The sun., 1909-06-27

] species would In his eyes absolutely los
: Its Importance II transition from spacie
to species under the influence of condition
Of life were admitted. His disciples
Littre, Robin-oontinued TO direct agains
Darwin the polemics which their master
had employed against Lamarok. Stuart
Mill admitted an Individual evolution
and in the human species an evolution
based on social progress, but no physio-
logical evolution Of species. he was
afraid that the hypothesis Of heredity
would carry us back to the old theory OF
@innate ideas"
Prof. Honding proceeds to. give a short
account Of the positions which leading
thinkers in different countries have taken
up since the publication Of sThe Origin OF
Species with regard to the evolutionary
hypothesis. he recognizes that Herbert
Spencer was the philosopher whose mind
was best prepared by his own previous
thinking to admit the theory Of Darwin
to place in his conception OF the world.
In 1852 he had written an essay on the
Development Hypothesis in which he
definitely affirmed his belief that the differ
entiation Of species, like the diferentia-
ton within a single organism, is the result
Of development. On the effect which the
appearance of 'The Origin Of Speoies' had
on his mind he says in his 1Autobiog-
raphy": "Up to that time held that the
sole cause Of organic evolution Ii the in
heritanoe Of funotionally produced modi-
fications. The Origin Of Species made 1t
clear to me that was wrong and that the
larger part Of the facts cannot be due to
any such cause" Elsewhere he says: HTo
have the theory Of organic evolution JUS
titled was Of course to get further support
for that theory Of evolution at large with
which all my conceptions were bound up"
Instead Of the metaphorioal expression
natural selection" Spencer introduced
the term survival Of the fittest," which
found favor with Darwin as well as with
Wallace.
| Prof. H6nding notes that while the
starting point Of Spencer was biological
or genealogical. group Of eminent
thinkers-Wundt in Germany. Fouillee in
France, Ardigo in Italy-took. each in
his own way. their starting point In
psyohical evolution as an original fact
and as type Of all evolution. the hypothe-
sis Of Darwin coming in as a corrobora-
ton and as a special example, They
maintain the continuity Of evolution; they
find this character most prominent in
psychical evolution, and this Is for them
motive to demand a corresponding con-
tinuity in the material. especially in the
| organic domain. Manifestly in the views
OF Wundt and Fouillee We find the funda-
mental conception Of idealism. PSYCHE
cal phenomena are regarded as express
sions Of the innermost nature OF existence.
They differ from the older Idealists.
however, in the great stress which they
lay on evolution as real. historical
process which is going on through steady
conflict with external conditions. Prof.
Hoffding pronounces it beyond doubt
that Darwin's emphasis on the struggle
for life as necessary condition Of evolu-
ton has been a very important factor
in carrying philosophy back to reality
from tbs heaven OF pure ideas
We see then that the theory Of evofu-
ton has influenced philosophy in va
riety Of ways. 1T has made idealistic
thinkers revise their relation to the real
world; II has led positivist thinkers to
find closer connection between the facts
on which they based their views it has
made us all open our eyes for new possi-
bilities to arise through the prima facie
inexplicable spontaneous variations
which constitute the conditions of all
evolution In another part Of his essay
Prof. Hohding calls to mind that Darwin
declared himself an agnostic. not only
because he could not hamonize the large
amount Of suffering In the world with
the idea Of God as its first cause but also
because he was aware that IL we admit
q first cause the mind still Graves to know
whence it came and how It arose." He
concluded. as had Kant and Spinoza be-
fore him. that the oppositions and dis
tinctons which our experience presents
cannot safely be regarded as valid for
existence itself; and with Kant and
Fichte he found his stronghold in the
conviction that man has something to do.
even II he cannot solve all enigmas. "The
safest conclusion ne said. seems to me
that the whole subject is beyond the scope
Of mans intellect; but man can do his
duty Darwin. himself has shown how
the consciousness Of duty can arise as a
natural result Of evolution.
TX.
1t is IA the twenty.third chapter that
we find the relation Of Darwinism to
sociology discussed by G. Bougle, pro-
fessor Of social philosophy in the Uni
versity Of Toulouse and deputy pro-
fessor at the Sorbonne. To what extent
and in what particular respects have the
discoveries and hypothesis Of the author
Of -The Origin Of Species aided the
efforts of those who have sought to con-
struct a system Of society? NJ. Bougle
reviews some Of the attempts that have
been made to connect socialist tendencies
with Darwinian principles. Karl Marx,
for example, has been confronted with
Darwin, and certain writer's have under
taken to show that the work Of the Ger
man philosopher fell readily into line
with that Of the English naturalist and
was development Of it. The founders
Of Scientific Socialism had themselves
thought Of this reconciliation. They
make more than one allusion to Darwin
in works that appeared after 1859. Some-
times they use his theory to define by con-
trast their own ideal. They remark that
the capitalist system, by giving free
course to individual competition, ends in
war Of all against all; and they make it
clear that Darwinism In its moral aspect
In reDliQnant to them