THE BIOLOGIC SCIENCES
=54. Life.= Among the bodies in our environment that are ponderable and
have mass the animate beings are so strikingly distinguished from the
inanimate that in most cases we have not the slightest doubt whether a
body belongs to the one kind or to the other, even if in some cases we
happen not to be familiar with its peculiar form. In the first place,
therefore, we must answer the question in a general way and tell what
the distinguishing peculiarities are that mark them off one from the
other.
The first peculiarity is this, that living organisms are not _stable_
but _stationary_ forms. This distinction is based upon the fact that a
stable form is at rest or unchangeable in all its parts, while a
stationary body, though it seems unchangeable in its form, internally
undergoes a constant change of its parts. Thus, a brass faucet is a
stable body, since it not only preserves its form and function
permanently, but consists at all times of the same material and shows
the same peculiarities, such as stains, defects in form, etc. It cannot
be said, it is true, that it will remain completely unchanged for all
time. Its metal suffers a gradual chemical and mechanical deterioration.
But this is not essential to the existence of the faucet, since the
deterioration varies greatly with circumstances, and if conditions are
ideal it can be reduced to zero.
On the other hand, the jet of water flowing from the faucet is a
stationary body. In favorable circumstances it can assume a constant
form, so that at a hasty glance it might be taken for a stable glass
rod. On closer examination it will be found that the parts of water of
which it is formed are not the same at any given instant as the instant
before, each part that has flowed away being replaced by another just as
large following it.
From this difference in the nature of the two bodies results a
difference in their behavior. If I make a mark on the faucet with a
file, the mark remains permanent. But even if I sever the entire water
jet with a knife, the cut is healed the next moment, because by reason
of the continuous flow of the water, the severed place is instantly
eliminated from the body. Owing to this nature peculiar to stationary
bodies, they have the capacity of _being healed_ or of _regeneration_.
For a body to continue permanently in a stationary condition the
material of which it is composed must be permanently _supplied_. If we
turn off the faucet, the water jet immediately disappears or "dies."
Evidently, therefore, a stationary body can subsist by its own means
only if it has the property or capacity to provide itself continually
with the necessary material. This material consists in the main of
ponderable or chemical substances of definite physical and chemical
properties, and thus the _change of substance_, _metabolism_, appears as
a necessary property of the stationary body. In order, however, that
metabolism should take place we must have free _energy_, or energy
having the capacity to work, since it is only free energy that can cause
substances to change, just as every phenomenon in the world implies the
equalization of free energy. For a stationary body to exist
independently, therefore, it must have the property of being able
spontaneously to possess itself of the necessary substances and of free
energy. But since, as we have already said, the energy of organisms is
stored up and used in the main in the form of chemical energy, the two
tasks which a stationary body has to perform, that of meeting the need
for substances and for energy, are as a rule externally combined. In
organisms these two necessities combined are called _nutrition_, and
thus we recognize in the capacity for _self-acquisition of nutrition_
another essential property of organisms.
A third essential property of organisms is the capacity for
_reproduction_, for the bringing forth of similar beings. It is never
impossible that the balance between the receipts and expenditures of a
stationary body should, in consequence of some external causes, be
disturbed, even when under normal conditions it possesses the property
of self-nutrition. If the disturbance remains below a certain point,
then, as we have already stated, regeneration sets in. But the
disturbance may rise above that point, in which case the body ceases to
exist, or dies. Then a similar body will not arise unless the manifold
necessities that have led to the origin of the first will combine again
to produce the second. That such a thing is possible, that, in fact, it
often happens, is shown, for example, by the waves of the ocean, which
have a stationary character since, while they are composed of constantly
changing masses of water, their form remains unchanged. The waves are
destroyed in the breakers, but arise again and again through the action
of the wind upon the surface of the water. But the more complex such
bodies are the less easily they are formed, while once they have been
formed and have found the conditions of their existence, their
preservation is much easier.
Beings, therefore, which have the capacity to form similar bodies out of
themselves regularly and at the right time can preserve their species
much more easily than those in which this property is absent. Death has
to a great extent lost its power over beings capable of reproduction. By
way of illustration let us take another stationary thing, a flame. A
flame is not an organism because it is not self-sustaining. Yet it
multiplies itself. And while a single little flame soon dies out, the
sea of flame of a burning forest, which started from a single small
flame, is well-nigh inextinguishable, and it cannot be fought in any
other way than by letting it die its natural death and burn to the end.
Thus, while the fulfilment of the first two conditions, the stationary
change and the self-supply of food, could produce bodies, which would be
able to exist for a longer or shorter period, but which at some time
would have to give way to other bodies of different form and nature, the
capacity for reproduction creates the condition that forms of the _same
species_ continue to exist even after the existence of the individual
has ceased.
These three properties constitute the essential characteristics of
animate things or organisms.
That the organisms are all constructed upon the basis of chemical energy
is a fact of experience which may be understood to imply that the other
forms of energy are not capable of producing the above-mentioned
conditions. This is due to the properties of chemical energy to which I
have already called attention: its great concentration and, at the same
time, its capacity for prolonged preservation. That chemical energy is
the only form of energy suitable to life is obvious from the fact that
in airship navigation, for example, the kinetic energy required for
steering can be supplied only in the form of gasoline or hydrogen, that
is, in the form of chemical energy, because any of the other forms would
be much too heavy. The flight of a bee or the swimming of a dolphin
cannot be conceived of except as brought about through chemical energy.
That this chemical energy is essentially that of _carbon_ has also been
established by experience, although it is not quite universal, for the
sulphur bacteria found their household upon the energy of sulphur. The
cause of the preference of carbon is again to be sought in its special
fitness for the purpose, due, on the one hand, to its wide distribution,
and, on the other hand, to the exceeding manifoldness of its
combinations.
Finally, the construction of the organisms from a peculiar combination
of solid and liquid substances can be proved to be equally due to
technical relations.
These three last-named peculiarities are therefore to be regarded as the
special characteristics of the organisms with which we are acquainted on
the surface of the earth in the conditions there prevailing. We need not
regard them conceptually as unchangeable or irreplaceable. But the first
three characteristics, namely, the stationary nature, self-supply of
nutrition, and reproduction, we may regard as the _essential
characteristics of organisms_. They constitute the frame within which
everything must be found which we should recognize as living in the
widest sense.
=55. The Storehouse of Free Energy.= If we ask whence the organisms
obtain the free energy which they require for the maintenance of their
stationary existence, the answer is that _solar radiation_ alone
furnishes this supply. Without this permanent supply the free energies
upon the earth, so far as our knowledge goes, would long ago have
reached a state of equilibrium, and the earth's bodies would be stable,
that is, dead and not stationary and living.
It is comprehensible, therefore, that machines should have evolved in
the organism for _transforming the radiant energy of the sun into a
permanent form_, and, as we have already learned, chemical energy is
permanent, while radiant energy is an extremely transitory form of
energy, that is, it changes very readily. The very fact that, owing to
the change from day to night, the supply of radiant energy periodically
ceases, makes the storing-up of energy for the night necessary to the
existence of a form dependent upon it. Thus, we recognize in the
_photochemical_ processes, that is, in the transformation of radiant
energy into chemical energy, the foundation of life on earth.
This work is done by the plants, which thus provide a store of free
energy not only for their own needs but also for all the other organisms
which possess themselves directly or indirectly of the plant-chemical
supplies in order to utilize them for their individual purposes. In this
manner nourishment in the widest sense is secured for all organisms,
being based upon the regular supply of free energy derived from the
sun. This also explains the great chemical similarity of all organisms,
which could not subsist if they were not so constructed as to be able to
utilize the chemical energy in the form in which it is provided by the
plants.
Of the great stream of free energy poured out from the sun into cosmic
space the earth receives an extremely small portion (corresponding to
the bit of space it occupies in the heavenly sphere as seen from the
sun), and the plants collect and store up only a very small fraction of
this portion received by the earth. Measurements have shown that in most
favorable circumstances a plant leaf changes only about 1/50 of the
radiant energy it receives into chemical energy. If we consider that
only a small part of the surface of the earth is covered with plants and
that during the winter no energy from the sun is stored up at all, we
perceive what infinite possibilities for development there still are in
arresting and storing up free energy. The part stored up by the plants
flows from these into the countless streams, brooks, and veins of the
other organisms, to end finally as used-up energy, or energy at rest.
This energy is at rest, it is true, only in relation to the earth's
surface. We do not know whether the radiation from the earth, which at
present amounts to about as much as the radiation from the sun to the
earth, is in its turn somewhere utilized.
While the free energy is poured out in such a stream in one direction,
the ponderable substances of which the organisms are made up _circulate_
through plants and animals and back again. This is especially true of
_carbon_, which is freed from its combination with oxygen, that is, from
carbonic acid, by the sun energy transformed in the plants. While carbon
serves to build up the plant body and represents its supply of chemical
energy, the oxygen is returned to the air. These two substances are
again chemically combined in the various organisms and the quantities of
energy which were necessary for their decomposition are again available
for the manifold functions of life. The product of the chemical
combination, carbonic acid, returns to the air and is ready for renewed
decomposition in the plants.
Thus, the entire mechanism of life can be compared to a water-wheel. The
free energy corresponds to the water, which must flow in one direction
through the wheel in order to provide it with the necessary amount of
work. The chemical elements of the organisms correspond to the wheel,
which constantly turns in a circle as it transfers the energy of the
falling water to the individual parts of the machine.
=56. The Soul.= Our observations so far have shown the organisms to be
extremely specialized individual instances of physico-chemical machines.
Now we have to take into consideration a property which seems markedly
to distinguish them from the lifeless machines, and which we have
already encountered in the very beginning of our treatise.
It is the property which we there called _memory_, and which we will
define in a very general way as the quality by virtue of which the
repetition in organisms of a process which has taken place a number of
times is preferred to new processes, because it originates more easily
and proceeds more smoothly. It is readily apparent that by this property
the organisms are enabled to travel on the sea of physical possibilities
as if equipped with a keel, by which the voyage is made stable and the
keeping of the course is assured.
If we ask whether this is exclusively a quality of organisms the
question cannot be answered affirmatively. Inanimate bodies also have
something like the quality of adaptation. An accurate clock attains its
valuable qualities only after it has been going for some time, and the
best violin is "raw" until it has been "broken in." An accumulator must
be "formed" before it can do its normal amount of work. All these
processes are due to the fact that the repetition of the same process
improves the action, that is, it facilitates or increases it.
Adaptation or memory, then, is not limited to organisms. In inanimate
things, however, this property is comparatively rare. Memory, therefore,
is to be regarded as another property of organisms representing an
extreme specialization of the inorganic possibilities. This is an
important point of view for what follows.
In the first place, this property of adaptation facilitates and assures
nourishment. If we take the fundamental idea developed by Darwin, that
that predominates in the world which by virtue of its properties endures
the longest time, then it is evident that a body which teleologically
preserves and elaborates its nourishment will live longer than a similar
body without this property. Moreover, by the general process of
adaptation, these "teleological" properties come to be more greatly
developed and more readily exercised in the body that lives longer, so
that its long life gives it another advantage over its rival. Thus we
can understand how this property of adaptation, which at first is to be
conceived of as a purely physico-chemical quality is found developed in
all organisms.
In its most primitive forms the quality of adaptation gives rise to the
_phenomena of reaction_, or to _reflex_ actions, that is, to a series of
processes in the organism in response to the stimulus of an outward
energy. This response is made in furtherance of the life of the
organism. Reactions that serve a certain end, that is, teleological
reactions, can naturally be developed to such stimuli alone to which the
organism is frequently and regularly subjected. This is why adaptation
to unusual phenomena is generally lacking, and in relation to them the
organisms are often extremely unfit. The typical example of this is the
moth, which flies into the light and is burned.
As the reactions become more fixed they develop into longer and more
complicated series, which then appear to us as _instinctive actions_.
But here, too, we find the characteristic unsuitability when unwonted
circumstances arise, even if the teleologic reactions to stimuli become
more manifold.
Finally, there are the _conscious acts_ which appear to us to be the
highest degree of the series. It is with the teleologic regulation of
these conscious acts, including the very highest activities of mankind,
that this book deals. They are distinguished from instinctive action by
the fact that they no longer proceed in a single and definite series,
but are combined at need in the most manifold ways. But the fundamental
fact, namely, that actions are based upon the repetition of coinciding
experiences, at once appears here also, since the basis of the entire
conscious life of the soul, the formation of _concepts_, is made
possible only through _repetition_. Thus, we are justified in regarding
the various degrees of mental activity from the simplest reflex
manifestation to the highest mental act as a connected series of
increasingly manifold and purposive actions proceeding from the same
physico-chemical and physiological foundation.
=57. Feeling, Thinking, Acting.= For good reasons it is generally
assumed that the organisms have not always been what they are now, but
have "developed" from previous simpler forms. It is undecided whether
originally there were one or several forms from which the present forms
sprang, nor is it known how life first made its appearance on earth. So
long as the various assumptions with regard to this question have not
led to decisive, actually demonstrable differences in the results, a
discussion of it is fruitless, and therefore unscientific. The usual
word evolution is non-purposive in so far as it signifies the appearance
of something already existing. Another conception is better according to
which the influence of _changed_ conditions of existence has yielded the
most important factor of change.
The change that the organisms undergo is always in a definite direction.
More and more complex and manifold forms are evolved, and the evolution
of these forms is characterized by an ever greater specialization of the
functions of life, so that every specially developed organ comes to
perform but one function. It is true that by this means the organism is
better fitted to perform those functions, but at the same time it grows
more susceptible to injury, since its existence depends upon the proper
simultaneous activity of many different organs. Such an evolution,
therefore, can occur only when the general conditions of life have grown
steadier, so that the danger of disturbance becomes less. We are
accustomed to regard changes in this direction as higher developments,
and the progressive simplifications of the organization (as for example
in parasites) as backward steps.
Since our opinion as to what constitutes a higher and a lower organism
is doubtless arbitrary, let us ask whether it is not possible to find an
_objective_ standard by which to measure the relative perfection of the
different organisms. The question must be answered in the affirmative
when we take into consideration the following. Since the quantity of
available free energy upon the earth is limited, the organism which
transforms the energy at its disposal more completely and with the least
loss into the forms of energy necessary for the function of life, must
be regarded as the more perfect organism. In fact, we observe that with
increasing complexity of the organisms there is for the most part also
an increasing improvement in that direction, and we can therefore speak
of some beings as more perfect than others. This view-point is
especially significant in the evaluation of _human_ progress, appearing,
as it does, as the general standard of all civilization.
The perfection of the organism shows itself in relation to the outer
world in the development of the _sense organs_. While a single-celled
animal reacts almost exclusively to chemical, sometimes also to optical,
stimuli, and receives these with the entire surface of its body, special
parts of the body develop more and more toward perfection. These are the
parts that respond with special ease to the appropriate stimuli, that
is, react to them with an increasingly smaller expenditure of energy.
Then the points at which the stimuli are received are separated from
those in which the reaction occurs, and the two are connected by
_conducting paths_, the nerves, in which an energy process takes place.
Our present knowledge of this process still leaves much to be desired.
It is a process which moves with fairly great but by no means
extraordinary rapidity (about ten to thirty meters per second) along the
conducting paths. At the one end of this path it is caused by actions of
various kinds, chiefly that of the specific energy, for which the sense
organ is developed. At the other end it discharges specific effects.
There is no doubt that here we have in each instance a case of energy
transformation connected with a _discharge_, that is, with the action of
other energies which lie at the ends ready for change. Hence there is no
equivalence between the different kinds of energy, the discharging and
the discharged, mostly not even a proportional relation, although both
increase and decrease simultaneously.
What the form of the energy is that is propagated in the nerves is
unknown. It can be either a special form which arises only under the
conditions here present (just as, for example, a galvanic stream
develops only under definite chemical and spacial conditions), or a
special combination of known energies, as in sound and probably in
light. Some day, it is likely, we shall have a more accurate knowledge
of the nerve process which will solve the question.
When such a process is caused by some energy impulse from without, it
may produce various results. In the simplest case it discharges the
corresponding reaction, just as the leaves of the sensitive plant close
when they are touched. Or it may give rise to a series of processes
following one another like the instinctive actions. Or, finally, it may
bring about a series of inner processes which lead to an extreme
differentiation of slight differences of this stimulus and to a
corresponding graded reaction with the anticipation of success. We call
this conscious thinking, willing, and acting.
Through the age-long effect of the blunder committed by Plato in making
a fundamental distinction between mental life and physical life, we
experience the utmost difficulty in habituating ourselves to the thought
of the regular connection between the simplest physiological and the
highest intellectual acts. Moreover, this contrast has been accentuated
by the mechanical hypothesis. If we abandon the mechanical hypothesis
and adhere to the summarization of experience free from all hypotheses,
as represented in the science of energy, this contrast disappears. For
even if we concede the impossibility of conceiving thought as
_mechanical_, there is no difficulty in conceiving of it as _energetic_,
especially since we know that mental work is connected with expenditure
of energy and exhaustion just as physical work is. However, the
elucidation of this subject lies almost entirely in the future since the
idea just developed has but only begun to influence scientific work in
this field. But judging from the results that have already been obtained
we may hope for a speedy development.
=58. Society.= The external circumstance that as an organism multiplies
the new being must come to life in the proximity of the older one, is in
itself cause for the formation of closed groups confined to certain
localities by animal organisms of the same species. But they become
scattered if the advantage of their living together is not such as to
outweigh the disadvantage of having a narrow field of competition for
the means of sustenance. Thus we see different plants and animals
behaving differently in this respect. While some species live in as
great isolation as possible, others form communities, even if there is
no mechanical tie to hold them together by a common integument.
Since the second case is true of man in a highly marked degree, his
_social_ characteristics and needs form a large and important part of
his life. And since, further, the socialization of man makes continuous
headway with increasing civilization--we need but think of the
development of the former little groups and tribes into states and the
present very active internationalization of the most important affairs
of mankind, especially of the sciences--the social problems also
occupy an ever larger place in the organization of human life.
What distinguishes man most essentially from the other animals, even the
most advanced, is his capacity for perfection, which in the lower animal
can be paralleled at best by its capacity for _self-preservation_. While
the organization of the animals within the short period of which we have
any historical knowledge has to all appearances remained essentially
unchanged, the world of mankind has changed in quite a remarkable way.
This change consists in an increasing subjection of the external world
to human purposes, and rests upon the increasing socialization of his
capacities.
Memory and heredity (the latter being but an extension of memory to the
offspring, which is to be conceived of as a part of the older organism)
secures in the first place only the preservation of the stock and the
renewed development of the new individual in the average type. If a
specially favored individual succeeds in accomplishing greater
achievements, he may in favorable circumstances transmit this capacity
for higher attainments to his offspring. But such individuals gain an
advantage in the struggle for existence only if the other sides of their
activity do not suffer curtailment as a result. With the limited amount
of energy at the individual's disposal every extraordinary
accomplishment involves a corresponding _one-sidedness_, and as soon as
a certain measure is slightly overstepped, it will cause a reduction of
the other functions which will render the individual less fit in the
struggle for existence. But this is true only so long as an individual
must live _by himself_. As soon as he forms part of a social
organization which benefits by his particular activity, the organization
compensates for the personal disadvantages by its collective activity,
and a social community not only finds room for such special
developments, but it even encourages and promotes them.
We have already seen that such manifestations occur within the organism
itself. Higher functions, depending upon the higher susceptibility of
the sense organs, can only be attained at the expense of the general
functions by the organ in question. We observe this fact in all socially
organized beings, like bees and ants, which display a high degree of
specialization in the functions of the individual subordinate groups;
the specialization often being carried so far that the individual groups
can no longer subsist by themselves alone. It is only the organization
as a whole that is capable of permanent existence.
While the evolution of such superior functions involves a corresponding
differentiation, and therefore a _division_ and _separation_ of the
superior functions within the social structure, the necessity for
_communication_ and for _mutual support_ results in an _approximation_
of the individuals and the groups. In every society, therefore, the
centrifugal and the centripetal forces work simultaneously in
co-operation and in opposition to one another. While the extreme
specialization on the one hand seems to make for the best individual
functioning, on the other hand it renders the entire collective
structure much more dependent, and therefore much more subject to
injury, as is shown by the example of the queen bee, whose departure
threatens the existence of the entire hive. Thus a medium degree of
differentiation will as a general rule produce the most permanent social
structure.
=59. Language and Intercourse.= The essential value of the social
organization resides in the fact that the work of the individual, in so
far as it is adapted to it, accrues to the benefit of the collective
whole. For this it is absolutely essential that the members of the
collectivity should be able to _have intercourse_ with one another in
order that every part of the general activity may be communicated to the
others. This intercourse is obtained through language in the most
general sense.
We have already learned that the essence of language consists in the
co-ordination of concept to sign. The social application of language
demands that the signs co-ordinated to the concepts in use should be the
same for all the members of the social organization. Only in this way
can the members make themselves mutually understood. But intelligible
means of communication and division of labor impart to the social
knowledge that is set down in writing a kind of independent existence.
Many centuries ago the possibility ceased for one person to store in his
memory the entire stock of human knowledge. Nowadays we have men who are
versed only in single parts of separate sciences, and the aggregate
knowledge appears at first to be a unity existing only in thought. But
because this knowledge is set down in signs which endure far beyond the
life of the individual and at the appropriate moment can unfold its
entire power even after a long period of inactivity, it has acquired an
existence of a social character independent of the individual. For
although it survives the individual, it cannot survive the death of
human society.
As the socialization of all mankind advances to ever greater unities,
the linguistic limitations sprung from former stages of evolution prove
to be a hindrance. The mother tongue, of course, forms the first and
most important entry for the individual to the common store of
knowledge. But in view of the linguistic limitation of which I have just
spoken the efforts in our day are carried on with renewed zeal to create
a _universal auxiliary language_ (p. 100) by means of which intercourse
should be made possible beyond the language boundaries. There have
already been gratifying results.[I]
[I] At the present time "Ido" is the best. It is a highly practicable
artificial language, and its advocates have succeeded in organizing it
to insure its normal development. An older and still rather widespread
form called "Esperanto" has failed to organize itself so as to insure
its development and it must inevitably die out.
=60. Civilization.= Everything which serves the social progress of
mankind is appropriately called civilization or culture, and the
objective characteristic of progress consists in improved methods for
seizing and utilizing the raw energies of nature for human purposes.
Thus it was a cultural act when a primitive man discovered that he could
extend the radius of his muscle energy by taking a pole in his hand, and
it was another cultural act when a primitive man discovered that by
throwing a stone he could send his muscle energy a distance of many
meters to the desired point. The effect of the knife, the spear, the
arrow, and of all the other primitive implements can be called in each
case a purposive transformation of energy. And at the other end of the
scale of civilization the most abstract scientific discovery, by reason
of its generalization and simplification, signifies a corresponding
economy of energy for all the coming generations that may have anything
to do with the matter. Thus, in fact, the concept of progress as here
defined embraces the entire sweep of human endeavor for perfection, or
the entire field of culture, and at the same time it shows the great
scientific value of the concept of energy.
If we consider further that, according to the second fundamental
principle, the free energy accessible to us can only decrease, but not
increase, while the number of men whose existence depends directly on
the consumption of a due amount of free energy is constantly on the
increase, then we at once see the objective necessity of the development
of civilization in that sense. His foresight puts man in a position to
act culturally. But if we examine our present social order from this
point of view, we realize with horror how barbarous it still is. Not
only do murder and war destroy cultural values without substituting
others in their place, not only do the countless conflicts which take
place between the different nations and political organizations act
anticulturally, but so do also the conflicts between the various social
classes of one nation, for they destroy quantities of free energy which
are thus withdrawn from the total of real cultural values. At present
mankind is in a state of development in which progress depends much less
upon the leadership of a few distinguished individuals than upon the
collective labor of all workers. Proof of this is that it is coming to
be more and more the fact that the great scientific discoveries are made
simultaneously by a number of independent investigators--an indication
that society creates in several places the individual conditions
requisite for such discoveries. Thus we are living at a time when men
are gradually approximating one another very closely in their natures,
and when the social organization therefore demands and strives for as
thorough an equalization as possible in the conditions of existence of
all men.
INDEX
Above and below, distinction between, 121
Abstract, concrete and, 16 ff.
Abstraction, 20
Action, conscious, 174;
instinctive, 174
Adaptation, 172 ff.
Aeromechanics, 147
Algebra, 80
Alikeness, definition of, 51 ff.
Allotropic changes, 161
Analysis, infinitesimal, 111
Analytic geometry, 122 ff.
Analytic judgments, 66
Anthropology, 57
Ants, specialization of, 181
Applied sciences, 57 ff.
_A priori_ judgments, 44
Aristotle, 38, 66
Aristotle's logic, 22
Arithmetic, 79 ff.
Assertions, never absolutely correct, 53
Association, 63 ff., 81
Astronomic objective, 6
Astronomy as an applied science, 58
Atomic hypothesis in chemistry, 142
Atoms, 141
Bees, specialization of, 181
Biological sciences, 55;
life most general concept in, 56
Botany, 56
Cæsar, Julius, 76
Capillary phenomena, 146
Capillary theory, 147
Carbon, its circulation through plants and animals, 171;
life based on the energy of, 168
Carbonic acid, 171
Carnot, Sadi, 151
Causal relation, purification of, 34 ff.
Causation, the law of, 31 ff.
Chemical combinations, 71 ff.;
quantitative relations in, 74
Chemical energy, 159 ff.;
capable of powerful concentration, 161;
different forms of, 159
Chemical formulas represent concepts not sounds, 95
Chemistry, 20, 47, 55;
significance of, 160 ff.
Chinese script based on direct co-ordination, 93
Civilization, 184 ff.
Classification, not definite, 2;
purpose of, 2-4
Classification of the sciences, 53 ff.
Collective activity, 181
Combination, sequence in, 73 ff.
Combinations, theory of, 71
Combinatory schematization, 73;
in chemistry, 71 ff.;
in physics, 72
Communication, 181
Community among plants and animals, 179
Comparison, 82
Comte, Auguste, 54
Concept, the most general, 61 ff.
Concepts, arbitrary, 23;
complex, 23;
complex empirical, 23;
definition of, 16;
empirical, 18;
formation of, 19;
general, 26;
in ceaseless flux, 88;
science of, 15 ff., 122;
simple, 20;
simple and complex, 19 ff.
Conclusion, the, 24 ff.;
analytic, 66;
scientific, 27, 30, 66 ff.
Concrete and abstract, 16 ff.
Conjugacy, most general concept in formal sciences, 56
Conscious action, 174
Conscious thinking, willing, and acting, 178
Conservation of energy, the law of the, 135 ff.
Conservation of matter, 138
Conservation of the sum of work and kinetic energy, the law of the, 134
Conservation of work, the law of the, 130
Conservation, quantitative, 131
Continuity, 101 ff.;
the law of, 113 ff.
Co-ordinated signs, change in, 88 ff.
Co-ordination, 80 ff.;
a means of obtaining facts without dealing directly with the
corresponding realities, 87;
between concept and word not unambiguous, 89;
between concept and written sign, direct and indirect, 92 ff.;
identity the limit case in, 82;
integral numbers the best basis of, 85;
in use among primitive men and higher animals, 87;
its importance, 85;
methodology of the sciences based upon, 85;
of numbers with signs, 90 ff.;
possibility of unambiguous, 88
Copernican theory, 117 ff.
Copernicus, 117, 141
Corpuscular theory of light, 5, 157
Counting, 85 ff.;
defined, 85;
purpose of, 86
Culture, see Civilization
Darwin, his fundamental theory, 173
Deduction, 40 ff.;
the process of, 41 ff.
Deductive sciences, 38
Determinateness, absolute, only in ideal world, 50
Determinateness of things, the, 47 ff.
Determinism, 48, 51
Differential Calculus, see Differentials
Differentials, 112
Double numbers or double points in a group, 82
Dynamics, 128 ff.;
definition of, 139
Elasticity, 145
Elastic undulatory theory of light, see Wave theory of light
Electricity, principal source of, 156
Electricity and magnetism, 154 ff.
Electromagnetic theory of light, 157 ff.
Electrotechnics, 156
Empirical sciences, 38
Energetic mechanics, 138 ff.
Energy, a substance, 136;
at rest, 154;
free, 154;
importance of concept of, 128;
in nerves, 177;
the most general concept in the physical sciences, 56;
of form, 145;
of volume, 145
Energy intensity, 153
Erg, definition of, 150
Esperanto, 183, note
Euclid, 44, 140
European-American scripts based on indirect co-ordination, 93
Experience, incompleteness of, 27;
more limited than the conceivable, 118
Experiences, distinguished by _being familiar_, 31;
limited knowledge of, 31
Experiential sciences, see Empirical sciences
Extrapolation, 46, 50, 104
Familiarity due to recalling former similar experiences, 11
Fechner, 102
Feeling, thinking, acting, 174 ff.
Force, 129 ff., 153
Formal sciences, 54;
are empirical sciences, 55;
order most general concept in, 56
Foucault's pendulum experiment, 121
Freedom of the will, 50 ff.
Frequency of process facilitates repetition, 11 ff.
Function, 109 ff.;
continuous and discontinuous, 110;
most general concept in formal sciences, 56
Functional relation, the application of the, 112 ff.
Functions, the theory of, 111
Fundamental principle, the second, 150 ff.
Gases, 145
Generalization, suitable place for, in text-books, 9 ff.
Geometry, 47, 54, 119, 127;
ancient and modern methods of, 110 ff.
Goethe, 99
Good usage in language, 100
Grammatical correctness, importance attached to, 99
Grammatical rules, 97
Gravitation potential, the, 112
Group, the, 65 ff.;
double members or double points in, 82;
linear arrangement of members of, 75 ff.
Groups, artificial and natural, 69 ff.;
closed, among animals, 179;
infinite, equality of, 84;
related, 69 ff.;
unequivocal order of, 83
Heat, mechanical equivalent of, 149;
theory of, 147 ff.
Heat energy, 148 ff.
Heat engine, 151;
ideal, 151 ff.
Heat quantity, 148 ff.
Heliotrope, 90
Herbart, 102
Heredity, 180
Higher analysis, 111
Homonym, 89
Hydromechanics, 147
Ideal cases, 44 ff.
Ideal machines, 132
Identity, the limit case in co-ordination, 82
Ido, 183, note
Imperfection, indestructible quality of science, 4
Incompleteness, no hindrance to efficiency of science, 5
Indestructibility of matter, see Conservation of matter
Indo-Arabic notation, 91
Induction, 38;
the complete and the incomplete, 39
Inductive sciences, 38
Inference, by induction, 38;
from analogy, 140
Infinitesimal analysis, 111
Inorganic world, lack of memory and foresight in, 33
Insoluble problems, 142
Instinctive action, 174
Intercourse, language and, 182 ff.
Isolation among plants and animals, 179
Isomeric, 74
Isomeric changes, 161
Judgments, analytic, 66
Kant, 44, 66, 105
Kepler, 141
Kinetic energy, 132;
and work, their sum constant, 133 ff.;
transformed into work and _vice versa_, 134
Knowledge, aim of, 19;
individual, compared to telephone, 7 ff.;
limited, 31;
possibility of error in, ineradicable, 40;
social character of, 183
Language, beginnings of, 88;
defective in co-ordination, 96;
distinction between science and knowledge of, 98;
good usage in, 100;
and intercourse, 182 ff.;
needless inflections in, 99 ff.;
of words more imperfect than written language, 92;
purpose of its cultivation, 99;
the science of, 97 ff.;
unambiguity the ideal of, 89;
a universal auxiliary, 100;
written, 89 ff.
Leibnitz, 88;
his doctrine of pre-established harmony, 143;
inventor of differentials, 112
Life, 163 ff.;
the most general concept in the biological sciences, 56
Light, 5, 156 ff.
Liquids, 145
Locke, John, 21 ff., 88;
his elaboration of the notion of simple and complex "ideas," 21;
his secondary qualities, 127
Logic, 54, 67 ff.;
content of, 19;
definition of, 15 ff.
Luther, 99
Magnetism, electricity and, 154 ff.
Man, compared to pair of sieves, 34;
his capacity for perfection, 180
Manifold, the science of the, 54
Mass, 132 ff., 136 ff.;
a substance, 138
Mathematical laws, accuracy of, 105
Mathematics, 54;
an empirical science, 55;
influence on, of concept of continuity, 111;
its progress after introduction of Indo-Arabic numerals and algebraic
signs, 101
Matter, definition of, 138
Mayer, Julius Robert, 149;
his discovery of the law of conservation, 151
Measurement, 107
Mechanical energies, 144
Mechanics, 55, 128 ff.;
complementary branches of, 144 ff.;
definition of, 138;
early development of, 139;
energetic, 138 ff.;
the first branch of physics treated mathematically, 139;
pure or classical, 144
Mechanistic hypothesis, the, as an interpretation of all
natural phenomena, 142;
especially injurious in study of mental phenomena, 142
Mechanistic theories, 140 ff.
Mechanistic theory of the universe, 132
Mechanization of astronomy, 141
Memory, 16, 32, 180;
definition of, 172;
general characteristic of, 61;
lack of, in inorganic world, 53
Metabolism, 165
Methodology of the sciences based upon co-ordination, 85
Microscope, 6
Motion, the science of, 54, 122;
uninfluenced, 122
Musical notation, 93
Names, arbitrariness of, 62;
signs and, 86 ff.
Natural laws, 28 ff.;
definition of, 28;
their extent dependent upon stage of knowledge in each science, 7;
their usual origin, 42 ff.;
prediction from, only approximate, 48
Natural philosophy, definition of, 1;
importance of, in study of science, 10;
place of, in text-books, 9 ff.
Negation, 68 ff.
Nerves, 177
Nervous discharge, 177
Newton, Sir Isaac, 141
Number groups, unlimited, 78
Numbers, 78 ff.;
theory of, 80
Numerals, co-ordination of, with signs, 86
Numerical names different in different languages, 86
Numerical signs international, 86
Nutrition, 165
Objective, astronomic, 6;
photographic, 6
Objective character of the world, 34
Optical telegraph, 90
Optics, geometric, 5
Optic signs, 90
Order, most general concept in formal sciences, 56
Organisms, standard for measuring relative perfection of, 176;
stationary forms, 163
Orthography, efforts to improve, 99;
English, defective in co-ordination, 96;
exaggerated importance of correctness in, 99;
mistakes in, 97;
reform of, 97
Parabolic curve, 48
Paradoxes of the infinite, 84
Pasigraphy, 92 ff.;
Chinese system of, 94
Permanent in change, the, 131
Perpetual motion, 130
Perpetual motion machine, 153
Philology, 97 ff.
Philosophy, limited progress in, 101
Phonetic writing, 33 ff.
Phoronomy, 54, 119, 122, 127
Photochemical processes, foundation of terrestial life, 169
Photographic objective, 6
Physical sciences, 55
Physics, 47, 55;
each branch of, treats of a special kind of energy, 139
the science of the different kinds of energy, 72;
Physiology, 55 ff.
Plato, his distinction between mental and physical life, 178
Polarity of electricity and magnetism, 155
Political organizations, conflicts between, 185
Prediction, 12
Pre-established harmony, 143
Pressure, 146, 154
Progress, depends on collective labor, 185;
economy of energy, 184;
evaluation of, 176
Pseudo-problems in science, 142
Psychology, 47, 55 ff.
Psycho-physical parallelism, 143
Ptolemy's system, 117
Pure science, 57
Quantity, the science of, see Mathematics, 54
Radiant energy, 157;
its importance to man, 158
Rational sciences, see Deductive sciences
Rays, straight lines of, 5
Reaction, teleological, 173
Reality, 16 ff.
Reflection, 5
Reflex action, 173
Refraction, 5
Repetition, basis of conscious life, 174
Reproduction, 165 ff.
Roman notation, 91
Science, aim of, 13 ff.;
comparison of, to a network, 42;
comparison of, to a tree or forest, 6;
definition of, 13;
eternal truth of, 6 ff.;
"for its own sake," 13 ff.;
the facts of, unalterable, 8 ff.;
the function of, 23, 37;
importance of theoretical, 15;
its procedure, 45;
the study of happiness, 28
Sciences, the table of the, 54 ff.
Scientific discoveries, independent simultaneous, 185
Scientific instinct, 43
Scientific materialism, 138
Scientific written language based on direct co-ordination, 93
Self-preservation, 180
Sense organs, 176 ff.
Shakespeare, 99
Signs and names, 86 ff.
Social characteristics, importance of, 179 ff.
Social classes, conflicts between, 185
Socialization of human capacities, 180
Social order still barbarous, 185
Social organization, 180;
how best obtained, 182;
its tendency to equalize conditions, 185;
secures permanence among specialized individuals, 181
Social problems, 179 ff.
Society, 179 ff.;
centrifugal and centripetal forces in, 181 ff.;
division of functions in, 181
Sociology, 47, 55, 57
Solar radiation, 169
Soul, the, 171 ff.
Sound signs, advantage and disadvantage of, 89 ff.
Sound writing, 33 ff., 92 ff.
Space, four-dimensional, 77, note;
homogeneity of, in
horizontal direction, 121;
the science of, 54;
symmetrical and tri-dimensional, 118;
time and, 118 ff.;
tri-dimensional, 76
Specialization, one-sidedness of, 180 ff.
Spelling reform, 97
Stable forms, 163
Statics, 128 ff.;
definition of, 138 ff.
Stationary bodies, capable of regeneration, 164
Stationary forms, 163
Substance, 132
Surface-energy, 146
Syllogism, the, classic method of argumentation, 65 ff.
Synonym, 89
Table of the sciences, 54 ff.
Telegraph, optical, 90
"Teleological" properties of organisms, 173
Teleological reaction, 173
Telescope, 5
Temperature, 148
Theoretical science, importance of, 15
Theory of functions, 111
Theory of numbers, 80
Thermo-chemistry, 37
Thermo-dynamics, 153
Thing, definition of, 62 ff.
Thought conceived of as energetic, 178
Threshold, 102
Time, a form of inner life, 76;
measurement of, 122;
one-seried, or one-dimensional, 118;
and space, 118 ff.
Unambiguity, in language, 89;
of co-ordination of numbers to signs, 90
Universal auxiliary language, 100, 183
Velocity, 133
Volume energy, 145
War, 185
Wave surface, 6
Wave theory of light, 5, 157
Weight, 132, 137 ff.;
a substance, 138
Work, mechanical, 129;
product of the force and the distance, 130;
a substance in a limited sense, 136
Written language, 89 ff.
Written signs, 90
Zoology, 56
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Transcriber's Notes:
Bold text is denoted by =equal signs=. The caret ^ indicates that the following character or [
{expression} is superscripted.
Mid-sentence capital letters are used by the Author to indicate the
beginning of a quote or question, which terminates at the end of the
sentence.
Typographical errors corrected:
p. 100: approprate changed to appropriate (... to a more appropriate
evaluation ...).
p. 108: meassure changed to measure (By the application of the unit
measure ...).
p. 184: correspondng changed to corresponding (... signifies a
corresponding economy ...).
p. 191: A single period deleted from index.
P. 188, 189: limit-case changed to limit case (2 occurrences), to
mirror text (3 occurrences).
Alphabetical sequencing adjusted in index:
P. 189: Two 'Energy' entries moved after Energetic mechanics.
P. 191: Photographic objective moved below Photochemical processes.
P. 191: Physics: The order of the sub-entries swapped.
P. 192: Pure science moved down four places to end of "P" entries.
P. 193: Two 'Teleological' entries moved after Telegraph, optical.