Neuroscience And The Soul

A neuron is not a thought or feeling, yet this is not known because of neuroscientific investigation.  The distinction is instead knowable because reason reveals that a thought or emotion, like the mind that experiences it, is strictly intangible and therefore immaterial.  Looking at an organism's brain is not the same thing as staring into its consciousness, or, as some might call it, its soul [1], and thus one can never observe another being's mind while studying neuroscience.

Despite this, it is common for substance dualists to speak of neuroscience as if it is vitally relevant to the process of distinguishing the brain from the conscious mind/soul.  On the contrary, substance dualism can be proven in full without any awareness of the development of modern neuroscience.  No one needs to look to neuroscience for confirmation that their soul exists; in fact, looking to science for proof of any metaphysical existent is a doomed endeavor from the start, as science cannot prove the existence of anything.

Since the "soul" is consciousness, all it takes for immediate, absolute verification of the soul's existence is a single moment of reflection or introspection: without consciousness, one cannot reflect or introspect to begin with, much less scientifically observe the nervous system!  It is impossible for science to be conducted unless there is already a perceiving, conscious subject.  It does not ultimately matter if one tends to call the mind by the term consciousness or soul, as they refer to the same thing.  Science, however, is irrelevant.

Thanks to the misplaced zeal Westerners tend to direct towards science, appeals to neuroscience are bound to be fairly successful at ensnaring the attention of the average person when making claims about the soul.  No matter how far along neuroscience progresses, though, it will always be incapable of establishing metaphysical truths like the existence of the conscious self.  Consciousness is immediately experienced, and awareness of one's mental states has nothing to do with one's scientific knowledge.

[1].  https://thechristianrationalist.blogspot.com/2018/09/consciousness-is-soul.html