Is the soul mortal or immortal?

Is the soul mortal or immortal? According to Lucretius in On the Nature of Things Book III, our soul is a subject to death. Lucretius claims that the soul and mind enter our body when we are born. Therefore, if our soul was truly immortal then we should be able to remember things that happened before we are born. Lucretius concludes by arguing that when we are at the end of our life, not only does our body die, but our soul and mind die with it. Our soul does not live on after we die. And a new one is created when new life is created. 
While I understand what Lucretius is saying about how our soul and mind is created when we are born. His other claim however seems farfetched. Lucretius argued that because our soul is immortal, we should have the ability to remember memories from before. The problem with that is souls are a part of someone’s identity. It is one of a kind and is created specifically for one individual when we are born. So, saying that we should have memories before we were born doesn’t make sense. The same goes for our mind as well since our mind, body, and soul are all connected. As our body grows and matures our mind and soul does the same. Then, when we are at the end, our soul is fully developed and resembles the person and the life we had. Therefore, the soul is ready for whatever comes after our life on Earth.  



Comments

  1. Ashley SarkodeeFebruary 15, 2019 at 7:34 AM

    Lucretius argues that the soul is immortal because once the bodies dies off the soul is still living elsewhere. The bodies main purpose is to serve as a vessel for the soul. Your statement about the identity of an individual is intertwined with the soul is true but once the body dies off the soul is no longer inside that person. The memories of that previous person are then erased, and new ones are created.

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