THE DOGMA OF EVOLUTION 



which grew out of the evolution theory of the last 

 century and which led to a philosophy and religion 

 of naturalism was first dimly seen by thoughtful peo- 

 ple who were themselves neither philosophers nor 

 men of science. But so long as the biologists held to 

 the belief that by their study of the cell they could 

 find the link between life and chemistry, progress out 

 of this unbreathable atmosphere would be slow, be- 

 cause of the submission of thought to the dictates of 

 scientific men. But even the biologists are beginning 

 to admit that the cell is not the basis of life and life 

 is not explainable by the cell; so that there is now 

 hope that progress may be more rapid. 



The most significant and the most interesting proof 

 of the uneasiness of the biological mind is the sym- 

 posium on Life and Finite Individuality from which 

 I have already quoted. Held in England and engaged 

 in by the foremost biologists and philosophers of that 

 country, it forms the clearest discussion of this most 

 fundamental problem which has been published. 

 The thesis of the symposium was given by Professor 

 J. S. Haldane who had previously startled the biolo- 

 gists by a series of experiments to show that the vital 

 operations of the organism do not conform to the laws 

 of chemistry and physics. His thesis is that: "Our or- 

 dinary working conceptions [in science] of what we 

 regard as physical, biological and psychological phe- 

 nomena are not only different, but irreducible to one 



C 294 3 



