Chapter I: Foreword

In the summer of 1929 I was asked to speak for thirty-five minutes in a symposium on the Nature of Life arranged by the officers of the Physiological Section of the British Association. I soon discovered that there are many ways of filling up thirty-five minutes devoted to the consideration of so formidable a topic. Eventually I decided to make my contribution in the form which appears almost unchanged in the fourth essay of this book. By that time I had written a volume without intending to break my silence before attaining my sixtieth year. With the insertion of some material to elaborate the point of view I had developed this collection might be described as the rejected addresses. I owe to my friend Mr. Sewell, who has adopted the same standpoint in a criticism of æsthetics in course of preparation, the suggestion of the word _public_ in contradistinction to the _external_ world of Professor Eddington.

Four contributors to the Symposium on the Nature of Life, General Smuts, Dr. Haldane, Dr. Wildon Carr and Professor Eddington, had already published their philosophical views in book form. General Smuts and Dr. Haldane courteously wrote to me, expressing the hope that I would criticize their views destructively. I found the time at my disposal insufficient for stating my own point of view. I have responded to their invitation in these essays. If certain passages seem to some of my readers unduly polemical, I have the assurance that my fellow-contributors will regard this collection as the continuation of what was a very friendly argument.

I wish to acknowledge my indebtedness to my friend Professor Levy for criticism and assistance in seeing this book through the press.

L. T. H.

Cape Town,
_April, 1930._

CONTENTS

PART I

VITALISM AND MECHANISM

Summary 1
Introduction 3
I: The Mechanization of Consciousness 33
II: The Atomistic View of Parenthood 56
III: The Nature of Life--an Introduction to the Theory
of a Public World 80
IV: The Concept of Adaptation 102

PART II

DARWINISM AND THE ATOMISTIC INTERPRETATION OF INHERITANCE

Summary 127
V: The Methodology of Evolution 129
VI: The Problem of Species 151
VII: Natural Selection and Experimental Research 170
VIII: The Survival of the Eugenist 193

PART III

HOLISM AND THE PUBLICIST STANDPOINT IN PHILOSOPHY

Summary 217
IX: Biology and Humanism 219
X: Publicity, Reality, and Religion 245
XI: Privacy, Publicity, and Education 266
XII: The Publicist Standpoint and Holism 289