Do intelligent animals have rational souls?

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Lucretius said:
The great and key sign of a rational soul is self-reflective thinking and a sense of being responsibility over one’s behavior.
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I lean to believing that most all see “homo sapiens” as representing that…

and without going to any extra effort to ‘prove’ it.

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I think the real controversy is showing how reflective consciousness is qualitatively a different kind of consciousness then mere consciousness.
 
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SPBlitz said:
Well, below the age of moral reason. Surely a 5 year old has a soul, even though they aren’t at the age of reason.
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So you are suggesting that there is a transition from the irrational soul to rational soul as a child ages?
 
Lucretius said:
I think the real controversy is showing how reflective consciousness is qualitatively a different kind of consciousness then mere consciousness.
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I don’t involve in such controversy. Man gave names to ALL the animals: etc, etc., etc.

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For Thomas, the operation proper to the intellectual soul are embodied when the soul is embodied, so even though even an infant has mind and will, we still mature in our usage of them.
 
The same thing we all mean when we talk about maturity. A child needs to mature to a man in order to use the full strength of his body, for example.
 
intelligent animals? How intelligent compared with Einstein?

rational souls? implies irrational souls?

Seems to me that it’s a wait and see enterprise?
 
SPBlitz said:
This makes sense enough for me. I always wondered why God would create so much life if only humans were going to exist in the world to come. This strikes a good balance between animals being a part of God’s plan beyond just this world while also acknowledging the unique position of humans in it.
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You have to differentiate between there being animals in Heaven at the end of time and animals going to Heaven.
Only humans have immortal souls. Animals do not so your pet dog or cat when it dies does not go to Heaven. Its soul ceases to exist.
On the other hand there is plenty in Scripture about there being animals at the end of days in the new heaven and earth. God can easily create them to be there.
 
thistle said:
On the other hand there is plenty in Scripture about there being animals at the end of days in the new heaven and earth. God can easily create them to be there.
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But certainly not the sort of flesh and blood beast bodies - subject to corruption, yes?
 
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