[Fwd: Re: REQUEST:Cloning of sheep:Duplicate Souls?]

[Erik Hoogcarspel]

Op 16-apr-97 schreef JAYABARATHI:

>Perhaps the Hon.Members of the List might have something to say in this 
>matter.....?

einstein was theologist or philosopher, so let's not dwell on this last
quotation.
 cloning however, raises the question of the relation between life and
soul...and maybe time and knowledge.  
life can be artificially created, but can a soul be created and designed? if a
soul were designed, how could it have a will of it's own? it's possible to
design a computerprogram with many inpredictable reactions, the
inpredictability is however still predictable, but don't we expect a soul to
have a life of it's own? are animal souls the same as human one's?
when some people say ziva creates the souls, they're talking about a myth, a
narrative with a nonfactual content so to say. the scientific fact is that
souls come into being when conditions are suitable and that thinking requires
language, so that a human soul cannot exist outside some kind of community.
another fact is that the concept of a soul, implies that it has it's own will
and that excludes causal explanation. i want what i want because i want it.
another question is wether we would call a soul an event or a thing. science
can only create things and events. if a soul is no such thing, what else? 
i would suggest to define the soul as the meaning of a personal name, so the
birds in the tree outside your window don't have souls, but your cat minny has
one. soul would then be a sociolinguistic phenomena.

would this go along with the myths? 

erikh