Review article
https://doi.org/10.34075/cs.56.3.4
Where has the soul disappeared? Plea for the use of the term "soul" in times of anthropological crisis
Anđelko Domazet
orcid.org/0000-0002-1606-6640
; Catholic faculty of Theology, University of Split, Split, Croatia
Abstract
In this paper, we start from the statement that today's philosophical discussions on the image of man (anthropology) are strongly influenced by scientific thinking. In recent decades, physicalism prevails in the philosophy of the spirit, which relies on the successes of the modern natural sciences. From this then follows the view that it is necessary to reject some essential aspects of the image of man, especially those concerning man's relation to transcendence, as well as his capacity for ethical action. In today's cultural and scientific context, every trace of what we have called the "soul" for centuries in cultural history, in the history of religions, in philosophy and theology, has been lost. The term "soul" is no longer the subject of study, it is only a rhetorical or poetic figure, a word that is given a mere symbolic value in the list of common pious expressions of religious language.
In the first part of the paper, entitled "The Fate of the Soul in the Age of Science", we will follow the progressive disappearance of the concept of the human soul in philosophy, psychology and neuroscience. Modern sciences prefer to use terms such as: me, consciousness, subjectivity, mind, psyche, brain, spirit, and very rarely "soul". In the second and main part of the paper, entitled "Rethinking the Soul in a Culture Imbued with Scientific Spirit", we will try to point out the need to re-actualize the concept of the soul, in order to overcome the scientific vision of reality and anthropological reductionism. We will first consider the biblical meaning of the word "soul," as well as its function in theological discourse. After that, we will present some current theological attempts to talk about the human soul in the context of today's scientific and philosophical discussions.
The purpose of this contribution consists in one, as far as possible, concise account of the actuality of the forgotten concept of the human soul, as well as an attempt to make this concept understandable to modern man in the context of the natural-scientific picture of the world. The concept of the human soul can still be a "transmitter" of a complete and meaningful vision of the Christian image of man.
Keywords
anthropological crisis; dual body-soul unity; psychology; neurosciences; epistemology; Aristotelian chilemorphism; eschatology
Hrčak ID:
265757
URI
Publication date:
30.11.2021.
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