XXII 



THE INFLUENCE OF THE CONCEPTION OF 

 EVOLUTION ON MODERN PHILOSOPHY 



By H. Hoffding. 



Professor of Philosophy in the University of Copenhagen. 

 I. 



It is difficult to draw a sharp line between philosophy and 

 natural science. The naturalist who introduces a new principle, or 

 demonstrates a fact which throws a new light on existence, not only 

 renders an important service to philosophy but is himself a philosopher 

 in the broader sense of the word. The aim of philosophy in the 

 stricter sense is to attain points of view from which the fundamental 

 phenomena and the principles of the special sciences can be seen in 

 their relative importance and connection. But philosophy in this 

 stricter sense has always been influenced by philosophy in the broader 

 sense. Greek philosophy came under the influence of logic and 

 mathematics, modern philosophy under the influence of natural 

 science. The name of Charles Darwin stands with those of Galileo, 

 Newton, and Robert Mayer — names which denote new problems and 

 great alterations in our conception of the universe. 



First of all we must lay stress on Darwin's own personality. 

 His deep love of truth, his indefatigable inquiry, his wide horizon, 

 and his steady self-criticism make him a scientific model, even if his 

 results and theories should eventually come to possess mainly an 

 historical interest. In the intellectual domain the primary object is 

 to reach high summits from which wide surveys are possible, to reach 

 them toiling honestly upwards by the way of experience, and then 

 not to turn dizzy when a summit is gained. Darwinians have some- 

 times turned dizzy, but Darwin never. He saw from the first the 

 great importance of his hypothesis, not only because of its solution 

 of the old problem as to the value of the concept of species, not only 

 because of the grand picture of natural evolution which it unrolls, 

 but also because of the life and inspiration its method would impart 

 to the study of comparative anatomy, of instinct and of heredity, and 



