Does Brain Science Disprove the Soul?

Richard Swinburne (Oxford University) and Tim O'Connor (Indiana University) weigh substance dualism on the scales of contemporary neuroscience—how does the existence of the soul comport with empirical neuro-research?

[martin]

Non-necessity is not an argument for non-existence

[joeyburrell]

Richard is simply brilliant! He gives me more faith that I have a soul than any other argument that contends the body is the soul. It makes so much sense to me. I’ve watched him on CTT Chanel with Robert Kuhn.

[Bahaaeddeen]

If I can understand what this guy is saying I would watch it again

[brucefetter]

tightly crossed legs suggests intellectual discussions. :)

[Netherghoul]

Don't be scared to die. Strive to be a good person and you will be alright. The worst that can happen is there is no afterlife. If that's the case there's nothing you can do about it.

[iamtheglow]

Reading these comments let’s me know we humans never take anything seriously. 🤣💯

[pistislogos]

The Agent cannot be reduced to materials. Science, itself, is possible because it is an activity done by an agent. Who is doing science? Scientist. Is material doing science? Can material have 'knowledge' of things? That is absurd. Materials understanding materials is an absurd idea.

[bishalscreation]

Difficult to understand but i am sure being a scientist research analyst there is no soul, no spirit, no afterlife. This is all an excuse to overcome the grief of loosing a beloved.

[ngallardo]

If a sufferer of epilepsy has his corpus collosum split so the two hemispheres of his brain act independently of each other and have their own wills and desires, does that person now have two souls?

[josekmcmi]

They don't answer the question, does soul exist? Beating around the bush in unintelligible language.

[SeekLuminousThings]

Tim's credibility as a man of good sense and reason is laid completely to waste by the Birkenstocks at 2:42.

If you are born with a soul, why do some become evil?

[charliedallachie]

The brain is a vehicle of the soul, except the soul doesn’t die if your brain does. It really just comes down to belief, obviously you can’t prove it either way. Even scientists are more and more open to parallel worlds or higher dimensions so there’s so much we just don’t know. So in the material world yea you die but maybe live in another dimension 🤷‍♂️ a lot of athiests just don’t believe in the God in the sky concept but have they thought about other possibilities?

[martin]

Maybe the development of the brain allows a greater interaction with the "Soul"

[whitethread]

It can't be proven or not whether we have a soul.. people have had near death experiences but nobody has had a dead experience.

[happycat]

The human body works together as a single unit with e soul / spirit. This is exactly why a person can be clinically brain dead and all their organs be kept fully functioning with the aide of machines. The person is clinically still alive but there is brain itself is absent of any brain activity.

In other words the soul / spirit of a person is like the driver of the car. Once the soul/spirit is paired with the body (car) then the body and soul/spirit (driver) can function as a single fully functioning person (human).

The concept is highly unusual but then again, the Bible tells us this exactly that the physical body is just a temporary container for the human which is, BTW, eternal like God, since God created people in His own image > an eternal spirit....

The reason why the human physical body shows highly similar characteristics to animals in the animal kingdom is b/c God used roughly the same template for people when God created animals. What differentiates people from animals is that people have a soul / spirit coupled with a highly complex brain and complex body which places humans at the very top of the animal pyramid.

The key point to remember is that the physical body can do nothing without the soul / spirit which is exactly why a brain dead person can be kept 100% alive on on hospital machines but unable to function whatsoever.

BTW ~ Animals have animal instincts wired into them at birth and so do humans as well. What makes the human species extraordinary different is that the human species has an incredible ability to think and learn on extraordinary levels.

Of course, this is based on if an individual considers the possibility that an omnipotent and omniscient being such as the God, that is talked about in the Bible, is REAL.

[robheusd]

Similar problem like: how did the first living organism arise, how dit the first multicellar organism arise, how did the first fish, amphibian, reptile, mamal, human arise. I guess in all these cases one can't make a sharp distinction.

[may_it_please_the_court]

I don't think anyone has proven a soul exists nor ever will. It's a religious claim which they have so much of a burden in the first place. This video is just more talk and nothing more.

[smcasas]

They never went into definitions. A soul is something that can experience feelings? How couldn't that be gradual? I would argue that the first feelings were rather simple compared to what they are now, probably indistinguishable from instinct or reflex.

[waifuislaifu]

No, science cannot disprove the soul.