Allan Kardec-THE Spirit's Book_ The Principles of Spiritist Doctrine (1989)

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ALLAN KARDEC
we should be forced to admit that the greatest geniuses-men of science, poets, artists-are only such
because a lucky chance has given them certain special organs whence it would follow, still further, that,
but for the chance-acquisition of those organs, they would not have been geniuses, and that the stupidest
of men might have been a Newton, a Virgil, or a Raphael, If he had been provided with certain organs a
supposition still more flagrantly absurd, if we attempt to apply it to the explanation of the moral qualities.
For, according to this system, Saint Vincent de Paul, had he been gifted by nature with such and such an
organ, might have been a scoundrel and the greatest scoundrel alive, had he only been gifted with an
organ of an opposite nature, might have been a Saint Vincent de Paul. If, on the contrary, we admit that
our special organs, supposing such to exist, are an effect and not a cause, that they are developed by the
exercise of the faculties to which they correspond, as muscles are developed by movement, we arrive at a
theory which is certainly not irrational. Let us employ an illustration equally conclusive and
commonplace. By certain physiognomic signs we recognise a man who is addicted to drink. Is it those
signs that make him a drunkard, or is It his drunkenness that produces those signs? It may be safely
asserted that our organs are a consequence of our faculties.
Idiocy - Madness
371. Is there any foundation for the common belief that the souls of idiots are of a nature
inferior to those of others?
"No; they have a human soul, which is often more intelligent than you suppose, and which
suffers acutely from the insufficiency of its means of communication, as the dumb man
suffers from his inability to speak."
372. What is the aim of Providence in creating beings so ill-treated by nature as idiots?
"Idiots are incarnations of spirits who are undergoing punishment, and who suffer from the
constraint they experience, and from their inability to manifest themselves by means of
organs which are undeveloped, or out of order."
- Then it is not correct to say that organs are without influence upon faculties?
"We have never said that organs are without influence. They have very great influence on the
manifestation of faculties, but they do not give faculties; there is just the difference. A skilful
player will not make good music with a bad instrument, but that will not prevent his being a
good player."
It is necessary to distinguish between the normal state and the pathologic state. In the normal state, the
moral strength of an Incarnated spirit enables him to triumph over the obstacles which are placed in his
way by matter but there are cases in which matter opposes a resistance so powerful that the
manifestations of the spirit incarnated In It are hindered or changed from what he intended, as in idiocy
and madness. These cases are pathologic and as the soul, in such states, is not in the enjoyment of its full
liberty, human law Itself exempts such persons from the responsibility of their actions.