Title | Why I left the church |
Series Title | Pamphlets for the million; no. 1 |
Creator (LCNAF) |
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Contributor (LCNAF) |
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Publisher | Watts & Company |
Place of Creation (TGN) |
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Date | 1912 |
Subject.Topical (LCSH) |
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Subject.Name (LCNAF) |
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Genre (AAT) |
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Language | English |
Type (DCMI) |
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Original Item Extent | 46 pages; 19 cm. |
Original Item Location | BX4668.3.M33A3 1912 |
Original Item URL | http://library.uh.edu/record=b8304505~S11 |
Original Collection | Socialist and Communist Pamphlets |
Digital Collection | Socialist and Communist Pamphlets |
Digital Collection URL | http://digital.lib.uh.edu/collection/scpamp |
Repository | Special Collections, University of Houston Libraries |
Repository URL | http://libraries.uh.edu/branches/special-collections |
Use and Reproduction | This item is in the public domain and may be used freely. |
File Name | index.cpd |
Title | Image 29 |
Format (IMT) |
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File Name | uhlib_5792348_028.jpg |
Transcript | \ WHY I LEFT THE CHURCH 29 taneously perceived; the act of reasoning is still more complex. In fine, there is a supreme unity of the whole psychic life apparently pointing to the absolute unity and simplicity of its substratum, whereas the nervous system becomes increasingly complex. That is the argument which finds most favour with scientifically-minded spiritualists. However, my professor at Lou vain and several of the most distinguished Catholic philosophers rejected it, and through their criticism I came to see its weakness— its confusion of undividedness and indivisibility. A suggestion of Professor Huxley had alwrays troubled me—the brain might not actually be a congeries of separate atoms. It is possible that the ether which ultimately composes the brain may be continuous; if so, the basis of the argument is destroyed. In any case, granting that consciousness may possibly be an efflorescence of nerve- tissue, there seemed no great difficulty, when the nervous system is thoroughly studied, in ascribing the unity of conscious life to the unity of the nervous system. Thus my criterion proved faulty, and I am unable to find any other grave reason for thinking that a spiritual and impei^shable substance underlies our mental life. The apparent freedom of the will dissolves upon a careful study of the relation of motive to voluntary action. The power of reflection, from which springs the artistic faculty, does not present serious difficulty when we are dealing with a highly developed nervous system, once the initial difficulty of consciousness is overcome. Much emphasis is |