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29. Religion / D. Religious Issues / 2. Immortality / c. Animal Souls

[whether any animals have immortal souls]

2 ideas

5058	Animals have thought and sensation, and indestructible immaterial souls [Leibniz]
	Full Idea: I hold (against the Cartesians) that brutes also have thought, and hold that they have sensation, and souls which are, properly speaking, immaterial, and as incapable of perishing as the atoms of Democritus or Gassendi.
	From: Gottfried Leibniz (New Essays on Human Understanding [1704], Pref)
	A reaction: Insect heaven will be a bit crowded. I can never grasp why theologians would claim that souls are 'indestructible', when they are held to come into existence at a particular moment in space-time. Transmigration of souls is a much more rational belief.

12918	Animals have souls, but lack consciousness [Leibniz]
	Full Idea: It appears probable that animals have souls although they lack consciousness.
	From: Gottfried Leibniz (Letters to Antoine Arnauld [1686], 1686.11)
	A reaction: Personally I would say that they lack souls but have consciousness, but then I am in no better position to know the answer than Leibniz was. Arnauld asks what would happen to the souls of 100,000 silkworms if they caught fire!