126 



SCIENCE 



[Vol. VI., No. 102. 



IMMORTALITY IN MODERN THOUGHT. 



It will be admitted, we think, that the ten- 

 dency of modern science is materialistic. This 

 is especiall}^ true of biolog3\ In fact, to many 

 the doctrine of correlation of vital with physi- 

 cal forces, and the doctrine of derivative origin 

 of species, seem little short of a demonstration 

 of materialism. Thus materialism has become 

 a fashion of thought; but, like all fashions, it 

 has run into excess, which must be followed by 

 reaction. We believe the reaction has already 

 commenced. Science sees now, more clearl3^ 

 than ever before, its own limits. It acknowl- 

 edges its impotence to bridge the chasm be- 

 tween the physical and the ps3'chical. We 

 pass from physical to chemical, and from 

 chemical to vital, without break. All is motion, 

 and nothing more ; also, in the region of the 

 vital, we pass from sense-impression through 

 nerve-thrill to brain-changes, and still we find 

 onl}' motions. But when, just here, there 

 emerge consciousness, thought, will, the re- 

 lation of these to brain-changes is just as un- 

 imaginable as the appearance of the genie 

 when Aladdin's lamp is rubbed. 



It is impossible to emphasize this point too 

 strongly. Suppose a living brain be exposed 

 to an observer with infinitely i)erfect senses. 

 Such an observer would see, could see, onl}^ 

 molecular movements. But the subject knows 

 nothing of all this. His experiences are of a 

 totall}' different order; viz., consciousness, 

 thought, etc. Viewed from the outside., there is 

 nothing but motions ; viewed from the inside., 

 nothing but thought, etc., — from the one side, 

 onl}' material phenomena ; from the other, onl}' 

 })sychical phenomena. Ma}" we not generalize 

 this fact ? Ma}' Ave not extend it to nature also ? 

 From the outside we find nothing but motion. 

 On the inside there must be consciousness, 

 thought,^ etc. : in a word, God. To bridge 

 this chasm, whether in nature or in the brain. 

 Science is impotent. As to what is on the 

 other side of material phenomena, she is 

 agnostic, but cannot be materialistic. 



Admitting, then, in man a world of phe- 

 nomena, which cannot be construed in terms of 

 motion, and which for convenience we group 

 under the name of ' spirit,' is the group per- 

 manent? Is the spirit immortal? On this 

 subject. Science can say absolutely nothing. 

 The field is therefore open for evidence from 

 any quarter, and of any degree. Some of 

 these evidences, though not given by Science, 

 are at least suggested by lines of scientific 



1 Thia thought ie admirably presented by Johnstone Stoney, 

 Xature, vol. xxxi. p. 422. 



thought. A few of these we briefly men- 

 tion. 



1. We have said that consciousness and 

 thought lie behind material phenomena, in 

 nature and in the human brain. In the one 

 case we call it God, the divine Spirit ; in the 

 other, the spirit of man. Now, does not this 

 identity, or similarity of relation to material 

 phenomena, imply, or at least suggest, similar- 

 ity of nature, and therefore immortality for 

 the spirit of man? 



2. Individual human life passes through its 

 little cycle of changes, and quickly closes in 

 death. If this be all, then for the individ- 

 ual, when all is done, it is precisely as if he 

 had never been. "Yes," answers the Comtist, 

 " for the individual, but not for humanity. 

 Every human life leaves a residuum which 

 enters into the life and growth of humanity. 

 It is a glorious and unselfish religion thus to 

 merge one's self into the only true object of 

 worship, — humanity." But, alas! the cycle 

 of humanity also closes ; and for humanity 

 too, when all is done, it will be precisely as 

 if it had never been. 'But the earth — the 

 cosmos — abides.' Yes, but only a little 

 longer. Science declares that the cycle of the 

 cosmos must also close. And then, when all 

 is done, after all this process of evolution 

 reaching upward to find its completion in man, 

 after all the yearnings, hopes, struggles, and 

 triumphs of man, what is the outcome? It 

 is precisely as if the cosmos had never been. 

 It is all hterally " a tale told by an idiot, full 

 of sound and fury, signifying nothing." Not 

 only heart, but reason, revolts against such a 

 final outcome. If we believe that reason 

 underlies the phenomena of the cosmos, we 

 cannot accept such a result. We cannot 

 believe that the cosmos has no intelligible end. 

 But what intelligible end is there conceivable, 

 unless something is finally attained which is 

 not involved in a cycle, i.e., unless man is im- 

 mortal ? 



3. There are three primary divisions of our 

 psychical nature ; viz., sense, intellect, and 

 will. There are three corresponding processes 

 in making a complete rational philosoph}^ : viz., 

 (1) instreaming of impressions of the external 

 world through the senses (facts) ; (2) elab- 

 oration of these into a consistent whole by the 

 intellect (knowledge) ; (3) outgoing of this 

 knowledge in activity (conduct). Now, a true 

 working theory of life must sa4;isfy all these. 

 But scientific men are apt to think that only (1) 

 and (2) are necessary ; that true facts elabo- 

 rated into consistent theory is all we need care 

 for. Theologians, on the contrary, seem to 



