The Washington times., 1901-09-08
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transcendentalisnh which was in the air
during his early manhood. Emerson wrote
THE Oversoul."
The puzzled reader asks which Is right
Neither extreme form of thought can be
absolutely correct. because you cannot
have one-half of natural law and ignore
the other half But Haeckel and Emer-
son may both he right in the main, be-
cause, while inclining to one end of the
scale or the other, both admit the exist
ence of opposite points in the scale. They
are like men who approach mountain
from opposite sides. but intelligently. one
may see a precipice and the other gentle
slope, but each admits and understands
that there are two sides. Haeckels de-
ductions concerning the laws of spiritual
development are in the main correct, be-
cause they are founded on scientific and
logical thought and not on empirical
tradition Emerson's conclusions are also
correct, because they are the result OF
intuitive perception of the same laws.
Taking Prof Haeckers book in this
way, 1t is an extraordinarily interest
ing work whether one agrees with all
it's conclusions or not.
He describes, point by point. the evolu-
tion of consciousness from the lower
forms to the higher he describes the
manifestations of consciousness IN
plants, in the diatomacea, in spermatoZoa'
in all the lower forms of life. To claim
that a plant or a diatom has intellect
would be absurd: to claim that 1t has con-
sciousness though of an elementary klnd'
is not absurd. When reflex motion is
supplemented by intelligent motion
higher form of life becomes evident; when
intelligence. sensation. and the element
ary instincts are in turn supplemented
by reason and memory. still higher form
appears; and the gradation is so perfect
that no one can say absolutely that reason
does not exist in any one form OF lie along
the transition lire. Step by step Haeckel
traces the development of the higher con-
sciousness. and comes to the conclusion
inevitable from his point of view, that
thought is the result of highly specialized
organs and cells Approaching the sub.
ject from the other end of the line, the
would say that thought
caused the development of these cells.
The distinction is fine, but unmistake-
able. AT every step thought acts upon
the organism. and the organism in turn
reacts upon the thought. In later chap
ter the author says:
meteorology. and inorganic physics
and chemistry are now absolutely
ruled by mechanical laws on a mathe-
matical foundation. The idea of de-
sign has wholly disappeared from this
vast prominence of science. At the
close of the nineteenth century, now
that this monistic view has fought
its way to general recognition, no SCI
enlist ever asks seriously of the 'pur-
pose of any single phenomenon in the
whole of this great field, The
anthropomorphic notion of a deliberate
architect and ruler of the world has
gone forever from this field; the eter-
nal, iron laws of nature have taken
his place"
This, to most readers, would seem to
Indicate that the logical conclusion of the
nonistic philosophy leaves God out of the
world entirely replacing a divine Perse"
atty by an abstract law. The question is
a tremendous one, and not likely to be
solved hastily; but II is not absolutely
necessary to come to this conclusion after
a study of the scientific development of |
1t is true that laws are
there is no supernatural
power which at caprice can make two and
two other than four But, If one takes
as in itself manifestation
Of purpose and of law. it may appear that
It's long development was simply the pro-
more or less intelligent forces into har-
nony with these laws. through the con-
slant, if infinitesimally slow perception
that wider enjoyment and more intense
life are to be had by perceiving and
obcying the law Of development than
1y remaining stationary. Out of the
perception that change
s the vital principle of life, thought
lcting upon matter could create
world of life. But the variations
# its action are infinite in num-
,er, and yet, owing to the mathematical |
avs of matter, conform so closely to |
,ertain general principles, that the life
ong student of these principles often |
omes to see life as almost automatic and |
levoid of freedom The scientific con- |
.eption of the world is certainly out of |
Ill harmony with old-time traditions of
he development of either the soul or the
,ody.
Prof. Haeckel says:
MAY we consider this progressive de-
yelopment as the outcome of con-
scious design or moral order Of the
universe? Certainly not. The theory
of selection teaches us that this or
ganic progress, like the earlier organic
differentiation, is an inevitable con-
sequence of the struggle for existence.
Thousands of beautiful and remarka-
Bile species of animals and plants have
perished during these forty-eight mil
lion years, TO give place to stronger
competitors, and the victors in this
struggle for life were not always the
noblest or most perfect forms in
moral sense
This is the kernel In the nut. In this
paragraph Prof. Haeckel states the chief |
objection TO materialistic philosophy in |
The minds OF many religious people who
10 not cling TO old forms of religion. |
Their objection is reasonable, and this is |
Why:
1t is true that It would be absurd to
uppose that the reptiles of the mesozoic |
,eriod, or the fishes of the paleoZoic age. !
we're either actuated or guided in their
development by Intelligence which fore
aw the nineteenth century and Prof.
IaeclSel 1t would be ridiculous to infer
hat the primitive man who wandered into
Europe and was there imprisoned by a
,lacier which cut off his retreat and chill
ID his climate, could have had any idea. |
.ven from a supernatural source, of |
steam engines. railways, and sermons
printed by syndicate. 1t is not even nee
.ssary to believe that an anthropomor-
,htc God foresaw these things and guild
d him. But here Is our inference which
s perfectly reasonable. Primitive man,
hiding himself cold, was stimulated to
mental activity. He perceived the ele-
law that mental activity, con-
riving, creating and achievement, are
,leasant for their own sake. and for their
esults. He also felt a subtle sense of
abstraction in being useful not only TO
himself but to his fellows. His intuitVe
ecognition of the small portion of the /
rfntN
lately concerned him, led him to con-
rive clothes TO build huts or seek caves