84 THEORETICAL BIOLOGY 



THE TEMPORAL BOUNDARY OF THE SURROUNDING-WORLDS 



If we represent the surrounding- world of an animal at any 

 given moment as a circle, we can add on to it the succeeding 

 moments, each as a new circle of the same kind. In this way 

 we get a tube, which would correspond to the length of the 

 animal's life. On all sides the tube is formed of indications, 

 which we can imagine to be built along and around the life- 

 path of the animal. The life-path thus resembles a tunnel 

 passing through the surrounding-world and closed at both 

 ends. In this tunnel the nature of the indications that may 

 appear is fixed from the beginning ; so we may say that its 

 extent and the variety it displays are predestined. Moreover, 

 the time-length of the tunnel has a prescribed measurement, 

 which cannot be exceeded. 



Proceeding from these immutable factors that determine 

 aU life in the world, we come to see that life itself is based on 

 fixed laws, which are in conformity with plan : these laws do 

 not become apparent, simply because the individual destinies 

 are so numerous that we are unable to appreciate the influences 

 they exert on one another. As a matter of fact, however, 

 they are merely variations on a set theme, and a limit can be 

 set to the possibilities they present. 



h 



SUMMARY 



To space and time, the forms of our knowledge which are 

 present before all experience, we have to add the forms of the 

 content-qualities, which cannot be intuited directly. As we 

 have seen, they can be brought nearer to intuition by trans- 

 ference into spatial relations, as has already been done in the 

 case of time, of which our extensive experience is direct. 



On this point, therefore, we must expand Kant's doctrine, 

 and show that for all kinds of qualities there are forms which 



