In the Wake of the Soul’s Return

This chapter presents a discussion of some of the consequences that our study brings in its wake for science and philosophy. The results of our study squarely refute the strong artificial life and strong artificial intelligence hypotheses and have a significant bearing on other fields of scientific inquiry such the origin of life research and the modern evolutionary synthesis. We will also comment on the shortcomings of the design argument. On the philosophical side, our findings support a strong position against physicalism, panpsychism, Cartesian dualism and vitalism. Rejoining the Platonic doctrine of cosmology, our study offers fresh perspectives on the Neoplatonic criticism of the Aristotelian doctrine of the soul.