THE CONCEPT OF THE AFTERLIFE AS AN IMPERATIVE

Argument for the Life Hereafter ~ 238 ~ other discipline of science is as meaningless as turning to botany or metallography in order to understand man’s inborn capacity to think. Even a study of the parts of the body cannot serve as a basis for the affirmation or denial of this concept because the doctrine of the life hereafter asserts not the survival of the present material body, but that of the spirit which albeit dwelling in the body, has its independent existence. Many other scholars who have objectively examined the evidence furnished by psychical research have felt compelled to accept the life hereafter as a matter of fact. C.J. Ducasse, Professor of Philosophy at the Brown University, has made a philosophical and psychological scrutiny of this concept. He does not believe in it in the sense in which it is presented by religion, yet he holds that apart from the dogmas of religion, such evidence does exist as compels us to accept the survival of life after death. After making a general survey of various investigations in the field of psychical research he observes: