The San Francisco call., 1905-03-19
Monism
Based ON Biology.

century made the public so much in
terested in that system of thought by
his famous book. THE Riddle of The
Universe" has now, in his SEVENTEEN
year, published another work on the
same subject, called THE Wonders of
Life" The object of the former effort
was the construction of a rational and
solid philosophy. and that distinctly in
opposition 10 conventional ideas ari
an outwOrn revelation" He feels that
the continued and general opposition 10
his solution Of the riddle cornpels
him TO give a further explanation of
the chief features of his theory Of
knowledge.
Haeckels work in advocacy of the
mCnistic philosophy gets much Of its
F3luc from the fact that it is not mere
ly metaphysical speculation. but is
based on thorough study of biology,
in which this its aged maintainer is
master of thirty-eight years expert
ence. He has studied biology, and uses
the term in his present work in the
broadest sense of the name. He says:
Like every other science. biology has
a general and a special part. General
biology contains general information
about living nature: this is the subject
Of the present study of the wonders of
life. We might also describe it as a
biological philosophy. >" The in
terest in the book might be divided
into two distinct branches: the won
ders of life Just considered as informa-
ton in biology given and explained by
an expert; and, second, the philosoph-
ical opinions derived therefrom with
which he attempts TO solve the riddle
OF the universe.
This solution of his is. Of course but
another name for materislism, but it is
materialism carried TO its highest sci
entifc statement possible at the pres
ent time. 1t is. as HaeckeI acknowl-
edges. the minority opinion; it is the
emphatic denial of dualism in all its
ferns; of the philosophy of Plato, of
Aristotle, of his own great fellow coun-
tryman. Kant; of Judaism, of Chris
tisnity. and OF the thought Of all those
who, though belonging to no special
creed, yet believe that there is real
ity of truth corresponding to such eX-
presslOns as God and his world, mind
and matter. spiritual and material; it
denies that there Is soul in man CAP
able Of living on after the destruction
Of the material brain, or that there Is
any creator or creative power; it is the
pantheistic thought of the beginning of
the twentieth century. In no other
two general systems does philosophy
divide SO completely and antagonist
caIly as in those of morism and dual
ism. Haeckel expresses it as his opin-
: ion that this "antithesls of monism and
dualism is the mosr important in the
whole history of philosophy; all other
systems are only variations Of cne or
the other"
The remarkable success of THE Rid
die Of the Universe" would seem to
justify the publication of this supple
menting and explaining Of the thought
in The -onders of Life" The sur
prise of the large call for the former
book was that although it was on a
scientific subject and by no means light
reading. the first issue of 10000 copies
was exhausted in three months. and Of
the succeeding popular edition 900
were sold within the year No doubt
the attention-catching title Of the book
was part Of the secret of so many
wishing TO read it. 1t is about the
great puzzle, and when a philosopher
has solved it to his own assured salts
faction people are naturally eager to
know his answer, and how he arrived
at it. So it was translated into twelve
languages in 1900. 1t will revive some
interest in the work to know that the
author still holds to his opinions and
that the principles developed by him
thirty eight years ago have only been
confirmed by his subsequent study.
Haeckel's particular form of monisrn
is ROW called hyloism, and it is his
expression Of what he believes to be
fact, that all substance has two fun
oamental attributes; as matter (hylo),
II occupies space. and as force, or
energy, il is endowed with sensation.
He oerotes whole chapter to what
he understands by sensation "Our
monistic system (whether il be taken
as msterislism or energism, or more
correctly as hyloism) regards all sub
stance as having 'souP-that is to say,
endowed with energy. - All bodies
are in a certain sense sensitive 1t is
just in this dynamic conception of sub
cAoLt- lHdl diners essentially
from the materislistic system, which
regards one part of matter as dead
and insensitive." His philosophy is a
blending Of the chemical law of the
constancy Of matter, as upheld by
Lavoisier, with the physical law of the
constancy OF force, as expressed by
Meyer. In the search for truth he
recoS aizes only two paths, empirical
knowledge and the speculation built
thereon He denies the correctness of
Kant's division of knowledge into
''priori" and 'posteriori," in so far as
priori. or pure reason" meant there
was q mode Of ascertainment of truth
as aside from what we gain from ex-
perience. That power of the mind
which Kant considers as able to rea-
son correctly without the assistance Of
experience, Haeckel believes to be a
higher function Of the brain built I'M
by evolution through the ages of ex-
perience of the developing human
being. He has no belief in the soul 6
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