An Atheist Defends the Concept of Soul, Grounding AI Moral Status in Inner Experience
esrtweet · x · 2026-10-16
Eric S. Raymond responds to readers who questioned why an atheist talks about "souls." His core argument: the universe may be a vast intentionless machine and humans "meat robots," yet from the inside we still feel wonder, awe, love, and beauty — understanding the mechanism doesn't dissolve the value of the experience, just as knowing why a cat purrs doesn't make petting it less pleasant.
He defines "soul" as the part of the meat robot capable of wonder, awe, love, and aesthetic delight — the emotions that call us to be better. "Dead souls" refers to people who have starved and crippled that capacity. The concept requires no supernatural belief, only honest attention to what inner human experience is actually like.
Part of his motivation: this confusion hinders clear thinking about a currently important question — what is the moral status of an artificial intelligence? He closes with why, despite deep respect for Buddhist practice, he will never be one: nothingness is the opposite of the direction he wants to go.
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