38 DEATH AND RESURRECTION. 



radical if it were possible. But even 

 if it were, should we then be nearer the 

 goal? The whole mode of thinking is 

 naive, but merits attention especially 

 because it demonstrates how uncertain 

 the information would be that we 

 would obtain through this channel. If 

 somebody returned, little or nothing 

 would, in all probability, be gained. 



In the first place how could we know 

 that it was the same person that re- 

 turned? It would, perhaps, be best if 

 the soul took possession of the same 

 body. The absence would then be com- 

 parable to, or essentially analogous 

 with, the condition of the apparently 

 dead. But to begin with, we could, for 

 good reasons, only ascribe a small 

 value to experience gained under such 

 conditions, and, further, such an ab- 

 sence would evidently mean no real 

 separation of soul and body, no real 

 death, and therefore no real experi- 

 ence of the very thing under considera- 

 tion. 



But how, and under what conditions, 



