Soul is probably the only common thread connecting all religions and it's the only solace in the face of our certain and imminent death. But yet, there cannot be anything more abstract than the concept of soul. No doubt that the concept of soul is immensely beneficial for social functioning and bring some sanity to the proceedings but the irony of mankind is we try to quantify abstractions to make sense of something which is tangible as human life. Stephen T. Asma has a "hilarious" theory on the evolution of soul - which is no hidden metaphysics but a mere phrase!!
"Instead of asking whether we can verify the soul's existence—find some empirical evidence for it—I suggest a Wittgensteinian approach. Following the Austrian philosopher, I ask: How do people actually talk about the soul? How is soul talk used in ordinary language? And here we find that the soul is alive and well in certain kinds of expressive language. When you look at actual soul talk, you find the following kinds of expressions: "He is my soul mate," or "She really sold her soul," or "That's good soul food," or "This nature hike is good for my soul," or "She is an old soul," or "James Brown has soul," or "The soul reincarnates," or "Her soul is in heaven now."
"If we think about the human being, we can analyze ourselves into various parts and functions: the body, cognition, emotions, memory, perception, and so on. And we can make many impressive scientific claims about those parts and functions. Modern medicine is a testament to the genius of methodological materialism and a mechanical approach to the human being.
"Instead of asking whether we can verify the soul's existence—find some empirical evidence for it—I suggest a Wittgensteinian approach. Following the Austrian philosopher, I ask: How do people actually talk about the soul? How is soul talk used in ordinary language? And here we find that the soul is alive and well in certain kinds of expressive language. When you look at actual soul talk, you find the following kinds of expressions: "He is my soul mate," or "She really sold her soul," or "That's good soul food," or "This nature hike is good for my soul," or "She is an old soul," or "James Brown has soul," or "The soul reincarnates," or "Her soul is in heaven now."
"If we think about the human being, we can analyze ourselves into various parts and functions: the body, cognition, emotions, memory, perception, and so on. And we can make many impressive scientific claims about those parts and functions. Modern medicine is a testament to the genius of methodological materialism and a mechanical approach to the human being.
But in this matrix of human thoughts, feelings, and experiences, we also find forms of awareness and activity that call out for a different language. The kinds of awareness I'm thinking of might be described as aesthetic—feelings of ecstasy, feelings for the beautiful or the sublime, poignant stirrings that might be labeled transcendent—or, negatively, feelings of horror or dread. And the kinds of activities I'm trying to isolate might be creative acts (playing music, writing poetry, handcrafting furniture, serving tea while a Zen master whacks you with a stick) as well as ethical activities (acts of altruism, self-sacrifice). It's hard to see how a purely descriptive scientific language can find good traction in those domains, but an alternative language exists and has existed for a long time. Soul talk is a part of that successful expressive language."
Our incapability to hone morality and inability to face mortality because of our intellectual laziness and longing for cognitive fluency, probably lead to the invention of soul. If this ever turns out to be true, this would be the biggest joke ever on humanity. The question is do we have the audacity and humility to laugh at ourselves?
Our incapability to hone morality and inability to face mortality because of our intellectual laziness and longing for cognitive fluency, probably lead to the invention of soul. If this ever turns out to be true, this would be the biggest joke ever on humanity. The question is do we have the audacity and humility to laugh at ourselves?
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