The Theories of Darwin and Their Relation to Philosophy, Religion, and Morality | Page 6

be more agreeable to them, and more
profitable, if they could delay their judgment until the question became
better cleared up. For the whole question presented by Darwin has not
yet passed beyond the stage of problems and attempts at solution; and
there is always something unsatisfactory in being compelled to deal
with theories which in their fundamentals are still hypotheses. But
since all tendencies of the present which are hostile to Christianity and
to the theistic view of the world, from the most extreme materialism up
to the most sublime monism (as pantheism and materialism of to-day
have begun to call themselves), seemingly with the confidence of
complete victory, take possession of Darwinism as the solid ground
from which they hope to destroy all and every belief {20} connected
with faith in a living creator and master of the world, it has also
become impossible for those to whom the religious and ethical
acquisitions of mankind are a sacred sanctuary to take any longer a
reserved and expectant position. Silence now would be looked upon
only as an inglorious retreat; and thus nothing remains but openly to
face the question: What position must religion and morality take in
reference to the Darwinian theories?
In order to treat of the question with that objectivity which it requires,
we have to begin with a synopsis of the theories themselves. In this
representation we have to discriminate strictly between the merely
scientific theories and the naturo-philosophical and metaphysical
supplements and conclusions which have been brought into connection

with them. For precisely in the mixing of the most different problems
which are to be considered here, lies the main cause of the confused
and superficial judgment which is so often heard upon these questions.
* * * * * {21}

PART I.
* * * * *
THE THEORIES OF DARWIN.
* * * * *
{23}
BOOK I.
THE PURELY SCIENTIFIC THEORIES.
* * * * *
THE SCIENTIFIC PROBLEM.
The interesting problem which underlies Mr. Darwin's theories is the
answer to the question: How did the different species of organic beings
on the earth originate? We find ourselves in the midst of an endless
variety of organic beings, animals and plants; we see ourselves, so far
as regards the entire physical part of our being, in relationship with this
organic world--especially with the organization and physical functions
of the animal body. The organic individuals come and go. They
originate by being begotten by and born of individuals of the same kind,
or they spring up through the formation of germs and buds; and they
produce in the same way new individuals, that resemble them in all
essential characteristics. Like always begets like, so far as our
observations go. But not only the individuals, but even the species to

which they belong, must have originated at some definite period of
time--and, indeed, as geology tells us, not all at once, but in a long
series, which stretched through immeasurable epochs of the earth's
history. Thus we come face to face with the question, already put,
which we can now formulate more {24} precisely: How did the first
individuals of each organic species come into existence?
No human being ever has observed, nor ever could observe, the
origination of a new species, because man, as it seems, did not appear
on the earth until all the other organisms were in existence. For this
reason, the scientists for a long time thought it unprofitable to occupy
themselves with this question; and even in our time a great many of
them declare the question to be absolutely insolvable, and every
attempt at answering it to be an unjustifiable use of hypotheses. But the
impulse toward investigation admits of no limitation so long as there is
any probability of extending its field of action. Especially in the
province of nature, so many things which could not be discovered by
mere observation have been traced indirectly, and so many important
and established facts have been added to our stores of knowledge, by
first starting from hypothetical premises, that man has again and again
endeavored to approximate an answer to the question of the origin of
species by taking the indirect course of hypothesis and induction,
whenever the direct way of observation did not lead to any result.
Religion of course gives a solution to the problem by stating that the
species have been originated by the creative act of God. It is wrong to
say that this solution is opposed to the above-mentioned impulse
toward investigation; for this solution suffices for religion, whether a
natural progress in the origination of species be established or not. For,
to the believer in religion, the whole universe, with all its objective
phenomena and growth, is the work of God as well