m THE MEANING OF EVOLUTION 283 



intuition to the intellect, for from the intellect we shall 

 never pass to intuition. 



Philosophy introduces us thus into the spiritual 

 life. And it shows us at the same time the relation of 

 the life of the spirit to that of the body. The great 

 error of the doctrines on the spirit has been the idea 

 that by isolating the spiritual life from all the rest, by 

 suspending it in space as high as possible above the 

 earth, they were placing it beyond attack, as if they 

 were not thereby simply exposing it to be taken as an 

 effect of mirage ! Certainly they are right to listen to 

 conscience when conscience affirms human freedom ; 

 but the intellect is there, which says that the cause 

 determines its effect, that like conditions like, that all 

 is repeated and that all is given. They are right to 

 believe in the absolute reality of the person and in 

 his independence toward matter ; but science is there&amp;gt; 

 which shows the interdependence of conscious life and 

 cerebral activity. They are right to attribute to man 

 a privileged place in nature, to hold that the distance 

 is infinite between the animal and man ; but the history 

 of life is there, which makes us witness the genesis of 

 species by gradual transformation, and seems thus to 

 reintegrate man in animality. When a strong instinct 

 assures the probability of personal survival, they are 

 right not to close their ears to its voice ; but if there 

 exist &quot; souls &quot; capable of an independent life, whence 

 do they come ? When, how and why do they enter 

 into this body which we see arise, quite naturally, 

 from a mixed cell derived from the bodies of its 

 two parents ? All these questions will remain un 

 answered, a philosophy of intuition will be a negation 

 of science, will be sooner or later swept away by 

 science, if it does not resolve to see the life of the 



