Chapter 11 



Catalysis as the Efficient Cause of Evolution 



The basic notion of evolution goes back at least as far as the 

 Greek philosopher Empedocles (450 B.C.). A little later Aristotle 

 (384-322 B.C.) anticipated the theory of descent. The ancient 

 Greeks, who acquired so much in art and practical skills from the 

 earlier civilizations of Egypt and Crete, were no mere copyists, 

 but transmitted to the modern world superlatively improved 

 phonetic writing as well as great literary and artistic creations. 

 But while Greek philosophy produced many ingenious intel- 

 lectual explanations of physical happenings, these were seldom 

 submitted to the touchstone of experiment. Archimedes 

 (287P-212 B.C.), who devised experimental means for determining 

 specific gravity, was the exception rather than the rule. 



Henry F. Osborn ("From the Greeks to Darwin") gives the fol- 

 lowing resume of Greek notions of causation: "The Greeks left 

 the later world face to face with the problem of Causation in 

 three forms: First, whether Intelligent Design is constantly oper- 

 ating in Nature; second, whether Nature is under the operation of 

 natural causes originally implanted by Intelligent Design; and 

 third, whether Nature is under the operation of natural causes 

 due from the beginning to laws of chance, and containing no 

 evidence of design, even in their origin." 



In this epitome Osborn evidently confines his remarks to the 

 first of the Aristotlian causes, which are: 



(1) Formal Cause: the conception or idea of what is to be real- 

 ized, whether this idea exists in the mind or in the nature of 

 things. 



(2) Material Cause: what is to be acted upon by (1). 



(3) Efficient Cause: the force or agent that does the work. 



(4) Final Cause: the object or end to be reached by the process. 

 We are here concerned largely with (3), the mechanism whereby 

 the material substance of living things is so directed that there 

 emerges the echelle des etres, indicative of gradual evolution. 1 



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