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Miracles and Modern Spiritualism
This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.
- GenresScience
312 pages, Paperback
First published February 28, 2001
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About the author
Alfred Russel Wallace
532 books89 followersAlfred Russel Wallace, OM, FRS was a British naturalist, explorer, geographer, anthropologist and biologist. He is best known for independently proposing a theory of natural selection which prompted Charles Darwin to publish his own theory.
Wallace did extensive fieldwork, first in the Amazon River basin and then in the Malay Archipelago, where he identified the Wallace Line that divides Indonesia into two distinct parts, one in which animals closely related to those of Australia are common, and one in which the species are largely of Asian origin. He was considered the 19th century's leading expert on the geographical distribution of animal species and is sometimes called the "father of biogeography". Wallace was one of the leading evolutionary thinkers of the 19th century and made a number of other contributions to the development of evolutionary theory besides being co-discoverer of natural selection. These included the concept of warning colouration in animals, and the Wallace effect, a hypothesis on how natural selection could contribute to speciation by encouraging the development of barriers against hybridization.
Wallace was strongly attracted to unconventional ideas. His advocacy of Spiritualism and his belief in a non-material origin for the higher mental faculties of humans strained his relationship with the scientific establishment, especially with other early proponents of evolution. In addition to his scientific work, he was a social activist who was critical of what he considered to be an unjust social and economic system in 19th-century Britain. His interest in biogeography resulted in his being one of the first prominent scientists to raise concerns over the environmental impact of human activity. Wallace was a prolific author who wrote on both scientific and social issues; his account of his adventures and observations during his explorations in Indonesia and Malaysia, The Malay Archipelago, was one of the most popular and influential journals of scientific exploration published during the 19th century.
Wallace did extensive fieldwork, first in the Amazon River basin and then in the Malay Archipelago, where he identified the Wallace Line that divides Indonesia into two distinct parts, one in which animals closely related to those of Australia are common, and one in which the species are largely of Asian origin. He was considered the 19th century's leading expert on the geographical distribution of animal species and is sometimes called the "father of biogeography". Wallace was one of the leading evolutionary thinkers of the 19th century and made a number of other contributions to the development of evolutionary theory besides being co-discoverer of natural selection. These included the concept of warning colouration in animals, and the Wallace effect, a hypothesis on how natural selection could contribute to speciation by encouraging the development of barriers against hybridization.
Wallace was strongly attracted to unconventional ideas. His advocacy of Spiritualism and his belief in a non-material origin for the higher mental faculties of humans strained his relationship with the scientific establishment, especially with other early proponents of evolution. In addition to his scientific work, he was a social activist who was critical of what he considered to be an unjust social and economic system in 19th-century Britain. His interest in biogeography resulted in his being one of the first prominent scientists to raise concerns over the environmental impact of human activity. Wallace was a prolific author who wrote on both scientific and social issues; his account of his adventures and observations during his explorations in Indonesia and Malaysia, The Malay Archipelago, was one of the most popular and influential journals of scientific exploration published during the 19th century.
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August 16, 2024
THE CO-DISCOVERER OF NATURAL SELECTION SUPPORTS SPIRITUALISM
Alfred Russel Wallace (1823-1913) was the co-creator of the theory of Natural Selection, and his pending publication of his ideas prompted Darwin to finally publish his own book in 1859. However, he was also a very influential figure in the Spiritualist movement of the 19th century.
He wrote in the Preface to this 1874 book, "The Essays which form this volume were written at different times and for different purposes... I am well aware that my scientific friends are somewhat puzzled to account for what they consider to be my delusion, and believe that it has injuriously affected whatever power I may have possessed of dealing with the philosophy of Natural History... I was a confirmed philosophical sceptic... Facts, however, are stubborn things... The facts beat me. They compelled me to accept them, as facts, long before I could accept the spiritual explanation of them... I am surely following a scientific course, in seeing how far this doctrine will enable us to account for some of those residual phenomena which Natural Selection alone will not explain... This view... is in no way inconsistent with ... Evolution... although implying... that it is not the all-powerful, all-sufficient, and only cause of the development of organic forms."
He rejects the skeptical argument that so-called Spiritual phenomena follow no law, and therefore are to be discounted: "The essence of the alleged phenomena ... is, that they seem to be the result of the action of independent intelligences, and are therefore deemed Spiritual or superhuman. If they had been found to follow strict law and not independent will, no one would have ever supposed them to be Spiritual." (Pg. 26)
He states, "It is the 'spirit' of man that is man. Spirit is mind; the brain and nerves are but the magnetic battery and telegraph, by means of which spirit communicates with the outer world." (Pg. 101) He argues, "Spiritualism allows us to believe that the oracles of antiquity were not all impostures; that a whole people, perhaps the most intellectually acute who ever existed, were not all dupes." (Pg. 200)
Wallace's little-known book will be of great interest to anyone studying the history of the Spiritualist movement---or for scientifically-minded persons who want to find out about this "suppressed" part of Wallace's thought.
Alfred Russel Wallace (1823-1913) was the co-creator of the theory of Natural Selection, and his pending publication of his ideas prompted Darwin to finally publish his own book in 1859. However, he was also a very influential figure in the Spiritualist movement of the 19th century.
He wrote in the Preface to this 1874 book, "The Essays which form this volume were written at different times and for different purposes... I am well aware that my scientific friends are somewhat puzzled to account for what they consider to be my delusion, and believe that it has injuriously affected whatever power I may have possessed of dealing with the philosophy of Natural History... I was a confirmed philosophical sceptic... Facts, however, are stubborn things... The facts beat me. They compelled me to accept them, as facts, long before I could accept the spiritual explanation of them... I am surely following a scientific course, in seeing how far this doctrine will enable us to account for some of those residual phenomena which Natural Selection alone will not explain... This view... is in no way inconsistent with ... Evolution... although implying... that it is not the all-powerful, all-sufficient, and only cause of the development of organic forms."
He rejects the skeptical argument that so-called Spiritual phenomena follow no law, and therefore are to be discounted: "The essence of the alleged phenomena ... is, that they seem to be the result of the action of independent intelligences, and are therefore deemed Spiritual or superhuman. If they had been found to follow strict law and not independent will, no one would have ever supposed them to be Spiritual." (Pg. 26)
He states, "It is the 'spirit' of man that is man. Spirit is mind; the brain and nerves are but the magnetic battery and telegraph, by means of which spirit communicates with the outer world." (Pg. 101) He argues, "Spiritualism allows us to believe that the oracles of antiquity were not all impostures; that a whole people, perhaps the most intellectually acute who ever existed, were not all dupes." (Pg. 200)
Wallace's little-known book will be of great interest to anyone studying the history of the Spiritualist movement---or for scientifically-minded persons who want to find out about this "suppressed" part of Wallace's thought.
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