From: hjort@ohstpy.mps.ohio-state.edu
Newsgroups: sci.skeptic
Subject: Re: Soul
Date: 2 Oct 92 05:01:03 EDT

In article <1992Oct1.022938.13677@hfsi.uucp>, ata@hfsi.uucp (John Ata - FSO) writes:
> In article <schnitzi.717877881@eola.cs.ucf.edu> schnitzi@cs.ucf.edu (Mark Schnitzius) writes:
>>ata@hfsi.uucp (John Ata - FSO) writes:
>>>>>I would define soul as that spiritual part of us humans that
>>>>>defines us in God's image. It is a separate entity, infused into
>>>>>the body before birth, and leaves the body at death.  Because it
>>>>>is the part of us that is like God, it is intrinsically and
>>>>>naturally immortal.  Furthermore, it is the principle behind our
>>>>>intellect and reasoning ability.
>>
>>How would you explain the fact, then, that medical conditions which
>>affect our brain (accidents, strokes, drugs) also can affect our
>>"intellect and reasoning ability"?  Do these things damage our
>>souls as well?
> 
> No, it is the expression of the soul's effect that is damaged.
> Let me give you an example.  You know that it is the brain which
> is behind the movement of our limbs.  The brain sends a nerual
> message for a muscle to contract and the arm moves up.  Now what
> happens when the nerves which connects the muscle to the arm is
> cut?  No more arm movements.  Does this mean that the brain is
> damaged?  No, the brain is not damaged although the vehicle it
> used to control the body's limbs is.  Therefore, the expression of
> the brain is nullified.  In much the same way, the soul uses the
> brain through the mind as a vehicle by which intellect and
> reasoning ability is expressed.  A stroke or other such illness
> stifles this expression, but the soul has not been damaged by this
> physical failure in any way.
>
So in other words, when someone suffers from a stroke, he (the soul)
is still fully capable, and in fact, does reason properly. Its just
the brian damage that is replacing his resoned responses with garbage.

For example, suppose someone suffers from memory loss due to damage to 
the brain. They are asked a question concerning a lost memory. Is the
damaged brain able to recognize that the question refers to the lost
memory, and then restate the problem before passing it on the the soul so
that it appears to the soul a question about a memory that soul doesn't
have (i.e. Dou you remember when California sunk benieth the waves?
ofcouse not.). Or perhaps the brian only modifies the output so that
the verbal response is "I don't remember" even thou the soul responded
correctly. This would also require the brian conspire to keep the knowledge
of what the body responed with secret from the soul, so the soul doesn't
try to correct the faulty output.

Assigning either of these duties to the brain would imply that the brain
has massive data processing ability that only manifests itself when
damaged. This doesn't seem feasable to me. The other possibility is to
assume that memories are stored in the brain rather than in the soul,
which brings us to the question: when we die, do we lose all our memories?
IF the answer is yes, I don't think the soul after seperation from the
body can justifiably be called the same "person" as when it was connected
to the memories of life.

Prehaps you can refine this soul concept to show how it is still the
thing that really is a person, or will you say that the soul is the
piece that survives death, and the actual individual ceases to exist
upon death.

thanks for your time.
>>
>>Mark Schnitzius 
> -- 
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						-Hans H Hjort

Newsgroups: sci.skeptic,talk.religion.misc