90 WHAT IS DARWINISM? 



is the mere product of the poetic imagination ; 

 science, of the understanding; if its conclu- 

 sions come into conflict with the creations of 

 the imagination, the latter, of course, must give 

 way. 1 



He says, there have ever been two conflict- 

 ing theories of the universe : the one, monistic ; 

 the other, dualistic. The one admits of only 

 one substance, matter ; the other of two, mat- 

 ter and mind. He prefers to call the former 

 monism rather than materialism, because the 

 latter term often includes the idea of moral 

 materialism, i. e. the doctrine that sensual 

 pleasure is the end of life ; a doctrine, he says, 

 much more frequently held by princely church- 

 men than by men of science. He maintains, 

 however, that " all knowable nature is one ; 

 that the same eternal, immutable (ehernen, 

 brazen) laws are active in the life of animals 

 and plants, in the formation of crystals, and 

 the power of steam ; in the whole sphere of 

 biology, zoology, and botany. We have, 

 therefore, the right to hold fast the monistic 

 and mechanical view, whether men choose to 



1 Natiirliche Schopfungsgeschichte. Von Dr. Ernst Haeckel, 

 Professor in der Universitat Jena. Zweite Auflage, Berlin, 

 1873, pp. 8, and 9. 



