that a large portion of our Darwinians can not, in their one-sidedness,
understand. Hence the vicious circle in which they move.
A work from the pen of Prof. Enrico Ferri[145] proves, especially as
against Haeckel, that Darwinism and Socialism are in perfect harmony,
and that it is a fundamental error on the part of Haeckel to
characterize, as he has done down to latest date, Darwinism as
aristocratic. We are not at all points agreed with Ferri's work, and
especially do we not share his views with regard to the qualities of
woman, a matter in which he is substantially at one with Lombroso and
Ferrero. Ellis has shown in his "Man and Woman" that while the qualities
of man and woman are very different, still they are of _equal value_,--a
confirmation of the Kantian sentence that man and woman only together
constitute the human being. This notwithstanding, the work of Ferri
comes quite _apropos_.
Professor Haeckel and his followers, of course, also combat the claim
that Darwinism leads to atheism, and we find them, after themselves
having removed the Creator by all their scientific arguments and proofs,
making hysterical efforts to smuggle him in again by the back door. To
this particular end, they construct their own style of "Religion," which
is then called "higher morality," "moral principles," etc. In 1882, at
the convention of naturalists at Eisenach, and in the presence of the
family of the Grand Duke of Weimar, Prof. Haeckel made the attempt not
only to "save religion," but also to represent his master Darwin as
"religious." The effort suffered shipwreck, as all will admit who read
the essay and the letter of Darwin therein quoted. Darwin's letter
expressed the reverse of that which Prof. Haeckel sought to make out,
although in cautious words. Darwin was constrained to consider the
"religious sentiments" of his countrymen, the English, hence he never
dared to express his opinion openly upon religion. Privately, however,
he did so to Dr. L. Buechner, as became known shortly after the Weimar
convention, whom he frankly informed that _since his fortieth
year_--that is to say, since 1849--_he believed nothing, not having been
able to find any proof for his belief_. During the last years of his
life Darwin supported an atheist paper published in New York.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account