Spiritualism in Nestor Victor’s thought

ways of reading literature

Abstract

On several occasions in his writing career, Nestor Victor manifested his conviction of the relevance of the spiritual nature and its precedence over matter for the understanding of the best perception of reality. An adept of the spiritualist current of thought that opposed Naturalism and the stereotypes of scientism, he perfectly valued the eternity of individual consciousness, although he was not specifically a follower of any religion. Engaged in neo-Romantic ideals, he believed in the existence of the spirit, but was not comfortable with the old dogmas of religion and belief in the supernatural. Even though he did not adhere to any religious denomination, throughout his career he opposed materialism, always enthusiastic about spiritualist manifestations that gave vigor to the sense of mystery in the deepest manifestation of reality. He marked his career by the admiration of great personalities who dedicated their lives to literary discourse. Above all, literature was, for him, a means to appreciate the correspondences that the great spirits kept among themselves and he practiced reading and producing essays with the purpose of reaching new values. A literature professor, he taught students and the great writers of his time to perceive the ethical grandeurs behind the aesthetic densities.