He is
freely referred to on the continent of Europe, at least, as an ardent
advocate of the doctrine; and he quotes without protest such
designations of himself. At any rate, as he assures his readers that he
has no bias against Mr. Darwin's views, as he has devoted much time and
attention to the subject, and as he is one of the most prominent
naturalists of the age, there can be no question as to his competency as
a witness as to what Darwinism is.
His testimony that Mr. Darwin's doctrine excludes all teleology, or
final causes, is explicit. In his review of the "Criticisms on the
Origin of Species," he says, "that when he first read Mr. Darwin's book,
that which struck him most forcibly was the conviction that teleology,
as commonly understood, had received its death-blow at Mr. Darwin's
hands. For the teleological argument runs thus: An organ is precisely
fitted to perform a function or purpose; therefore, it was specially
constructed to perform that function. In Paley's famous illustration,
the adaptation of all the parts of a watch to the function or purpose of
showing the time, is held to be evidence that the watch was specially
contrived to that end; on the ground that the only cause we know of
competent to produce such an effect as a watch which shall keep time, is
a contriving intelligence adapting the means directly to that end.
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