Can Science Tell us Anything about the Soul?

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Do you believe that you have a soul? If so, do you think that it will it survive the death of your body? When asked these questions, most Americans, and many more people around the world, answer affirmatively. A growing number of popular books, articles, and TV shows even purport to have found convincing evidence for the existence of the soul. In sharp contrast, most mainstream scientists reject the radical duality of mind and body entailed by soul-beliefs.

The opinions of mainstream scientists on this sensitive question are rarely discussed publicly however. The official wisdom is that claims about the existence of supernatural entities like gods or souls fall beyond the scope of scientific inquiry. The reason is explained in a statement by the National Academy of Sciences declaring that “Science is a way of knowing about the natural world. It is limited to explaining the natural world through natural causes. Science can say nothing about the supernatural.”

This statement may be conveniently neutral, but it is also too broad and too strong. A closer look at the nature of soul-beliefs illustrates why. Research on supernatural beliefs, ranging from large-scale national surveys to more fine-grained laboratory studies, reveals that many people—although by no means everybody—believe in a soul that is immaterial (the soul is nonphysical and distinct from the body), psychologically potent (the soul contributes to our mental lives), and immortal (the soul can function without the body and carry our consciousness into the afterlife).

The central claim underlying soul-beliefs, therefore, is that the mind can exist and function separately from the body. There is of course nothing scientifically intractable about this claim. As the psychologist Steven Pinker describes it, “My late aunt Hilda could beam a message from the great beyond telling us under which floorboard she hid her jewelry." In a similar vein, people who maintain that their floating soul gives them an immaterial pair of ears and eyes during an out-of-body experience could report information not available to their body’s more restricted vantage point.

Since the soul is also believed to contribute to our psychological functioning, it would need to be able to causally interact with our body and brain. To get a feel for the problem, think about the movie Ghost, in which Patrick Swayze desperately tries to push a recalcitrant quarter with his translucent finger. How could the soul do its putative work without relying on Hollywood magic or violating the laws of physics?

These simple observations lead to an unexpected conclusion for those who believe that supernatural claims are not amenable to scientific investigation. The soul hypothesis is not merely a matter of theological or metaphysical speculation. It is, above all, a scientific question. In my next post, I will discuss the reasons that have led mainstream science to abandon the traditional soul.

You can find Julien Musolino on Twitter, and at his website. His book, The Soul Fallacy: what science shows we gain from letting go of our soul beliefs, is available now. Please visit Amazon or Barnes and Noble to order your copy today.