Is the soul sentient?

[Sair]

What youre calling imagination is part of the intellect; and a vital part of it. The ability to have concepts of things that do, or do not, exist, and abstract realities, but are outside of our immediate awareness: cat, dog, stars, life, death, self-awareness ad infinitum. In other words, the other animals dont have intellects.

Au contraire - intellect consists in the ability to process immediate information as well as the ability to imagine future information. When you imagine the existence of a personal, supernatural God, you are still depending upon the ultimate fulfilment of your imagination by direct sensory experience, whether you believe such experience to be seated in a ‘soul’ or in the physical body.

Because i believe in the existence of the immortal spiritual soul, with its intellect and will. That Science cant detect it doesnt disprove its existence. This belief didnt happen overnight; but grew over decades. A buildup of evidence. Its not the sort of thing which can be answered in a handful of words.

Science can’t define a soul sufficiently to detect it. Neither, based on my experience, can any believer in souls. What you consider evidence of the soul, I consider evidence that there are (probably very many) things about reality that we have yet to understand. I don’t leap to the conclusion that some things must be specially separate from physical reality.

Our brains limit the activity of our intellects.
They prevent us from being directly aware of the Supernatural.

Yet you claim awareness of the supernatural. Firstly, what is supernatural and how do you distinguish it from natural? Secondly, with what do you sense the existence of the supernatural?

Because of your perspective (pantheistic), theres probably no point in saying anything; but its a pretty stunted “Reality” if it consists only of an impersonal universe, with some very limited sentient beings!

Limited, perhaps, by their insistence that fulfilment must come from beyond the reality available to our senses and understanding. This, in my experience, is what stifles appreciation of the here and now.

The spiritual opens it up, and gives it ultimate meaning, even if we humans can`t fully grasp it in this life.

What’s ‘ultimate’ meaning? I continually hear supernaturalists speak of life’s ‘ultimate’ meaning, yet thus far the only explanations I’ve seen have involved the incorporation of human life into the mythological stories our species has created. I can do that, if I so desire - I can make meaning for my life by building stories around my experience. If you’re so sure life has some magnificent cosmic meaning, what does it mean in the context of the universe?

Because youre a pantheist, were on different wavelengths. And, as a pantheist, how do you “know” what you believe is right?

I don’t ‘know’, in the sense of having absolute certainty - but then, neither do you. Pantheism is the best fit for my experience.

God is “only” spirit, and yet, is omnipotent. His intellect and will are so powerful (infinite) that He brings Creation into being.

What aspects of God’s spirit set Him apart from our merely human spirits?

Being spirit, our souls arent in or beside our bodies: theyre focused (intellect and will yet again) on them, animating them.

What does this even mean in nonphysical terms?

Not being able to comprehend the spiritual doesnt mean it doesnt exist.

But lack of comprehension that springs from lack of availability to our senses does tend to make ‘spiritual’ reality seem quite irrelevant to our experience of life.

 

[grannymh]

How can sentience be achieved without physical substance?

Not to sound flippant, but whenever we describe a ‘place’ or a ‘thing’, or even an ‘awareness’, we are talking and thinking about physical states of being. What awareness is even possible without physicality, and how would anyone know?

The concept of sentience is intriguing since that is often applied to animals. Consequently, since humans have a material anatomy, would they too be sentient materially?

In other words, what definition of sentience are you using?

The soul, being spiritual with spiritual properties and destiny, would not be the same as sentience.

Blessings,
granny

The human person is worthy of profound respect.

 

[Fink]

Au contraire - intellect consists in the ability to process immediate information as well as the ability to imagine future information. When you imagine the existence of a personal, supernatural God, you are still depending upon the ultimate fulfilment of your imagination*** by direct sensory experience***, whether you believe such experience to be seated in a ‘soul’ or in the physical body

Au contraire, in return.
What does direct sensory experience have to do with a concept of the Supernatural?

Science can’t define a soul sufficiently to detect it. Neither, based on my experience, can any believer in souls. What you consider evidence of the soul, I consider evidence that there are (probably very many) things about reality that we have yet to understand.

Science will never be able to directly detect an entity/essence that doesnt have physical substance.

I don’t leap to the conclusion that some things must be specially separate from physical reality.

And by staying there, you run the risk of remaining blinkered.

Yet you claim awareness of the supernatural. Firstly, what is supernatural and how do you distinguish it from natural? Secondly, with what do you sense the existence of the supernatural?

No! i didnt claim DIRECT experience of the Supernatural. Weve already mentioned mystical experiences.

Limited, perhaps, by their insistence that fulfilment must come from beyond the reality available to our senses and understanding

Bad luck for the lot of us if the here and now is all we get. What a lousy, miserable outlook: to live for a few years, and then croak! Annihilation!
Can`t you look beyond that?

1 Peter 3:15 says:
Always be prepared to make a defence to anyone who calls you to account for the hope that is in you… Revised Standard Version.

This, in my experience, is what stifles appreciation of the here and now.

The other outlook tends to lead to the “dog eats dog” mentality. Plus relativism. No moral absolutes.

What’s ‘ultimate’ meaning? I continually hear supernaturalists speak of life’s ‘ultimate’ meaning, yet thus far the only explanations I’ve seen have involved the incorporation of human life into the mythological stories our species has created.

Ultimate meaning, from the Churchs perspective: the Beatific Vision. Therell also be physical paradise in some form or other: after all, Man is a unity of spirit and matter (in spite of your denial).

I can do that, if I so desire - I can make meaning for my life by building stories around my experience. If you’re so sure life has some magnificent cosmic meaning, what does it mean in the context of the universe?

The universe will still exist, per God`s will, free of chaos.

I don’t ‘know’, in the sense of having absolute certainty - but then, neither do you. Pantheism is the best fit for my experience.

If we were to rely just on personal experience…

My convictions are based on more than one piece of evidence. For a start, a lot of the Old Testament has been verified by archaeology, and New Testament fulfillment of OT prophecies. Christs existence on this earth was recorded by Tacitus, a Roman historian who didnt hide his contempt for Christianity; Josephus, the Jewish historian who witnessed the siege, and then the fall, of Jerusalem in AD70, along with the destruction of the Temple. Our Lord predicted that 40 years earlier. Plus one or two others.

And then the Church…
The Doctors of the Church havent been mental midgets. And then we have converts like John Henry Newman, GK Chesterton, Saint Edith Stein and Deitrich von Hildebrand. We have contemporary converts like Scott Hahn and Tim Staples. Benedict XVI isnt intellectually retarded!

It takes more than a single brick to build a house. This isn`t a house of cards.

What aspects of God’s spirit set Him apart from our merely human spirits?

The fact that He`s perfect, infinite, eternal. Omnipotent and omniscient. His will brings Creation into being, and keeps it in existence.

What does this even mean in nonphysical terms?

It means that they don`t occupy space. The answer to “How many angels can dance on the head of a pin?” applies equally to the immortal, spiritual soul.

But lack of comprehension that springs from lack of availability to our senses does tend to make ‘spiritual’ reality seem quite irrelevant to our experience of life.

It certainly does; and if we continue to believe that, our minds remain stunted. Opening them up to the spiritual realm opens them up to a contemplation of the Infinite. Go ask a decent orthodox theologian.

The concept of sentience is intriguing since that is often applied to animals. Consequently, since humans have a material anatomy, would they too be sentient materially?

Animals have built-in instincts that we humans dont have...... a mother cat can look after her kittens without seeking advice from her mother in law. :D Kittens know where to get their nourishment. A new-born kangaroo knows to climb into its mothers pouch.

The soul, being spiritual with spiritual properties and destiny, would not be the same as sentience.

Blessings,
granny

No.
No other animal can hold abstract thoughts.
No other animal has an intellect and a will.