Accepting the universe : $b Essays in naturalismBurroughs, John
Philosophy
Accepting the universe : $b Essays in naturalism
Burroughs, John
Natural history; Natural history -- Philosophy; Philosophy; Science
In a living body there are organs which function; in a non-living,
there are parts which act and are acted upon. To see mind in all is
the task--to see in gravity, in cohesion, in chemical affinity, in
dissolution, anything at work akin to ourselves. We see irrefragable
law; we see the sequence of cause and effect; we see the weather
system work itself out--evaporation, condensation, precipitation,
resulting in clouds, rainfall, springs, streams, lakes, and seas; we
see the never-failing succession of the seasons; we see the law of
the conservation of force; but do all these things imply the same
intelligence, though unconscious, which we see in the sitting bird,
or in the growing plant or tree? Is the cosmic order akin to the
vital order? Of course mechanics and chemistry are one the universe
over; atoms and molecules are atoms and molecules; but where does
mind end, and law begin? Or, is it all law, or all mind, according
to our point of view? The moral order, which is man’s order, we
know has its limits, but I am trying to see if the rational order
is coexistent with nature. The unity we seek we may find in the old
conception of God, but this saddles all the turmoil and disorder and
evil of the world upon an all-wise, all-good Being.
Shall we adopt the idea of a primal mind as distinct from the human
mind, as the poets do? I grasp at anything that will help me see that
I am akin to the farthest star, in my mind as in my body. I cannot
think of a dual or a divided universe. I want to see myself as strung
upon the same thread as all the rest of nature.
In organic evolution I see the workings of the creative impulse--or
growth, as opposed to mere accretion or accumulation. In the light
of the same law does one not see worlds and suns potential in the
spiral nebulæ? Science helps us to see the evolution of the chemical
elements, or to follow up this defining and differentiating process.
Could we fly to the uttermost parts of the heavens, we should find
the Cosmic Mind there before us.
III. THE ORGANIZING TENDENCY
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