The soul

This book tends toward the same objective as the preceding one: the demonstration of the soul, of the future life, of the plurality of existences, but under a more didactic, more scientific form, although always clear and intelligible to everyone. The refutation of materialism, particularly of the doctrines of Buchner and of Moleschott, occupies a large space therein, and it is not the least interesting nor the least instructive part, by the irresistible logic of the arguments. The doctrine of these two writers of incontestable talent, who claim to explain all moral phenomena solely by the forces of matter, had a wide repercussion in Germany and, in consequence, in France; naturally, it was acclaimed with enthusiasm by the materialists, happy to find therein sanction for their ideas; it recruited partisans above all among the youth of the schools, who lean upon them to free themselves, in the name of the apparent legality of a philosophy, from the restraint imposed by the belief in God and in immortality. The author endeavors to reduce to their just value the sophisms upon which this philosophy rests; he demonstrates the disastrous consequences it would have for society, if it should ever come to prevail, and its incompatibility with all moral doctrine. Although it is hardly known by certain people, a refutation in a certain way popular is very useful, in order to forewarn those who might allow themselves to be seduced by the specious arguments it invokes. We are persuaded that, among the persons who advocate it, some would recoil, if they had understood its full reach.

Even were it only from this point of view, the work of Mr. Dyonis would deserve serious encouragement, because he is an energetic champion for the cause of spiritualism, which is also that of Spiritism, to which one sees that the author is no stranger. But the task he imposed upon himself is not limited to this; he envisages the question of the soul in a broad and complete manner; he is one of those who admit its indefinite progress, through animality, Humanity, and beyond Humanity. Perhaps, under certain aspects, his book contains some somewhat risky propositions, but which it is well to bring forward, in order that they may be matured by discussion.

We regret that the lack of space does not permit us to justify our appreciation by some citations; we will limit ourselves to the following passage, and to saying that those who read this book will not waste their time.

“If we examine the beings that succeeded one another in the geological periods, we note that there is progress in the individuals successively endowed with life, and that the last to arrive, man, is an irrefutable proof of this moral development, by the gift of transmissible intelligence which he was the first to receive, and the only one of all the animals.

“This perfectibility of the soul, opposed to the imperfectibility of matter, leads us to think that the human soul is not the first expression of the soul, but only its latest expression up to now. In other terms, that the soul has progressed since the first manifestation of life, passing alternately through the plants, the animalcules, the animals and man, to rise still further, by means of creations of a superior order, which our imperfect senses do not permit us to comprehend, but which the logic of facts leads us to admit. The law of progress, which we followed in the physical developments of the successive animals, would thus exist, equally and principally, in their moral development.” [1]

vol. in-12, 3 fr. 50. [L’âme : son existence, ses manifestations - Google books.]