Classics of modern science : $b (Copernicus to Pasteur)
History
Classics of modern science : $b (Copernicus to Pasteur)
Science; Science -- History
The other view is, that the fundamental powers of organized bodies
agree essentially with those of inorganic nature, that they work
altogether blindly according to laws of necessity and irrespective
of any purpose, that they are powers which are as much established
with the existence of matter as the physical powers are. It might be
assumed that the powers which form organized bodies do not appear at
all in inorganic nature, because this or that particular combination
of molecules, by which the powers are elicited, does not occur in
inorganic nature, and yet they might not be essentially distinct
from physical and chemical powers. It cannot, indeed, be denied that
adaptation to a particular purpose, in some individuals even in a
high degree, is characteristic of every organism; but, according to
this view, the source of this adaptation does not depend upon each
organism being developed by the operation of its own power in obedience
to that purpose, but it originates as in inorganic nature, in the
creation of the matter with its blind powers by a rational Being. We
know, for instance, the powers which operate in our planetary system.
They operate, like all physical powers, in accordance with blind laws
of necessity, and yet is the planetary system remarkable for its
adaptation to a purpose. The ground of this adaptation does not lie in
the powers, but in Him, who has so constituted matter with its powers,
that in blindly obeying its laws it produces a whole suited to fulfil
an intended purpose. We may even assume that the planetary system
has an individual adaptation to a purpose. Some external influence,
such as a comet, may occasion disturbances of motion, without thereby
bringing the whole into collision; derangements may occur on single
planets, such as a high tide, &c., which are yet balanced entirely by
physical laws. As respects their adaptation to a purpose, organized
bodies differ from these in degree only; and by this second view we are
just as little compelled to conclude that the fundamental powers of
organization operate according to laws of adaptation to a purpose, as
we are in inorganic nature.
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