﻿THE 
  UNIQUENESS 
  OF 
  LIFE 
  169 
  

  

  organism 
  is 
  a 
  psycho-physical 
  individuality. 
  That 
  they 
  

   probably 
  have 
  their 
  infra-conscious 
  and 
  implicit 
  analogues 
  

   in 
  the 
  domain 
  of 
  the 
  inorganic 
  is 
  our 
  metaphysical 
  hypothe- 
  

   sis, 
  which 
  is 
  but 
  little 
  different 
  from 
  the 
  Aristotelian 
  dictum 
  

   that 
  there 
  is 
  nothing 
  in 
  the 
  end 
  which 
  was 
  not 
  also 
  in 
  kind 
  

   in 
  the 
  beginning; 
  but 
  little 
  different 
  from 
  the 
  doctrine 
  that 
  

   in 
  the 
  beginning 
  was 
  Mind. 
  

  

  9. 
  Why 
  Cannot 
  the 
  Controversy 
  between 
  Mechanistic 
  

   and 
  Vitalistic 
  Theory 
  be 
  Ended? 
  

  

  The 
  persistence 
  of 
  the 
  controversy 
  between 
  mechanism 
  

   and 
  vitalism 
  has 
  often 
  been 
  the 
  subject 
  of 
  remark. 
  Aristotle 
  

   was 
  a 
  vitalist 
  and 
  his 
  biology 
  was 
  in 
  conscious 
  opposition 
  

   to 
  the 
  dogmatic 
  mechanism 
  of 
  the 
  school 
  of 
  Democritus. 
  

   Yet 
  we 
  are 
  facing 
  the 
  same 
  antithesis 
  to-day. 
  Whence 
  this 
  

   terrible 
  longevity 
  ? 
  

  

  Part 
  of 
  the 
  answer 
  is 
  probably 
  to 
  be 
  found 
  in 
  the 
  intrinsic 
  

   difficulty 
  of 
  the 
  problem 
  of 
  vital 
  activity, 
  which 
  seems 
  to 
  

   be 
  midway 
  between 
  mechanical 
  uniformity 
  and 
  our 
  own 
  con- 
  

   scious 
  purposing. 
  The 
  secret 
  of 
  life 
  is 
  baffling, 
  receding 
  

   as 
  we 
  approach. 
  Perhaps 
  when 
  it 
  seems 
  almost 
  within 
  the 
  

   physiologist's 
  reach, 
  it 
  is 
  farthest 
  away. 
  Perhaps, 
  as 
  Berg- 
  

   son 
  says, 
  our 
  intelligence 
  is 
  not 
  suited 
  for 
  this 
  quest, 
  and 
  

   we 
  get 
  nearest 
  life 
  in 
  sympathy. 
  

  

  But 
  apart 
  from 
  the 
  unanswered 
  question: 
  What 
  is 
  the 
  

   essential 
  difference 
  between 
  the 
  Amoeba 
  and 
  the 
  crystal, 
  

   between 
  the 
  bird 
  and 
  the 
  boomerang, 
  is 
  there 
  not 
  something 
  

   strange 
  in 
  the 
  historical 
  oscillations 
  of 
  opinion 
  between 
  

   mechanistic 
  and 
  vitalistic 
  interpretation 
  of 
  the 
  living 
  or- 
  

   ganism 
  ? 
  Now 
  it 
  is 
  a 
  machine 
  and 
  again 
  it 
  is 
  a 
  spirit, 
  

   now 
  an 
  automaton 
  and 
  again 
  a 
  free 
  agent, 
  now 
  an 
  engine 
  

   again 
  an 
  entelecby? 
  Why 
  does, 
  the 
  pendulum 
  of 
  rejlec? 
  

  

  