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RECONCILIATION.
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criticism already in the earlier pages of this book, and need not be dwelt upon here any further. We shall accordingly pass on to a consideration of whether all living beings be endowed with a soul.
In certain systems of theology the soul is regarded as if it were the special property of man alone, whilst in others, sucb as Jainism and Islam, it is not denied to the lower animals and even to plants. Of these, the latter view is decidedly preferable to the former. So far as the higher animals are concerned it is obvious that there is a difference in respect of the degree of intellectualism, but not of any other matter, between them and man. If ary one doubt this, let him call his dog to himself, and find out which part of the animal understood his command, whether the matter of the physical body or the thinking principle within ? That will convince him that the consciousness of the animal is of the same type as his own, although in his case it is manifesting itself through fewer limitations, while in the dog it is very much cramped and restricted in its activity. The experiments made on animals by trainers and others conclusively prove the presence of the Thinker* in their bodies. Surely the doing of simple addition and the expression of such thoughts as 'I am tired*, and the like are sufficient proof of the presence of intelligence + among the
* See the article entitled "Edricated Horses at Elberfeld" in "The Field,' dated April 19, 1913, Vol. CXXI., No. 3147. See also in this connection pages 172-174 of E, M. Smith's Investigation of mind in Animals. - † Ancient Scriptures record many instances of animals comprehending human speech, and the Jaina Tirthamkaras are said to have put some of them on the road to redemption. All these accounts
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