Abstract
MR. REDGROVE'S theory of matter is that it possesses only a hypothetical reality; we assume its existence only because otherwise the harmony of our individual worlds would be unintelligible. Spirit, he seems to maintain, we know by direct intuition of ourselves—a proposition of great dubiety, if we take spirit in the sense of real substance. But, granting the one a certain, the other a hypothetical objectivity, the objective relation of the two must be determined. Mr. Redgrove holds that God is the ultimate cause of both, spirit the mediate cause of matter. Yet the effect must be regarded as quite distinct and discrete from the cause. It would seem to follow that for God spirit is something analogous to what matter is to us; but this inference is not drawn. Moreover, no reason is given for the ontological subordination of matter to spirit, except the epistemological distinction noticed above; and it might equally be held to prove the ontological subordination of all other spirits to one's own. Mr. Redgrove, indeed, tentatively holds that in telepathy we have direct “sense” of other spirits; but this perception is “symbolic” as well as direct, which means, one must suppose, that it is not truly immediate. The author believes in the immortality of self-conscious beings; but as he also believes that self-consciousness arises out of protoplasmic consciousness by the ordinary processes of the universe, it is not evident why he should assume the impossibility of a relapse into that state. Though these and other difficulties will be met, the book is well worth reading. Mr. Redgrove writes with pre cision and force, and his discussion is always inter esting.
Matter, Spirit, and the Cosmos. Some Suggestions towards a Better Understanding of the Whence and Why of their Existence.
By H. Stanley Redgrove. Pp. 124. (London: W. Rider and Son, Ltd., 1910.) Price 2s. 6d. net.
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Matter, Spirit, and the Cosmos Some Suggestions towards a Better Understanding of the Whence and Why of their Existence . Nature 83, 68 (1910). https://doi.org/10.1038/083068a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/083068a0