On one hand we have no instance where there has been any conscious interaction or communication without the aid of a living body. As the body, especially the brain, becomes affected, there always seems to more impaired interaction with the environment. Also all interaction ceases after the death of the body, so it seems clear that consciousness is tied to the presence of a living body. We have a fairly tight correlation in neurology of anatomical, electrical, biochemical, physiological change on one side,  and personality characteristics, mental activity on the other, to make the nexus between material aspects and unique human characteristics air-tight. As so many modernists have proclaimed since the twentieth century, Cartesian dualism, separation of mind and body, is a total misapprehension. There is not one without the other. They are One.

On the other hand, no one has been able to exclude the possibility of consciousness that may, with the right technique, be teased apart from a biologically alive organism. Between body and soul, one could conceivably be an expression of the other, though it is hard to say in which direction this expression goes, whether your physical body determines personality or your personality is expressed by your body. Indeed in our day, many of us suspect that true consciousness will one day be made to reside in a non-living container, especially a Silicon based non-organic computational device. Such mechanical conscious devices, according to some, are very close to being developed. We commonly see in science fiction the infusion of formerly living biological human personalities into mechanical non-living, non organic objects.

In sum although none of us has experienced this phenomenon as of yet, no one can entirely exclude the proposition of consciousness separate from any living organism, although even in the case of machine consciousness, we have no concept of total separation from some material representation. Awareness still needs some physical representation to be expressed. Under our bravest conception this is a mere replicant of a living object though in different form and the product of human invention. That such materiality/physicality is necessary to the expression of awareness may be the mere product of our biological sensory systems that respond only to chemical, and electromechanical stimuli.

Some think our circumstances might be considerably improved if we are able to extend the our living thoughts, feelings and experience after our biological lives have come to an end.  The majority of us are not anxious to die, but anxious about dying, by which we mean ending personal experience and the creation of memories.  The dream of a free-floating non material soul will need to stay just that, for the time being, taking into consideration the most far-sighted scientific developments.