Like Beethoven after death, de-composing. That is all.

The soul is simply a construct of our ancestors minds. Consciousness or the mind if you wish could not be touched. It did not seem to be part of the body. They did know that if you got thumped on the head it would knock you out or cause mental problems, but the mind was not physical.
They did not understand that the mind is a biological,chemical and electrical machine that causes consciousness.
So the myths began. If the mind was not part of the body it was easy to assume it was independent of the body and could not suffer death.
The soul as it is called of course quickly became associated with religious matters and speculation of the afterlife. It's amazing to study ancient cultures and actually see the evolution of thinking......about thinking.

I don't believe in a separate consciousness, so no, I don't believe it proceeds without the body.

You will finally become so aware of all that is that you will realize that the life you led was just an instant in the scheme of all things. Insignificant as in of itself but your impact will have been made to the world for each life. You were here to do your part to make all that is better with ever day and every life that passes. So go the sands of time. We are each that little speck of sand doing our part to keep it all together, growing,learning and just getting better every day. We are just a cell in the body of all that is. We never really die because we live through each other as the same being that always has been and always will be getting better every day because of each of us. I would call that creature life but the religious people have tried to separate it from us and sell it back to us as the god of their choice. The little voice in my back pocket has never given me a name to call it. We all have it and the religions have no control over it. They can't give it or take it away. You will always be one with the universe and all that is. The peace will be in knowing that it all ties together for the good of all that is. Imagine us all as just an inhaled breath for life itself that will be exhaled and inhaled many times. The soul you feel in yourself is the same one in us all and it will not die unless all life dies everywhere. You are immortal in spirit as are we all. No religions needed.

No. Of course, self-consciousness does not proceed without a body. That is the stance that religious believers take -- and they are dead wrong.

There may be a soul separate from the body, but at present, I don't think there's convincing evidence of it. In my view, our consciousness is equivalent to our "soul." It starts at our birth (or maybe even in the womb), and continues until our death..

I think that people invented the concept of a human soul for the same reason that they invented "God" and religions - to try to explain our existence and the existence of the observable Universe. It may be depressing to some to contemplate that our consciousness and our "soul" will cease to exist upon our death. But to me, it's just a part of Nature. I'm agnostic, so I'm open to the possibility of life after death, but I'm not expecting it. I'll just be pleasantly surprised if my consciousness does continue after the death of my body.

Whatever energy exists in my living body will be converted to the energy of decomposition. There is no reason for me to believe that any part of my "mind" will exist in any way. I sometimes wish there were some kind of after-life that I could experience, but I just don't believe there is.

When a brain is damaged, so is the "soul" that it contains.

No matter how deeply we probe, the mind appears to be a function of the brain.

Just how would anyone "know" anything about what is not a part of the natural universe? Everyone can talk about it but unless you can present some tangible, verifiable, peer reviewed evidence, facts or data to support your claim, it is just subjective speculation and opinion. I strive NOT to live by a belief system but by an evidence, fact and data based system. Try it, you'll like it.

Perhaps all living beings send out electronic signals that end up recorded around the rim of a black hole. Briantology 101 *

We are the most precision tools life has been able to create. When the tools have been worn out and are no longer efficient, they are thrown back in the forge to make newer, more modern tools for the newer jobs that need done. All that you are now will be left with those lives you touched to make their lives and those that follow a little better in so many complicated ways. Something you did in your life will affect others after you are gone. The people that knew you may make decisions based on what they knew or learned from you. That same information will be payed forward to future generations. Life is constantly growing and getting smarter with each and every one of us. We are the head of the spear when it comes to acquiring that knowledge. Most people just don't realize that everything they are doing it for the good of the many. The good of life itself. We do have a mission here but the religions have tried their best to prostitute that mission by trying to sell us back our own identities with their spin on it.

I almost imagine us as being like a little part of a big cloud of energy that rains us down one individual drop at a time to be evaporated back into the cloud to be rained down again as a different fresh rain drop. A never ending cycle. You come back with your new set of orders (genetic makeup) to a different place and time. Imagine if our minds were all linked together. We wouldn't be able to function because there would be too much information to sort out. We are more efficient because we are separate and think individually. That way, we can work on billions of tasks at once without getting them confused. We are each little learning machines developed over billions of years to work together for the good of all that is. Almost like we are each blank tapes to record each of our lives which are uploaded into the mainframe to be copied, formatted and then sent back for more information.

I don't tend to believe in the whole soul thing, but I know it's true. Part of me likes to think that the energy that was once pulsing through us to create our hopes, dreams, and personalities is released back into the universe. All I really know is that one day, my heart will stop and my brain will die. All that I ever was or would have ever been will perish. Until that time comes, I'm fine.

A theoretical Quantum Multiverse is the only path I see where an afterlife with inherited consciousness is possible.

[learning-mind.com]

I have tendency to believe in possibility of soul but could be something else for somebody else. Soul to me is what I am after removing this physical form. What gives me life via my heart pumping blood. Call it spirit or call it nothing as such is real. I will have to die to find an answer I reckon.

No soul, no spirit, no god, no Santa, no perfect person, no monsters under your bed or in your closet... no proof

The soul is a commodity traded on the suspension of disbelief, a commonality to be exploited. Would we not be better off as a world understanding all we have is now and everyone and everything is finite and worthy of respect?

Nobody knows what happens to our mind/soul/personality/consciousness when our bodies quit working. I fervently hope that when my body quits, my "self" quits too, that the atoms in my body go back to the stars. I have talked to people who are certain they can remember past lives. No proof, but some of the stories make me scratch my head. It is a mystery. We don't know.

That would be nice (if souls existed), but I'm not convinced. Even if a soul were to exist, there's no guarantee the soul itself would be eternal. Let's cross our fingers, eh?

@hankster

Do you think consciousness is a property of physical matter that requires evolution to occur before it can manifest?

I can't disprove it. But I haven't seen any evidence in favor. Show me something, then we'll talk.

If souls do exist, I think it's completely coincidental that anyone thinks they have one. Every decision or action we come to is self contained within the neurological signals in our brain. It does not follow that some immaterial wisp is at the controls of a biological mechanism. I think it's just a way for people, unsatisfied with life, to attach some greater meaning to their existence. However, if you think of yourself as a physical mind with physical reactions to physical stimulous, then it might follow that your physical concerns have a far greater impact than any imaginary concerns your physical mind chooses to believe in.

"There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy"

While I do not subscribe to a religion or the concept of an all-powerful "God", I am still open to the concept of an existence beyond the physical body. There is so much we don't understand scientifically about our body and the nature of the universe. As a supporter of science, I look forward to the day when we discover that the "mind" is a unique organism attached to the body. After death, it moves on to...who knows? Another dimension? Absorbed back into the universe? The options are endless. Maybe that energy is no longer uniquely- Jill, Tom, or Jenny...but it exists in another unfathomable way that we don't even understand. Again-- I am open to possibilities upon confirming evidence. I'm not going to write the idea off. It's definitely interesting to debate.

I'm going with no soul. Thinking there is one opens up a bunch of pandora's boxes that I would rather ignore.