142 WHAT IS LIFE 



qu'il y a de special dans les manifestations de la vie 

 et de ce qu'il y a de conforme Faction des 

 forces g6nrales : Foment ultime du ph^nomene 

 est physique ; Farrangement est vital ". This view 

 which distinguishes itself from the physico-chemi- 

 cal theories and, whilst allotting only those processes 

 which are the outcome of general physical forces 

 to the material element, assigns to " Farrangement " 

 or organising property (or " energy" or " force") 

 the special vital phenomena, seems to approximate 

 very closely to the old scholastic conception of the 

 " forma substantialis " or the vital energy of the 

 living body. 



But enough of definitions. If we clear our 

 Let us con- minds of such things and contemplate ourselves, is 

 ouTs P e ives ft really possible to conceive that what we know 

 best amongst the activities of life, our own con- 

 scious states, our thoughts, our feelings and our 

 volitions are nothing but physical "energies" or 

 " forces " and are explicable in the same terms as 

 the making of soda water is explicable ? Is it not 

 clear that the two classes of phenomena are wholly 

 different from one another and that the activities 

 of life are agencies of quite a different character ? 

 As Father Maher puts it 1 " they are phenomena un- 

 extended and indivisible, quite beyond the ken of 

 physical science; and they are never convertible 

 1 Life and the Conservation of Energy. 



