Soul Beliefs

Hunter-gatherer

• Beliefs centered on survival, spirits in nature, and ancestor presence.

Egalitarian

• Equal rights/responsibilities; no rigid hierarchy.

• Shared food, cooperative hunting, power-sharing.

Ancestor worship

• Belief that deceased relatives remained active in the world.

• Could appear in dreams, give advice, or settle disputes.

Ritualized music

• Music, drumming, and dance used in trance rituals.

• Brought groups together and connected with spirits.

Immediate return system

• Resources used right away (ex: fish eaten immediately).

• No long-term accumulation, no hierarchy.

Hadza tribe

• Hunter-gatherers in Tanzania, still egalitarian.

• Practice immediate return system.

Piraha tribe

• Fiercely egalitarian; live only in present.

• No history, no interest in afterlife.

• Children very independent.

Ancient Egypt

Akh, Ba, Ka

Ka

life force, needs the body after death

Ba

personality/uniqueness, travels but stays near body.

Akh

reunited state (body + Ka + Ba) = afterlife with gods.

Homer

• Souls become shades after death.

• No connection between life’s actions and afterlife fate.

Pythagoras

• Soul is separate from body; can migrate to new bodies (reincarnation).

• Early foundation for dualism.

Dualism

• Mind/soul and body are separate.

• Soul is immortal, body is temporary

Monism

• Soul and body are one substance.

• No separation of spiritual and material.

Ritual salvation

• Path of rituals/sacrifices to appease gods and ensure survival.

Monotheism

• Belief in one god (e.g., Yahweh).

• God is separate from nature but controls it.

Polytheism

• Belief in many gods/spirits (major & minor).

• Each explains forces of nature and human experiences.

Monolatry

• Worship of one god without denying others exist.

• Israelites moved from monolatry → monotheism.

Plato

• Soul is immortal, rational vs. irrational parts.

• Philosopher’s soul ascends permanently; others recycle.

Aristotle

• Soul organizes experience, tied to the body.

• Introduced Nous (mind/reason) → connected soul to divine.

Hesiod

• Greek poet; described gods, afterlife (Elysian Fields), and divine justice.

Yahweh

• Israelite God.

• Demanded exclusive worship.

• Suffering explained as God’s punishment/testing.

Initiation rites (cognitive dissonance)

• Harsh or painful initiation creates loyalty to group.

• Rationalized suffering strengthens belief.

Galileo

• Improved telescope; observed Jupiter’s moons, sunspots.

• Supported heliocentrism; forced to recant by Church, lived under house arrest.

Bruno

• Proposed infinite universe, no “up or down.”

• Expanded beyond sensory perception; executed for heresy.

Copernicus

• Argued for heliocentric model (sun-centered).

• Challenged geocentrism endorsed by Church.

Heliocentrism

Sun at center; Earth and planets orbit around it.

Francis Bacon

• “Father of empiricism.”

• Knowledge through observation & experience, not opinion.

Scientific method

• Empiricism + experimentation = systematic knowledge.

• Distanced explanations from supernatural beliefs.

Traveling senses

• Imagination/technology extend perception beyond senses.

• Helped reframe soul in terms of time, space, science.

Non-overlapping magisteria (NOMA)

Idea (Stephen Jay Gould): science and religion cover separate domains → can coexist without conflict.

Old Atheists

Thomas Edison, Mark Twain

Thomas Edison

“All religion is bunk.”

Mark Twain

Satirized religion, skeptical of dogma.

The Four Horsemen

Sam Harris, Christopher Hitchens, Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett

Sam Harris

(The End of Faith): Religion breeds intolerance; faith is dangerous.

Christopher Hitchens

(God is Not Great): Religion arose when humans didn’t understand the world.

Richard Dawkins

(The God Delusion): Belief rooted in evolved child obedience; critic of Intelligent Design.

Daniel Dennett

(Breaking the Spell): Religion persists because trusted authorities teach it, even against evidence.

William Paley

• Design implies a designer → God.

• Basis of modern Intelligent Design movement.

• Watchmaker

Darwin’s Inversion of reasoning

• Natural selection explains complexity without needing a designer.

• Reversed Paley’s logic.