William Lane Craig on Consciousness and the soul
Craig argues that the existence of consciousness provides evidence for a non-physical realm and is best explained by theism.
Craig contends that consciousness is one of the most powerful arguments for theism because it resists naturalistic explanation. On a purely materialist worldview, there is no reason why certain physical processes should give rise to subjective experience. The 'hard problem' of consciousness — why there is something it is like to be conscious — finds no solution in physics or neuroscience.
He argues that theism provides a natural explanation: if the ultimate reality is a conscious mind (God), then the existence of finite conscious minds is unsurprising. On atheism, consciousness is an inexplicable anomaly. On theism, it is exactly what we would expect.
Craig also defends substance dualism — the view that the mind is distinct from the brain — arguing that mental states have properties (intentionality, qualitative character) that no physical state possesses. While he acknowledges that the mind is causally dependent on the brain, he denies that it is identical to the brain.
“On atheism, it is a miracle that consciousness exists at all. On theism, it is to be expected — because the ultimate reality is itself a conscious being.”