An Introduction to a Biology 



closer the fit of the theory to fact, the greater the 

 intelligibility of the theory. 



But what about the biologist ? He will think my 

 thesis nonsense too. For not only does he, because 

 he is a man, think most comfortably in terms of 

 matter ; but also because he endeavours to interpret 

 life in terms of physics, chemistry and mechanics, 

 he borrows his ideas about the fitting of theory to 

 fact from the physicist and the rest. Glance for a 

 moment at the series covered by our three categories : 

 (1) lawyer ; (2) biologist ; and (3) physicist. In its 

 broadest sense that series covers (1) man ; (2) life ; 

 and (3) matter. The biologist has started with 

 matter because he is most at home there ; and he has 

 tried to interpret life, and even man, in terms of 

 matter. In a sense, too, he has started from the 

 other end, i.e. from man, in his attempt to interpret 

 life. But he has laid hold of the least vital thing 

 about man that he could have chosen ; for he has 

 done no more than borrow the purely utilitarian, un- 

 sympathetic and impersonal method of the court of 

 law to investigate life. And thus life has been en- 

 filaded by a withering fire from both ends ; our 

 theory of life has no life left in it ; and we think 

 of life as machinery, and of the organism as a 

 machine filled with a variety of chemicals, meekly 

 obedient to the laws of chemistry, physics and 

 mechanics. 



But to return ; the biologist had to make a theory 

 which fitted. Was he going to wait till he had taken 

 into account all the manifestations of life, especially 

 those exhibited by man ? Not he. Indeed he could 

 not if he would. Preoccupation with the extensive 



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