God and Soul
topic:God and Soul
instructions:topics are on God, supernatural, and questions about mind/soul.
please Look at the attached files and write a 5 pages essay about one topic only
Essay 2 Assignment
Employing the Dialectic Method, argue for or against one of the following:
- Human beings/Living things/Animals have souls.
- Humans are immortal.
You may use one of the sample arguments provided, or devise one of your own, or use a modified version of a sample argument.
4 Sample Arguments
That Humans/Living Things/Animals Have Souls –
Cartesian (inspired by Descartes):
- Thought is a private function.
- No physical function is private.
- If thought is a non-physical function, then humans have a non-physical principle of thought.
- A soul is a non-physical principle of thought.
_________________________________________
- Humans have souls.
Aristotelian:
- Living things have identity over complete physical change.
- Whatever has identity over complete physical changehas a non-physical principle of identity.
- A soul is a non-physical principle of identity.
_________________________________________
- Living things have souls.
That Humans are Immortal –
Platonic:
- Humans have a non-physical principle of existence.
- Non-physical things don’t corrupt.
- Whatever has a principle of existence which doesn’t corrupt is immortal.
_____________________________________________________
- Humans are immortal.
Thomistic:
- Humans have a non-physical principle of existence: the soul.
- Human souls have an activity that can be performed independently of the body: rational thought.
- Any act of a soul which can be performed independently of the body can be performed everlastingly.
- Anything that has a soul which has an activity that can be performed everlastingly is immortal.
(A soul continues to exist as long as it has an activity to perform.)
_______________________________________________________________________
- Humans are immortal.
