Every Living Thing Has a Soul

Most people think that animals and plants lack what we call souls and spirits.  They are considered immoral, unable to reason, and unemotional, things that philosophers generally agree are required for an organism to possess one.   

I am less certain that all plants and animals lack these things.  One could argue that many mammals have moral qualities, ones that are even superior to ours.  After all, we are the only species that kills for sport, lies, cheats, and pollutes.  You could say that our ability to reason makes us less moral than other species. 

Conversely, we are one of the more charitable species, though I wouldn't go so far as to say the only one.  Nor are we the most loving and compassionate.  Most of our pets are just as loving and devoted as we are, if not more.   Mothers across the mammalian spectrum have been shown to care deeply for their young, deeply enough to sacrifice their lives for them, just as we would. 

I'm also skeptical about the suggestion that plants and animals don't feel emotions.  Dogs and cats sure do; I've seen it with my own eyes.  The joy my cats feel whenever they see me is contagious, kindling my own soul with the love they emanate.  My cats also get angry, sad, jealous, and probably feel other things I'm not even aware.  If this is true of cats, it's certainly true of dogs and other relatively intelligent species.  Rodents, reptiles, insects, and aquatic animals I am less sure about, but they are so distant from our family tree that it's hard to tell what they are feeling. 

Besides, these abilities aren't the only criteria for determining whether something has a soul.  I think the greatest one is the ability to dream, for dreams are the product of our subconscious, something that interacts with the soul-spirit on some immaterial level.  Most mammals are surely capable of dreaming, as are birds and possibly reptiles.  Species that are perceived by us as not being able to dream, such as plants and insects, are probably doing it on some level we aren't aware.  Anything that is a conscious entity may have some method of dreaming. 

Basically, my definition is: anything that "feels" in any remotely way has a soul.  That would include all forms of life, even microbes.  By extension, it is possible for all life forms to enter an afterlife after they die.