Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site fortune.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!mhuxr!mhuxt!houxm!ihnp4!fortune!polard From: polard@fortune.UUCP (Henry Polard) Newsgroups: net.philosophy Subject: Re: Souls Message-ID: <5486@fortune.UUCP> Date: Wed, 21-Aug-85 16:07:37 EDT Article-I.D.: fortune.5486 Posted: Wed Aug 21 16:07:37 1985 Date-Received: Sat, 24-Aug-85 13:54:14 EDT References: <1195@umcp-cs.UUCP> <540@utastro.UUCP> <1206@umcp-cs.UUCP> <542@utastro.UUCP> Reply-To: polard@fortune.UUCP (Henry polard) Organization: Fortune Systems, Redwood City, CA Lines: 32 Summary: In article <542@utastro.UUCP> padraig@utastro.UUCP (Padraig Houlahan) writes: > >SOUL: The spiritual or immortal element in a person. [Oxf. Am. Dict.] > >You say we know nothing about "the method taking us from this life to the >next". Implicit is the concept of something that survives us after death. >This has been traditionally identified with the soul. You can't have it both >ways. You cannot say that the soul does not exist, and then say that >something survives us after we die and goes into the next life. > >Now you may have a new definition of "soul" that is completely different >from anything like the above, but this is just pussyfooting around. > >A rose by any other name is still a rose. > There are many notions of what happens after death. According to some Buddhist traditions, for example, there is no such thing as a "soul"; rather there are components of a personality which may disintegrate at the time of death and behave differently from each other. The Oxford American Dictionary, while an excellent guide to conversational English, is a poor guide to religious and philosophical usage. I think a dictionary of philosophy would have a more interesting definition of the word "soul". In any case, the way we describe the universe may not have much to do with the way the the univers actually is. -- Henry Polard (You bring the flames - I'll bring the marshmallows.) {ihnp4,cbosgd,amd}!fortune!polard N.B: The words in this posting do not necessarily express the opinions of me, my employer, or any AI project.