Spieazines 51 



The existence of free will is being made known 

 to us directly through our self-consciousness, and 

 it would be very dogmatic and unscientific for us 

 to reject the testimony of our self-consciousness 

 in so far as it furnishes us with a basis for our 

 belief in free will, but yet to accept it in so far as 

 it informs us of the operation of the laws of 

 nature. 



The classical principles of mechanics, electro- 

 dynamics, and thermodynamics, which seem to 

 signify predetermination to the exclusion of free 

 will, were derived from experiments upon iso- 

 lated physico-chemical systems and deal only 

 with the effects of simple elementary forces or 

 with the combined or average effects of large 

 numbers of atoms or molecules. There is no arti- 

 ficial device known which will respond to the 

 specific behavior of a single selected atom. Even 

 the streaks produced in supersaturated vapor by 

 the individual alpha and beta particles of radio- 

 active substances constitute no exception to this 

 rule, for what is really being observed here 

 is only the presence of a particle and not the spe- 

 cific behavior thereof. 



It is only through the medium of living matter 

 that the individual behaviors of the various 

 atoms can make themselves known to us. In the 

 molecular structure of living matter the various 

 atoms are coordinated and connected with one 



