The Monist, Vol. 2, 1891-1892 : $b A quarterly magazineVarious
Philosophy
The Monist, Vol. 2, 1891-1892 : $b A quarterly magazine
Various
Philosophy -- Periodicals
that is just because it is a continuous development, an evolution. That
the passage from the one into the other does actually take place we are
bound, by all the canons of logical reasoning, to admit. It is only
during life, however, that neurosis occurs or is possible. A great number
of modes of organic energy proceed side by side in the pulsating tissues
of the living dog, their orderly continuance being what we term _life_.
And only in and through their orderly continuance is the maintenance of
the structure of the tissues rendered possible. The organic structure is
like a spinning top. Only so long as it spins and manifests its proper
energy is its stability maintained. All around it are forces which tend
to make it totter to its fall. But so long as it spins freely it can
resist all minor attempts to upset its stability. And when the dog dies;
what happens then? The molecular vibrations of the brain in common with
all other forms of organic energy cease. The top no longer spins; and the
structure totters to its fall. Decomposition sets in. The orderly organic
changes which characterise life, give place to the destructive changes
which characterise decay. But according to the law of the conservation
of energy, although there is decomposition of the tissues of which the
body was composed there is no destruction or annihilation of energy. The
particular modes of energy through which the body was instinct with life
pass away; but only to give rise to their equivalents in other modes
of energy. Just as the puddle in the road disappears, but only to give
origin to an equivalent mass of invisible water-vapor; just as the candle
disappears, but only to give rise to its equivalent mass in the products
of combustion; so throughout life and in death the energy which throbs
in the tissues neither appears nor disappears except at the expense of,
or to the gain of, other modes of energy. Life is like a vortex in a
rapid stream; on surrounding energy it is dependent for its continued
existence; into surrounding energy it melts away. And this is true not
only of individual life but of life in its entirety. Some believe that
the vortex had a natural origin, the organic being evolved from the
inorganic. Others hold that it was through the direct interposition
of the finger of God that the tiny vortex of primitive life was set
a twirling. Be this as it may, once initiated the vortex of life is
dependent on surrounding stores of energy.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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