Heresy: Its Utility And Morality. A Plea And A JustificationBradlaugh, Charles
Religion
Heresy: Its Utility And Morality. A Plea And A Justification
Bradlaugh, Charles
Free thought; Heresy
after the summer drought, when ordinary experience would teach him
that as the pool is only gathered during the rainy season in the hollow
ground, so in the dry hot summer days, it will be gradually evaporated
under the blazing rays of the July sun. As to the human capacities,
experience teaches us that they have changed with the condition of the
body; emotional feelings and animal passions, the gratification of which
ensured temporary pleasure or pain, have varied, have been newly felt,
and have died out in different periods and conditions of our lives,
and the presumption is against the complete endurance of all these
"capacities for action," &c., even during the whole life, and much
more strongly, therefore, against their endurance after death. Besides
which--continuing the argument from analogy--my "capacities" having
only been manifested since my body has existed, and in proportion to my
physical ability, the presumption is rather that the manifestation which
commenced with the body, will finish as the body finishes. Further,
it is fair to presume that "death is the destruction of those living
powers," for death is the cessation of organic functional activity; a
cessation consequent on some change or destruction of organisation.
Of course, the word "destruction" is not here used in any sense of
annihilation of substance, but as meaning such a change of condition
that vital phenomena are no longer manifested. But, says Butler, "we
know not at all what death is in itself, but only some of its effects,
such as the dissolution of flesh, skin, and bones, and these effects
do in nowise appear to imply the destruction of a living agent." Here,
perhaps, there is an unjustifiable assumption in the words "living
agent," for if by living agent is only meant the animal which dies,
then the destruction of flesh, skin, and bones does fairly imply the
destruction of the living agent, but if by living agent is intended
more than this, then the argument is speciously and unfairly worded. But
beyond this, if Bishop Butler's argument has any value, it proves too
much. He says--"Nor can we find anything throughout the whole analogy
of nature, to afford us even the slightest presumption that animals ever
lose their living powers.... by death." That is, Bishop Butler applies
his argument for a future state of existence, not only to man, but to
the whole animal kingdom; and it may be fairly conceded that there is
as much ground to presume that man will live again, as there is that the
worm will live again, which, being impaled upon a hook, is eaten by the
gudgeon, or that the gudgeon will live again which, threaded as a bait,
is torn and mangled to death by a ravenous pike, or that the pike will
live again after it has been kept out of water till rigid, then gutted,
scaled, stuffed with savoury condiments, broiled, and ultimately eaten
by Piscator and his family. Bishop Butler's argument, that because
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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