134 HUMANISM vm 



appearing in the ultra -Darwinian writings. It is quite 

 consistent of them to speak of the omnipotence of 

 natural selection and to reject or minimise all other 

 possible factors, like intelligent effort, use and disuse, 

 physical and chemical conditions, etc., as directive forces 

 in Organic Evolution. 



If, then, Variation and Natural Selection are the alpha 

 and omega of the matter, and adequate to account for all 

 the facts, it would seem to be beyond doubt that there is 

 no longer any place for any sort of teleological argument. 

 Nevertheless, it may reasonably be contended that this 

 inference would be entirely erroneous, for the reasons to 

 be presently set forth. 



I. The case with which the Darwinian argument dis 

 penses with all intelligence as a factor in survival excites 

 suspicion. It is proving too much to show that adaptation 

 might equally well i.e, as completely, if not as rapidly 

 have arisen in automata. For we are strongly persuaded 

 that we ourselves are not automata, and strive hard to 

 adapt ourselves. In us at least, therefore, intelligent effort 

 is a source of adaptation. And the same will surely be 

 admitted in the case of the higher animals. How far 

 down the possibility of such intelligent co-operation in a 

 greater or less degree is admissible, depends very much 

 on people s preconceived notions ; but we are, at all events, 

 unable to fix any definite inferior limit beyond which 

 influence of intelligence cannot penetrate. Intelligence, 

 therefore, is a vera causa as a source of adaptations at 

 least co-ordinate with Natural Selection, and this can be 

 denied only if it is declared inefficacious everywhere^ if all 

 living beings, ourselves included, are declared to be 

 automata. 



But should this be attempted and it would seem to 

 be involved, e.g. in the assumption of psychophysical 

 parallelism a peculiar difficulty arises on the basis of 

 the Darwinian theory itself. If intelligence has no 

 efficacy in promoting adaptation i.e. if it has no survival- 

 value, how comes it to be developed at all? On the 

 Darwinian assumptions only those qualities can be 



