﻿LECTURE 
  V. 
  

   THE 
  UNIQUENESS 
  OF 
  LIFE. 
  

  

  1. 
  The 
  Inadequacy 
  of 
  a 
  Mechanistic 
  Description 
  of 
  Organisms 
  Is 
  

   a 
  Negative 
  Conclusion. 
  2. 
  The 
  Problem: 
  Vitalism 
  or 
  Me- 
  

   chanism, 
  or 
  Neither? 
  3. 
  Are 
  Organisms 
  Unique 
  in 
  Virtue 
  

   of 
  their 
  Complexity? 
  4. 
  Have 
  Organisms 
  a 
  Monopoly 
  of 
  

   Some 
  Peculiar 
  Energy 
  or 
  Energies? 
  5. 
  Is 
  there 
  a 
  Non-per- 
  

   ceptual 
  Vital 
  Agency 
  resident 
  in 
  Organisms 
  and 
  Operative 
  in 
  

   distinctively 
  Vital 
  Activities? 
  6. 
  Descriptive 
  or 
  Methodolog- 
  

   ical 
  Vitalism: 
  the 
  'Biological' 
  View. 
  7. 
  Speculative. 
  8. 
  

   Retrospect. 
  9. 
  Why 
  Cannot 
  the 
  Controversy 
  between 
  Mech- 
  

   anistic 
  and 
  Vitalistic 
  Theory 
  be 
  Ended? 
  

  

  1. 
  The 
  Inadequacy 
  of 
  a 
  Mechanistic 
  Description 
  of 
  

   Organisms 
  Is 
  a 
  Negative 
  Conclusion. 
  

  

  WE 
  have 
  considered 
  the 
  chief 
  characteristics 
  of 
  living 
  

   creatures 
  such 
  as 
  persistence 
  in 
  spite 
  of 
  change, 
  cyclical 
  

   development, 
  and 
  effective 
  agency. 
  We 
  considered 
  the 
  or- 
  

   ganism 
  under 
  the 
  category 
  of 
  a 
  material 
  system 
  to 
  see 
  how 
  

   that 
  fitted, 
  and 
  we 
  reached 
  the 
  conclusion 
  that, 
  while 
  this 
  

   is 
  a 
  legitimate 
  and 
  useful 
  way 
  of 
  looking 
  at 
  a 
  living 
  creature, 
  

   the 
  formulae 
  of 
  physics 
  and 
  chemistry 
  are 
  inadequate 
  for 
  

   the 
  re-description 
  of 
  the 
  everyday 
  bodily 
  functions, 
  or 
  of 
  

   behaviour, 
  or 
  of 
  development, 
  or 
  of 
  evolution. 
  We 
  did 
  not 
  

   reach 
  any 
  conclusion 
  as 
  to 
  the 
  depth 
  of 
  difference 
  between 
  

   organisms 
  and 
  not-living 
  things 
  ; 
  our 
  result 
  was 
  a 
  negative 
  

   one, 
  that 
  the 
  chemico-physical 
  formula 
  do 
  not 
  suffice 
  for 
  

   answering 
  the 
  distinctively 
  biological 
  questions. 
  

  

  It 
  is 
  an 
  unfortunate 
  tendency 
  of 
  the 
  human 
  mind 
  to 
  re- 
  

   gard 
  evidence 
  against 
  one 
  theory 
  as 
  evidence 
  in 
  favour 
  of 
  

  

  143 
  

  

  