6 THE WOELD OF LIFE 



Here we have yet another contradiction — that the tJiinking 

 infinite substance is unconscious! This leads to his theory 

 of the " cell-soul/' which is the origin of all consciousness, hut 

 which is itself unconscious. This he reiterates emphatically. 

 He tells us that at a certain grade of organisation '^ conscious- 

 ness has been gradually evolved from the psychic reflex activity, 

 and now conscious voluntary action appears" (p. 41). Along 

 wdth these strange conceptions, "vvhich really explain nothing, 

 he propounds his " Law of Substance " as the one great foun- 

 dation of the universe. This is merely another name for 

 " persistence of force " or ^' conservation of energ}^," yet at 

 the end of the chapter expounding it he claims that, '' in a 

 negative way, it rules out the three central dogmas of meta- 

 physics — God, freedom, and immortality" (p. 83). A little 

 further on he again states his position thus: 



" The development of the universe is a monistic mechanical 

 process, in which we discover no aim or purpose whatever; what 

 we call design in the organic world is a special result of biological 

 agencies; neither in the evolution of the heavenly bodies, nor in 

 that of the crust of the earth do we find any trace of a controlling 

 purpose — all is the result of chance.^' 



Then, after discussing what is meant by chance, he con- 

 cludes : 



" That, however, does not prevent us from recognising in each 

 ' chance ' event, as we do in the evolution of the entire cosmos, the 

 universal sovereignty of nature's supreme law, the taw of sub' 

 stance'* (p. 97). 



Again, he defines his position still more frankly: 



*' Atheism affirms that there are no gods or goddesses, assuming 

 that god means a personal, extra-mundane entity. This ^ godless 

 world-system ' substantially agrees with the monism or pantheism 

 of the modern scientist. It is only another expression for it, em- 

 phasising its negative aspect, the non-existence of any supernatural 

 deity" (p. 103). 



