The Drama of Love and Death: A Study of Human Evolution and TransfigurationCarpenter, Edward
Philosophy
The Drama of Love and Death: A Study of Human Evolution and Transfiguration
Carpenter, Edward
Death; Love; Personality
One of the first things to strike us, and to suggest an application to
human life, is the importance of Love, among these little creatures, for
the health of the individual. The authors of _The Evolution of Sex_ say
in one passage (p. 178): “Without it [conjugation], the Protozoa, which
some have called ‘immortal,’ die a natural death. Conjugation is the
necessary condition of their eternal youth and immortality. Even at this
low level, only through the fire of love can the phœnix of the species
renew its youth.” And again, in another passage (p. 277), referring to
the conclusions of Maupas: “Already we have noted this important result,
that conjugation is essential to the health of the species.” Thus it
appears that, in these primitive stages, fusion more or less complete,
or interchange of essences, leads to Regeneration and renewal of
vitality—and this long before the distinct phenomena of sex appear. It
leads to Regeneration first, and so collaterally, and at a later period,
to Generation.
Somehow—though it is not quite clear how—this view of the importance
of love to personal health has been sadly obscured in later and
Christian times. The dominant Christian attitude converted love, from
being an expression and activity of the deepest human life and joy, into
being simply a vulgar necessity for the propagation of the species. A
violent effort was made to wrench apart the spiritual and corporeal
aspects of it. The one aspect was belauded, the other condemned. The
first was relegated to heaven, the second was given its _congé_ to
another place. Corporeal intercourse and the propagation of the race
were vile necessities. True affection dwelt in the skies and disdained
all earthly contacts. And yet all this was a vain effort to separate
what could not be separated. It was like trying to take the pigments out
of a picture; to call the picture “good,” but the stuff it was painted
with “bad.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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