THE WONDERS OF LIFE 



existence of time. Space and time are not merely 

 necessary forms of intuition for human knowledge, but 

 real features of things, existing quite independently of 

 perception. 



The increasing recognition of fixed natural laws which 

 accompanied the growth of science in the nineteenth 

 century was bound to restrict more and more the blind 

 faith in miracles. There are three chief reasons why we 

 find this, nevertheless, still so prevalent — the continued 

 influence of dualistic metaphysics, the authority of the 

 Christian Church, and the pressure of the modern state 

 in allying itself with the Church. These three strong 

 bulwarks of superstition are so hostile to pure reason 

 and the truth it seeks that we must devote special 

 attention to them. It is a question of the highest 

 interests of humanity. The struggle against supers ti- 

 ption and ignorance is a fight for civilization. Our 

 modern civilization will only emerge from it in triumph, 

 and we shall only eliminate the last barbaric features 

 from our social and political life, when the light of true 

 knowledge has driven out the belief in miracles and the 

 prejudices of dualism. 



The remarkable history of philosophy in the nineteenth 

 century, which has not yet been written with complete 

 impartiality and knowledge, shows us in the first place 

 an ever-increasing struggle between the rising young 

 sciences and the paramount authority of tradition and 

 dogma. In the first half of the century the various 

 branches of biology made progress without coming into 

 direct collision with natural philosophy. The great 

 advance of comparative anatomy, physiolog}^ embry- 

 ology, paleontology, the cell-theory, and classification, 

 provided scientists with such ample material that they 

 attached little importance to speculative metaphysics. 

 It was otherwise in the second half of the nineteenth 

 century. Soon after its commencement the contro- 



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