34 
LE CONTE. 
ology; but philosophy, which is the science of free, self-con¬ 
scious spirit, belongs to man alone. There is a psychology 
in man, too, for man is also an animal; but all the activi¬ 
ties of self-conscious, self-determining spirit, such as abstract 
thought, unselfish love, and free moral choice, and all that 
flow from these, belong to philosophy. There is, therefore, 
a comparative psychology as there is a comparative anat¬ 
omy and a comparative physiology, and these comparative 
sciences include man also as subject-matter; but there is no 
comparative philosophy in the sense spoken of above. There 
is a comparison of philosophers, but not a comparative phi¬ 
losophy. 
But I must not be understood as severing philosophy 
wholly from other departments of science. The distinction 
here made between free spirit and vital force even in its high¬ 
est form, as nerve-force and psychic force, and between phi¬ 
losophy and psychology, although the greatest in nature, 
yet is similar to the distinctions between other forms of force 
and between other departments of thought. All forces are 
in a sense natural, and all natural forces are derived one 
from another in regular order by a process of evolution, 
though not necessarily by insensible gradations. Free spirit, 
I am convinced, is no exception to this universal law. Let 
me illustrate what I mean : 
There was a time in the history of the earth when, as I 
suppose, only physical forces, gravity, heat, light, &c., existed. 
Perhaps first of all only gravity. Chemical affinity did not 
yet exist, being held in abeyance by intensity of heat. As 
the earth gradually cooled, at a certain temperature chemi¬ 
cal force was born and chemical reaction suddenly began— 
a new kind of force, a new group of phenomena, a new possi¬ 
ble science. Suddenly, I said, but not therefore underived 
from previous forces. On the contrary, physical forces under 
new conditions changed into, became chemical force. Ages 
passed away until conditions were favorable, and life ap¬ 
peared suddenly on the scene—again a new kind of force 
and a new and peculiar group of phenomena, furnishing 
materials for a new science, physiology. Suddenly again, 
