Yes, monsieur, but surely you
know the rule about hearsay evidence. We Anglo-Saxons are very
particular about that.
M. Flammarion says:
"I don't repudiate the presumptive arguments of schoolmen. I merely
supplement them with something positive. For instance, if you assumed
the existence of God this argument of the scholastics is a good one. God
has implanted in all men the desire of perfect happiness. This desire
cannot be satisfied in our lives here. If there were not another life
wherein to satisfy it then God would be a declever. _Voila tout_."
There is more: the desire of perfect happiness does not imply
immortality, even if there is a God, for
(1) God may not have implanted it, but merely suffers it to exist, as he
suffers sin to exist, the desire of wealth, the desire to live longer
than we do in this world. It is not held that God implanted all the
desires of the human heart. Then /why hold that he implanted that of
perfect happiness?
(2) Even if he did--even, if a divinely implanted desire entail its own
gratification--even if it cannot be gratified in this life--that does
not imply immortality.
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