Aquapendente. Extremely uncomplimentary about the factual 

 data, 45 Baer stated, "The study of Fabricius was for me an 

 excellent means for recovering from philosophical theories 

 not based on direct observation. 4 ^ Thus, there should be 

 no preconceived explanations, but only accurate observations 

 and conclusions for them." 



Baer's "naturalistic" outlook must stand in conflict 

 with the materialistic ideas current in his day, especially 

 in the second half of his career, taking the form of sim- 

 plified mechanical materialism. His philippics, against 

 naturalists who seek to bring all the vital processes under 

 physico-chemical laws and do not see the qualitative pecu- 

 liarities of these phenomena, were directed mainly towards 

 the representatives of mechanical materialism. Thus Baer 

 also came out sharply against the other camp — against 

 fideism, coetionism, and anthropomorphism. Here he did 

 not avoid sarcasm and gave a similar kind of opinion to 

 those addressing God, examples of which were mentioned 

 above. What outlook remained? Baer took on the task of 

 creating his own world view. In vain did his biographers 

 promote the idea of a close relation between his study of 

 the direction (Z IELSTREBIGKEIT) of vital phenomena with 

 Aristotle's study of entelechy; in vain they emphasized 

 Baer's sympathy with Spinoza, whose materialistic philosophy 

 they falsely described as pantheism. Baer knew Aristotle 

 well and Spinoza also, but he went his own way as a natural- 

 ist, which, of course, could not rise to the heights achieved 

 consequently by materialism. 



Namely, this last circumstance was the reason that in 

 the struggle against simplified materialism Baer was some- 

 times obliged to use ammunition from the arsenal of the 

 fideism and anthropomorphous teleology which he had attacked. 



45. "The author used many efforts," Baer wrote, "so that 

 even absurd matters are represented as important and 

 essential . During this he described in detail things 

 which it is impossible to see properly in the egg and 

 also incorrectly described what really can be observed" 

 (NACHRICHTEN, p. 449). 



46. The speech was about idealistic natural philosophy, 

 at whose altar Baer gave tribute in his early youth. 



509 



