100 



SCIENCE. 



[N.S. Vol. XXI. Xo. .525. 



session following- the joint session, Pro- 

 fessor Dearborn read a paper on 'Con- 

 sciousness in the Brutes,' in which he held 

 that the structure and metabolism of pro- 

 toplasm in general, rather than that of the 

 nervous system, was the physical basis of 

 consciousness. Professor J. A. Leighton, 

 in a paper in the 'Psychological Self and 

 the Actiial Personality,' contended that 

 psychology, neither in its structural nor in 

 its functional analysis dees justice to the 

 actual personality, which is numifested and 

 realized in the constructions of historical 

 culture. Dr. William T. Harris read a 

 characteristic i)aper on 'Primary and Sec- 

 ondary Pha'-es of Causality,' maintaining 

 that natural science was founded on the 

 latter and lhe(;l<gy ( u the former. The 

 other papers put down fi.r this session were 

 read by title, Professor Newbold's inter- 

 pretati(m of a passage in Aristotle relating 

 to mental synthesis being unfortunately 

 crowded out for lack of time. 



At the closing session on the morning of 

 the thirtieth. Dr. AVoodbridge Riley read 

 an interesting chapter from a forthcoming 

 book on deism in America, Professor F. S. 

 Hoffman discussed the probability for im- 

 mortality, Professor H. G. Lord discussed 

 the nature and moral character of 'Gam- 

 bling as Play." This last was something of 

 a sui-prise, for after seeking to determine 

 the nature of gambling in general and of 

 gandding as play in particular. Professor 

 Lord, in the second part of his paper, which 

 was a search for some solid basis for the 

 moral judgnumt of gambling as play, ar- 

 rived at the conclusion that there was no 

 justification for its almost universal con- 

 demnation, a conclusion which no one 

 present seriously disputed. Two other 

 papers of merit on ethical subjects were 

 read at this session, both by members from 

 Cornell. Dr. H. W. Wright read on 'Eth- 

 ical ^Method,' suggesting an evolutionary 

 interpretation of moi'ality, moral develop- 



ment being treated as a process of organ- 

 ization unified by purposive activity, the 

 diHerent virtues being regarded as neces- 

 sary stages in the process. Dr. T. de 

 Laguna read an admirably clear paper on 

 the stages in the discussion of 'Evolu- 

 tionary Ethics,' of which he distinguished 

 five, partly contemporaneous : the fii'st be- 

 ing concerned with a supposed conflict be- 

 tween ethics and evolution ; the second 

 setting up evolutionary laws as a standard 

 for morality; the third treating ethical 

 problems in terms derived from the theory 

 of organic evolution ; the fourth asserting 

 the distinctive nature of social and of 

 specifically moral evolution : and the fifth 

 concerned with fjuestions cf method. The 

 last paper read was by Dr. Percy Hughes, 

 seeking an answer to the question, Is there 

 a distinct logic of historical construction? 

 The answer was affirmative; it was con- 

 tended that a clear perception of action as 

 the concept of historical construction 

 would bring about important results. 



A I the business meeting of the associa- 

 tion the following officers were elected : 



President — John Dewey (Columbia). 



Tice-l'resident — J. A. Leighton (Hobart). 



i<ecrctarij-TreuK%n-er — T. G. Hibben (Princeton). 



Meinhcrs of Ihe Executive Committee for two 

 years — H. X. Gardiner (Smith) and R. B. Perry 

 (Harvard). 



It was voted to hold the next meeting, 

 at the invitation of Professor [Miinsterberg 

 and the members of the Harvard Philo- 

 sophical Department, at Cambridge, in con- 

 nection with the inauguration of the new 

 Emerson Hall of Philosophy, and to invite 

 to meet with the association the Western 

 Philosophical Association and the Southern 

 Society for Philosophy and Psychology. 

 A vote of thanks was passed for the hospi- 

 tality accorded to the association by the 

 University of Pennsylvania. A vote was 

 also passed in recognition of the services 

 of the I'ctii-ing seci-etary. Seven new men^ 



