Does a vegetable have a soul?

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I was asked by a friend, does a trunip or any other vegetable have a soul? I said no. Anyone have a good reason why?
 
All living things have souls. But vegetable souls (nor animal souls) do not continue to exist beyond death – Only human rational souls do that.

tee
 
Vegetables have vegetable souls. Philosophically, a soul is defined as the animating principle of a living thing. Only humans have spiritual souls.
 
Now are we talking regular veggies or the veggies from Veggie Tales? :whistle:
 
Ask yourself how vegetables are different from rocks.

Many of the differences you discover are signals of a life principle, which Aristotle called the vegetative soul.

In case you miss some cool differences:

If a root of a vegetable is injured, it demonstrates the capacity for self-repair.

It grows.

It grows up to a certain height, then stops growing.

Pretty amazing if you think about it. Seems to be ordained to a purpose.
 
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adnauseum:
Ask yourself how vegetables are different from rocks.

Many of the differences you discover are signals of a life principle, which Aristotle called the vegetative soul.

In case you miss some cool differences:

If a root of a vegetable is injured, it demonstrates the capacity for self-repair.

It grows.

It grows up to a certain height, then stops growing.

Pretty amazing if you think about it. Seems to be ordained to a purpose.
:hmmm: Did this post get to the root of the problem? 😃
 
jrabs said:
:hmmm: Did this post get to the root of the problem? 😃

This isn’t going to be one of those topics that branches out into tangential discussions and puns, is it? 😛

(sorry)
tee
 
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tee_eff_em:
This isn’t going to be one of those topics that branches out into tangential discussions and puns, is it? 😛

(sorry)
tee
Well, I am certainly not suggesting we beet this topic into the ground. 😃
 
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BearFan:
I was asked by a friend, does a trunip or any other vegetable have a soul? I said no. Anyone have a good reason why?
Haven’t you ever wondered where “Soul Food” comes from?

From vegetable souls of course!

All living things have souls.
 
I’ve never eaten artichokes because I heard they have hearts.
 
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BearFan:
I was asked by a friend, does a trunip or any other vegetable have a soul? I said no. Anyone have a good reason why?
Sure it does. A vegetable soul. “Soul” originally simply meant “the thing that makes you alive.”

What your friend probably meant was, “does it have an immortal soul.” And the traditional answer was no. Indeed, I understand that according to Aquinas there will be nothing (nothing physical, that is) in the renewed universe except risen human bodies and inanimate objects (planets, suns, rocks, etc.). I don’t buy that. I tend to think that there will be animals and plants (what about the lion lying down with the lamb?). But in what sense individual animals (surely not individual plants) will be raised I dunno. Maybe C. S. Lewis was right and animals humans have loved will have some kind of immortality. Certainly it would be nice to think so. And while sentimentality is not a good basis for doctrine, is it a bad basis for speculation?

What is clear is that this is all speculation. I’ll let the Catholics say whether it’s heretical to suggest some kind of immortality for all living things. I don’t think it is, but I certainly wouldn’t count on it.

Edwin
 
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AlanFromWichita:
I’ve never eaten artichokes because I heard they have hearts.
Yeah, but they never have their hearts in the right place.
 
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Contarini:
And while sentimentality is not a good basis for doctrine, is it a bad basis for speculation?
I like that question. As an engineer, I find it pays sometimes to go with hunches even though you already have data to the contrary. Sometimes the data are wrong; sometimes they are misapplied; sometimes there just isn’t any so you have to try something and see what you get, and go from there.
What is clear is that this is all speculation. I’ll let the Catholics say whether it’s heretical to suggest some kind of immortality for all living things. I don’t think it is, but I certainly wouldn’t count on it.
I’m with you. I’m Catholic, but I’ve never heard this question posed before so I’m just trying to learn from what others are posting whether the Church has a position on it.

Alan
 
went to grab some turnip, red bell pepper and celery cut up to eat with avocado/yogurt dip and I heard a strange humming when I opened the fridge, I think they are all doing Gregorian Chant.
 
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