92 WHAT IS DARWINISM? 



is the view to which Darwin's doctrine is di- 

 rectly opposed, and of which Agassiz is, among 

 naturahsts, the most important advocate. The 

 famous work of Agassiz, ' Essay on Classifica- 

 tion,' which is in direct opposition to Darwin's, 

 and appeared about the same time, has carried 

 out logically to the utmost the absurd an- 

 thropomorphic doctrine of a Creator." (p. 17) 



The monistic theory is called " mechanical 

 and causal," because it supposes that all the 

 phenomena of the universe, organic and inor- 

 ganic, vegetable and animal, vital and mental, 

 are due to mechanical or necessarily operating 

 causes (causae efficientes) ; just as the dualistic 

 theory is called " teleological or vitalistic," 

 because it refers natural organisms to causes 

 working for the accomplishment of a given end 

 (causae finales), (p. 67) 



The grand difficulty in the way of the me- 

 chanical or monistic theory was the occurrence 

 of innumerable organisms, apparently at least, 

 indicative of design. To get over this diffi- 

 culty, Haeckel says, some who could not 

 believe in a creative and controlling mind 

 adopted the idea of a metaphysical ghost called 

 vitality. The grand service rendered by Dar- 

 win to science is, that his theory enables us to 



