60 BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON. 



DARWIN'S CONTRIBUTIONS TO PHILOSOPHY. 

 BY JOHN W. POWELL. 



Many are the definitions of philosophy. If we wish not to define 

 what is true philosophy, but simply to define the term in all its 

 uses when referring to all times and all men, this definition will do: 

 Philosophy is the explanation of the phenomena of the universe. 



Now, the phenomena of the universe are embraced in many vast 

 categories. 



First, we have the constitution of the heavenly bodies, and their 

 real and apparent motions to be explained. What are they, and 

 how came they to be what they are? 



Then we have the earth itself; its forms, its lands and seas, its 

 mountains and valleys, its rivers and lakes, the winds which blow 

 about it, the storms which fall upon it, the lightnings that flash 

 athwart the sky, the thunders that roll among the clouds. What 

 are all these things, and whence came they, and why are they? 

 Again, in the constitution of the earth we find rocks with their 

 minerals, and geologic formations with their fossils. What are 

 rocks and minerals, formations and fossils, and whence came they? 



Look at the innumerable forms of plants covering the earth with 

 verdure the whole vegetable kingdom on the land and on the sea ; 

 forests, mosses, and confervas. Who shall explain the meaning of 

 the phenomena of the vegetable kingdom ? 



The oceans teem with animal life ; reptiles crawl over all the land ; 

 the hills and the valleys, the mountains and the plains, are all in 

 habited by beasts; and the air itself is populated. Who shall tell 

 us of all the living things, and then explain life itself? 



Turn to the contemplation of man, organized into tribes and 

 nations ; man possessed of innumerable languages ; man engaged in 

 arts and industries ; man endowed with reason and will ; man in 

 search of moral principles to guide his conduct. Whence came this 

 man, and whither does he go? 



