THE WONDERS OF LIFE 



dents, earthquakes and landslips, wars and epidemics. 

 And then we are asked to believe in a loving Providence 

 that has decreed the death of each of these poor mortals ! 

 We are asked to console ourselves in face of the tragedy 

 with the hollow phrases: "God's will be done," or 

 "God's ways are wonderful." Simple children and dull 

 believers may soothe themselves with such phrases. 

 They no longer impose on educated people in the 

 twentieth century, who prefer a full and fearless knowl- 

 edge 'of the truth. 



When our monistic and rational conception of death is 

 described as dreary and hopeless, we may answer that 

 the prevalent dualistic view is merely an outcome of 

 hereditary habits of thought and mystic training in early 

 youth. When these are displaced by progressive culture 

 and science, it will be clear that man has lost nothing, 

 but gained much, as regards his life on earth. Con- 

 vinced that there is no eternal life awaiting him, he will 

 strive all the more to brighten his Ufe on earth and 

 rationally improve his condition in harmony with that of 

 his fellows. If it is objected that then everything will 

 depend on mere "chance," instead of being controlled 

 by a conscious Providence or a moral order of the world, 

 I must refer the reader for my reply to the close of the 

 fourteenth chapter of the Riddle, where I have dealt 

 with fate, providence, end, aim, and chance. And if it 

 is further claimed that our realistic view of life leads to 

 pessimism, there is no better ground for such an ac- 

 cusation. 



I have given, in the eleventh chapter of the Riddle, the 

 scientific reasons which forbid us to accept the personal 

 immortality of the soul. But as the most vehement 

 attacks have been made on this chapter by meta- 

 physicians of the prevailing school and by Christian 

 theologians, I must return to the question here. I am 

 convinced, from numbers of letters I have received and 



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