The Metaphysics of Darwinism. 101 



ations in the direction of an accurate time-keeper 

 and checked all those in other directions then it 

 is obvious that the force of Paley s argument 

 would be gone.&quot; 



Does, then, the doctrine of descent and Dar 

 winism give the death-blow to teleology ? This 

 is a question of vital importance for metaphysics 

 and ethics. And it is not too much to say that 

 the essential philosophical significance of Dar 

 win s work lies in its extra-scientific attempt to 

 explain the adaptations in plants and animals as 

 the blind outcome of purely mechanical causa 

 tion. Full of admiration for those exquisite 

 adaptations of one part of the organism to an 

 other part, and of one organic being to another 

 being, as well as of all organic beings to the phys 

 ical conditions of life, Darwin, after studying 

 them with marvellous insight and patience, pro 

 nounces them all results of &quot; nature s power of 

 selection,&quot; of the struggle for life and survival of 

 the fittest, among the innumerable combinations 

 that have happened to arise. 



Now, before inquiring into the warrant with 

 which fortuity is here substituted for design, two 

 preliminary remarks suggest themselves. The 

 first is that the doctrine of fortuitous combina 

 tions is not the outcome of modern evolutionary 



