Science and proof

Use in the book

II appeals to motion and vibration as scientific support. III divides outer disciplines from an inner knowledge of forces. VI welcomes agreement with modern theories of matter and energy, then makes mentalism the additional premise. IX and XIII use rotating bodies, particles, electricity, and attraction to illustrate that premise.

The book also declines extended demonstration of several psychic and occult claims, referring readers to other books or advanced teachers. Assertions of verification, explanatory analogies, and reports of secret knowledge therefore occur together but provide different kinds of support.

Places to read

1. II The Seven Hermetic Principles · Block 13… “vibrates"; "nothing is at rest"; facts which Modern Science endorses, and which each new scientific discovery tends to verify. And yet this Hermetic Principle was enunciated thousands of years ago, by” …
2. III Mental Transmutation · Block 5“But this means far more than appears on the surface. Transmutation, Alchemy, or Chemistry on the Mental Plane is important enough in its effects, to be sure, and if the art” …
3. VI The Divine Paradox · Block 13… “that all is Mental, does not change the scientific conceptions of the Universe, Life, or Evolution. In fact, science merely corroborates the Hermetic Teachings. The latter merely teaches that the nature” …
4. IX Vibration · Block 2… “Hermetic ranks. But in the Nineteenth Century physical science re-discovered the truth and the Twentieth Century scientific discoveries have added additional proof of the correctness and truth of this centuries-old Hermetic” …
5. XIII Gender · Block 5“The latest word of science is that the atom is composed of a multitude of corpuscles, electrons, or ions (the various names being applied by different authorities) revolving around each other” …
6. XIV Mental Gender · Block 19… “the many features of psychic phenomena and mental science, provided we place in the hands of the student the means whereby he may acquaint himself fully regarding any phase of the” …

In this edition

The source's claims about science are preserved as historical statements. Modern explanatory notes are identified as editorial comparisons, with a source where a technical correction is made.

Reading the argument

An analogy shows how a proposal might be pictured; an argument derives a conclusion from stated premises; an observation can test a specific prediction. These roles should be distinguished in close reading. A scientific discovery about electrons cannot by itself verify universal mentalism or a gender assigned to all creative processes.

Science

“Science” — 48 occurrences in 32 text blocks: II.13; III.2, 10–12; IV.18–19; VI.13–14; VIII.8, 14–15, 18; IX.2, 4–7, 9–11; X.9; XI.6; XIII.4–10; XIV.17, 19.

scientific

“scientific” — 27 occurrences in 19 text blocks: II.7, 13; VI.7, 13–14; VII.2; VIII.10, 15, 18, 20; IX.2; XII.3; XIII.4, 6–10; XV.7.

proof

“proof” — 3 occurrences in 3 text blocks: IX.2; XIII.8, 10.

verified

“verified” — 1 occurrence in 1 text block: III.2.