Soul

Soul, a word of greatly varying and perplexing signification. By some it is used to signify the principle of life, by others the thinking and se1f-conscious part of man, and by others a certain inner man, independent of body or mind, constituting the real man as independent of mind and body, and outlasting them both, though the different parts will be united hereafter. But this last is rather a religious belief than a philosophical tenet, and indeed the whole question of the soul as such enters more into the region of theology than that of philosopby. As denoting the principle of sentient life; the soul seems to be as much an attribute of other animals as of mankind, and some have gone so far as to claim it even for plants. Possibly this idea gave ancient mythology its belief in the Hamadryads. Much profitless controversy has been entered upon by people who differed upon fundamentals and so misunderstood each other's arguments. Butler makes much use of the soul argument in his Analogy.