The Religious Interpretation Of The World
The title of this book, contrasting as it does the naturalistic and the
religious interpretation of the world, indicates that the intention of the
following pages is, in the first place, to define the relation, or rather
the antithesis, between the two; and, secondly, to endeavour to reconcile
the contradictions, and to vindicate against the counter-claims of
naturalism, the validity and freedom of the religious outlook. In doing
this it is assumed that there is some sort of relation between the two
conceptions, and that there is a possibility of harmonising them.
Will this be admitted? Is it not possible that the two views are
incommensurable, and would it not be most desirable for both sides if this
were so, for if there is no logical antithesis then there can be no real
antagonism? And is not this actually the case? Surely we have now left far
behind us the primitive expressions of the religious outlook which were
concerned with the creation of the world in six days, the making of Eve
out of Adam's rib, the story of Paradise and the angelic and demoniacal
forces, and the accessory miracles and accompanying signs by means of
which the Divine control of the world was supposed to manifest itself. We
have surely learnt by this time to distinguish between the simple mythical
or legendary forms of expression in the religious archives, and their
spiritual value and ethical content. We can give to natural science and to
religious feeling what is due to each, and thus have done for ever with
tedious apologetic discussion.
It were well indeed if we had really attained to this! But the relations,
and therefore the possibilities of conflict between religion and
world-science, are by no means so easily disposed of. No actually existing
form of religion is so entirely made up of "feeling," "subjectivity," or
"mood," that it can dispense with all assumptions or convictions regarding
the nature and import of the world. In fact, every form, on closer
examination, reveals a more or less fixed framework of convictions,
theoretical assumptions, and presuppositions in regard to man, the world,
and existence: that is to say, a theory, however simple, of the universe.
And this theory must be harmonised with the conceptions of things as they
are presented to us in general world-lore, in natural and historical
science, in particular sciences, in theories of knowledge, and perhaps in
metaphysics; it must measure itself by and with these, and draw from them
support and corroboration, and possibly also submit to contradiction and
correction.
There is no form of religion, not even the most rarefied (which makes
least claim because it has least content), that does not include in itself
some minute Credo, some faith, implying attachment to a set of doctrines
and conclusions however few. And it is always necessary to show that these
conclusions are worthy of adherence, and that they are not at variance
with conclusions and truths in regard to nature and the world drawn from
other sources. And if we consider, not the efflorescences and artificial
products of religion, but religion itself, it is certain that there is,
and always must be, around it a borderland and fringe of religious
world-theory, with which it is not indeed identical, but without which it
is inconceivable; that is, a series of definite and characteristic
convictions relating to the world and its existence, its meaning, its
"whence" and "whither"; to man and his intelligence, his place and
function in the world, his peculiar dignity, and his destiny; to time and
space, to infinity and eternity, and to the depth and mystery of Being in
general.
These convictions and their fundamental implications can be defined quite
clearly, both singly and as a whole, and later we shall attempt so to
define them. And it is of the greatest importance to religion that these
presuppositions and postulates should have their legitimacy and validity
vindicated. For they are at once the fundamental and the minimal
postulates which religion must make in its outlook on the world, which it
must make if it is to exist at all. And they are so constituted that, even
when they are released from their primitive and naive form and
association, and permitted speculative development and freedom, they must,
nevertheless, just because they contain a theory of the world, be brought
into comparison, contact, or relation of some kind, whether hostile or
friendly, with other world-conceptions of different origin. This relation
will be hostile or friendly according to the form these other conceptions
have taken. It is impossible to imagine any religious view of the world
whose network of conceptions can have meshes so wide, or constituents so
elastic and easily adjustable, that it will allow every theoretical
conception of nature and the world to pass through it without violence or
friction, offering to none either let or hindrance.
It has indeed often been affirmed that religion may, without anxiety about
itself, leave scientific knowledge of the world to go its own way. The
secret reservation in this position is always the belief that scientific
knowledge will never in any case reach the real depth and meaning of
things. Perhaps this is true. But the assumption itself would remain, and
would have to be justified. And if religion had no other interest in
general world-theory, it would still have this pre-eminent one, that, by
defining the limitations of scientific theory, and showing that they can
never be transcended, it thus indicates for itself a position beyond them
in which it can dwell securely. In reality religion has never ceased to
turn its never-resting, often anxious gaze towards the progress, the
changes, the secure results and tentative theories in the domain of
general world-science, and again and again it has been forced to come to a
new adjustment with them.
One great centre of interest, though by no means the only or even the
chief one, lies in the special field of world-lore and theoretical
interpretation comprised in the natural sciences. And in the following
pages we shall make this our special interest, and shall endeavour to
inquire whether our modern natural science consists with the "minimal
requirements" of the religious point of view, with which we shall make
closer acquaintance later; or whether it is at all capable of being
brought into friendly relations with that point of view.
Such a study need not necessarily be "apologetic," that is to say,
defensive, but may be simply an examination. For in truth the real results
of investigation are not now and never were "aggressive," but are in
themselves neutral towards not only religious but all idealistic
conceptions, and leave it, so to speak, to the higher methods of study to
decide how the material supplied is to be taken up into their different
departments, and brought under their particular points of view. Our
undertaking only becomes defensive and critical because, not from caprice
or godlessness, but, as we shall see, from an inherent necessity, the
natural sciences, in association with other convictions and aims, tend
readily to unite into a distinctive and independent system of
world-interpretation, which, if it were valid and sufficient, would drive
the religious view into difficulties, or make it impossible. This
independent system is Naturalism, and against its attacks the religious
conception of the world has to stand on the defensive.
More
-
Machnical Theories Criticism
In attempting to define our attitude to the mechanical theory of life, we have first of all to make sure that we have a right to take up a definite position at all. We should have less right, or perhaps none, if this theory of life were really of... Mind And Spirit The Human And The Animal Soul
What is the relation between the human and the animal mind? This has always been a vital question in the conflict between naturalism and the religious outlook. And as in the whole problem of the psychical so here the interest on both sides has bee... Mystery : Dependence : Purpose
There is then a threefold religious interest, and there are three corresponding points of contact between the religious and the naturalistic interpretations of the world, where, as it appears, they are necessarily antagonistic to one another. Arra... Mysticism
Even "pronounced individuality" "has an element of mysticism" in it--of the non-rational, which we feel the more distinctly the more decidedly we reject all attempts to make it rational again through crude or subtle mythologies. This is much more ... Natural Selection
We have for the moment provisionally admitted the theory of natural selection, in order to see whether it could be included in a religious interpretation of things. But in reality such an admission is not to be thought of, in face of what is at pr... Naturalism
Naturalism is not of to-day or of yesterday, but is very ancient,--as old, indeed, as philosophy,--as old as human thought and doubt. Indeed, we may say that it almost invariably played its part whenever man began to reflect on the whence and the ho... Naturalistic Attacks On The Autonomy Of The Spiritual
The attacks that have been made by naturalism upon the independence and freedom of the spiritual are so familiar to every one--even from school days--through books of the type of Buechner's "Kraft und Stoff," and Haeckel's "The Riddle of the Unive... No Parallelism
For a long time it seemed as if the theory of parallelism was to gain general acceptance. One might write a whole history of the gradually increasing criticisms of, and reactions from the academic theories which had become almost canonical. But we... Other Instances Of Dissatisfaction With The Theory Of Descent
What was with Virchow only a suggestion of the need for caution, or controversial matter to be subsequently allowed for or contradicted, had more serious consequences to others, and led to still greater hesitancy as regards evolutionist generalisa... Parallelism
The independence and underivability of the psychical, the incomparability of its uniformities with those of mechanical or physico-chemical laws, has proved itself so clear and incontrovertible, notwithstanding all the distortions of naturalism, th... Personality
In as far as man is endowed with a capacity for spiritual life and spiritual possession, he is likewise destined for personality. This includes and designates everything that expresses the peculiar dignity of human nature. Personality is a word wh... Pre-eminence Of Consciousness
But we have already spent too much time over this naive mode of looking at things, which, though it professes to place things in their true light, in reality distorts them and turns them upside down. As if this world of the external and material... Preyer's Position
Along with Virchow, we must name another of the older generation, the physiologist William Preyer, who combated "vitalism," "dualism," and "mechanism" with equal vehemence, and issued a manifesto, already somewhat solemn and official, against "vit... Religion And The Theory Of Descent
In seeking to define our position in regard to the theory of descent it is most important that we should recognise that, when it is looked into closely, the true problem at issue is not a special zoological one, but is quite general, and also that... Self-consciousness
1. Our consciousness is not merely a knowledge of many individual things, the possession of concrete and abstract, particular or general conceptions and ideas, the cherishing of sensations, feelings and the like. We not only know, but we know that... Spontaneous Generation
4. This reduction of known biological phenomena to simpler terms, the lessening of the gap between inorganic and organic chemistry, and the formulation of the doctrine of the conservation of energy, have all prepared the way for a fourth step, the... Teleological And Scientific Interpretations Are Alike Necessary
(7.) Thus religion confidently subjects the world to a teleological interpretation. And to a teleological study in this sense the strictly causal interpretations of natural science are not hostile, but indispensable. For how do things stand? Natur... The Antimony Of Our Conception Of Space
To bring our examples to a conclusion, we find the same sort of antinomy in regard to space, and the world as it is extended in space. Here, too, it becomes apparent that space as we imagine it, and as we carry it with us as a concept for arrangin... The Antimony Of Our Conception Of Time
A few examples may serve to make the point clear. The first of the antinomies is also the most impressive. It brings before us the insufficiency of our conceptions of time, and shows the impossibility of transferring, from the world as it appears ... The Antimony Of The Conditioned And The Unconditioned
The antinomy of the conditioned and the unconditioned leads us along similar lines. Every individual finite thing or event is dependent on its causes and conditions, which precede it or co-exist in inter-relation with it. It is conditioned, and is... The Characteristic Features Of Darwinism
We do not propose to expound the Darwinian theory for the hundredth time; a knowledge of it must be taken for granted. We need only briefly call to mind the characteristic features and catchwords of the theory as Darwin founded it, which have also... The Conservation Of Matter And Energy
1. The whole mechanical theory is based upon a law which is not strictly biological but belongs to science in general--the law of the conservation of matter and energy. This was first recognised by Kant as a general rational concept in his "Critiq... The Constructive Work Of Driesch
What in Reinke's case came about almost unperceived, Driesch did with full consciousness and intention, following the necessity laid upon him by his own gradual personal development and by his consistent, tenacious prosecution of the problem. The ... The Contingency Of The World
But we need not dwell in the meantime on these and the many other difficulties and riddles presented by our cosmological hypothesis. However these may be solved, a general consideration will remain--namely, that whether the world is governed by la... The Dependence Of The Order Of Nature
(2 and 3). The "dependence" of all things is the second requirement of religion, without which it is altogether inconceivable. We avoid the words "creation" and "being created," because they involve anthropomorphic and altogether insufficient mode... The Development Of Darwinism
In studying it we should like to follow a method somewhat different from that usually observed in apologetic writings. "Darwinism," even in its technical, biological form, never was quite, and is to-day not at all a unified and consistent system. ... The Ego
It was customary in earlier psychology, as it still is in all apologetic psychology, to regard the soul as a unified, immaterial, indivisible and therefore indestructible substance, as a monad, which, as a unity without parts, superior to its own ... The Fundamental Answer
How can the religious conception of the world justify itself and maintain its freedom in face of such views of spirit and spiritual being? It is questionable whether it is worth while attempting to do so. Is not the essence of the validity and fre... The Law Of The Conservation Of Energy
Helmholtz's proof established mathematically what Kant had already, by direct insight, advanced as an a priori fundamental axiom: that in any given system the sum of energy can neither increase (impossibility of a perpetuum mobile) nor diminish (t... The Mechanics Of Development
5. The minds of the supporters of the mechanical theory had still to move along a fifth line in order to solve the riddle of the development of the living individual from the egg, or of the germ to its finished form, the riddle of morphogenesis. T... The Mystery Of Existence Remains Unexplained
1. Let us begin with the problem of the mystery of all existence, and see whether it remains unaffected, or whether it disappears in face of naturalistic interpretation, with its discovery and formulation of law and order, with its methods of meas... The Organic And The Inorganic
2. What is on a priori grounds demanded as a necessity, or set aside as impossible, on the strength of the axiom of the conservation of energy, must be proved a posteriori by investigation. It must be shown in detail that the difference between th... The Position Of Bunge And Other Physiologists
For a long time one of the most prominent figures in the controversy was Prof. G. Bunge, of Basle, who was one of the first modern physiologists to champion vitalism, and who has tried to show by analogies and illustrations what is necessarily imp... The Problema Continui
The problem of descent thus shows itself to be one which has neither isolated character nor special value. It is an accessory accompaniment of all the questions and problems which have been raised by, or are associated with, the doctrine of evolut... The Real World
(4.) What was stated separately in our first and second propositions, and has hitherto been discussed, now unites and culminates in the fourth. For if we note the vital expressions of religion wherever it occurs, we find above all one thing as its... The Recognition Of Purpose
(6.) We must now turn to the question of "teleology." Only now, not because it is a subordinate matter, for it is in reality the main one, but because it is the culminating point, not the starting point, of our argument. If the world be from God a... The Religious Interpretation Of The World
The title of this book, contrasting as it does the naturalistic and the religious interpretation of the world, indicates that the intention of the following pages is, in the first place, to define the relation, or rather the antithesis, between th... The Spontaneous Activity Of The Organism
What is particularly luminous in all the theories that express the most recent anti-Darwinian tendency is that they tend to bring into prominence the mysterious powers of living organisms, by means of which, instead of passively waiting for natura... The Supremacy Of Mind
From the standpoint we have now reached we can look back once more on those troublesome naturalistic insinuations as to the dependence of the mind upon the body, which we have already considered. It is evident to us all that our mental development... The Theory Of Descent
Again and again we hear and read, even in scientific circles and journals, that Darwinism breaks down at many points, that it is insufficient, and even that it has quite collapsed. Even the assurances of its most convinced champions are rather for... The True Naturalism
But naturalism becomes fundamentally different when it ceases to remain at the level of naive or fancifully conceived ideas of "nature" and "natural occurrences," when, instead of poetry or religious sentiments, it incorporates something else, nam... The Two Kinds Of Naturalism
But let us return to the two kinds of naturalism we have already described. Much as they differ from one another in reality, they are very readily confused and mixed up with one another. And the chief peculiarity of what masquerades as naturalism ... The Unconscious
But one has a repugnance to descending into this strange region. And religion, with its clear and lofty mood, can never have either taste for or relationship with considerations which so easily take an "occult" turn. Nor is its mysticism concerned... The Unity Of Consciousness
2. The same holds true of the unity of consciousness, of which we are directly convinced. It is quite inexplicable if consciousness is a function of the extended and divisible physical substratum which is built up of nerve-cells and nerve-fibres. ... The Views Of Albrecht And Schneider
An outlook and interpretation which Driesch(102) maintained for a while, but afterwards abandoned, has been developed in an original and peculiar fashion by Eugen Albrecht, Prosector and Pathologist in Munich.(103) It is the theory of different wa... The Views Of Botanists Illustrated
It might have been expected that in the domain of plant-biology, if anywhere, the mechanistic standpoint would have been the prevailing one. For it is almost a matter of course to regard plants as devoid of sensation or "psychical" life, and as me... The World And God
The world and nature are marvellous in their being, but they are not "divine"! The formula "natura sive deus" is a monstrous misuse of the word "deus," if we are to use the words in the sense which history has given to them. God is the Absolute Bein... Theory Of Definite Variation
But the question now arises, whether both Darwinism and Lamarckism must not be replaced, or at least reduced to the level of accessory theories and factors, by another theory of evolution which was in the field before Darwin, and which since his t... Theory Of Life
What is life--not in the spiritual and transcendental sense, but in its physical and physiological aspects? What is this mysterious complex of processes and phenomena, common to everything animate, from the seaweed to the rose, and from the human bo... Underivability
The first of the three points we have called attention to has, so to speak, become famous through the lectures of du Bois-Reymond, which attracted much attention, on "The Limits of Natural Knowledge," and "The Seven Riddles of the Universe." That ... Various Forms Of Darwinism
The great majority of these express what may be called popular Darwinism ["Darwinismus vulgaris"], theoretically worthless, but practically possessed of great powers of attraction and propagandism. It expresses in the main a conviction, usually le... Virchow's Caution
Here, as also in regard to "Darwinism," which was advanced about the same time, the typical advocate of "caution" was Rudolf Virchow. His doubts and reservations found utterance very soon after the theory itself had been promulgated. In his "Cellu... Virchow's Position
Warnings of this kind have come occasionally from Du Bois-Reymond, but the true type of this group, and its mode of thought, is Virchow. It will repay us and suffice us to make acquaintance with it through him. His opposition to Darwinism and the ... Weismann's Evolutionist Position
The most characteristic representative, however, of the modern school of unified and purified Darwinism is not Haeckel, but the Freiburg zoologist, Weismann. Through a long series of writings he has carried on the conflict against heterodox, and e... Weismannism
In regard to almost all the points to which we have referred, the most consistent and decided champion of Darwinism in its essential principles is the zoologist of Freiburg, August Weismann.(35) In long chapters on the protective coloration of ani... What Is Distinctive In The Naturalistic Outlook
At first tentative, but becoming ever more distinctly conscious of its real motive, Naturalism has always arisen in opposition to what we may call "supernatural" propositions, whether these be the naive mythological explanations of world-phenomena... What Is Distinctive In The Religious Outlook
At the very beginning and throughout we must keep the following points clearly before us, otherwise all our endeavours will only lead us astray, and be directed towards an altogether false issue. Firstly, everything depends and must depend upon ...