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 SPIRITISM

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SPIRITISM

Survival of Man" (New York, 1909). Inrerent pvibli- catioiis prominence is given to experiments with tlie mediums Mrs. Piper of Boston and Eusapia Palhi- (iino of Italy; and important contributions to the liter- ature have been made by Professor Win. James of Harvard, Dr. Richard Hodgson of Boston, Professor Charles Richet (University of Paris), Professor Henry Sidgwick (Cambridge Universit}'), Professor Th. Flournoy (University of Geneva), Professor Morselli (University of Genoa), Professor Cesare Lombroso (University of Turin), Professor James H. Hyslop (Columbia University), Professor Wm. R. Newbold (University of Pennsylvania). While some of these writers maintain a critical attitude, others are out- spoken in favour of Spiritism, and a few (Myers, James), lately deceased, arranged before death to es- tablish communication with their surviving associates.

Hypotheses. — To explain the phenomena which after careful investigation and exclusion of fraud are regarded as authentic, three hypotheses have been proposed. The telepathic hypothesis takes as its starting-point the so-called subliminal consciousness. This, it is claimed, is subject to disintegration in such wise that segments of it may impress another mind (the percipient) even at a distance. The personality is liberated, so to speak, from the organism and in- vades the soul of another. A medium, on this hypo- thesis, would obtain information by thought-trans- ference either from the minds of persons present at the seance or from other minds concerning whom the sit- ters know nothing. This view, it is held, would ac- cord with the recognized facts of hypnosis and with the results of experimental telepathy; and it would explain what appear to be cases of possession. Simi- lar to this is the hypothesis of psychical radiations which distinguishes in man the material body, the soul, and an intermediate principle, the "perispirit". This is a subtle fluid, or astral body, which in certain persons (mediums) can escape from the material or- ganism and thus form a "double". It also accom- panies the soul after death and it is the means by which communication is established with the peri- spirit of the mediums. The Spiritistic hypothesis maintains that the communications arc received from disembodied spirits. Its advocates declare that tel- epathy is insufficient to account for all the facts, that its sphere of influence would have to be enlarged so as to include all the mental states and memories of living persons, and that even with such extension it would not ex-plain the selective character of the phenomena by which facts relevant for establishing the personal identity of the departed are discriminated from those that are irrelevant. Telepathy at most may be the means by which discarnate spirits act upon the minds of living persons. For a discussion of the hypotheses see Hyslop, "Science and a Future Life" (Boston, 1905); Lodge, "The Survival of Man"; and Flournoy, "Spiritism and Psychology" (tr. Carrington, New York, 1911); Grasset, "The Marvels beyond Science" (New York, 1910).

For those who admit that the manifestations pro- ceed from intelligences other than that of the medium, the next question in order is whether these intelli- gences are the spirits of the departed or beings that have never been embodied in human form. The reply has often been found difficult even by avowed believers in Spiritism, and some of these have been forced to admit the action of extraneous or non-human intelligences. This conclusion is ba.sed on several sorts of evidence: the difficulty of establishing spirit- identity, i. e. of ascertaining whether the communi- cator is actually the personahty he or it purjiorts to be; the love of personation on the part of the spirits which leads them to introduce themselves as celeb- rities who once lived on earth, although on closer questioning they show themselves quite ignorant of those whom they personate; the trivial character of

the communications, so radically opposed to what would l>e expected from those who have ])assed into the other world and who naturally should lie con- cerned to impart information on the mosi .serious sub- jecls; the contradictory statements which the spirits make regarding their own condition, the relations of God and man, the fundamental precepts of moraHty; finally the low- moral tone which often jiervades these messages from spirits who pretend to enlighten man- kind. These deceptions and inconsistencies have been attributed by some authors to the subliminal con- sciousness (Flournoy), by others to spirits of a lower order, i. e. below the plane of humanity (Stainton Moses), while a third ex-planation refers them quite frankly to demonic intervention (Raupert, "Modern Spiritism", St. Louis, 1904; cf. Gras.set, "The Marvels beyond Science," tr. Tubeuf, New York, 1910). For the Christian behever this third view acquires special significance from the fact that the alleged communica- tions antagonize the essential truths of religion such as the Divinity of Christ, atonement and redemp- tion, judgment and future retribution, while they encourage agnosticism, pantheism, and a belief in reincarnation.

Spiritism indeed claims that it alone furnishes an incontestable proof of immortality, a scientific demon- stration of the future life that far surpasses any phil- osophical deduction of Spiritualism, while it gives the death-blow to Matcriahsm. This claim, however, rests upon the vahdity of the hypothesis that the communications come from disembodied spirits; it gets no support from the telepathic hypothesis or from that of demonic intervention. If "either of the latter should be verified the phenomena would be explained without solving or even raising the problem of human immortality. If, again, it were shown that the argument based on the data of normal conscious- ness and the nature of the soul cannot stand the test of criticism, the same test would certainly be fatal to a theory drawn from mediumistic utterances which are not only the outcome of abnormal conditions, but are also open to widely different interpretations. Even where all suspicion of fraud or collusion is removed — and this is seldom the case — a critical investigator will chng to the idea that phenomena which now seem inexphcable may eventually, like so many other marvels, be accounted for without hav- ing recourse to the Spiritistic hypothesis. Those who are convinced, on philosophical grounds, of the soul's immortality may say that communications from the spirit world, if any such there be, go to strengthen their conviction; but to abandon their philosophy and stake all on Spiritism would be more than hazardous; it would, indirectly at least, afford a ijretext for a more complete rejection of soul and immortalit}-. In other words, if Spiritism were the sole argument for a future life, Matcriahsm, instead of being crushed, would triumph anew as the only pos- sible theory for science and common sense.

Dangers. — To this risk of philosophical error must be added the dangers, mental and moral, which Spirit- istic practices involve. Wnatever the explanation offered for the medium's "powers", their exercise sooner or later brings about a state of pa-fsivity which cannot but injure the mind. This is readily intelli- gible in the hypothesis of an invasion by extraneous spirits, since such a possession must weaken and tend to efface the normal personality. But similar results may be expected if, as the alternate hypothesis main- tains, a disintegration of the one personahty takes place. In either ease, it is not sur])rising that the mental balance should be disturbed, and self-control impaired or destroyed. Recourse to Spiritism fre- quently produces hallucinations and other aberrations, especially in subjects who are predisposed to insanity; and even those who are otherwise normal expose themselves to severe physical and mental strain (cf.