Question:
Hello, thank you for answering so many of our questions. Is there any way to demonstrate theologically/metaphysically and even biologically the existence of the spiritual soul from fertilization? This is basically to demonstrate its human dignity from the beginning because I read that according to Verneaux in the book ‘philosophy of man’ (in the section of the human person, I do not remember the page, but it is in the last chapter) he argues that in the beginning the zygote is not infused with the soul until it takes the form of a human being… is this true? Thank you.
Answer:
Verneaux is probably referring to the ancient theories, which, based on a deficient and erroneous biology, believed that until a certain time after conception the conditions did not exist for one to speak of a properly human matter. That was called in antiquity ‘retarded animation’, and I do not believe that Verneaux sustains this. Today, it is untenable, since modern biology, and especially genetics, have demonstrated that from the first instant there is already a genetically human individual; and since from the genetic point of view from then on there will be no substantial alterations (they will only be accidental), there are no arguments to affirm that the soul is not already present, just as there are no arguments to affirm that there is another moment outside conception that has more arguments to be indicated as the moment of animation.
P. Miguel A. Fuentes, IVE
Original Post: Here
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