Excerpt from The Soul of Man: An Investigation of the Facts of Physiological and Experimental Psychology
We all know the legend of the Sphinx, who on the mountain path stops the wanderer on his way and proposes her riddle. And the riddle which she proposes to you and to me and to all mortal beings, is the same old world-problem, What is man ? Whence does he come and whither does he go?
What is more interesting to man than his own soul! And what, at the same time, is so mysterious, so wonderful, so marvellous ! Our pleasures and pains, our loves and hatreds, our hopes and fears, our longings, our aspirations and ideals, what is their meaning and whither do they tend ?
For us the centre of the universe lies in our own mind. Here, if anywhere, must be sought the key to the mysteries of the cosmos. And the problem of the human soul is of most vital importance ; for every practical work, every success in human life, is a part of its solution. All progress, all evolution, all growth means a development, an expanse, and an elevation of the human mind. We cannot think of any improvement of economical, political, social, scientific, or religious conditions that is not at the same time an advance in the psychical life of man.
The psychological problem is the centre of philosophy. No philosophy can evade it; and vice versa, every presentation of the psychological problem must contain at least in nute a philosophy. We cannot have a conception of the soul which is not, or does not at least suggest, at the same time, a conception of the world. The world-problem means to man the problem of the human soul.
About the Publisher
Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com
This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works. Это и многое другое вы найдете в книге The Soul of Man (Paul Carus)