Do animals have feelings and a soul?Spiritual/religious peeps only please

[Zenos]

I want to say that this thread is aimed at spiritual and religious people only,so please if you are not spiritual or religious have enough repsect not to post in here trying to derail the thread with debates about the existance or non-existance of the soul!


And to any spiritual or religous people please don't be baited into arguing with them if they post!

I have often wondered if animals have a soul.

I know lots of people will say no they do not that only humans have a soul.

Personally I do believe they have a soul,after all it is the soul that makes the body live,it is the soul where memory and intelligence and feeliongs eminate from. So yes I do believe thay have a soul.

And I have know people to just blindly say animals are have no feelings.

Oh really then ever notice how your beloved pet dog or cat gets when yuo are petting and rubbing them they act all happy and end up smiling.

We all know when happy people smile,so why should an animal not smile when happy.

Also ever seen an animal depressed?

So yes i'd have to say animals have feelings as well.

[ackmedsgirl666]

Animals do have feelings
They are just like us humans they feel pain
They feel loss. They feel hate they feel it all
Except some humans take that or granted and don't believe it
I hate people who kill animals or who hunt for fun or abuse animals
It's just not fair. I am a Christian as I also believe in animal spirits like the natives believe in
You state good points. Good job :)

[Zenos]

Animals do have feelings
They are just like us humans they feel pain
They feel loss. They feel hate they feel it all
Except some humans take that or granted and don't believe it
I hate people who kill animals or who hunt for fun or abuse animals
It's just not fair. I am a Christian as I also believe in animal spirits like the natives believe in
You state good points. Good job :)



:eek: You are a rare one among Christians then dude because mostIi have discussed this with believe that animals don't have a soul or feelings aeor nothing more then organic automatons.
So dude you have my respect big time.

I myself don't believe in hunting for sport myself only for food,after all i wouldn't want to be hunted for sport.

[Horizon]

I'm not all the religious or anything, buts it's extremely safe to assume that animals have feelings. I don't believe in souls, I guess, you know I don't even know >.> So I won't talk about that. But I believe it's safe to assume they have feelings, I mean, they have brains and hearts, which is where negative, positive, and neutral feelings come from (I am talking about the metaphorical heart :p)

[Zenos]

I'm not all the religious or anything, buts it's extremely safe to assume that animals have feelings. I don't believe in souls, I guess, you know I don't even know >.> So I won't talk about that. But I believe it's safe to assume they have feelings, I mean, they have brains and hearts, which is where negative, positive, and neutral feelings come from (I am talking about the metaphorical heart :p)

I just wish more people would stop to consider the fact animals have feelins.

Oh I like your bunny beanie..it's cute!

[Eyeless]

I haven't idea... but hmmm... I think yes btw.

[ManyPearTree]

Many animals are not even self aware. They are driven by instinct.

[Lost in the Echo]

Yes, they have feelings. They get sad, happy, depressed, excited, etc. just like us humans do.

I think humans and animals are similar in a lot of ways. I think they do have souls, I don't really have any reasoning for why I think that, I just do. But like I said, humans and animals are similar in a lot of ways.

[Zenos]

Many animals are not even self aware. They are driven by instinct.

Got proof and which ones?

[Cicero]

I believe they have feelings, when you define soul, it means a persons moral or emotional nature or sense of identity. If that's applied to animals, then yes they do have souls, I believe.

[ManyPearTree]

Got proof and which ones?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirror_test

Even though it's Wikipedia..

[Zenos]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirror_test

Even though it's Wikipedia..

The Mirror Test is a flawed test though,the reason i say that is because Victor of Aveyron who was also known as the The Wild Boy of Aveyron,did not reconginze his own reflection.It took him a long time to come to recongnize it as his reflection!

So by the mirror test He was not self-aware

[Lyra Heartstrings]

(I'm not religious, get over it.)
Every living creature that eats and breathes feels, thinks, and has a soul. I don't see how this can be argued.

[Wrestler0821]

I think they do

[ProudConservative]

Look at dogs, they love, and they hate. That is a human trait, which gives them a soul. They're also very territorial, and protective of owners.

[FreeFall]

I believe animals have souls and feelings.
We went on vacation for 2 weeks. The cat then would cling to us, worried we'd leave again. The dog shunned us and the rabbit thumped its foot whenever we'd walk away from it. There was anger and worry in those animals towards us, they were aware.
My hamster loved her little yogurt treats and to play in hair. When you let her have and do those, she'd go right to sleep after. If you blew in her change (she often stuck her bedding in the bars) she'd freak out and wash herself in worry then charge at you. And she could hold a grudge. She'd nip you when taken out if you were the last to blow in her cage, even if it had been days ago. Yes, we tested it, only the person who last blew in the cage got bit. No one else.

The current cat shows many emotions. He's full of personality. When he's happy he looks like it. Rolling around, laying around, trying to climb the walls and door-ways. When he's mad, he looks like it. And he wants nothing to do with you. Give him the sparkly ball and he's off like a bolt, take it away from him and he mopes and does these weird huffing/sigh noises that creep you out if you don't know he's there. He walks louder too, like he's stomping. So yes, seeing that my animals were able to actually process and show how they were felling in reaction of something, I'm sure they have feelings and souls.

[Human]

not spiritual so i don't believe in souls, but i might aswell post
i think they definitely have feelings but it depends on the animal... for example cells in your body have some basic feelings and dogs, pigs, cats, chimps etc. have more advanced feelings similar to humans.

[Snookers]

I am not religious but I've started being really spiritual.
Offcourse animals have souls, and they can also feel. They can't be compared with humans, though. But because animals live a much difficult life than humans, they focus on their primal instincts. In their life the they need to survive, reproduce and eat, they don't really have time to make strong feelings, but that doesn't mean they don't have them.

Take example a dog and a wolf. The dog has been around humans for ages and humans take care of the dogs, so the they don't need to have such survival instincts (compared to wild animals), and being around humans they developed strong feelings, almost like us. On the other hand, the wolf is a wild animal, he needs to struggle to live and feelings don't really help him. Offcourse, you can raise a wolf pup, but it will still be a wild animal, because it's in his genes.

This thing is in most cases. Some animals have stronger feelings than others. Every individual is different.

[Texas warrior]

Yes to both. Look at dogs they show a full spectrum of emotion. As for souls yes they do. And while I can't prove it, if humans souls then there is no reason animals shouldn't ether.

[Zenos]

Look at dogs, they love, and they hate. That is a human trait, which gives them a soul. They're also very territorial, and protective of owners.

If non-human animals can feel emontions then how can we call it a Human trait?

By calling something a human trait we are saying:

1) Only humans can have such and such


2)Animals simply imitate humans


And yes i have heard people spout such tripe,and I don't believe it.

I believe emotions are not a Human trait but a trait of all Mammals!

So i'd say it's a Mammalian trait rather then a human trait.

[ProudConservative]

Alright, I stand corrected, it's an animal trait.

[Zenos]

Alright, I stand corrected, it's an animal trait.

I wasn't trying to argue the point it's just that we humans are mammals as well,and the ones that did get the hand up to evolve to what we are today.

Sometimes i think it should have been mice that evolved.lol:D