Monism 1 1 



fessor Haeckel's scheme of the universe, it 

 is not necessary to appeal to philosophers : 

 it is sufficient to meet him on scientific 

 ground, and to show that in his effort to 

 simplify and unify he has under-estimated 

 some classes of fact and has stretched scien- 

 tific theory into regions of guess-work and 

 hypothesis, where it loses touch with real 

 science altogether. The facts which he 

 chooses gratuitously to deny, and the facts 

 which he chooses vigorously to emphasise, 

 are arbitrarily selected by him according as 

 they will or will not fit into his philosophic 

 scheme. The scheme itself is no new one, 

 and almost certainly contains elements of 

 truth. Some day far hence, when it is 

 possible properly to formulate it, a system 

 of Monism may be devised which shall con- 

 tain the whole truth. At present the scheme 

 formulated by Professor Haeckel must to 

 philosophers appear rudimentary and anti- 

 quated, while to men of science it appears 

 gratuitous, hypothetical, in some places 

 erroneous, and altogether unconvincing. 



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