24 THE PROBLEM OF EVOLUTION 



universe, or, more accurately, of the various opinions 

 regarding the origin, nature, and final object of the 

 world (Weltanschauung). 



It is impossible for such a theory to be independent 

 of all presupposition. The theistic view is often 

 blamed for not being free from presuppositions, 

 inasmuch as it assumes the existence of a personal 

 Creator, and also the act of creation but no 

 Weltanschauung is free from hypotheses, not even 

 the monistic, which assumes the indestructibility 

 of matter and many other things, which cannot 

 be proved, and which are no more connected with 

 actual facts than are the presuppositions of the 

 theistic theory. 



In speaking of monism we must be careful to 

 avoid confusion. There is a scientific monism, 

 better called causalism, which seeks natural causes 

 for every natural phenomenon, and requires these 

 causes to be as simple as possible. 



In this sense I too am a monist. As far as the 

 natural order goes, I too desire to have a natural and, 

 if possible, a simple explanation of every natural 

 phenomenon, and we need not now take into account 

 the supernatural order, as it does not fall within the 

 scope of these lectures. Therefore in the sense 

 which I have defined, I have no quarrel with 

 monism. But the word has another signification : 

 there is a metaphysical monism, which asserts the 

 essential identity of God and the world, and in this 

 sense Monism is used in contradistinction to Dualism. 



