soul

The English noun soul stems from the Old English {{lang|ang|sāwl}}. The earliest attestations reported in the Oxford English Dictionary are from the 8th century. In the Vespasian Psalter 77.50, it means "life" or "animate existence". In King Alfred's translation of {{lang|la|De Consolatione Philosophiae}}, it is used to refer to the immaterial, spiritual, or thinking aspect of a person, as contrasted with the person's physical body. The Old English word is cognate with other historical Germanic terms for the same idea, including Old Frisian {{lang|ofs|sēle}}, {{lang|ofs|sēl}} (which could also mean 'salvation', or 'solemn oath'), Gothic {{lang|got|saiwala}}, Old High German {{lang|goh|sēula}}, {{lang|goh|sēla}}, Old Saxon {{lang|osx|sēola}}, and Old Norse {{lang|non|sála}}. Present-day cognates include Dutch {{lang|nl|ziel}} and German {{lang|de|Seele}}.{{cite dictionary |title=soul, n. |url=https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/185083?rskey=HutjgX&result=1 |dictionary=OED Online |publisher=Oxford University Press |access-date=23 June 2022}}

The Baháʼí Faith affirms that "the soul is a sign of God, a heavenly gem whose reality the most learned of men hath failed to grasp".{{Cite web |title=Quotations {{!}} The Human Soul {{!}} The Life of the Spirit {{!}} What Bahá’ís Believe |url=https://www.bahai.org/beliefs/life-spirit/human-soul/quotations |access-date=2025-04-15 |website=www.bahai.org |language=en}} The soul is eternal and begins its existence at the moment of conception, distinct from the physical body; Abdu’l-Bahá explains, “The soul is not a combination of elements, it is not composed of many atoms, it is of one indivisible substance and therefore eternal. It is entirely out of the order of the physical creation.”{{Cite web |title=Paris Talks {{!}} Bahá’í Reference Library |url=https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/abdul-baha/paris-talks/3#397365080 |access-date=2025-04-15 |website=www.bahai.org}}

It is immortal and continues to progress after death, as “the world beyond is as different from this world as this world is different from that of the child while still in the womb of its mother”.{{Cite web |title=Life and Death {{!}} The Human Soul {{!}} The Life of the Spirit {{!}} What Bahá’ís Believe |url=https://www.bahai.org/beliefs/life-spirit/human-soul/life-death |access-date=2025-04-15 |website=www.bahai.org |language=en}} While the body perishes, the soul remains untouched by physical decay, as “the soul, after its separation from the body, will continue to progress until it attaineth the presence of God, in a state and condition which neither the revolution of ages and centuries, nor the changes and chances of this world, can alter”.{{Cite web |title=Quotations {{!}} The Human Soul {{!}} The Life of the Spirit {{!}} What Bahá’ís Believe |url=https://www.bahai.org/beliefs/life-spirit/human-soul/quotations |access-date=2025-04-15 |website=www.bahai.org |language=en}}

The purpose of the soul’s earthly life is to develop qualities like love, justice, and compassion, which prepare it for eternal progress; Bahá’u’lláh states, “All men have been created to carry forward an ever-advancing civilization”.{{Cite web |title=The Coming of Age of Humanity {{!}} Revelation {{!}} God and His Creation {{!}} What Bahá’ís Believe |url=https://www.bahai.org/beliefs/god-his-creation/revelation/coming-age-humanity |access-date=2025-04-15 |website=www.bahai.org |language=en}}

The non-existence of self (anatman), the impermanence of all things (anitya), and the suffering (dukkha) experienced by living beings due to attachment to ideas of self and permanence are central concepts in almost all Buddhist schools.{{Cite book |last=Hanh |first=Thich Nhat |title=The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching |publisher=Ebury Publishing |year=2008 |isbn=9781409020547 |pages=187 |chapter=Chapter 18: The Three Dharma Seals |orig-year=1997}} The doctrine of Buddha-nature, while sometimes misinterpreted as referring to a "true self" or "soul" of some kind, actually depends upon acceptance of the concept of anatman to be properly understood.{{cite web|title=The Significance Of 'Tathagatagarbha'- A Positive Expression Of 'Sunyata'|url=http://www.budsas.org/ebud/ebdha191.htm|access-date=2023-07-15|author-last=Shih|author-first=Heng-Ching|archive-date=15 July 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230715222740/https://www.budsas.org/ebud/ebdha191.htm|url-status=live}}

The idea of a soul is not a traditional Buddhist teaching, as it conflicts with the principles of dependent origination and cessation. Through the lens of impermanence, Buddhists recognize that all phenomena—whether physical or mental—are in a continuous cycle of arising and dissolving, with nothing being permanent. To the untrained eye, things may appear unchanging, but precise observation reveals that nothing remains static, even for an instant. The notion of 'production and reproduction' in the Classic of Changes similarly suggests a process of 'ongoing destruction,' reflecting the truth that all things are in perpetual flux and transformation.{{Cite web |title=Do Buddhists Believe in the Existence of the Soul? |url=https://www.dharmadrum.org/portal_e1_cnt_page.php?cnt_id=17&folder_id=3 |website=Dharma Drum Mountain Global Website}}

{{See also|Soul in the Bible}}

File:SoulCarriedtoHeaven.jpg]]

The Bible teaches that upon death, souls are immediately welcomed into heaven, having received forgiveness of sins through accepting Christ as Savior. Believers experience death as a transition where they depart their physical bodies to dwell in God's presence. While the soul is united with God at death, the physical body remains in the grave, awaiting resurrection. At the time of the resurrection, the body will be raised, perfected, and reunited with the soul. This fully restored, glorified unity of body and spirit will then exist eternally in the renewed creation described in Revelation 21–22.{{Cite web |title=What happens after death? |url=https://www.gotquestions.org/what-happens-after-death.html |website=GotQuestions}}

Paul the Apostle used psychē ({{math|ψυχή}}) and pneuma ({{math|πνεῦμα}}) specifically to distinguish between the Jewish notions of nephesh (נפש), meaning soul, and ruah (רוח), meaning spirit{{cite book |last1=Αρχιμ. Βλάχος |first1=Ιερόθεος |title=Ορθόδοξη Ψυχοθεραπεία |date=30 September 1985 |location=Εδεσσα |publisher=Ιερά Μονή Τιμίου Σταυρού |page=Τι είναι η ψυχή |url=https://www.oodegr.com/oode/dogma/psyxi1.htm |access-date=25 January 2023 |chapter-url=https://eclass.uoa.gr/modules/document/file.php/THEOL160/%CE%9A%CE%B5%CE%AF%CE%BC%CE%B5%CE%BD%CE%B1%20%CE%B3%CE%B9%CE%B1%20%CF%80%CF%81%CE%BF%CF%83%CF%89%CF%80%CE%B9%CE%BA%CE%AE%20%CE%B8%CE%B5%CE%BF%CE%BB%CE%BF%CE%B3%CE%B9%CE%BA%CE%AE%20%CE%BA%CE%B1%CF%84%CE%AC%CF%81%CF%84%CE%B9%CF%83%CE%B7/%CE%9F%CE%A1%CE%98%CE%9F%CE%94%CE%9F%CE%9E%CE%97%20%CE%A8%CE%A5%CE%A7%CE%9F%CE%98%CE%95%CE%A1%CE%91%CE%A0%CE%95%CE%99%CE%91.pdf |language=Greek |chapter=Κεφάλαιο Γ' |archive-date=25 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230125171147/https://www.oodegr.com/oode/dogma/psyxi1.htm |url-status=live }} (also in the Septuagint, e.g. Genesis 1:2 רוּחַ אֱלֹהִים = {{math|πνεῦμα θεοῦ}} = spiritus Dei = "the Spirit of God"). This has led some Christians to espouse a trichotomic view of humans, which characterizes humans as consisting of a body (soma), soul (psyche), and spirit (pneuma).{{cite web |date=1 July 1912 |title=Soul |url=http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14153a.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111128201145/http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14153a.htm |archive-date=28 November 2011 |access-date=13 November 2011 |website=newadvent.org |quote=In St. Paul we find a more technical phraseology employed with great consistency. Psyche is now appropriated to the purely natural life; pneuma to the life of supernatural religion, the principle of which is the Holy Spirit, dwelling and operating in the heart. The opposition of flesh and spirit is accentuated afresh (Romans 1:18, etc.). This Pauline system, presented to a world already prepossessed in favour of a quasi-Platonic Dualism, occasioned one of the earliest widespread forms of error among Christian writers – the doctrine of the Trichotomy. According to this, man, perfect man (teleios) consists of three parts: body, soul and spirit (soma, psyche, pneuma).}} However, others believe that "spirit" and "soul" are used interchangeably in many biblical passages and so hold to dichotomy: the view that each human comprises a body and a soul.{{Cite web |last=Baker |first=Daniel |date=2015 |title=Are We Body-and-Soul or Body-Soul-and-Spirit? |url=https://cornerstoneapex.org/blog/are-we-body-and-soul-or-body-soul-and-spirit |access-date= |website=Cornerstone Fellowship Church of Apex |language=en-US |archive-date=15 August 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240815175244/https://cornerstoneapex.org/blog/are-we-body-and-soul-or-body-soul-and-spirit |url-status=live }} Peter warned against "passions of the flesh, which wage war against the soul"{{Cite web |title=1 Peter 2:11 - Revised Standard Version |url=https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Peter%202:11&version=RSV |access-date=2025-04-13 |website=BibleGateway |language=en}} and the author of Hebrews said "For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit".{{Cite web |title=Hebrews 4:12 - New American Standard Bible |url=https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Hebrews%204:12&version=NASB |access-date=2025-04-13 |website=BibleGateway |language=en}}

The "origin of the soul" has proved a vexing question in Christianity. The major theories put forward include soul creationism, traducianism, and pre-existence. According to soul creationism, God creates each individual soul directly, either at the moment of conception or at some later time. According to traducianism, the soul comes from the parents by natural generation. According to the pre-existence theory, the soul exists before the moment of conception. There have been differing thoughts regarding whether human embryos have souls from conception, or whether there is a point between conception and birth where the fetus acquires a soul, consciousness, and personhood.{{cite web |last=Pacholczyk |first=Tadeusz, Father, PhD |title=Do embryos have souls? |url=http://www.catholiceducation.org/articles/medical_ethics/me0116.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629203818/http://www.catholiceducation.org/articles/medical_ethics/me0116.htm |archive-date=29 June 2011 |access-date=13 November 2011 |website=Catholiceducation.org |department=Catholic Education Resource Center}}

The human person's survival after death but before bodily resurrection has been a hotly debated topic in Christianity. Corruptionism is the view that after the separation of the soul and the body during death, the soul continues to exist, but the human person does not.{{Cite journal |last=Oderberg |first=David S. |author-link=David S. Oderberg |date=2012-12-22 |title=Survivalism, Corruptionism, and Mereology |url=https://philosophy-of-religion.eu/index.php/ejpr/article/view/257 |journal=European Journal for Philosophy of Religion |volume=4 |issue=4 |pages=1–26 |doi=10.24204/ejpr.v4i4.257 |issn=1689-8311}} In contrast, survivalism is the view that the human person continues to exist after death. Most Thomists hold to the corruptionist view, arguing that a human person is a composite of matter and soul.{{Cite journal |last=Spencer |first=Mark |date=2014 |title=The personhood of the separated soul |url=https://www.academia.edu/download/47972932/09NV12-3_Spencer_Personhood.pdf |journal=Nova et Vetera |volume=12 |issue=3 |pages=863–912}} Survivalists argue that while a person is not identical to their soul, it is sufficient to constitute a person. In recent years, a middle view has been put forward: that the separated soul is an incomplete person.{{Cite journal |last1=De Haan |first1=Daniel D. |last2=Dahm |first2=Brandon |date=2019 |title=Thomas Aquinas on Separated Souls as Incomplete Human Persons |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/article/761040 |journal=The Thomist: A Speculative Quarterly Review |language=en |volume=83 |issue=4 |pages=589–637 |doi=10.1353/tho.2019.0036 |issn=2473-3725 |archive-date=19 July 2024 |access-date=29 March 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240719140208/https://muse.jhu.edu/article/761040 |url-status=live }} It argues that the soul meets most of the criteria of a person but that the survivalist view fails to capture the unnaturalness of a person surviving death.

{{Main|Ātman (Hinduism)|Jiva}}

{{translit | sa | Ātman}} is a Sanskrit word that means inner self or soul.{{efn|

ātman: 1. real self of the individual; 2. a person's soul"

{{cite dictionary

|title= ātman

|dictionary=Oxford Dictionaries

|publisher=Oxford University Press

|year=2012

|url=http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/atman

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151223074014/http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/atman

|archive-date=23 December 2015

}}

{{cite dictionary

|title = ātman

|editor-first=John |editor-last=Bowker

|year=2000

|dictionary=The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions

|publisher=Oxford University Press

|isbn=978-0-19-280094-7

}}

{{cite dictionary

|title = ātman (self)

|editor-first=W.J. |editor-last=Johnson

|year=2009

|dictionary=A Dictionary of Hinduism

|publisher=Oxford University Press

|isbn=978-0-19-861025-0

}}

}}{{efn|

"Advaita and Nirguni movements, on the other hand, stress an interior mysticism in which the devotee seeks to discover the identity of individual soul (ātman) with the universal ground of being (brahman) or to find god within himself." — {{harvp|Lorenzen|2004}}

{{cite book

|first=D. |last=Lorenzen |author-link=David Lorenzen

|year=2004

|title=The Hindu World

|editor1-first=Sushil |editor1-last=Mittal

|editor2-first=Gene |editor2-last=Thursby

|publisher=Routledge

|isbn=0-415-21527-7

|pages=208–209

}}

}}{{efn|

"Even though Buddhism explicitly rejected the Hindu ideas of ātman ("soul") and brahman, Hinduism treats Sakyamuni Buddha as one of the ten avatars of Vishnu." — {{harvp|Meister|2010}}

{{cite book

|first=Chad |last=Meister

|year=2010

|title=The Oxford Handbook of Religious Diversity

|publisher=Oxford University Press

|isbn=978-0-19-534013-6

|page=63

}}

}}

In Hindu philosophy, especially in the Vedanta school of Hinduism, ātman is the first principle,

{{cite book

|last1=Deussen |first1=Paul

|last2=Geden |first2=A.S.

|date=June 2010

|title=The Philosophy of the Upanishads

|publisher=Cosimo Classics

|isbn=978-1-61640-240-2

|page=86

}}

the true self of an individual beyond identification with phenomena, the essence of an individual. In order to attain liberation (moksha), a human being must acquire self-knowledge (atma jnana), which is to realize that one's true self (ātman) is identical with the transcendent self Brahman according to Advaita Vedanta.{{efn|

"Ātman as the innermost essence or soul of man, and brahman as the innermost essence and support of the universe. (...) Thus we can see in the Upanishads, a tendency towards a convergence of microcosm and macrocosm, culminating in the equating of ātman with brahman". — {{harvp|King|1995}}

{{cite book

|first=Richard |last=King

|year=1995

|title=Early Advaita Vedanta and Buddhism

|publisher=State University of New York Press

|isbn=978-0-7914-2513-8

|page=64

}}

}}

The six orthodox schools of Hinduism believe that there is ātman (self, essence) in every being.

{{cite book

|first=K.N. |last=Jayatilleke |author-link=K. N. Jayatilleke

|year=2010

|title=Early Buddhist Theory of Knowledge

|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publishe |isbn=978-81-208-0619-1

|at=pp. 246–249, from note 85 onwards

}}

{{cite book

|first=Steven |last=Collins

|year=1994

|title=Religion and Practical Reason

|editor1-first=Frank |editor1-last=Reynolds

|editor2-first=David |editor2-last=Tracy

|publisher=State University of New York Press

|isbn=978-0-7914-2217-5

|page=64

}}

{{efn|

"Central to Buddhist soteriology is the doctrine of not-self (Pali: anattā, Sanskrit: anātman, the opposed doctrine of ātman is central to Brahmanical thought). Put very briefly, this is the [Buddhist] doctrine that human beings have no soul, no self, no unchanging essence." — {{harvp|Shankara|1908 }}

{{cite book

|last=Shankara |first=Acharya |author-link=Adi Shankara

|year=1908

|section=Introduction

|title=Brihad Aranyaka Upanishad and the Commentary of Sankara Acharya on its First Chapter

|title-link=Brihad Aranyaka

|translator-first=Edward |translator-last=Roer

|page=2 (quote), pp. 2–4

|publisher=Society for the Resuscitation of Indian Literature

|section-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3uwDAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA2

|via=Google books

}}

}}

{{cite magazine

|first=Katie |last=Javanaud

|date=July–August 2013

|title=Is the Buddhist 'no-self' doctrine compatible with pursuing nirvana?

|magazine=Philosophy Now

|issue=97

|url=https://philosophynow.org/issues/97/Is_The_Buddhist_No-Self_Doctrine_Compatible_With_Pursuing_Nirvana

|via=philosophynow.org |access-date=17 September 2024 |url-status=live

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150206211126/https://philosophynow.org/issues/97/Is_The_Buddhist_No-Self_Doctrine_Compatible_With_Pursuing_Nirvana

|archive-date=6 February 2015

}}

In Hinduism and Jainism, a {{translit | sa | jiva}} ({{langx|sa|जीव}}, {{IAST|jīva}}, alternative spelling jiwa; {{langx|hi|जीव}}, {{IAST|jīv}}, alternative spelling jeev) is a living being, or any entity imbued with a life force.

{{cite book

|first=Matthew |last=Hall

|year=2011

|title=Plants as Persons: A philosophical botany

|publisher=State University of New York Press

|isbn=978-1-4384-3430-8

|page=76

|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SqzkqnETEVYC

}}

The concept of jiva in Jainism is similar to ātman in Hinduism; however, some Hindu traditions differentiate between the two concepts, with jiva considered as an individual self, but with ātman' as that which is the universal unchanging self that is present in all living beings and everything else as the metaphysical Brahman.

{{cite book

|first=Jean |last=Varenne |author-link=Jean Varenne

|title=Yoga and the Hindu Tradition

|year=1989

|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass

|isbn=978-81-208-0543-9

|pages=45–47

|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=meUWxDDqzuAC&pg=PA46

}}

{{cite book

|first=Michael

|last=Myers

|title=Brahman: A comparative theology

|year=2013

|publisher=Routledge

|isbn=978-1-136-83565-0

|pages=140–143

|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xfvaAAAAQBAJ

}}

{{cite book

|first=Anna Teresa |last=Tymieniecka

|year=1994

|section=Chapter III: The creative self and the other in search of the sacred

|editor1-first=Józef |editor1-last=Tischner

|editor2-first=Józef |editor2-last=Życiński

|editor3-first=George |editor3-last=McClean |author3-link=George F. McLean

|title=The Philosophy of Person: Solidarity and cultural creativity

|series=Polish Philosophical Studies |volume=I

|place=Washington, DC

|publisher=Paideia Publishers / Council for Research in Values and Philosophy

|isbn=9781565180499

|page=32

|section-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9Qo0gvD4AMcC&q=The+Philosophy+of+Person%3A+Solidarity+and+cultural+creativity

}}

:

{{cite book

|last1=McLean |first1=George F. |author1-link=George F. McLean

|last2=Meynell |first2=Hugo Anthony |author2-link=Hugo Anthony Meynell

|year=1988

|title=The Nature of Metaphysical Knowledge

|place=Washington, DC

|publisher=Council for Research in Values and Philosophy

|isbn=9780819169266

|page=32

|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kO8-980xGk8C&dq=hiranyagarba&pg=PA32

}}

The latter is sometimes referred to as jiva-ātman (a soul in a living body).

{{Main|Nafs|Rūḥ}}

File:4DModel.jpg

The Quran, the holy book of Islam, uses two words to refer to the soul: rūḥ (translated as spirit, consciousness, pneuma, or soul) and nafs (translated as self, ego, psyche, or soul),{{cite journal |last1 = Deuraseh |first1 = Nurdeen |last2 = Abu Talib |first2 = Mansor |year = 2005 |title = Mental health in Islamic medical tradition |journal = The International Medical Journal |volume = 4 |issue = 2 |pages = 76–79}}{{cite journal |last1 = Bragazzi |first1 = NL |last2 = Khabbache |first2 = H |display-authors = etal |year = 2018 |title = Neurotheology of Islam and Higher Consciousness States |url = http://cosmosandhistory.org/index.php/journal/article/viewFile/742/1296 |journal = Cosmos and History: The Journal of Natural and Social Philosophy |volume = 14 |issue = 2 |pages = 315–21 |archive-date = 15 June 2021 |access-date = 27 June 2020 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210615090208/https://cosmosandhistory.org/index.php/journal/article/viewFile/742/1296 |url-status = live }} cognates of the Hebrew ruach and nefesh. The two terms are frequently used interchangeably, although rūḥ is more often used to denote the divine spirit or "the breath of life", while nafs designates one's disposition or characteristics.{{cite book |title=Encyclopaedia of the Qurʾān |volume=5 |editor=Jane Dammen McAuliffe |year=2006 |publisher=Brill |chapter=Soul |author=Th. Emil Homerin}} In Islamic philosophy, the immortal rūḥ "drives" the mortal nafs, which comprises temporal desires and perceptions necessary for living.{{cite web |title=Immortality of the Soul |url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/8092-immortality-of-the-soul |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220130344/http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/8092-immortality-of-the-soul |archive-date=20 December 2016 |access-date=2016-12-14 |website=jewishencyclopedia.com}}

Al-Ruh which departs the physical body is of two types, the first is called the lesser death (al-Wafat al-Sugra), happening during sleeping, and then the actual death (al-Wafat al-Kubra). In both occasions, the Ruh departs the body, although the nature of this departing is not of equal degree. For instance when one fall asleep, his Ruh does not completely separate his physical body, rather, it wanders about, remaining in one way or the other as he breathes such that when he is about to wake up, it returns to him in as soon as the blinking of an eye.Dalhat, Y. (2011). The Concept Of al-Ruh (Soul) In Islam.

{{Main|Jīva (Jainism)|Vitalism (Jainism)}}

File:Atman.jpg

In Jainism, every living being, from plant or bacterium to human, has a soul and the concept forms the very basis of Jainism. According to Jainism, there is no beginning or end to the existence of soul. It is eternal in nature and changes its form until it attains liberation. In Jainism, jiva is the immortal essence or soul of a living organism, such as human, animal, fish, or plant, which survives physical death. The concept of Ajiva in Jainism means "not soul", and represents matter (including body), time, space, non-motion and motion.{{cite book|author=J Jaini|title=Outlines of Jainism|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=54A9AAAAIAAJ|year=1940|publisher=Cambridge University Press|pages=xxii–xxiii}} In Jainism, a Jiva is either samsari (mundane, caught in cycle of rebirths) or mukta (liberated).{{Cite book |last=Siddhāntacakravartin |first=Nemicandra |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qN82XwAACAAJ |title=Gommatsara Karma-kanda |date=1927 |publisher=Central Jaina Publishing House |language=en}}{{Cite book |title=Buddhism and Jainism |date=2017 |publisher=Springer Netherlands |isbn=978-94-024-0851-5 |editor-last=Sarao |editor-first=K.T.S. |editor-link=K. T. S. Sarao |series=Encyclopedia of Indian Religions |page=594 |language=en |doi=10.1007/978-94-024-0852-2_100397 |editor-last2=Long |editor-first2=Jeffery D. |editor2-link=Jeffery D. Long |chapter=Jiva }}

According to this belief until the time the soul is liberated from the saṃsāra (cycle of repeated birth and death), it gets attached to one of these bodies based on the karma (actions) of the individual soul. Irrespective of which state the soul is in, it has got the same attributes and qualities. The difference between the liberated and non-liberated souls is that the qualities and attributes are manifested completely in case of siddha (liberated soul) as they have overcome all the karmic bondages whereas in case of non-liberated souls they are partially exhibited. Souls who rise victorious over wicked emotions while still remaining within physical bodies are referred to as arihants.{{cite book |last=Sangave |first=Vilas Adinath |author-link=Vilas Adinath Sangave |title=Aspects of Jaina religion |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=I8RUPwAACAAJ |edition=3

|publisher=Bharatiya Jnanpith |year=2001 |pages=15–16 |isbn=81-263-0626-2}}

Concerning the Jain view of the soul, Virchand Gandhi said that "the soul lives its own life, not for the purpose of the body, but the body lives for the purpose of the soul. If we believe that the soul is to be controlled by the body then soul misses its power."{{cite web |title=Forgotten Gandhi, Virchand Gandhi (1864–1901) – Advocate of Universal Brotherhood |url=http://www.all-famous-quotes.com/Virchand_Gandhi_quotes.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921112719/http://www.all-famous-quotes.com/Virchand_Gandhi_quotes.html |archive-date=21 September 2013 |publisher=All Famous Quotes}}

The Hebrew terms {{Script/Hebrew|נפש}} nefesh (literally "living being"), {{Script/Hebrew|רוח}} ruach (literally "wind"), {{Script/Hebrew|נשמה}} neshamah (literally "breath"), {{Script/Hebrew|חיה}} chayah (literally "life") and {{Script/Hebrew|יחידה}} yechidah (literally "singularity") are used to describe the soul or spirit.Zohar, Rayah Mehemna, Terumah 158b. See Leibowitz, Aryeh (2018). The Neshamah: A Study of the Human Soul. Feldheim Publishers. pp. 27, 110. {{ISBN|1-68025-338-7}}

Judaism relates the quality of one's soul to one's performance of the commandments (mitzvot) and reaching higher levels of understanding, and thus closeness to God. Judaism places great importance on the study of the souls.{{cite web|url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/13933-soul|title=Soul|publisher=jewishencyclopedia.com|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160308035611/http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/13933-soul|archive-date=8 March 2016}}

Kabbalah and other mystic traditions go into greater detail into the nature of the soul. Kabbalah separates the soul into five elements, corresponding to the five worlds:{{cite web |title=Nurturing The Human Soul—From Cradle To Grave |url=https://www.chizukshaya.com/2013/01/the-five-levels-of-mans-soul.html |website=Chizuk Shaya: Dvar Torah Resource |access-date=10 June 2022 |date=6 January 2013 |archive-date=25 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221025111428/https://www.chizukshaya.com/2013/01/the-five-levels-of-mans-soul.html |url-status=live }}{{cite web |title=Neshamah: Levels of Soul Consciousness |url=https://www.chabad.org/kabbalah/article_cdo/aid/380651/jewish/Neshamah-Levels-of-Soul-Consciousness.htm |website=Chabad.org Kabbalah Online |access-date=24 April 2024 |archive-date=23 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240423225245/https://www.chabad.org/kabbalah/article_cdo/aid/380651/jewish/Neshamah-Levels-of-Soul-Consciousness.htm |url-status=live }}

1. Nefesh, related to natural instinct.
2. Ruach, related to emotion.
3. Neshamah, related to intellect.
4. Chayah, which gazes at the transcendence of God.
5. Yechidah, essence of the soul, which is bound to God.

Kabbalah proposed a concept of reincarnation, the gilgul (nefesh habehamit – the "animal soul").Weiner, Rebecca [https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/reincarnation-and-judaism Reincarnation and Judaism] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230414065736/https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/reincarnation-and-judaism |date=14 April 2023 }}. jewishvirtuallibrary.org. Retrieved July 2 2024 Some Jewish traditions assert that the soul is housed in the luz bone, though traditions disagree as to whether it is the atlas at the top of the spine, or the sacrum at bottom of the spine.{{Cite book |last=Scholem |first=Gershom |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qJesQGFsSwsC |title=Kabbalah |date=1978 |publisher=Meridian |isbn=978-0-452-01007-9 |language=en}}

{{See also|Soul dualism}}

File:Manunggul Jar.jpg Manunggul burial jar from the Tabon Caves, Palawan, Philippines, depicts a soul and a psychopomp journeying to the spirit world in a boat ({{circa}} 890–710 BCE).]]

Soul dualism, also called "multiple souls" or "dualistic pluralism", is a common belief in Shamanism,{{Cite book |last=Sumegi |first=Angela |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZBtKf35fABEC |title=Dreamworlds of Shamanism and Tibetan Buddhism: The Third Place |date=2008 |publisher=State University of New York Press |isbn=978-0-7914-7826-4 |language=en}}{{cite thesis |last=Bock |first=Nona J.T. |date=2005 |title=Shamanic techniques: their use and effectiveness in the practice of psychotherapy |type=MSc |publisher=University of Wisconsin-Stout |url=http://www2.uwstout.edu/content/lib/thesis/2005/2005bockn.pdf |archive-date=25 October 2022 |access-date=8 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221025110045/http://www2.uwstout.edu/content/lib/thesis/2005/2005bockn.pdf |url-status=live }} and is essential in the universal and central concept of "soul flight" (also called "soul journey", "out-of-body experience", "ecstasy", or "astral projection").{{cite book |last1=Hoppál |first1=Mihály |title=Shamans and Traditions |date=2007 |publisher=Akadémiai Kiadó |location=Budapest |isbn=978-963-05-8521-7 |pages=17–26}}{{cite book|first1 =Ulf|last1 =Drobin|editor1-first =Peter|editor1-last =Jackson|title =Horizons of Shamanism|chapter =Introduction|publisher =Stockholm University Press|year =2016|pages =xiv-xvii|isbn =978-91-7635-024-9|url =https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.12657/32054/619233.pdf?sequence=1|archive-date =17 September 2022|access-date =8 March 2021|archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20220917102925/https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.12657/32054/619233.pdf?sequence=1|url-status =live}} It is the belief that humans have two or more souls, generally termed the "body soul", or "life soul", and the "free soul". The former is linked to bodily functions and awareness when awake, while the latter can freely wander during sleep or trance states.{{cite book|first1=Michael James|last1=Winkelman|editor1-first=Kasumi-Clements|editor1-last=Niki |title =Religion: Mental Religion|chapter =Shamanism and the Brain|publisher =Macmillan Reference USA|year =2016|pages=355–372|isbn =9780028663609|url =https://www.researchgate.net/publication/323547873}}{{cite journal |last1=Winkelman |first1=Michael |title=Shamanic universals and evolutionary psychology |journal=Journal of Ritual Studies |date=2002 |volume=16 |issue=2 |pages=63–76 |jstor=44364143 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44364143 |archive-date=18 August 2022 |access-date=8 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220818035112/https://www.jstor.org/stable/44364143 |url-status=live }} In some cases, there are a plethora of soul types with different functions.{{cite web |url=http://www.folklore.ee/folklore/vol4/hing.htm |title=Conceptions of soul in old-Estonian religion |volume=4 |last=Kulmar |first=Tarmo |author-link=:et:Tarmo Kulmar |access-date=8 March 2021 |archive-date=16 January 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190116192657/http://www.folklore.ee/folklore/vol4/hing.htm |url-status=live }} Soul dualism and multiple souls are prominent in the traditional animistic beliefs of the Austronesian peoples,{{cite book |first=Michael L. |last=Tan |title=Revisiting Usog, Pasma, Kulam |publisher=University of the Philippines Press |year=2008 |isbn=9789715425704 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EktzHrfup1UC}}{{cite book |author=Clifford Sather |editor=James J. Fox |title=Expressions of Austronesian Thought and Emotions |chapter=A work of love: Awareness and expressions of emotion in a Borneo healing ritual |publisher=ANU Press |year =2018 |pages=57–63 |isbn=9781760461928 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wAxfDwAAQBAJ}} the Chinese people (hún and pò),{{cite journal |last1=Harrell |first1=Stevan |title=The Concept of Soul in Chinese Folk Religion |journal=The Journal of Asian Studies |date=1979 |volume=38 |issue=3 |pages=519–528 |doi=10.2307/2053785|jstor=2053785 |s2cid=162507447 |doi-access=free }} the Tibetan people, most African peoples, most Native North Americans,{{cite book |last1=McClelland |first1=Norman C. |title=Encyclopedia of Reincarnation and Karma |date=2010 |publisher=McFarland & Company, Inc. |isbn=978-0-7864-4851-7 |pages=251, 258}}{{cite book |last1=Merkur |first1=Daniel |title=Becoming Half Hidden / Shamanism and Initiation among the Inuit |date=1985 |publisher=Almqvist & Wiksell |location=Stockholm |isbn=91-22-00752-0 |pages=61, 222–223, 226, 240}} ancient South Asian peoples, Northern Eurasian peoples,{{cite web |last=Hoppál |first=Mihály |title=Nature worship in Siberian shamanism |url=http://www.folklore.ee/folklore/vol4/hoppal.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181230025609/http://www.folklore.ee/folklore/vol4/hoppal.htm |archive-date=30 December 2018 |access-date=8 March 2021}}{{cite book |last1=Hoppál |first1=Mihály |title=Sámánok. Lelkek és jelképek ["Shamans / Souls and symbols"] |date=1994 |publisher=Helikon Kiadó |location=Budapest |isbn=963-208-298-2 |page=225}} and in Ancient Egyptians (the ka and ba).

The belief in soul dualism is found throughout most Austronesian shamanistic traditions. The reconstructed Proto-Austronesian word for the "body soul" is *nawa ("breath", "life", or "vital spirit"). It is located somewhere in the abdominal cavity, often in the liver or the heart (Proto-Austronesian *qaCay). The "free soul" is located in the head. Its names are usually derived from Proto-Austronesian *qaNiCu ("ghost", "spirit [of the dead]"), which also apply to other non-human nature spirits. The "free soul" is also referred to in names that literally mean "twin" or "double", from Proto-Austronesian *duSa ("two").{{cite book |first=Jose Vidamor B. |last=Yu |title=Inculturation of Filipino-Chinese Culture Mentality |volume=3 |publisher=Editrice Pontifica Universita Gregoriana |series=Interreligious and Intercultural Investigations |year =2000 |pages=148–149 |isbn=9788876528484 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=c4WqAOKb5c8C}}{{cite encyclopedia |author1=Robert Blust |author1-link=Robert Blust |author2=Stephen Trussel |title=ACD - Austronesian Comparative Dictionary - Cognate Sets - D |dictionary=Austronesian Comparative Dictionary |entry=*du |url=http://www.trussel2.com/acd/acd-s_d.htm#30339 |access-date=7 July 2018 |archive-date=20 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201020233130/https://www.trussel2.com/ACD/acd-s_d.htm#30339 |url-status=live }} A virtuous person is said to be one whose souls are in harmony with each other, while an evil person is one whose souls are in conflict.{{cite journal |author=Leonardo N. Mercado |year=1991 |title=Soul and Spirit in Filipino Thought |journal=Philippine Studies |volume=39 |issue=3 |pages=287–302 |jstor=42633258}}

The "free soul" is said to leave the body and journey to the spirit world during sleep, trance-like states, delirium, insanity, and death. The duality is also seen in the healing traditions of Austronesian shamans, where illnesses are regarded as a "soul loss" and thus to heal the sick, one must "return" the "free soul" (which may have been stolen by an evil spirit or got lost in the spirit world) into the body. If the "free soul" cannot be returned, the afflicted person dies or goes permanently insane. The shaman heals within the spiritual dimension by returning 'lost' parts of the human soul from wherever they have gone. The shaman also cleanses excess negative energies, which confuse or pollute the soul.{{cite journal |author=Zeus A. Salazar |author-link=Zeus A. Salazar |year=2007 |title=Faith healing in the Philippines: An historical perspective |url=http://asj.upd.edu.ph/mediabox/archive/ASJ-43-02-2007/Faith%20Healing%20in%20the%20Philippines%20Zeus%20Salazar.pdf |url-status=live |journal=Asian Studies |volume=43 |issue=2v |pages=1–15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220917111325/https://asj.upd.edu.ph/mediabox/archive/ASJ-43-02-2007/Faith%20Healing%20in%20the%20Philippines%20Zeus%20Salazar.pdf |archive-date=17 September 2022 |access-date=22 April 2019}}

In some ethnic groups, there can also be more than two souls. Among the Tagbanwa people, where a person is said to have six souls – the "free soul" (which is regarded as the "true" soul) and five secondary souls with various functions. Several Inuit groups believe that a person has more than one type of soul. One is associated with respiration, the other can accompany the body as a shadow.Kleivan, Inge; Sonne, B. (1985). "Arctic peoples". Eskimos. Greenland and Canada. Institute of Religious Iconography. Iconography of religions. Leiden, The Netherland): State University Groningen, via E.J. Brill. section VIII, fascicle 2. ISBN 90-04-07160-1. In some cases, it is connected to shamanistic beliefs among the various Inuit groups. Caribou Inuit groups also believed in several types of souls.Gabus, Jean (1970). A karibu eszkimók (in Hungarian). Budapest: Gondolat Kiadó. Translation of the original: Gabus, Jean (1944). Vie et coutumes des Esquimaux Caribous. Libraire Payot Lausanne.

Sikhism considers soul (atma) to be part of God (Waheguru). Various hymns are cited from the holy book Guru Granth Sahib (SGGS) that suggests this belief. "God is in the Soul and the Soul is in the God."SGGS, M 1, p. 1153. The same concept is repeated at various pages of the SGGS. Example include that "The soul is divine; divine is the soul. Worship Him with love",SGGS, M 4, p. 1325. and "The soul is the Lord, and the Lord is the soul; contemplating the Shabad, the Lord is found."SGGS, M 1, p. 1030.

The atma or soul according to Sikhism is an entity or "spiritual spark" or "light" in the human body – because of which the body can sustain life. On the departure of this entity from the body, the body becomes lifeless – no amount of manipulations to the body can make the person make any physical actions. The soul is the "driver" in the body, its presence makes the physical body alive.{{Cite book |last=Nesbitt |first=Eleanor M. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XebnCwAAQBAJ |title=Sikhism: A Very Short Introduction |date=2016 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-874557-0 |language=en}}{{Cite journal |date=2017 |editor-last=Mandair |editor-first=Arvind-Pal Singh |title=Sikhism |url=https://link.springer.com/referencework/10.1007/978-94-024-0846-1 |journal=Encyclopedia of Indian Religions |language=en |doi=10.1007/978-94-024-0846-1 |isbn=978-94-024-0845-4 |issn=2542-7628 |archive-date=21 March 2025 |access-date=21 March 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250321102607/https://link.springer.com/referencework/10.1007/978-94-024-0846-1 |url-status=live }}

In Taoism, the idea of the “soul” is not a single, unchanging entity like in many Western traditions. Instead, it is seen as a dynamic balance of energies. Two key parts are the hun and po. The hun is the “ethereal soul,” linked to light, spiritual awareness, and the mind. It is considered yang (active, upward energy) and is said to depart the body after death. The po is the “corporeal soul,” tied to the body, instincts, and physical senses. It is yin (passive, earthly energy) and stays with the body after death, dissolving back into the earth over time.{{Cite book |last=Robinet |first=Isabelle |url=https://books.google.com.eg/books/about/Taoism.html?id=9e7wzgEACAAJ&redir_esc=y |title=Taoism: Growth of a Religion |date=2022 |publisher=Stanford University Press |isbn=978-0-8047-6494-0 |language=en}}

There is significant scholarly debate about the Taoist understanding of death.{{citation|title= Encyclopedia of Bioethics|page=2467|author=Warren T. Reich|year=1995|publisher=Simon & Schuster Macmillan |isbn=978-0-02-897355-5|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bmaoP_Azp-4C}} The process of death itself is described as shijie or "release from the corpse", but what happens after is described variously as transformation, immortality or ascension of the soul to heaven. For example, the Yellow Emperor was said to have ascended directly to heaven in plain sight, while the thaumaturge Ye Fashan was said to have transformed into a sword and then into a column of smoke which rose to heaven.{{citation|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t8h8myrpxAUC&pg=PA896|title=The encyclopedia of Taoism|chapter=shijie|author=Russell Kirkland|publisher=Routledge|year=2008|isbn=978-0-7007-1200-7}}

Taoist texts like the Zhuangzi suggest the soul is not separate from the natural world but part of the flow of the Tao (the universal principle). One passage states, “Heaven and earth were born at the same time I was, and the ten thousand things are one with me”.{{Cite web |title=The Complete Works of Chuang Tzu translated by Burton Watson, Terebess Asia Online (TAO) |url=https://terebess.hu/english/chuangtzu.html#2 |access-date=2025-04-15 |website=terebess.hu}} Similarly, the Daodejing teaches that harmony with the Tao dissolves rigid boundaries between self and cosmos: “Returning to one’s roots is known as stillness. This is what is meant by returning to one’s destiny"{{Cite web |title=Chapter-16-Commentary |url=https://www.centertao.org/essays/tao-te-ching/dc-lau/chapter-16-commentary/ |access-date=2025-04-15 |website=www.centertao.org}}

File:Socrates, Plato and Aristotle.jpg, Plato, and Aristotle , the Socratic philosophers in ancient Greece, la".{{Cite web |title=Chapter-16-Commentary |url=https://www.centertao.org/essays/tao-te-ching/dc-lau/chapter-16-commentary/ |access-date=2025-04-15 |website=www.centertao.org}}i"d" the foundation for the traditional understanding of the soul.]]

Greek philosophers, such as Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, understood that the soul (ψυχή, psykhḗ) must have a logical faculty, the exercise of which was the most divine of human actions.For more on the basic meaning of the Greek word, see Claus 1981. Claus, David. 1981. Toward the Soul: An Inquiry into the Meaning of Psyche Before Plato. New Haven and London: Yale University Press At his defense trial, Socrates even summarized his teachings as nothing other than an exhortation for his fellow Athenians to excel in matters of the psyche since all bodily goods are dependent on such excellence (Apology 30a–b). Aristotle reasoned that a man's body and soul were his matter and form respectively: the body is a collection of elements and the soul is the essence. Soul or psyche (Ancient Greek: ψυχή psykhḗ, of ψύχειν psýkhein, "to breathe", cf. Latin anima) comprises the mental abilities of a living being: reason, character, free will, feeling, consciousness, qualia, memory, perception, thinking, and so on. Depending on the philosophical system, a soul can either be mortal or immortal.{{Cite OED|Soul (noun)|id=185083|access-date=1 December 2016}}

The ancient Greeks used the term "ensouled" to represent the concept of being alive, indicating that the earliest surviving Western philosophical view believed that the soul was that which gave the body life.{{Cite book|url=https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/sum2009/entries/ancient-soul/|title=The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy|last=Lorenz|first=Hendrik|chapter=Ancient Theories of Soul|date=2009|publisher=Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University|editor-last=Zalta|editor-first=Edward N.|edition=Summer 2009|archive-date=24 February 2021|access-date=8 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210224163804/https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/sum2009/entries/ancient-soul/|url-status=live}} The soul was considered the incorporeal or spiritual "breath" that animates (from the Latin anima, cf. "animal") the living organism. Francis M. Cornford quotes Pindar by saying that the soul sleeps while the limbs are active, but when one is sleeping, the soul is active and reveals "an award of joy or sorrow drawing near" in dreams.Francis M. Cornford, Greek Religious Thought, p. 64, referring to Pindar, Fragment 131. Erwin Rohde writes that an early pre-Pythagorean belief presented the soul as lifeless when it departed the body, and that it retired into Hades with no hope of returning to a body.Erwin Rohde, Psyche, 1928. Plato was the first thinker in antiquity to combine the various functions of the soul into one coherent conception: the soul is that which moves things (i.e., that which gives life, on the view that life is self-motion) by means of its thoughts, requiring that it be both a mover and a thinker.Campbell, Douglas (2021). "Self-Motion and Cognition: Plato's Theory of the Soul". The Southern Journal of Philosophy. 59: 523–544.[https://philpapers.org/go.pl?aid=CAMSAC-13] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241210021051/https://philpapers.org/go.pl?aid=CAMSAC-13|date=10 December 2024}}

{{Main|Plato's tripartite theory of soul}}

File:Uc2.ark 13960 t8rb76g72-seq 443 (cropped Plato).jpg. The Psyche-wings fastened to his temples allude to his doctrine of the immortality of the soul{{Cite book |last=King |first=Charles William |url=https://archive.org/details/handbookofengrav00king/page/236/mode/2up?view=theater |title=Handbook of Engraved Gems |publisher=George Bell and Sons |year=1885 |edition=2nd |location=London |pages=236}}]]

Drawing on the words of his teacher Socrates, Plato considered the psyche to be the essence of a person, being that which decides how humans behave. He considered this essence to be an incorporeal, eternal occupant of our being. Plato said that even after death, the soul exists and is able to think. He believed that as bodies die, the soul is continually reborn (metempsychosis) in subsequent bodies; however, Aristotle believed that only one part of the soul was immortal, namely the intellect (logos). The Platonic soul consists of three parts, which are located in different regions of the body:{{cite book|title = The Gift of Logos: Essays in Continental Philosophy|last = Jones|first = David|publisher = Cambridge Scholars Publishing|year = 2009|isbn = 978-1-4438-1825-4|pages = 33–35|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=1RgaBwAAQBAJ&q=plato+soul+logos&pg=PA34|access-date = 2016-02-23}}See Karfik 2005. Karfik, Filip. 2005. "What the Mortal Parts of the Soul Really Are." Rhizai: A Journal for Ancient Philosophy and Science 2: 197–217.

1. The logos, or logistikon (mind, nous, or reason), which is located in the head and is related to reason.
2. The thymos, or thumetikon (emotion, spiritedness, or masculine), which is located near the chest region and is related to anger.
3. The eros, or epithumetikon (appetitive, desire, or feminine), which is located in the stomach and is related to one's desires.

Plato compares the three parts of the soul or psyche to a societal caste system. According to Plato's theory, the three-part soul is essentially the same thing as a state's class system because, to function well, each part must contribute so that the whole functions well. Logos keeps the other functions of the soul regulated.{{Cite book |last=Welton |first=William A. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vbtbQk_A0YoC |title=Plato's Forms: Varieties of Interpretation |date=2002 |publisher=Lexington Books |isbn=978-0-7391-0514-6 |language=en}}

The soul is at the heart of Plato's philosophy. Francis Cornford described the twin pillars of Platonism as being the theory of forms on the one hand, the doctrine of the immortality of the soul on the other.Cornford, Francis (1941). The Republic of Plato. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. xxv. Plato was the first person in the history of philosophy to believe that the soul was both the source of life and the mind. In Plato's dialogues, the soul plays many disparate roles.Campbell, Douglas (2021). "Self-Motion and Cognition: Plato's Theory of the Soul". The Southern Journal of Philosophy. 59: 523–544 Among other things, Plato believes that the soul is what gives life to the body (which was articulated most of all in the Laws and Phaedrus) in terms of self-motion: to be alive is to be capable of moving yourself, and the soul is a self-mover. He also thinks that the soul is the bearer of moral properties (i.e., when one is virtuous, it is their soul that is virtuous as opposed to, say, their body). The soul is also the mind: it is that which thinks in them. This casual oscillation between different roles of the soul in observed many dialogues, including the Republic:

Is there any function of the soul that you could not accomplish with anything else, such as taking care of something (epimeleisthai), ruling, and deliberating, and other such things? Could we correctly assign these things to anything besides the soul, and say that they are characteristic (idia) of it?

No, to nothing else.

What about living? Will we deny that this is a function of the soul?

That absolutely is.Plato, Republic, Book 1, 353d. Translation found in Campbell 2021: 523.[https://philpapers.org/go.pl?aid=CAMSAC-13] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241210021051/https://philpapers.org/go.pl?aid=CAMSAC-13|date=10 December 2024}}

{{See also|Aristotle's biology}}

File:Aristotelian Soul.png, with Bios, Zoê, and Psūchê]]

Aristotle defined the soul, or Psūchê (ψυχή), as the "first actuality" of a naturally organized body,{{cite book|last=Aristotle|title=On The Soul|page=412b5}} and argued against its separate existence from the physical body. In Aristotle's view, the primary activity, or full actualization, of a living thing constitutes its soul. For example, the full actualization of an eye, as an independent organism, is to see (its purpose or final cause).{{cite book |last=Aristotle |title=Physics |at=Book VIII, Chapter 5, pp. 256a5–22}} Another example is that the full actualization of a human being would be living a fully functional human life in accordance with reason (which he considered to be a faculty unique to humanity).{{cite book |last=Aristotle |title=Nicomachean Ethics |at=Book I, Chapter 7, pp. 1098a7–17}} For Aristotle, the soul is the organization of the form and matter of a natural being which allows it to strive for its full actualization. This organization between form and matter is necessary for any activity, or functionality, to be possible in a natural being. Using an artifact (non-natural being) as an example, a house is a building for human habituation but for a house to be actualized requires the material, such as wood, nails, or bricks necessary for its actuality (i.e., being a fully functional house); however, this does not imply that a house has a soul. In regards to artifacts, the source of motion that is required for their full actualization is outside of themselves (for example, a builder builds a house). In natural beings, this source of motion is contained within the being itself.{{cite book |last=Aristotle |title=Physics |at=Book III, Chapter 1, pp. 201a10–25}}

Aristotle addressed the faculties of the soul. The various faculties of the soul, such as nutrition, movement (peculiar to animals), reason (peculiar to humans), sensation (special, common, and incidental), and so forth, when exercised, constitute the "second actuality", or fulfillment, of the capacity to be alive. For example, someone who falls asleep, as opposed to someone who falls dead, can wake up and live their life, while the latter can no longer do so. Aristotle identified three hierarchical levels of natural beings: plants, animals, and people, having three different degrees of soul: Bios (life), Zoë (animate life), and Psuchë (self-conscious life). For these groups, he identified three corresponding levels of soul, or biological activity: the nutritive activity of growth, sustenance and reproduction which all life shares (Bios); the self-willed motive activity and sensory faculties, which only animals and people have in common (Zoë); and finally "reason", of which humans alone are capable (Pseuchë). Aristotle's discussion of the soul is in his work, De Anima (On the Soul).{{Cite book |last=Aristotle |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=quCipxLxEzwC |title=De Anima |date=2008-12-01 |publisher=Cosimo, Inc. |isbn=978-1-60520-432-1 |language=en}}

Although mostly seen as opposing Plato in regard to the immortality of the soul,Goetz, S. (2016) Soul. In Vocabulary for the stury of religion Brill a controversy can be found in relation to the fifth chapter of the third book: in this text both interpretations can be argued for, soul as a whole can be deemed mortal, and a part called "active intellect" or "active mind" is immortal and eternal.{{cite book |last=Aristotle |title=On The Soul |at=Book III, Chapter 5, pp. 430a24–25}} Advocates exist for both sides of the controversy; it is argued that there will be permanent disagreement about its final conclusions, as no other Aristotelian text contains this specific point, and this part of De Anima is obscure.{{cite book |chapter-url=http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/aristotle-psychology/active-mind.html |title=Aristotle's Psychology |chapter=supplement: The Active Mind of De Anima iii 5) |access-date=2013-12-12 |last=Shields |first=Christopher |author-link=Christopher Shields |year=2011 |publisher=The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy}} Furthermore, Aristotle states that the soul helps humans find the truth, and understanding the true purpose or role of the soul is extremely difficult.{{cite book |title=Introduction to Aristotle |last=Smith |first=J. S. (Trans) |publisher=University of Chicago Press |year=1973 |location=Chicago |pages=155–59}}

File:Avicenna-miniatur.jpg was a Muslim philosopher who integrated the Aristotelian theory of the soul into an Islamic framework]]

Following Aristotle, Avicenna (Ibn Sina) and Ibn al-Nafis, an Arab physician, further elaborated upon the Aristotelian understanding of the soul and developed their own theories on the soul. They both made a distinction between the soul and the spirit, and the Avicennian doctrine on the nature of the soul was influential among later Muslims. Some of Avicenna's views on the soul include the idea that the immortality of the soul is a consequence of its nature, and not a purpose for it to fulfill. In his theory of "The Ten Intellects", he viewed the human soul as the tenth and final intellect.Nahyan A.G. Fancy (2006), [http://etd.nd.edu/ETD-db/theses/available/etd-11292006-152615 "Pulmonary Transit and Bodily Resurrection: The Interaction of Medicine, Philosophy and Religion in the Works of Ibn al-Nafīs (d. 1288)"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150404020329/http://etd.nd.edu/ETD-db/theses/available/etd-11292006-152615/ |date=4 April 2015 }}, pp. 209–10 (Electronic Theses and Dissertations, University of Notre Dame).{{cite web |title=Arabic and Islamic Psychology and Philosophy of Mind |url=https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/arabic-islamic-mind/#Avi |publisher=Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy |date=29 May 2012 |access-date=18 October 2019 |archive-date=6 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230306150626/https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/arabic-islamic-mind/#Avi |url-status=live }}

While he was imprisoned, Avicenna wrote his famous "Floating man" thought experiment to demonstrate human self-awareness and the substantial nature of the soul.{{Cite book |last=Groff |first=Peter |title=Islamic Philosophy A-Z |date=2022 |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |isbn=978-0-7486-2216-0 |series=Philosophy A-Z PAZ |location=Edinburgh}} He told his readers to imagine themselves suspended in the air, isolated from all sensations, which includes no sensory contact with even their own bodies. He argues that in this scenario one would still have self-consciousness. He thus concludes that the idea of the self is not logically dependent on any physical thing, and that the soul should not be seen in relative terms but as a primary given, a substance. This argument was later refined and simplified by René Descartes in epistemic terms, when he stated: "I can abstract from the supposition of all external things, but not from the supposition of my own consciousness."Seyyed Hossein Nasr and Oliver Leaman (1996), History of Islamic Philosophy, p. 315, Routledge, {{ISBN|0-415-13159-6}}.

Avicenna generally supported Aristotle's idea of the soul originating from the heart, whereas Ibn al-Nafis rejected this idea and instead argued that the soul "is related to the entirety and not to one or a few organs". He further criticized Aristotle's idea whereby every unique soul requires the existence of a unique source, in this case the heart. Al-Nafis concluded that "the soul is related primarily neither to the spirit nor to any organ, but rather to the entire matter whose temperament is prepared to receive that soul", and he defined the soul as nothing other than "what a human indicates by saying "I".{{cite thesis |author=Nahyan A.G. Fancy |year=2006 |title=Pulmonary Transit and Bodily Resurrection: The Interaction of Medicine, Philosophy and Religion in the Works of Ibn al-Nafīs (d. 1288) |pages=209–210 |work=Electronic Theses and Dissertations, University of Notre Dame|url=http://etd.nd.edu/ETD-db/theses/available/etd-11292006-152615 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150404020329/http://etd.nd.edu/ETD-db/theses/available/etd-11292006-152615/ |archive-date=4 April 2015|publisher=University of Notre Dame}}

File:St-thomas-aquinas.jpg was a Christian theologian who greatly developed the Aristotelian theory of soul in his Summa Theologica]]

Following Aristotle and Avicenna, Thomas Aquinas understood the soul to be the first actuality of the living body.{{Cite web |last=Pasnau |first=Robert |date=December 7, 2022 |title=Thomas Aquinas |url=https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/aquinas/ |website=Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy}} Consequent to this, he distinguished three orders of life: plants, which feed and grow; animals, which add sensation to the operations of plants; and humans, which add intellect to the operations of animals. Concerning the human soul, his epistemological theory required that, since the knower becomes what he knows, the soul is definitely not corporeal – if it is corporeal when it knows what some corporeal thing is, that thing would come to be within it.{{Cite web |last=Aquinas |first=Thomas |title=Whether there is knowledge in God |url=https://aquinas.cc/la/en/~QDeVer.Q2.A1}} Therefore, the soul has an operation which does not rely on a body organ, and therefore the soul can exist without a body. Furthermore, since the rational soul of human beings is a subsistent form and not something made of matter and form, it cannot be destroyed in any natural process.{{Cite web |last=Aquinas |first=Thomas |title=Does natural philosophy treat of what exists in motion and matter? |url=https://aquinas.cc/la/en/~DeTrin.C2.Q5.A2}}

The full argument for the immortality of the soul and Aquinas' elaboration of Aristotelian theory is found in the Summa Theologica. Aquinas affirmed in the doctrine of the divine effusion of the soul, the particular judgement of the soul after the separation from a dead body, and the final resurrection of the flesh. He recalled two canons of the 4th century, for which "the rational soul is not engendered by coition",{{cite book

|author=Gennadius of Massilia |author-link=Gennadius of Massilia

|orig-year=4th cent.

|title=De Ecclesiasticis Dogmatibus

|title-link=Gennadius of Massilia#De Ecclesiasticis Dogmatibus

|id=canon XIV

}}

: cited in

{{cite book

|first=Thomas, St.

|last=Aquinas

|author-link=Thomas Aquinas

|year=1920a

|orig-year=1274

|title=Summa Theologica

|title-link=Summa Theologica

|lang=en

|at=Pars I, Quaestio 118, Article 2

|section=Objection 4

|publisher=Fathers of the English Dominican Province

|section-url=https://www.newadvent.org/summa/1076.htm#article2

|via=newadvent.org

|archive-date=2 June 2021

|access-date=12 June 2021

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210602134920/https://www.newadvent.org/summa/1076.htm#article2

|url-status=live

}}

and "is one and the same soul in man, that both gives life to the body by being united to it, and orders itself by its own reasoning".{{efn| Full citation of the canon

Nor do we say that there are two souls in one man, as James and other Syrians write; one, animal, by which the body is animated, and which is mingled with the blood; the other, spiritual, which obeys the reason; but we say that it is one and the same soul in man, that both gives life to the body by being united to it, and orders itself by its own reasoning. — {{harvp|Gennadius of Massilia}} via {{harvp|Aquinas|1920b}}{{cite book

|first=Thomas, St.

|last=Aquinas

|author-link=Thomas Aquinas

|year=1920b

|orig-year=1274

|title=Summa Theologica

|title-link=Summa Theologica

|lang=en

|at=Pars I, Quaestio 76, Article 3

|section=Whether besides the intellectual soul there are in man other souls essentially different from one another?

|publisher=Fathers of the English Dominican Province

|section-url=https://www.newadvent.org/summa/1076.htm#article2

|via=newadvent.org

|archive-date=2 June 2021

|access-date=12 June 2021

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210602134920/https://www.newadvent.org/summa/1076.htm#article2

|url-status=live

}}

}}

Moreover, he believed in a unique and tripartite soul, within which are distinctively present a nutritive, a sensitive, and intellectual soul. The latter is created by God and is taken solely by human beings, includes the other two types of soul and makes the sensitive soul incorruptible.{{cite book

|first=Thomas, St.

|last=Aquinas

|author-link=Thomas Aquinas

|year=1920c

|orig-year=1274

|title=Summa Theologica

|title-link=Summa Theologica

|lang=en

|at=Pars I, Quaestio 76, Article 3

|section=Reply to objection 1

|publisher=Fathers of the English Dominican Province

|section-url=https://www.newadvent.org/summa/1076.htm#article2

|via=newadvent.org

|archive-date=2 June 2021

|access-date=12 June 2021

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210602134920/https://www.newadvent.org/summa/1076.htm#article2

|url-status=live

}}

According to Thomas Aquinas, the soul is tota in toto corpore.{{Cite web |last=Aquinas |first=Thomas |title=Whether the soul exists in the whole body and in each of its parts |url=https://aquinas.cc/la/en/~QDeAn.Q9.Rep19}}{{cite book |first=Thomas |last=Aquinas |author-link=Thomas Aquinas |year=1274 |title=Summa Theologiae |lang=la |trans-title=All of Theology |title-link=Summa Theologiae |at=I-I quaestio 76 }}

: See also

{{cite book |first=C. |last=Klein |author-link=Christian Klein |year=1655 |title=An anima sit tota in toto corpore, et tota in qualibet parte, disquisitio philosophica |lang=la |publisher=Goetschius |oclc=253546381 }}{{cite journal | last=Pepe | first=Giovanni | title=Recenti Studii Su la Metafisica dell'anima | date=19 November 2023 | journal=Rivista di Filosofia Neo-Scolastica | volume=11 | issue=2 | pages=167–194 | jstor=43065579 }} This means that the soul is entirely contained in every single part of the human body, and, therefore, ubiquitous and cannot be placed in a single organ, such as the heart or brain, nor is it separable from the body (except after the body's death). In the fourth book of De Trinitate, Augustine of Hippo states that the soul is all in the whole body and all in any part of it.{{cite book |first=Thomas |last=Aquinas |author-link=Thomas Aquinas |year= |title=Quaestiones Disputatae de Anima |lang=la |trans-title=Contested Issues Regarding the Soul |section=quaestio 10 |quote=Augustinus dixit, in VI De Trinitate, quod anima est tota in toto corpore, et tota in qualibet parte eius. |section-url=https://aquinas.cc/la/en/~QDeAn.Q10.Obj16 |archive-date=6 November 2023 |access-date=6 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231106213526/https://aquinas.cc/la/en/~QDeAn.Q10.Obj16 |url-status=live }}

File:Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) engraving.jpg has criticized the rationalist project of understanding the soul’s nature by analyzing the proposition "I think."]]

In his discussions of rational psychology, Immanuel Kant identified the soul as the "I" in the strictest sense, and argued that the existence of inner experience can neither be proved nor disproved. He said: "We cannot prove a priori the immateriality of the soul, but rather only so much: that all properties and actions of the soul cannot be recognized from materiality." It is from the "I", or soul, that Kant proposes transcendental rationalization but cautions that such rationalization can only determine the limits of knowledge if it is to remain practical.{{efn|

Immanuel Kant proposed the existence of certain mathematical truths {{nobr|(e.g. {{math|2 + 2 {{=}} 4 }})}} that are not tied to matter, nor soul.

{{cite book

| last = Bishop | first = Paul

| year = 2000

| title = Synchronicity and Intellectual Intuition in Kant, Swedenborg, and Jung

| place = Lewiston, NY

| publisher = Edwin Mellen Press

| isbn = 978-0-7734-7593-9

| pages = 262–267

}}

}}

Kant critiques the metaphysics of the soul—an investigation he calls "rational psychology"—in the Paralogisms of Pure Reason. Rational psychology, as he defines it, seeks to establish metaphysical claims about the soul’s nature by analyzing the proposition "I think." Many of Kant’s rationalist predecessors and contemporaries believed that reflecting on the "I" in "I think" could demonstrate that the self is necessarily a substance (implying the soul’s existence), indivisible (to argue for the soul’s immortality), self-identical (pertaining to personal identity), and separate from the external world (leading to skepticism about external reality). Kant, however, asserts that such conclusions stem from an error of reasoning.{{Cite web |title=Kant, Immanuel {{!}} Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy |url=https://iep.utm.edu/kantview/#SSH2gi |access-date=2025-04-11 |language=en-US}}

Kant believes this error arises when the conceptual thought of the "I" in "I think" is conflated with genuine cognition of the "I" as an object. Cognition, for Kant, requires both intuition (sensory experience) and concepts, whereas the "I" here involves only abstract conceptual thought. For example, consider whether the self can be known as a substance. While the "I" is always the subject of thoughts (never a predicate of something else), recognizing something as a substance also requires intuiting it as a persistent object. Since a person lacks any intuition of the "I" itself, they cannot cognize it as a substance. Thus, in Kant's view, although a person will inevitably conceive of the "I" as a soul-like substance, true knowledge of the soul’s existence or nature remains out of their reach.

If body and soul (or mind) are of two distinct realms, the question remains how these two are related. Contemporary philosophy of mind distinguishes three major theories about the relationship between mental properties and the body: interactionism, parallelism, and epiphenomenalism.{{Cite SEP|url-id=Dualism|title=Dualism|first=Howard|last=Robinson|date=2023}}

Interactionism holds that physical events and mental events interact with each other. This view is often considered to be the most intuitive: One perceives the mind reacting upon physical stimulation and then thoughts and feelings act upon the physical body, such as by moving it. Thus, humans are naturally inclined in favor of interactionism. The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy states "[t]he critical feature of interactionism is its commitment to 'two-way' causation – mental-to-physical causation and physical-to-mental causation."{{Cite web |title=Causation, Mental {{!}} Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy |url=https://iep.utm.edu/mental-c/#SH1ci |access-date=2025-04-11 |language=en-US}}

Parallelism sidesteps debates about mind-body interaction by proposing that both operate in parallel. Under this framework, mental and physical events do not causally influence one another; they merely coincide. When causation occurs, it is strictly confined within each domain: mental events only trigger or result from other mental events, and physical events exclusively cause or are caused by other physical events.

Epiphenomenalism posits that physical events generate mental events, but mental events themselves lack causal power—they cannot influence physical events or even other mental phenomena. This stance partially accommodates interactionism by permitting causation in a single direction (physical to mental), thereby rejecting parallelism, which denies any causal link between the two realms. In this framework, the mind is likened to a bodily shadow: while the body actively produces effects, the mind is merely a passive byproduct, incapable of driving outcomes or interactions.

"Seelenglaube" or "soul-belief" is a prominent feature in Otto Rank's work.{{cite journal |last=Sheets-Johnstone |first=Maxine |year=2003 |title=Death and immortality ideologies in Western philosophy |journal=Continental Philosophy Review |volume=36 |issue=3 |pages=235–262 |doi=10.1023/B:MAWO.0000003937.47171.a9 |s2cid=143977431}} Rank explains the importance of immortality in the psychology of primitive, classical and modern interest in life and death. Rank's work directly opposed the scientific psychology that concedes the possibility of the soul's existence and postulates it as an object of research without really admitting that it exists. He says: "Just as religion represents a psychological commentary on the social evolution of man, various psychologies represent our current attitudes toward spritual belief. In the animistic era, psychologizing was a creating of the soul; in the religious era, it was a representing of the soul to one's self; in our era of natural science it is a knowing of the individual soul."{{cite book |last=Rank |first=Otto |title=Psychology and the Soul: Otto Rank's Seelenglaube und Psychologie |translator-first=William D.|translator-last=Turner |location=Philadelphia |publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press |year=1950 |page=11 |oclc=928087}} Rank's work had a significant influence on Ernest Becker's understanding of a universal interest in immortality. In The Denial of Death, Becker describes "soul" in terms of Søren Kierkegaard use of "self":

Kierkegaard's use of "self" may be a bit confusing. He uses it to include the symbolic self and the physical body. It is a synonym really for "total personality" that goes beyond the person to include what we would now call the "soul" or the "ground of being" out of which the created person sprang.{{cite book |last=Becker |first=Ernest |url=https://archive.org/details/denialofdeathbeckrich |title=The Denial of Death |publisher=Simon & Schuster |year=1973 |isbn=0-684-83240-2 |location=New York}}

According to Cognitive scientist Jesse Bering and psychologist Nicholas Humphrey, humans are initially inclined to believe in a soul and are born as soul-body dualists. As such, religious institutions did not need to invent or inherent the idea of the soul from previous traditions, rather the concept has always been present throughout human history. Echoing that sentiment, American philosopher Steward Goetz has claimed that according to anthropologists and psychologists, ordinary human beings are soul-body substance dualists, who, at all times and in all places, have believed in the existence of a distinction between the soul and the body.{{Citation |last=Goetz |first=Stewart |title=Soul |work=Vocabulary for the Study of Religion Online |url=https://referenceworks.brill.com/display/entries/VSRO/COM-00000026.xml?rskey=EmQACQ&result=1 |access-date=2025-04-11 |publisher=Brill |language=en}}

File:Duncan MacDougall physician.png, who wished to scientifically determine if a soul had weight]]

Some parapsychologists attempted to establish, by scientific experiment, whether a soul separate from the brain exists, as is more commonly defined in religion rather than as a synonym of psyche or mind.{{Cite journal |last=Alcock |first=James E. |date=1987 |title=Parapsychology: Science of the anomalous or search for the soul? |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/behavioral-and-brain-sciences/article/abs/parapsychology-science-of-the-anomalous-or-search-for-the-soul/148CDBF5AF083F0048341FE81708F6BC |journal=Behavioral and Brain Sciences |language=en |volume=10 |issue=4 |pages=553–565 |doi=10.1017/S0140525X00054467 |issn=1469-1825}}

One such attempt became known as the "21 grams experiment".{{cite journal |last1=MacDougall |first1=Duncan |author-link=Duncan MacDougall (doctor) |year=1907 |title=The Soul: Hypothesis Concerning Soul Substance Together with Experimental Evidence of the Existence of Such Substance |journal=American Medicine |series=New Series |volume=2 |pages=240–43}}{{cite web |date=December 2012 |title=How much does the soul weigh? |url=http://www.livescience.com/32327-how-much-does-the-soul-weigh.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160428081819/http://www.livescience.com/32327-how-much-does-the-soul-weigh.html |archive-date=28 April 2016 |website=Live Science}} In 1901, Duncan MacDougall, a physician from Haverhill, Massachusetts, who wished to scientifically determine if a soul had weight, identified six patients in nursing homes whose deaths were imminent. Four were suffering from tuberculosis, one from diabetes, and one from unspecified causes. MacDougall specifically chose people who were suffering from conditions that caused physical exhaustion, as he needed the patients to remain still when they died to measure them accurately. When the patients looked like they were close to death, their entire bed was placed on an industrial sized scale that was sensitive within two tenths of an ounce (5.6 grams).{{cite book |last=Kruszelnicki |first=Karl |year=2006 |title=Great Mythconceptions: The Science Behind the Myths |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YIfEO4nvvLUC |publisher=Andrews McMeel Publishing |pages=199–201 |isbn=9780740753640 |author-link=Karl Kruszelnicki}}{{cite book |last=Roach |first=Mary |author-link=Mary Roach |date=6 September 2012 |title=Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers |publisher=Penguin |isbn=978-0241965016}} One of the patients lost "three-fourths of an ounce" (21.3 grams), coinciding with the time of death, which led MacDougall to the conclusion that the soul had weight.{{Cite book |last=Kruszelnicki |first=Karl |url=https://books.google.com.eg/books?id=YIfEO4nvvLUC&redir_esc=y |title=Great Mythconceptions: The Science Behind the Myths |date=2006 |publisher=Andrews McMeel Publishing |isbn=978-0-7407-5364-0 |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Mikkelson |first=David |date=2003-10-27 |title=Was the Weight of a Human Soul Determined to Be 21 Grams? |url=https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/weight-of-the-soul/ |access-date=2025-04-16 |website=Snopes |language=en}}

The physicist Robert L. Park wrote that MacDougall's experiments "are not regarded today as having any scientific merit", and the psychologist Bruce Hood wrote that "because the weight loss was not reliable or replicable, his findings were unscientific".Park, Robert L. (2009). Superstition: Belief in the Age of Science. Princeton University Press. p. 90. {{ISBN|978-0-691-13355-3}}Hood, Bruce. (2009). Supersense: From Superstition to Religion – The Brain Science of Belief. Constable. p. 165. {{ISBN|978-1-84901-030-6}}

{{div col begin|colwidth=12em}}

• Ātman (Buddhism)
• Being
• Chinese room
• Consciousness
• Ekam
• History of the location of the soul
• Kami
• Knowledge argument
• Metaphysical naturalism
• Mind–body problem
• Nishimta in Mandaeism
• Open individualism
• The Over-Soul (essay)
• Paramatman (or oversoul)
• Philosophical zombie
• Plant soul
• Shade (mythology)
• Vitalism
• Vertiginous question

{{div col end}}

{{notelist}}

{{Reflist}}

{{Wikiquote}}

{{Commons category}}

• [http://www.jba.gr/Articles/nkjv_jbamay96.htm Body, Soul and Spirit] Article in the [http://www.jba.gr/ Journal of Biblical Accuracy]
• [http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20150917-is-another-human-living-inside-you Is Another Human Living Inside You?]
• {{Cite Catholic Encyclopedia|wstitle=Soul|ref=none}}
• Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy entry on [http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/ancient-soul/ Ancient Theories of the Soul]
• [http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00548g4 "The Soul"], BBC Radio 4 discussion with Richard Sorabji, Ruth Padel and Martin Palmer (In Our Time, 6 June 2002)
• [http://www.chabad.org/k1499 The soul in Judaism] at Chabad.org
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20150209043622/http://www.wlsessays.net/node/1182 The Old Testament Concept of the Soul] by Heinrich J. Vogel

{{Religion topics}}

{{Philosophy of religion}}

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{{Ghosts}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Conceptions of self

Category:Concepts in metaphysics

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Category:Concepts in the philosophy of mind

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