Can an atheist believe in a 'soul'? (soul, God, Atheism)

[Fluffy]

I don't see believing in a soul as incompatible with atheism. What makes you think that it would be? It might be incompatible with some forms of atheism or more accurately some motivations for being atheist.

If I said "Wearing leather is incompatible with vegetarianism" then I would be assuming that all vegetarians are being vegetarian due to some motivation surrounding the concept of killing an animal. However, if a vegetarian is a vegetarian because they do not like the taste of meat then this would not preclude them from using leather nor make their reasoning inconsistent.

The problem in my reasoning would be that I made that assumption without having a valid reason for making it.

[Cordoba]

A believer in a Creator believes that the human soul comes from God

For an atheist, where would the human soul come from?

[mingmty]

Theories about the consciousness can be divided in two main categories: Dualism and Monism.

Dualism states that mind and body are two different things and Monism states that mind and body are one and the same; usually Monism is associated with Science and Dualism with Religion but it's not always like that. Is true that Christians belive that one has a soul, a voice in the head, and the body, but many oriental Religions think that mind and body are the same and some Scientist find enough evidence to support dualist theories.

This is a very interesting subject I have been researching for sometime and was pleased to find my own instinctive beliefs in one of the theories (one kind of Monism). I could discuss this topic all day long. =P

[YmirGF]

Originally Posted by Cordoba

A believer in a Creator believes that the human soul comes from God

Indeed.

Originally Posted by Cordoba

For an atheist, where would the human soul come from?

I would rather suspect that they may well believe that it is a natural thing that came into being just like everything else. There is no need whatsoever to ascribe the creation of souls to a creator. Such aspects of being could simply be another form of natural evolution.

[Azakel]

Originally Posted by YmirGF

I would rather suspect that they may well believe that it is a natural thing that came into being just like everything else. There is no need whatsoever to ascribe the creation of souls to a creator. Such aspects of being could simply be another form of natural evolution.

There are many things in this Universe that we still don't understand fully. The existent of soul with out the concept of a Creature God(or any God for that matter) could just be one of them.

p.s. I guess go ideas do come to early in the morning ^_^

[may]

Originally Posted by Doodah

A friend of mine claims she is atheist, but that she also thinks that we all have a soul, which will find another body. Forgive my ignorance but is that really atheism?

i would say that she has been influenced by religious teachers more than she thinks.