Does the human embryo have a soul?

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Linusthe2nd said:
The answer is yes and we don’t know for certain when. Here is the best article I’ve ever read on the subject.

ncbcenter.org/Page.aspx?pid=305

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This article is interesting.

I’ll defer on whether the Church has or has not taken an “ex cathedra” position on the “when”.

But this does not preclude a philosophical analysis.

This said, I think you can argue for a final cause at the moment of conception. And what else could the final cause be except (1) the “form” of a human being or, more fundamentally, (2) the person.

One of the problems with delayed animation is that it reflects an obsolete biology - that the fetus passes through 3 different ensoulments (vegetative, non-rational animal, finally human). This theory seems otiose with the discovery of gametes, DNA, the actual processes of conception, etc.

I think a crucial question is whether the zygote can be a “person” - and to answer this, we need to examine more deeply the notion of “person”. “Person” is not necessarily the same as the “cogito”. Can a “person” already be “there” without the actuality of thinking, speaking, etc?
 
I’ve looked more closely at Father Pacholczyk’s article.

He argues that it’s not relevant [to the question of the morality of abortion] whether a person is already present in the early stages of fetal development. Specifically, the fact that fetal development is directed towards “personhood” is sufficient to make abortion immoral.

Father cites totipotency and pluripotency, as well as twinning and chimerization, as reasons for a lingering uncertainty as to when the fetus becomes a person.

These are points that must be addressed. But I’m uncomfortable with Father’s reasoning.

Father admits that the zygote is “human” (based on today’s biology).

But then he suggests that it may not be “personal”. It’s hard to see how the zygote can be “human” without, at the same time, being “personal” (notwithstanding twinning, e.g., the zygote might be more than one person, and other issues).

What I find lacking in Father’s account is an adequate discussion of what “person” means.

For more on this, see Spaemann’s book on “Persons”.

Maybe we can explore Spaemann in more detail in subsequent postings.
 
Ophelia23 said:
A soul is granted to an embryo at the moment of conception. There is no “waving of the hand” or other complication in Catholic Theology that was mentioned by a previous commenter.

This is one of the cornerstone beliefs that is a pillar of our faith. This is one of the most important reasons that we are against abortion. We believe that it is a life, that it has a soul, that it was created and loved by the Creator. The miracle of life isn’t just that man and woman can come together and create another person. The miracle is that man and woman, both spiritual beings in the physical body, through an act of love, evoke the Holy Spirit to move… And this person, regardless of how long they live in the physical world (even if they never are able to leave the mother’s womb) continues to live for eternity in the spiritual rhelm. It isn’t only about what we’ve created that is the miracle, it’s about what we have started.

It’s seriously some amazing stuff. 👍
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Yes, you are absolutely correct. The Church has never deterred from the dogma that life (therefore the infusion of a soul) begins at the moment of conception. All the arguing and verbal gymnastics will ever change that fact–to the chagrin and anger of the pro-aborts.
 
Sister_Terese said:
Yes, you are absolutely correct. The Church has never deterred from the dogma that life (therefore the infusion of a soul) begins at the moment of conception. All the arguing and verbal gymnastics will ever change that fact–to the chagrin and anger of the pro-aborts.
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Yes, I now agree. The good Father was missreading something in the Declaration on Procured Abortion ( Paul VI, 1974 ). The deciding paragraphs follow:
  1. Any discrimination based on the various stages of life is no more justified than any other discrimination. The right to life remains complete in an old person, even one greatly weakened; it is not lost by one who is incurably sick. The right to life is no less to be respected in the small infant just born than in the mature person. In reality, respect for human life is called for from the time that the process of generation begins. From the time that the ovum is fertilized, a life is begun which is neither that of the father nor of the mother, it is rather the life of a new human being with his own growth. It would never be made human if it were not human already.
  2. To this perpetual evidence - perfectly independent of the discussions on the moment of animation[19] - modern genetic science brings valuable confirmation. It has demonstrated that, from the first instant, there is established the program of what this living being will be: a man, this individual man with his characteristic aspects already well determined. Right from fertilization is begun the adventure of a human life, and each of its capacities requires time- a rather lengthy time- to find its place and to be in a position to act. The least that can be said is that present science, in its most evolved state, does not give any substantial support to those who defend abortion. Moreover, it is not up to biological sciences to make a definitive judgment on questions which are properly philosophical and moral such as the moment when a human person is constituted or the legitimacy of abortion. From a moral point of view this is certain: even if a doubt existed concerning whether the fruit of conception is already a human person, it is objectively a grave sin to dare to risk murder. “The one who will be a man is already one.”[20]
Everyone should read the entire document. The last two generations may not even know it exists.

vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_19741118_declaration-abortion_en.html

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Moreover, it is not up to biological sciences to make a definitive judgment on questions which are properly philosophical and moral such as the moment when a human person is constituted or the legitimacy of abortion.

There is not one single ambiguous term in this entire sentence. This memorization of this sentence should be required by every baptized Catholic.
 
What if our lives begin in some way unbeknownst to us before conception? The Lord said before I formed you in the womb I knew you.
 
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