The Spirits' Book

Allan Kardec

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Moral and Intellectual Faculties

361. From where do moral qualities, both good and bad, originate?
“They belong to the incarnated spirit. The purer that spirit, the better the person.”


a) So a good person is the incarnation of a good spirit, and a vicious one is the incarnation of a bad spirit?
“Yes, but you should call them ‘imperfect spirits,’ otherwise one might assume that there are spirits who will always be bad, what you call demons.”



362. What is the character of individuals incarnating lighthearted spirits?
“They are wild, impish, and sometimes extremely mischievous.”



363. Do spirits have any passions that do not belong to humanity?
“No, they would communicate them to you if they did.”



364. Does the same spirit give a person his or her moral and intellectual qualities?
“Surely it is the same, and such qualities will depend on the degree of the spirit’s evolution. People do not have two spirits in them.”



365. Why are some very intelligent people, whose intelligence is proof of the presence of an advanced spirit, also extremely vicious?
“Because the spirit incarnated in these individuals are inadequately purifed, and may yield to the sway of spirits who are even more inferior. A spirit advances slowly, but this progress does not take place in all directions simultaneously. It may advance intellectually at one point, and morally at another.”


366. What about the theory that persons of various intellectual and moral faculties are the product of multiple spirits each possessing a special aptitude incarnated within him or her?
“A moment’s refection will show the absurdity of this theory. Each spirit is destined to possess all possible aptitudes, but it must have one individual will to progress. If a human being was a combination of different spirits, this single will would not exist and this person would possess no individuality. Upon this person’s death, all the spirits would fy off in separate directions like birds escaping from a cage. Human beings often complain that they do not understand certain concepts, yet they are experts at unnecessarily complicating them, even when they have the most simple and natural explanation close at hand. This is yet another instance of how humans often mistake the effect for the cause. This theory is quite similar to what the pagans believed of God, except in this case it applies to humanity. They believed in the existence of a god for every phenomenon in the universe, but more rational among them see these phenomena as a variety of effects with one God as their cause.”


The physical and moral worlds offer us numerous points of comparison in this matter. While humankind remained focused on the appearance of natural phenomena, they believed in the existence of many different kinds of matter. Today, all these phenomena are seen as being modifcations of a single elementary substance. The various faculties are manifestations of the same, unique cause, which is the soul or incarnate spirit, and not multiple souls, just as the different sounds of an organ are the product of the same air and not different types of air for each sound.


According to this theory, when an individual gains or loses abilities or preferences, these changes are the result of a corresponding number of spirits who enter or vacate his or her body. This would transform human beings into compound beings without any individuality, and, consequently, without any accountability. This theory is disproved by the many spirit manifestations that conclusively demonstrate their personality and identity.

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