vin DARWINISM AND HOLISM 221 



in one direction as the contrary and more usual mechanistic 

 assumption — that universal adaptation and organic co-ordi- 

 nation are in effect the accidental results of utterly uncon- 

 nected factors — would be in the other direction. The true 

 conception not only for philosophy but also for science is 

 that of parts in a whole. It is the high task of science to 

 explore the mechanisms of adaptation and variation in all 

 their details, and to pursue at all costs the chemistry and 

 physics of the cell, of which we still know so little. But 

 in doing so it must also explore the unifying, regulating, 

 co-ordinating activity of the holistic factor, which even 

 from a purely scientific point of view is just as important 

 as the study of the special mechanisms. Above all, biological 

 science must ever keep before itself the standpoint of the 

 whole, without and apart from which all the details — so 

 far from being recognised as being organic to each other — 

 are mere loose meaningless items, like the sands of the sea- 

 shore, utterly useless for the understanding of that unique 

 unity which constitutes an organic individual. The whole 

 is the ultimate category not only of organic explanation, 

 but also of organic adaptation and evolution. And it is 

 more than a category; as the creative factor of inner 

 structural and functional control operative in all existence, 

 it is the ultimate real in the universe and the creative source 

 of all reality, whether organic or inorganic. Nay, more: 

 Holism is also creative of all values. Take the case of 

 organic Beauty. It is undeniable that Beauty rests on a 

 holistic basis. Beauty is essentially a product of Holism 

 and is inexplicable apart from it. Beauty is of the whole; 

 Beauty is a relation of parts in a whole, a blending of 

 elements of form and colour, of foreground and background, 

 of expression and suggestion, of structure and function, of 

 structure and field, which is perceived and appreciated as 

 harmonious and satisfying, according to laws which it is 

 for ^Esthetics to determine. 



It may be a question how far the phenomena of repression 

 in conjunction with expression in organic Evolution, of 

 regulated development as a whole, of beauty and of similar 



