The Rise of Scientific Philosophy by Hans Reichenbach

Author:Hans Reichenbach
Language: eng
Format: mobi
ISBN: 9780520010550
Publisher: University of California Press
Published: 1961-08-01T22:00:00+00:00

12 . Evolution

To the eye of the untrained observer there appears to be an intrinsic difference between living organisms and inorganic nature. Practically all forms of animal life display the ability of independent motion and indicate through their behavior a planned activity directed toward the benefit of the organism itself. Not only with human beings, but also with some species of animals the planned activities may exhibit a long-range anticipation of future needs: birds build their nests to have protection for the night and a place to breed, the hamster digs his shelter into the ground and fills it with provisions for the winter, and the bee lays in a store of honey. And a great deal of planned behavior is always directed toward reproduction, that amazing mechanism which makes the species survive where individuals die.

Plants do not show activities which we would like to call planning; but they certainly function in such a way that their reactions serve the purpose of feeding the individual and preserving the species. They grow roots into the ground as deep as necessary to reach water, they turn their green leaves toward the sun whose rays they need as a source of life energy; and their reproductive mechanism assures plentiful progeny.

The living organism is a system functioning toward the aim of self-preservation and preservation of the species; that is true not only for those visible manifestations of life which we call “behavior”, but also for the chemical mechanism of the body, which is at the basis of all behavior. The chemical process of digestion and oxidation of food is so arranged that it supplies the organism with the calories necessary for its activities; and plants have even devised a process which enables them, by the help of chlorophyll particles, to utilize directly the radiant energy of the sun for the benefit of their existence.

Compared with the blind functioning of the inorganic world, the falling of stones, the flow of water, the blowing of the wind, the activities of living organisms appear to be controlled by a plan, to be directed toward a certain purpose. The inorganic world is controlled by the laws of cause and effect; the past determines the future by way of the present. For living organisms this relation seems to be reversed; what happens now is so arranged that it serves a future purpose, and the happenings of the present appear to be determined by the future rather than by the past.

Such a determination in terms of the future is called teleology. In his concept of a final cause Aristotle has assigned to teleology, or finality, a place parallel to that of causality in the description of the physical world. Ever since Aristotle’s time the scientist has been confronted by the dual nature of the physical world: whereas inorganic nature was seen to be controlled by the laws of cause and effect, organic nature appeared to be governed by the law of purpose and means. Finality thus is assigned the function

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