﻿THE 
  UNIQUENESS 
  OF 
  LIFE 
  153 
  

  

  gestion 
  that 
  the 
  chemical 
  energy 
  of 
  protoplasm 
  may 
  be 
  trans- 
  

   formed 
  into 
  the 
  mental 
  energy 
  of 
  thinking, 
  which 
  seems 
  to 
  

   us 
  a 
  contradiction 
  in 
  terms. 
  

  

  It 
  is 
  stated 
  that 
  the 
  movements 
  of 
  molecules 
  in 
  the 
  domain 
  

   of 
  the 
  inorganic 
  obey 
  the 
  law 
  of 
  probability 
  ; 
  it 
  is 
  interesting 
  

   to 
  ask 
  whether 
  that 
  is 
  true 
  of 
  the 
  molecules 
  within 
  organisms 
  

  

  o 
  

  

  (see 
  Soddy, 
  Matter 
  and 
  Energy, 
  p. 
  101). 
  But 
  we 
  cannot" 
  

   suggest 
  a 
  test 
  case 
  ! 
  Is 
  it 
  conceivable 
  that, 
  just 
  as 
  lowering 
  

   the 
  temperature 
  of 
  a 
  gas 
  makes 
  it 
  into 
  a 
  liquid 
  whose 
  mole- 
  

   cules 
  below 
  the 
  surface 
  have 
  movements 
  quite 
  different 
  from 
  

   what 
  they 
  had 
  in 
  the 
  gas 
  state, 
  so 
  complicated 
  molecules 
  

   in 
  a 
  colloid 
  state 
  have 
  movements 
  which 
  obey 
  some 
  other 
  

   law 
  than 
  that 
  of 
  probability, 
  and 
  is 
  it 
  conceivable 
  that 
  the 
  

   reality 
  of 
  which 
  the 
  molecular 
  movements 
  are 
  one 
  expres- 
  

   sion 
  then 
  begins 
  to 
  show 
  another 
  aspect, 
  perhaps, 
  as 
  some 
  

   would 
  say, 
  a 
  metakinetic 
  aspect 
  ? 
  

  

  5. 
  Is 
  there 
  a 
  Non-perceptual 
  Vital 
  Agency 
  resident 
  in 
  Or- 
  

   ganisms 
  and 
  operative 
  in 
  Distinctively 
  Vital 
  Activities? 
  

  

  The 
  third 
  view 
  is 
  thoroughgoing 
  vitalism, 
  best 
  represented 
  

   by 
  Driesch, 
  whose 
  ingenuity 
  and 
  consistency 
  command 
  our 
  

   admiration. 
  Its 
  postulate 
  is 
  a 
  non-perceptual 
  vital 
  agency, 
  

   which 
  does 
  not 
  occur 
  in 
  not-living 
  things 
  but 
  is 
  confined 
  to 
  

   organisms, 
  where 
  it 
  operates 
  in 
  certain 
  cases, 
  directing 
  the 
  

   chemico-physical 
  processes 
  so 
  that 
  their 
  results 
  are 
  different 
  

   from 
  what 
  they 
  would 
  have 
  been 
  apart 
  from 
  its 
  interven- 
  

   tion. 
  Three 
  points 
  should 
  be 
  carefully 
  noted: 
  (1) 
  that 
  the 
  

   postulated 
  vital 
  agency 
  or 
  entelechy 
  is 
  not 
  the 
  outcome 
  of 
  

   more 
  complex 
  physical 
  conditions, 
  " 
  not 
  a 
  new 
  elemental 
  con- 
  

   sequence 
  of 
  some 
  constellation 
  " 
  ; 
  (2) 
  that 
  it 
  only 
  inter- 
  

   venes 
  at 
  certain 
  steps, 
  introducing 
  an 
  occasional 
  indetermin- 
  

   ism; 
  and 
  (3) 
  that 
  it 
  is 
  supposed 
  to 
  be 
  a 
  genuine 
  agent, 
  count- 
  

  

  