Different in degree or kind; language (Introduction)

by Balance_Maintained , U.S.A., Wednesday, December 31, 2014, 14:14 (3615 days ago) @ David Turell

DHW: If we are animals whose souls have a deeper, stronger “unity” than those of our fellow animals, it sounds as if he's talking about difference in degree, not kind. May I assume you believe that animals have souls?
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> David: Yes, animals in the Jewish religion have souls, in Hebrew 'Nefesh'
> -This is one of those areas that we differ. I believe we ARE souls, not that we HAVE souls. Same with animals. -
> > dhw: It might perhaps be better if you explain your line of thought in your own words. Perhaps I could start by asking if you are a substance dualist (= the mind/soul is separate from the body/brain and can exist independently of it) or a property dualist (= mind/soul and body/brain are one, though they produce two “properties” - mental and physical)? The latter precludes survival of the “soul” after death.
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>David: I am a substance dualist. The NDE's prove that for me. I feel I have soul, in Hebrew a 'Neshama'. The Jewish religion depicts the human soul at a much higher plane than the animal soul, simple versus very complex. And I believe in an afterlife.-Another small difference. I don't believe in an 'afterlife' in the traditional sense, i.e. that when you die something departs from your physical form and continues to live on in a conscious state. I do believe that when we die, the energy that we live by is returned to god, but not in a conscious form. There are some really vague areas in this for me though. I often wonder if the energy that is returned back to him contains all of our 'information'. If energy and information are equivalent, then it is essentially a snap shot of who we are. That snap shot could then be used during the Resurrection process, and could also explain, at least in part, how someone could be transformed from a material being into a spirit being. Like copying a CD to a hard drive. The medium is different but the data is the same.

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What is the purpose of living? How about, 'to reduce needless suffering. It seems to me to be a worthy purpose.