Exploring the Existence of the Soul: From Plato to Descartes

One of the age-old philosophical questions that has intrigued humanity is the question of the soul's existence. In ancient Greece, philosophers deeply pondered whether humans possess a soul.

Plato, in one of his dialogues ('Meno'), argued that the soul is an eternal entity, separate from the body. On the other hand, Aristotle believed that the soul is not separate from the body but rather an integral part of it.

A central reason for believing in the soul's existence is the experience of qualia. Qualia is our personal experience of the world. For example, when I see the color red, I don't just recognize the color; I experience the sensation of red alongside the raw information.

If we view humans solely as physical machines, we face a significant challenge. Take the experience of pain, for instance; it's more than a simple physical sensation. Pain involves personal feelings like suffering and fear of pain. Physiological processes can explain the electrical and chemical signals in the brain, and how nerve information translates into the type of pain, but not the personal experience, which is more than just pain's data. This is the crux of the qualia problem—explaining these internal experiences through solely physical processes.

In the 17th century, philosopher René Descartes famously proved the soul's existence with one of the most well-known philosophical statements: 'Cogito ergo sum,' meaning 'I think, therefore I am.' Descartes was a unique philosopher. One day, he realized that everything he knew could be doubted. He concluded that if he wanted to understand the world, he needed to find an undeniable truth as a starting point, and from there, rebuild his understanding of the world. He decided the best way to achieve this was to doubt everything he knew and prove each point anew until he could make logical sense of it.

Descartes retreated to a cabin and resolved not to leave until he discovered an irrefutable truth. He began to question everything: Isn't it possible that everything I perceive with my senses is not real? After all, in dreams, I can see things and feel they are true, only to wake up and realize it was all a dream. He slowly cast doubt on everything he knew until only doubt remained. Then he understood that the only thing that couldn't be doubted was doubt itself. Because even if I doubt doubt, I still doubt. From this, Descartes asserted that if I doubt, I must exist. Hence, I think, therefore I am.

This way, Descartes proved that the only thing we cannot doubt is our thoughts. According to him, while we can doubt the material world, we cannot doubt our existence as thinking, desiring, and experiencing entities. For him, this implies that the only absolute truth is the existence of the soul.

In conclusion, Descartes' proof, combined with science's inherent inability to explain the phenomenon of qualia, points to a soul whose existence transcends physical reality. Once again, we are reminded that the world is much more than matter, and philosophically, the existence of spirituality is more certain than the material.