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"Religions that believe in immortal souls will simply maintain that the uploaded copy is just that: a copy, a soulless simulation of a real person." This might

by astine 15y ago

"Religions that believe in immortal souls will simply maintain that the uploaded copy is just that: a copy, a soulless simulation of a real person." This might be true of some religious institutions but not of all. The concept of the 'Soul' is actually derived from Aristotelianism (there is no mention of it as such in the Bible) and many sects, (particularly Catholics) believe that in order for something to be intelligent it needs to have a soul, that is, an immaterial aspect. If an uploaded person, or an AI, or space alien or whatever is demonstrated to be intelligent, it would by definition have a 'soul.' You would still get lots of folks who refused to accept the person-hood of uploaded persons and those folks might actually dominate, but the actual theological consequences would be different (and far more complex) than you imagine.

lucasjung 15y ago
Very interesting. I see a few possible lines of argument that sects who believe this (must have soul to be intelligent) could take. The more crude argument would be a variation of "no true scotsman:" It's not really intelligent, it's just doing a very good job of reproducing the behavior of an intellingent being." There are a lot of issues with that argument, so a better approach might be, "When it becomes intelligent, God endows it with a distinct, unique, and individual soul." Another possible approach would be, "The original and the copy share the same immortal soul," but that would be incompatible with some concepts of the afterlife. There's also a version heavy on FUD: "When it becomes intelligent, it is possessed by an evil soul."
michael_dorfman 15y ago
The concept of the 'Soul' is actually derived from Aristotelianism (there is no mention of it as such in the Bible) Wrong, and wrong. The notion of the "soul" in Greek philosophy predates Aristotle; it's found in Plato's Phaedo, for example-- and there are several words in the Hebrew bible that are usually translated as "soul" (nefesh and ruach, which correspond roughly to psyche and pneuma, respectively.)
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- astine 15y ago
  "and there are several words in the Hebrew bible that are usually translated as "soul"" I stand corrected on this. "The notion of the "soul" in Greek philosophy predates Aristotle." True, but my point is that certain sects of Christianity borrow heavily from Greek philosophy when trying to intellectualize what a 'soul' actually is. Some tend to follow the Aristotelian conception rather than the Platonic (they are distinct.) I'm not trying to say that Aristotle invented the concept of the soul if that's what you're thinking.

by astine 15y ago

lucasjung 15y ago

Very interesting. I see a few possible lines of argument that sects who believe this (must have soul to be intelligent) could take. The more crude argument would be a variation of "no true scotsman:" It's not really intelligent, it's just doing a very good job of reproducing the behavior of an intellingent being." There are a lot of issues with that argument, so a better approach might be, "When it becomes intelligent, God endows it with a distinct, unique, and individual soul." Another possible approach would be, "The original and the copy share the same immortal soul," but that would be incompatible with some concepts of the afterlife. There's also a version heavy on FUD: "When it becomes intelligent, it is possessed by an evil soul."

michael_dorfman 15y ago

The concept of the 'Soul' is actually derived from Aristotelianism (there is no mention of it as such in the Bible) Wrong, and wrong. The notion of the "soul" in Greek philosophy predates Aristotle; it's found in Plato's Phaedo, for example-- and there are several words in the Hebrew bible that are usually translated as "soul" (nefesh and ruach, which correspond roughly to psyche and pneuma, respectively.)

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astine 15y ago
"and there are several words in the Hebrew bible that are usually translated as "soul"" I stand corrected on this. "The notion of the "soul" in Greek philosophy predates Aristotle." True, but my point is that certain sects of Christianity borrow heavily from Greek philosophy when trying to intellectualize what a 'soul' actually is. Some tend to follow the Aristotelian conception rather than the Platonic (they are distinct.) I'm not trying to say that Aristotle invented the concept of the soul if that's what you're thinking.