wishful
thinking . . .
Note.-In order to keep this section short enough when it was given on the
air, I mentioned only the Materialist view and the Religious view. But
to be complete I ought to mention the Inbetween view called Life-Force
philosophy, or Creative Evolution, or Emergent Evolution. The wittiest
expositions of it come in the works of Bernard Shaw, but the most profound
ones in those of Bergson. People who hold this view say that the small
variations by which life on this planet “evolved” from the lowest forms
to Man were not due to chance but to the striving” or “purposiveness” of
a Life-Force. When people say this we must ask them whether by Life-Force
they mean something with a mind or not. If they do, then “a mind bringing
life into existence and leading it to perfection” is really a God, and
their view is thus identical with the Religious. If they do not, then what
is the sense in saying that something without a mind “strives” or has “purposes”?
This seems to me fatal to their view. One reason why many people find Creative
Evolution so attractive is that it gives one much of the emotional comfort
of believing in God and none of the less pleasant consequences. When you
are feeling fit and the sun is shining and you do not want to believe that
the whole universe is a mere mechanical dance of atoms, it is nice to be
able to think of this great mysterious Force rolling on through the centuries
and carrying you on its crest. If, on the other hand, you want to do something
rather shabby, the Life-Force, being only a blind force, with no morals
and no mind, will never interfere with you like that troublesome God we
learned about when we were children. The Life-Force is a sort of tame God.
You can switch it on when you want, but it will not bother you. All the
thrills of religion and none of the cost. Is the Life-Force the greatest
achievement of wishful thinking the world has yet seen?