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  THE 
  UNIQUENESS 
  OF 
  LIFE 
  

  

  ing 
  for 
  something, 
  " 
  at 
  work 
  " 
  as 
  Driesch 
  says. 
  On 
  this 
  view, 
  

   obviously, 
  there 
  is 
  a 
  deep-lying 
  distinction 
  between 
  the 
  flight 
  

   of 
  a 
  bird 
  and 
  the 
  movement 
  of 
  a 
  comet, 
  and 
  Biology 
  is 
  by 
  

   hypothesis 
  autonomous. 
  A 
  general 
  statement 
  of 
  this 
  third 
  

   position, 
  apart 
  from 
  Driesch's 
  particular 
  formulation, 
  has 
  

   been 
  given 
  by 
  Ritter 
  (1911, 
  p. 
  437). 
  After 
  stating 
  that 
  

   materialism 
  is 
  the 
  belief 
  that 
  all 
  vital 
  phenomena 
  can 
  be 
  

   completely 
  explained 
  in 
  terms 
  of 
  the 
  material 
  elements 
  that 
  

   go 
  to 
  make 
  up 
  the 
  organism, 
  he 
  defines 
  vitalism 
  as 
  " 
  the 
  

   belief 
  that 
  organic 
  phenomena 
  cannot 
  be 
  fully 
  explained 
  by 
  

   referring 
  them 
  to 
  the 
  material 
  elements 
  of 
  which 
  organisms 
  

   are 
  composed, 
  but 
  that 
  something 
  not 
  really 
  belonging 
  to 
  

   the 
  natural 
  order, 
  either 
  explicit 
  or 
  implicit, 
  is 
  present 
  in 
  

   living 
  things. 
  The 
  essence 
  of 
  the 
  conception, 
  whatever 
  be 
  its 
  

   variety 
  or 
  form 
  of 
  statement, 
  is 
  that 
  something 
  absolutely 
  

   new 
  and 
  novel 
  came 
  into 
  the 
  world 
  when 
  living 
  beings 
  

   came 
  and 
  that 
  this 
  came 
  as 
  a 
  special 
  force, 
  or 
  principle, 
  or 
  

   factor 
  anything 
  you 
  have 
  in 
  mind 
  to 
  call 
  it, 
  so 
  long 
  as 
  

   it 
  is 
  not 
  material. 
  A 
  further 
  essential 
  to 
  the 
  conception 
  is 
  

   that 
  this 
  new 
  thing 
  is 
  elemental, 
  protean, 
  once-for-all. 
  It 
  

   is 
  not 
  exactly 
  the 
  life 
  itself 
  of 
  the 
  organism. 
  It 
  is 
  rather 
  

   the 
  informing, 
  underpinning, 
  ultimate 
  motor, 
  of 
  life." 
  

  

  The 
  general 
  nature 
  of 
  the 
  argument 
  that 
  Driesch 
  uses 
  to 
  

   support 
  his 
  conception 
  of 
  Entelechy 
  may 
  be 
  briefly 
  indi- 
  

   cated. 
  He 
  takes 
  in 
  particular 
  the 
  facts 
  of 
  morphogenesis- 
  

   the 
  development 
  of 
  the 
  embryo 
  or 
  the 
  regeneration 
  of 
  a 
  lost 
  

   part. 
  If 
  what 
  takes 
  place 
  is 
  determined 
  solely 
  by 
  physical 
  

   factors 
  there 
  must 
  be 
  something 
  in 
  the 
  nature 
  of 
  a 
  very 
  

   complex 
  machine 
  in 
  the 
  egg 
  or 
  at 
  the 
  cut 
  end 
  of 
  the 
  hydroid 
  

   branch 
  from 
  which 
  a 
  new 
  polyp 
  grows. 
  He 
  allows 
  the 
  

   imagination 
  to 
  erect 
  this 
  machine 
  with 
  all 
  conceivable 
  

   intricacy 
  and 
  device, 
  and 
  then 
  proceeds 
  remorselessly 
  to 
  

  

  