Do you have a soul? If you are a Catholic you certainly think so. In fact, I am informed, so do all Christians and maybe other faiths too.
But it's the Catholic concept that intrigues me. When you die, apparently (and I've decided on another option), your soul leaves your body and a priest needs to be there within a certain time to say certain things or there are dire consequences.
Now, you can make up your own mind about all of this but there doesn't appear to be any anatomical structure identified so far. Maybe there is a neurological circuit or something like that. What the hell would I know.
Regardless of what all the theories might tell us though there does seem to be some spiritual/ethical/contemplative attribute present in homo sapiens (and I believe in many lifeforms) which allows us to experience a whole range of intangible feelings and emotions. Whether its the beauty of a song like "Vincent" or Beethoven's Pastoral, the sight of spectacular natural wonders, the experience of love, of parenthood, of sorrow, of sympathy or any of the whole range of inner sensations we undergo, some part of us is at work.
Maybe you could call that a soul. I don't know.
Alfie knew there was something there but he didn't know what it was all about any more than I do.

Hal David Burt Bacharach


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6M73cwg_KeA

The conception of the soul goes back to Ancient Greece. For them, the soul wasn't necessarily a religious entity, but rather, something intimately connected to the ethical order of the city-state.

The soul is simply the older term for what we now call "the self" or "the subject".

Examining the soul is problematic for empiricists. Empiricism requires sensory perception to validate its claims, but internal feelings are "felt" rather than "sensed". Therefore, it is problematic to place an empirical property onto mental states. Not that it stops people - psychologists, moralists - from doing it.

So what are you telling me uebermensch? Is there some implanted spiritual life that continues to exist after death for instance?
Will I still be able to enjoy Charlie Parker?

Not to my knowledge.