﻿146 
  THE 
  UNIQUENESS 
  OF 
  LIFE 
  

  

  because 
  it 
  has 
  an 
  entelechy, 
  we 
  are 
  embarking 
  on 
  a 
  new 
  

   adventure 
  that 
  of 
  a 
  positive 
  vitalistic 
  theory. 
  

  

  (c) 
  It 
  is 
  held 
  by 
  some 
  that 
  it 
  is 
  the 
  presence 
  of 
  con- 
  

   sciousness 
  or 
  some 
  expression 
  of 
  mentality, 
  that 
  makes 
  all 
  

   the 
  difference, 
  and 
  here 
  again 
  there 
  is 
  probably 
  a 
  great 
  truth 
  

   to 
  which 
  we 
  point 
  in 
  using 
  the 
  term 
  Animate 
  Nature. 
  

   But 
  the 
  suggestion 
  as 
  it 
  stands 
  cannot 
  be 
  pressed 
  in 
  the 
  

   meantime, 
  for 
  the 
  obvious 
  reason 
  that 
  there 
  are 
  many 
  living 
  

   creatures 
  about 
  whose 
  mind 
  or 
  consciousness 
  we 
  cannot 
  make 
  

   any 
  secure 
  statement, 
  where 
  even 
  the 
  argument 
  from 
  analogy 
  

   fails 
  us. 
  So 
  it 
  must 
  be 
  clearly 
  understood 
  that 
  the 
  problem 
  

   of 
  vitalism 
  is 
  different 
  from 
  that 
  of 
  animism. 
  The 
  problem 
  

   of 
  vitalism 
  would 
  remain 
  even 
  if 
  the 
  world 
  held 
  only 
  plants 
  

   and 
  no 
  animals 
  besides 
  ourselves 
  Jack 
  and 
  his 
  beanstalk, 
  in 
  

   fact. 
  Now 
  whatever 
  we 
  may 
  believe, 
  we 
  do 
  not 
  know 
  any- 
  

   thing 
  about 
  the 
  mind 
  of 
  the 
  beanstalk. 
  Yet 
  we 
  may, 
  and 
  

   do 
  maintain 
  that 
  mechanistic 
  formula? 
  do 
  not 
  suffice 
  to 
  an- 
  

   swer 
  our 
  biological 
  questions 
  concerning 
  the 
  beanstalk. 
  

  

  Among 
  those 
  who 
  hold 
  that 
  plants 
  and 
  animals 
  stand 
  

   apart 
  from 
  things 
  in 
  general, 
  we 
  may 
  distinguish 
  three 
  

   grades. 
  (I) 
  The 
  first 
  view 
  is 
  that 
  the 
  configurations 
  that 
  

   occur 
  in 
  organisms 
  are 
  so 
  different 
  from 
  those 
  in 
  the 
  inorganic 
  

   domain 
  that 
  the 
  activities 
  of 
  organisms 
  cannot 
  be 
  predicted 
  

   from 
  any 
  formulation 
  of 
  what 
  occurs 
  in 
  inorganic 
  systems. 
  

   This 
  is 
  the 
  very 
  thin 
  edge 
  of 
  vitalism. 
  (II) 
  The 
  second 
  

   view 
  is 
  that 
  there 
  operates 
  in 
  living 
  creatures 
  a 
  new 
  kind 
  

   of 
  physical 
  energy 
  which 
  does 
  not 
  operate 
  elsewhere. 
  This 
  

   is 
  a 
  lineal 
  descendant 
  of 
  the 
  medieval 
  form 
  of 
  vitalism 
  the 
  

   doctrine 
  of 
  a 
  vital 
  force. 
  (Ill) 
  There 
  is 
  the 
  theory 
  of 
  a 
  non- 
  

   perceptual 
  vital 
  agency 
  or 
  entelechy 
  which 
  operates 
  direc- 
  

   tively 
  in 
  organisms. 
  This 
  is 
  the 
  clearest 
  and 
  the 
  most 
  thor- 
  

   oughgoing 
  form 
  of 
  vitalism. 
  

  

  