286 Philosophy of Botany. 



" Ob wohl Natur sich selbst erkennt? " 



— Goethe, Faust. 



May not Nature be self-conscious? 



In rhythmic swells like ocean waves flows by the current of 

 history. The past fifty years presented a period of unparal- 

 leled material progress in all civilized countries. The advance 

 in mechanical and technical operations in transportation 

 and production was so immense that they would nec- 

 essarily imply a new valuation of human life. It is the out- 

 come of the progress of the natural sciences. The measure of 

 its value can only be taken by a parallelization with moral 

 progress, on which rest the security, peace, and happiness of 

 society. The evident disproportion in these two kinds of ad- 

 vances is dtie to the different nature of motor forces, the real- 

 istic or materialistic on the one side, and the idealistic on the 

 other. Neither one is, of itself, either good or bad, and their 

 efficiency depends upon the direction of the impetus with 

 which they are started. 



The materialist subjugates the forces of nature for material 

 purposes, without definite reference to their bearing on the 

 character and moral standing of the individual or the commu- 

 nity. The character of this force is purely intellectual. It 

 has an egoistic tendency. 



The idealist is moved by sympathetic impulses. The 

 psychical impulse originates in the sympathetic and allied 

 nervous system ; the intellectual sphere is a mere consulting 

 — often a reluctant — aid. Sympathetic feeling is preexistent: 

 in the course of evolution it is very likely active before the de- 

 velopment of nervous systems, and inherent to the unspecial- 

 ized nerve matter. Its ultimate judgments and aspirations 

 turn to the realization of the highest truth, goodness, beauty, 

 and justice. 



The realist finds the anchorage of his judgments in condi- 

 tions as they are actually presented; the idealist forms trans- 

 cendental estimates — how things ought to be — and judges 

 them by this standard. The realist finds security in direct 

 observation ; the idealist is swayed by sentiment. The one 

 operates with the intellect; the other, with emotion. Realism 



