The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1895-04-13


seen, it is evident that materialism as
a philosophy was never more alive,
active and influential than it is at
present.
Tyndall says he discerns in matter
"the potency and power of all phe-
nomena." Strauss says: "If under GER
tain conditions motion is transformed
into heat why in other conditions
may it not be transformed into emo
tion?"
Herbert Spencer, in his First Prin-
ciples of Philosophy, says: Various
classes of facts thus unite to prove
that the law of metamorphosis, which
holds among the physical forces holds
equally between them and the men
tai forces" Here it is boldly stated
that the physical forces of heat, light
and electricity are transformed into
mind. And this statement is received
by thousands of minds all over this
broad land as demonstrated and veri-
fed science.
And this statement is made and re-
ceived in the face of the fact that
there is no scientific evidence of it's
truth. No practical and experiment.
al scientist ever witnessed the trans
formation of heat into benevolence
and light into reason. 1t is pure
fiction - an unverified hypothesis.
As far as scientific evidence goes the
convertibility of physical forces is
known to be closed circuit.
DR.. Paul Carus in his work on the
human soul shows the presence and
influence of materialism in his whole
system of critical and constructive
philosophy. Prof. Clifford, whom the
author quotes with approval, says the
universe consists of "mind stuff" /"
From this the author dissents and
tells us: "The thing in itself is the in
ner subjective reality, which appears
SO as to become perceptible as motions
or outer objective reality" But what
this mind-stuff, or inner subjective
reality is neither Prof Clifford nor the
author attempts to inform us. Prob
ably for the reason that they do not
know themselves. 1t is like DIR.
Bain's double-faced unity, which has
both material properties and mental
attributes. But the attributes of
mind and the properties of matter are
so unlike as to cancel each other, and
therefore cannot co-exist in the same
substance. How feeling and motion
can be two properties or forms of the
same thing the Doctor fails to tell us.
Yet in the judgment Of these two
scientists this mind stuff with motion
and feeling is not only the material
of the universe, was made the condi
ton of it's existence, but the cause of
all its phenomena. The conscious
and observed dualism of subject and
object, cause and effect, matter and
spirit, the creator and creation, the
finite and the infinite, body and soul
the personal and impersonal, is to be
displaced by somewhat which has
the power of motion and feeling, a
being unknown to consciousness,
science or history.
The Doctors statement that feel
ings are distractions and not SUBJ
stantial realities may help to explain
the mystery of such form of being.
If feeling is an abstraction and not a
reality there is nothing left of this
strange somewhat" but motion, and
motion is only a mode of being. We
know motion only in matter. Hence
the source of all phenomena is mate
rial. The Doctors system of philoso-
ply, then, is only another form of ma
terialism.
We are told by DR.. Carus that the
human soul is nothing more nor less
than "a certain action of the universe,
upon one part of the universe, and
the reaction following thereupon."
The soul, then, is simply the action
and reaction of the universe up,
on itself. In the very words of the
Doctor, in reality the whole world is a
part of one being.
What is the nature Of this beingi
If, as we have seen,it is known only
by motion as revealed in action and
reaction, as matter is the only thing
that is positively known to move, the
conclusion is that this being is ma
terial. The outcome of this philos-
ophy of Monism is, that the one uni
versal substance, and the one cause
of all phenomena is matter. This is
evident from another statement found
in this work.
The Doctor holds that the preser
yation of form in living substance