best be described as blurred. But it’s also one of the reasons for my fascination. What is it that draws people to their beliefs in this area?
In all that follows I will play the role of devil’s advocate, assuming solely for the sake of argument that the human soul does exist. This avoids the need to continually qualify my beliefs on the subject, which may be wrong in any case!
As a starting point I’m curious about whether the soul should be considered as inextricably linked to material existence, i.e. does a person’s soul come into existence only with their corporeal being? If so, does it occur at the moment of conception, or some time later?
Or is the soul something that already exists, waiting to be united with a human body when it eventually arrives on this earth? Or am I completely mistaken in the notion that souls are individual essences, each unique to a single person? Is there any sense in which the soul might be considered a ”global’ essence, with human existence acting as a portal through which to access it?
My next question concerns the idea of ”shaping’. Is it the soul that shapes the corporeal being of an individual, or vice versa? Or neither? And in instances where individuals are unaware of their soul, are their souls aware of them?
There are numerous other questions I’d like to ask, but I think it’s worth waiting to see if this post gets promoted to the status of thread, and gets any responses thereafter.
Before signing off, I think it’s appropriate to remove my devil’s advocate’s hat lest I find it becomes too comfortable.
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