The Washington times., 1901-09-08
The Evolution of the Soul.


has recently been translated under the
title The Riddle of the Universe Prof.
Ernst Haeckel takes up for the last time
the monistic conception of the universe.
As he himself says. it marks the close of
his studies on this subject and sums up
his conclusions. He adds in his preface:
THE earlier plan, which l projected
many years ago. OF constructing a
complete system OF monistic philoso-
ply on the basis of evolution. will
never he carried into effect now. MY
strength is no longer equal to the task,
and maay warnings OF approaching
age nrge me to desist. Indeed, l am
wholly child of the nineteenth cen
fury. and with its close, | draw the
liae under my life's work.
As most people know Prof. Haeckel was
among the earliest thinkers to accept the
theory of evolution it was eNpounded
by Darwin and fore shadowed by La
marck. He became the champion of the
theory at a time when it was hardly toll
Grated, much less recognized as the basis
of true scientific thought. AS Il writer in
'.McClures Magazine" recently observed.
the spread of this system of thought dur
ing the last twenty-five or thirty years
has been SO rapid and so thorough that
II is now taught in all colleges and even
in public schools; and it is accepted as the
basis of rational thought in departments
of knowledge not directly connected with
physical science.
The natural result of this change in
popular reasoning is the question, how
far the processes of the physical universe
are duplicated in spiritual life; in a word,
whether the known laws of evolution, or
others related to them, will account for
the development of the soul. This is the
problem which Prof. Haeckel calls The
World Riddle and with which he deals
in this book.
The plan of the work is not only scien-
tific but peculiarly German in its thor
onghness and soundness The author
deals first with The known processes of
evolution. the things which are proved
and seen. He outlines the theory, the
history of the world. and the history of
mans physical organism. He then goes
on to speculate upon the nature of the
soul. The practical nature Of the ques-
tion is indicated on almost the first page.
The author says:
AN entirely new character has been
given TO the whole of our modern civil
Ization, not only by our astounding
theoretical progress in sound knowl-
edge Of nature. but also by the re-
markably fertile practical application
Of that knowledge in technical science,
industry, commerce. and so on. On
the other hand. however, We have
made little or no progress in moral or
social life in comparison with earlier
centuries; at times there has been Sc
rious reaction. And from this OBJ
vtous conflict there have arisen, not
only an uneasy sense of dismember-
mert and falseness. but even the dam
ger of grave catastrophes in the politi-
cal and social world. 1t is. then, not
merely the right, but the social duty,
of every honorable and humanitarian
thinker to devote himself conscien-
tously TO the settlement of that con-
hict, and to warding off the dangers
that it brings in its train. In our con-
viction this can only be done by
Courageous effort to attain the truth,
and by the formation of clear view
of the world-a view that shall be
based on truth and conformity to
reality"
THIS answers the objection that spec
ulations of this sort are not practical.
Anything is practical which leads to a
XII, ,'ledge of the laws of truth as they
real are, and not as the whim or -he
ieaG, ship of the moment may represent
them to be- At the same time, II is well
to remember that these very wifSns and
fashions are part of the plan of evolution,
and that there is no error which does not
contain at least some truth A thorough
study CT the moral law will enable one TO
sift the false from the true. precisely as
the scientist determines which are the
higher and which the lower forms in a
collection of fossils.
Prof HaeclSel points out, with the i'm
patience Of the exact thinker. the very
mixed condition of things which prevails
in the educated world at present Side by
side with the training given by science
are the remnants CT an utterly antiquated
and unscientific system OF moral thought,
ideas which, as he says, are directly op-
poseo to all human experience. That their
illogical unreality is not perceived is due
to long familiarity and artificial rever-
ence. In the first chapter of the book
In which he deals with THE Nature of
the Problem he contrasts the monistic
philosophy with the developments Of un-
scientific religious thought, which he di-
vides into anthropoceLtric, anthropomor-
phic, and anthropolatrous dogmas. Re
jecting these, he accepts the dictum of
Spincza that there are only two things in
the universe, spirit and matter. neither
Of which can exist without the other
This is monism
After sketching the history of evolution.
he gees on TO explain briefly the theories
successfully evolved to account for con-
sciousness. He takes the view that the
idea of mans dual nature, of a spiritual
nature distinct from the physical nature
Is responsible for most of these theories;
and he intimates that this idea is the
outgrowth OF unframed observation and
fancy. The savage. puzzling ever the
phenomena of sleep, dreams, death, and
insanity, conceived the idea of a sepa-
rate entity dwelling in the body, but not
OF it and not subject TO physical laws;
the civilized man, IN his religious sys-
TENS. carries on this idea with the logical
result of belief ia personal Immortality,
free will. personal God and an actual
heaven. Prof Haeckers own position is
defined as follows:
Our own naturalistic conception Of
the psychic activity sees in ii a group
OF vital phenomena, which are depend
eT1t on definite material substratum
like all other phenomena. We shall
give to this material basis of all psy-
chic activity, without which 1t is in
conceivable, the provisional name of
psychoplasm;' and for this good
reason-that chemical analysis proves
1t to be body of the group we call
protopiasmic bodies, the albuminoid
carbon combinations which are at the
root OF all vital processes. In the
higher animals. which have a nervous
system and sense organs, 'neuro-
piasm, the nerve material has been
Differentiated out of psychopiasm.
Our conception is, In this sense ma
terfalistic. II is at the same time en-
pi.ical and naturalistic for our scien-
tific experience has never yet taught
US the existence of forces that can dis
pense with material substratum. or
Of a spiritual world over and above
the realm of nature"
All thought progresses by action and
reaction, and the protest against purely
spiritual conception of the universe, of
which Haeckel is the exponent, is not
unlike a similar protest against democ-