vin DARWINISM AND DESIGN 131 



and birth, etc., provided it with inexhaustible material for 

 respectful admiration. Surely all this could not be the 

 result of blind chance, of unintelligent matter it pro 

 ceeded from the hand of God. 



In more modern language, the Argument from Design 

 essentially argued from the existence of adaptation to the 

 existence of an adapter. Beings would not have been so 

 admirably fitted for their conditions of life unless they 

 had been intelligently fitted for them. And the 

 adaptations were so wonderful that the adapter must 

 have been divine. 



Now, it is easy to see that in this shape the Argument 

 from Design has several weak points quite apart from the 

 attacks which Darwinism has made on it. (i) The 

 thought of evolution, of a cosmic process, revealing itself 

 in the course of time, the thought that lends grandeur 

 and strength to the modern versions of the ancient plea, 

 was entirely foreign to it. Consequently it took the 

 process of adapting, whereby the adaptation arose to be 

 instantaneous and complete. Consequently it was sadly 

 perplexed by the fact that many adaptations were far 

 from perfect. When Helmholtz pointed out the optical 

 defects of the eye, and the ease with which they might 

 have been remedied, the defenders of the old teleology 

 were at a loss to answer a sacrilegious but exceedingly 

 awkward criticism. They could not admit what now the 

 teleological evolutionist may say without wincing viz. 

 that the adaptations in themselves, and as they now 

 exist, form a somewhat imperfect and insufficient testi 

 mony for divine agency, and no testimony at all for a 

 divine omnipotence. And, (2) it was not shown that 

 animal intelligence might not have constructed the 

 adaptations actually found. This suggestion could be 

 ruled out only so long as the belief in the fixity of species 

 prevailed ; but it became far more tenable so soon as 

 practically unlimited time was allowed to intelligent 

 effort to reach the degree of adaptation exhibited. And 

 so there was nothing for it but to ascribe to the direct 

 contrivance of the Deity every adaptation and every 



