MIND IN EVOLUTION 

 By C. Lloyd Morgan 



Professor E?7ieritus, Bristol University 



Opinions differ as to what the word evolution means or 

 should mean. Some writers speak, for example, of the evo- 

 lution of atoms, molecules, crystals; of the solar system, the 

 Alps, the Mediterranean Sea; of plants and animals; of 

 social institutions; of scientific thought or artistic expression. 

 For these writers the word evolution is unrestricted in its 

 application. But other writers are of opinion that it is better 

 to restrict the meaning of the word to what is spoken of 

 as the doctrine of descent in living creatures, in other words, 

 to that which, broadly speaking, falls under the head of the 

 origin of species. 



This question has been much discussed and a good deal 

 has been said on both sides. But one must choose one or 

 the other. I use the word in its unrestricted sense. Under 

 this usage one can add appropriate adjectives to qualify the 

 noun, such as cosmic, physical, chemical, organic, mental, 

 and social evolution. That enables one to make clear what 

 one means. 



But if we adopt the unrestricted use of the noun to express 

 a broad, comprehensive idea we must expressly state the par- 

 ticular phenomena that exemplify the idea we have in mind. 

 We seek, then, to ascertain what holds good for all natural 

 events in so far as the concept of evolution is exemplified in 



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