432 CONCLUSION. 



almost at once from the formula of the world's evol- 

 ution. In chapter viii. Evolution was found to be 

 the development of the individual in society, and it 

 is easy to interpret by this formula of what Evolu- 

 tion actually is, what it must be intended to be. If 

 Evolution is the process of the gradual perfection- 

 ing of the individual in society, its purpose and its 

 meaning must be the adaptation of the individual 

 to the social environment. And in the light of 

 chapters ix. and x. the individuals to be adapted 

 or perfected by social harmony are the ultimate 

 spiritual existences or Egos which underlie our phe- 

 nomenal selves. The ultimate aim, therefore, of the 

 world-process is a harmonious society of perfect 

 individuals, a kingdom of Heaven of perfected 

 spirits, in which all friction will have disappeared 

 from their interaction with God and with one an- 

 other. 



§ 3. But if this be the ultimate end or aim of the 

 world-process, light is at once thrown on its starting- 

 point. If the individuals are as yet imperfectly 

 harmonized, but tending towards harmony, the pro- 

 cess must have begun with a minimum of harmony. 

 That is to say, at the beginning of the world-process 

 lies a state in which the individual spirits formed no 

 world or society, and did not interact with one an- 

 other. Their interaction was as yet a mere possi- 

 bility (cp. ch. x. § 23), and each existed for and by 

 himself in a timeless solitude. But this spiritual 

 chaos forms a complete antithesis to the world or 

 cosmos, and so may be called a pre-cosmic condi- 

 tion of the world-process. It is precosmic because 

 a world or cosmos could not come into existence 

 until some sort of connection and interaction had 

 been established among the ultimate existences, 



