The Wonders of Life: A Popular Study of Biological PhilosophyHaeckel, Ernst
Philosophy
The Wonders of Life: A Popular Study of Biological Philosophy
Haeckel, Ernst
Biology; Evolution (Biology); Life -- Origin
However, by far the most important clause in the third article is
the final expression of belief in "the resurrection of the body and
life everlasting." That this greatest "wonder of life" was originally
conceived in a purely material form is evident from thousands of
pictures in which famous painters have realistically depicted the
resurrection of the dead, the aërial flight of the happy souls of the
blessed, and the torments of the damned in hell. It is thus conceived
still by the majority of believers who take eternal life to be an
"enlarged and improved edition" of life here below. This is equally
true of Christian and Mohammedan pictures and of the athanatist ideas
that prevailed in other religions long before Christ was born, even
of the first rudiments of the belief in primitive races. As long as
the geocentric theory prevailed, and the heavens were thought to be a
sort of blue glass bell, illumined by thousands of little stars and
the lamp of the sun, arching like a vault over the flat earth, and
the fires of hell burned in the cellars below, this barbaric notion
of a resurrection of the body and a last judgment could easily be
maintained. But its roots were destroyed when Copernicus refuted the
geocentric theory in 1545; and athanatism became quite untenable when
Darwin shattered the dogma of anthropocentricism. Not only the crude
older materialistic idea of eternal life, but also the refined new
spiritualistic version, has been rendered untenable by the progress of
science in the nineteenth century. I have shown this in the eleventh
chapter of the _Riddle_, which closes with the words: "If we take a
comprehensive glance at all that modern anthropology, psychology,
and cosmology teach with regard to athanatism, we are forced to this
definite conclusion. The belief in the immortality of the human soul
is in hopeless contradiction with the most solid empirical truths of
modern science."[7]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account