CHAPTER III 

 THE CONTENT-QUALITIES 



THE POINT OF VIEW OF PHYSICS AND OF BIOLOGY 



According to the physicist, there is only one real world ; and 

 this is not a world of appearance, but a world having its own 

 absolute laws, which are independent of all subjective in- 

 fluence. The world of the physicist consists (i) of places, 

 the number of which is infinite, (2) of movements, the extent 

 of which is unlimited, and (3) of moments, having a series 

 without beginning or end! All other properties of things are 

 referable to changes of place by the atoms. 



The biologist, on the other hand, maintains that there are 

 as many worlds as there are subjects, and that all these worlds 

 are worlds of appearance, which are intelligible only in con- 

 nection with the subjects. The subjective world consists (i) 

 of places, the number of which is finite, (2) of movements, the 

 extent of which is limited, (3) of moments, in a series that has 

 both a beginning and an end, and (4) of content-qualities, 

 which are also fixed in number, and have laws which are 

 likewise laws of Nature. 



For the biologist, the world of the physicist has only the 

 value of a world created by thought ; such a world corre- 

 sponds to no reality, but is to be considered as an indispensable 

 aid to calculation, much as the logarithmic tables are, although 

 logarithms admit of only a limited application. To try to 

 make use of logarithmic tables as an ethical law would seem 

 as childish and absurd as Ostwald's attempt in Sunday sermons 



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