The Riddle of the Universe at the close of the nineteenth centuryHaeckel, Ernst
Religion
The Riddle of the Universe at the close of the nineteenth century
Haeckel, Ernst
Evolution; Monism; Religion and science; Soul
II. The brain development of the lowest and earliest mammals (the
monotremes, marsupials, and prochoriates) is closely allied to
that of their palæozoic ancestors, the Carboniferous amphibia (the
_stegocephala_) and the Permian reptiles (the _tocosauria_).
III. During the Tertiary period commences the typical development of
the cerebrum, which distinguishes the younger mammals so strikingly
from the older.
IV. The special development (quantitatively and qualitatively) of
the cerebrum which is so prominent a feature in man, and which is the
root of his pre-eminent psychic achievements, is only found, outside
humanity, in a small section of the most highly developed mammals of
the earlier Tertiary epoch, especially in the anthropoid apes.
V. The differences of brain structure and psychic faculty which
separate man from the anthropoid ape are slighter than the corresponding
interval between the anthropoid apes and the lower primates (the
earliest simiæ and prosimiæ).
VI. Consequently, the historical, gradual evolution of the human soul
from a long chain of higher and lower mammal souls must, by application
of the universally valid phyletic laws of the theory of descent, be
regarded as a _fact_ which has been scientifically proved.
CHAPTER X
CONSCIOUSNESS
Consciousness as a Natural Phenomenon--Its Definition--Difficulties
of the Problem--Its Relation to the Life of the Soul--Our
Human Consciousness--Various Theories: I. Anthropistic
Theory (Descartes); II. Neurological Theory (Darwin);
III. Animal Theory (Schopenhauer); IV. Biological Theory
(Fechner); V. Cellular Theory (Fritz Schultze); VI. Atomistic
Theory--Monistic and Dualistic Theories--Transcendental
Character of Consciousness--The Ignorabimus Verdict of Du
Bois-Reymond--Physiology of Consciousness--Discovery of the
Organs of Thought by Flechsig--Pathology--Double and Intermittent
Consciousness--Ontogeny of Consciousness: Modifications at
Different Ages--Phylogeny of Consciousness--Formation of Concepts
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