" "This,"
he says, "supposes the Creator to be an organism analogous to man,
although infinitely more perfect; who contemplates his formative powers,
lays the plan of the machine, and then, by the use of appropriate means,
produces an effect answering to the preconceived plan.... However highly
the Creator may be exalted, this view involves the ascription to Him of
human attributes, in virtue of which he can form a plan, and construct
organisms to correspond with it. That is the view to which Darwin's
doctrine is directly opposed, and of which Agassiz is, among
naturalists, the most important advocate. The famous work of Agassiz,
'Essay on Classification,' which is in direct opposition to Darwin's,
and appeared about the same time, has carried out logically to the
utmost the absurd anthropomorphic doctrine of a Creator." (p. 17)
The monistic theory is called "mechanical and causal," because it
supposes that all the phenomena of the universe, organic and inorganic,
vegetable and animal, vital and mental, are due to mechanical or
necessarily operating causes (causae efficientes); just as the dualistic
theory is called "teleological or vitalistic," because it refers natural
organisms to causes working for the accomplishment of a given end (causae
finales). (p. 67)
The grand difficulty in the way of the mechanical or monistic theory was
the occurrence of innumerable organisms, apparently at least, indicative
of design.
Pages:
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91