Evolution and Mechanism 447 



theme, " In the flesh shall I see God." And never was there 

 a more fleshly anticipation of all the lusts. It is not necessary 

 to protest that this is neither typical of " religious " ideas 

 and feelings in general, nor specifically characteristic of a 

 particular sect. We may accept that without argument. 

 It is well, however, for those to whom " true religion " means 

 "our kind of religion" to consider for a moment: (i) 

 that materialism as a scheme of life values is quite prevalent 

 among true believers of all sorts; (2) that there have been 

 not only decent citizens but rather high-minded and spir- 

 itually disposed individuals both among professional scien- 

 tists and among heretics of all sorts. Materialism, in short, 

 is for all practical purposes reduced to a cussword and might 

 better be avoided by all who have serious intentions in the 

 premises. 



Today we all are mechanists when we think of our daily 

 work, or of skill in our leisure pursuits. A golf -player or a 

 piano-player would not consider for a moment the substi- 

 tution of magic words for well-directed pushes and pulls. 

 Nor would we be satisfied to ascribe the successful perform- 

 ances of others to the intervention of invisible spirits. We 

 nevertheless consider ourselves perfectly free agents and re- 

 sent the suggestion that our own behavior is somehow de- 

 termined. This is a materialistic thought and unworthy of 

 the spiritual nature of man. Yet there is no essential differ- 

 ence here between the position of the scientist and that of 

 the person who is sensitive lest his spiritual essence be slighted. 

 The diflSculty is that we prefer to draw a sharp line between 

 two orders of mechanism. When the scientist speaks of the 

 mechanism of human conduct we prefer to think that he 

 means pulls and pushes, waves and rays, projections and ob- 

 structions. But in our own constant endeavors to influence 

 the conduct of other people we rely also upon — mechanisms, 

 although we do not like to call them that. Of course 

 we do not use levers and windlasses, but we do use sug- 

 gestion and suasion, exhortation and promise, flattery and 

 threat. 



