ORGANIZED INTELLIGENCE.
[Sidenote: A complete philosophy must consider living beings.]
The student of the constitution of the universe must take into account
living beings. Plants, animals and men are essentially different from
the mass of matter. The rock, apparently, is the same forever; but the
plant has a beginning, and after a comparatively short existence dies.
Animals and men, likewise, begin their earthly existence; then, after
a brief life, die, or disappear from the immediate knowledge of living
things.
Man, the highest type of living things, differs from the rock,
moreover, in that he possesses the power to exercise his will in
directing natural forces. Animals and even plants seem to possess a
similar power to a smaller degree. The rock on the hillside is pulled
downward by gravitation, but can move only if the ground is removed
from beneath it by some external force. Man, on the other hand, can
walk up or down the hill, with or against the pull of gravity.
[Sidenote: Science teaches that all phenomena may be referred to
matter and ether in motion.]
Modern science refers all phenomena to matter and motion; in other
words, to matter and force or energy. In this general sense, matter
includes the universal ether, and force includes any or all of the
forces known, or that may be known, to man.
To illustrate: the electrician develops a current of electricity,
which to the scientist is a portion of the universal ether moving in a
certain definite manner. When the vibrations of the ether are caused
to change, light, or magnetism or chemical affinity may result from
the electricity. In every case, matter is in motion. The ear perceives
a certain sound. It is produced by the movements of the air. In fact,
sounds are carried from place to place by great air waves. The heat of
the stove is due to the rapid vibration of the molecules in the iron
of the stove, which set up corresponding vibrations in the ether.
In nature no exceptions have been found to the great scientific claim
that all natural phenomena may be explained by referring them to
matter in motion.[A] Variations in the kind of matter and the kind of
motion, lead to all the variations found in the universe.
[Footnote A: Tyndall, Fragments of Science, I. chaps. I and II.]
[Sidenote: Life is a certain form of motion.]
By many it has been held that life and its phenomena transcend the
ordinary explanations of nature. Yet, those who have learned, by
laborious researches, that the fundamental ideas of the universe are
only eternal matter, eternal energy and the universe-filling medium,
the ether, find it very difficult to conceive of a special force of
life, which concerns itself solely with very limited portions of
matter, and is wholly distinct from all other natural forces.
To the student of science it seems more consistent to believe that
life is nothing more than matter in motion; that, therefore, all
matter possesses a kind of life; and that the special life possessed
by plants, animals and man, is only the highest or most complex motion
in the universe. The life of man, according to this view, is
essentially different from the life of the rock; yet both are certain
forms of the motion of matter, and may be explained ultimately by the
same fundamental conceptions of science. Certainly, such an idea is
more beautifully simple than that of a special force of life, distinct
from all other natural forces.
It is argued by those who uphold this view, that the simple forces of
nature are converted by living things into the higher forces that
characterize life. For instance, to keep the human body, with its
wonderful will and intelligence, in health, it is necessary to feed
it. The food is actually burned within the body. The heat thus
obtained gives to the man both physical and intellectual vigor. It
would really appear, therefore, that heat, which is a well known,
simple physical force, may be converted by the animal body into other
and more complex forces, or modes of motion, such as the so-called
life force.
[Sidenote: A certain organization characterizes life.]
Naturally, should science class life as the highest or most complex of
the modes of material motion, the question would arise concerning the
manner in which this conversion were made possible. The answer must be
that the ultimate particles of the matter composing the living thing
are so arranged or organized that the great natural forces may be
converted into life force. It is possible by passing heat through
certain substances to make them luminous, thus converting heat into
light; by employing a dynamo, mechanical energy may be converted into
electrical energy; by coiling a wire around a rod of soft iron,
electricity may be converted into magnetism. In short, it is well
understood in science, that by the use of the right machines one form
of energy may be changed into another. It is generally assumed, that
the human body is so organized that the forces of heat, light and
undoubtedly others, may be converted into higher forms, peculiar to
living things.[A]
[Footnote A: Compare, Fiske, Outlines of Cosmic Philiosophy, chap.
XVI. Pearson, Grammar of Science, pp. 404-407. Dolbear, Matter, Ether
and Motion, chap. XI, pp. 294-297.]
[Sidenote: Protoplasm, a highly organized body, is always associated
with life.]
To substantiate this view, it may be recalled that the fundamental
chemical individual in living thing is a very complex, unstable
substance known as protoplasm. No living cell exists without the
presence of this substance. It is far from being known well, as yet,
but enough is known to enable science to say that it is composed of
several elements, so grouped and regrouped as to transcend all present
methods of research.[A] By means of this highly organized body, it is
assumed that the ordinary forces of nature are worked over and made
suited for the needs of the phenomena of life.
[Footnote A: Pearson, Grammar of Science, p. 408.]
The existence of the complex life-characteristic substance protoplasm,
renders probable the view that living things, after all, differ from
the rest of creation only in the kind and degree of their
organization, and that life, as the word is ordinarily used, depends
upon a certain kind or organization of matter,[A] which leads to a
certain kind of motion.
[Footnote A: Tyndall, Fragments of Science. II, chaps. IV and VI.]
As to the origin of the special organization called life, science has
nothing to say. Science is helpless when she deals with the beginning
of things. The best scientific explanation of life is that it is a
very complex mode of motion occasioned by a highly complex
organization of the matter and ether of the living body.
There are still some students who prefer to believe in the existence
of a special vital force, which is not subject to the laws that govern
other forces. This view, however, is so inconsistent with the modern
understanding of the contents of the universe that it has few
followers.
[Sidenote: The modern conception of life is very recent.]
The view that life is a special organization by which the great
natural forces are focussed and concentrated, so as to accomplish the
greatest works, necessarily implies a belief in the modern laws of
nature. Since modern science is of very recent development it was
quite improbable for such a conception of life to have been held
clearly before modern times. In fact it is within the last thirty or
forty years that these views have found expression among scientific
investigations.
[Sidenote: Joseph Smith taught the universality of life.]
As observed in chapters two and three, Joseph Smith taught that the
energy of matter or of ether is a form of intelligence. If, according
to this doctrine, matter and ether are intelligent; then life also
must reside in all matter and ether. Hence everything in the universe
is alive. Further, since all force is motion, universal motion is
universal life. The difference between rock, plant, beast and man is
in the amount and organization of its life or intelligence. For
instance, in harmony with this doctrine, the earth must possess
intelligence or life. In fact the Prophet says "the earth......shall
be sanctified; yea, notwithstanding it shall die, it shall be
quickened again, and shall abide the power by which it is
quickened."[A] The statement that the earth shall die and shall be
quickened again, certainly implies that the earth possess life,
though, naturally, of an order wholly different from that of men or
other higher living things.
[Footnote A: Doctrine and Covenants 88:25, 26.]
[Sidenote: Man is coexistent with God.]
It is an established "Mormon" doctrine that man is coexistent with
God. Note the following statements: "Ye were also in the beginning
with the Father." "Man was also in the beginning with God.
Intelligence, or the light of truth, was not created or made, neither
indeed can be."[A] "Yet these two spirits, notwithstanding one is more
intelligent than the other, have no beginning; they existed before,
they shall have no end, they shall exist after for they are
eternal."[B]
[Footnote A: Doctrine and Covenants 93:23 and 29.]
[Footnote B: Book of Abraham 3:19.]
[Sidenote: Joseph Smith taught that man is organized from matter,
spirit and intelligence.]
In the account of the Creation, given in the Book of Abraham, it is
clearly stated that the Gods organized the earth and all upon it from
available materials, and as the fitting climax to their labors they
"went down to organize man in their own image, in the image of Gods to
form him."[A] The creation of man was in part at least the
organization of individuals from eternal materials and forces. The
nature of that organization is made partly clear by the Prophet when
he says "The spirit and the body are the soul of man."[B] The spirit
here referred to may be compared to the ether of science, vibrating
with the force of intelligence, which is the first and highest of the
many forces of nature. The body, similarly, refers to the grosser
elements, also fired with the universal energy--intelligence. The word
_Soul,_ in the above quotation, means man as he is on earth and is
used as in Genesis. Man, according to this, is composed of matter; the
spirit which may be likened to ether, and energy. The organization of
man at the beginning of our earth history, was only the clothing of
the eternal spiritual man with the matter which constitutes the
perishable body. In confirmation of this view note another statement,
"For man is spirit. The elements are eternal, and spirit and element,
inseparably connected, receiveth a fullness of joy, and when
separated, man can not receive a fullness of joy."[C] Here also it is
taught that man is composed of matter, spirit and energy.
[Footnote A: Book of Abraham, 4th chap. (Note verse 27.)]
[Footnote B: Doctrine and Covenants 88:15.]
[Footnote C: Doctrine and Covenants 93:33 and 34.]
[Sidenote: Intelligence is universal.]
President Brigham Young has left an interesting paragraph that
confirms the statement that according to "Mormon" doctrine, all matter
is intelligent, and that man is superior only because of his higher
organization. "Is this earth, the air and the water, composed of
life.....?......If the earth, air and water, are composed of life is
there any intelligence in this life?....Are those particles of matter
life; if so, are they in possession of intelligence according to the
grade of their organization?......We suggest the idea that there is an
eternity of life, an eternity of organization, and an eternity of
intelligence from the highest to the lowest grade, every creature in
its order, from the Gods to the animalculae."[A]
[Footnote A: The Resurrection, p. 3. Ed. of 1884.]
[Sidenote: Spirit unaided knows matter with difficulty.]
The statement that man can receive a fullness of joy only when spirit
and element are united, is of itself a scientific doctrine of high
import. This is a world of matter; and a spiritual man, that is one
made only of the universal ether, would not be able to receive fully
the impressions that come from the contact of element with element. To
enjoy and understand this world, it is necessary for the spirit to be
clothed with matter. The ether or spirit world is not within our
immediate view; and it is probable that the material world is far away
from purely spiritual beings.
[Sidenote: God is the Master-builder.]
This whole doctrine means that God is the organizer of worlds, and all
upon them. He is not the Creator of the materials and forces of the
universe, for they are eternal; He is the master buidler who uses the
simple elements of nature for his purposes. It is also plain that,
according to "Mormon" doctrine, there is no special life force. The
intelligence residing in a stone is in quality, as far as it goes, the
same as the intelligence possessed by man. But, man is so organized
that a greater amount of intelligence, a fullness of it, centers in
him, and he is as a consequence essentially and eternally different
from the stone. President Young also said, "The life that is within us
is a part of an eternity of life, and is organized spirit, which is
clothed upon by tabernacles, thereby constituting our present being,
which is designed for the attainment of further intelligence. The
matter comprising our bodies and spirits has been organized from the
eternity of matter that fills immensity."[A]
[Footnote A: Journal of Discourses, vol. 7:285. (Brigham Young.)]
[Sidenote: A lower intelligence cannot become a higher intelligence
except by disorganization.]
This doctrine does not permit of the interpretation that a lower
intelligence, such as that of an animal, may in time become the
intelligence of a man. "It remaineth in the sphere in which I, God,
created it."[A] The horse will ever remain a horse, though the
intelligence of the animal may increase. To make any of the
constituent parts or forces of an animal, part of the intelligence of
a man, it would be necessary to disorganize the animal; to organize
the elements into a man, and thus to begin over again.
[Footnote A: Book of Moses 3:9.]
[Sidenote: Joseph Smith anticipated science in the modern conception
of life.]
Men, beasts and plants--those beings that possess the higher life,
differ from inanimate nature, so called, by a higher degree of
organization. That is the dogma of "Mormonism," and the doctrine of
science. About 1831 Joseph Smith gave this knowledge to the world; a
generation later, scientific men arrived independently at the same
conclusion.
[Sidenote: The thinkers and writers of Mormonism have taught the
foregoing doctrine of life.]
The thinkers and writers of "Mormonism" have more or less directly
taught the same doctrine. Apostle Orson Pratt believed that the body
of man, both spiritual and earthly, was composed of atoms or ultimate
particles--of the Holy Spirit for the spiritual body and material
elements for the mortal body. It has already been shown that the Holy
Spirit of "Mormonism" may be compared with the ether of science,
vibrating with the greater force of the universe--intelligence. For
instance: "The intelligent particles of a man's spirit are by their
peculiar union, but one human spirit."[A] "Several of the atoms of
this spirit exist united together in the form of a person."[B]
Undoubtedly Elder Pratt believed that the living man is simply
organized from the elements and elementary forces of the universe.
[Footnote A: Absurdities of Immaterialism, ed. 1849, p. 26.]
[Footnote B: Ibid, p. 29.]
Perhaps the best and safest exposition of the philosophy of
"Mormonism" is Parley P. Pratt's Key to Theology. In it he states
definitely that the spirit of man is organized from the elementary
Holy Spirit. "The holiest of all elements, the Holy Spirit, when
organized in individual form, and clothed upon with flesh and bones,
contains, etc."[A] That the earthly body was likewise organized is
equally plain for he says "At the commencement--the elements--were
found in a state of chaos."[B] Then man was "moulded from the earth as
a brick."[C] Again, "The spirit of man consists of an organization of
the elements of spiritual matter,"[D] which finds entrance into its
tabernacle of flesh. In another place he defines creation by asking
"What is creation? Merely organization...... The material of which
this earth was made always did exist, and it was only an organization
which took place during the time spoken of by Moses."[E]
[Footnote A: Key to Theology, 5th ed., p. 46.]
[Footnote B: Ibid, p. 49.]
[Footnote C: Ibid, p. 51.]
[Footnote D: Ibid, p. 131.]
[Footnote E: Roberts, Mormon Doctrine of Deity, pp. 278, 279.]
Numerous other authorities might be quoted to prove that the above is
the "Mormon" view.[A]
[Footnote A: See especially the Prophet Joseph Smith's Sermon,
Contributor, vol. 4, pp. 256-268.]
In this chapter the intention has not been to explain fully the
doctrines of Joseph Smith relating to the nature of man, but to call
attention to the fact that the present scientific conception of the
nature of living things is the same as that of "Mormonism." That
"Mormonism" goes farther than science, and completes the explanation,
is to the credit of the Prophet.
It must not be forgotten that in stating the doctrine that man is
organized from the eternal elements and elementary forces of the
universe, in such a way as to produce the phenomena of higher life,
Joseph Smith anticipated the workers in science by nearly a
generation.
How wonderful was this boy-prophet of "Mormonism," if all this was
orginated within his own mind! At every point of contact, the sanest
of modern philosophy finds counterpart in the theological structure of
the Gospel as taught by Joseph Smith. Is the work divine?
THE LAWS GOVERNING THE INDIVIDUAL.