Disharmonies in the family instincts—Artificial abortion—Desertion and infanticide—Disharmonies in the social instincts CHAPTER VI DISHARMONIES IN THE INSTINCT OF SELF-PRESERVATION 113 The instinct of self-preservation in animals—Man’s instinctive love of life—Indifference to life during childhood—Buddhist legend on instinctive self-preservation and the fear of death—Fear of death treated in literature—Confessions of Tolstoi regarding the fear of death—Other opinions on the subject—The fear of death an instinctive phenomenon—Development in man of a love of life—Treatment of the aged—Murder of old people—Suicide of old men—Absence of harmony between the love of life and the conditions of human existence—The part played by the fear of death in religions and systems of philosophy PART II ATTEMPTS TO DIMINISH THE ILLS ARISING FROM THE DISHARMONIES OF THE HUMAN CONSTITUTION (RELIGIOUS AND PHILOSOPHICAL SYSTEMS) CHAPTER VII RELIGIOUS ATTEMPTS TO COMBAT THE ILLS ARISING FROM THE DISHARMONIES OF THE HUMAN CONSTITUTION 137 Animism as the foundation of primitive religions—The Jewish religion in relation to the doctrine of immortality of the soul—The religions of China—Ancestor-worship in Confucianism—The conception of immortality in Taoism—The persistence of the soul in the Buddhist religion—The paradise of the Chinese Buddhists—Ancestors worshipped as gods—Influence of religious faith on the fear of death—Pessimism of the doctrine of Buddha—The meaning of Nirvâna—Resignation as preached by Buddha—Objections to immortality of the soul—Irritability of the tissues and cells of the body—Religious hygiene—Religious means of controlling the reproductive functions and of preventing diseases—Failure of religions in their attempts to combat the ills arising from the disharmonies of the human constitution CHAPTER VIII ATTEMPTS IN SYSTEMS OF PHILOSOPHY TO REMEDY THE ILLS ARISING FROM THE DISHARMONIES OF THE HUMAN CONSTITUTION 166 Some philosophical systems are in intimate union with religions—Ideas of ancient philosophers on the immortality of the soul—The teaching of Plato—The scepticism of Aristotle—The Stoics—Cicero, Seneca, Marcus Aurelius—Modern philosophical systems—Pessimism and its origin—Lord Byron—Theories of Schopenhauer and Hartmann—Mailaender’s philosophy of deliverance—Criticisms of pessimism—Max Nordau—Ideas of modern thinkers on death PART III WHAT SCIENCE IS ABLE TO DO TO ALLEVIATE THE DISHARMONIES OF THE HUMAN CONSTITUTION CHAPTER IX