The most patent facts of man's moral life, however, 

 cannot be explained on any such hypothesis, and the logic 

 of events has already shown that Darwinism could never 

 have won general acceptance but for the incautious en- 

 thusiasm of youth which intoxicated the minds of the rising 

 generation of naturalists and incapacitated them for the 

 exercise of sober judgment. To show that there is among 

 contemporary men of science a healthy reaction against 

 Darwinism is the object of this treatise. 



The reader may now ask. What, then, is your idea of 

 evolution? It certainly is easier to criticise than to do 

 constructive work. An honest study of nature, however, 

 inevitably leads us to the conclusion that the final solution 

 of the problem is still far distant. Many a stone has al- 

 ready been quarried for the future edifice of evolution by 

 unwearied research during the last four decades. But in 

 opposition to Darwinism it may, at the present time, be 

 confidently asserted that any future doctrine of evolution 

 will have to be constructed on the following basic prin- 

 ciples: 



(i) All evolution is characterized by finality; it pro- 

 ceeds according to a definite plan, and tends to a definite 

 end. 



(2) Chance and disorder find no place in Nature; 

 every stage of the evolutionary process is the result of 

 law-controlled factors. 



(3) Egoism and struggle among living organisms 

 are of very subordinate importance in comparison with co- 

 operation and social action. 



33 



