New Views Of Evolution

NEW VIEWS OF EVOLUTION BY GEORGE PERRIGO CONGER, PH. D. ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF PHILOSOPHY, UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA, AUTHOR OF A COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY, ETC. NEW YORK THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 1929 COPYRIGHT, 1929, BY THE MACMILLAN COMPANY. Set up and electrotyped. Published September, 1929. All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. SET UP BY BROWN BROTHERS LINOTYPERS PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA BY THE FERRIS PRINTING COMPANY PREFACE A bri f bopjt. onjthe subject of Evolution needs no long preface for any one who by means of such a book be comes interested in the subject, the book must itself be only a preface to much wider reading and investigation. Some of the books which would afford material for such wider reading are indicated in references throughout the various chapters. Other books on evolution are men tioned and some of the related philosophical problems are discussed more fully in my text-book, A Course in Philosophy. My acknowledgments are due to several colleagues for criticisms and suggestions to Messrs. Henry Holt and Company for permission to reprint passages from Berg sons Creative Evolution to Dr. Henry Fairfield Osborn and the American Museum of Natural History, and to the Open Court Publishing Company for permission to reproduce illustrations. GEORGE PERRIGO CONGER. The University of Minnesota, Minneapolis. CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I. WHAT EVOLUTION Is NOT i Science By Legislation or By Investigation Evolu tion and Evolutionism. Evolution Not Merely Biological. Evolution Not Straightforward. Evolutionists Some times Disagree. Evidence vs. Inference. Evolutionists and Creationists Sometimes Agree. II. WHAT EVOLUTION Is13 Evolution a Process of Change. Evolutionism Based on Serial Arrangements. Initiating and Intervening vs. Inherent Causes. Creative Synthesis. Processes of Differentiation. Evolution and Devolution. The Main Divisions of an Evolving World. III. THE EVOLUTION OF MATTER 27 Nineteenth Century Theories. The New Scientific Renaissance. Changeable Atoms. Theories of Atomic Structure. Energy in Bundles. Origin of Heavier Atoms. Molecules and Crystals. Relativity. Does the Physical World Evolve in Aether or Space-time Wave-Theories of Electricity and Matter. New Views of Mathematics. Evolution of the Solar System Chamberlins Theory. The Energy of the Stars. Vast Groups of Stars. New Views of Inorganic Evolution. Evolution and Time. Concerning Devolution. Prob lems of Evidence. Problems of Beginnings. Conclu sion. IV. THE EVOLUTION OF LIVING ORGANISMS I. UNITS OF ORGANIZATION 56 The Problem of Mechanism andf Vitalism. Synthetic Vitalism, or Organicism. Arguments of the Mechanists. The Problem of Artificial Creation of Life. Stepping-Stones Across the Gulf. Vitalist Objections. Specula tions About the Origin of Life. Evolution of Higher Organisms. The Problem of the Evolution of Societies. Conclusion. V. THE EVOLUTION OF LIVING ORGANISMS II. THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES 77 Classifications in Biology. Evolutionism Not a New View. Scientific Theories of Evolution. Charles vii CONTENTS Darwin and His Successors. Arguments for Evolution Fossils. Heredity and Variations in Living Species. The Time-Factor in Evolution. Geographical Distribu tion. Transitional Species. Recapitulation in Embryos. Vestigial Organs, etc. Creationist Arguments Against Evolutionism. The Authority of the Bible. The Case forCreationism. Conclusion. VI. THE EVOLUTION OF LIVING ORGANISMS III. THE PAGEANT OF LIVING FORMS ...... 107 All the Worlds a Stage. The Earliest Forms of Life. The Paleozoic, or Era of Fishes. The Mesozoic, or Era of Reptiles. The Cenozoic, or Era of Mammals. The Rise of Man. The Pageantry of Life. VII. THE EVOLUTION OF NERVOUS SYSTEMS AND MINDS ............ 124 Evolution in Biology and in Neuropsychology. Theories of the Relations of Mind and Body. Mind as Nervous System at Work. Principles of Neuropsycho logical Development Conduction. Coordination...