The Energy Concept

PA RT I : D YN A M IC S I N S C IEN C E A N D
PHIL O SO PHY
C H A P rEIt I
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E N ER GY AS REA LIT Y .
U pon all sides to day we hear emphasi s put upo n

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the energy conc ept in philosophy D ynami sm has super .
seded materialism .A ctiv ism voluntarism pragma , ,
t ism and philo3 0phies o f this active typ e are coming

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more and more to tak e the place of the older systems

o f mechanis m S tudents in philos ophy are compelled
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to recognize the si gnificant place which such system s

as those o f L eibnitz Bergson O stwald etc are hol d
, , , .
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ing in the field o f modern thought I f L eibnitz phi .

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losophy were to be re stated to day from the st and

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poi nt of modern scientific thought and terminology it ,
would probably be termed a system o f E nergism

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With Bergs on li fe is one continuous proces s of B ec om

ing and fundamental in this process i s the guiding
,
agent which he calls the vital impetus S o active and .
vital i s this inner principle that it would seem impos

sible to think o f B erg son s phi losophy out of relatio n
’
to the energ y concept With O stwald ener g y i s the

.
,
primary concept ; everythin g that exists is but a part

o f a great system o f energies S uch energetic c oncep
.
tions as these sound the keyn ote to modern philosophi

15
16 R EL IGIOUS P HILOSOPHY
c al thought and receive g enui ne support from re cent

s c ientific discoveries .
I n physical science we are told that matter under ,
the scrutiny of experimenta l physics has resolved it ,
sel f into energy When asked what this ultimate and

.
final energy i s we are sometimes re ferred to another

,
concept that of electricity A nd inasmuch as we shall

,
.
endeavor to interpret reality in terms o f ener gy and

make a critical inquiry into the energy c oncept in its
qualitative aspects it becomes imperative therefore at
,
this stage o f philo sophical inqui ry to examine i nto this

c o ncept o f ener gy and determine i f we c an its philoso
, ,
p h ic al import
Philo sophers have b een co ncerned with the problem
of reality since the ear liest history o f thou ght and to ,
the question What i s reality many and varied answers

,
"
have been given We find that in the approach to thi s

.
problem the scientific understanding of the ancients

presents an interestin g c ontrast with that of t o day -
.
I nstead o f —
the four elements of Emped ocles earth ,
, ,
—
air fire and water more than ninety elements have
been found enterin g into the make up of the earth and
, ,
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all existing obj ects

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The spectroscope tells us that in
.
the most distant stars the same elements exist as here ,
and that the periods of vibrations whi ch cause them

to emit light are identical with tho se of their terrestrial
representatives ”
A ll material things can be analyzed
.
and resolved into these ninet elements

y
I n the philosophy of the early days we meet t wo
.
opposing schools of tho ught— one teachin g that every
thing is and n othin g bec omes ; the other declarin g that

nothing is and everythi ng i s in a process of bec oming .
E N E RGY AS REALI TY 17
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Heracleitus representin g the latter schoo l be lieved all

, ,
things to be in a state o f flux ; th ere is no such thin g

as rest In this he ant1 c1 pated a fundamental pr1 nc 1ple
.
in modern scien ce for science to day holds that matter

,
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i s made up o f a countless number o f moving particles .
I n the decomposition and changes peculiar to inorgani c

matter and in the myriads o f living cells composing
,
organic matter we find that there are no two successiv e

moments when any single particle of substance fails to
experience some genuine change .
B RI EF STAT E M E NT C O N C ER NING TH E A T O MI C T H EO RY
A s we proceed with our task it becomes evident that

a study o f the atomic theory which has to do with the
,
organization of t hese little moving particles 1 3 funda ,
mental to any treatment which might b e made of matter

and any search for facts which have to do with ulti
mate reality It is a long road however from D emo

.
, ,
c ritus the first real exponent o f A tom1 sm t o the

, ,
p re s ent time a nd ma ny and varied

, have b een the
interpretations made of this system along the
way .
With D emocritus t he atom is simply a hard little

body movin g mechanically through space The atoms .
comin g toget her are responsible for all changes By .
this method in his system o f materialism he would en

deav or to explain all phenomena from the most s impl e ,
external o c currences to the deepest experiences of the

mental li fe .
A new light was thrown on the atomic theory w hen

Newto n s law o f g ravitation took its place in the world
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18 REL IGIOUS P HILOSOP HY
o f science I nstead o f the atoms clashing at random
.
and bein g held together in a chance way by means o f
t he 1 r " agged sur faces the e lement o f attraction was ,
introduced I t was natural that havin g explained

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,
the cosmical and subsequentl y many terrestrial phe

,
momena success fully by the formula of attraction

, ,
Newton himsel f and still more L aplace and his school

, ,
should have attempted the explanation of molecular

phenomena by similar methods The a stronomical .
view spread into molecular physics Ne wton himsel f .
made use of the notion o f molecular attraction Le — ,
o attraction existin g only at very small distance s 4 0

f —
explain the refraction and inflection o f light passing
from empty space or from the atmosphere into or i n , ,
”
t he neighborhood of solid bodies
1
.
Bo scovich was among the fir st to lose faith in a de

p e n d enc e o n the impact o f the atoms ; nor could he be
satisfied with allowin g them exten sion H e felt that .
the fundamental essence o f matter was to be found in

atom points situated in space from which , as a basis
, , ,
repulsive forces operated .
D alton who gave to ea ch atom a defin ite weight

, ,
was responsible for the establi shment o f the atomic

theory of the modern day He taught that the small .
p a rticles in all bodi es are held t ogether by an attractive

force and that there is also present and operating in
,
matter a rep ulsive force This introducin g int othe

theory the elem
.
ent of forces was carried

by such men as Fechner Moi gno and Faraday , ,
would mak e the atoms simple center s of force w ,
1 M erz H i s tory o E uropean Thoug ht in the N i neteenth

f
pp
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tury, V ol . I, .
3 543 5 6
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.
E N E RGY AS REALI T Y 19
c los ely a pproac hes a s ys te m of dynamis m and paves

the way to the energ y c onc ep t .
I n the analy si s o f substance according the atomic to

theory the smallest unit we meet is t he molecule which
,
can be further divided into atoms I n HN 0 we have . 3
a molecule o f nitri c acid containing one atom of hydro

,
gen one o f nitrogen and three o f oxygen The mole

, , .
cules di ffe r according to the n umber of atoms consti

tuting them The atoms o f the same element have
.
been con s idered inva riable in siz e having a definite ,
and fixed weight I t i s beheved to day however that

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-
, ,
the so called atomic weights are merely averages

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Radium thorium and uranium have the heaviest atoms

, ,
and hyd rogen the lightest We are as certain of the .

“
existence o f these atoms and o f their uniformity and

invariability as i f we could count and measure them .
I ndeed they are actually c ounted in c ertai n cases o f

” 2
radioactivity .
TH E ELE C T R ONI C T HEORY

The ato m ic theory has been a very profitable instru
ment in the hands o f science for a long time but ac ,
quired kno wledge now enables us to make an analysis

o f Nature which transcends the limitations of the atom .
Ju st as the molecule o f substance was divided and the

atom made the smallest measure o f matter so the ,
atom to day i s analyzed and found to be composed o f

-
still smalle r particle s .
O ne of the most remarkable pieces of work a ecom

pl ished by s cience in recent years has been this success
So ddy ,
M atter and E nerg y, p .
55 .
20 REL IGIOUS P H IL OS OP HY
ful a nalysi s the atom A s the smallest unit of mat
of .
ter enterin g into the make up of the elements the atom -

,
has lost its p restige and sc i ence to day i s thinking in

,
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t erms o f the electron instead I t i s the development o f .
the electronic theory which has not only popularized

the energy concept but given it a well established place
i n modern scientific discovery and thought I t has .
c onfirmed the lon g held b elie f in the presence o f a

-
dynamic force i n Nature and seems to show that ulti ,
mate reality itsel f i s identical with what science has

been callin g electricity b ut now looks up on as s ome,
form of energ y .
A ccordin g to Rutherford each atom i s believed to

be like a little solar system bein g composed wholly of ,
charge s o f negative electri c ity ele ctrons revolvin g in , ,

“
“
regul ar orbits abo u ” 3

t a core or nucleus which i s a
charge of posit ive g elect n city More recent thou ght .
,
however is inclined to believ e that the electrons are

,
vi bratin g in certai n reg i ons rather than rev olvin g ,
about a nucle u s withi n the at om Motion results as

, .
the electrons repel each other and in their activities

they are held in balance by the attraction of the p osi
tive unit I t is thou ght that the ne g ative charges are
.
equal to the fre e positive charge of the nucleus and in

thi s fact the atom realizes a possi ble equilibrium .
S ome writers c onsider the electron to b e a unit of

electricity whether ne g ative or positive F or our pres .
"
ent purp ose we shall cal l only the unit of negative

c harge an electron The electrons o f the atom are all
.
the same no matter from whatever e lement s atoms

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they c ome They are c onstituents of every atom are

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,
3 G i b son, S c i ntific I d
e eas o f To-d
ay, p .
53 .
re al electricity which flowin g constitute ele ctric cur

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rent .
C oncerning the nucl eus of the atom science does not ,
have full knowledge We are sure ho wever that it is .

, ,
electricity and predominantly positive I n thi s nucleus .
have been found el ectr o ns which under ce rtain condi

tion s are set free This core or po sitive charge is less
.
than one ten thousandth the diameter of the atom and

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numerically equal to one hal f the atomic weight ,
while the whole atom i s perhaps one hundred thou

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s and times as large in diameter as the electrons .
The velocity of the electrons in their flight i s almost

inconceivable ; thus they oc cupy but small sp ace and
constit ute a solid The immense possible velocity is
suggested m the statem
.
e
ent that the velocity of the “
elect ron when i mpelled by strong electric force may

reach s ixty tho usand mile s pe r second when shot
through a vacuum the better the vacuum the higher ,
” 6
t he speed .
U nder certain conditions atoms gai n and l ose elec

trons S ometimes the neg at lve charges predominat e
.
and sometimes the p ositive according to whether the ,
atom has taken on or given off electrons S ome ele “

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ments will give u p electrons quicker than others The .
stronger a metal the stronger the tendency to give

,
up electrons when exposed to the impact o f light The .
late st theo ry o f color is based on the principle of the

looseness of the electron s in the atom T he weight it .
sel f of an element is determined by the electr ons .
Thomps on says the atomic weight of an element is

“
4 St ewart The Homi leti c R ev i ew O c t 1914

M i lls The R eali ties of M od ern S c i ence p 90
, , .
, .
Gib s on S c i entific I deas of To day

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6 -
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22 REL IGIOUS P H ILOSOP HY
p roportionate to the number o f electrons contained in
the atoms ”
S o in hydrogen the lightest atom we
.
, ,
find but one electron and in uranium the heaviest ,
known atom there are ninety two To day then sc i

,
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.
-
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ence does not have to stop with the atom but can tak e ,
that m ore ultimate particle the electron as a work , ,
in g b asi s.
This brings us safely to the place of a s sumption tha t

electricity i s a common pervading factor pec uliar to ,
the finest partic les in all matter and the electron as a ,
unit o f energy presents itsel f as a general medium of

permeation running through all forms o f m aterial ex 1 s
tence animate and inanimate Thi s is given partial
, .
confirmation 1 n the fact that electrical excitation can

very o ft en get de finite responses fr om animals plants , ,
and inorgani c substances The everyday laboratory .

“
faith o f the physicist i s now not in visible material as

formerly underst ood b ut in the invisible thin g we call
,
electricity He has repudiat ed t he at om as a unit oh

.
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servin g in it a wonderful and complex system of un

endin g interest and great expe rimental p ossibi lities ,
and has accepted the atom o f electricity as the basis

for his scientific belie f The reality of matter as
.
,
formerly c onc e1 ved is now abandoned and the invisi

~
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a
ble becomes the everyday reality o f the scientifi c

” 7
laboratory .
A s we now c ome face to face with Nature in its ul

timate analysis reality i tsel f we come face t o face with
, ,
what in commercial as well as scientific language has

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been c alled electricity I n this we foresee meani ngs

.
7 Stewart , The Homi letic R evi ew O c t , .

, 1 91 4
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and sibilities more far reaching than was ever

pos -
dreamed A nd in dealing with this dynamic s ome

.
thing science is not willing any longer to talk in terms

,
o f what has been kno wn as the electricity concept but

endeav o rs to broaden and deepen its hold on t ruth and
proceeds in thi s field o f inquiry 1 n the name o f the
energy c oncept .
T HE E N ER GY C ON CE P T AN D C OS M I C EVOLU TION
A study o f co smic evolution confirms the beli ef that
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there is and has be en an all prevailing something more-
fundamental than electricity which something i s ,
ener g y and which is mani festing it s el f to day as elec

,
-
tric it y When we find t he dynamic conception of real

.
ity prevailing in much o f the be st philo sophy o f all

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age s 1 n modern psycholo g y a nd even in to day s phil
, ,
-
osophy o f li fe it 1 5 not s trange that in it s progr ess

,
toward ultimate truth modern science should be c on

firming thi s interp retation by it s strong and po sitive
repre sentation of the concept o f energy I t seem s nec .
“
es sary then for us to rever se our thought in the search
for causes and take step s tow ard an energ y conception
o f the o r1 gi n of li fe and energy conception o f the na
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ture o f her edity .
A s intimated in the foreg oin g the history o f the ,
earth s e v olution i s fundamental ly the history o f the

’
ch ange s in form s of energy Four o f these have pri .
m arily mani fe sted them selve s in this pro ce s s of co smic

—
devel opment heat light chem i cal affinity and elec
, , ,
tric ity A ccording to M ac F arlane in the very pr1 m1

.
9
,
8 O sb orn, The O ri g i n and Evolu ti on of L ife IO p

c
, . .
9 M ac Farlane, The Caus es and C ours e of Org ani Ev oluti on .

24
1 R E L IGI OUS P H IL OS OPHY
tive state of the earth when everything was in a neb u

lous
1°
state ener gy mani fested itself as heat The in
,
.
tensity of t he heat must have been extreme in thi s “
gaseous state of the earth and a ccordin g to A rldt a

temperature o f at lea st 1 5 0 00 c may have existed ” 1
.
1
A ssoc iated with the intense heat was a corresponding

rapidity in the motion o f the constituents of this fiery
mass ; and in the deve lo pment from thi s gaseous state
the degre e o f m oti on o f these parti cle s increased pro ,
p or t io na t e t o the condensati on o f heat which to ok

place H ere then i n the condensation o f heat energy
.
we meet with motion and its cause as first experienced

in the cosmic order .
I n the gradual chan g e from the gaseou s to the liquid

state 1 nstead o f energy primari ly mani festmg itself as
,
heat it be gan to assert it sel f as light Then as the

, .
,
energy continued its condensation with an incr eased ,
activity and hi gher de gree of organizatio n of the atoms

we find that energy expressed itsel f as chemic al ai “
”
fi nity Thus as the earth progressed in its co oling
.
process associated with which was a definite p rogress

,
in the organizati on o f the center s o f energy bodies ,
began to come into definite form s of existence re ach ,
in g the hi ghest and best conditi on in the soli d state

whe n energ y expressed itsel f pr1 marily as electricity .
Thus when we study the t rans fo rmati on o f energy
p
In s ug g est i ng thi s rog ram we are fully aware that s c i enc e
1 0
p
in A meri c a, es ec i ally g eolog y and bi olog y, i s g i v i ng rec e enc e p d
p
t o t he P lanet esi mal Hy othes i s as ov er ag ai nst the N eb ular
p
Hy othesi s B ut ev en so, t hi s oes not at all c ontrov ert our
. d
t heory as t o t he p art energ y has
‘
p
laye in the roc es s of osmi d p c c
evolut i on .
1 1
M ac Farlane, The Caus es and C ours e of Org ani Evoluti on, c
p . 21 , pass i m .
E N E RGY AS RE ALI T Y 25
throu gh the gaseous liquid and solid states from , , ,
original heat and light to electricity we are not sur ,
pri sed to see electricity quickly and e asily taking the

forms o f heat and light harmonizing somewhat with ,
F anvell s view that electricity is a highly condensed

’ “
or latent heat A s O sborn would say it is but the

.
,
old forms o f ener gy taking new directions .
A ccording to our hypothesis then in the ultimate ,
analysi s of all things we meet energy I n it wonder .
ful p oss ibilities and potentialities are t o be found It .
is the Alpha and O mega o f all forms of existence the ,
di fferent b odies b ein g but different expression s of the

same thing H aec kel confirms thi s in s aying that
.
“
mechanical and chemical energy sound and heat light , ,
and electrici t y are mutually convertible ; they seem to
be but different mod es of one and the s ame funda

“
mental force or e nergy That energ y is a common .
principle underlying all exi stence organic and inor ,
gamic is also supported by O sborn : N o form of

,
“
energy has thus far been dis covered in livin g sub

stances whi ch is peculiar to them and not derived from
the inor ganic world ” 3 “
Thus the evolution of li fe
.
1
may be written in terms of invisi ble energ y as it has

” 1‘
long si nce been written in terms o f visibl e forms .
HE
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E N ER GY C ON C E P T AND T HE U NITY OF NAT URE
I n the unity of
Nature we have a situation which
seemingly is best explained by the presence o f s ome
Haec k el Ri d dle
12
, f the Univers e
o , p . 2 54 .
( Translat ed by
Mc Cabe )
p
.
1 3
O sborn, The O rig i n and Evoluti on of L ife, 12
d p
. .
1 4 I bi
,
17
. . .
26 REL IGI OUS P HILOSOP HY
universal dynamic essence such as energy ; and the
,
more progress we make in our understanding of Na

ture the more we are impressed with the harmonious
interactions and relation ships existing between Na
’
ture s constituents Marvin feels that i f we could see
.
Nature through per fect eye s all seemin g discords

would di sappear H e says the doctrine o f evolutio n
.
“
has made the f orms of animal and pl ant li fe the insti ,
t ut ions customs and language s and art s of di fferent

, ,
peoples all seem but di fferent chapters in one connected

story o f earthl y li fe I n short increased knowledge .
,
reveals 1 nc reased interconnection and complete knowl

edge would reveal complete interconnecti on ”
S ince .
1 5
or g anic and in organi c bodies are composed of the same

ingredients all c omin g from the same elements it i s
, ,
very natural to look upon the world as one g reat uni

tary whol e .
Tagore the poet philosopher o f I ndia pr otests

,
-
,
against the idea that certain parts o f Nature are s et
off from the rest H e advocates a real unity of Nature

.
“
in say1 ng that in the west the prevalent feeling is that
Nature belongs exclusively to inanimate things and
to beasts that there i s a sudden un accountable b
, ,
where human nature begins A ccording to .
thing that i s law in the scale of beings i s

ture and whatever has the stam p o f pe
,
intellectual or moral i s human nature ,

.
v iding the bud and the blos som into two sepa
categories and puttin g their grace to the cr edit of t w
”
di fferent and ant ithetical principles “
.
1
1 5 M arv i n A Firs t B
in M etaphys i cs
ook 92 p
hana—The Re aliz ati on of L ife,
. .
,
d
,
16 Tag ore, Sa pp . 6-7 .
E N E RGY AS R E ALI T Y 27
Not only no man liveth unt o himsel f but no thing ,
liveth unto itsel f There is a common chord runnin g

.
through all li fe The intere sts o f all forms o f exi st

‘
ing li fe are mutual The tender sympathetic strai n .

,
c ommon to all li fe i s necessarily based upon a rec iproc
ity in relati onshi ps .
Even bet ween the lower a nimals and man a tender

understanding i s often experienced and in many cases ,
the re sp on ses obtai ned from them are almo st inc redi
ble The pipe organ not only thrills us as h uman be
.
ings but get s a sympathetic re sp onse from inanimate

obj ects as well We love to c ommune with Nature
.
but the reality of this experienc e would vani sh i f we

should try to make it a one sided affair on our part -
.
’
Being human we be st understand man s feelings i n re
lation to other e x i sting things but that does not say
‘
that he contributes more than his proport ionate share l
of appreciation t o the unity and harmony o f Nat ure .
I n thi s fact of mutual relationships there must be some

elem ent o f reality up on wh ich these interactions can ‘
ride back and f orth We find this princ 1 ple o f reality .
in energy into which man and beast and clod can be

re sol ved .
Behind thi s attitude modern th ought seems to be

arraying itsel f De Tunz elmann says the observed
.
c orrelati on of mental and material phenomena defi n

i tely dem on strates the power of the human mind and
the minds of other living bei ngs to influence and be ,
influenced by changes in the distribution o f ener g y in

,
”
their material environment 7
.
1
1 7
de Tun elmann The E le c tri c al Theory and P rob lem of the
z
Uni vers e p 47 1
,
. .
,
28 R EL IGI OUS P H ILOS O P HY
S ome would g o so far as to physical and psych

say
i cal processes depend so on one another that it i s pos

sible to find in energy not only a possible uni fying o f
Nature but an occasion fo r an e fficient and movin g
Energy seems t o b e estab lished as the funda
”
cause .
mental means of interaction and relationship between

mind and matter mind and mind and matter and mat
, ,
ter P erry would get to the heart of the whole ques

.
tion and says : I n stead o f c onceiving a matter that

“
mani fests itsel f in forms and motions why not stop ,

” 8
at force and invest it with finalit y and universality " 1
P erhaps de Tunz elmann comes out strongest in

championin g the cause o f energy as the ultimate bas ic
element in all matter H e says we cannot conceive of
.
a substance from which the uni form distri b ution of

energy has been abstracted I ts very li fe would be
.
take n away i f the energy element were eliminated H e .
seems to sum up his attitude in say1 ng All the phe ,

“
nomena of the material universe may therefore be con
sidered as arisin g solely from changes in energy di s
t ribut ion That i s to say energy i s the sole ultimate

.
,
” 19
phenomenal basis of matter .
I t i s very evident then that in recent years a great

c hange has taken place in the field of scie nce due to the
development o f the electronic theory of matter I n .
fact we have come to that place where it c an be said

,
that the old c oncept o f stu ff has been completely dis

“
placed by the new concept oi radiant energy ” °

Thus .
2
it seems that the old scientist philosophers some o f -

,
1 8 Perry P res ent P hi los ophi c al Te n d i

enc es ,
70 p
c a l Theory and P ro lem of the
. .
,
de Tunz elmann, The E lec tri

1 9 b
Univers e 470 p
c
. .
,
2° C
arr, P refa e to B erg son s M indzE nerg y, p vi
’
. .
whose systems we shall revi ew in the next chapter in ,
teachin g the presence in matter of a dynamic element ,
were feeling after the real truth in the situation F or .
modern science not only confirms thi s attitude but as ,
has been suggested goes still further and by sat is fac

, ,
tory experiments has come to the conclusion that

“ ” 21
there is no di fference between matter and energ y
and tha t the world in i ts ulti mateess ence , reali ty i tself,
is energ y .
21
Wend t, c
Le tures .
C HAP T E R II
TH E DYNA M I C T R E ND I N THE HI ST O RY O F
T HO U GHT
A s suggested in first chapter the dynamic con

our
c ept ion o f the world is not at all new and the attitude ,
o f modern science toward the energy concept has a
strong background of support in the energetic c onc ep

tion o f re ality so evident in the hi story o f thought .
We shall now undertake as our immedi ate task to pass

in review th ose thinkers ancient and m odern who , ,
have dwelt upon the dynamic aspect o f reality .
Q E E T I
The men of the early I onian school were the first

to try to get into the hea rt of Nature and find out
w hat is the abiding element l n all changing thin g s
that common substance from which all things come
1
and into which they pass To understand the teach .
ing o f these ear ly G reek thinkers it is nece ssary t o

“
understand the meaning o f gov a zg as used by them for ,
thi s seems to constitute the source and backbone of

their philos ophy .
I n the philosophy of these writers we find roo ms

( P hysis ) to b e a fiery living m ov ing ultimate,
essenc e , ,
p erm eating all things From it which knows

. n o be ,
B wll
ak e
’
S our c B ook in ilos ophy, p
gg
1 I.
e s e .
H IS T ORY OF T HOUGH T 31
ginnin g or end through the media o f water air and

, , ,
fire by means o f its own self activity have come all

,
-
,
things souls god s the world itsel f fi v a zs then the

, , , .
,
s ub stratum and ess ence o f all bodies is a vitalisti c ,

2
,
sel f prod ucing element from whose ete rnal mobility

-
and li fe all exi s ting forms rec e1 ve 1 mpulses t o activity ,
as it constantly plays the r o le of an urging guiding , ,
and determining factor To A naximander have been .
ascribed thes e word s : aidair a z ov y cip ua i dr aixt edp or

“ ' '
mr at Thl s
t'l l
ult l
A 3, 3
n ep zex s zr ca rt on/1 a u a z ru / u vfl ep r a r .
mate e s sence then is not only living and free but also
divine .
B fYL OZ OI S M
The first philosophy which will be taken up is that

of the hylozoi sts as represented by Thales A nax i ,
m ander An aximenes and Herac leitus in which i s

, , ,
prominent the idea that the wh ole world i s a living

being and that all matter i s moving ; living matter and
moving matter being identical A ll material elem ents .
of Nature are related in a c ommon li f e I n this sy stem ‘
we find evinced the belie f that the universe is animated

by an inner fiery vital principle which operates as a
, ,
qualitatively psychic factor This c onception of an .
inner moving principle o f unity appears early among

,
G reek thinkers and naturally the que stion a rose what

, ,
matter is mo st moving mo st alive " What is this ulti ,
mate reality which affords a basi s for all moving and
2
V eaz i e S tu di es in the Hi s tory of I d eas Ch
II , pas s m i
d d di
. .
, ,
3 “ I mm i
ort al and n est ruc t le surroun s all and ib
rec t s all
pp
.
,
(F ib
a r ank s, The Fi
rs t P h los ophers of G reec e i 8 , .
32 REL IGIOUS P H IL O SOPHY
c hangin g and which conti nues to exis t after
, the
c han g es occur "
I n answer to this question Thales replied that it was

water seeing that moisture was very essential in animal
,
and vegetable li fe ; also perceiving it t o be very subt le
and versatile appearing in the forms o f a solid liquid

, , ,
and vapo r H e felt that the plasticity of matter fur

.
nished the possibility for everythin g to chan ge through ,
water as the medium ; all thin g s have their origin in

water and g o back into water again The active vi .
t ality of matter so impressed Thales that he taught the

existence of a world soul and that a divine mind was ,
constantly at wor k H e would say accordin g t o A ris .

'
t otle : A ll things are full of gods The ma g net is

“
.
:
alive ; for it has the power of movin g ir on ” 4

Thales
_ .
’
“
water the soul substance p ossesse s a superhuman
, ,
mana a d aemoni c ener g y di stin ct f rom the natural

,
” 5
properties of the w ater .
P lat o quote s Thale s as sayin g : I s there any one

who acknowledges this and yet holds that all thin gs are
not full of gods " ”
Its moti on and its power o f
“
generatin g things other than itsel f are due to its li fe

(g x n
bv ) an inward ,
s pontaneous principl e o f ac t i
,
v
” 6
ity . Thus in the hylozoism of Thales we have a
dynamic c onc ep ti on of N ature which is ins ep arable
from the modern energ y c oncep t .
A naximander als o was keenly consci ou s ofthe pre s ,
ence of an unlimited active vital force , ,

in matter b ut ,
4
Quoted B
from urnet s Early Greek P hi los ophy p
’
48
Quot ed from C ornford s F rom Re lig i on to P hi los ophy,
.
, .
5 ’ '
p . 1 35 .
6 I bid p .
, . 1 28 .
he did not give it the name of an element such as water .
H e called his the U nlimited or I nfinite which is not

“
only unlimited and infinite but i s without beginning ,
indestructible and immortal This dynamic inner life .

,
s urg i ng throug h matter is endowed by A naximander

“
with the possibility o f encompas sing and guiding all
”
things . We fi nd Theophrastus saying that A nax i “
mander said that the mat erial cause and fir st ele

ment of things was the I nfinite he being the first to ,
introduce this n ame for the material cau s e H e says .
it i s neither water nor any other of the so called ele -
ments but a sub stanc e different from them which i s

,
infinite from which arise all the heavens and all the
,
worlds within them H e says that thi s is eternal

.
and ageless and that it encompasses all the worlds

and beside s this there was an eternal moti on in t he ,
course of which was brought about the origin of the

” 7
worlds .
A naximenes ,
c ontinuin
f g the sa me dynamic trend o
thoug ht said that a 1 r with an inner vitality and force

, ,
peculiar to itsel f was the underlying and pervading

,
principle i n everyt hing A ir is continually in motion .
and has the same relation to the world as man s soul ’
has to hi s body A ccording to Theo phra stus A nax i

.
’
mene s says : Just as our soul bein g ai r holds us t o

“
, ,
gether so do breath and a 1 r encompass the wh ol e

,
”
world .
7
Quoted from Bu n t Early Greek P hi los ophy, pp
’
r e s .
5 45 5 -
.
34
s REL IGIOUS P H ILOS OP HY
H ERA C L E I TU S
I n Heracleitus also we meet wi th a remark able antic

ipati on f o the modern energ e ti c atti tude toward real
i ty I n hi s philosophy he reache s forward to a funda

.
mental principle in modern science teachin g that every ,
thin g moves ; everything i s in a stat e o f flux Noth .

‘
ing abides ; all things in Nature are changin g into one

—
another are in a constant process of becomin g H e .
called hi s primary c osmic subs tance fire I t i s not ,

.
what we mean by ordinary fire but a something which

changes into all things and into which all thin g s can ‘
b e trans formed I t so permeates the last iota o f all

.
substance that in all matter there is the ev er living -
”
fire These changing proc esses which are expres
.
,
sions of a res tless vi tali ty are fate ful rational , ,
and j u st Thus the w orld is explained in terms

.
o f a cos mic subst ance a transformin g f orce fire which

, , ,
continually burns but never burns out ; man hims el f

being a spa rk of fire str uck off from and at death he ,
comes lo st in the great cosmic Fi re .
I n this whole system there is a marked e lement o f

harmony characterizing all N a ture back o f which i s a ,
U niver sal O rder D i vine L aw whos e force i s intelli

, ,
gent and efficient g overning all things Herac leitus

, .
calls this all prevailin g prin c iple intelligent Will L aw

-
,
8
,
9
8
F rag ment 1 9 — There d
i s one wi s om, to un erstan the int elli d d
g ent wi ll by whi c h all thi ng s are g overne throug h all d
d d
.
9
Frag ment 9 I —The law o f un erst an i ng is c ommon to all
p d
.
Those who s eak wi th i nt elli g enc e must hol fast t o that whi c h
is c ommon t o all even more s t rong ly t han a c i ty hol s fast t o d
dp d d
,
it s law For all human law s are e en ent up on one i v i ne law,

.
for t hi s rules as far as it wi lls, and suffi c es for all and ov er ,
b ound s .
justice D estiny
,
or Fate
10
Wi sdom G od I t is ,
11
,
1 2
.
13
b oth mate ri al and spiritual I n its fiery m ake up it i s .

-
identical with evident tan gi ble activities ; as L aw it be

m
,
co es pure Form which abides amid all changing re

lat ionships D o we not have here an interpretation o f
.
the wo rld in it s ultimate es sence which i s cha rged

thro ugh and through with an unmi stakable vitali sm "
C onfirmation and emphasi s are given this belie f by the

fact that to the original subst ance ther e is a scribed a
spirit o f appetency which determined by U niversal ,
—
order a rational L aw— supplies the urge necessa ry
to the conflicting activities by which Nature has come
from a general substratum to the experience o f speci fi c
individual identitie s H eraclei tus even c arr ies this doc
.
trine of ac tivis m over into his ethi cs and teac hes tha t
‘
the s umm um bonum is reac hed c hi efl y throug h the

“ ”
medium of intellec tual s triving .

“
D EM O C RIT U S
We introduce at this time the philo sophy of D emoc

ritus the first materialistic system A n analy si s of
,
1 5
.
thi s philosophy i s made not beca use it belongs to the ,
10 Frag ment 29 —The

not overst e his boun s, for if
s un wi ll p d
d
he oes , the Er ny es , hel ers of just c e, w ll fi nd him out
i p i i
d i d
.
F ent 63— For it i s wholly

m
11 rag est ne
1 2
rag ment 65 — There is only one su reme w s om
F It w lls p i d i
d
.
i
and w lls not t o be c alle by the na e of Z eus m
—
.
rag ment 36
F God is day and n g ht , w nt er and sum er, i i m
1 3
p
war and eac e, lenty and want p B ut he i s c hang e , just as d
d i d di
.
when nc ense i s m ng le w th nc ense, but name ac c or ng to

i i i
p
the leasure of eac h
p
.
1 4
Pat r c k s Herac lei tus ,
’
i 5 6 ff
bd
. .
1 5 D m
e oc r t us ( 4 i
60 - 3 70 n o ) A nat v e of A era, Thrac e i
di d i pp
. .
m
He s tu e in the fa ous At om st c s c hool of Leuc us wh ch i i i
was at that lac e p .
history of energy systems but because it is the best
example of a pure ly materialistic system and must be
c arefully examined to show the limitations o f a non
energetic system o f thought ; and al so to show that

thi s elaborate program o f materia lism bein g with out ,
a vitalisti c principle o ffers a substitute for this seem

,
ing need .
H ere then we find no vitalism no idealism ; every

, , ,
thin g is considered from a mechanistic standpoint .
D emoc r1 tus taking up the work begun l n A tomism by

,
hi s master L eucippus was the best representative o f

,
the A tomistic school Naturally with him all phe

.
nomena are explaine d in terms o f atoms and the im

pact of atoms The atoms to which he reduces all
.
sub stance are invisible uncreated solid indivisible lit

, , ,
tle bodies movrng i n empty space Though alike quali .
tatively they di ff er in form and size The various

“
g roupings or constel lati ons o f these atoms furnish a

basis for all changin g relationships There is no mov .
in g force outside of them Mot1 on 1 s a quality pe .
c uliarly their own ; and as they move in space th ey
mechani cally strike each other The impact cau ses the .
comin g together o f other atoms and thus worlds are ,

“
formed as well as smaller obj ects from the original

vortex The fire a toms characterized by mental ac ,
t ivity are the fi nest smoothest and most active They

”
.
, , ,
are to be found not only in man but in p lants and

animals as we ll constitutin g the soul li fe o f that b ody
,
of which they are a part

’
Man s superior mentali ty is
.
due to a fuller abundance o f these atoms A t death the .
fire atoms take their fli ght and the soul li fe ceases to be ;

D emoc ritus do es not g ive to his a toms a kind of .
H IS T ORY OF T HO U G HT 37
spontaneity as doe s L ucretius nor feelin g and will as ,
d oe s the materialist H aeckel He does not fail how .

,
ever ,
to mak e p rovisi on for the energ y p art of the
world He endows his atoms with orig inal moti on
.
whic h enables them to ex p eri enc e i ndep endent s elf

ac tivi ty I nherent in the nature o f the atom s there is
.
a tendency to combine A nd al so in making the fire .
atom s to be the principle of activity in all organisms ,

1 6
“”
the real soul stuff endowing thei r motion with a
,
p sychic al activity which permeate s the entire organism ,

“ ”
producing the phenomena o f heat and li fe he pre ,
sents a defini te s ubs ti tute for the dynamic c oncep tion
RI STOTLE
A
’
ITAL P R IN C I P LE
s V
I n A ristotle s philosophy
' ’
the organic world we of
have an interpretation of reality which rises above the

materiali sm of Democritus and is more practical than
the idealism of P lato H e forsakes the conceptual bent
.
acquired in hi s early training and builds a world of
perceptual exi stence H e would say there are no ideas

.
apart from individual t hings True re ality i s the es .
sense which un folds in phenomena ”

Matter and .
Form are the two facts constituting reality There is .
a constant development in progress in the world which

represents the endeavor of matter t o find expression in
Form By matter he does not mean a hard dead mass
.
,
but an underc urrent of Being end owed with potential

ity and possibility By Form he means the ideas or
.
16
Wi ndelb and His tory of Anc i ent P hi losophy
, , p . 1 65 .
( Trans
lati on by C ushman ) .
qualities which constitute the obj ect We can g et .
A ristotle s conception o f reality by using the illustra

’
tio n o f a building in process o f construction which

“
would be something like this : Matter is the stone in
the quarry and wood in the tree H ere i s potential .
being Form i s the idea o f the future building as it i s

.
in the mind R eality then is the buildin g as it wil l be

.
when finished 5 0 o f all reality

. .
A ristotle however was not so much interested in

, ,
reality itsel f as he was in its causes Thus we find .
him teachin g that beneath the struggle o f everythin g

t oward a higher and better realization of itsel f there is
a dynamic q uali ty which initiates and lends impetus to
the movement whether we call it idea Form or, , ,
energy A ristotle emphasizes the fact that th ere i s no

.
t i l f substance from which this quality is ab ent

'
p ar c e o s .
A s matter strives t become Form the potentiality to

o —
—
develop into actuality it is moving toward its highest
end in time man ; reachin g out for the highest re al iza
,
tion possible p erfection w hich i s God This 1 nner

, ,
.
principle the very soul o f all things i s con stantly

, ,
moving every part o f Nature t oward a definite end ,
revealing a p rinciple o f purpose which indic ates a ,
knowing quality This f orc e then inherent in all N a

.
ture is a ra ti onal princ ip le of ac tivity and has a real
relati ons hip to the energ y theory of the p res ent time .
E P I C URU S AND L U C RE TI U S
I n Ep i curus conception o f reality there is a prog ram

’
patterned after that o f Dem oc ritus There i s nothing .
in the u niverse except innumerable indestructible little ,

a toms and empty space I n the begi nning all atoms .
were falling in a straight line Falling in empty space .

,
they fell with the same velocity E ach atom has in it .
sel f a cha racteri stic freedom a psychical quality which ,
was re spon sible for thei r swerv ing from their o rigi nal
path S triking one another a nucleus was fo rmed
.
,
finally obj ects and the earth itsel f Thu s ultimate

, .
reality is fo und in this little body ruling out an out ,
side force final causes G od There is no sy stem no

, ,
.
,
law no p urposive o rganization

, .
Lucreti us who
belonged to thi s same s chool in his
, ,
didactic poem D e R erum N atura re empha si z e s the

, ,
philo sophy o f E pi cur us further s ay1 ng that only atom s

,
and void exi s t All things are the combinations of

.
”
B ut he gi v e s his
1 7
the se tw o or ari event o f these .
atoms a certain spontaneity and free will saying that “
the w orld the same as everyt hing else i s the spontan

, ,
c o us res ult o f the combination of the s e little atoms
which are the con stituent s o f li fe I n this i dea of .
sp ontanei ty L ucreti us make s a marked addition to the
p sychical activity sugge sted by Democritus and Epi

c ur ns and henc e g ives to his atoms a g enuine dynamic
,
T HE ST O I C S
I n a study of the S toics we find a system of material

ism which says everything is matte r from G od to the ,
most in significant thing Matter is the mover as well .
as the thing moved The whole universe i s matter in

.
Lang e Hi s tory of M ateri ali s m Vol I p 1 3 5

1 7
, , .
, . .
40 REL I GIOUS P H IL OS O PHY
c o nstant motion Nature not only operates according
.
to law b ut is a supreme law in itsel f I t however i s .

, ,
permeated by a force a fire a reason which i s a for , , ,
mative governin g and vital principle This principle

, , .
with a power inherent in itsel f ope rates constantly in

the process of development guidin g th i n g s to a per fe c t ,
en d This force i s the very central fact in the uni

.
’
v erse s existence I t is to the universe what the soul
.
o f man is to man man s sou l bein g but a part of the

’
g reat S oul the great pervadin g force C onsequently

, .
having here a vital force whi ch is al so rational we ,
have a q uali tatively psyc hic and dynamic interp reta

ti on of reali t
y .
A u gustine representin g the church fathers and one

, ,
of the first subj ectivists in tryin g to locat e cert ainty ,
and reality said t r

uth and reason are withi n one s sel f ’
.
These inner principles constitute the real li fe Th ese .

“
are reall y G od for He i s truth and reason

,
The .
more we learn the meanin g of these inner experiences

the closer we get to reality With him then ultimate .
reality is God op erating in one s self and life ’

.
LE I B NIT Z
We come t o that place in the hi story of the

now
search for reality where the d ynami c and vitali sti c
c onc ept 1 ons o f realit y which are found in Herac lei tus ,
A ristotle the S toics and eve n in Luc retius c ome to an

'
,
“
, ,
_
en d for the time in the mat hematic o m echanical c on -
c eption of the sevente enth century S cientific interest .
c enters primaril y in m atter spa c e ex tens1 on and mo , ,

HIS T ORY OF T HO U G HT 41
‘
tion There is one outstanding exception how ever to

.
, ,
the suggestion that in this period all energetic theories

are b ani shed and this exception is L eibnitz H is in
, .
t erpretat ion o f reality will now be treated remember ,
ing that he wrote later than De scartes o r S pin oza the ,
chie f exponents o f the mech anical conception prevail
ing in this pe riod .
L eibnitz attempted to do away with the old idea of

the atom as a divisible little body also to eliminate the ,
single sub stance theory of S pinoza and in this en ,
deavor he built up in his monadology a theory which

is fired through and through w ith a dynamic c onc ep
tion of reali ty I n hi s system the universe is m ade up
.
of innumerable indivisible little units called monads

,
which are bits o f force constituting the ultimate es

sence of all things reality it sel f The s e primal es
, .
sences or forces which he c alls monads constitute the

, ,
whole of reality ; t hey are the fundamental elements

o f the entire material and spiritual world they
are contrasted with mere atoms in that they are not
dead inert particles but instinct with vitality and
, ,
”
mov ement 8
.
1
I n the w orld there are degrees of consciousness ,
ranging from low t o complete states corresponding to ,
the make up o f the monads constitutin g the obj ect

-
.
This fact o f degree r oots itsel f in the two kind s of

— —
quality which enter into matter so called pass ive and
active P assive matter obstructs clear perception while
.
active matter represents pure perception .
I n minerals the monads have a large meas ure of pas

sive matter ; c onsequently there i s confused percepti on ,
18 A lex d
an er, A Short His tory of P hi los ophy p
, .
320 .
not fully c onscious I n organic li fe a large numb er of
.
the monads possess a greater proportio n of active mat

ter constitutin g a nucleu s o r governing center around
which the other monads cluster Naturally then i n .
organic li fe there i s a higher degree of perception man ,
st anding at the head of the group I t is only in G od .
that we find monad s representin g a b solutely clear per

c ept ion Thus individually and in group s in all the
.
,
activities of the universe we find these little centers ,
o f force with their own peculiar spirit of appetency

, ,
climbing toward higher realizations of b eing The .
cause of the natural changes o f the monads L eibnitz

“
would ascribe to an 1 nternal principle since an ex ,
ternal cause can have no influence upon thei r inner

bein g ” 19
. Thus his philosophy becomes a fertile oasi s
o f dynami s m hay 1 n g its settin g in a desert of dead
mechanism .
A s we have already suggested thi s period the ,

in
current of philosophical thought run s from vitalism to
mechanism D escartes phi losophy well represents the
.
’
change o f attitude toward reality I n his system a dis .
tinctio n i s drawn between conscious and spatial reality .
Matter is diametrically opposed to spirit The re are .
really t hree realities self God and matter , God i s

“
, ,
.
the A bsolute R ealit y and thus i s the moving cause .
The two secondary substances are dependent on the

A bsolute Reality God The chie f qualities o f matter
, .
are extension and moti on but matter i s essentially ,
ex tens 1 on 1 e space There i s no place 1 n this system

,
. .
,
.
for indivisible facts like atoms The attributes or .
1 9 Latta, Leibni tz— The M onadolog y, p . 2 23 .

qualitie s o f obj ects do not rest in objects themselve s

but are traceable to t he creation s o f our mental act iv i
ties .
H e applies a mechanica l conception to everything

outside o f God and sel f denying mental state s even to
,
animals H uxley was pleased becau s e De scarte s had

.
“
been able to see that the remotest parts o f the univer s e
are governed by mechanical laws including our own
bodily frame and attempted for the first time to ac

,
count for all natural phen omena as only a simple de

v elopment o f the law s o f mechanics with the e ffect o f
arriving at that purely mechanical view of vital

phenomena toward which mode rn phy siology is striv
N 20
mg .
S pinoz a ,
the mech anical con ception o f
c ont 1 nu1 ng
reality characteristic of this p eriod make s no great , ,
fundamental change in the philo sophy of De sca rte s .
K no wn as the G od intoxicated man he taught the ex

-
,
istenc e o f but one substance God G od and the world , .
are identical This infinite S ub stance has two att ri

.
—
butes mind and matter There are thi ngs other than .
God which exist and yet they exi st in H im ; they are a

part of G od G od i s everything ; everything is G od
.
,
might be considered a summary o f his philosophy .
ME C H ANIS M VER S U S DY NA M IS M
The mechanism prevailing in this period to which
we hav e re ferred would say the substance i t sel f does “
not change A ll that changes is the relati on between

.
20
Cooley , The Pri nc iples o f S c i enc e,
p . 1 35 .
44 R EL IGI OUS P HILOS OP HY
the su b stances These chan ges in re lation g ive rise in

.
us as onlookers to the illusion that the substance it

, ,
sel f is changin g its qualities ” 2

thus making the world ,
1
of mechanics tell the complete story o f reality Thi s .
as over against the dyna mic conception which would

say
“
it is of the very nature of the su b stance spont a
”
neously to produ c e new qualities and states Thus .
a c cording to mechanism the idea of an inner force

dir ecting to an end or even pre sent at all i s supplanted, ,
by the belie f that all harmony all changes are due to ,
t he mechanical interactions o f parts and their relation

to outside influences A s the principles o f adj ust .
“
ment interact ion continuity uni formity and causa

, , , ,
”
tio n play their part we have the secret of all ac tivities .
A nd as a result o f the work of D es cartes Newton ‘
, ,
S pinoza etc the dynamic theory of reality had to wait

,
.
,
for expression until the nineteenth and twentieth cen

t uries at which time we are ushered into the biological
, ,
psychological and dynamic era In which e nergy be

,
comes the more basal concept .
I n c onnection with the mecha nical theories it is in

order here to reach forward and mention the philos
Ophy o f H er bert S pencer although his writings do not ,
appear until after the middle of the ninete enth cen

tury S pencer end eavored to show that all activities
.
o f the univer se have as a basis o f operation a funda

2
mental principle a persi stent fo rce Then in at
, .
2
21 M arvi n A F i rs t
, B ook in M etaphys i c pp
s, 1 84-1
85
d i i
. .
A s shown e fore, w e c annot g o on merg ng

b i
“
22
er vat v e
d
t rut hs in thos e un er- t ruths from wh c h t hey are er ve , w t h i d i d i
i
out reac h ng at lea s t a w est t ruth wh c h c an be merg e in no id i d
ot her, or d i d
er v e from no ot her And the relat on in wh h it i ic
d
.
s t an s t o t he t rut hs of sc enc e i n g enera l shows that t h s i i

di d
t ransc en ng emonst rat on i s t he P ers st enc e of orce i B ut i F .
temptin g to account for the way in which this prin

c iple reveals itsel f he gives an interpretation of reality
,
which i s mechanical and unsatis factory H e wo uld .
say the law o f the continuous redistribution of matter

“
”
and energy is fundamental in all change s and rela
t ionships A s constant activity characterizes every
.
thing 1 n thi s constant movement there is an upward

,
and do wnward process going on continually The end .
of the upwa rd movement is reached when like units are
brought together in such way as t o obtain a balance o f

stability I t is then when this point is reached that
.
the downward movement begin s in the pr ocess o f dis

integration Thus the universe is one big piece of
.
machi nery whose parts are moving one way for a time -
and then another A ll activities are thus reduced to a

‘
system of mechamsm .
That such a dead mechanical V l eW which had been ,
dommat ing in this field of thought for years and held

by S pencer in the latter part of the n1 neteenth century ,
was unable to satisfy the mind (pragmatically insuffi

cient ) I S sho wn by the new dynamic currents of
thought entering from many quarters all suggestive ,
of the energy concept several of w hich we shall tak e ,
up at t hi s time .
when we ask what the energ y i s, there 1 8 no answer save that it

i s t he noumenal c aus e, i m li e by the henomenal effec t p d p
Hence
p
.
t he forc e of whi c h we assert ers i st enc e i s t hat A b s olut e F orce

we are ob li g e
"
to d p
ost ulat e as the necessary c orrelat e of the
c
for e we are c onsc i ous of B y the P ersi st enc e of Forc e we really
m p d
.
ean the ers i st enc e of s ome c aus e whi c h t ransc en s our k nowl
d
e g e and c onc e t i on p
In assert ing it w e as sert an U nc on i ti onal d
c
.
Reali ty wi t hout b eg i nni ng or end ”

( Sp en er, Firs t Pri nc iples,
d
.
Six th E i t i on 1 75
,
.
REL IGIOUS P HILOSOP HY
’
K AN T s T H E O RY O F TH E WI LL
There were tho se who said everythin g coul d be ex

”
plained by natural science as a great world machine ,
but this attitude seemed c old and harsh to K ant he ,
feeling keenly c onscious that there was something

lackin g in the philosophy prevailin g at that time I t .
seemed to him to b e out O f touch with real facts with ,
real li fe H e aimed at supplying this seeming need

. .
I n seeking the real facts of li fe K ant goes past the

secondary world O f phenomena and di scovers a pri
mary w orld o f absolute values H ere we mee t with .
human nature in which there i s a ma rvel of beauty

and dignity I n thi s realm of higher values we come
.
in t ou ch with rea l li fe the innermost es sence o f man

, ,
the will Thi s u ltimate fact will is untrammeled

.
, , ,
free supreme
,
.
A ll law proceeds from the will for we can do j ust "
what we will to do There i s only one good thing in

.
the w orld a good will and this striving will actin g as

‘
, , ,
a uni fying power a synthetic activity i s the A lph a and

,
-
O mega o f all things Thus K ant s system the central

’
.
, ,
vital principle o f which i s a s trivi ng , energ etic will ,
mus t be g iven a p lac e in the lis t of dynamic philos o

p hies and a defin
,
i te relati ons hip to the energ y c on
c ep t
S C H O PE N H AUER S ’
P H ILOS O P H Y OF TH E W IL L
S ch openhauer makes will to be moving principle

'
t he ,
the V italizing force not only In man but in all Nature

,
as well Thi s strivin g pr1 nc iple i s c ommon to all N a

.
ture nothing being too small or remote to escape it s

,
influence I t is the eternal and indestructible ultimate

.
essence the final reality in all things Will not only

, .
reveals it sel f in external things but is matter itsel f .
O ur bodily movements and the organs which enter ,
into our experience s are but manifestations o f a surg

ing striving will
,
The brain is the will to kno w the
.
“
,
foot the will to go the stomach the will to di gest ”

,
.
23
Will is the force urgin g the grass to grow the ,
flowers to bloom the tree t o bear fruit in short all , , ,
N ature to O bserve its uni form methods of behavior .
I t i s the primary characteristic o f all li fe the lowest ,
type being the willing to preserve li fe the simple wi ll ,

‘
ing to live From this lowest type there i s a gradu al

. .
rise in the series until the highest type is reached which

is consci ous and is repre s ented by man The beauty
, .
and harmony o f all Nature i s due to the fact that ther e

is but one will and thi s same will operate s in all phe
-
nomena including man it s great O bj ective alway s ,
being the highest and best pos sible .
S trivin g for the best does not mean any particula r

end for S chopenhauer rules out purpo ses Thus all
, .
activities O f the universe constitute a ma s s of constant ,
endle ss irrational striving the g reat driving moto r

, ,
being the will .
I n this connection Wundt s philosophy of will units ’
and H egel s philosophy of spirit could be O ffered as

’
dynamic theorie s as over against the mechanical

theories adv ocated by D escartes and S pinoza We .
23
Q uote d from A S hort H i s tory of P hi los ophy A lex an er, d
p .
50 1 .
,
48 REL IGIOU S P H IL O SOP HY
simply mention them here and later under another ,
headin g we shal l o ffer a b rie f analysis of each

,
.
HA E C K EL
I n each of the immediately foregoin g systems of

thou ght indicative o f modern belie f we find an active
, , ,
st r1 v1 ng V italizin g force at work

,
SO continuing our .
,
line ofthought which i s characteristic of modern sc ien

t ifi c presentation we shall now turn asi de for the time
,
bein g and consider the phil o sophy of the ma terialist

H aeckel the momsm int ox ic ated scientist I t may
,
r .
seem out O f order to intr oduce hi s system in connec

tion with a study of the energy concept but we shal l ,
give a summary of his philos ophy and add quotati ons

“
from his work The Riddle of the Univers e with

, ,
the purpose of sh owing that he actually gives t o his

atoms a quality of energetic stri ving .
H e purport s to repres ent a system of monism which

rises above spirituali sm and sheer materiali sm as they ,
i gnore matter and teach the doctrin e of dead atoms ,
respectively 4
H e would merge both into one and call
.
2
it monism There is but one substance into which

.
everyt hing roots itsel f I n this substance its two attri

.
b utes matter and mi nd are linked together as one

, ,
.
Very o ften H aeckel s representations are not alt o ’
g ether clear In hi s ex planation of some a ctivities he

'
points to the soul principle and at o ther times pictures ,
the psychical activities as representin g the ordinary

24
Haeck el R i ddle , f
o the Uni verse , p . 2 0; ( Translat i on by
Mc Cabe ) .
fun ctio ns of the brain as rooting themselves in the ,
central nerv ous system P sychology is but a sub head

’
-
.
under physiology in his general presentation .
Though a heralded materialist he definitely gives to

his atoms a quality o f feeling O f will o f striv ing , , ,
which challenge s the correctness of the classification

which some are inclined to give his philosophy H is .
atoms seem to have an affinity for each othe r a satis ,
faction in harmoniou s relationships and resent an in

terrupt ion of these experiences This unconscious .
,
pleasurable a ffinity noticed in the lo wer strata of life

is what we meet in the sexes O f o rganic li fe simply ,
more highly developed 1 n the latter for thi s funda ,
mental unity o f affinity is found i n all Nature 2

.
5
This program which places all vital phenomena

under mecha nical pro c esses o f li fe even making psychic ,
activities dependent on a definite material substratum ,
“
like all other phenomena later adds that covering the ,
whole field of organic and inorganic nature the two

fundamental forms o f substance ponderable matter ,
and ether are not dead and only moved by extrinsic

,
force but they are endowed with s ens ati on and will;
,
they ex per1 enc e an inclinati on for conden sation a dis ,
li k e for strain ; they s trive after the one and struggle

” 26
against the other .
I n speaking of the atom H aeckel says it is not with

out a rudimentary form of sensation and w ill or as it ,
is better expre s sed o f feeling and inclination— that IS

,
‘ ’
a universal soul of the simplest character ” 7
He .
2
2 5 I bi d p 224
I bi d p 2 2 0 (Itali c s are mi ne )
. . .
,
26
7 I bi d
. . . .
,
2
. p 22 5
, . .
would carry thi s s ame princip le o f activity into the
molecule .
In speaking of ether which is boundless and im ,
“
measurable he says : It i s in eternal motion and this
, ,
specific movement O f ether in reciprocal action with

mass movement is the ultimate cause o f all phenom
” 2”
ena . The question naturally arises as to what causes
the ether to move or the mas s to reciprocate H e .
would say the c onvers 1 on of one form o f ener g y int o

“
another as indicated in the law O f the persistence of

,
fo rce illustr ates the constant reciprocity of the two

,
” 29
c hie f types o f substance ether and mass But thi s ,
.
.
does not answer the question as to the fundame ntal

c au s e o f change .
H aeck el would ma k e the law of reciprocity dominate

the elaborate performances O f the nerv ous system it
s e lf . But even when sayin g that movement is as “
1 nnate and orig 1 nal a

property o f substance a s is se n sa '
tion he i s not fully clear as to cause I t I S when

”
, .
s peaking of the evolutionary divi sion O f mass and
e ther that he a s cribes the real cause o f change and
which cause embodies a vitalistic conception— this di “
V i sIO n so e ffected by a progressive condensation O f
matter as the formatio n of countless infinitesimal cen

ters of conden sation in which the inherent primitive
properties o f —
substance feeling and inclinati on— are h
”
the act1 ve cause s Thus there 1 s a unity of all.
3° “
natural force s which i s the moni s m o ener

i
” ” 31 “
f gy .
28
Haeck el R i d dle of the Uni vers e p 228
p
, , . .
29
I bid , 2 30
I bi d p
. .
30
. 243 ( It ali c s
. are m1 ue )
1 bi d p
.
31
.
, . 2 54 ( Itali c s
. are mi ne ) .
O ST WALD
Among those scientists modern times who have of
pre sented definite energy theorie s a prominent plac e ,
mu st be given the philosophy O f O stwald H ere we .

32
meet a sy stem in which force or energy i s e stablished

as the primary c oncept ; the concept matter being clas si
fi ed as a s econdary phenomena having its origin in the ,
as soc 1 at 1 on and minglin g O f certain energies A ccord .
ing to S iebert O stwald mean s by energy everything

3
,
3
that gro ws out of work and everything that can be

trans formed into work The explanation of all occur .
renc es in the whole o f Nature rests in an understandi ng
o f the activities and shi ftings of energies in space and

time .
There is a continual proc ess goin g on in Nature O f

distributing and gatheri ng energy I f a living being is .
to c ontinue li fe it mu st by an initiative and energy all ,
its own gather unto itsel f quantities of energy suffi

,
cie nt not only for preservin g li fe but in addition

thereto forit i s thus that it makes possible its continu
,
ance in the preservation o f the specie s When the .
barriers of res1 stanc e against which the organism has

to fight as it gathers energy become stronger than
, ,
the latter then the living form dies A s the body takes
, .
'
in energy the nervous apparatuses constitute the me

dium for the transmutation of the ener gy into act iv i
ties .
Wm . O st wal d ( 1 85 3 Profes sor of P hys1 c al Chemi st ry at

1 p src
d
.
33
G
es c h c hte i der neuren euts c hen P hi losophi e it
se Heg el
pp
,
Si eb ert , .
30 2 3 5
- 0
.
52 REL I GI OUS P H ILOSOP HY
I t i s thus seen in the history o f thought that it wou ld
be impossible successfully t o relegate to the backgrou nd
the strong tendency to dynamism I t has been in this
.
type of philosophy that the scienti fic as well as the

everyday type o f mind has found most genuine sati s
faction C onfirmation O f thi s attitude i s seen in the
.
seeming fact that those systems have been lasting as

well as satis fyin g which have bee n built around an
energeti c conception I t is not strange then that
.
modern thought i s speakin g out defin itely in support of

an energ eti c interp retati on of reali ty .
C H A P TER III
THE DYN A M I C TRE N D IN M O D ERN
P SY C H O L O GY
The re is so much in modern psycholo gy which has

a strong bearing on the energy concept that no one
writing in this field would fail to mention the definite
current o f thought in contempo rary psychology set ,
t 1 ng I n the directi on O f an empha sis upon the will and

conative element in our mental li fe The se together
.
with the vol untaristic tendency o f thought the Freudian

,
wish the emphasi s placed upon feeling s elf regard

, ,
-
,
and fear all indicate a relation ship to an ene rgetic con

,
c ept ion o f reality which cannot be overlo oked .
I n the sea rch for the cause responsible for the pull
”
or urge which i s so evident in human nature the psy
“
,
c holog ist nat urally goe s into the realm of the mental
li fe for it is here that the fundamental element in all

,
activity is to be fo und Modern thought howev er is

.
, ,
not stopping with the intellect ; thi s seems to have had

its day This fact is very clear in Bergs on who in
.
trying to organi z e the delicate machinery o f the inner

li fe definitely relegates intellect to a s ubordinate place .
With him intellect seem s to be in a foreign field when

trying to deal with the li fe o f the body and mind In .
t ellec t is unable to get h old of li fe I t seems to be at

.
home in dealing with the inert ; always mechanically

applying the forms of unorganized matter H ere only .
53
54 RELIGIOUS P HILOSOPHY
doe s it seem t o find complete satisfaction I ntel lect .
S imply takes things as they are given to it and tries to

o rganize them When we come t o th ose things which
.
fl ow from the heart of the livin g we begin to talk in

terms o f behavior and give a primary place to instinct ,
impulse will
, .
We are not dealin g simpl y with that which enables

us to know thi ngs but with that something which i s
continually drawing to the yes side and no side o f li fe - -
,
as situations demand de c 1 3 1 ons I s thi s something due

-
.
to a mechanical or g anization o f our disposition s prede

t ermined at our very inception in li fe " O r i s it due
to or ganized persistent energy or endeavor c ha rac teris
tic of all li fe " Modern psychology believes the latter
t o be the case .
The school o f voluntarism wieldin g an impo rtant

‘
influence in psychology to day wil l have b ut little t o-

,
do w ith intellect puttin g emphasi s on the will i nstead

, ,
saying that in thi s we meet finality A s individual .
purposiveness characterizes all our actions the factor

“
guidin g to this end i s the will pla yi ng continuall y the,
volitional rOle peculiar to itsel f O ur inward ex peri .
e mees then controlled by the will and o f which we are

,
immediately co usc 1 ous reveal ultimat e reality and c on

,
st it ut e a willin g dynam1 sm .
Wun dt is an able representative O f this school of

thought which gi v es such a large pla c e to the will .
With him voluntary action 1 8 feeling In which the will

assert s itsel f The feelin g s Of each moment unite in
.
“
a S ingle total feelin g ; this total feelin g is the resultant

1 Perry The P res ent C onfl ic t of I
,
d eas , pp . 2 05 -2 1 0 ; 45 445 9
-
.
M OD E R N PSYC HOLOGY 55
volitional tendency Volition finds its causes in mo .
tives but for a motive t o be e ffective it mu st be asso

,
c iat ed with a willing sel f A nd s ince vo lition has its .
“
origin in internal processes it i s at once clear that
”
motive s m ust be internal psychical cau ses .
A ccording to Wundt the connate imp ulse roots it

sel f in an interplay of p sychical proce sse s as seen in ,
the action s o f a hungry infant Thi s imp ul se i s physio .
logical in its ultimate ba sis but springs di rectly from

p sychological conditions which may at any time inter
”
fere to modi fy its or iginal character Thu s we have .
3
in this psycholo gy an interpretation o f reality in which

the re is an underlyi ng energ etic p rincip le domina ting ,
the whole c ateg ory of lif e s ac tivi ti es

’
.
’
In James psycholo g y we also find much stress put
upon the w ill as an ultimate factor in the execution o f
purpo se H e would say that the tr 1 umph of a motive
.
or the realization o f a de s ire is due t o their being held
fast before the mind at the foc us O f consciou sne s s and

that this is accomplished by inhibiting all other ideas
-
competing for domination Thu s there i s much in real .
will power .
Bergson find s no s atis faction in a mechani stic in

t erpret at ion o f reality nor in a the ory of fi nalism
"L
.
A t ev ery turn in his sys tem we meet ac tivi ty bac k of ,
whic h is an energ eti c imp ulse With him mind is a

“
.
force working seeking to free itsel f from t rammels , x
and al s o to surpass itsel f to give first all it has and ,
2 Wund t Human and A ni mal P syc holog y, p 2 34

bi d p
, . .
3 " 40 1
B p
. . .
,
4 erg s on, Creative Evoluti on , . 87 .
( Trans lat ion by M i tc hell ) .
then somet hing more than it has Whe n speak in g .
o f mind he means above everything else conscious , ,
ness ; and to this he ascribes heavy responsibilities all ,
of an a ctive nature The most O bvious feature o f .
consciousness i s memory C onsciousness howev er .

, ,
not only retains the past but anticipates the future as

w ell I n the per formance o f these two primary func
.
tions its chief rOle is to decide to choo se B ergso n

, , .
feels that whether we c onsider the act which c on

sc iousness decrees or the perception which prepares the
ac t in either case consciousnes s appears as a f orce seek

,
in g t o a ssert itse lf in matter in order to get p os sessio n

” “
of it and turn it to its profit The ev olution of li f e .
6
,
from it s earliest origins up to man prese nt s to us the ,
image O f a current O f consciousnes s flowing against

matter determined to force for itsel f a subterranean
passage ” 7
.
With Ber gson consciousness cannot b e ex plained

apart from matter and vi c e vers a ; and even matter it ,
sel f he makes to be of an active type I n his Creative .
E voluti on he says that matter i s the inverse of c on

sc iousness While consciousness is action unceasingly
.
c reating and enriching itsel f matter i s acti on c on

t inually unmaking itsel f or usin g itsel f up
” 8
A cre .
ative co nsciousness i s continually striving against mat
ter . Thin g s have happe ned j ust as though an im

“
mense current O f consci ousness interpenetrated with ,
potentialities Of every kind had traversed matter to -
draw it towards organization and make it notwith ,
5 B erg son, M i nd -Energ y p 27 ( Translat i on by Carr )

I bi d p
. .
, .
6 22
1 bi d p
. . .
,
7
7 2
I bi d p 23
. . .
,
8
. . .
,
M OD E R N P SYC HOL OGY 57
standin g that it is n ecessity itsel f an instrument of ,
freedom I n seeking to account for the origin of

.
consciousness and matter he suggests that they both

have a common source .
A S we go dee per into B erg son s philo sophy the ques

’
tion naturally ar1 ses What is the secret o f this cease ,
less struggle " A nd then we learn that there must be ‘
an impulse drivin g it ( li fe ) to take ever greater and

“
greater risks toward its goal of an ever higher and

higher efficiency ” 1
H e explains this ultimate guid .
°
ing and developing element in Nature by what he calls

the vital or ori ginal impetus Thi s vital principl e .
c ont1 nually operates in a way very suggestive of the
energy co ncept A s generations of germ s come and

‘
go this impul se in the processes of evolution contin

, , ,
ues to abide Thus it i s fundamental to the formation

.
of variati ons and especially those new species which
are permanent A s variations begin to appea r they .
may become further and further from the original and

yet may in particular ways Show not only similarity ,
but identity as well the original impetus being respon

'
sible for the situation Thus B erg son s whole sys tem .
’
is s een to bedis tinc tively dynami c .
M c Doug all like James would mphasIZ e the will

, , e ,
saying that when two motives are competing for su

prem ac y the will is thr own on the side o f one O f them
“
which leads to a volitional decision ; we thus in some
way add to the energy with which the idea of the one
” u
desired end maintains itsel f in opposition to its rival .
9
Ibi d p 25
1 0 I bi d p
. . .
,
. 24
p
. .
,
11 M cDoug all S ocial Psyc holog y , , . 246.
58 REL IGIOUS P H ILOS OPHY
But M c Doug all feel s that there i s somethin g back of
all this and suggests that human activities both men ,
tal and bodily are only to be explained or understood

by tracing the m back to a number of innate disposi
tions tendencies to feel and act in certain more or less
,
specific ways in certain situations

,
like the simi
lar innate t endenc 1 es of t heanimals .
Thorndike in hi s Educati onal P sycholo gy Says

these innate tendencies t oo b ear the impetus and
means to their own improvement ”
Thi s makes them .
somewhat independent sel f directing and suppo rtin g

,
-
.
Thus we find many p sycholo g ists are po intin g t o the

field of instincts as havin g a vital c onnecti on with all
“
experiences maintaining that each instinct i s a great
,
source or spring o f the psycho physical energy that -
”
supports our bodily and mental activities .
I n modern P sycholo gy we also fi nd f b ein g

s el
stressed as the abidi n g entity Naturally then much .
i s made of the s elf reg arding sentiment A ccordin g

-
.
to Freud and his school in the heart of this sel f i s an

,
unburied wish which i s persistent imperishable and

, ,
un fulfilled This wish as a vitalistic element is s o per

.
sistent that it is co ntinual ly appealin g for a chance for

expression and i f thwa rted once will appear else
, ,
where again and again perhaps in a new form

, , .
Fundame ntal to all thought and activity i s this ev er

strivin g wi sh which i s inherited from one generati on
,
to another I nherited wishes

.
“
a re pulses of
energy and not or g anic structure C an the wish of .
1 2 M c Doug all S oc i al P s yc holog y

, ,
p .
385 .
M OD E R N P SY C HOLOGY 59
the parent arouse the same wish in the O ffspring " Y es ,
i f the wish is a pulse en ergy and not a structural prod

act The pulse which is a wish in consciousness pa sses
. ,
through the whole organi sm a ffecting every part to

some degree The child in the womb or undi scharged
.
sex cell would be s omewhat altered by the p ul se .
The child thu s receives the wi sh pulses ar ou sed by the

”
parent This wi sh the n i s an undyi ng energ etic
.
1 3
princip le running in the middle of the stream o f human

nature A S an active principle inherited from one
.
generati on t o another it reminds us somewhat of ,
B erg son s ori gin al imp etus which passes from one
’
generation of germ s to another and which we have ,
sugge sted as being very S imilar to the ac tivi ties of a

res tles s energ y .
Not Only the Freudian school but others as wel l

'
would root all these processes in the sex impulse In

'
.
the last few years there has been much of sex in

p sychological literature as seen in the w orks
,
o f Freud ,
H all E lli s and others Barton recognizing the re

, , .
'
,
lat ionship bet ween religion and adolescence s ays sex i s ,
the predominant source in religion A s a background .
of p roo f for this attitude re ference is made to the
genet ic account o f relation ship of sex to religion in

which it i s shown that the cu rve of conversion which
is the religi ous awak ening harmonizes with the i re ,
q ue n c y o f accession to puberty the peak for boys ,
coming at the age of sixteen and seventeen and for

gi rl s thirteen and fourteen .
But the fact as to whet her or not this innate ten

1 3
Patt en The M oni s t— A rti c le
, on t he D i vi dd
e Self .
60 REL IGI OUS P H ILOSO P HY
dency, this i nner strivin g this vitalistic pr1 nc iple wi th
,
its p rocesses roots down into the sex instinct does not
interest us so much here as the fact that much in mod
ern psychology in teachin g the presence of an innate
tendency i s leanin g toward a dynamic interpretation
,
of li fe and thus mak es its defini te c ontributi on t o the

,
es tablis hment of a relati ons hip between this field of

thoug ht and the energ y c onc ep t .
Even in the philosophy O f li fe itsel f as h i s bein g ,
lived by the multitud es t o day we meet a s train of the

,
energ y c onc ep t S uch terms as up and doin g wide

.
” “
,
“
” ” ” ”
awake ,
“
full of li fe on the g o
,
“
full of pep all ,
“
,
b espe ak li fe with a larg e expenditure of energy A nd .
this is p res ent day lif e The passive li fe is altogether

.
out o f harmony with the spiri t o f the times

‘
The .
gospel of to day 1 5 that of action .
R udolph Eucke n In his p hi losophy of activism i s the

apostle o f this type of thought H is works beamwith .
a dynamic interpretation of li fe P assivity is diamet .
ric ally opposed t o hi s idea of real li fe The individual .
’
who plays only a passive part in li fe s work not only
fails to make his expected contribution but fails in the
development of hi s own self We find ourselves only .
as we fight to work out our own salvation We cannot .
expect to
Be c arried t o t he sk ies
O n fl owery b eds of ease,
b ut must
F ight to win th e i
p z e,
r
A nd sail through b loody seas .

M O D E R N PSY C HOLOGY 61
We come to the full realization o f the beauty and

worth o f li fe only as the spiritual sel f triumphs over
the resistance which it meets in the world A ctivity
.
i s the only avenue through which one can take hi s

place in the world o f real values Thus a li fe full of
.
energy and organized toward right ends is reality it

sel f
.
SO we see that in the philo sophy of the past in c on

,
temporary psychology and even in the philosophy of

,
li fe there is strong support for the attitude of modern

:
science which i s definitely declaring its belie f in a

dynamic c onc ep ti on of reali ty
.
CH A P T ER I
THE S P I R ITUA L I N TE RPRET on

“
A I LoN
-
E N ER GY
I n the first part we out t o learn i f possible the

set , ,
identity o f that something which in the mid st o f un

c easmg ch ange continues to abide ; that something
,
—
which constitutes the ultimate essence of the world .
I t was seen that the search for ultimate reality was not
anything new but that the inquiry concernin g final
reality constitutes a strong current in the general
stream of philosophical endeavor Finally we came .
,
to the conclusion that that abiding something is energ y

and endeavored to show that fr om the standpoint o f
sc ience and philosophy the whole universe is to be
c onc eiv ed i n terms of energ y .
A lso it was seen that many o f the pro found thinkers

rec o niz ed a mysterious dynamic principle in Nature
g ,
and ascribed to it wonder ful possi bilities This ener .
get ic conception seemed to prevail until the seventeenth

century when a mechani stic interpret ation began to
predominate But science and philosophy seemingly
.
failed to find sati s faction in a cold dead mechanical , ,
system with the result that the dynamic conception o f

,
reality began to reappear receivin g a new emphasis

, ,
until to day s cience i s speakin g out boldly saying that

-
,
not only does dynamism jus tifiably tak e precedenc e

65
over mec hanical materialism but that reali ty i ts elf is
energ y .
T H EO RIE S OF E N ER GY
There are several theories o f energy as outlined by
C ooley in his book The P rincip les of S cienc e ,
( )1 E ner g y is given a place as substance be s ide

matter ; it is made to be a universal formative agency ,
.
Matter I S the means through and by which energy ac

complishes its purpose s the something which it shapes ,
.
This then is a dualistic attitude there being t wo sub

, , ,
—
stances energy and matter .
( ) The second eW makes matter the only sub

—
2 V l
stance and energy is simply the name representing its

,
activities Energetic phenomena are simply matter in

.
act i on So we call heat chemical a ffinity electricity

.
, , ,
etc di fferent forms of matter s activit ies

.
,
’
.
(3 ) We may think “
o f ener g y as the true funda
mental substance of the world and matter as one o f ,
its mode s it s more highly organized form This i s

, .
the conception embodied in the electronic theory of

matter or at least in one form o f it A ccording to
, .
'
that concept i on fundamental existence is essentially

— —
active a heaving ocean o f being but it is not active
matter; it is that more subtle wei ghtless agency which ,
W e call elec tric ity This which is the real agent in all
.
,
that goes on in the physical world the root of all nat ,
ural forces exis ts in the form o f more or less di screte

,
1
and extremely active units ( electrons ) Thus .
we may think of it as it sel f the one fundamental

1 C ooley The , Princ iples f
o S c i ence, pp . 1 2 6- 1 2 7 .
SPIRI T UAL I NT E RP RE T A T IO N OF E N E RGY 67
( physi cal ) existence mani fold in all forms ceaselessly

, ,
” 2
active in its nature .
I t is the third view which modern tho u ght i s coming

more and more to accept A nd the more we study the .
present scientific attitude the more are we a m azed at

the large field o f facts which the term energy is selected
to represent Thus it seems that at this time by way
.
,
of explanation it should be sai d that the word energy

,
with its e stabli shed meaning in our vocabula ry is really

not bi g enough to repre sent all that science mean s when
u sing the term S ince we are making energy stand for
.
s o much it wo uld be more satisfactory i f a new word

,
had been introduced into the list of scientific terms .
With the se facts in mind regarding the use o f the term

energy we now approach the immediate task of en
deavoring to interpret W hat seems to be the facts of its
inner content .
T H E S P I RIT U AL I I Y P OTH E SI S
Having reached the conclusion that reality is energy ,
we now want to know what this energy is O ur s is an .
ontological problem and naturally leads u s in our in

uiries into an attempt to obtain a critical understand
q
ing o f what being really is Apparently the old “
,
philosophers were satisfied to say that reality was

earth air fire water etc and be i ng j ust pioneers in
, , , , .
,
the field o f scientific investigation could not with posi

“
tive assurance get close to the heart of their problems .
S cience to day is past the place where it IS willing to

-
take very much for granted and i s dissatisfied unle s s it

2 Ibi d .
,
p . 1 28 .
68 REL IGIOUS P H ILOS OP HY
can get on the inside of its investigated subj ects .
With the model s o f the centuries at hand and with

accu mulated insight and improved scientific methods ,
we have a right to expect a scientific progress com

mensurate with the advantages which the present en
j oys in relation to the past S o we must not stop
, .
with the general concept of energy but inquire c on

c ermng l t S qualitative aspects .
S ince science to day i s operatin g on the assumptio n

-
that energy 1 8 that element fundamental to all forms o f

existence and which repre sents the final analysis of
all things it is logical for us t o adopt the short cut
,
-
method and simply knock at the door o f chemi stry and

physics and ask What is energy "
,
We g o to the physicist and ask him fo r a definition

of matter and he t ell s us it is an aggre gation of elec
“
tric charges ”
I f we ask for a definition o f energ y he
. .
says it is the capacity for doin g work and i f urged

”
to be more concrete he may say it i s force times the

di stance .
”
Then i f we as k for a de fi nition of reality
we are told that that does not belon g to physics b ut to
another field of thou ght philosophy , .
Thus we make the discovery that the scientist c on

cerns himsel f very little with our side o f the problem .
H e deals with ener gy chiefly i n its quantative aspe cts

and is not as persistent in hi s endeavor to make a quali
t ativ e anal ys i s I t seems that the interest of scienc e
.
in thi s latter phase is measured and determined by the

amount of philosophy which happens t o b e therein .
“
Who or what moves bodies in the sense of a gency
,
or potency is for scie ntific purposes a negli g ible ques

,
tion . I n dealing with energy the end o f the physi

” 3
cist and chemist are met primarily in the mathemat ic o

relationships .
I n our st udy of the energy concept we are interested ,
in this problem from a qualitative standpoint The .
”
“
number length breadth vol ume interval etc will
, , , , , .
,
not su ffi ce for our purpose ; nor i s it satis factory to

stop with saying that things behave thu s and so as they
are infl uenced by certain cause s We want to go .
deeper than this and kno w why and how the se “ “
cau ses Operate A nd sm ee our immediate obj ective i s

.
‘
to analyze reality qualitatively we have a goal there , ,
fore which is very di fferent from that which could be

,
reached by means of mathematical science .
I n probing into the question concernin g the attri
bute s o f ener gy w e read with great interest in de ,
Tunz elmann s P roblem of the Univers e the s tate

’
,
“
ment that the concept o f the ether has led us to the
conclusion that energ y is a more fundamental concept
than either ether or matter I t is therefore more fun
.
dament al than the concept o f mas s s o that the indicated ,
path of progress is not the remodeling o f our repre

s c utation in order to make it capable o f simpler ex
pression in terms o f a system of dynamics in which
ma ss was regarded as fundamental What we have t o .
contemplate is in my opinion the remodeling o f our

, ,
system of dynamics on the basi s of energy in the place

of mass We may then beg in to c ontemp late the ulti
.
mate p os sibili ty of a future remodeling in whic h mind

3
P erry Pres ent P hi los ophi c al Tendenc ies p 5 3
, , . .
70 RELIGIOUS P H ILOS OP HY
w ill rep lac e energ
y as the f undamental bas is of the
p hysic al s c heme .
”
Chamberlain lends emphas is to this attitude in s ay

ing that an immeas urably hi gher evol uti on t han that
“
now reach ed with attainment s be yond p resent compre

,
hension i s a rea sonable ho pe

,
The fo rec a st o f an eon .
o f intell ectual and S piritual developmen t comparable

in magnitude to the prolonged physi cal and biotic evo
lution s lends to the total view o f eart h hi sto ry great -
” 5
moral s ati s faction .
A lso P erry says I f it i s impossible to con strue t he

, ,
wo rld in term s o f thought or in term s o f moral li fe ,
t h ere yet remai ns a f urt her conception complete ,
enou gh to embrace these and every other po s sible

value— the concepti on o f a uni ver s al spiritual li fe that
shall be infini t ely variou s and in fi nitely ri ch Thes e .
attit udes p oi nt t o the s ome p oss ible c onc ep tion of real ~
i ty; they s tress the s p irit c oncep t .
S ince ,
we have s uggested be fore phy s ical science
as ,
offers no ans w er to our legi ti mate demands for a quali
t ati v e interpretati on o f ener gy w e are therefore forced ,
to make our own hypo thesis respecting its inne r na

tur e ; and are enco uraged by th e tendency of modern
t hought as menti oned above to ch am on a belie f in
, , m
th e hyp othe s is whi ch says that ene rg y is of a s pi ritual ,
p syc hical na ture .
Thi s hypothesis is what in phi losophy is c all ed

s pirituali sm and gains for its s upport whateve r
,
4 de Tunz elmann Prefac e t o The E lec tri cal Theory and t he

pp
,
P rob le m of the U nivers e 1 5 -1 6 ( It ali cs ar e mi ne ) .
d p
. .
,
5 C hamberlai n and Salis b ury, I ntro uc t ory G eolog y . 684 .
d p
,
6 P erry , Pr es ent P hilos ophic al Ten enc ie s, . 1 53,

s trength there i s In this system of belie f There are .
many impo rtant facts in philo sophy with which spirit

ualism is in harmony and who se p roblems thi s theo ry
help s to sol ve While on the other hand any theory

.
,
which Oppo ses these out standing fact s or leaves them

without explanation mu st in its very nature be looked
,
upon as incomplete I n the approach t o thi s part o f

.
our ta sk o urs is a virgin field We repeat while

, .
,
science is looking upon re ality as ene rgy it o ffer s no
qualitat i v e i nterpretation of energy Thi s being true .

,
the spirit uali stic hyp othesi s as such is legitimate and

, , ,
since it will be verified as far as it explain s things
which need explanatio n can dem and a re spectful hear

,
i ng .
THE S P I R IT U AL H Y P OT H E SIS A N D TH E C RE ATIVE IDE A
I n the first place a spiritual interpretation o f reality

,
help s to s olve the problem o f creation There is a .
prevailing notion In modern thought that creation is

not a fi ni shed fact a thing of the past but as a prin
, ,
c iple inhe re s in the li fe of the pre s ent

“
Traces o f evi .
dence are lately beginn i ng to come into view which ,
are highly suggestive of continuous pre sent day c rea

tion of matter at the inorgan i c level and of creation ,
” 7
of li fe from inorganic material s at the organic level .
A creative workmanship seems to be characteri stic o f ,
all Nature underlying which is a dynamic energeti c

, ,
p ri nciple This vital creative i mpulse is continually

.
,
reaching its obj ective I t i s not strange then that in

.
, ,
the recent movements o f thought we should meet repre
7 Moore The Orig i n

, and N a ture of L ife, p .
31 .
sentat ives of creative evolution c reative synthesis c re , ,
ative intelligence I t seems there i s no fact in modern

.
phi losophy which looms up quite so large as the crea

tive idea But in thi s incess ant li fe of continuous c rea
.
tion there must be more than an interplay o f mechani

c al agencies A c reative ac tivi ty i s difiicult to c onc eive
.
ap art from s p iri t .
T H E S P I R IT U A L H Y P OT HES IS A ND V IT AL ISM
Ag ain we have seen

,
how
general i s the stream of
vitali s m which run s through philosophical and sc ientific
thought It holds a prominent place in the histo ry of
.
thought b ecause there are stron g evidences of it in

N at u re I f ther e are remarkable evidences o f a vitali s
.
tic prin c iple in Nature we are j ustified in believin g it

” “
to be there Even the naked eye reveals t o us Natu re
.
thro bbing with a ferve nt li fe I n fact we have con .
cluded that reality is energy C an we think of a vital .
istic principle rooting itsel f in mechanism " H ardly so .
N or can we conceive of vitali sm out of relatio n to

spirit H istory and personal experience have clearl y
.
”
shown that a me chanical letter of the law program “
k ills whi le it is the spirit which gi ves li fe Interpret

, .
i ng energ y sp iri tually s eems to furnis h the only ex plan

ati on for the p res ence of the vi talis ti c element i nherent
in N ature .
The mechanistic interpretation may satis fy in a

limited way b ut unless spirit i s posited b ack of all
thi s it is impossible to b eat dow n the tro ublesome
,
question Whence came thi s great piece of smo othly

,
—
workin g machinery the universe " H ere the me
SPI RI T UAL I NT ERP RE T A T IO N OF E N E RGY 73
c hanic al materialist although applying his interest in

,
tensively to other task s ,takes things as he finds them

and ask s no questions I t is genuinely inconsistent
.
and unsatis factory t o pass up the problem of or i gi n i n

thi s way ; it smack s too much o f incompleteness .
T HE S P I R IT U AL H Y P OT H E SIS AND T E LE OLOGY
I n ob serving the harmonious relationship s charac

teriz ing the activities of the universe most thinke rs
"
,
are inclined to say with Tennyson ,
“
Y et, I d oubt not through ges
t he a , one i nc reasing purpose
”
runs .
And H ender son

peaking as a bio chemist in the
,
s -
Order of N ature stresses the impossibility of ignoring

f
,
the fac t that there is a purposive tendency in things

r .
The evident expression of intelligence which is met ,
everywhere has been explained by many as a teleolog i

cal provisi on on the part of a great Desi gner There .
is evidence of teleology in Nature but the old system ,
of teleolo gy is not satisfactory because it makes God,
too much of a transcendent Being R ealizing that the .
kingdom of heaven is within us m odern thought is ,
making him les s of a sk y God and is giving him his

ri ghtful place in the very hea rt of li fe H e i s not only .
tr anscendent but is immanent as well I t IS i nc onceive .
able that a ruling K in g should be living outside hi s
Many teleologists are thus m odi fying their attitud e

some what and are advocating w hat might be called an
74
; REL IGIOUS P H ILOS OP HY
immanent teleolog y . The p roblem o f an intellig ent
p rincip le g ui ding all ex is ting f orms to the hig hes t ends
p ossi ble eas ily finds i ts s olution in a spiri tual sys tem
,
of reali t
y .
T HE S P I R IT U A L H Y P O T HE SIS A ND EVO L U TI O N
Then too a spiritualistic program help s with the

, ,
p roblem o f evolutio n I t is a well known. fact that the -
di scovery of thi s theory has revolutioni zed science .
Modern thought is strongly inclined to a be lief in crea

tive evolution and this principle bein g true its cause
, ,
can hardly be found in a cold system of materialism .
G enerally speakin g there seems to be a mi ssmg link

,
in evolution I f one is wil lin g to stay on the outside

.
and simpl y take facts as they c ome then probably a , \
general mech anical theory o f evolution will su ffice .
There are those who would follow in the footstep s

of H obbes an d apply a mechanical interpretatio n even
to the facts o f the mind thus reducing all mental phe
,
nomena to a system o f physics But this method would.
force us to live in a li feless ag e similar for instance , , ,
to that outlined in P earson s Grammar of S cienc e ’

.
A nd al so a system such as this f ail s to account

,
for the richness and reality of hum an expe riences N 0 .
human b ein g would b e satisfied t o live in a w orld

"
which could o ffer only hypothese s Thus we cannot .
afford unreservedly to adopt a system which can o nly

“ ”
say it happens so every time mere ch ance and then , ,
stop Wi th that .
The evolution of pro g ress can find no j ustificatio n

in the realm o f c han c e ; nor c an it be explained by a
SPI RI T UAL I NT E RP RE T A T IO N OF E N ERGY 75
system of mechanism I t is when we p lac e sp iri t at

.
the bottom of the whole ev olutionary p roc es s tha t ev o

luti on bec omes more reas ona ble and c omp lete; and a
s atisfac tory ex p lanati on of i ts inner w orking is
f or w e hav e thus introduc ed the p ossi bili t

y f
o a vi talis
C HAP T E R II
HIS T O R I CA L SU P P O R T FO R TH E S P I R IT UA L
T HE O RY
E ar ly in our work a study was made of the philo s

ophy of those men in who se s ystems could b e found a
stron g dynamic element the purpo se bein g to sho w

,
that from the beg i nn i n g of phi losophic al inquiry an

ener getic interpretation of reality has characterized
ma tr of the strongest systems N ow we shall pas s in

i
x
w
.
revie some of th ose writers who se conception s are

distinctively sp i r i tual confirmin g our attitude that
‘
many of the be st students w orkin g with the pro blem

o f re ali y interpret it spiritually thus helpin g to estab
’
t ,
lish the hypothesi s that ener gy operates as a spiritual

for c e .
LE I B NIT Z
In Lei b nitz phi losophy we h ave what is perhaps the

’
most elaborate spiritual system ever formulated His .
interpretation o f reality has al ready been presented ,
b ecause of its dynamic energetic qualities suggestin g

, ,
a c lose relationshi p to the energ y concept A s our .

'
immediate int erest now has to do with the qualitative

aspects of thi s concept his theory i s re stated some
,
-
what in detail from the angle of its spiritual i mport

,
.
L eibni tz res olves everything i nto c enters of psychic ,
sp iri tual force whi c h are without p arts exte nsion or ,
76
S UP POR T F O R THE SP I RI T UAL T HEORY 77
form and are indivi sible and immaterial I n the Atom .
ism of that day these l ittle units we re material but wi th

L eibnitz they were dis tinc tively s pi ri tual The s e s im .
“
”
ple substanc es cons tit ute ultimate reality ; they differ
1
from each other in quality but not in quantity each ,
being sel f suffi c ient and a little w orld unto it sel f This
-
.
i s s ome what similar to the modern idea o f the atom

which el se where we have likened to an independent lit
tle s olar system .
Not only are the highe st types of being concerned ,
but the very substance of all reality is found in the s e

psychical spiritual units The low est classification i s
,
.
to be found in minerals pl ant s etc and here the cen

, , .
,
ter s o f force are called monad s H ere we meet percep .
tion ju s t the same but it is not c lear or conscious the

, ,
grade o f thought being something like a stupor A l s o .
here as i n all forms o f being each monad has in it sel f

a p rinciple of striving to a higher condition o f activity
or perception The clear ne s s of perception is not o nl y
.
proportionate to the acti v ity o f the monads but condi

tions their grade or cla ssification The con f used per .
cept ion o f the lo west s tate is illustrated by the w ave
sounds o f the sea ; we kno w that each wave make s it s

individu al contribution to the gene ral so und yet it i s ,
imposs ible to perceive them separately the attempt re ,
sulting in con fused perception This is the charact eris

.
tic thought li fe o f minerals and plants .
“ ”
The psychical simple s ubstance s fundamental in
, ,
all Natu re whose perception is more distinct and as

,
soc iated with feeling and memory are called soul s .
Memory which is the sign of consciousness i s the di f

1 L tta L e ib ni tz : t
a , he M onad olog y p 22 1 fi ,
.
’
.
78 R EL IGIOUS P H ILOS OP HY
ferentiating fa ctor between the lowest types o f b ei ng

and anima l li fe .
H uman bein g s have a clear pe rception and thus live

i n a hi gher scale of b ein g H avin g reason and know l
.
ed ge they can come to a knowled g e of themselves and

,
even of G od This quality in man i s called rati onal

.
soul or mind There i s j ust one Being who

.
experien c es the full power of perception G od who is , ,
infinite and absolutely per fect Thus we see the whole .
universe to be alive with thought the pr i nciple o f per ,
c ept ion prevailin g from the most insignificant thin g up
to God .
I n his Monado logy then L ei b nitz has built up a

vast closely woven system of spiritualism A ll reality
,
.
’
root s it self in ps ychical c enters of force These while in .

,
—
dividually sel f suffi c ient together constitute all Nature
,
.
I n the smallest portion of matter there is a large group

o f these active livin g monads
,
Each portion of mat .
“
ter may b e con c eived as like a garden full of plants

and like a pond full of fishes But each branch o f .
every plant each member of every animal each drop

, ,
of it s liquid parts is als o some such g arden or pond

” 2
.
E ach livin g body has its central or rulin g monad

‘
T he n each member of this livin g bod y i s full of livin g

cr eatures clusterin g about a central mo nad or s oul .
These little particles surroundin g the ruling sou l c on

t inually b ut slowly change thus never giving the soul
,
an enti r e ly new body while the soul itself does not

,
c hange The central monad is always associated with

.
s ome su c h body o f ch angin g creatur es God b ein g the ,
2
Lat ta, Lei bni tz : the M onadolog y, p . 2 56 E .
SUPPOR T F O R THE S P IRI T UAL T HEORY 79
only S pirit free from a b ody N o matter then to what

.
form s o f being we might appeal s piri tual c enters of ,
f orce are f ound to be fundamental to all reali ty .
HE GE L
I n H egel s philosophy everything is spirit ; spirit is

’
everything .
”
The ulti mate es sence o f the univ ers e, i ts
true found in this s elf op erating inner spiri t
reali ty is -
,
ual p rincip le whic h i s fundam ental to all N a ture .
S pirit find s expre s s i on in three forms subj ective ob , ,
jec t ive, and absolute, c overing the entire field of ac tiv

ities .
The subj ecti v e spi rit strives through the power of

the will to bri ng the spiri tual li fe of the individual to
that place o f exp er i ence where i t is free and independ
ent of i ts environment and is not satisfied until it
,
r eaches the goal o f its ambition The obj ective spirit .
is ident ical with the spiritual li fe finding expression in

the everyday pha se s and functions of li fe H ere the .
wi ll a s se rts it self in the forms and customs common

-
to human relationships I n a particular institution

.
,
for instance we have a single mani festati on o f the all

,
pervading spirit The absolute spirit is the blending of

.
the subj ective and obj ective spirit H ere we hav e an .
active uni fying consciousne s s absolute reality itsel f

, ,
.
A ll di fferences between subj ective and obj ective ex

p e rience s fade away This . sel f a s sertive ab s olute -
,
sp irit moves up into satisfi ed realiz ation chiefly through

the forms a fforded by the fi elds o f art religion and , ,
philo sophy .
80 REL IGIOUS P HILOS OP HY
W U NDT
Wundt has built up a system o f idealism which re ,
mind s us somewhat o f L eibnitz theory of monads ’

.
Leibnitz made hi s monads centers o f perception while

Wundt makes his units o f will H ere we do not hear .
so much ab out matter substance mind and soul but

, , , ,
speak in term s o f ideas psyc hical proc es se s will units

, , .
His whole sys tem is built around the ac tivi ti es of the

wi ll for i t is the
, only thi ng of w hi c h w e are defini tely
“
s ure . There i s absolutely nothing outside of man ,
nor in him which he can call fully and wholly his own
, ,
”
except his will .
A ll experiences clu ster about the will not because ,
there is an external initiating force but because in the ,
will and only in the will itsel f there i s a S p ontaneity

of activity which i s responsi b l e for all relat ionships .
The organization o f activities toward end s o riginates ,
and is sustained by the psychi c al processes repre sentin g
the will .
God i s the universal Wil l and its o b j ectivation i s

the realiz ation o f itsel f in the will units of the world ,
in which there is an opposition o f activity and pas

sivit y constituting ultimate reality I t i s o nly as
,
.
every will is related to wills that thi s reciprocal rela

t ionshi p i s obtained and it i s only in these recipr ocal
experiences which offer an explanation for the pas
,
sive state that we have re ality

,
.
S C H O P E N HA U E R
To get S ch openhauer s idea of the qualitative as
’
pec t s o f reality we must understand wh at an impo rtant

S UPPOR T F O R THE SP I RI T UAL T HEORY 81
place he gives to will H e would say the very ess ence

.
_
of lif e is the wi ll This principle will is inhe rent and

.
dominant not only in man but in all things I t is the .
guiding driving force in the general process o f evolu

,
tion I n the principle o f selection which seems to be

.
operating all the time it is the will which causes cer

,
tain parts o f the organi sms to g row and adj ust them
selves for particular duties while at the same time al
lowing others to die For instance some animal s are
.
,
equipped with in st ruments for fig hting and killing be ,
cause that i s what they will to do The will not only aids .
in the organization o f the organisms but enj oys a pre

exi stence in relation to them A mid all tho s e things .
which come and go it is the abiding fact A ll thin gs

,
.
are the pr oduct of the will The world i s but this .
principle realizing it s great ends The will is much .
greate r than the phenomenal world which is j ust the

obj ect o f thought ; it i s greater than thought which is
simply it s by product Thi s s trivi ng princip le then
-
.
,
whic h is reali ty for S c hop enhauer mus t be g iven a s et ,
ting i n sp iri tualism far above everything that p artak es

of the ma terial .
PLA To s
’
IDE ALISM
The philosophy of P lato is presented at this time in

our study of energy not because it i s energetic but
,
because his elaborate system of ideali sm m ake s a large

c ontribution toward the unfolding o f our immediate
—
problem sho wing that reality i s to be interpreted
spiritually
i
.
In P lato the first and greates t idealist we meet an

, ,
82 R EL IGIOUS P H ILOSOP HY
exalted and b eauti ful s ystem which believes there are

higher realities than matter and motion and the w orld
o f sense per c eption P lat o points up A ristotle
.
“
,
”
down . Most fundamental in hi s philosophy is the
search for ultimate and absolute v al ues the abidin g ,
and unchanging elements in the flux of phenomena

‘
.
Plato believed with Brown i ng that there i s a right

ever ri ght and a wrong ever wron g .
True knowledge does not come to us by way of the

senses S uch knowledge o ften being dec eiving is
.
, ,
simply opinion The highest type the scientific comes

; , ,
fro mthe mind through thought and reason Matter .
is not the reali ty of the world P lato would say with .
James that the world of wind and weather is not the

real world O utside the s c op e of the s ens es is another
’
realm a s p iri tual w orld the realm of i deals of values

, , ,
.
.
I t is po ssible for us torise above the world o f shadows

into this realm o f bein g into the re al world of ideas ,
.
With P lato ideas only are real ; all el se i s simply ap

,
p e aranc e These
. ideas are incorpor eal immaterial but , ,
are hardl y psychical or spiritual according t o the mod

ern interpretation of these terms ideas belon g ing to ,
even a higher state of being than the ps ychical or spirit

ual H e would place the psychical functi ons in the
.
world of Becoming and would place ideas in th e realm

o f Bei ng I deas are not necessarily in the mind but
.
are essenc es ideals the highest and best being thos e

, ,
of the G ood I n this program 8 1 6 0 s i s that somethin g

.
which science has been eagerly str i v i n g to kn ow real ,
ity itsel f The world of t rue reality is but never be

“
.
co mes ; the wor ld of relative reality bec omes but never

SUPPOR T FO R THE SP I RI T UAL T HEORY 83
The unfathomable depth of human personality is

essentially P lato s doc trine
’
Reality is divine and the
.
soul i s akin to it The S o ul is a simple incorporeal

.
,
being belonging both to the world of ideas and the

world o f sen suous material change but belongs pri ,
marily to the higher world I t i s the principle o f li f e

.
and motion .
H ence Plato is considered the father of idealism and ,
as over against mechanical force he makes intelligence ,
to be the real moving power in the world Thi s place s .
him in the for efro nt o f those who have taught the pres
ence o f the i nv i s i ble so ul operating in Nature and who
-
,
have given an interpretation of reality diametrically

opposed to materiali sm .
S YST EM S P A R TIALLY S P I R IT U A LISTI C
There are four import ant systems of thought which

probably have no definite place in a program who se
chie f immediate interest is in trying to show that all
things are o f a spiritual nature even the very world o f
,
“
material phenomena ”
— A ristotle the S toics De s , ,
cartes and K ant Especially is this true of the S t oics

, .
who were really materialists and o f Desca rtes with

whom mind and matter are equally real A nd while
m
.
the s e sy stems by no eans make spirit all o f reality

,
and cannot even approach being clas sified as spiritualis

tic we mention them here parenthetically to sho w
, , ,
how unable were the leaders in these schools o f thought

to complete thei r systems without giving a real place “
’
to spirit Thi s is particularly true o f K ant s philosophy
.
,
but let us first examine A ri stotle .

A R IST O TL E
To understand A rist otle s philosophy o f reality it is ’
necessary to know his meaning o f gbvx nb e c ause it is

l
to thi s that he g ives supreme place in all li fe and

'
activity With him zpvx n ( breath ) is m or e than we

.
mean by soul ; it really represents what i s wrapped

up in the terms L i fe and Mind and we have no Eng ,
lish word which can r epresent the combined thought .
S ometimes i t i s called Vital P rinciple sometimes S oul ,

.
Thi s Vital P rinciple though there is j u st one has its

, ,
representation in every part of the body I t and the .
body are not one but th ey so relate the mselves to

,
each other as to constitut e a unity A s L i fe fi nds its .
highe st expression in Mind so the chie f characteristic ,
of the S oul or Vital P rinciple is thought .
This Vi tal P rincip le is the ess ence of Life I t is the .
original reality o f a natural body endowed with po

t ent ial li fe . I f then there be any general formula
for every kind of Vital P rinci ple it is—the primary
reality o f an organism ” 3
I t i s a vitalizing influence
.
,
not only holding the body together but constitutin g the

energy o f the body Thi s is true not only of man but
.
also of all animals and pl ants as well I n pl ants and .
all such s imple organisms the Vital P r i nc i ple i s of a
lower de g ree o f vitality A ristotle was not sure .
whether this S oul experiences sel f activity or is moved -
by some outside force but i f the latter b e true the ,
operati on of the outside influenc e i s p o ssible only

t hrough the sensations as a medium So w e find his .
3 A ri s tot le, Lewes, p . 23 1 .

SUPPOR T F O R THE SP I RI T UAL T HEORY 85
bv
g x }
r the breath of li fe ,
as a
“
p rimary reali ty, to
be not only dynamic but als o s pi ri tual .
ST O I C S
E ven i n the S toics a spiritual strain i s seen running

through thei r idea o f the real I n matter we find .
S pi rit ; in the world God I n fact the world and God

, .
seem to constitute something o f an identity G od being ,
a vital element pervading all things the very S oul o f ,
the world God however i s not made to be so gen

.
, ,
eral as to rule out hi s individual consciousnes s B e .
tween all things en j oy i ng a con s ciou s soul li fe the re

i s a definite relation ship clo ser than that which they
,
experience with lower typ es of creation The S toic s .
would not only say that everything outside o f G od is

his body but that all the s e things came from his own
s el f and thither will return again God being a soul .
,
then eve rything c an be traced in its or i g i n to a so ul

life and mu
,
s t p artak e s omew ha t of the
q uali ti es of the
g re a t S p iri t .
D ES C AR T E S
With D escartes the fundamental principle is con

scious tho ught H e seems to have brushed all el se
.
,
aside as uncertain and gave to philo sophy a new start

ing point H e would say we cannot build our sy st em
.
o f philosophy on things external which we do not

know O nly those things which are clearly and dis
.
“
t inc t ly
perceived are true C ogito ergo sum I — ,
think there fore I am The fact that I think establishes

, .
the thinker as a certainty Even i n doubting we have .
evidence o f a thinkin g doubt er We can doubt every .
thing else but not the doubter of which we are certainl y ,
conscious Thus consciousness becomes the criterion

.
o f k nowledge and the think ing p s yc hic al being is the

, ,
only c ertain, and the mos t real, thing in all the world.
Thus according to Descartes the success ful search for

real values ultimate reality leads into the field o f
, ,
p sychical interpretation .
KA NT
A t first K ant s phi losophy seem s to b e a system o f

,
’
mere phenomena We begin with the presuppositio n

.
that the real thin gs of the world are those which are
“
obj ects of sense We find then that these are phenom

.
ena only I t i s soon seen however that K ant i s not

.
, ,
willing to stop here S ince the mind is not satisfied

.
with less than a complete whole and since knowled ge

does not give this to us we are compelled to base our ,
hopes on an investigation of moral consciousness In .
this search K ant is led t o feel sure that back o f phe

nomena there i s a w orld of ultimate realityand his in
v estig at ion into the nature and limit s of kno w ledge
sho ws to him the possibi lity Of a noumenal sel f which

i s free and untrammeled H e calls thi s the thin g i n .
“
itsel f ( D in g an sich ) th at something which i s le ft

”
,
after everythin g with which the senses and kn owledge

hav e to do is brushed aside A lthough it can be in
‘
t erpret ed only by a divine intelli g ence we know ther e

SUPPO R T F O R THE SP IRI T UAL T HEORY 87
is a thing in itself because there must be an obj ective

something which cau ses our sen sations The fact that .
we may not understand no umenal things doe s not at

all exclude the possibility o f their exi stence .
What is this noumenal s omething thi s thing in it ,

“
”
self which lie s beyond the wo rld of sen se and kno wl
edge " Is it the I think which as an act o f spon
” “
” 4
t aneity cannot possibly be due to sense
, and which ,
because o f its spontaneous acti v ity is the only thing ,
to which we may possibly attribute noumenal

” 4
reality " I s it the will which with K ant is the only
absol utely good thing inthe world and which is good
-
beca se it
u w i lls to be good The se t wo the I think
"
,
and the will are identi cal for to both he attributes the,
qualities o f complete noumena Thi s spontaneo us .

“
activity the I think of the C ritique o f P ure Reason is

,
‘ ’
nothing e lse than the autonomous Will ( final reality )

of the Metaphysic o f Morality and the later
“
C ritiques ”
A nd it is in the doctrine of the p rimacy
.
5
of the will we meet the real K ant ; with him the will
stand s for absolute values Thus wi th K ant the realm .
of real thing s reac hes beyond the world of ma terial
p henomena into the richer world of psychical relati on

,
s hips .
B ERGSON
We now come to Bergson and find him teaching a
sy stem o f philosophy which o ffers genuine support to
a spiritualistic program I n the first P art it was found
.
4 Wat s on s S elec ti ons from K ant p 65

’
W p
. '
,
5 Sc hreib er K ant s Theor P m f h i ll 28
.
y f
’
, o the ri acy o t e , . .
88 REL IGI OUS P H ILOSOP HY
that Ber gson introduced into hi s conception of reality
a dynamic element which he called the vi tal imp etus .
A t that time we were satisfied with the disco very o f

thi s sing le fact but now we want to get his idea o f
,
thi s vitali stic quality which is so fundamental to life .
S o from a qu alitative stan dpoint we shall probe deeper

“
into his phi losophy o f reality to see i f it is not of a

psychical o rder .
I n his Creativ e E volution is met the belie f that

ev ery moment br i ngs somethin g ne into exis tence
“
‘
w .
R eality appears as a c easeless up springing o f some -
thing new which has no sooner arisen to make the p res

,
” 6
ent than it has already fallen back int o the past .
L i fe i s one cont i nuou s process of Bec omin g ; it i s a “
tendency and the ess ence Of a tendency i s t o develop in

,
the form o f a shea f creating by its very growth di , ,
vergent directions amon g which its impetus is di

” 7
vided .
Fundam ental in thi s proce ss of development is the

or i g i nal impetus of li fe which passes fr om one genera
tion of germ s to another This is the inner directing .
principle the ultimately real factor that drives all

,
things to an activity and not only carries li fe but is the .
essence of all li fe Thi s vital principle takes matter .
and shapes it L i fe had to enter thus into the habit s

.
“
of inert matter in order to draw it little by little mag ,
net iz ed as i t were to another track

,
The animate ,
.
forms that first appeared were there fore of extreme -
simplicity They w ere pro b ably tiny mas ses o f scarcely

.
di fferentiated pr otoplasm outward ly resemblin g the ,
6 Creative Ev oluti on p .
47 .
7 I bi d p 99
,
. . .
,
l SUPPO R T F O R THE SP I RI T UAL T HE ORY 89
amoeba ob servable t o day but posse ssed of the t remen ,
d ou s internal p ush tha t was to raise them e v en to the

highest form s o f li fe That in virt ue o f thi s push the .
fir st organi sms sought to grow as m uch as po s sible ,
” 8
seem s likely But the matter with which the o ri g i
.
nal impet us has to work is not a hard cold s ub stance ,

.
Cha racte rized by a tendency an a scending move

” “
,
ment matter find s it sel f su sceptible to the guiding

, ,
shapin g influence o f the vital impetus .
I n trying to find an image that w ill give us an idea

o f thi s impetu s Bergson has to leave the phy si cal world
and go to the p sychical C on sciousne ss becomes for .
him the motive principle in all development H e says .
that i f our analysis is correct it is con scio usne ss or

“
, ,
rather supra con scio usne ss that i s at the origin o f

-
,
li fe ”
. C onsciou sness then which i s real li fe is the
9
, ,
repre sentation o f that vital p rinciple which pervades

all things We are told that there is a conscio usne ss
.
s lumberi ng in instinct which i f finding expre ss ion

~
thro ugh kno wledge instead o f action would reveal to

us the deepe st secret s o f li fe I n his C reative E v olu .
ti on we hea r him say that real duration is to be

”
found in the realm o f li fe and consciou sness and in
hi s I ntroduc ti on to M etap hys ics he say s that real “
duration is of a psychical nature Thus we are not .
surp ri sed to hear him say that in reality li fe i s of the “

,
psychological order and it i s o f the e s sence of the ,
psychical to en fold a confused plurality of interpene

t rating forms
”
I n summing up it can be said that
.
“
he see s as the mystic s ees that the Elan Vital is the ,
energ y o f one Being which makes matter its means o f

8 Ibi d .
,
p .
99 .
9 Ibi d .
,
p . 257 .
m ani festation its vehicle its too l H e sees that the
, , .
p roc ess of B ec oming is a sp iri tual p roc ess of as c en

” 1°
s i on .
C orroboration o f this interpretation o f Ber g son is

found in the P re fac e to C arr s translation of M ind ’
Energ y A fter saying that Bergson went over the

.
material very care fully with him in order to give the

translation the same authority as the original French ,
C arr then says that the separate articles here collected

“
and selected are c hos en by M B erg s on wi th the .
vi ew of illus trating hi s c onc ep t that reali ty is funda
mentally a sp iri tual ac tivi ty ”

.
1 1
EU C K E N AN D ROY C E
In and R oyce we have two men w

E ucken ho have
strongly represented a philosophy o f spirituali sm , both
of whose systems have a di stinctly reli gi ous bent .
R oyce is convinced that true real ity is sp i ritual in it s

nature and that the ultimate ground o f thing s i s an
et ernal divine world order
,
From the constant i n
-
.
“
t erac t ion o f minds he in fers the existence o f an eternal ,
” 1 2
divine being which is spiritual and eternal R oyce .
“
thinks we have no right whatever to speak o f really
unconscious Nature but only of unc ommunic ative Na
i
”
ture and when we deal with Nature we deal wi th a
,
“
vast re alm of finite consc i ousness of whi ch our ow n

” 3 1
is at once a part and an example .
1° Si nc lai r, D efens e of I ealis m d p . 2 88 ( Itali c s are mi ne ) .
d En p
.
,
11 Carr, P refac e t o B erg son s M i n
’
-
erg y, . v .
( It ali c s are
mi ne )
d c pp
.
12
" erus ale m , I n ro u ti on to P hi los ophy
t . I 50 - 151 .
The Worl and the In i vi ual,

d d d pp
,
13 Royc e, . 2 2 5 -2 2 6 .
SUPPO R T F O R THE SP I RI T UAL T HEORY 91
Euckenlooks within the think ing creature for the

s ource of reality I t i s impossible to hide from our
.
“
selves that Nature as we see it does not come to us

, ,
from the outside as a ready made fact but that it -

,
starts from our own thinking and under the infl uence ,
of our i ntellectual organization take s on the shape in ,
which it lies be fore us ” 4

H e teaches a monism which
.
1
is really an important process deeper than and funda ,
mental to both materialism and spiritualism Eucken .
li fts hi s philos ophy into the realm of li fe itself and li fe

become s a tran sformation of reality into a whole
“
”
endo wed with soul This resu ltant vital pr oce ss ,
becomes the goal and reality o f li fe because in it sel f ,
complete satis faction and fullness are realized I n this .
real activity the revivi fying guiding controlling ele , ,
ment is the spiritual which enj oys perfection and com

p le t eness only as it ma s ters matter .
S o in all the systems we have reviewed thewhich ,
s earc h for truth a bout reali ty tak es us p as t thing s ma
terial and p oints wi th s trong emp has is to the realm of

the sp iri tual A nd that something which P lato calls
.
ideas Leibnitz monad s S chopenhaue r will Bergson

, , ,
the vital impetus and which we are calling ener gy i s

" ,
to be interpreted as a spiritual force .
- 1 4 Euc k en
, The L ife f the Spi ri t p
o , . 1 88 .
( Translat i on by
P og son ) .
C HAP T ER III
T HE S P I R IT UA L I N T E R P R ETA TI O N
C O N C LUD E D
S ince we have found that all physi cal realit y is

energy and then further set forth the hypothesis that
,
the ultimate quality o f energy is psychical we would ,
seem to be in position to interpret the well known facts -
regarding the influence of t he mind upon the body in

a new and seemingly sati s factory way mak ing the
—
mind and body to be p arts of one vas t sys tem of psyc hi
c al energ y H itherto this whole problem has per
.
~
l x ed thinkers f rom D escartes t o the pre sent and a s

p e ,
yet the e ffect o f the mind upon the b ody has not been
consistently explained A thorough goin g duali sm
.
‘
-
,
even though it has been resuscitated by M c D oug all ,

1
i s repugnant to the law o f continuit y which evolutio n ,
has so greatly stren g t hened .
A fter finding spiritualism a ble to mak e a definite

'
contribution toward a better understandin g of such

signi ficant problems as creation vitalism teleolo gy , , ,
and evolution ; and fi nding in the history o f thought

such strong support for the Spi ritualisti c interp reta
tion it probably would be in order at this place in our
,
program of showing that energy i s spiritual to intr o ,
duce as a genuine presup position a psychic element

active in all Natur e I t may be howev er that the ma
.
, ,
terialist would still challenge our ri ght to thi s assump ~
1 M cD oug all B ody and M ind

b2
,
‘
THE SP I RI T UAL I NT E RP RE T A T IO N 93
tion saying that our so urce of explanation is not suf

,
fi c iently c ritici z ed Then we might reply by placing

.
the b urden o f pr oo f with the individual o f this atti

tude and ass ign to him the more di fficult task o f sho w
ing why i f all Nature is not endowed with a psychic
,
quality it acts so much like it ; why it seem s that

,
“
E very c lod f l t i of might
ee s a s r ,
f
An i n t i nc t w i thi n t h t
s ch a rea es and t ow ers ;
A nd grop i ng b li ndly ab ove it for light ,
C li mb s t o a soul in g ra ss and fl owers

”
.
But this meth od of proc edure would get us no place

in particular S o be fore drawing concl usions we shall
.
need to look at our problem a little further

O ur w
.
ork here in dealing with the qualitative as

t of n rg y which we are calling re al ity cannot
p e c s e e~
, ,
be taken into the laboratory and handled as an ordi nary

sc ientific p roblem We m ust search for fact s in sys
.
tems o f thought and te st th es e beliefs by their prac ti

cal con sequence s j udging not by laws customs or
, , ,
principle s but by fruit s We have already done this in.
a g eneral way in the c ase o f such facts as creation vi ,
t alism teleolo gy and evolution

, , .
I n thi s chapter it will be our plan fi rst to examine

the relationship between mind and body From thi s .
inve stigation it will s eem pr obably true that the mind

i s the ultimately guiding determining and original , ,
factor figuring in the se relationships While there .
may be e vidence denying the priority of mind this

excurs us will at least make it impossible seemingly to , ,
doubt the exi stence o f a psychical element Then later .
we shall apply the attitude of repre sentative m odern

94 REL IGIOU S P H ILOS OP HY
thought to our hypothesis tryi ng further to show that
,
psychical energy is a fact that it i s universal and the

,
only reality and final ly suggest a theo ry o f realit y on

,
the basis o f organized units of psychical energy I f .
ancient and modern thought consciously or unc on ,
sc iously declares itsel f in favor of our hypothesis it i s

,
because the belief in ps ychical reality has stood the

test ; and i f the conver ging lines of testimony in its
favor are sufficient then it should be regarded as true
,
.
TH E M IND B ODY P RO B LE M
-
I t is very clear that science i s not willi ng to stop with

the — hypothesis which says no psych
well established ,
0 8 1 3 W i thout a neuros i s Thus we want t o g o be n

. eath
this i f possible and get a clew concerning this rela
, ,
t ionship bet ween the mind and body I n the first place .
we shall introduce the part which wi ll plays in de

termining the issue s o f the b odily functions A s we .
proceed it i s seen that in a lar ge measure Kant was

right in b elieving we can do what we will to do .
The field is large from which could be culled fa ct s

having to do with the power o f the will over the body ,
b ut from a multiplicity of experiences we mention

simply the case o f an individual who is severely ill ,
li fe being in the very balance By sheer determination .
to live sufficient vitality is thrown on the side o f li fe

, ,
and wi ll becomes the determining factor cheating death ,
o f its v ictim A leadin g physician at one of the large

.
camps durin g the influenza epidemic declared that the

large n umber of deaths was due to the fact that the
men being a way fro mhome many for the first time ,
and being a fraid gave up instead o f exerci sing a

,
“
will power to live .
It rema rkable what influence the attention has

is
been found to have on sen sations When setting our .
selves to the task it is possible to think into being a

la rge variety o f sensation experiences For in st ance .
,
when the attention is concentrated on the hand we can

feel sensation s glide from warm to cold numbness , ,
pins and needles etc j ust as t he mind dictates I n

,
.
,
.
remembe ring the se nsation associated with eating an

unpeeled peach the teeth are set on edge j ust the same
,
as in the act ual experience S ome wo uld di smiss all .
this by saying that it is s ubj ective j ust imagination , ,
but fact s enco urage us to believe with Tuke that there

“
is a real e ffect produced upon the finger i f thought is

-
su fficiently long directed to it and that these vascular ,
c ha nge s are felt in the form of throbbing weight , ,
” 2
etc .
S cience sees also a direct relationshi p between the

emotion s and the secretive proc esse s I t has been fo und .
that glands will often secrete freely when there i s no

immediate cause other than some irregular mental ac
t iv it y like imagination
,
I t has been noticed that the
.
mammary glands o f a nursing mother w ill o ften se

c rete milk when she thinks of feeding the child Al so .
it is a well k no wn fact that mental strain will caus e

-
t hehair to turn gray in a ve ry short time .
I t naturally follo ws that the emotions are being

clo s ely as sociated with the work of the digestive ap
2
Tuk e, Infl uenc e of the M i nd upon the B ody p , .
57 .
paratus as they assist or retard the necessary secre
,
tions The emoti ons cannot only paralyze the ac tivi

.
ties oi the stomach but have a direct influence on the

entire A limentary C anal This i s the reason why chil
.
dren shoul d not be fed after bein g punished or ex peri

enc ing excitement o f any kind P erhaps the secretions .
o f the salivary glands are m ost noticeably a ffected by

the emotions A nd j u st as the mouth becomes dry or
.
saliva flows freely according to the emotion ex peri

enc ed we get a good idea o f how the other secretions
, ,
such as gas tric and pancreatic j uices and bile are infl u ,
enc ed by the se psychic st ates I t i s not strange then

.
that indige sti on in many cases has been traced in its

or i g i n to psychic irre g ularit i e s .
C annon tells about some very interesting ex peri

ments performed on dogs by P awlo w showing the ,
di rect and immediate influence of p sychic states on the

secretions I n the dog s st om ach a side pouch was
3 ’
m
.
ade wholly apart fr om the mai n cavity where the

,
food entered the stomach Thi s part which Was under .
observation was represen tative of the entire stomach .
I n some cases during thi s experiment an opening was

made in the esophagus so that the food being chewed
and swa llowed would pass out through the opening and
“
not reach the stomach at all This was called sham
.
feeding ”
I n this way all the pleasure of eating was
.
experienced without the food gettin g any further than

the esophagus I t was found that about fi ve minute s
i
after the dogs enj oyed the food and went through the
process o f swallowin g the gastr i c j u i ce be gan to fl ow
,
3 Cannon ,
B odi ly C hang es in P ai n, Hung er
,
F ear, and Rag e, p .
4if .
from the pouch in the stomach This continued as .
long as the dogs ate food and for a short time a fter
the meal was eaten O ne very interesting thing oh
.
served was that while pleasure encouraged the flow o f

ga st ric j uice anger or fright had the oppo site e ffect
, ,
which confirms our statement made above that certai n ,
emotions can check secreti on s and thu s interfere with

the digestion o f f ood Cannon says that since the .
“
fl ow oc c urred only when the dogs had an appetit e and ,
the material presented to them was ag reeable the con ,
c lusion w as j ustified that this was a true psychic secre

” 4
ti on .
The emotions hav ebeen found to a ffect the heart

also I t will beat faster as it contracts irregularly i f
.
,
“
the individ ual is frightened Dying of a broken .
”
heart as the re sult of wo rry and sadne ss is no mere
figure of speech O n the other hand the heart o ften
.
has been too severely strained by the s udden announce

ment o f go od ne ws res ulting in death in many cases
,
.
Mental strain has its de fi nite e ffects on the liver and

kidneys O ne scientist says that a depre ssed mind i f
.
,
o f a sufficient du ration o f time will actually change ,
the structure o f the liver I n the M edic al Times and .
Gaz ette is p ubli shed the findings of Dr B yasson in a .
test made of the renal secretion pa ssed under condi

tions of normal quiet and cerebral activ ity The sum .
5
mary is as follo ws
T h exe rcise o f thought was followed by an
“
( )I e
”
increa se in the amount of urine .
4 I bi d pp
5 6 -
Quoted p
. . .
,
5 from Tuk e, . 1 35 .
98 REL IGI OUS P H ILOS OP HY
( ) 2 The amount o f urea was augmented in a mark ed

manner there being about a drachm more on the day
,
”
of cerebral w ork th an on that of repos e .
(3 ) A “
slig h t but uni for m increas e in the amount
o f phosphates and sulphates durin g mental activity
”
.
( ) T h
“
4 e density acidity
,
the uric acid ,
lime mag , ,
nesia and potash were scarcely a ffected C hlorine was .
”
less in amount .
D r B yasson states that by a smg le analysis of the

.
urine he is able to tell whether the individual has spent

the day in repose or mental activity the diet and en ,
v 1 ronment bein g the same for the three days o f test

6
.
I n the category of facts which sho w the con trollin g

influenc e of the psychic states over the body there is
none more S i gn i fic ant than the way emotion al ex peri
enc es a ffect the a ctiv ities o f t he blood H e orrhage
‘
.
“
m
i s O ften i ncreased by attentio n but whether by excite ,
ment to the heart s act ion or by dire ct influence on the

’
t
”
vessels o f the p art c annot easily be decided The fact .
,
however concerns us here more than the method It .
seems that concentration of thought can send blood t o

the place supp osed t o be a ffected The stigmata of .
S t Francis o f A ssisi has a place in thi s di scussion

. .
S om e may want to rule out this experience because it

seems to be so irregular and mysteri ous B ut until .
history can deny the fact it wi ll stand a s a remarkable

illustration of the i nflue n ce of the mind upon thebody .
Another case of stigmata mentioned by Tuke is that

o f L oui se L atean When M C harbonnier presented
. .
an article to the R oyal A cademy of Medicine of B el

g ium rev,
iew m g the case o f L ouise this organization ,
,
6
Quot ed from Tuk e, p . 1 35 .
appointed a C ommis sion to examine her be fore they

wo uld accept the article for publication This C om .
mission was to see i f blood really did ooze from her

side feet hand s and forehead The examination was
, , , .
made while she was going through the experience and

the bl ood was flo wing from her body We cannot re .
view the case in detail here but simply state that the
concl usion reached by the C ommi s sion was that the
stigmata and ecstasie s are real They can be explained .
phy siologically ” 7
I n the light of such fact s as these
.
it is not hard to believe that in the agony o f G ethsemane

Jesus s weat d rop s of blood .
O ne o f the most specific e ffects o f emotional ex

rienc e on the blood is to be observed in the adrenal
p e
gland s pouring their secretions into the blood circula

tion as the re sult o f p sychic excitation C annon and .
D de la P az have per fo rmed experiments in their

.
lab oratorie s clearly demonstrating this fact The ani .
mal used was a cat The method used for frightening .
the cat was a barking dog which was allowed to enj oy

himsel f at a safe distance while the cat was securely
fa stened in a holder By a very careful operation .
blood was secured from near the adrenal gland s be fore

“
and after the f right of the cat and labeled quiet
” ” ”
In the excited blood
“
blood and excited blood .
was found a much larger am ount o f adrenalin I t was .
also observed that the secreti on o f the adrenal gland s

increased with em otions Then the gland s were re .
moved with the re sult that the blood was not then af
fec ted with adrenalin .
The fact that during these psychic experiences the

7 I bi d .
,
p . 1 19 .
1 00 REL IGIOUS P HI L O SO P HY
adre nal glands shoot adrenalin into the blood is not the
whole lesson to be le arned by any means C ann on .
would not feel that this is the end attained but s im

”
ply the means “

We learn from him that inj ectin g
.
adrenalin into the b lood causes the liver to liberate

su gar int o the bl ood ; helps in a f aster coagulation ;
drives blood from abdomi nal viscera into heart lungs , ,
c entral nervous system and limbs ; acts as an antidote

,
for muscular fati gue S o it seems from thi s and.
other fact s which have been set forth that psychic

activities touch in a concrete way the very la st iota o f
b eing i n the body I n other w ords psychical energ y
.
,
s eems t o be a g enuine fac t c ons ti tuti ng the ultimately

,
g uidi ng and determini ng fac tor in all human ex eri

p
enc es .
P SY C H I C A L E N E R GY AND MOD ER N H OU GH T
T
P erhaps from the fore going it w ould seem reasona
ble to believe that the ultimate quality o f reality i s

psychical or spiritual But let us look at thi s problem
.
a little further and studying it in the light of recent

, ,
movements of thought see i f corro b oration o f our hy

,
po t hes is c an b e O btai ned .
D E TU N ZEL M A N N
Acc or din g de Tunz elmann thi s hypothesi s i s the

to
only alternative S chemes have been propounded
“
With a view of accounting for the established order of

Nature without the assumption of a primal intelligence
no scheme of the k ind has ever b een presented
THE SP I RI T UAL I NT E RP RE T A T IO N 1 01
which wo uld appear even superficially plausible to any

but untrained minds I n the present state of s c ien
.
t ifi c knowledge we are j ustified in maintaining that the

possibility o f such a scheme is unthinkable I .
pro pose to introduce the concept of an all pe rvading -
universal mind or omnipresent intelligence forming an

entity even more fundamental than the all pervading -
” 3
ether .
B ER GSON
’
In B erg son s philosophy there is a graded intelli
g ence w hich reaches belo w the animal kingdom Thi s .
reminds us somewhat o f L eibnitz confused percep ’ “
”
tion which is met in the lowe st type o f being Berg .
s on s ays : The more the nervous sy stem devel op s

the clearer is the con sciousness the lower
we descend in the animal serie s the mor e the nervous
center s are S i mplified till finally the nervou s elements
,
di sappear merged in the mass o f a less di fferentiated

,
organism But it is the same with all the other appara

.
tus w ith all the other anatomical element s ; and it

,
would be as absurd to re fuse consciousness to an animal

becau s e it has no brain as to declare it incapable of
nouri shing itsel f because it has n o stomach This .
amount s to saying that the humblest organism i s con

sciou s in propo rtion to its p ower to move freely We .
should define the animal by sensibility and awakened

consciousness the vegetable by consciousness a sleep and
,
” 9
insen sibility This together with the more elaborate
.
8 de Tun elmann The Elec tri cal Theory and P rob lem of the
z
Uni vers e p 45 4
,
rea ti ve Ev oluti on pp 1 1 0 1 1 2
. .
,
9 C -
.
, .
1 02 REL IGIOUS P HI L O SO P HY
t reatment o f B erg son s philosophy i n the chapter on ’
the history o f thought leaves no un certainty as to his

belie f in psychical bein g .
P RAGM A TIS M
A similar attitude i s met in modern pragmatism I n
'
.
” “
thi s philosophical system creative intelligence i s
—
championed a pragmatic theory of intelligence I t .
i s an intelligence that frees actio n from an instru “
“
mental character that frees experience from rou
,
”
tine and caprice an intelligence that liberates and
libe ralizes act i on an intelligence that is inherently “
forward lo oki ng, which can forecast future possibili

ties and can help toward the good A pra gmatic in .
t ellig enc e is a creative intelligence not a routine me ,
c hanic
”
.
°
I n this system the problem o f reality is not
1
important and hence t h ere i s no attempted explanation

o f thi s creative evolutionary po wer But since it has
, .
the faculty of discerning the future and di stinguishin g

between the desirable and undesirable it must be in
terpreted as havin g a psychical spiritual nature ,
.
P ERRY
I n P erry an able member

,
the new reali stic gr o
up of ,
there is evidence o f a belie f in the presence o f p sychical

‘
reality H e says that as a potentiality wi thout as

.
“
si gnable li mits it ( matter ) may be reasonab ly endowed
1 ° Dewey, Cre ative Intellig enc e ,

pp 63 66
-
. .
11 Compare L ovejoy
’
s A rt i c le, " ournal of P hi los ophy, V ol . 1 7
pp
,
. 62 2 -6 32 .
THE SP I R IT UAL I NT E RP RE T A T IO N 1 03
” 12
with intellectual force as with phy s ical fo rce Then .
again he say s I f it is impos sible to con st rue the

, ,
“
world in te rm s o f tho ught or in term s of moral li fe ,
the re yet remain s a further conception complete enough ,
to emb race the se and every othe r pos sible val ue— the
conception o f a unive rsal spiritual li fe ( gei stige s
L eben ) that shall be infinitely various and infinitely
rich ”
. I t is not our purpose here to attempt any in
1 3
t erp ret at ion These statements are simply taken at

.
their fac e value .
TH E IDEALISTS
What need be sa i d concern i ng the presence o f a S pir

itual reality in the recent sy stems o f philosophy repre
sented by Bowne Royce Ward Richardson A liotta , , , ,
'
H o wison etc " To take away belief in a spi ritual

,
.
agency w o uld be taking the heart out of the s e philos

ophies And would it not be difli c ult to find a modern
.
systemo f thought in which psychical reality doe s not
loom u p consciously or unconsciously as a significant

, ,
fact "
H ere have proposed to us all kinds of panpsych

we
isms pantheism s pancalisms et c and hence all the
, , , .
,
phenome nalistic theories of matter A p sychic quality .
in all Nature however can hardly be said to be com , ,
plet e panp sychism These theo ries simply represent a .
p sychical principle running through all things E ver .
and anon we meet such belie fs which are looked upon
12 P erry , Pres ent P hi los ophi cal Tenden ci es, p . 69 .
1 3 Ibi d .
,
p . 1 53 .
1 04
1 REL IGIOUS P H I L O SO P HY
as panpsychic In them there is usually the tendency

.
to interpret body as phenomenal thus inv olving us in a ,
epistemological di sc ussion which need not becloud the .
issue Etymologically speakin g panpsychism i s that

.
,
theory which ascribes a psychical nature to the whole

‘
of bein g and should be equivalent to spiritualistic

,
m onism A nd in our endeavor to show from the

.
,
standpoint of scientific attitude that there is a psychi ,
cal energy in all Nature it i s imperative that we keep

,
in mind that this i s not our ultimate o bj ective ; al

though dealt with in detail it is but a sub station alo n
g -
the way A s we proceed it will be seen that we are ad

.
voc at ing that genuine panpsychi sm which says that all
re ality is p sychical or spiritual .
TH E U NIVERSALIT Y OF PS Y C H I C A L REALITY
The criticism may po ssibly be made here that the
c onverging line s of testimon y which have been o ff ered
in this chapter and el sewhere t o S ho w the presence o f

a psychical spiritual reality have t o do primarily with
, ,
the hi gher forms o f b eing in the or ganic w orld But it .
i s the belie f of many students that the law of analo gy

can be brought into play in this case and what is true ,
o f li fe in the organic world will hold good for all

forms of being ; and as the so called physical has be en
-
found to be seemingly a medium through which the

, ,
p sychi cal finds expression it is reasonable to beli eve

,
—
that thi s p rinciple prevails in all Nature ho lding go od ,
even throughout the inorganic world .
The a ttitude represented in the preceding paragra ph

has the stron g backin g of s c ienc e The law of c on .
t inuity pertain s not only to certain type s but reaches

from the lowest to the highest forms o f being and no ,
one c an s af ely attem p t to annul this law by p os tulating

a li ne of dem arc ati on between the i norg ani c and the
org anic w orlds .
C li fford i s ve ry definite in his support o f this atti

tude H e say s that as we go back along the line the
.
“
,
complexity o f the organism and nerve action in its -
s en s ibly dimini she s ; and fo r the fir st part o f our

co u rse we s ee rea son to think that the complexity of
con sciousne s s insensibly dimini she s al so But i f we .
m ake a j ump Say to the t unicate molluscs w e s ee no

, ,
rea son there to infer the exi stence of con sciou sness at
all Y et not only is it impos s ible to point out a place
.
where any sudden break takes place but it is contrary ,
to all the nat ural training of our minds to suppose a

breach of continuity so great But as the line of
.
a scent is unbroken and m ust end at last i n inorganic

,
matter we have no choice but to admit that every mo

,
tion o f matter is s im ultaneou s with some ej ecti v e fact

or e v ent which m i ght be part o f a consciou sness
” 4 1
.
De Tunz elmann al so wo uld give a place t o the p sychi

cal element not only in animal li fe but in all Nature as
well . H e says there is no way of evading the con
“
c lusi on that a determining ca u s e must be s ought for
beyond the molecula r scheme There is one and .
—
only one such cou rse kno wn to us our own will or
mind ; and the fundamental pri nc 1 ples of scientific in
v est ig at ion lead us there fore t o seek in the extension
of mind for the determination of the molecular scheme ,
and further of the whole order o f Nature We find

,
.
1 4 c
C lifi ord, L e tures and Ess ays, pp . 2 83 -28 4 .
1 06 REL IGI OUS P H I L O SOP HY
that the mental scheme introduced simply as a work ,
in g h ypothesis proves satis factory at every point

,
where the molecular scheme i s fo und to be insu fficient ,
and the attempt to ignore it in the development of any

scheme attemptin g to account for the order of Nature ,
will i nvariably be found to necessitate its introductio n

i n some disguised and unscientific manner which ve ry ,
commonly takes the form o f personi fyin g natural law ,

”
one o f the worst o f p seudo sc ient ifi c absurdities -
.
1 5
R oyce very earnestly argues against settin g the

lower types o f being off t o themselves and denyin g to
them psychical activities H e says the d octrine o f evo .
lution helps to b rid g e the gul f between the two extremes

in Nat ure mind and matter
— Betwee n what seem s .
“
to us from our ordinary s ocial p oint of V i ew the high

,
est of accessible mental li fe and what we take to be ,
the m ani festations of li feles s matter there is i n the , ,
process o f mental evolution apparently no breach of

c ontinuity an ywhere I t i s precisely thi s ap
parent continuity which i s the most impressive o f all
the inductions that the study of ev olution has lately
forced u pon the attention of all who have tak en Na
” 6 1 “
ture at all seriously When we see inorganic
.
N ature seemingly dead there is in fact conscious li fe , , ,
j ust as surelv a s there i s any Being pre sent in Nature

” 1 7
at all .
The same elements are represented in min erals ,
pl ants and animals ; they are simply organi zed di ffer

,
ently Mineral s get their subsistence by feeding on

.
materials about them i n j ust as real a sense as the

1 5 de Tunz elmann, p 46
. 1 .
1 “
c
Roy e, The Worl d nd th
a e d ividu l
In a Vol I, p . 210 .
d p
.
,
1 7 I bi 240 . . .
,
hi ghest developed forms of li fe only the method is ,
more crude There is a general process of feedin g

.
going all the time I t is a very fundamental fact in .
agriculture that the soil get s its nourishment fro m
plants animals etc P lants depend for nourishment

, ,
.
on t he air moisture and soil,

A nimals in turn feed ,
.
on plants and other animals Most plants however .

, ,
“
feed at a lower chemical level t han do animals ”
It .
“
has been recognized that the beech tree feeds and -
grows digests and breathes as really as doe s the squir

, ,
rel ou its branches : that in regard t o none o f the main

function s ( except exc retion which plants have littl e ,
” 1 8
of) is there any essential difference .
I n science illu strati ons of analogy are not wanting

which S how that the same deep principles which pre
vail in the organic world are found in the inorganic
as well We see thi s analogy in the fact that i f a
.
block o f any one of the thousand mineral s known t o

science quartz for instance Were broken into myri ads
, ,
of pieces every particle would be found to be a per fect

,
crystal j ust the same as t he original which su ggests

, ,
a similarity to the fact that i f a starfish were torn into

shreds every piece would regenerate itsel f and form a
,
starfish again I f we were to take thi s same piece of

.
quartz and put it into running water it would become

sand grains I f then the se sand grains w ere put in
-
.
-
the p roper environment where they would have access

to food they would regenerate themselves and go back
,
to crystal forms .
Sc ience discusses thi s whole question as the tendency

of all thin g s inorganic as well as organic to adj ust
, ,
13 Thomson and Ge dd es, Evoluti on, p .

78 .
1 08 REL IGIOUS P H I L O S O P HY
themselves to thei r envi ronment the only di fference be ,
t ween the two being that the inorgani c i s slower than

the organic in thi s re spect I n concluding a l ecture on
.
evolution in general and li fe in particular K ay says

“
there i s the n a continuity in the development of the
ea rth and the inorganic world i s j ust as wonder ful as
,
the organic I f scientific thinkers of this attitude are

.
c orrect and we have no rea sons to disbelieve “ t hei r

,
fi ndings then even in the inorganic world there i s met

,
teleology and immanent teleology i s di ffi cult to con

,
c eive apart from a p sychical activity .
S o it is evident that i n sc i ence and philo sophy there

i s strong oppo s ition to the idea o f separatin g t he in
org anic from the organi c world ; it is j ust like tryin g
to divide the bud from the blossom I f evoluti on i s .
right in teachin g that higher forms come from the

lower that the or gan ic has evolved from the inorgani c
,
level then the inorganic world has always held wrapped

,
up within itsel f the potentialities o f highe r developed

li fe and even to day must have in itsel f p os s ibilities
,
-
yet to be un folded The only di fference b et ween the

.
two is that in the organic we have a higher develop

ment or organization o f energy units Thus it seems .
reasonable to belie ve that what holds good fo r the

organic world h olds good fo r every form o f being ; if
p sychic al energ y is dominant in one typ e i t is domi ,
nant in all .
P S Y C H I C AL E N ER GY AS THE ON LY REALIT Y
The dualist however might sugg est the possibility
, ,
of spirit being the directin g element and matter the

thin g directed witho ut making spirit the only reality

, .
But the mate riali st and duali st in clin gi ng to matter ,
as a final reality will have a di fficult ta sk in endeavor
ing to harmonize thei r philosophy with the modern be

lie f in the energy concept for the conception of mat ,
ter as a static fixed substance will not stand in the

,
face o f progre ss made by science in recent time s .
Mode rn tho ught point s the other way I t is the dis

“
.
c ov ery o f li v ing processes o f incessant adj ustment and
adaptation rathe r than o f se q uences pu rely mathema

,
tical and mechanical which has in recent year s been ,
” 1 9
the source of philo sophical reaction Thi s attitude .
i s endor sed by Wo odb ridge who says thi s is the one ,
valuable an d significant thin g in m oder n philos

” 2°
ophy .
S o the que stion ari ses at this time as to what that

somethi ng is which has been designated as physical or
,
material and which seem s to be the means by which

the psychical achieve s its end s A s the p sychical is .
under s tood to unfold itsel f in every part of the o rgan
ism it make s us wonder whether the old hypothe si s of

,
mind and matter is not wrong after all The relation .
ship bet ween mind and body seems t oo smooth t oo ,
perfect for t wo di fferent entitie s to be r ubbing up

against eac h other Facts point to the existence o f a
Q .
single s ubstance .
I n P art I we sho wed the strong moni stic tendency

o f scientific thought c ulminating in the belief that ,
reality is energy S cience to day is inclined to wa rd a

.
-
monism a moni sm of ener g y I t has been fo und that

, .
A d ams I d ealis m and the M od ern A g e p 98

1 9
Woodb ri dg e " ournal of P hilos ophy Ps ycholog y and Seien

, , . .
2°
p
, ,
tific M ethods VOI X IV , .

~
, .
378 .
1 10 R EL IGI OU S P HI L O SO P HY
in the last analysi s of things we come face t o fa c e wit h

the e lectrons which are b ut charges of electri c ity a ,
form of ener gy No such distinction is made as psych

.
ical and physical ener gy A ll the e lectrons are the .
same no matter where found

, The atoms di ffer only .
in the g rouping s of electrons constitutin g them .
I f monism is correct then it would hardly be pos , ,
sible for everything to be mate rial because modern

thou ght as has been shown in detail believes in the
, ,
presence and priority o f psychical activities o f spirit ,

.
O n the bas i s of a mon i sm of energy it i s perhaps rea

sonable to doubt whetherthere is such a thing as physi
cal energy I n other words we come to that place
.
,
where it is fair to question the exi stence of genuine

matter But on t he other hand it would seem in
. c on
sistent t o question the reality of psychical energy ; we

have found facts pointing to a psychical energy at
wor k and should feel kindly di sposed toward a belief
in its reality We are there fore inclined t o believe
.
with H uxley that Matter and Force are as far as “

,
we know mere names for certain form s of conscious

,
” “
ness . We find our selves forced to interpret Nature
as an orderly realm of genuine consc i ou s li fe one ,
o f whose products expres s ions and examples we find

,
” 21
in the mind o f man This is equivalent to saying
.
that the same thin g which has been called bod y or

matter and through which m i nd seems to find expres
sion i s also o f a psychical nature The s e things being .
true it i s in a s p iri tualis ti c monism then that N ature

,
seeming ly finds i ts c orrec t c las s i ficati on .
21
Royc e , World and Ind ivi d ual ,
p . 242 .
THE S P I RI T UAL I NT E RP RE T A T IO N 111
O R GANI Z ED P S Y C H I CAL E N ERGY AS A T HEO RY

OF REALIT Y
Facts indicate that L eibnitz was working on the
right principle H e re solves everything into monads
.
,
centers of p sychical spiritual force I n the very low

, .
est type s of being we find a group o f monads cluster

ing abo ut a governing or central monad Thi s group .
with othe r g roup s gather about a still more important

central so ul ; and so on until we come to the highest
type of bein g as found in mind and represented by
consciousness The monads surrounding the central
.
monad s or so uls are cont i nually changing but the gov

erning soul s never change H ere we have a world .
alive with thought rangin g from the lowest confused

, ,
perception up to mind as consciousness

,
.
The further we g o int o the study o f reality the

more it seems that it is a program s omething
like that of L eibnitz which will stand the test of
time S ci ence finds that there are central cells
.
something like tho se to which L eibnitz refers There .

“
is a popular fallacy in lay minds that t he whole

human body is replaced by fresh material in a pe riod
which by some whim sical fancy has been fixed at seven
years A s a matter of fact some cells are formed
.
‘
pass to maturity and perish almo st daily while others

, ,
la st as long as the animal it sel f The se ma ster .
cells are to be found in the brain and other parts of the

central nervous sy stem in arterial wall s and in mech
, ,
anisms which control the heart S tarbuck says the

” 22 “
.
part s in the finer anatomy which are e specially essen

22
Moore The Orig i n
, and N ature f
o L ife, p .
45 .
1 12 REL IGIOUS P H I L O SO P HY
tial to mental activity are the cells for generatin g and

storin g nervous energy and a rich network of nerve
,
fibe rs with fatty wrappings for con ducting the energy

”
from one part of the brain to another 3
.
2
H ence we are led to a new conception o f the human

body s eeing i t as an intric ate org aniz ati on of p sychic al
,
-
energ y in which can be found many mino r groupings

,
or sy stems o f more or less importance P robably in .
the lower organi sms o f the body we could find energy

units o f the s implest organization gathering about the
most in ferior cells and i n coming up through the more
,
complex system s connected w ith the more impo rtant

cells finally find the whole sy stem culminatin g in the
,
cells h aving to do wi th the brain .
Thi s is not unlike Hug hling s Jackson s theory of

~
”
Ievels
’ “
or Flechsig s as sociated center s With .
Jack son the lowest level heads up in the spinal cord ,
medulla and pons and has to do with the simplest ac

t ivit ies of the bod y The second level represents a
.
higher organization of relationships ; and the third ,
the highest is supreme in heading up the entire nervous

,
S ystem and represents mind .
We have shown that science believes that the same

principle o f psychical activity is fundamental to all
bein g animate and inanimate ; to all bodies organic
, ,
and inorganic I t seem s reasonab le then to accept that

.
system which sees in all Nature a va st organization of

'
psychical units o f energy which amounts t o saying,
that energy operates as a spiritual force A ccordi ng .
to this c onc eption we meet in the lowest types of being

the most i n ferior organizations o f energy units the ,
unit s of every single body clustering about a g overnin g

23
Starb uc k , The P sy c holog y o f R elig i on ,
pp . 149 1
-
50 .
nucleus o r cell A nd as we come up through the series

.
we meet the more complex groupings o f energy units

until finally in the con sciousne ss o f mind is met the
highest deg ree o f o rganization in all Nat ure .
H aving come thu s far it wo uld seem con s i stent in

,
this hypothe sis to take another step and sugge st a great

Mind or S pi rit in which is reali z ed absol ute con scio us
,
ness dominating the world of spiritual energy This

, .
being accepted we should have a common meeting

,
ground for scientific thought and those religiou s be

lie fs which rep re sent t he deeper intimations of human
ity even though science should see it as an over belief
,
-
and theology Should i nterpret it as a fact of experience .
H ere then the religious devotee would be led to speak

in term s o f energetic S pirit instead of an ab sentee G od ,
and the scientist in terms o f Spiritual ene rgy rather

than materialism and mechanism .
I t is furthe r po s sible in this program o f evolving

S piritual energy for the adh erent of the C hristian faith
to believe it was at that place where in the proces s of
development from the dust of the earth man came ”
into conscio usne ss that the great S pi rit began to deal

,
with man as a person and that Biblical literature be

gins it s hi story o f the human race ; that it was when
man stepped fo rth a conscious being he became a
living s oul made in the image o f God I n thi s vast
,
.
system then the mind o f man stands above all organi

z at ions o f spi ritual forces cro wning the net work of
,
Nature s activities This most highly organized sys

’
.
tem o f spi ritual energy as represented in human con

s c iousnes s is probably the only organization o f spi rit
which kno ws no di s solution making possible for man

,
the experience o f immortality .

The Energy Concept

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PA RT I : D YN A M IC S I N S C IEN C E A N D

U pon all sides to day we hear emphasi s put upo n

the energy conc ept in philosophy D ynami sm has super .

seded materialism .A ctiv ism voluntarism pragma , ,

t ism and philo3 0phies o f this active typ e are coming

more and more to tak e the place of the older systems

to recognize the si gniﬁcant place which such system s

ing in the ﬁeld o f modern thought I f L eibnitz phi .

losophy were to be re stated to day from the st and

poi nt of modern scientiﬁc thought and terminology it ,

would probably be termed a system o f E nergism

With Bergs on li fe is one continuous proces s of B ec om

agent which he calls the vital impetus S o active and .

vital i s this inner principle that it would seem impos

to the energ y concept With O stwald ener g y i s the

primary concept ; everythin g that exists is but a part

tions as these sound the keyn ote to modern philosophi

c al thought and receive g enui ne support from re cent

I n physical science we are told that matter under ,

the scrutiny of experimenta l physics has resolved it ,

sel f into energy When asked what this ultimate and

ﬁnal energy i s we are sometimes re ferred to another

concept that of electricity A nd inasmuch as we shall

endeavor to interpret reality in terms o f ener gy and

this stage o f philo sophical inqui ry to examine i nto this

the question What i s reality many and varied answers

have been given We ﬁnd that in the approach to thi s

problem the scientiﬁc understanding of the ancients

all existing obj ects

the most distant stars the same elements exist as here ,

and that the periods of vibrations whi ch cause them

and resolved into these ninet elements

opposing schools of tho ught— one teachin g that every

thing is and n othin g bec omes ; the other declarin g that

Heracleitus representin g the latter schoo l be lieved all

things to be in a state o f ﬂux ; th ere is no such thin g

in modern scien ce for science to day holds that matter

i s made up o f a countless number o f moving particles .

I n the decomposition and changes peculiar to inorgani c

organic matter we ﬁnd that there are no two successiv e

A s we proceed with our task it becomes evident that

organization of t hese little moving particles 1 3 funda ,

mental to any treatment which might b e made of matter

mate reality It is a long road however from D emo

c ritus the ﬁrst real exponent o f A tom1 sm t o the

p re s ent time a nd ma ny and varied

With D emocritus t he atom is simply a hard little

comin g toget her are responsible for all changes By .

this method in his system o f materialism he would en

external o c currences to the deepest experiences of the

A new light was thrown on the atomic theory w hen

and bein g held together in a chance way by means o f

t he 1 r " agged sur faces the e lement o f attraction was ,

introduced I t was natural that havin g explained

the cosmical and subsequentl y many terrestrial phe

momena success fully by the formula of attraction

Newton himsel f and still more L aplace and his school

should have attempted the explanation of molecular

view spread into molecular physics Ne wton himsel f .

made use of the notion o f molecular attraction Le — ,

o attraction existin g only at very small distance s 4 0

Bo scovich was among the ﬁr st to lose faith in a de

the fundamental essence o f matter was to be found in

repulsive forces operated .