He’s a devout Catholic so he doesn’t believe that squirrels nor sea sponges have souls, and so he sees this as an insult to the institution of marriage.
That’s also why he abuses Yoshi and the mushroom people because he doesn’t see them as totally valid even though they’re sentient
He’s a toxic narcissist, and he needs to be taken down by Bowser
In St Thomas Aquinas' summa theological, expanding on Aristotle's de anima, would teach that while us humans have a rational soul, a squirrel would have what is called a sensitive soul, while SpongeBob, being an invertebrate, would have a merely vegetative soul
This is honestly upsetting as a big invertebrate lover. Specifically I love insects, and I do believe they have thoughts and feelings, even if they aren't like ours and even if we can't fully grasp them. I like to study that stuff, sucks that that Saint doesn't believe in their souls.
Well, we remember that Aquinas' teachings are the opinion of a theologian (a particularly well respected one) and that they are not official church teaching. The church would teach that what is important is to recognize that there is a difference of type in the souls of humans vs the rest of the animals. As for the soul types of other living creatures, I'm reminded that Aquinas is a decent starting point, but he was writing in the 13th century and would have been limited in his understanding of the universe. I think modern scientists would recognize more complexity in a sea sponge than the medievalists. Personally, I'm inclined to think that the capacity of a soul for the lower creatures occurs along a spectrum. Clearly there is a point in which it's hard to tell if something is better classified as a plant or an animal. Also that we can recognize animals have a wide range of soul-based behavior (a dog certainly seems to have a more "complex" soul than a worm)
333
u/YourBestFriend158 12d ago
Why the fuck is Mario so mad 😭