32 TRANSACTIONS OF THE 



and justifies individual aggrandizement, and hence is making rapid 

 inroads into the popular habit of thought. This /aissez /aire ^^hWos- 

 ophy, which Mr. Ward characterized as the "gospel of inaction," 

 is, in his opinion, distinctly negatived by the most advanced science, 

 is contrary to the very law of evolution, and its legitmate workings 

 almost justify Carlyle in denouncing the whole philosophy of science 

 as the " gospel of dirt." 



As against such sordid teachings Mr. Ward held : That without 

 apotheosizing the mind, without denying its humble origin and slow 

 development, it is still the greatest fact in the universe, produces 

 the grandest results achieved on the globe, and in and of itself 

 makes man the supreme arbiter of his own destiny, the great in- 

 dependent agency of the world and master of the planet. 



DISCUSSION. 



Prof. Thomas remarked that for a clear comprehension of the 

 problem presented in Mr. Ward's paper a definition of what he 

 meant by mind was necessary. He cited illustrations to show that 

 animals and even insects have memory and reasoning powers — in 

 short, mind. What then, he asked, is the human as distinguished 

 from the brute mind? 



Prof. Ward, in reply, said that so far as the purposes of the 

 present paper were concerned the only definition of mind necessary 

 was the one given in the course of the paper, viz., that it was the 

 inventive faculty of man. 



Mr. Welling expressed his general concurrence in so much of 

 Mr. Ward's paper as might be said to convey the positive and affir- 

 mative propositions of the writer, but intimated the opinion that on 

 a deeper analysis and closer inspection it would be found that the 

 dissidence between Mr. Ward and the scientific expositors of the 

 naturalistic school was not so great as might be inferred from the 

 terms of his negative criticism. That dissidence was perhaps formal 

 rather than real, being, as between him and his opponents, a question 

 of nomenclature rather than of substance — or, to speak more defi- 

 nitely, a question as to the precise point in the evolutionary process 

 where the logic and nomenclature of the naturalistic school might be 

 held to apply to the facts of psychic activity in the figure of human 

 society. In so far as mind might be said to have a physical basis, 

 Mr. Welling said that he saw no reason why the human organism 

 should be exempted from the law of a physical natural selection and 



