But those which all the various religions agree in
ascribing to the soul we may regard as its true attributes.
It would take too long to go into the details of this examination of
the conception of the soul. As the general result of a comparison of
the various views of the soul we may put down the following
characteristics which are invariably ascribed to it:
(1) The soul is living.
(2) It survives the body, and can continue to exist without
it.
(3) During life it is contained in the body, but leaves it
after death.
(4) The soul participates in the conduct of the body: after
the death of the latter, causality (retribution) can still
affect the soul.
The characteristics (1) to (3) hold also for the series of
reproductive cells continually developing within the body; and these
attributes of the germ cells may well be the true but unrecognized
cause of the origin of those conceptions of the soul's character.
This like holds true for (4), although the connection is not so
obvious. For this reason it will be advisable to consider the point in
more detail.
It has been already indicated that the founders of religions have made
use of the survival of the soul after death to endeavor to lead
mankind to live righteously, by threats of punishments or promises of
reward, which will affect the soul after the death of the body.
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