On the Reception of the 'Origin of Species' — John Shaqi
On the Reception of the 'Origin of Species'Huxley, Thomas Henry
Religion
On the Reception of the 'Origin of Species'
Huxley, Thomas Henry
Darwin, Charles, 1809-1882. On the origin of species; Evolution (Biology)
If one of these people, in whom the chance-worship of our remoter
ancestors thus strangely survives, should be within reach of the sea
when a heavy gale is blowing, let him betake himself to the shore and
watch the scene. Let him note the infinite variety of form and size of
the tossing waves out at sea; or of the curves of their foam-crested
breakers, as they dash against the rocks; let him listen to the roar
and scream of the shingle as it is cast up and torn down the beach; or
look at the flakes of foam as they drive hither and thither before the
wind; or note the play of colours, which answers a gleam of sunshine as
it falls upon the myriad bubbles. Surely here, if anywhere, he will
say that chance is supreme, and bend the knee as one who has entered
the very penetralia of his divinity. But the man of science knows that
here, as everywhere, perfect order is manifested; that there is not a
curve of the waves, not a note in the howling chorus, not a
rainbow-glint on a bubble, which is other than a necessary consequence
of the ascertained laws of nature; and that with a sufficient knowledge
of the conditions, competent physico-mathematical skill could account
for, and indeed predict, every one of these "chance" events.
A second very common objection to Mr. Darwin's views was (and is), that
they abolish Teleology, and eviscerate the argument from design. It is
nearly twenty years since I ventured to offer some remarks on this
subject, and as my arguments have as yet received no refutation, I hope
I may be excused for reproducing them. I observed, "that the doctrine
of Evolution is the most formidable opponent of all the commoner and
coarser forms of Teleology. But perhaps the most remarkable service to
the Philosophy of Biology rendered by Mr. Darwin is the reconciliation
of Teleology and Morphology, and the explanation of the facts of both,
which his views offer. The teleology which supposes that the eye, such
as we see it in man, or one of the higher vertebrata, was made with the
precise structure it exhibits, for the purpose of enabling the animal
which possesses it to see, has undoubtedly received its death-blow.
Nevertheless, it is necessary to remember that there is a wider
teleology which is not touched by the doctrine of Evolution, but is
actually based upon the fundamental proposition of Evolution. This
proposition is that the whole world, living and not living, is the
result of the mutual interaction, according to definite laws, of the
forces (I should now like to substitute the word powers for "forces.")
possessed by the molecules of which the primitive nebulosity of the
universe was composed. If this be true, it is no less certain that the
existing world lay potentially in the cosmic vapour, and that a
sufficient intelligence could, from a knowledge of the properties of
the molecules of that vapour, have predicted, say the state of the
fauna of Britain in 1869, with as much certainty as one can say what
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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