What if the soul is something that could be said to be, like, conscience? Something that surpasses the irrational actions made by impulse, and condemn it within ourselves. A soul then would be something that ultimately knows right from wrong. Our free will makes us not obligated to do what "the soul" feels is right, even though it ultimately is right. Basically, everybody knows (or the soul knows, but, I think everybody is born with a soul, either they're destined to be a good person or not) what's basically right or wrong, but our personality bases the impulse of our actions, and the way we think to define what we percept as right or wrong. I'm speaking for myself when I say that within me there are different voices, making and controlling the impulses that is making me act and think the way I do. Some voices are greedy, jealoux, lazy, and angry and some are rational, reasonable, nice, comforting, cheerfull, funny and so on. They are all me, or fractures of what is ultimately my personality, and it describes why I sometimes act reasonable, sometimes stupid. I can do what the impulses (voices) tells me to. Or. I can listen (one would have to search for it and wanting to find it to know that it is there) to the deepest, hidden, but clearly obvious, spiritual and universal voice of judgement towards the actions and thoughts made by me, and the actions made towards me, things which I face every day in the thing that is my reality, and continuosly use it to be a better person, and be righteous judge of myself and others. It is always right, has never told me wrong, and is a guidance in the knowledge and the experiences I seek in my life.
As I said earlier, I believe everybody basically has this universal, judgemental voice within them, and has the choice, like everybody else, to make the decision to listen to it and live by it. The only problem with this voice is that if at one point in life, one chooses to ignore it and live by the actions and thoughts made by the impulses, it simply fades away, and one becomes the person the impulses has set one out to be. Once one has exceeded the souls limitations and boundaries of right and wrong, the only way of turning back, is through repent and remorse in consultation with the consciences standards of good and righteous actions.
Lets use the example of the conscience. A serial-killer, or a child rapist that has no remorse for the victims and the family of those he has killed or raped, is mostly said to be insane (or criminally insane that is), and gets sentenced by a judge and a jury to live a life in penitentiary. There he gets the time to think and his way of thinking (impulses) will either be just like before or gradually worse if he has no remorse, or he will get a revelation and actually regret what he has done and change his way of thinking according to the standards of the universal. judgemental conscience. Let's say he does get this revelation: my point is, that up to the point where he changed his way of thinking, for him, the conscience (or soul) was gone. He didn't realize that it was only up to him to change it, but when he did, when he searched for it, found it, and listened to it, the conscience returned, and he was filled with anger, remorse and sadness over his victims and the families to those he had killed. The rest of his life, he would have to spend in prison reflecting upon the nature of his impulses and try to change them in order to have stable, healthy mind.
An extreme, but not an unlikely example. The principle goes for every human regarding mind and impulses. And it also serves as a remarkable example regarding my defintion of a soul.
