,,monism ,,as ,,connecting ,,religion   
,,and ,,science  ,a ,,man ,,of ,,science
   ,by ,ernst ,haeckel   ,translated    
,from ,the ,german ,by ,j4 ,gilchrist1  
,m4,a41 ,b4,sc41 ,ph4,d4     ,,preface  
,the following lecture on ,monism is an 
informal address delivered              
extemporaneously on ,october #i1 #ahib1 
at ,altenburg1 on the seventy-fifth     
anniversary of the ,naturforschende     
,gesellschaft des ,osterlandes4 ,the    
immediate occasion of it was a previous 
address delivered by ,professor         
,schlesinger of ,vienna on ,scientific  
,articles of ,faith4 ,this philosophical
 discourse contained1 with reference to 
the weightiest and most important       
problems of scientific investigation1   
much that was indisputable2 but it also 
contained some assertions that          
challenged immediate rejoinder and a    
statement of the opposite view4 ,as ,i  
had for thirty years been very closely  
occupied with these problems of the     
philosophy of nature1 and had set forth 

my convictions with respect to them in a
 number of writings1 a wish was         
expressed by several members of the     
,congress that on this occasion ,i      
should give a summary account of these4 
,it was in compliance with this wish    
that the following ,scientific          
,confession of ,faith was uttered4 ,the 
substance of it1 as written from        
recollection on the day after its       
delivery1 first appeared in the         
,altenburger ,zeitung of #aith ,october 
#ahib4 ,this was reproduced1 with one or
 two philosophical additions1 in the    
,november number of the ,freie ,bhne fr 
den ,entwickelungskampf der ,zeit       
7,berlin74 ,in its present form the     
,altenburg address is considerably      
enlarged1 and some parts have been more 
fully worked out4 ,in the notes 7p4 #i  
,i7 several burning questions of the    
present day have been dealt with from   
the monistic point of view4  ,the       
purpose of this candid confession of    
monistic faith is twofold4 ,first1 it is

 my desire to give expression to that   
rational view of the world which is     
being forced upon us with such logical  
rigour by the modern advancements in our
 knowledge of nature as a unity1 a view 
in reality held by almost all           
unprejudiced and thinking men of        
science1 although but few have the      
courage 7or the need7 to declare it     
openly4 ,secondly1 ,i would fain        
establish thereby a bond between        
religion and science1 and thus          
contribute to the adjustment of the     
antithesis so needlessly maintained     
between these1 the two highest spheres  
in which the mind of man can exercise   
itself2 in monism the ethical demands of
 the soul are satisfied1 as well as the 
logical necessities of the              
understanding4  ,the rising flood of    
pamphlets and books published on this   
subject1 demonstrates that such a       
natural union of faith and knowledge1   
such a reasonable reconciliation of the 
feelings and the reason1 are daily      

becoming a more pressing necessity for  
the educated classes4 ,in ,north        
,america 7in ,chicago71 there has been  
published for several years a weekly    
journal devoted to this purpose3 ,the   
,open ,court3 ,a ,weekly ,journal       
devoted to the ,work of ,conciliating   
,religion and ,science4 ,its worthy     
editor1 ,dr4 ,paul ,carus 7author of    
,the ,soul of ,man1 #ahia71 devotes also
 to the same task a quarterly journal   
under the title ,the ,monist4 ,it is in 
the highest degree desirable that so    
worthy endeavours to draw together the  
empirical and speculative views of      
nature1 realism and idealism1 should    
have more attention and encouragement   
than they have hitherto received1 for it
 is only through a natural union of the 
two that we can approach a realisation  
of the highest aim of mental            
activity-the blending of religion and   
science in monism4  ,,ernst ,,haeckel4  
,,jena1 ,october #ca1 #ahib     ,,monism
  ,a society for investigating nature   

and ascertaining truth cannot celebrate 
its commemoration day more fittingly    
than by a discussion of its highest     
general problems4 ,it must be regarded1 
therefore1 with satisfaction that the   
speaker on such an august occasion as   
this--the seventy-fifth anniversary of  
your ,society--has selected as the      
subject of his address a theme of the   
highest general importance4             
,unfortunately1 it is becoming more and 
more the custom on such occasions1 and  
even at the general meetings of the     
great ,association of ,german           
,naturalists and ,physicians1 to take   
the subject of address from a narrow and
 specialised territory of restricted    
interest4 ,if this growing custom is to 
be excused on the grounds of increasing 
division of labour and of diverging     
specialisation in all departments of    
work1 it becomes all the more necessary 
that1 on such anniversaries as the      
present1 the attention of the audience  
should be invited to larger matters of  

common interest4  ,such a topic1 supreme
 in its importance1 is that concerning  
,scientific ,articles of ,faith1 upon   
which ,professor ,schlesinger has       
already expounded his views4#a ,i am    
glad to be able to agree with him in    
many important points1 but as to others 
,i should like to express some          
hesitation1 and to ask consideration for
 some views which do not coincide with  
his4 ,at the outset1 ,i am entirely at  
one with him as to that unifying        
conception of nature as a whole which we
 designate in a single word as ,monism4 
,by this we unambiguously express our   
conviction that there lives one spirit  
in all things1 and that the whole       
cognisable world is constituted1 and has
 been developed1 in accordance with one 
common fundamental law4 ,we emphasise by
 it1 in particular1 the essential unity 
of inorganic and organic nature1 the    
latter having been evolved from the     
former only at a relatively late        
period4#b ,we cannot draw a sharp line  

of distinction between these two great  
divisions of nature1 any more than we   
can recognise an absolute distinction   
between the animal and the vegetable    
kingdom1 or between the lower animals   
and man4 ,similarly1 we regard the whole
 of human knowledge as a structural     
unity2 in this sphere we refuse to      
accept the distinction usually drawn    
between the natural and the spiritual4  
,the latter is only a part of the former
 7or vice versa72 both are one4 ,our    
monistic view of the world belongs1     
therefore1 to that group of             
philosophical systems which from other  
points of view have been designated also
 as mechanical or as pantheistic4       
,however differently expressed in the   
philosophical systems of an ,empedocles 
or a ,lucretius1 a ,spinoza or a        
,giordano ,bruno1 a ,lamarck or a ,david
 ,strauss1 the fundamental thought      
common to them all is ever that of the  
oneness of the cosmos1 of the           
indissoluble connection between energy  

and matter1 between mind and            
embodiment--or1 as we may also say1     
between ,god and the world--to which    
,goethe1 ,germany's greatest poet and   
thinker1 has given poetical expression  
in his ,faust and in the wonderful      
series of poems entitled ,gott und      
,welt4  ,that we may rightly appreciate 
what this ,monism is1 let us now1 from a
 philosophico-historical point of view  
cast a comprehensive glance over the    
development in time of man's knowledge  
of nature4 ,a long series of varied     
conceptions and stages of human culture 
here passes before our mental vision4   
,at the lowest stage1 the rude--we may  
say animal--phase of prehistoric        
primitive man1 is the ape-man1 who1 in  
the course of the tertiary period1 has  
only to a limited degree raised himself 
above his immediate pithecoid ancestors1
 the anthropoid apes4 ,next come        
successive stages of the lowest and     
simplest kind of culture1 such as only  
the rudest of still existing primitive  

peoples enable us in some measure to    
conceive4 ,these savages are succeeded  
by peoples of a low civilisation1 and   
from these again1 by a long series of   
intermediate steps1 we rise little by   
little to the more highly civilised     
nations4 ,to these alone--of the twelve 
races of mankind only to the            
,mediterranean and ,mongolian--are we   
indebted for what is usually called     
universal history4 ,this last1 extending
 over somewhat less than six thousand   
years1 represents a period of           
infinitesimal duration in the long      
millions of years of the organic world's
 development4  ,neither of the primitive
 men we have spoken of1 nor of those who
 immediately succeeded them1 can we     
rightly predicate any knowledge of      
nature4 ,the rude primitive child of    
nature at this lowest stage of          
development is as yet far from being the
 restless ,ursachenthier 7cause-seeking 
animal7 of ,lichtenberg2 his demand for 
causes has not yet risen above that of  

apes and dogs2 his curiosity has not yet
 mounted to pure desire of knowledge4   
,if we must speak of reason in          
connection with pithecoid primitive man1
 it can only be in the same sense as    
that in which we use the expression with
 reference to those other most highly   
developed ,mammals1 and the same remark 
holds true of the first beginnings of   
religion4#c  ,it is indeed still not    
infrequently the custom to deny         
absolutely to the lower animals reason  
and religion4 ,an unprejudiced          
comparison1 however1 convinces us that  
this is wrong4 ,the slow and gradual    
process towards completeness which1 in  
the course of thousands of years1       
civilised life has been working in the  
soul of man1 has not passed away without
 leaving some trace on the soul of our  
highest domestic animals also 7above    
all1 of dogs and horses74 ,constant     
association with man1 and the steady    
influence of his training1 have         
gradually1 and by heredity1 developed in

 their brain higher associations of     
ideas and a more perfect judgment4      
,drill has become instinct1 an          
undeniable example of the transmission  
of acquired characters4#d  ,comparative 
psychology teaches us to recognise a    
very long series of successive steps in 
the development of soul in the animal   
kingdom4 ,but it is only in the most    
highly developed vertebrates-birds and  
mammals--that we discern the first      
beginnings of reason1 the first traces  
of religious and ethical conduct4 ,in   
them we find not only the social virtues
 common to all the higher               
socially-living animals1--neighbourly   
love1 friendship1 fidelity1             
self-sacrifice1 etc41--but also         
consciousness1 sense of duty1 and       
conscience2 in relation to man their    
lord1 the same obedience1 the same      
submissiveness1 and the same craving for
 protection1 which primitive man in his 
turn shows towards his gods4 ,but in    
him1 as in them1 there is yet wanting   

that higher degree of consciousness and 
of reason1 which strives after a        
knowledge of the surrounding world1 and 
which marks the first beginning of      
philosophy or wisdom4 ,this last is the 
much later attainment of civilised      
races2 slowly and gradually has it been 
built up from lower religious           
conceptions4  ,at all stages of         
primitive religion and early philosophy1
 man is as yet far removed from monistic
 ideas4 ,in searching out the causes of 
phenomena1 and exercising his           
understanding thereon1 he is in the     
first instance prone in every case to   
regard personal beings--in fact1        
anthropomorphic deities--as the agents  
at work4 ,in thunder and lightning1 in  
storm and earthquake1 in the circling of
 sun and moon1 in every striking        
meteorological and geological           
occurrence1 he sees the direct activity 
of a personal god or spirit1 who is     
usually thought of in a more or less    
anthropomorphic way4 ,gods are          

distinguished as good and bad1 friendly 
and hostile1 preserving and destroying1 
angels and devils4  ,this becomes true  
in a yet higher degree when the         
advancing pursuit of knowledge begins to
 take into consideration the more       
complicated phenomena of organic life   
also1 the appearance and disappearance  
of plants and animals1 the life and     
death of man4 ,the constitution of      
organised life1 so suggestive as it is  
of art and purpose1 leads one at once to
 compare it with the deliberately       
designed works of man1 and thus the     
vague conception of a personal god      
becomes transformed into that of a      
creator working according to plan4 ,as  
we know1 this conception of organic     
creation as the artistic work of an     
anthropomorphic god--of a divine        
mechanic--generally maintained its      
ground almost everywhere1 down even to  
the middle of our own century1 in spite 
of the fact that eminent thinkers had   
demonstrated its untenability more than 

two thousand years ago4 ,the last       
noteworthy scientist to defend and apply
 this idea was ,louis ,agassiz 7died    
#ahgc74 ,his notable ,essay on          
,classification1 #aheg1 developed that  
theosophy with logical vigour1 and      
thereby reduced it to an absurdity4#e   
,all these older religious and          
teleological conceptions1 as well as the
 philosophical systems 7such as those of
 ,plato and of the ,church fathers7     
which sprang from them1 are             
antimonistic2 they stand in direct      
antithesis to our monistic philosophy of
 nature4 ,most of them are dualistic1   
regarding ,god and the world1 creator   
and creature1 spirit and matter1 as two 
completely separated substances4 ,we    
find this express dualism also in most  
of the purer church-religions1          
especially in the three most important  
forms of monotheism which the three most
 renowned prophets of the eastern       
,mediterranean--,moses1 ,christ1 and    
,mohammed--founded4 ,but soon1 in a     

number of impure varieties of these     
three religions1 and yet more in the    
lower forms of paganism1 the place of   
this dualism is taken by a philosophical
 pluralism1 and over against the good   
and world-sustaining deity 7,osiris1    
,ormuzd1 ,vishnu71 there is placed a    
wicked and destroying god 7,typhon1     
,ahriman1 ,siva74 ,numerous demi-gods or
 saints1 good and bad1 sons and         
daughters of the gods1 are associated   
with these two chief deities1 and take  
part with them in the administration and
 government of the cosmos4  ,in all     
these dualistic and pluralistic systems 
the fundamental idea is that of         
anthropomorphism1 or the humanising of  
,god2 man himself1 as godlike 7or       
directly descended from ,god71 occupies 
a special position in the world1 and is 
separated by a great gulf from the rest 
of nature4 ,conjoined with this1 for the
 most part1 is the anthropocentric idea1
 the conviction that man is the central 
point of the universe1 the last and     

highest final cause of creation1 and    
that the rest of nature was created     
merely for the purpose of serving man4  
,in the ,middle ,ages there was         
associated at the same time with this   
last conception the geocentric idea1    
according to which the earth as the     
abode of man was taken for the fixed    
middle point of the universe1 round     
which sun1 moon1 and stars revolve4 ,as 
,copernicus 7#aedc7 gave the death-blow 
to the geocentric dogma1 so did ,darwin 
7#ahei7 to the anthropocentric one      
closely associated with it4#f ,a broad  
historical and critical comparison of   
religious and philosophical systems1 as 
a whole1 leads as a main result to the  
conclusion that every great advance in  
the direction of profounder knowledge   
has meant a breaking away from the      
traditional dualism 7or pluralism7 and  
an approach to monism4 ,ever more       
clearly are we compelled by reflection  
to recognise that ,god is not to be     
placed over against the material world  

as an external being1 but must be placed
 as a divine power or moving spirit     
within the cosmos itself4 ,ever clearer 
does it become that all the wonderful   
phenomena of nature around us1 organic  
as well as inorganic1 are only various  
products of one and the same original   
force1 various combinations of one and  
the same primitive matter4 ,ever more   
irresistibly is it borne in upon us that
 even the human soul is but an          
insignificant part of the all-embracing 
world-soul2 just as the human body is   
only a small individual fraction of the 
great organised physical world4  ,the   
great general principles of theoretical 
physics and chemistry are now in a      
position to afford to this unifying     
conception of nature an exact1 to a     
certain extent1 indeed1 a mathematical  
confirmation4 ,in establishing the law  
of the conservation of energy1 ,robert  
,mayer and ,helmholtz showed that the   
energy of the universe is a constant    
unchangeable magnitude2 if any energy   

whatever seems to vanish or to come anew
 into play1 this is only due to the     
transformation of one form of energy    
into another4 ,in the same way          
,lavoisier's law of the conservation of 
matter shows us that the material of the
 cosmos is a constant unchangeable      
magnitude2 if any body seems to vanish  
7as1 for example1 by burning71 or to    
come anew into being 7as1 for example1  
by crystallisation71 this also is simply
 due to change of form or of            
combination4 ,both these great laws--in 
physics1 the fundamental law of the     
conservation of energy1 and in          
chemistry1 of the conservation of       
matter--may be brought under one        
philosophical conception as the law of  
the conservation of substance2 for1     
according to our monistic conception1   
energy and matter are inseparable1 being
 only different inalienable             
manifestations of one single universal  
being-substance4#g ,in a certain sense  
we can regard the conception of animated

 atoms as essentially partaking of the  
nature of this pure monism--a very      
ancient idea which more than two        
thousand years ago ,empedocles          
enunciated in his doctrine of hate and  
love of the elements4 ,modern physics   
and chemistry have indeed in the main   
accepted the atomic hypothesis first    
enunciated by ,democritus1 in so far as 
they regard all bodies as built up of   
atoms1 and reduce all changes to        
movements of these minutest-discrete    
particles4 ,all these changes1 however1 
in organic as well as in inorganic      
nature1 become truly intelligible to us 
only if we conceive these atoms not as  
dead masses1 but as living elementary   
particles endowed with the power of     
attraction and repulsion4 ,pleasure and 
pain1 and love and hate1 as predicates  
of atoms are only other expressions for 
this power of attraction and repulsion4 
,although1 however1 monism is on the one
 hand for us an indispensable and       
fundamental conception in science1 and  

although1 on the other hand1 it strives 
to carry back all phenomena1 without    
exception1 to the mechanism of the atom1
 we must nevertheless still admit that  
as yet we are by no means in a position 
to form any satisfactory conception of  
the exact nature of these atoms1 and    
their relation to the general           
space-filling1 universal ether4         
,chemistry long ago succeeded in        
reducing all the various natural        
substances to combinations of a         
relatively small number of elements2 and
 the most recent advances of that       
science have now made it in the highest 
degree probable that these elements or  
the 7as yet7 irreducible primitive      
materials are themselves in turn only   
different combinations of a varying     
number of atoms of one single original  
element4 ,but in all this we have not as
 yet obtained any further light as to   
the real nature of these original atoms 
or their primal energies4  ,a number of 
the acutest thinkers have1 so far in    

vain1 endeavoured to grapple more       
closely with this fundamental problem of
 the philosophy of nature1 and to       
determine more exactly the nature of    
atoms as well as their relation to the  
space-filling ether4 ,and the idea      
steadily gains ground that no such thing
 as empty space exists1 and that        
everywhere the primitive atoms of       
ponderable matter or heavy mass are     
separated from each other by the        
homogeneous ether which extends         
throughout all space4 ,this extremely   
light and attenuated 7if not            
imponderable7 ether causes1 by its      
vibrations1 all the phenomena of light  
and heat1 electricity and magnetism4 ,we
 can imagine it either as a continuous  
substance occupying the space between   
the mass-atoms1 or as composed of       
separate particles2 in the latter case  
we might perhaps attribute to these     
ether-atoms an inherent power of        
repulsion in contrast to the immanent   
attracting power of the heavy           

mass-atoms1 and the whole mechanism of  
cosmic life would then be reducible to  
the attraction of the latter and the    
repulsion of the former4 ,we might also 
place the vibrations of the cosmic ether
 alongside of the operation of space in 
general1 in the sense in which these    
words are used by ,professor            
,schlesinger4  ,at any rate1 theoretical
 physics has in recent years made an    
advance of fundamental importance and   
widest reach in our knowledge of nature1
 in that it has come nearer to a        
knowledge of this cosmic ether1 and has 
forced the question of its essence1 its 
structure1 and its motion into the      
foreground of monistic                  
nature-philosophy4 ,only a few years ago
 the cosmic ether was to the majority of
 scientists an imponderable something1  
of which1 strictly speaking1 absolutely 
nothing was known1 and which could be   
admitted provisionally only as a        
precarious working hypothesis4 ,all this
 was changed when ,heinrich ,hertz      

7#ahhh7 demonstrated the nature of      
electrical energy1 by his beautiful     
experiments establishing the conjecture 
of ,faraday that light and heat1        
electricity and magnetism1 are closely  
related phenomena of one single set of  
forces1 and depend on transverse        
vibrations of the ether4 ,light         
itself--whatever else it be--is always  
and everywhere an electrical phenomenon4
 ,the ether itself is no longer         
hypothetical2 its existence can at any  
moment be demonstrated by electrical and
 optical experiment4 ,we know the length
 of the light wave and the electric     
wave4 ,indeed1 some physicists believe  
that they can even determine            
approximately the density of ether4 ,if 
by means of the airpump we remove from a
 bell-jar the atmospheric air 7except an
 insignificant residue71 the quantity of
 light within it remains unchanged2 it  
is the vibrating ether we see4#i ,these 
advances in our knowledge of the ether  
mean an immense gain for monistic       

philosophy4 ,for they do away with the  
erroneous ideas of empty space and actio
 in distans2 the whole of infinite      
space1 in so far as it is not occupied  
by mass-atoms 7ponderable matter71 is   
filled by the ether4 ,our ideas of space
 and time are quite other than those    
taught by ,kant a hundred years ago2 the
 critical system of the great           
,koenigsberg philosopher exhibits in    
this respect1 as well as in his         
teleological view of the organic world  
and in his metaphysics1 dogmatic        
weaknesses of the most pronounced       
kind4#h ,and religion itself1 in its    
reasonable forms1 can take over the     
ether theory as an article of faith1    
bringing into contradistinction the     
mobile cosmic ether as creating         
divinity1 and the inert heavy mass as   
material of creation4#aa ,from this     
successfully scaled height of monistic  
knowledge there open up before our      
joyously quickened spirit of research   
and discovery new and surprising        

prospects1 which promise to bring us    
still nearer to the solution of the one 
great riddle of the world4 ,what is the 
relation of this light mobile cosmic    
ether to the heavy inert mass1 to the   
ponderable matter which we chemically   
investigate1 and which we can only think
 of as constituted of atoms8 ,our modern
 analytical chemistry remains for the   
present at a standstill1 in presence of 
some seventy irreducible elements1 or   
so-called primary substances4 ,but the  
reciprocal relation of these elements1  
the affinity of their combinations1     
their spectroscopic behaviour1 and so   
forth1 make it in the highest degree    
probable that they are all merely       
historical products of an evolutionary  
process1 having their origin in various 
dispositions and combinations of a      
varying number of original atoms4  ,to  
these original or mass-atoms--the       
ultimate discrete particles of inert    
ponderable matter--we can with more or  
less probability ascribe a number of    

eternal and inalienable fundamental     
attributes2 they are probably everywhere
 in space1 of like magnitude and        
constitution4 ,although possessing a    
definite finite magnitude1 they are1 by 
virtue of their very nature1            
indivisible4 ,their shape we may take to
 be spherical2 they are inert 7in the   
physical sense71 unchangeable1          
inelastic1 and impenetrable by the      
ether4 ,apart from the attribute of     
inertia1 the most important             
characteristic of these ultimate atoms  
is their chemical affinity--their       
tendency to apply themselves to one     
another and combine into small groups in
 an orderly fashion4 ,these fixed groups
 7fixed1 that is to say1 under the      
present physical conditions of existence
 of the earth7 of primitive atoms are   
the atoms of the elements--the          
well-known indivisible atoms of         
chemistry4 ,the qualitative1 and1 so far
 as our present empirical knowledge     
goes1 unchangeable distinctions of our  

chemical elements are therefore solely  
conditioned by the varying number and   
disposition of the similar primitive    
atoms of which they are composed4 ,thus1
 for example1 the atom of carbon 7the   
real maker of the organic world7 is in  
all probability a tetrahedron made up of
 four primitive atoms4  ,after          
,mendelejeff and ,lothar ,meyer had     
discovered 7#ahfi7 the periodic law of  
the chemical elements1 and founded on it
 a natural system of these elements1    
this important advance in theoretical   
chemistry was subsequently put to       
profitable use by ,gustav ,wendt from an
 evolutionary point of view4 ,he        
endeavoured to show that the various    
elements are products of evolution or of
 historically originating combinations  
of seven primary elements1 and that     
these last again are historical products
 of one single primitive element ,this  
hypothetical original matter had been   
already designated by ,crookes1 in his  
,genesis of the ,elements1 as primary   

material or protyl4#aj ,the empirical   
proof of the existence of this original 
matter lying at the foundation of all   
ponderable material is perhaps only a   
question of time4 ,its discovery would  
probably realise the alchemists' hope of
 being able to produce gold and silver  
artificially out of other elements4 ,but
 then arises the other great question3  
,how is this primary mass related to the
 cosmic ether8 ,do these two original   
substances stand in fundamental and     
eternal antithesis to one another8 ,or  
was it the mobile ether itself1 perhaps1
 that originally engendered the heavy   
mass8#aa  ,in answer to this great and  
fundamental question1 various physical  
hypotheses have been put forward4 ,but1 
like the various atomic theories of     
chemistry1 they have not as yet been    
clearly established1 and the same       
appears to me to be the case also with  
the ingenious hypothesis which the      
lecturer has unfolded to us with        
reference to the ,influence of ,space4  

,as he himself rightly says1 in all     
these endeavours after a philosophy of  
nature we are still1 for the present1   
dealing with scientific articles of     
faith1 concerning the validity of which 
different persons1 according to their   
subjective judgment and stage of        
culture1 may have widely divergent      
views4 ,i believe that the solution of  
these fundamental questions still lies  
as yet beyond the limits of our         
knowledge of nature1 and that we shall  
be obliged1 for a long time yet to come1
 to content ourselves with an           
,ignoramus--if not even with an         
,ignorabimus4  ,the case is very        
different1 however1 if we turn from     
these atomistic element hypotheses and  
direct our attention to the historical  
conditions of the evolution of the      
world1 as these have been revealed to us
 by the magnificent advances in our     
knowledge of nature which have been made
 within the last thirty years4 ,an      
immense new territory has here been     

opened up to us in the realms of        
knowledge--a territory in which a series
 of most important problems1 formerly   
held to be insoluble1 has been answered 
in the most surprising manner4#ab       
,among the triumphs of the human mind   
the modern doctrine of evolution takes a
 foremost place4 ,guessed at by ,goethe 
a hundred years ago1 but not expressed  
in definite form until formulated by    
,lamarck in the beginning of the present
 century1 it was at last1 thirty years  
ago1 decisively established by ,charles 
,darwin1 his theory of selection filling
 up the gap which ,lamarck in his       
doctrine of the reciprocal influence of 
heredity and adaptation had left open4  
,we now definitely know that the organic
 world on our earth has been as         
continuously developed1 in accordance   
with eternal iron laws1 as ,lyell had in
 #ahcj shown to be the case for the     
inorganic frame of the earth itself2 we 
know that the innumerable varieties of  
animals and plants which during the     

course of millions of years have peopled
 our planet are all simply branches of  
one single genealogical tree2 we know   
that the human race itself forms only   
one of the newest1 highest1 and most    
perfect offshoots from the race of the  
,vertebrates4  ,an unbroken series of   
natural events1 following an orderly    
course of evolution according to fixed  
laws1 now leads the reflecting human    
spirit through long aeons from a        
primeval chaos to the present order of  
the cosmos4 ,at the outset there is     
nothing in infinite space but mobile    
elastic ether1 and innumerable similar  
separate particles--the primitive       
atoms--scattered throughout it in the   
form of dust2 perhaps these are         
themselves originally points of         
condensation of the vibrating substance1
 the remainder of which constitutes the 
ether4 ,the atoms of our elements arise 
from the grouping together in definite  
numbers of the primitive atoms or atoms 
of mass4 ,as the ,kant-,laplace nebular 

hypothesis has it1 the rotating heavenly
 bodies separate themselves out from    
that vibrating primeval cloud4 ,a single
 unit among many thousands of celestial 
bodies is our sun1 with its planets1    
which originated by being centrifugally 
thrown off from it4 ,our insignificant  
earth is a single planet of our solar   
system2 its entire individual life is a 
product of the sunlight4 ,after the     
glowing sphere of the earth has cooled  
down to a certain degree1 drops of fluid
 water precipitate themselves on the    
hardened crust of its surface--the first
 preliminary condition of organic life4 
,carbon atoms begin their               
organism-engendering activity1 and unite
 with the other elements into           
plasma-combinations capable of growing4 
,one small plasma-group oversteps the   
limits of cohesion and individual       
growth2 it falls asunder into two       
similar halves4 ,with this first moneron
 begins organic life and its most       
distinctive function1 heredity4 ,in the 

homogeneous plasma of the monera1 a     
firmer central nucleus is separated from
 a softer outer mass2 through this      
differentiation of nucleus and          
protoplasm arises the first organic     
cell4 ,for a long time our planet was   
inhabited solely by such ,protista or   
single-celled primitive creatures4 ,from
 coenobia or social unions of these     
afterwards arose the lowest histones1   
multicellular plants and animals4  ,by  
the sure help of the three great        
empirical records of creation1          
palaeontology1 comparative anatomy1 and 
ontogeny1 the history of descent now    
leads us on step by step from the oldest
 ,metazoa1 the simplest pluricellular   
animals1 up to man4#ac ,at the lowest   
root of the common genealogy of the     
,metazoa stand the ,gastraeadae and     
,spongidae2 their whole body consists1  
in the simplest case1 solely of a round 
digestive sac1 the thin wall of which is
 formed by two layers of cells--the two 
primitive germinal layers4 ,a           

corresponding germinal condition1 the   
two-layered gastrula1 occurs            
transitorily in the embryological       
history of all the other ,metazoa1 from 
the lowest ,cnidaria and ,vermes up to  
man4 ,from the common stock of the      
,helminthes1 or simple worms1 there     
develop as independent main branches the
 four separate stems of the ,molluscs1  
,star-fishes1 ,arthropods1 and          
,vertebrates4 ,it is only these last    
whose bodily structure and development  
in all essential respects coincide with 
those of man4 ,a long series of lower   
aquatic ,vertebrates 7lancelets1        
lampreys1 fishes7 precedes the          
lungbreathing ,amphibians1 which appear 
for the first time in the ,carboniferous
 period4 ,the ,amphibians are followed  
in the ,permian period by the first     
,amniota1 the oldest reptiles2 from     
these develop later1 in the ,triassic   
period1 the ,birds on the one hand1 and 
the ,mammals on the other4 ,that man in 
his whole bodily frame is a true mammal1

 becomes obvious as soon as the natural 
unity of this highest class of animals  
is recognised4 ,the simplest comparison 
must have convinced the unprejudiced    
observer of the close constitutional    
relationship between man and the ape1   
which of all the ,mammals comes nearest 
him4 ,comparative anatomy1 with its     
deeper vision1 showed that all          
differences in bodily structure between 
man and the ,anthropoidea 7gorilla1     
chimpanzee1 orang7 are less important   
than the corresponding differences in   
bodily structure between these          
anthropoid apes and the lower apes4 ,the
 phylogenetic significance of this fact1
 first emphasised by ,huxley1 is quite  
clear4 ,the great question of the origin
 of the human race1 or of man's place in
 ,nature1 the question of all questions1
 was then scientifically answered3 ,man 
is descended from a series of ape-like  
,mammals4 ,the descent of man           
7anthropogeny7 discloses the long series
 of vertebrate ancestors1 which preceded

 the late origin of this1 its most      
highly developed offshoot4#ac  ,the     
incalculable importance of the light    
cast over the whole field of human      
knowledge of nature by these results is 
patent to everyone4 ,they are destined  
every year increasingly to manifest     
their transforming influence in all     
departments of knowledge1 the more the  
conviction of their irrefragable truth  
forces its way4 ,and it is only the     
ignorant or narrow-minded who can now   
doubt their truth4 ,if1 indeed1 here and
 there1 one of the older naturalists    
still disputes1 the foundation on which 
they rest1 or demands proofs which are  
wanting 7as happened a few weeks ago on 
the part of a famous ,german pathologist
 at the ,anthropological ,congress in   
,moscow71 he only shows by this that he 
has remained a stranger to the          
stupendous advances of recent biology1  
and above all of anthropogeny4 ,the     
whole literature of modern biology1 the 
whole of our present zoology and botany1

 morphology and physiology1 anthropology
 and psychology1 are pervaded and       
fertilised by the theory of descent4#ad 
,just as the natural doctrine of        
development on a monistic basis has     
cleared up and elucidated the whole     
field of natural phenomena in their     
physical aspect1 it has also modified   
that of the phenomena of mind1 which is 
inseparably connected with the other4   
,our human body has been built up slowly
 and by degrees from a long series of   
vertebrate ancestors1 and this is also  
true of our soul2 as a function of our  
brain it has gradually been developed in
 reciprocal action and re-action with   
this its bodily organ4 ,what we briefly 
designate as the human soul1 is only the
 sum of our feeling1 willing1 and       
thinking--the sum of those physiological
 functions whose elementary organs are  
constituted by the microscopic          
ganglion-cells of our brain4            
,comparative anatomy and ontogeny show  
us how the wonderful structure of this  

last1 the organ of our human soul1 has  
in the course of millions of years been 
gradually built up from the brains of   
higher and lower vertebrates4           
,comparative psychology teaches us how1 
hand in hand therewith1 the soul itself1
 as function of the brain1 has been     
developed4 ,the last-named science      
teaches us also that a primitive form of
 soul-activity is already present even  
in the lowest animals1 the single-celled
 primitive animals1 ,infusoria and      
,rhizopoda4 ,every scientific man who   
has long observed the life-activity of  
these single-celled ,protista1 is       
positively convinced that they also     
possess a soul2 that this cell-soul also
 consists of a sum of sensations1       
perceptions1 and volitions2 the feeling1
 thinking1 and willing of our human soul
 differ from these only in degree4 ,in  
like manner there is present in the     
egg-cell 7as potential energy7 a        
hereditary cell-soul1 out of which man1 
like every other animal1 is             

developed4#ae  ,the first task of a     
truly scientific psychology will        
therefore be1 not1 as hitherto1 idle    
speculation about an independent        
immaterial soul-existence and its       
puzzling temporary connection with the  
animal body1 but rather the comparative 
investigation of the organs of the soul 
and the experimental examination of     
their psychical functions4 ,for         
scientific psychology is a part of      
physiology1 the doctrine of the         
functions and the life-activities of    
organisms4 ,the psychology and          
psychiatry of the future1 like the      
physiology and pathology of to-day1 must
 take the form of a cellular study1 and 
in the first instance investigate the   
soul-functions of the cells4 ,max       
,verworn1 in his fine                   
,psycho-physiological ,protistastudies1 
has lately shown us what important      
disclosures such a cellular psychology  
can make1 even in dealing with the      
lowest grades of organic life1 in the   

single-celled ,protista 7especially     
,rhizopoda and ,infusoria74  ,these same
 main divisions of soul-activity1 which 
are to be met with in the single-celled 
organism1--the phenomena of             
irritability1 sensation1 and            
motion1--can be shown to exist in all   
multicellular organisms as functions of 
the cells of which their bodies are     
composed4 ,in the lowest ,metazoa1 the  
invertebrate sponges and polyps1 there  
are1 just as in plants1 no special      
soul-organs developed1 and all the cells
 of the body participate more or less in
 the soul-life4 ,it is only in the      
higher animals that the soul-life is    
found to be localised and connected with
 special organs4 ,as a consequence of   
division of labour1 there have here been
 developed various sense-organs as      
organs of specific sensibility1 muscles 
as organs of motion and volition1       
nerve-centres or ganglia as central     
co-ordinating and regulating organs4 ,in
 the most highly developed families of  

the animal kingdom1 these last come more
 and more into the foreground as        
independent soul-organs4 ,in            
correspondence with the extraordinarily 
complicated structure of their central  
nervous system 7the brain with its      
wonderful complex of ganglion-cells and 
nerve-fibres71 the many-sided activity  
of such animals attains a wonderful     
degree of development4  ,it is only in  
these most highly-developed groups of   
the animal kingdom that we can with     
certainty establish the existence of    
those most perfect operations of the    
central nervous system1 which we        
designate as consciousness4 ,as we know1
 it is precisely this highest           
brain-function that still continues to  
be looked upon as a completely          
enigmatical phenomenon1 and as the best 
proof for the immaterial existence of an
 immortal soul4 ,it is usual at the same
 time to appeal to ,du ,bois-,reymond's 
well-known ,ignorabimus address on the  
,boundaries of ,natural ,knowledge      

7#ahgb74 ,it was by a peculiar irony of 
fate that the famous lecturer of the    
,berlin ,academy of ,science1 in this   
much-discussed address of twenty years  
ago1 should be representing             
consciousness as an incomprehensible    
marvel1 and as presenting an insuperable
 barrier to further advances of         
knowledge1 at the very moment that      
,david ,friedrich ,strauss1 the greatest
 theologian of our century1 was showing 
it to be the opposite4 ,the             
clear-sighted author of ,the ,old ,faith
 and the ,new had already clearly       
perceived that the soul-activities of   
man1 and therefore also his             
consciousness1 as functions of the      
central nervous system1 all spring from 
a common source1 and1 from a monistic   
point of view1 come under the same      
category4 ,the exact ,berlin            
physiologist shut this knowledge out    
from his mind1 and1 with a              
short-sightedness almost inconceivable1 
placed this special neurological        

question alongside of the one great     
world-riddle1 the fundamental question  
of substance1 the general question of   
the connection between matter and       
energy4#af  ,as ,i long ago pointed out1
 these two great questions are not two  
separate world-riddles4 ,the            
neurological problem of consciousness is
 only a special case of the all         
comprehending cosmological problem1 the 
question of substance4 ,if we understood
 the nature of matter and energy1 we    
should also understand how the substance
 underlying them can under certain      
conditions feel1 desire1 and think4     
,consciousness1 like feeling and        
willing1 among the higher animals is a  
mechanical work of the ganglion-cells1  
and as such must be carried back to     
chemical and physical events in the     
plasma of these4 ,and by the employment 
of the genetic and comparative method we
 reach the conviction that              
consciousness1 and consequently reason  
also1 is not a brain-function           

exclusively peculiar to man2 it occurs  
also in many of the higher animals1 not 
in ,vertebrates only1 but even in       
,articulates4 ,only in degree1 through a
 higher stage of cultivation1 does the  
consciousness of man differ from that of
 the more perfect lower animals1 and the
 same is true of all other activities of
 the human soul4  ,by these and other   
results of comparative physiology our   
whole psychology is placed on a new and 
firm monistic basis4 ,the older mystical
 conception of the soul1 as we find it  
amongst primitive peoples1 but also in  
the systems of the dualistic            
philosophers of to-day1 is refuted by   
them4 ,according to these systems1 the  
soul of man 7and of the higher animals7 
is a separate entity1 which inhabits and
 rules the body only during its         
individual life1 but leaves it at death4
 ,the widespread piano-theory           
7,claviertheorie7 compares the immortal 
soul to a pianist who executes an       
interesting piece--the individual       

life--on the instrument of the mortal   
body1 but at death withdraws into the   
other world4 ,this immortal soul is     
usually represented as an immaterial    
being2 but in fact it is really thought 
of as quite material1 only as a finer   
invisible being1 aerial or gaseous1 or  
as resembling the mobile1 light1 and    
thin substance of the ether1 as         
conceived by modern physics4 ,the same  
is true also for most of the conceptions
 which rude primitive peoples and the   
uneducated classes among the civilised  
races have1 for thousands of years1     
cherished as to spectral ghosts and     
gods4 ,serious reflection on the matter 
shows that here--as in modern           
spiritualism--it is not with really     
immaterial beings1 but with gaseous1    
invisible bodies1 that we are dealing4  
,and further1 we are utterly incapable  
of imagining a truly immaterial being4  
,as ,goethe clearly said1 matter can    
never exist or act apart from spirit1   
neither can spirit apart from matter4   

,as regards immortality1 it is well     
known that this important idea is       
interpreted and applied in a great      
variety of ways4 ,it is often made a    
reproach against our ,monism that it    
altogether denies immortality2 this1    
however1 is erroneous4 ,rather do we    
hold it1 in a strictly scientific sense1
 as an indispensable fundamental        
conception of our monistic philosophy of
 nature4 ,immortality in a scientific   
sense is conservation of substance1     
therefore the same as conservation of   
energy as defined by physics1 or        
conservation of matter as defined by    
chemistry4 ,the cosmos as a whole is    
immortal4 ,it is just as inconceivable  
that any of the atoms of our brain or of
 the energies of our spirit should      
vanish out of the world1 as that any    
other particle of matter or energy could
 do so4 ,at our death there disappears  
only the individual form in which the   
nerve-substance was fashioned1 and the  
personal soul which represented the work

 performed by this4 ,the complicated    
chemical combinations of that nervous   
mass pass over into other combinations  
by decomposition1 and the kinetic energy
 produced by them is transformed into   
other forms of motion4     ,imperial    
,caesar1 dead and turned to clay1       
,might stop a hole to keep the wind     
away4    ,o that that earth which kept  
the world in awe    ,should patch a wall
 to expel the winter's flaw4  ,on the   
other hand1 the conception of a personal
 immortality cannot be maintained4 ,if  
this idea is still widely held1 the fact
 is to be explained by the physical law 
of inertia2 for the property of         
persistence in a state of rest exercises
 its influence in the region of the     
ganglion-cells of the brain1 as well as 
in all other natural bodies4            
,traditional ideas handed down through  
many generations are maintained with the
 greatest tenacity by the human brain1  
especially if1 in early youth1 they have
 been instilled into the childish       

understanding as indisputable dogmas4   
,such hereditary articles of faith take 
root all the more firmly1 the further   
they are removed from a rational        
knowledge of nature1 and enveloped in   
the mysterious mantle of mythological   
poesy4 ,in the case of the dogma of     
personal immortality1 there comes into  
play also the interest which man fancies
 himself to have in his individual      
future existence after death1 and the   
vain hope that in a blessed world to    
come there is treasured up for him a    
compensation for the disappointed hopes 
and the many sorrows of his earthly     
life4  ,it is often asserted by the     
numerous advocates of personal          
immortality that this dogma is an innate
 one1 common to all rational men1 and   
that it is taught in all the more       
perfect forms of religion4 ,but this is 
not correct4 ,neither ,buddhism nor the 
religion of ,moses originally contained 
the dogma of personal immortality1 and  
just as little did the majority of      

educated people of classical antiquity  
believe it1 at any rate during the      
highest period of ,greek culture4 ,the  
monistic philosophy of that time1 which1
 five hundred years before our era1 had 
reached speculative heights so          
remarkable1 knew nothing of any such    
dogma4 ,it was through ,plato and       
,christ that it received its further    
elaboration1 until1 in the ,middle      
,ages1 it was so universally accepted1  
that only now and then did some bold    
thinker dare openly to gainsay it4 ,the 
idea that a conviction of personal      
immortality has a specially ennobling   
influence on the moral nature of man1 is
 not confirmed by the gruesome history  
of mediaeval morals1 and as little by   
the psychology of primitive peoples4#ag 
,if any antiquated school of purely     
speculative psychology still continues  
to uphold this irrational dogma1 the    
fact can only be regarded as a          
deplorable anachronism4 ,sixty years ago
 such a doctrine was excusable1 for then

 nothing was accurately known either of 
the finer structure of the brain1 or of 
the physiological functions of its      
separate parts2 its elementary organs1  
the microscopic ganglion-cells1 were    
almost unknown1 as was also the         
cell-soul of the ,protista2 very        
imperfect ideas were held as to         
ontogenetic development1 and as to      
phylogenetic there were none at all4    
,this has all been completely changed in
 the course of the last half-century4   
,modern physiology has already to a     
great extent demonstrated the           
localisation of the various activities  
of mind1 and their connection with      
definite parts of the brain2 psychiatry 
has shown that those psychical processes
 are disturbed or destroyed if these    
parts of the brain become diseased or   
degenerate4 ,histology has revealed to  
us the extremely complicated structure  
and arrangement of the ganglion-cells4  
,but1 for the settlement of this        
momentous question1 the discoveries of  

the last ten years with regard to the   
more minute occurrences in the process  
of fertilisation are of decisive        
importance4 ,we now know that this      
process essentially consists simply in  
the copulation or fusion of two         
microscopical cells1 the female egg-cell
 and the male sperm-cell4 ,the fusion of
 the nuclei of these two sexual cells   
indicates with the utmost precision the 
exact moment at which the new human     
individual arises4 ,the newly-formed    
parent-cell1 or fertilised egg-cell1    
contains potentially1 in their          
rudiments1 all the bodily and mental    
characteristics which the child inherits
 from both parents4 ,it is clearly      
against reason to assume an eternal and 
unending life for an individual         
phenomenon whose beginning in time we   
can determine to a hair's breadth1 by   
direct observation4 ,judging of human   
spiritual life from a rational point of 
view1 we can as little think of our     
individual soul as separated from our   

brain1 as we can conceive the voluntary 
motion of our arm apart from the        
contraction of its muscles1 or the      
circulation of our blood apart from the 
action of the heart4  ,against this     
strictly physiological conception1 as   
against our whole monistic view of the  
relations of energy and matter1 of soul 
and substance1 the reproach of          
materialism continues to be raised4 ,i  
have repeatedly before now pointed out  
that this is an ambiguous party word    
which conveys absolutely nothing2 its   
apparent opposite1 spiritualism1 could  
quite easily be substituted for it4     
,every critical thinker1 who is familiar
 with the history of philosophy1 knows  
that1 as systems change1 such words     
assume the most varied meanings1 ,in    
addition to this1 the word materialism  
has the disadvantage of being liable to 
continual confusion between its         
theoretical and practical meanings1     
which two are totally distinct4 ,our    
conception of ,monism1 or the           

unity-philosophy1 on the contrary1 is   
clear and unambiguous2 for it an        
immaterial living spirit is just as     
unthinkable as a dead1 spiritless       
material2 the two are inseparably       
combined in every atom4 ,the opposed    
conception of dualism 7or even pluralism
 in other anti-monistic systems7 regards
 spirit and material1 energy and matter1
 as two essentially different           
substances2 but not a single empirical  
proof can be adduced to show that either
 of these can exist or become           
perceptible to us by itself alone4  ,in 
thus shortly indicating the far-reaching
 psychological consequences of the      
monistic doctrine of evolution1 ,i      
trench at the same time upon a most     
important field1 to which our lecturer  
in his address has more than once       
alluded--that of religion and the belief
 in ,god connected therewith4 ,i am at  
one with him in the conviction that the 
formation of clear philosophical        
conceptions upon these fundamental      

matters of belief is of the highest     
importance1 and ,i would therefore crave
 the permission of this assembly briefly
 to lay before it on this occasion a    
frank confession of faith4 ,this        
monistic confession has the greater     
claim to an unprejudiced consideration1 
in that it is shared1 ,i am firmly      
convinced1 by at least nine-tenths of   
the men of science now living2 indeed1  
,i believe1 by all men of science in    
whom the following four conditions are  
realised3 7#a7 ,sufficient acquaintance 
with the various departments of natural 
science1 and in particular with the     
modern doctrine of evolution2 7#b7      
,sufficient acuteness and clearness of  
judgment to draw1 by induction and      
deduction1 the necessary logical        
consequences that flow from such        
empirical knowledge2 7#c7 ,sufficient   
moral courage to maintain the monistic  
knowledge1 so gained1 against the       
attacks of hostile dualistic and        
pluralistic systems2 and 7#d7           

,sufficient strength of mind to free    
himself1 by sound1 independent          
reasoning1 from dominant religious      
prejudices1 and especially from those   
irrational dogmas which have been firmly
 lodged in our minds from earliest youth
 as indisputable revelations4  ,if from 
this unprejudiced point of view of the  
thinker1 we compare the numerous        
religions of the various races of       
mankind1 we shall be compelled1 in the  
first instance1 to put aside as         
untenable all those conceptions which   
stand in irreconcilable contradiction to
 those principles of our empirical      
knowledge of nature which are now       
clearly discerned and established by    
critical reasoning4 ,we can thus at once
 set aside all mythological stories1 all
 miracles1 and so-called revelations1   
for which it is claimed that they have  
come to us in some supernatural way4    
,all such mystical teachings are        
irrational1 inasmuch as they are        
confirmed by no actual experience1 but1 

on the contrary1 are irreconcilable with
 the known facts which have been        
confirmed to us by a rational           
investigation of nature4  ,this is true 
alike of ,christian and ,mosaic1 of     
,mohammedan and ,indian legends4 ,if now
 we thus lay aside the whole mass of    
mystical dogmas and transcendental      
revelations1 there is left behind1 as   
the precious and priceless kernel of    
true religion1 the purified ethic that  
rests on rational anthropology4#ah      
,among the numerous and varied forms of 
religion which1 in the course of the    
past ten thousand years and more1 have  
been evolved from the crudest           
prehistoric beginnings1 the foremost    
rank undoubtedly belongs to those two   
forms which still continue to be the    
most widely accepted among civilised    
races--the older ,buddhism and the      
younger ,christianity4 ,the two have    
very many features in common1 alike in  
their mythology and in their ethics2    
indeed1 a considerable part of          

,christianity has come directly from    
,indian ,buddhism1 just as another part 
is drawn from the ,mosaic and ,platonic 
systems4 ,but1 looked at from the point 
of view of our present stage of culture1
 the ethic of ,christianity appears to  
us much more perfect and pure than that 
of any other religion4 ,we must1 it is  
true1 hasten to add that it is exactly  
the weightiest and noblest principles of
 ,christian ethic--brotherly love1      
fidelity to duty1 love of truth1        
obedience to law--that are by no means  
peculiar to the ,christian faith as     
such1 but are of much older origin4     
,comparative psychology proves that     
these ethical principles were more or   
less recognised and practised by much   
older civilised races thousands of years
 before ,christ4  ,love remains the     
supreme moral law of rational religion1 
the love1 that is to say1 that holds the
 balance between egoism and altruism1   
between self-love and love of others4   
,do to others as you would they should  

do to you4 ,this natural and highest    
command had been taught and followed    
thousands of years before ,christ said3 
,thou shalt love thy neighbour as       
thyself4 ,in the human family this maxim
 has always been accepted as            
self-evident2 as ethical instinct it was
 an inheritance derived from our animal 
ancestors4 ,it had already found a place
 among the herds of ,apes and other     
social ,mammals2 in a similar manner1   
but with a wider scope1 it was already  
present in the most primitive           
communities and among the hordes of the 
least advanced savages4 ,brotherly      
love--mutual support1 succour1          
protection1 and the like---had already  
made its appearance among gregarious    
animals as a social duty2 for without it
 the continued existence of such        
societies is impossible4 ,although at a 
later period1 in the case of man1 these 
moral foundations of society came to be 
much more highly developed1 their oldest
 prehistoric source1 as ,darwin has     

shown1 is to be sought in the social    
instincts of animals4 ,among the higher 
,vertebrates 7dogs1 horses1 elephants1  
etc471 as among the higher ,articulates 
7ants1 bees1 termites1 etc47 also1 the  
development of social relations and     
duties is the indispensable condition of
 their living together in orderly       
societies4 ,such societies have for man 
also been the most important instrument 
of intellectual and moral progress4     
,beyond all doubt the present degree of 
human culture owes in great part its    
perfection to the propagation of the    
,christian system of morals and its     
ennobling influence1 although the great 
value of this has been impaired1 often  
in the most deplorable manner1 by its   
association with untenable myths and    
so-called revelations4 ,how little these
 last contribute to the perfection of   
the first1 can be seen from the         
acknowledged historical fact that it is 
just orthodoxy and the hierarchical     
system based on it 7especially that of  

the ,papacy7 that has least of all      
striven to fulfil the precepts of       
,christian morality2 the more loudly    
they preach it in theory1 the less do   
they themselves fulfil its commands in  
practice4  ,it is1 moreover1 to be borne
 in mind that another and very          
considerable portion of our modern      
culture and morality has been developed 
quite independently of ,christianity1   
mainly through continual study of the   
highly-elaborated mental treasures of   
classical antiquity4 ,the thorough study
 of ,greek and ,roman classics has at   
least contributed much more to it than  
that of the ,christian ,church fathers4 
,to this we must now add1 in our own    
century 7rightly called the century of  
the natural sciences71 the immense      
advance in the higher culture which we  
owe to a purified knowledge of nature   
and to the monistic philosophy founded  
upon this4 ,that these must also        
exercise an advancing and ennobling     
influence cannot be doubted1 and has    

already been shown by many eminent      
authors 7,spencer1 ,carneri1 and others7
 in the course of the last thirty       
years4#ah  ,against this monistic ethic 
founded on a rational knowledge of      
nature1 it has been objected that it is 
fitted to undermine existing            
civilisation1 and especially that it    
encourages the subversive aims of social
 democracy4 ,this reproach is wholly    
unjustified4 ,the application of        
philosophical principles to the         
practical conditions of life1 and in    
particular to social and political      
questions1 can be made in the most      
various ways4 ,political free-thinking1 
so called1 has nothing whatever to do   
with the freedom of thought of our      
monistic natural religion4 ,moreover1 ,i
 am convinced that the rational morality
 of monistic religion is in no way      
contrary to the good and truly valuable 
elements of the ,christian ethic1 but is
 destined in conjunction with these to  
promote the true progress of humanity in

 the future4  ,with ,christian mythology
 and the special form of theistic belief
 associated with it the case is         
different4 ,in so far as that belief    
involves the notion of a personal ,god1 
it has been rendered quite untenable by 
the recent advances of monistic science4
 ,but1 more than this1 it was shown more
 than two thousand years ago1 by eminent
 exponents of the monistic philosophy1  
that the conception of a personal ,god1 
creator and ruler of the world1 does not
 give the slightest help toward a truly 
rational view of the world4 ,for even if
 the question of creation1 in the       
ordinary and trivial sense of the term1 
be answered by referring it to the      
miraculous agency of a creator working  
according to plan apart from the world1 
there immediately arises upon that the  
new inquiry3 ,whence comes this personal
 ,god8 ,what was ,he doing before       
creation8 ,and whence did ,he derive the
 material for it8 and such like         
questions4 ,the antiquated conception of

 an anthropomorphic personal ,god is    
destined1 before the present century is 
ended1 to drop out of currency          
throughout the entire domain of truly   
scientific philosophy2 the corresponding
 conception of a personal devil--even as
 late as last century connected with the
 former and very generally accepted--has
 already been given up once for all by  
all persons of education4  ,let it be   
noted1 however1 in passing1 that the    
amphitheism which believes in ,god and  
devil alike is much more compatible with
 a rational explanation of the world    
than pure monotheism4 ,the purest form  
of this is perhaps the amphitheism of   
the ,zend religion of ,persia1 which    
,zoroaster 7or ,zarathustra1 the ,golden
 ,star7 founded two thousand years      
before ,christ4 ,here ,ormuzd1 the god  
of light and goodness1 stands everywhere
 in conflict with ,ahriman1 the god of  
darkness and evil4 ,the continual       
conflict between a good and an evil     
principle was personified in a similar  

manner in the mythology of many other   
amphitheistic religions3 in the old     
,egyptian1 the good ,osiris was at war  
with the evil ,typhon2 in the old       
,indian1 ,vishnu the sustainer with     
,siva the destroyer1 and so forth4  ,if 
we really must retain the conception of 
a personal ,god as the key to our view  
of the universe1 then this amphitheism  
can explain the sorrows and defects of  
this world very simply1 as being the    
work of the evil principle or devil4    
,pure monotheism1 on the contrary1 as   
represented in the religions of ,moses  
and ,mohammed in their original form1   
has no rational explanation of these to 
offer4 ,if their one ,god is really the 
absolutely good1 perfect being they     
proclaim1 then the world which he has   
created must also be perfect4 ,an       
organic world so imperfect and full of  
sorrows as exists on this earth he could
 not possibly have contrived4  ,these   
considerations gain in force when we    
advance to the deeper knowledge of      

nature acquired by modern biology2 here 
it was ,darwin1 especially1 who         
thirty-three years ago opened our eyes  
by his doctrine of the struggle for     
existence1 and his theory of selection  
founded upon it4 ,we now know that the  
whole of organic nature on our planet   
exists only by a relentless war of all  
against all4 ,thousands of animals and  
plants must daily perish in every part  
of the earth1 in order that a few chosen
 individuals may continue to subsist and
 to enjoy life4 ,but even the existence 
of these favoured few is a continual    
conflict with threatening dangers of    
every kind4 ,thousands of hopeful germs 
perish uselessly every minute4 ,the     
raging war of interests in human society
 is only a feeble picture of the        
unceasing and terrible war of existence 
which reigns throughout the whole of the
 living world4 ,the beautiful dream of  
,god's goodness and wisdom in nature1 to
 which as children we listened so       
devoutly fifty years ago1 no longer     

finds credit now--at least among        
educated people who think4 ,it has      
disappeared before our deeper           
acquaintance with the mutual relations  
of organisms1 the advancement of        
oecology and sociology1 and our         
knowledge of parasite life and          
pathology4  ,all these sad but          
insuperable facts--truly the dark side  
of nature--are made intelligible to     
religious faith by amphitheism2 they are
 the works of the devil1 who opposes and
 disturbs the perfect moral order in the
 world of the good ,god4 ,for pure      
monotheism which knows only one ,god1   
one perfect highest being1 they remain  
unintelligible4 ,if1 with a monotheistic
 creed1 any one still continues to talk 
of the moral order of the world1 he in  
so doing shuts his eyes to the          
undeniable facts of history1 both       
natural and civil4  ,in view of these   
considerations1 it is hard to understand
 how the large majority of the so-called
 educated classes can persevere1 on the 

one hand1 in declaring belief in a      
personal ,god to be an indispensable    
principle of religion1 and1 on the other
 hand1 in at the same time rejecting the
 belief in a personal devil as an       
exploded superstition of the ,middle    
,ages4 ,this inconsistency on the part  
of educated ,christians is all the more 
incomprehensible and censurable1        
inasmuch as both dogmas in equal degree 
form an integral part of the ,christian 
creed4 ,the personal devil1 as ,satan1  
the ,tempter1 the ,destroyer1 and so    
forth1 undeniably plays a most important
 part in the ,new ,testament1 though not
 met with in the earlier portions of the
 ,old4 ,our great reformer1 ,martin     
,luther himself1 who sent to the devil  
so many antiquated dogmas1 was unable to
 rid himself of the conviction of the   
real existence and personal enmity of   
,beelzebub2 we have only to think of the
 historical ink-spot at ,wartburg6      
,moreover1 our ,christian art1 in many  
thousands of paintings and other        

representations1 has exhibited ,satan in
 corporeal form just as realistically as
 it has the three ,divine ,persons1     
about whose hypostatical union human    
reason has for eighteen hundred years   
been tormenting itself in vain4 ,the    
deep impression made by such concrete   
representations1 a million times        
repeated1 especially on childish        
understandings1 is usually              
under-estimated as to its tremendous    
influence2 to it certainly is in large  
measure to be attributed the fact that  
irrational myths of such a kind1 under  
the mask of doctrines of faith1 continue
 to hold their ground in spite of all   
protests of reason4  ,liberal-minded    
,christian theologians have1 it is true1
 often sought to eliminate the personal 
devil from ,christian teaching1         
representing him as merely the          
personification of falsehood1 the spirit
 of evil4 ,but with equal right we must 
in that case substitute for a personal  
,god the personified idea of truth1 the 

,spirit of ,goodness4 ,to such a        
representation no objection can be made2
 rather do we recognise in it a bridge  
connecting the dim wonderland of        
religious poesy with the luminous realms
 of clear scientific knowledge4  ,the   
monistic idea of ,god1 which alone is   
compatible with our present knowledge of
 nature1 recognises the divine spirit in
 all things4 ,it can never recognise in 
,god a personal being1 or1 in other     
words1 an individual of limited         
extension in space1 or even of human    
form4 ,god is everywhere4 ,as ,giordano 
,bruno has it3 ,there is one spirit in  
all things1 and nobody is so small that 
it does not contain a part of the divine
 substance whereby it is animated4      
,every atom is thus animated1 and so is 
the ether2 we might1 therefore1         
represent ,god as the infinite sum of   
all natural forces1 the sum of all      
atomic forces and all ether-vibrations4 
,it comes virtually to the same thing   
when 7as was done here by a speaker on a

 former occasion7 ,god is defined as the
 supreme law of the universe1 and the   
latter is represented as the working of 
universal space4 ,in this most important
 article of belief it matters not as to 
the name but as to the unity of the     
underlying idea2 the unity of ,god and  
the world2 of spirit and nature4 ,on the
 other hand1 homotheism1 the            
anthropomorphic representation of ,god1 
degrades this loftiest cosmic idea to   
that of a gaseous vertebrate4#ai  ,of   
the various systems of pantheism which  
for long have given expression more or  
less clearly to the monistic conception 
of ,god1 the most perfect is certainly  
that of ,spinoza4 ,to this system1 as is
 well known1 ,goethe also paid the      
tribute of his highest admiration and   
approval4 ,of other1 eminent men who    
have given a similar pantheistic form to
 their natural religion1 we shall here  
mention only two of the greatest poets  
and students of man1 ,shakespeare and   
,lessing2 two of the greatest ,german   

rulers1 ,frederick ,,ii4 of             
,hohenstaufen and ,frederick ,,ii4 of   
,hohenzollern2 two of the greatest      
scientists1 ,laplace and ,darwin4 ,in   
adding our own pantheistic confession to
 that of these great and untrammelled   
spirits1 let it only be noted further1  
that it has received an empirical       
confirmation1 never before imagined1    
through the wonderful advances of       
natural knowledge within the last thirty
 years4  ,the charge of atheism which   
still continues to be levelled against  
our pantheism1 and against the monism   
which lies at its root1 no longer finds 
a response among the really educated    
classes of the present day4 ,it is true 
that not so very long ago the ,german   
,imperial ,chancellor1 in the ,prussian 
,chamber of ,deputies1 found it in him  
to put forward such an alternative as   
this3 ,either the ,christian or the     
atheistic view of the world2 this in the
 defence of a most objectionable law1   
designed to hand over our school        

training1 tied hand and foot1 to the    
papal hierarchy4 ,the vast distance     
which separates the last-named          
degenerate outgrowth of the ,christian  
religion from pure primitive            
,christianity is not greater than that  
which separates those mediaeval         
alternatives from the cultured religious
 consciousness of the present day4 ,to  
one who regards as true exercises of    
,christian religion the adoration of old
 clothes and wax dolls1 or the          
thoughtless repetition of masses or     
rosaries1 who believes in wonder-working
 relics1 and purchases pardon for his   
sins by means of indulgence-money or    
,peter's pence1 we willingly concede the
 claim to possess the only saving       
religion2 but with such                 
fetish-worshippers we will willingly    
submit to be ranked as atheists4  ,in   
like case with the charge of atheism and
 irreligion are those so often heard    
against monism1 that it destroys the    
poetry of life and fails to satisfy the 

spiritual wants of human nature2 we are 
told1 in particular1 that               
aesthetics--certainly a most important  
department both in theoretical          
philosophy and in practical life--is    
prejudiced by a monistic philosophy4    
,but ,david ,friedrich ,strauss1 one of 
our subtlest exponents of aesthetics and
 also one of our noblest writers1 has   
already refuted such a charge2 and shown
 how1 on the contrary1 the care for     
poetry and the cultivation of the       
beautiful are in the new faith called   
upon to play a still greater part than  
ever4 ,my present hearers1 at once      
investigators and lovers of nature1 do  
not need to be told that every new      
insight which we obtain into the secrets
 of nature at the same time also kindles
 our souls1 affords new material for    
imagination to work on1 and enlarges our
 perception of the beautiful4 ,to       
convince ourselves how closely all these
 noblest spiritual activities of man    
hang together1 how intimately the       

knowledge of truth is bound up with the 
love of goodness and veneration of the  
beautiful1 it will be enough to mention 
a single name1 ,germany's greatest      
genius--,wolfgang ,goethe4  ,if the     
perception of the aesthetic significance
 of our monistic nature-religion1 as    
well as of its ethical value1 has       
hitherto so little pervaded the educated
 classes1 this is due chiefly to the    
defects of our school training4 ,it is  
true that in the course of the last few 
decades an infinite deal has been spoken
 and written about school reform and the
 principles of education2 but of any    
real progress there is as yet but little
 trace4 ,here also reigns the physical  
law of inertia2 here also--and more     
especially in ,german schools--the      
scholasticism of the ,middle ,ages      
exhibits a power of inertia1 against    
which any rational reform of education  
must laboriously contest every inch of  
ground4 ,in this important department   
also1 a department on which hangs the   

weal or woe of future generations1      
matters will not improve till the       
monistic doctrine of nature is accepted 
as the essential and sure foundation4   
,the school of the twentieth century1   
flourishing anew on this firm ground1   
shall have to unfold to the rising youth
 not only the wonderful truths of the   
evolution of the cosmos1 but also the   
inexhaustible treasures of beauty lying 
everywhere hidden therein4 ,whether we  
marvel at the majesty of the lofty      
mountains or the magic world of the sea1
 whether with the telescope we explore  
the infinitely great wonders of the     
starry heaven1 or with the microscope   
the yet more surprising wonders of a    
life infinitely small1 everywhere does  
,divine ,nature open up to us an        
inexhaustible fountain of aesthetic     
enjoyment4 ,blind and insensible have   
the great majority of mankind hitherto  
wandered through this glorious          
wonderland of a world2 a sickly and     
unnatural theology has made it repulsive

 as a vale of tears4 ,but now1 at last1 
it is given to the mightily advancing   
human mind to have its eyes opened2 it  
is given to it to show that a true      
knowledge of nature affords full        
satisfaction and inexhaustible          
nourishment not only for its searching  
understanding1 but also for its yearning
 spirit4  ,monistic investigation of    
nature as knowledge of the true1        
monistic ethic as training for the good1
 monistic aesthetic as pursuit of the   
beautiful--these are the three great    
departments of our monism3 by the       
harmonious and consistent cultivation of
 these we effect at last the truly      
beatific union of religion and science1 
so painfully longed after by so many    
to-day4 ,the ,true1 the ,beautiful1 and 
the ,good1 these are the three august   
,divine ,ones before which we bow the   
knee in adoration2 in the unforced      
combination and mutual supplementing of 
these we gain the pure idea of ,god4#bj 
,to this triune ,divine ,ideal shall the

 coming twentieth century build its     
altars4  ,ten years ago ,i was present  
at the celebration of the third         
centenary of the university of ,wrzburg1
 which forty years ago ,i had entered as
 a medical student4 ,the festal address 
on that occasion was delivered in the   
university church by the then rector1   
the distinguished chemist1 ,johannes    
,wislicenus4 ,his concluding words were3
 ,god1 the ,spirit of ,goodness and of  
,truth1 grant it4 ,i now add1 and the   
,spirit of ,beauty4 ,it is in this sense
 that ,i also1 on this commemorative    
occasion1 dedicate to you my best       
wishes4 ,may the investigation of       
nature's secrets flourish and prosper in
 this corner of our ,thringian land     
also1 and may the fruits of knowledge1  
ripening here in ,altenburg1 contribute 
no less to the culture of the spirit and
 to the advancement of true religion1   
than those which three hundred and      
seventy years ago the great reformer1   
,martin ,luther1 brought to the light of

 day in another corner of ,thringen1 on 
the ,wartburg at ,eisenach4  ,between   
,wartburg and ,altenburg1 on the        
northern border of ,thringen1 lies      
,weimar1 the classical ,city of the     
,muses1 and1 close by it1 our national  
university of ,jena4 ,i regard it as a  
good omen that precisely at this moment 
a rare celebration should have called   
together in ,weimar the most illustrious
 patrons of the university of ,jena1 the
 defenders of free research and free    
teaching4#ba ,in the hope that the      
defence and promotion of these may still
 be continued1 ,i conclude my monistic  
,confession of ,faith with the words3   
,may ,god1 the ,spirit of the ,good1 the
 ,beautiful1 and the ,true1 be with us4 
,,notes  ,footnote #a3 ,scientific      
,articles of ,faith4 ,in ,professor     
,schlesinger's address 7delivered on    
#ith ,october at ,altenburg7 on this    
subject he rightly called attention to  
the limits of knowledge of nature 7in   
,kant's sense of the terms7 imposed upon

 us by the imperfection of our          
perceptive organs4 ,the gaps which the  
empirical investigation of nature must  
thus leave in science1 can1 however1 be 
filled up by hypotheses1 by conjectures 
of more or less probability4 ,these we  
cannot indeed for the time establish on 
a secure basis2 and yet we may make use 
of them in the way of explaining        
phenomena1 in so far as they are not    
inconsistent with a rational knowledge  
of nature4 ,such rational hypotheses are
 scientific articles of faith1 and      
therefore very different from           
ecclesiastical articles of faith or     
religious dogmas1 which are either pure 
fictions 7resting on no empirical       
evidence71 or simply irrational         
7contradicting the law of causality74   
,as instances of rational hypotheses of 
first-rate importance may be mentioned  
our belief in the oneness of matter 7the
 building up of the elements from       
primary atoms71 our belief in equivocal 
generation1 our belief in the essential 

unity of all natural phenomena1 as      
maintained by monism 7on which compare  
my ,general ,morphology1 vol4 i4 pp4    
#aje1 #afd1 etc41 also my ,natural      
,history of ,creation1 #hth ed41 #ahhi1 
pp4 #ba1 #cfj1 #gie74 ,as the simpler   
occurrences of inorganic nature and the 
more complicated phenomena of organic   
life are alike reducible to the same    
natural forces1 and as1 further1 these  
in their turn have their common         
foundation in a simple primal principle 
pervading infinite space1 we can regard 
this last 7the cosmic ether7 as         
all-comprehending divinity1 and upon    
this found the thesis3 ,belief in ,god  
is reconcilable with science4 ,in this  
pantheistic view1 and also in his       
criticism of a one-sided materialism1 ,i
 entirely agree with ,professor         
,schlesinger1 though unable to concur   
with him in some of his biological1 and 
especially of his anthropological1      
conclusions 7cf4 his article on ,facts  
and ,deductions derived from the ,action

 of ,universal ,space ,mittheilungen aus
 dem ,osterlande1 ,bd4 v41 ,altenburg1  
#ahib74   ,footnote #b3 ,unity of       
,nature4 ,i consider the fundamental    
unity of inorganic and organic nature1  
as well as their genetic relation1 to be
 an essential axiom of monism4 ,i       
particularly emphasise this article of  
faith here1 as there are still          
scientists of repute who contest it4    
,not only is the old mystical vital     
power brought back upon the stage again 
from time to time1 but even the         
miraculous origin of organic life out of
 dead inorganic nature is often brought 
up still against the doctrines of       
evolution1 as an insoluble riddle--as   
one of ,du ,bois-,reymond's seven       
riddles of the world 7see his ,discourse
 on ,leibnitz1 #ahhj74 ,the solution of 
this transcendent riddle of the world1  
and of the allied question of archigony 
7equivocal generation1 in a strictly    
defined meaning of the term71 can only  
be reached by a critical analysis and   

unprejudiced comparison of matter1 form1
 and energy in inorganic and organic    
nature4 ,this ,i have already done      
7#ahff7 in the second book of my        
,general ,morphology 7vol4 i4 pp4       
#aji-bch73 ,general ,researches as to   
the ,nature and ,first ,beginning of    
,organisms1 their ,relation to things   
,inorganic1 and their ,division into    
,plants and ,animals4  ,a short rsum of 
this is contained in ,lecture ,,xv4 of  
my ,natural ,history of ,creation 7#hth 
ed41 pp4 #cdj-cgj74 ,the most serious   
difficulties which formerly beset the   
monistic view there given may now be    
held to have been taken out of the way  
by recent discoveries concerning the    
nature of protoplasm1 the discovery of  
the ,monera1 the more accurate study of 
the closely-related single-celled       
,protista1 their comparison with the    
ancestral cell 7or fertilised egg-cell71
 and also by the chemical carbon-theory4
 7,see my ,studies on ,monera and other 
,protista1 in the ,jenaische            

,zeitschrift fr ,naturwissenschaft1     
vols4 iv4 and v41 #ahfh-ahgj2 also ,carl
 ,naegeli1 ,mechanisch-physiologische   
,begrndung der ,abstammungslehre1       
#ahhd47   ,footnote #c3 ,religion in the
 ,lower ,animals4 ,we cannot fail to    
recognise in the more highly developed  
of our domestic animals 7especially in  
dogs1 horses1 and elephants7 some first 
beginnings of those higher              
brain-functions which we designate as   
reason and consciousness1 religion and  
morality2 they differ only in degree1   
not in kind1 from the corresponding     
mental activities of the lowest human   
races4 ,if1 like the dogs1 the apes1 and
 especially the anthropoids1 had been   
for thousands of years domesticated and 
brought up in close relation with       
civilised man1 the similarity of their  
mental activities to those of man would 
undoubtedly have been much more striking
 than it is4 ,the apparently deep gulf  
which separates man from these most     
highly-developed mammals is mainly      

founded on the fact that in man several 
conspicuous attributes are united1 which
 in the other animals occur only        
separately1 viz4 7#a7 ,the higher degree
 of differentiation of the larynx       
7speech71 7#b7 brain 7mind71 and 7#c7   
extremities2 and 7#d7 the upright       
posture4 ,it is merely the happy        
combination of these important animal   
organs and functions at a higher stage  
of evolution that raises the majority of
 mankind so far above all lower animals 
7,general ,morphology1 #ahff1 vol4 ii4  
p4 #dcj74   ,footnote #d3 ,inheritance  
of ,acquired ,characters4 ,as the       
controversy on this important question  
is still unsettled1 special attention   
may here be called to the valuable data 
for arriving at a decision which are    
afforded precisely by the development of
 instincts among the higher animals1 and
 of speech and reason in man4 ,the      
inheritance of characters acquired      
during the life of the individual1 is an
 indispensable axiom of the monistic    

doctrine of evolution4 ,those who1 with 
,weismann and ,galton1 deny this1       
entirely exclude thereby the possibility
 of any formative influence of the outer
 world upon organic form                
7,anthropogenie1 #dth ed41 pp4 xxiii41  
#hcf2 see1 further1 the works there     
referred to of ,eimer1 ,weismann1       
,ray-,lankester1 etc42 also ,ludwig     
,wilser's ,die ,vererbung der geistigen 
,eigenschaften1 ,heidelberg1 #ahib74    
,footnote #e3 ,theosophical ,system of  
,nature4 ,of all the modern attempts of 
dualistic philosophy to establish the   
knowledge of nature on a theological    
basis 7that of ,christian monotheism71  
the ,essay on ,classification of ,louis 
,agassiz is by far the most             
important1--in strictness1 indeed1 is   
the only one worthy of mention4 7,on    
this see my ,natural ,history of        
,creation1 ,lect4 ,,iii41 also ,aims and
 ,methods of the ,modern ,embryology1   
#ahge1 ,jena ,zeitschr4 fr ,naturw41    
,bd4 x41 ,supplement47   ,footnote #f3  

,darwin and ,copernicus4 ,this is the   
title of an address delivered by ,du    
,bois-,reymond on #beth ,january #ahhc1 
in the ,berlin ,academy of ,sciences1   
and afterwards published in his         
,collected ,addresses 7vol4 ii4 #ahhg74 
,as the author himself mentions in a    
note 7p4 #ejj7 that this gave rise1 most
 unmeritedly1 to great excitement1 and  
called down upon him the violent attacks
 of the clerical press1 ,i may be       
allowed to point out here that it       
contained nothing new1 ,i myself1       
fifteen years previously1 in my lectures
 on ,the ,origin and ,genealogy of the  
,human ,race1 having carried out in     
detail the comparison between ,darwin   
and ,copernicus1 and the service        
rendered by these two heroes in putting 
an end to the anthropocentric and       
geocentric views of the world4 7,see the
 ,third ,series in ,virchow and         
,holtzendorff's ,collection of ,popular 
,scientific ,lectures1 ,nos4 #ec and    
#ed1 #ahfh1 #dth ed41 #ahha47 ,when ,du 

,bois-,reymond says1 ,for me1 ,darwin is
 the ,copernicus of the organic world1  
,i am the more pleased to find that he  
agrees 7partly in identical words7 with 
my way of thinking1 as he himself1 quite
 unnecessarily1 takes up an attitude of 
opposition towards me4 ,the same is the 
case with regard to the explanation of  
innate ideas by ,darwinism1 which he has
 attempted in his address 7#ahgj7 on    
,leibnitzian ,ideas in ,modern ,science 
7vol4 i4 of the ,collected ,addresses74 
,here also he is most agreeably at one  
with me in what1 four years before1 ,i  
had elaborated in my ,general           
,morphology 7vol4 ii4 p4 #ddf71 and in  
my ,natural ,history of ,creation       
7#ahfh74 ,the laws of heredity and      
adaptation explain to us how it is that 
priori ideas have been developed out of 
what was originally  posteriori         
knowledge1 etc4 ,i cannot fail to be    
highly flattered in being able in these 
last days to greet the renowned orator  
of the ,berlin ,academy as a friend and 

patron of the ,natural ,history of      
,creation1 which he had previously      
designated a bad romance4 ,but his      
winged words are not on that account to 
be forgotten1 that the genealogical     
trees of phylogeny are about as much    
worth as1 in the eyes of the historical 
critic1 are those of the ,homeric heroes
 7,darwin versus ,galiani1 #ahgf74      
,footnote #g3 ,the ,law of the          
,conservation of ,substance4 ,strictly  
taken1 this belongs also to scientific  
articles of faith1 and could stand as   
the first article of our monistic       
religion4 ,physicists of the present    
day1 it is true1 generally 7and         
correctly7 regard their law of the      
conservation of energy as the immovable 
foundation of all their science 7,robert
 ,mayer1 ,helmholtz71 just as in like   
manner chemists so regard their         
fundamental law of the conservation of  
matter 7,lavoisier74 ,sceptical         
philosophers could1 however1 raise      
certain objections to either of these   

fundamental laws with as much success as
 against their combination into the     
single superior law of the conservation 
of substance4 ,as a matter of fact1     
dualistic philosophy still attempts to  
raise such objections1 often under the  
guise of cautious criticism4 ,the       
sceptical 7in part also purely dogmatic7
 objections have a semblance of         
justification only in so far as they    
relate to the fundamental problem of    
substance1 the primary question as to   
the connection between matter and       
energy4 ,while freely recognising the   
presence of this real boundary of       
natural knowledge1 we can yet1 within   
this boundary1 apply quite universally  
the mechanical law of causality4 ,the   
complicated phenomena of mind1 as they  
are called 7more especially             
consciousness71 fall under the law of   
the conservation of substance just as   
strictly as do the simpler mechanical   
processes of nature dealt with in       
inorganic physics and chemistry4        

,compare note #af4   ,footnote #h3 ,kant
 and ,monism4 ,as recent ,german        
philosophy has in a large measure       
returned to ,kant1 and in some cases    
even deified as infallible the great    
,knigsberg philosopher1 it may be well  
here to point out once more that his    
system of critical philosophy is a      
mixture of monistic and dualistic       
ingredients4 ,his critical principles of
 the theory of knowledge will always    
remain of fundamental importance3 his   
proof that we are unable to know the    
essential and profoundest essence of    
substance1 the thing in itself 7or the  
combination of matter and energy72 that 
our knowledge remains subjective in its 
nature2 that it is conditioned by the   
organisation of our brain and sensory   
organs1 and can therefore only deal with
 the phenomena which our experience of  
the outer world affords us4 ,but within 
these limits of human knowledge a       
positive monistic knowledge of nature is
 still possible1 in contrast to all     

dualistic and metaphysical fantasies4   
,one such great fact of monistic        
knowledge was the mechanical cosmogony  
of ,kant and ,laplace1 the ,essay on the
 ,constitution and ,mechanical ,origin  
of the ,universe1 according to the      
,principles of ,newton 7#agee74 ,in the 
whole field of our knowledge of         
inorganic nature1 ,kant held firmly to  
the monistic point of view1 allowing    
mechanism alone as the real explanation 
of the phenomena4 ,in the science of    
organic nature also1 on the other hand1 
he held monism to be valid indeed1 yet  
insufficient2 here he considered it     
necessary to call in the aid of final as
 well as of efficient causes4 7,cf4 the 
fifth lecture of my ,natural ,history of
 ,creation on ,the ,evolution-,theory of
 ,kant and ,lamarck2 also ,albrecht     
,rau's ,kant und die ,naturforschung3   
,eine ,prfung der ,resultate des        
idealistischen ,kritikismus durch den   
realistischen ,kosmos1 vol4 ii41 #ahhf47
 ,once thus on the downgrade of         

dualistic teleology1 ,kant afterwards   
arrived at his untenable metaphysical   
views of ,god1 ,freedom1 and            
,immortality4 ,it is probable that ,kant
 would have escaped these errors if he  
had had a thorough anatomical and       
physiological training4 ,the natural    
sciences were1 indeed1 at that time     
truly in their infancy4 ,i am firmly    
convinced that ,kant's system of        
critical philosophy would have turned   
out quite otherwise from what it was1   
and purely monistic1 if he had had at   
his disposal the then unsuspected       
treasures of empirical natural knowledge
 which we now possess4   ,footnote #i3  
,the ,ether4 ,in a thoughtful lecture on
 the relations between light and        
electricity at the sixty-second         
,congress of ,german naturalists and    
physicians in ,heidelberg in #ahhi1     
,heinrich ,hertz explains the scope of  
his brilliant discovery3 ,thus the      
domain of electricity extends over the  
whole of nature4 ,it comes nearer to    

ourselves2 we learn that we actually    
possess an electric organ1 the eye4     
,here we are brought face to face with  
the question as to unmediated actio in  
distans4 ,is there such a thing8 ,not   
far off from this1 in another direction1
 lies the question of the nature of     
electricity4 ,and immediately connected 
therewith arises the momentous and      
primary question as to the nature of the
 ether1 of the properties of the medium 
that fills all space1 its structure1 its
 rest or motion1 its infinitude or      
finitude4 ,it becomes every day more    
manifest that this question rises above 
all others1 that a knowledge of what the
 ether is would reveal to us not only   
the nature of the old 'imponderables1'  
but also of the old 'matter' itself and 
its most essential properties1 weight   
and inertia4 ,modern physics is not far 
from the question whether everything    
that exists is not created from the     
ether4 ,this question is already being  
answered in the affirmative by some     

monistic physicists1 as1 for example1 by
 ,j4 ,g4 ,vogt in his most suggestive   
work on ,the ,nature of ,electricity and
 ,magnetism1 on ,the ,basis of the      
,conception of a ,single ,substance     
7,leipsic1 #ahia74 ,he regards the atoms
 of mass 7the primal atoms of the       
kinetic theory of matter7 as            
individualised centres of concentration 
of the continuous substance that        
uninterruptedly fills all space2 the    
mobile elastic part of this substance   
between the atoms1 and universally      
distributed1 is--the ether4 ,georg ,helm
 in ,dresden1 on the basis of           
mathematico-physical experiments1 had   
already at an earlier date arrived at   
the same conclusions2 in his treatise on
 ,influences at a ,distance mediated by 
the ,ether 7,annalen der ,physik und    
,chemie1 #ahha1 ,bd4 xiv471 he shows    
that it requires only the postulate of  
one particular kind of matter1 the      
ether1 to explain influence at a        
distance and radiation2 that is1 as     

regards these phenomena1 all the        
qualities ascribable to matter1 except  
that of motion1 are of no account2 in   
other words1 that in thinking of the    
ether we simply require to think of it  
as the mobile4   ,footnote #aj3 ,atoms  
and ,elements4 ,the evidences1 numerous 
and important1 for the composite nature 
of our empirical elements1 have lately  
been compendiously discussed by ,gustav 
,wendt in his treatise1 ,die            
,entwicklung der ,elemente3 ,entwurf zu 
einer biologischen ,grundlage fur       
,chemie und ,physik,i 7,berlin1 #ahia72 
compare also ,wilhelm ,freyer's ,die    
organischen ,elemente und ihre ,stellung
 im ,system,,ii 7,wiesbaden1 #ahia71    
,victor ,meyer's ,chemische ,probleme   
der ,gegenwart,,iii 7,heidelberg1       
#ahij71 and ,w4 ,crookes's ,genesis of  
the ,elements4 ,for the different views 
as to the nature of the atom1 see       
,philip ,spiller on ,the ,doctrines of  
,atoms in ,die ,urkraft des ,weltalls   
nach ihrem ,wesen und ,wirken auf allen 

,naturgebieten,,iv 7,berlin1 #ahhf71    
7#a4 ,the philosophy of nature2 #b4 ,the
 doctrine of the ether2 #c4 ,the ethical
 side of the science of nature74 ,for   
the constitution of the elements out of 
atoms1 see ,a4 ,turner1 ,die ,kraft und 
,masse im ,raume,v 7,leipsic1 #crd ed41 
#ahhf71 7#a4 ,on the nature of matter   
and its relationships2 #b4 ,atomic      
combinations2 #c4 ,the nature of the    
molecules and their combinations4       
,theory of crystallisation74  ,note ,i  
,the ,development of the ,elements3 an  
,essay towards a ,biological ,basis     
for ,chemistry and ,physics4  ,note ,,ii
 ,the ,organic ,elements and their      
,place in the ,system4  ,note ,,iii     
,chemical ,problems of the ,day4  ,note 
,,iv  ,the ,primary ,force of the       
,universe1 its ,nature and ,action4     
,note ,v ,force and ,matter in ,space4  
,footnote #aa3 ,world-,substance4 ,the  
relation of the two fundamental         
constituents of the cosmos1 ether and   
mass1 may perhaps be made apparent1 in  

accordance with one out of many         
hypotheses1 by the following1 partly    
provisional1 scheme4              ,world
 7,substance,cosmos74                   
7,nature as knowable by ,man47          
,ether 7spirit7 7mobile       ,mass     
7body7 7inert or       or active        
substance74           passive           
substance74     ,property of ,vibration4
          ,property of ,inertia4        
,chief ,functions3 ,electricity1        
,chief ,functions3 ,gravity1            
,magnetism1 ,light1 ,heat4              
,inertia1 ,chemical ,affinity4          
,structure3 dynamical2                  
,structure3 atomic1 discontinuous1      
continuous1 elastic substance1          
inelastic substance1       not composed 
of atoms 787       composed of atoms 787
      ,theosophical3 ,god the           
,theosophical3 ,created       ,creator  
7always in motion74    world 7passively 
formed74      ,influence of space4      
,products of space condensation4        
,footnote #ab3 ,general doctrine of     

,evolution4 ,the fundamental importance 
of the modern doctrine of evolution1 and
 of the monistic philosophy based upon  
it1 is clearly evidenced by the steady  
increase of its copious literature4 ,i  
have cited the most important treatises 
on this subject in the new 7eighth7     
edition of my ,natural ,history of      
,creation 7#ahhi74 ,compare1 specially1 
,carus ,sterne 7,ernst ,krause71 ,werden
 und ,vergehen3 ,eine                   
,entwicklungsgeschichte des ,naturganzen
 in gemeinverstndlicher ,fassung,,vi    
7#crd ed41 ,berlin1 #ahhf72 ,hugo       
,spitzer1 ,beitrge zur                  
,descendenztheorie und zur ,methodologie
 der ,naturwissenschaft 7,graz1         
#ahhf72,,vii ,albrecht ,ran1 ,ludwig    
,feuerbach's ,philosophie der           
,naturforschung und die philosophische  
,kritik der ,gegenwart 7,leipsic1       
#ahhb72,,viii ,hermann ,wolff1 ,kosmos3 
,die ,weltentwicklung nach              
monitisch-psychologischen ,principien   
auf ,grundlage der exacten              

,naturforschung 7,leipsic1 #ahij74;,,ix 
,note ,,vi ,growth and ,decay3 a        
,popular ,history of the ,development of
 the     ,cosmos4  ,note ,,vii          
,contributions towards a ,theory of     
,descent1 and towards a     ,methodology
 of the ,sciences of ,nature4  ,note    
,,viii ,ludwig ,feuerbach's ,philosophy 
of ,science1 and the ,philosophical     
,criticism of the ,present ,time4  ,note
 ,,ix ,cosmos3 ,the ,development of the 
,cosmos according to ,monistic          
,principles on the ,basis of ,exact     
,science4   ,footnote #ac3 ,history of  
,descent4 ,the idea and the task of     
phylogeny1 or the history of descent1 ,i
 first defined in #ahff1 in the sixth   
book of my ,general ,morphology 7vol4   
ii4 pp4 #cja-dbb71 and the substance of 
this1 as well as an account of its      
relation to ontogeny or history of      
development1 is set forth in a popular  
form in ,part ,,ii4 of my ,natural      
,history of ,creation 7#hth ed41        
,berlin1 #ahhi74 ,a special application 

of both these divisions of the history  
of evolution to man1 is attempted in my 
,anthropogenie 7#dth ed471 revised and  
enlarged1 #ahia3 ,part ,i4 ,history of  
development4 ,part ,,ii4 ,history of    
descent4   ,footnote #ad3 ,opponents of 
the ,doctrine of ,descent4 ,since the   
death of ,louis ,agassiz 7#ahgc71       
,rudolf ,virchow is regarded as the sole
 noteworthy opponent of ,darwinism and  
the theory of descent2 he never misses  
an opportunity 7as recently in ,moscow7 
of opposing it as unproved hypothesis4  
,see as to this my pamphlet1 ,freedom in
 ,science and in ,teaching1 a reply to  
,virchow's address at ,munich on        
,freedom of ,science in the ,modern     
,state 7,stuttgart1 #ahgh2 ,eng4 tr41   
#ahib74   ,footnote #ae3 ,cellular      
,psychology4 ,see on this my paper on   
,cell-souls and ,soul-cells1 in the     
,deutsche ,rundschau 7,july #ahgh71     
reprinted in ,part #a1 of ,collected    
,popular ,lectures2 also ,the ,cell-soul
 and ,cellular ,psychology in my        

discourse on ,freedom in ,science and   
,teaching 7,stuttgart1 #ahgh2 ,eng4 tr41
 #ahib1 p4 #df72 ,natural ,history of   
,creation 7#hth ed41 pp4 #ddd1 #ggg72   
and ,descent of ,man 7#dth ed41 pp4     
#abh1 #adg74 ,see also1 ,max ,verworn1  
,psycho-physiologische                  
,protisten-,studien 7,jena1 #ahhi71 and 
,paul ,carus1 ,the ,soul of ,man3 ,an   
,investigation of the ,facts of         
,physiological and ,experimental        
,psychology 7,chicago1 #ahia74 ,among   
recent attempts to reform psychology on 
the basis of evolutionary doctrine in a 
monistic sense1 special mention must be 
made of ,georg ,heinrich ,schneider's   
,der thierische ,wille3 ,systematische  
,darstellung und ,erklrung der          
thierischen ,triebe und deren           
,entstehung1 ,entwickelung und          
,verbreitung im ,thierreiche als        
,grundlage zu einer vergleichenden      
,willenslehre,x 7,leipsic1 #ahhj74      
,compare also his supplementary work1   
entitled ,der menschliche ,wille vom    

,standpunkte der neuen                  
,entwickelungstheorie,,xi 7#ahhb72 also 
the ,psychology of ,herbert ,spencer and
 the new edition of ,wilhelm ,wundt's   
,menschen-und ,thierseele,,xii          
7,leipsic1 #ahib74  ,note ,x ,will in   
the ,lower ,animals3 a ,systematic      
,exposition and ,explanation     of     
,animal ,instincts1 and their ,origin1  
,development1 and ,difference in     the
 ,animal ,kingdom1 as ,basis of a       
,comparative ,doctrine of ,volition4    
,note ,,xi ,the ,human ,will from the   
,standpoint of the ,modern ,theory of   
,evolution4  ,note ,,xii ,soul in ,man  
and ,brute4   ,footnote #af3            
,consciousness4 ,the antiquated view of 
,du ,bois-,reymond 7#ahgb7--that human  
consciousness is an unsoluble           
world-riddle1 a transcendent phenomenon 
in essential antithesis to all other    
natural phenomena--continues to be      
upheld in numerous writings4 ,it is     
chiefly on this that the dualistic view 
of the world founds its assertion1 that 

man is an altogether peculiar being1 and
 that his personal soul is immortal2 and
 this is the reason why the ,leipsic    
ignorabimus-speech of ,du ,bois-,reymond
 has for twenty years been prized as a  
defence by all representatives of the   
mythological view of the world1 and     
extolled as a refutation of monistic    
dogma4 ,the closing word of the         
discourse1 ignorabimus1 was translated  
as a present1 and this ignoramus taken  
to mean that we know nothing at all2 or1
 even worse1 that we can never come to  
clearness about anything1 and any       
further talk about the matter is idle4  
,the famous ignorabimus address remains 
certainly an important rhetorical work  
of art2 it is a beautiful sermon1       
characterised by its highly-finished    
form and its surprising variety of      
philosophico-scientific pictures4 ,it is
 well known1 however1 that the majority 
7and especially women7 judge a beautiful
 sermon not according to the value of   
the thoughts embodied in it1 but        

according to its excellence as an       
aesthetical entertainment4 ,while ,du   
,bois treats his audience at great      
length to disquisitions on the wondrous 
performances of the genius of ,laplace1 
he afterwards glides over1 the most     
important part of his subject in eleven 
short lines1 and makes not the slightest
 further attempt to solve the main      
question he has to deal with--as to     
whether the world is really doubly      
incomprehensible4 ,for my own part1 on  
the contrary1 ,i have already repeatedly
 sought to show that the two limits to  
our knowledge of nature are one and the 
same2 the fact of consciousness and the 
relation of consciousness to the brain  
are to us not less1 but neither are they
 more1 puzzling1 than the fact of seeing
 and hearing1 than the fact of          
gravitation1 than the connection between
 matter and energy4 ,compare my         
discourse on ,freedom in ,science and   
,teaching 7#ahgh71 pp4 #gh1 #hb1 etc4   
,footnote #ag3 ,immortality4 ,perhaps in

 no ecclesiastical article of faith is  
the gross materialistic conception of   
,christian dogma so evident as in the   
cherished doctrine of personal          
immortality1 and that of the            
resurrection of the body1 associated    
with it4 ,as to this1 ,savage1 in his   
excellent work on ,religion in the      
,light of the ,darwinian ,doctrine1 has 
well remarked3 ,one of the standing     
accusations of the ,church against      
science is that it is materialistic4 ,on
 this ,i would like to point out1 in    
passing1 that the whole                 
,church-conception concerning a future  
life has always been1 and still is1 the 
purest materialism4 ,it is represented  
that the material body is to rise again1
 and inhabit a material heaven4 ,compare
 also ,ludwig ,buchner1 ,das zunknftige 
,leben und die moderne ,wissenschaft    
7,leipsic1 #ahhi72 ,lester ,ward1       
,causes of ,belief in ,immortality 7,the
 ,forum1 vol4 ,,viii41 ,september       
#ahhi72 and ,paul ,carus1 ,the ,soul of 

,man3 an ,investigation of the ,facts of
 ,physiological and ,experimental       
,psychology 7,chicago1 #ahia74 ,carus   
aptly points out the analogy between the
 ancient and the modern ideas with      
respect to light1 and with respect to   
the soul4 ,just as formerly the luminous
 flame was explained by means of a      
special fiery matter 7phlogiston71 so   
the thinking soul was explained by the  
hypothesis of a peculiar gaseous        
soul-substance4 ,we now know that the   
light of the flame is a sum of electric 
vibrations of the ether1 and the soul a 
sum of plasma-movements in the          
ganglion-cells4 ,as compared with this  
scientific conception1 the doctrine of  
immortality of scholastic psychology has
 about the same value as the            
materialistic conceptions of the ,red   
,indian about a future life in          
,schiller's ,nadowessian ,death-,song4  
,footnote #ah3 ,monistic ,ethic4 ,all   
,ethic1 the theoretical as well as the  
practical doctrine of morals1 as a      

science of law 7,normwissenschaft71     
stands in immediate connection with the 
view that is taken of the world         
7,weltanschauung71 and consequently with
 religion4 ,this position ,i regard as  
exceedingly important1 and have recently
 upheld in a paper on ,ethik und        
,weltanschauung1 in opposition to the   
,society for ,ethical ,culture lately   
founded in ,berlin1 which would teach   
and promote ethics without reference to 
any view of the world or to religion4   
7,compare the new weekly journal1 ,die  
,zukunft1 edited by ,maximilian ,harden1
 ,berlin1 #ahib1 ,nos4 ,v4-,,vii474     
,just as ,i take the monistic to be the 
only rational basis for all science1 ,i 
claim the same also for ethics4 ,on this
 subject compare especially the ethical 
writings of ,herbert ,spencer and those 
of ,b4 von ,carneri--,sittlichkeit und  
,darwinismus 7#ahga72 ,entwickelung und 
,glckseligkeit 7#ahhf72 and more        
particularly1 the latest of all1 ,der   
moderne ,mensch 7,bonn1 #ahia72 further1

 ,wilhelm ,streeker1 ,welt und          
,menschheit 7,leipsic1 #ahib72 ,harald  
,hffding1 ,die ,grundlage der humanen   
,ethik 7,bonn1 #ahhj72 and the recent   
large work of ,wilhelm ,wundt1 ,ethik1  
eine ,untersuchung der ,thatsachen und  
,gesetze des sittlichen ,lebens         
7,stuttgart1 #bnd ed41 #ahib74          
,footnote #ai3 ,homotheism4 ,under the  
term homotheism 7or anthropomorphism7 we
 include all the various forms of       
religious belief which ascribe to a     
personal ,god purely human              
characteristics4 ,however variously     
these anthropomorphic ideas may have    
shaped themselves in dualistic and      
pluralistic religions1 all in common    
retain the unworthy conception that ,god
 7,theos7 and man 7homo7 are organised  
similarly and according to the same type
 7homotype74 ,in the region of poetry   
such personifications are both pleasing 
and legitimate4 ,in the region of       
science they are quite inadmissible2    
they are doubly objectionable now that  

we know that only in late ,tertiary     
times was man developed from pithecoid  
mammals4 ,every religious dogma which   
represents ,god as a spirit in human    
form1 degrades ,him to a gaseous        
vertebrate 7,general ,morphology1 #ahff2
 ,chap1 xxx41 ,god in ,nature74 ,the    
expression homotheism is ambiguous and  
etymologically objectionable1 but more  
practical than the cumbersome word      
,anthropotheism4   ,footnote #bj3       
,monistic ,religion4 ,amongst the many  
attempts which have been made in the    
course of the last twenty years to      
reform religion in a monistic direction 
on the basis of advanced knowledge of   
nature1 by far the most important is the
 epoch-making work of ,david ,friedrich 
,strauss1 entitled ,the ,old ,faith and 
the ,new3 ,a ,confession 7#aath ed41    
,bonn1 #ahha3 ,collected ,writings1     
#ahgh74 ,compare ,m4 ,j4 ,savage1       
,religion in the ,light of the          
,darwinian ,doctrine2 ,john ,william    
,draper1 ,history of the ,conflict      

between ,religion and ,science2 ,carl   
,friedrich ,retzer1 ,die                
naturwissenschaftliche ,weltanschauung  
und ihre ,ideale1 ein ,ersatz fuer das  
religise ,dogma 7,leipsic1 #ahij72 ,e4  
,koch1 ,natur und ,menschengeist im     
,lichte der ,entwickelungslehre         
7,berlin1 #ahia74 ,for the phylogeny of 
religion see the interesting work of ,u4
 ,van ,ende1 ,histoire ,naturelle de la 
,croyance 7,paris1 #ahhg74   ,footnote  
#ba3 ,freedom in ,teaching4 ,the jubilee
 of the ,naturforschende ,gesellschaft  
des ,osterlandes was celebrated in      
,altenburg on ,october #i1 #ahib1       
contemporaneously with the commencement 
of the brilliant celebration of the     
golden wedding of the ,grand ,duke and  
,duchess in ,weimar4 ,as exceptional as 
the celebration are the characteristics 
which distinguish this august couple4   
,the ,grand ,duke ,carl ,alexander has1 
during a prosperous reign of forty      
years1 constantly shown himself an      
illustrious patron of science and art2  

as ,rector ,magnificentissimus of our   
,thringian university of ,jena1 he has  
always afforded his protection to its   
most sacred palladium--the right of the 
free investigation and teaching of      
truth4 ,the ,grand ,duchess ,sophie1 the
 heiress and guardian of the ,goethe    
archives1 has in ,weimar prepared a     
fitting home for that precious legacy of
 our most brilliant literary period1 and
 has anew made accessible to the ,german
 nation the ideal treasures of thought  
of her greatest intellectual hero4 ,the 
history of culture will never forget the
 service which the princely couple have 
thereby rendered to the human mind in   
its higher development1 and at the same 
time to true religion4