For every living or sentient being that possesses a consciousness, the sentient part of the soul and the materialistic soul are two separate parts. When a person died, their sentient part of the soul would leave or disappear to whatever was the unknown afterlife that many believed to be, leaving the materialistic husk of soul that kept the body existing.
And because the signature of the materialistic part of the soul was less noticeable than that of a sentiency, it appeared as if souls within objects didn't exist, which might make those who possessed inherent ability to perceive soul to only capable of seeing the sentient part of the souls, something that mankind was so familiar with their fictional literature and legends.
