Soul

The soul, regarded as the <a href="/facts/Mind%E2%80%93body_dualism/IbrW6R7C">immaterial</a> <a href="/facts/Self/WjDCh04P">self</a> which most ordinary people initially believe in, is often discussed in the context of <a href="/facts/Religion/cxntrD0R">religion</a>, <a href="/facts/Theology/N71Fyw2M">theology</a>, <a href="/facts/Psychology/duoqW7Sz">psychology</a> and <a href="/facts/Philosophy/zAH5PVD6">philosophy</a>. According to <a href="/facts/Stewart_Goetz/zIM2178d">Stewart Goetz</a>, <a href="/facts/Anthropology/W6WK1C3a"> anthropologists</a> and <a href="/facts/Psychology/duoqW7Sz">psychologists</a> have found that ordinary humans interculturally have distinguished between souls and bodies.
The soul may also be considered to be the <a href="/facts/Spirit_(vital_essence)/p9CH62uA">animating force</a> ("spirit") of a person,
including that person's <a href="/facts/Identity_(social_science)/hCR165VD">personal identity</a>, <a href="/facts/Personality/zdkhBU5V">personality</a>, and <a href="/facts/Memory/zucwQIEX">memory</a>. Many people believe that a soul (an <a href="/facts/Immortal_soul/RvCpWTxx">immortal soul</a>), as an immaterial aspect of a <a href="/facts/Living_being/AtpDM11f">living being</a>, can survive <a href="/facts/Physical_death/VJmq29qm">physical death</a>. In the <a href="/facts/Abrahamic_religions/y9z2Wf9q">Abrahamic religions</a>, the concept of a soul generally applies only to humans, although other worldviews, such as <a href="/facts/Animism/jsPnJBuD">animism</a>, may assign souls to other living 
and non-living entities.
In modern <a href="/facts/Science/IJoaD7rs">sciences</a>, <a href="/facts/Psychology/duoqW7Sz">psychology</a>, and <a href="/facts/Philosophy/zAH5PVD6">philosophy</a>, belief in souls comes under criticism. Evidence from the fields of <a href="/facts/Neuroscience/o5RV8Cas">neurosciences</a> suggests that all mental processes correlate to a brain-function and thus, there might be no additional soul beyond matter. Proponents of the idea of a matter-independent soul have argued that the soul may exist parallel to brain activities or is a <a href="/facts/Epiphenomenalism/l7LGxoa3">byproduct of the brain</a>. Others have written defenses on interactionism, i.e., the view that the soul interacts with the body as a separate instance.

Soul open-in-new

Soul