The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1912-09-03
BERGSON AND THE
THEORY

EVOLUl1ON IHEON1
An Analysis OF Creative Evolution
q Brilliant Work Which Has Been
Furiously Debated.
The theory of evolution and not its
facts. are the main interest IN TINS
volume. as its title indlcates.~ Wnen
facts are needed, either Tor the Illus
tration Of his own theory, or for the
REPUTATION Of others. not his own.
Bergson uses them in a way tina
shows his thorough mastery or the
subject on the physical side.
The question as to the origin OF
life has been asked by every people
under the sun. since our knowledge
Of the human race began; n both
legend and history have. from time
to time, recorded the answers with
which each has ~endeavored to salts
fy itself. But each one of these an
swers has. in turn, been abandoned,
and a new solution OF the problem
been sought.
The History Of Philosophy" says
Cushman. lis an organic develop
ment from an objective to q subjec-
live view Of life" With the savage
Nature was all. and his gods were a
part Of Nature. With he modern.
Nature is Subordinated mind. The
subject as known is now placed in
antithesis to the object as Known"
From the most ancient to the most
modern times we find q perpetual os-
cillation between the objective and
the subjective, between a materialiStic
and what may be broadly denomi-
mated a spiritualiStic Interpretation OF
life, in its origin and evolution.
The swing of the pendulum of late,
seems to be ava from pure material
ism. Henr! Bergson is perhaps the
most prominent among those mod
ern evolutionists who refer the slow
notifications in the forms Of life to a
%reativ living force. From the days
held sway at times. In his Psychics
Cor more literally concerning the
sOul") Aristotle distinctly e~nunciates
his belief. that the whole Of Nature
Is instinct with a vital impulse to-
ward some higher manifestation. 1t
Is true the real Stagirite believed also
in some initial force. a god, and it
seems doubtful whether Bergson has
any such belief.
AS late as 1896 a American writer,
Of whom Bergson speaks with great
respect, z. d. Cope, makes a distinct
statement Of a theory which he calls
(from a Greek word meaning a be-
g%inning) BathmiSm, a theory which
recognizes an o~riginative, conscious,
and directive force by means of
which variations in form as we'll as
selection. have been produced. In
the twenty-five hundred years be-
tween these two philosophers there
held a like belief. but each with diff
%ferences more or less marked.
Let US try to separate Bergson's
creed. as far as is possibles. in his own
words. from his philosophising. On
p. 26 he says:
"At a certain moment, in certain
points OF space a visible [why and
this current Of life t~raversing the
bodies it has organized, one after
another. passing from generation te
generation, has become divided
among species AND distributed amons
individuals without losing anything O.
portion to its advance" The theor.
OF Weisma1ln in regard to the "con
dnuity OF the germ-plasm, in onto
genesis Cor the development OF tn
,n N ]Nb1;nas,si ssrg ESQ t,d hsS ers extena De-
of the tribe OF race. He says: "Lif
is like a current passing from germ
to germ through the medium of
developed organism .; the essen
tial thing Is h continuous wagres
indefinitely produced. an invisibl
progress, on which each visible or
ganism rides during the short inter
val Of time given 1t to live. %. 27.)
"The cardinal error" he says 1
another place %. 1850 (which fror
Aristotle onward has vitiated most q
the PHILOSOPHERS Of nature, is to Sc
In vegetative, instructive and rations
Lie three successive degrees OF ( h
development OF one and tn
Same tendency. whereas they ar
three divergent directions Of an &C
tvity which has split up as it grew.
THE whole evolution OF the anims
Kingdom . has taken two dive,
gent paths. n of which led to il
0dnct and the other to intelligence.
Up. 134.) Although Lamarck he'll
q doctrine of q single series. Vo
Baer n Culver, separately, reache
h conclusion that there are sewers
divergent lines OF evolution anon
1ntmalS-no one Of which IN Il
highest ana most complicated med
hcation, lead to any OF the othe<s"-
these are names selected from ma