The Physical Basis of ImmortalityG.P. Putnam, 1876 - 324 pages |
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Page 17
... phases of a common nature , must be recognized as equally legitimate depart- ments of natural science . The confident looking to Nature for a solution of controversies , and for her unraveling of the deepest problems , is a spontaneous ...
... phases of a common nature , must be recognized as equally legitimate depart- ments of natural science . The confident looking to Nature for a solution of controversies , and for her unraveling of the deepest problems , is a spontaneous ...
Page 23
... phases of one unity . - Force active ; Extension passive . - Forces coöperative through their extensions . - The nature of elastic force . - The block of iron , how changed in modes of force . - The atom as a centre of many activities ...
... phases of one unity . - Force active ; Extension passive . - Forces coöperative through their extensions . - The nature of elastic force . - The block of iron , how changed in modes of force . - The atom as a centre of many activities ...
Page 24
... phases . - Probabilities as to molecular state . - How physical and psychical facts are conditioned together . - Prof . Tyndall as authority . - Visual facts and explanation . - The relation of physics to consciousness not unthinkable ...
... phases . - Probabilities as to molecular state . - How physical and psychical facts are conditioned together . - Prof . Tyndall as authority . - Visual facts and explanation . - The relation of physics to consciousness not unthinkable ...
Page 25
... phases of mechanical action . - Memory . - Possible organism within the organism . - Various analogies . — Conclu- sion that life has a physical basis and is immortal . — Quota- tion from Pascal ... PAGE .... 291 THE PHYSICAL BASIS OF ...
... phases of mechanical action . - Memory . - Possible organism within the organism . - Various analogies . — Conclu- sion that life has a physical basis and is immortal . — Quota- tion from Pascal ... PAGE .... 291 THE PHYSICAL BASIS OF ...
Page 24
... phases . Probabilities as to molecular state . - How physical and psychical facts are conditioned together . — Prof . Tyndall as authority . — Visual facts and explanation . — The relation of physics to consciousness not unthinkable ...
... phases . Probabilities as to molecular state . - How physical and psychical facts are conditioned together . — Prof . Tyndall as authority . — Visual facts and explanation . — The relation of physics to consciousness not unthinkable ...
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Common terms and phrases
action and reaction active adapted allied amount angles arise atomic units balanced ball become body carbon centre of force chemical chemical affinity compound conditioned consciousness constitution coöperative coördinated correlation crystal definite direction earth electricity energy equal and opposite equivalent ether exchange exist experience external facts fluid force acts force and extension fusel oils gases geometrical units gravity heat hydrogen ical immortality indestructible indivisible inorganic kind laws laws of thought light living luminiferous ether mathematical matter measure mental mind modes of action modes of force modified molecular molecule moods move nature Nature's optic nerve organism oxygen particles phases position possible principle produce psychical reacting resistance to motion result sensation sense sentient simple solid space structure substance supposed theory things thought tion tissue turpentine ultimate atom unchanged unextended units of motion unity universe unlike Unseen Universe vapor varying vibrations visible motion whole
Popular passages
Page 257 - ... other noises; — who knows, I say, but that it may be possible to discover the motions of the internal parts of bodies, whether animal, vegetable or mineral, by the sound they make; that one may discover the works performed in the several offices and shops of a man's body, and thereby discover what instrument or engine is out of order, what works are going on at several times and lie still at others and the like.
Page 298 - We are in this fix : mental states and bodily states are utterly contrasted ; they cannot be compared, they have nothing in common except the most general of all attributes, degree, and order in time ; when engaged with one we must be oblivious of all that distinguishes the other.
Page 230 - ... for every fact of consciousness, whether in the domain of sense, of thought, or of emotion, a certain definite molecular condition is set up in the brain...
Page 297 - ... longer. Such states are of short duration, mere fits, glimpses; they are constantly shifted and alternated with object states, but while they last and have their full power we are in a different world ; the material world is blotted out, eclipsed, for the instant unthinkable. These subject-moments are studied to advantage in bursts of intense pleasure, or intense pain, in fits of engrossed reflection, especially reflection upon mental facts ; but they are seldom sustained in purity beyond a very...
Page 93 - ... and annihilation lie outside of her domain. The mutual convertibility of forces into each other is called correlation of forces ; the persistence of the same amount, amid all these protean forms, is called conservation of force * * In recent works the word energy is used to designate active or working force as distinguished from passive or non-working force. It is in this working condition only that force is conserved, and therefore conservation of energy is the proper expression. Nevertheless,...
Page 258 - I have this encouragement, not to think all these things utterly impossible, though never so much derided by the generality of men, and never so seemingly mad, foolish, and...
Page 257 - There may also be a possibility,' writes Hooke, ' of discovering the internal motions and actions of bodies by the sound they make. Who knows but that, as in a watch, we may hear the beating of the balance, and the running of the wheels, and the striking of the hammers, and the grating of the teeth, and multitudes of other noises ; who knows, I say, but that it may be possible to discover the motions of the internal parts of bodies, whether animal, vegetable, or mineral, by the sound they make...
Page 236 - ... the passage from the current to the needle, if not demonstrable, is thinkable, and that we entertain no doubt as to the final mechanical solution of the problem. But the passage from the physics of the brain to the corresponding facts of consciousness is unthinkable. Granted that a definite thought and a definite molecular action in the brain occur simultaneously; we do not possess the intellectual organ, nor apparently any rudiment of the organ, which would enable us to pass by a process of...
Page 297 - ... of the May-blossom ; we give way for a moment to the sensation of sweetness ; for that moment the objective regards cease ; we think of nothing extended ; we are in a state where extension has no footing ; there is, to us, place no longer. Such states are of short duration, mere fits, glimpses; they are constantly shifted and alternated with object states, but while they last and have their full power we are in a different world ; the material world is blotted out, eclipsed, for the instant unthinkable.
Page 324 - ... into its minutest elements. " Let man," says Pascal, " investigate the smallest things of all he knows ; let this dot of an insect, for instance, exhibit to him in its diminutive body parts incomparably more diminutive, jointed limbs, veins in those limbs, blood in those veins, in that blood humors, and drops within those humors — let him, still subdividing these finest points, exhaust his power of conception, and let the minutest object his fancy can shape be that one of which we are now speaking...