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The Soul and its Mechanism - The Nature of the Soul and its Location |
Chapter IV The Nature of the Soul and its Location Throughout the ages the soul has been the subject of discussion, of argument, and of attempted definition. It has been, and still is, the paramount intellectual interest of the ages, and the outstanding theme of all religions and philosophies. From this alone, we may perhaps deduce that the soul is possibly a fact in nature, for the testimony of millennia must have some basis in reality. After the elimination of all conclusions founded on the visions and experiences of hysterics, of neurotics, and of pathological cases, there remains a residue of testimony and a structure of deduction, emanating from sane and reputable thinkers, philosophers and scientists, which evades negation and warrants recognition by humanity.
Some definitions of the soul might here have place. They have been gathered out of a vast number. It is noticeable that there is a very remarkable uniformity in definition and exegesis. Webster defines the soul in most interesting terms, and from the standpoint of the Eastern wisdom, with great exactitude.
As one investigates the different interpretations as to the nature of the soul, three points of view emerge and these have been well summarized for us in Webster's Dictionary:
Webster adds the following comment which is appropriate in its application to the present trend of world thought:
Perhaps, after all, the "noble middle path" which the Buddhist emphasizes, holds for the coming generation a way of escape from these extreme positions. The Egyptians held the soul was a divine ray, [75] acting through a peculiar, fluid-like compound, whilst the Jews regarded it as the vital principle. The Hindus teach that the human soul is a portion of an immutable Principle, the Soul of the World, the Anima Mundi, the all pervading Ether (Akasha) of space. This Ether is simply the conductor of certain types of energy and serves as the interrelating medium between essential spirit and tangible matter. Pythagoras, who did so much in his day to link the Eastern and Western philosophies, gave the same teaching. In China, Lao-tse taught that the spiritual soul is united to the semi-material vital soul, and between them they animate the physical body. The Greeks, in their turn, held that the soul (with all the mental faculties) was separable from the body, whilst the Romans regarded the soul as a triplicity, - a spiritual soul, an intellectual soul or the mind, and a vital body. Many, such as Theophrastus, regarded it as "the real principle of passion," and "The Stoics gave currency to a new designation of the animating principle or
theory of the vital processes, namely pneuma... With the introduction of the pneuma began
that trichotomy of human personality into body, soul and spirit, which has figured
prominently in the speculations of theologians. The conception of the soul or psyche...
became differentiated into two conceptions... namely, on the one hand, the vital force of
the physiologists, and on the other hand the spirit or immaterial soul of man." [76] |
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