Human souls DO exist... and here's the proof according to four leading scientists

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Do our spirits live on after death? For most people, the question doesn't seem to require much soul-searching.

A colossal 83 per cent of adults in the US believe that human souls exist, according to a 2023 survey by the Pew Research Centre.

Many religions believe that, when we die, our immortal souls survive or are reincarnated.

While there has never been a scientific consensus, the debate is ongoing. And, to the surprise of some, many scientists and philosophers argue that there is evidence souls could exist beyond our flesh and bones. 

In February Dr Stuart Hameroff, an anesthesiologist and professor at the University of Arizona, said a study that showed the brain activity of patients being taken off life support could be proof of 'the soul leaving the body'.

But what do others make of this eternal conundrum? The Daily Mail breaks down what four pioneers think about this age-old question.

Dr Mario Beauregard, neuroscientist

Dr Mario Beauregard argues for the existence of a soul in his book, The Spiritual Brain: A Neuroscientist's Case For The Existence Of The Soul

Dr Mario Beauregard, a neuroscientist affiliated with the University of Arizona, tackles the question in his book, The Spiritual Brain: A Neuroscientist's Case For The Existence Of The Soul.

The work is based on 2006 research he carried out on nuns from the Carmelite order of Roman Catholicism.

His team studied different regions of the nuns' brains when they were asked to relive a 'mystical experience' when they felt a sense of union with God while having an MRI. 

When Dr Beauregard asked the nuns to concentrate on these moments, he discovered that about a dozen different regions of their brains became more active.

One area of the brain that showed activity was the caudate nucleus, a C-shaped structure deep inside the brain, which is thought to be associated with positive feelings such as happiness. 

There was also an increase in certain types of electrical impulse activity associated with deep sleep and meditation. 

Based on the results, Dr Beauregard wrote that religious experiences cannot be explained by simple neurological functioning. He believes these experiences have a non-material origin, which alludes to a soul. 

Professor Charles Tart, psychologist

Psychologist Charles Tart, who died earlier this month, carried out pioneering work on near-death and out-of-body experiences

Professor Charles Tart, who died last month, was a psychologist and expert in psychic and paranormal phenomena. He carried out pioneering work on near-death and out-of-body experiences.

His belief in the paranormal, including telepathy and psychic healing, led him to write the book The Secret Science Of The Soul.

In parapsychology, scientists study what is often thought of as 'pseudoscience', including extrasensory perception (ESP) such as telepathy and clairvoyance. It also includes the study of psychokinesis, the ability to move things with your mind, and survival after death. 

Professor Tart studied these phenomena extensively, despite acknowledging that most scientists felt skeptical.

'Because of confusion between science and scientism, many people react negatively to the idea of scientific investigation of near-death experiences,' he wrote.

'Genuine science can contribute a great deal to understanding near-death experiences and helping experiencers integrate their experiences with everyday life.'

In 1968, Professor Tart conducted an out-of-body experience test with a volunteer who was attached to an EEG machine, which records electrical activity in the brain. The subject was asleep at the time and a five-digit code was displayed on a shelf above her that she could not see.

On the fourth night of the experiment, she had an out-of-body experience and reported seeing the number to researchers, despite it being impossible to view from where she was sleeping. 

Researchers in the field believe out-of-body experiences and parapsychological phenomena are signs that a person has a soul which is separate from their physical body. 

Professor Thomas Nagel, philosopher

Thomas Nagel, professor of philosophy and law emeritus at New York University, believes science does not fully explain human consciousness

Thomas Nagel is a professor of philosophy and law emeritus at New York University. He has argued in support of souls by saying that science does not fully explain human consciousness.

He believes physics alone cannot capture the human mind and has criticized explanations of consciousness that focus solely on the brain.

He has argued that humans' physical and mental realms are different - and so purely physical theories on the origins of life, such as Darwinian evolution, cannot be accurate.

And, since there are parts of living things that are not physical, physics cannot fully explain living beings.

'Each of our lives is a part of the lengthy process of the universe gradually waking up and becoming aware of itself,' he says.

He has argued for 'panpsychism', the idea that there are not just physical particles in the world but also mind-like elements of consciousness.

In 'panpsychism', even inanimate objects possess consciousness. Everything has a mind outside of its physical state. 

Professor Nagel adds: 'The existence of consciousness seems to imply the physical description of the universe, in spite of its richness and explanatory power, is only part of the truth, and that the natural order is far less austere than it would be if physics and chemistry account for everything.'

Dr Jeffrey Schwartz, psychiatrist

Psychiatrist Jeffrey Schwartz is a psychiatrist who argues human beings are not simply what is inside their physical brain

Dr Jeffrey Schwartz is a psychiatrist and researcher who argues that human beings are not just made up of their bodies and brains.

Dr Schwartz studies neuroplasticity, or the brain's ability to change and adapt. He has suggested that because the brain can change its own form - for example, when we change our habits - we must be made up of more than our physical state.

Dr Schwartz has used scans to demonstrate how people can reshape their own brains, from obsessive-compulsive disorder sufferers to stroke victims.

But he claims that the human brain is different to the human mind. 

For example, an obsession might come from the brain - but the mind does not want that obsession.

In his book Brain Lock, Dr Schwartz writes that a person's will is more powerful than their brain, and so they can remove unwanted thoughts from their brain using their will.

This is in opposition to the 'materialist' view that nothing exists beyond our flesh. 

For Dr Schwartz, a person is more than his or her body and brain. This means another element could exist - such as their spirit or soul. 

The counter-argument 

David Kyle Johnson, a professor of philosophy at King's College Wilkes Barre in Pennsylvania, recalls the story of a young railway foreman from the 1800s in his book Do Souls Exist?

Phineas Gage was the victim of a horrendous railway accident in 1848 when an iron bar pierced his skull. Though he survived the incident, it changed his personality. He went from being a respectable man to one with a reputation for carelessness and abusing women.

'Gage’s case challenged the classic soul hypothesis because physical damage cannot change one’s personality if personality is housed in a non-physical thing like the soul - yet in his case it undeniably did,' writes Kyle Johnson. 

He explains that, although we do not know everything about how brains work, there is plenty of evidence for the functions it controls.

'Everything that was once the purview of the soul - emotions, language, decisions, sensation, memories, personality - is now known to be the purview of the brain.

'Neuroscience has shown that there is nothing left for the soul to do and thus no reason to suppose that it exists.'