Do Amalekites not have souls?

Question

I remember reading once (in Sender Zeyv's novel Ten Lost), that some Jewish sources say that Amalekites don't have souls. Obviously, this might not be so reliable, coming from a work of fiction, so I'm asking here. Is there any source (I don't remember if the book quoted one or not) for the claim that members of Amalek don't have souls?

This assumes that gentiles in general have souls, as appears to be the consensus in this question:

• Do gentiles have neshamot?

(Tell me if I should make this a separate question). If the answer is yes, does that mean they are Philosophical zombies? What would a positive answer (no neshamos) imply about the following:

• Amalekites having free will
• Amalekites feeling pain
• Their being some way to tell the difference (with a regular human) by their behavior

Answer 1

There are 2 souls, a Nefesh Elokis and Nefesh Habahamis, a G-dly soul and an animalistic soul. Goyim only have the animalistic soul. All physical desires and worldly pleasures come from the Nefesh Habahamis. The Nefesh Elokis just wants the pleasure of G-d, learning Torah and doing Mitzvos. We are able to use the animalistic soul for the service of G-d, but you need to put in a lot of effort. Goyim don't have a Nefesh Elokis, just a Nefesh Habahamis.

Source: Tanya.

I don't believe that Amoleikim don't have a soul, otherwise how would they be able to speak and do other such things, but I might be wrong.

Answer 2

if they did not have a soul they would not be able to speak intelligently. the onkelos on the chumash defines the soul as the ability to speak intelligently. apparently this is beyond the ability of any kind of purely physical machine (as explained here in more detail)

"...And Man became a living soul," (Genesis 2:7) is translated by Onkelos: "And Man became a speaking spirit."

Answer 3

Goyim have both a Nefesh Bahamis and a Neshoma Elokis, meaning the are Tzelem Elokim. Amalek has only a nefesh bahamis like an animal. Some animals, like an amoeba are alive, but low functioning. Some, like a dog or a chimpanzee are very high functioning. Amalek is an animal, nevertheless so high functioning that he has similar capabilities and intelligence just like one endowed with Tzelem Elokim. But due to his lack of TzE, he cannot relate to Hashem and views the Briah as random, without intention or purpose. He desires to destroy any being with high level TzE, such Am Yisroel, in order to eliminate Hashem from this world. He is the progeny of the Nachash Hakadmoni, which was the most intelligent of the animals.