All embodied humans are animals.
Some embodied humans will be in heaven.
So, there are animals in heaven.
But of course given the subject heading, you were likely interested whether there are non-human animals in heaven. That, too, can be argued for on the basis of the fact that we are animals.
The complete fulfillment of an animal requires it to be in an appropriate ecosystem.
Humans are animals.
An ecosystem appropriate to humans includes plants and non-human animals.
After the resurrection, the human beings in heaven will be completely fulfilled.
Thus, the human beings in heaven will be among plants and non-human animals.
5 comments:
Alex
I am not sure about 6. Obviously an ecosystem appropriate to, mortal human includes plants and non-human animals (although as a vegetarian I am not quite sure it requires non-human animals, but let's ay it does).
But resurrection is supposed to transform human beings, so resurrection may transform human beings in such a way that their appropriate ecosystem does not include plants or non-human animals.
But resurrection does not make us have a different nature, in the sense of no longer being human animals.
Alex
But resurrection is supposed to make us different so I am not sure that after resurrection another kind of eco-system won't be appropriate to us.
Would there still be, say, sleep in heaven? For that may seem necessary to fulfill animals. Or what about reproduction (for humans)? It is a part of the (Aristotlean) soul.
If we keep the same nature would the Aristotlean nature of reproduction still be there?
(Hopefully I got the jargon/lingo right)
I am not sure about sleep. It's not clear that sleep _as such_ fulfills animal nature. It may only be a means to rest, without value in itself. If there were a pill that would let me have the effects of sleep without any unconsciousness, I think I would go for it. Though maybe dreaming has a non-instrumental value?
Reproduction is interesting because it is natural for female humans--and probably male humans, though it's less clear--to stop reproducing at some point. That stoppage is not a defect. So here we have an indication that reproduction is a natural end for humans at one stage in life but not at another. That still raises questions. If you die while of reproductive age, will you be of reproductive age after the resurrection? And if so, wouldn't it be natural for you to reproduce? Or would you find yourself suddenly older, though of course haler and stronger than you've ever been? I don't know. But in any case, I do think that the temporariness of reproduction is relevant. As is the fact that in some other species (slime molds, bees, etc.) not all individuals are expected to reproduce.
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