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This is an original article by Dr. Paul Carus extracted from the April 1906 issue of "The Monist", dealing with the Soul, the Afterlife, Immortality. THE SOUL IN SCIENCE AND RELIGION by DR. PAUL CARUS (Editor of The Monist) . This is an original article of 35 pages, disbound from the April 1906 Monist (Vol. XVI, No. 2) and stapled together as a pamphlet. The verso of the last leaf has an ad for The Monist . In exceptional condition - clean and presentable . some of the leaves are still joined. ***************************************************** The essay starts (an excerpt) : "Among all questions, theoretical as well as practical, -- philosophical, scientific, ethical, and those of everyday life -- the problem as to the nature of the soul stands foremost in importance. For it is obvious that whatever we do, the conception of ourselves will always be the ultimate principle from which all other questions will have to be viewed, and it is noteworthy that a great part of mankind exhibits on this very topic a peculiar anxiety as if the fate of their welfare depended on the decision of some general theory. The nervous excitement which is prevalent in many circles can be traced with special clearness in the Transactions of the Society for Psychical Research, the work of which is vigorously carried out on both sides of the Atlantic, in England and the United States. The aim of the Society is most praiseworthy, and the result will be good in so far as it will contribute its share to clear up the situation. The leaders are both earnest and honest, and yet it is to be feared that the evidence in favor of post mortem communications and kindred occult phenomena will prove disappointing. The main results will be negative. Negative results, however, may be just as important and beneficial as affirmations, for they cut off useless speculations, and by limiting the field of investigation, help to make our positive theories more definite." ************************************************* Later Dr. Carus states :: "Several inquiries from readers of my writings concerning the exact nature of my belief in immortality have induced me to revert once more to this much mooted subject and add to my former explanations. I cherished the fond hope that my treatment had been sufficiently clear and that my position had been lucidly set forth; but it appears that the middle ground which I occupy, combining the most radical position of unbelief with a sympathetic attitude toward belief and recognizing the truth which lies concealed in the allegory of religious doctrines, is puzzling to not a few thinkers who either would be ready to agree with my solutions without accepting my way of expressing them, or perhaps on the other hand would accept the formulation of my answer but attach to it a different, a religiously dogmatic meaning. As a matter of principle I limit the data from which I derive my conception to those facts that are of common experience and can be verified by the critical methods commonly called scientific. While I take note of different religious beliefs and so-called revelations, I do not propose to accept any one of he doctrines involved therein. I simply regard the existence of certain belief as a notable indication of a corresponding psychical condition, viz., a human want and its satisfaction. Further I do not deem it proper to lay much stress upon statements of abnormal phenomena such as have engrossed the Society for Psychical Research. " etc etc. // This is the original article, not a reprint, and as such is quite scarce on the market. Seller Inventory # 1209
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