[Onelifetogive]

In the case of plants and animals the soul goes out of existence.

When exactly is the "death" of a plant? An apple, say? When it is picked? Cored? Sliced? Sauced? Cidered?

Now, if one plant is grafted onto another, does the combination have 2 souls? When a plant is rooted to form a new plant, does the original plant's soul split between the two plants, or does the soul stay with the larger part of the original plant and a new soul get issued for the new part?

I sense a real growth industry in this new line of theology...

[Mad Dawg]

The source for this line of thought is going to be Aristotle's De Anima and the relevant sections of the Summa.

As far as I can tell, the 'soul' (of a non-rational creature, at least) is not a thing but a functioning. "Soul is to living creature as burning is to fire." That's my working analogy. I am certainly open to being corrected in my interpretation of Aristotle or Aquinas.

The reason (not the 'cause') of the rational soul's immortality is that the objects of reason are themselves outside of time. Justice, Love, even "triangleness" do not grow old, and such are the things with which the rational function deals.