The Vital Principle 24
24 In his comment on sub-question 67, Kardec defines this term as “… the motive force of organic bodies” – Tr.
Organic beings are those possessing an inner source of activity that gives them life. They are born; they grow, reproduce and die. They are provided with special organs in order to accomplish the various life functions that are appropriate for their needs and their self-preservation. They include human beings, animals and plants. Inorganic beings possess neither vitality nor their own ability to move. They are formed solely by the aggregation of matter: minerals, water, air, etc.
60- Does one and the same force unite the material elements in both organic and inorganic bodies?
“Yes, the law of attraction, which is the same for all.”
61- Is there any difference between the matter of organic and inorganic bodies?
“It is always the same matter, but in organic bodies it is animalized.”
62- What is the cause of the animalization of matter?
“Its union with the vital principle.”
63- Does this vital principle reside within some particular agent or is it merely a property of organized matter; in other words, is it a cause or an effect?
“It is both. Life is an effect produced by the action of this agent upon matter. However, without matter the agent is not life, just as matter cannot be alive without the agent. It gives life to all beings that absorb and assimilate it.”
64- We have seen that spirit and matter are two elements comprising the universe. Does the vital principle form a third?
“It is certainly one of the elements required in the composition of the universe, but it has its origin in the modifications of the one universal matter. You may regard it as an element like oxygen or hydrogen, but even these are not truly primitive elements, because they both derive from one and the same principle.”
—That would seem to imply that vitality does not result from a separate primitive agent, but rather from a special property of the universal matter, which has undergone certain modifications.
“That follows from what we have just stated.”
65- Does the vital principle reside in any one of the bodies known to us?
“Its source is in the universal fluid; it is what you call the magnetic fluid or the animalized electric fluid – an intermediary; the link between spirit and matter.”
66- Is the vital principle the same for all organic beings?
“Yes, but it is modified according to each species. It is this principle that enables all species to move and act. It also distinguishes them from inert matter because the movement of matter per se is not life. Matter is moved; it does not produce movement by itself“.
67- Is vitality a permanent attribute of the vital agent, or does it only develop through the functioning of the organs?
“It develops only as the body develops. Haven’t we already stated that without matter this agent is not life per se? The union of the two is necessary to produce life.”
– Could we say that vitality is in a latent state whenever the vital agent is not united with a body?
“Yes, that is the case.”
The organs as a whole comprise a sort of mechanism that is driven by the inner activity or vital principle residing within them. This vital principle is the motive force behind all organic bodies. It gives impulse to the organs, whose action reciprocally maintains and develops the vital principle – somewhat as friction develops heat.
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