212 ADAPTATION AND PROGRESS 



planning his cosmic philosophy deferred to a later time the volume 

 that was to describe the change from the inorganic to the organic, 

 but never wrote it. The nearest he comes to an explanation 

 of psycho-physical parallelism is in a letter in which he makes use 

 of a very apt illustration ^ to suggest the parallelism but admits 

 that we must assume that both the physical and psychical are 

 dependent on the Eternal Source of Energy which is behind both 

 processes. 



We have noted the assumptions of Ratzenhof er that the original 

 force is ever expanding and attaining new forms of Hfe in pro- 

 portion as the conditions and elements are provided by the en- 

 vironment; indeed most spiritualistic monists assume that the 

 transition is possible because the world-ground is intelligent. 

 But even so, the change is still left a mystery. We must conclude 

 that at present we can at most but describe the process in terms 

 of sequence. Nor will a mere logical classification of elements 

 that enter in suffice for this. We must assume, provisionally, 

 that for scientific purposes this is a law-abiding cosmic order and 

 in the spirit of Darwin endeavor to find the various elements, 

 locate the stages of development and their order of sequence. 

 But we may still hold that this fails to give us the life of values 

 of conscious experience.^ 



The crucial point in the transition process from passive to 

 active adaptation in its higher manifestations, is the power of 

 choice between two apparently different courses of action. Prac- 

 tically all monists tell us that all we mean by freedom of choice is 

 that it is determined by individual character rather than by out- 

 ward constraint; but this fails to satisfy. The logical conclusion, 



* Duncan, Life and letters of Herbert Spencer, pp. 237-239. 



2 Compare with this the conclusion of Professor Henderson of Harvard in his 

 book, The Fitness of the Environment: " We may be sure that, whatever successes 

 science shall in future celebrate within the domain of teleology, the philosopher 

 will never cease to perceive the wonder of a universe which moves onward from 

 chaos to perfect harmonies, and, quite apart from any possible mechanistic 

 explanation of origin and fulfilment, to feel it a worthy subject of reflection. 

 From this point of view, however, science need expect no interference, but without 

 any last vestige of former shackles may pursue the search after mechanistic 

 explanations of all natural phenomena," p. 311. He quotes Royce with seeming 

 approval. 



