Soul

The soul —in many traditional spiritual, philosophical, and psychological traditions —is the incorporeal and immortal essence of a person, living thing, or object.^[1]

Some religions (including the Abrahamic religions) teach that only human beings have souls and therefore that only humans possess immortality and the possibility of union with the divine.^[2]

Other religions teach that all biological organisms have souls, and others further still that even non-biological entities (such as rivers and mountains) possess souls. This latter belief is called animism.^[3]

Anima mundi and the Dharmic Ātman are concepts of a "world soul."

Some religious thinkers, such as Thomas Aquinas, attribute souls to all organisms but teach that only human souls are immortal.^[4]

Soul can function as a synonym for spirit, mind or self;^[5] scientific works, in particular, often consider 'soul' as 

a synonym for 'mind'[citation ^needed].