The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-07-04

A Question Of Fact TO be Discussed
on Grounds Of Common Sense.

What interests me most In the con
munications addressed to you on the
subject Of human Immortality Is the
seeming reluctance Of a majority OF
the writer's TO approach the question
from the point Of view of plain, ordinary
common sense.
TIT question Involved Is purely one
Of fact. inasmuch as there can be no
demonstration of the latter, one way
or the other. all that can DO done Is to
weigh the evidence pro and con-. draw
Ing therefrom, as well as wa difidently
may. an estimate OF probabilities.
To start with, Ii cannot be denied
hat the supposition that we survive
our W deaths is the most remarkable,
one might even say the most astound-
ing theory ever formed by the human
mind. II may be that we do so sur
vive TO deny the possibility would be
unreasonable. But, viewing the matter
In the light OF dispassionate Judgment,
and eliminating hopes which have no
bearing upon the problem, It must be
acknowledged that probabilities seem
adverse.
No living man to-day has ever known
or an instance where a human being or
other animal has survived his or Its own
death. Consequently, 1t must be held,
'n honest reason. that the burden Of
proof rests upon those who affirm that
we do 80 survive. What proof. or EVIL
dence tending to proof. do they Offer?
None whatever. They are satisfied with
affirmation. commonly supplemented by
rather violent condemnation OF those
VINO venture TO suggest that possibly
they may be mistaken.
Their theory may bo right. Let us,
indeed, hope that 1t is so. I am by no
means attempting to contradict II. All
that i venture here TO discuss is what
seem to be the probabilities In the case.
so far as we are able to Judge them.
supporters OF the theory ACKNOWLEDGE
that they base their conviction wholly
upon belief" Before going further,
then. let US consider upon what sort of
belief may Justly and in
reason rest.
Belief. II II is TO deserve respect.
must rest upon evidence. Belief with
out evidence Is what we term credulity.
The wise man. needless to say, is never
credulous; first he must nave adequate
evidence: and then he believes.
This does not mean that he refuses TO
believe In a thing unless he has seen
It, or otherwise had opportunity to de-
termlne its actually through the me-
alum OF his physical senses. The great
pulk or what he believes is necessarily
deriVed from the testimony OF others.
upon whose statements he has reason
10 rely. | myself nave never beheld the
Bunker Hill Monument, but to doubt It's
existence, or the accuracy Of the de-
seriptions generally given OF II. would
DO IN the last degree unreasonable.
cannot believe" In a proper sense
OF the term. that human beings survive
their " deaths. They may do SO no
man can reasonably assert that they do
not But certainly all the evidence we
can OBTAIN that has a bearing upon the
supposition is against It.
People often say. The universal ac-
ceptance OF a belief In human immor-
ta!ity Is evidence of Its truth" Such n
statement Is absurd. Mere blind belief
IN ANYTHING can never in reason be ac-
cepted as evidence and the bare fact
that in this case the belief i, in dIrect
me with a universal human desire.
mo wish not to die. Is enough 10 war
rant US In being suspicious of IL.
Furthermore IL In easy TO account for
the unlversal!ty OF the belief In i'm.
mortality on wholly common sense
grounds. We know how readily. in tho
human individual. wishes Of any kind
are converted into beliefs. The wish
not to die Is the prime human instinct:
!. represents the strongest and most en-
during OF all human impulses. This de-
sire has been handed down through Tor.
or thousands OF generations. since man
KIND hrst appeared on the earth. What
more natural. then. than that il should
nave become crystallized into an expec-
tation OF indefinite survival somehow
and somewhere?
We are told that, although the body
dies. the soul survives. What is IL thar
Is meant by the soul7 II anything is
meant that Is in the least Ineligible, 1t
mist ha tho mind D..
are able to perceive. the very existence
OF mind depends upon structure. Even
Il small injury TO the brain may. and
OFTEN docs. destroy the mind, render
Ing II at all events incapable OF func-
tioning. When. after death and decay
or the body. the brain has ceased TO sx-,
LIST. how can the mind continue?
An idea that Is widely he'd, and which
seems to me Infinitely curious, is that
me prospect OF surviving this life fur
nishos tse only rational inducemeu, for
being good while Il lasts. What is the
use OF choosing the right and avoiding
the wrong II n is not going TO be
paid for II hereafter. or at leas, TO
escape punishment?
no less eminent a philosopher than
the late Goodwin Smith once wrote, In a
letter 20 THE SUN:
The libertins IL q social nuisance. hu,
II there Is TO be no after life. and there
fore no penalty for his misdeeds, who will
say that he is no, wise?
l., for one. will say 60. and with ~
most emphasis. For one point, all hu-
MAJ experience proves that wrong doing
cannot fail. in this world, to make the
doer unhappy.
But there Is a larger aspect In which !
to consider the matter. To DO good
for the sake OF expected reward. or TO
avoid punishment. is reducing virtue TO
Its lowest imaginable terms it Is hardly
virtue at all, II the mere getting OF
Oc concerned. the wise man
knows that. In the coin OF happin,ss
II pays hin we'll to do right. Where
virtue or misdoing is concerned We do
not have 10 wait for a future existence
to reap substantial results.
l cannot believe that the average nor
NAL man prefers right doing because ne
thinks II will 10 profitable TO him here
after. lie prefers the right on the same
principle that he would rather be clean
than dirty; that he would rather be a
decent person than a b~lgCkguard. lie
does not refrain from robbing a neigh
Dor, or seducing his friends wife, be-
cause he fears punishment in this world
or the next. but FOR the reason that a
normal instinct and decent habit OF mind
render him d!sIncl!ned TO such actions.
What, one may inquire. has mar done
10 deserve the gift OF Immortality, de-
MED, as we are told. to all other crea-
lures? Surely the greatest misfortune
that ever happened to the world was
he nnNAnt nf tha human ,n,, -. L.. |