The World Soul

Excerpt from The World Soul

That hypothesis seems now to have been abandoned, as new phenomena appeared which were inconsistent with it, and science is looking for a new hypothesis to connect the phenomena of energy.

The phenomena of life likewise require a theory and an hypothesis to co - ordinate and explain them. Religions do not do so, and have been abandoned. At first Darwin and his school were content with collecting facts alone, and indeed that was the first necessity. For the old mistaken teleologies had caused facts to be overlooked or misinterpreted. It was necessary to investigate them afresh with an absolutely unprejudiced mind, intent on truth and truth alone. But there now arises the need for a theory to explain these many verified phenomena of life, and as you can no more have a theory without an hypothesis than a curve without a focus, science is beginning to frame one. It denied any purpose or any teleological principle proceeding from an out side power creating the world. It still denies this, but it feels the absolute necessity for such a teleology within the World, working towards a desired end.

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