Over time philosophers have had many views on whether or not the soul is real, do we have one or is it something that is made up for the sake of religion and scaring people into becoming just? Is there a difference between the mind and the brain? Are the soul and the mind connected and do they even exist? The brain is a powerful organ that causes hallucinations and controls our personality and as much as I believe our brain does control these things there is still a part of me that believes we all have souls. An article written by Jay Tolson for US News and World Report questions if there is even room for the soul. The first line in the article begins by saying, “A mind is a tough thing to think about. Consciousness is the defining feature
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Richert and Paul L. Harris the question became body v. mind v. soul. A group of 161 undergraduate adults were studied in this experiment, they were questioned about their religious beliefs and background, whether or not they believe they have a soul, and their thoughts about what a soul is. During the experiment they were asked four ontological questions, 1. whether they thought the mind and soul existed, 2. when the mind/soul began, 3. Whether the mind/soul remained constant or changes and develops over time, and 4. What happens to the mind/soul at death. After they were asked a functional question; “participants were asked to imagine that they lost their mind or their soul but continued on in some way. They were then asked to identify which of the following they would have lost: “my ability to solve problems”, “my ability to think”, “my ability to distinguish right from wrong”, “my life force”, “my ability to continue on after I die”, “my ability to remember”, “my ability to connect to a higher power”, “my spiritual essence”, “my ability to feel emotion” and “my ability to reason”” (Richert, Harris, 2008). Finally the participants were asked to consider three ethical issues, 1. Stem cell research and whether or not scientists should be able to use embryos for research, 2. The discussion of life support and if a person in a vegetative state has a mind or a soul and should they be disconnected from life support, and 3. Human cloning,
Richert and Paul L. Harris the question became body v. mind v. soul. A group of 161 undergraduate adults were studied in this experiment, they were questioned about their religious beliefs and background, whether or not they believe they have a soul, and their thoughts about what a soul is. During the experiment they were asked four ontological questions, 1. whether they thought the mind and soul existed, 2. when the mind/soul began, 3. Whether the mind/soul remained constant or changes and develops over time, and 4. What happens to the mind/soul at death. After they were asked a functional question; “participants were asked to imagine that they lost their mind or their soul but continued on in some way. They were then asked to identify which of the following they would have lost: “my ability to solve problems”, “my ability to think”, “my ability to distinguish right from wrong”, “my life force”, “my ability to continue on after I die”, “my ability to remember”, “my ability to connect to a higher power”, “my spiritual essence”, “my ability to feel emotion” and “my ability to reason”” (Richert, Harris, 2008). Finally the participants were asked to consider three ethical issues, 1. Stem cell research and whether or not scientists should be able to use embryos for research, 2. The discussion of life support and if a person in a vegetative state has a mind or a soul and should they be disconnected from life support, and 3. Human cloning,