Introduction:
John Burdon Sanderson Haldane was a British-born geneticist and evolutionary biologist. He was one of the founders of population genetics. In this essay, Haldane attempts to analyze the essence of life and the composition of life by means of scientific logic and practical philosophy.
Where does ‘life’ belong?
In normal conditions, a thing must correspond to a noun. For example, bricks, water, coal-gas etc are things. At the same time, there are others like a wave, a tune etc which have less claim to be called a thing. In this kind of a classification, where does ‘life’ belong? Does death mean a loss of something, or merely a change of state like a disarrangement of patterns?
Early people thought that life was breath. But breath consists of gas, which can be made into a solid or liquid. Also, many living things do not breathe at all. Hence life is not a kind of matter. When a man or an animal dies, he does not lose or gain weight.
According to our ancestors, anything which moved was alive. That was a good definition before the age of machines. But a machine such as a motor-car moves itself, and so does a steam-ship. Now, people asked, “Is man a machine?”
According to the philosopher Descartes, both men and animals were machines, but that the human machine was controlled partly by the soul whereas animals had no soul. So some scientists think that life is just a very complicated mechanism.
Machines vs Individuals:
A machine is a system capable of performing some function, made up of replaceable parts. For example, if any part of a motor-car is broken, a new one can be got to take its place; and an engineer could tell a great deal about the car’s behaviour. The opposite to a machine is an individual – which cannot be taken to pieces and out together again. Each part depends on the other to keep it alive.
Animals: Perfect Self-regulating Machines:
An animal is only a very perfect self-regulating machine. Many of the bones act like levers. The eye is like a photographic camera. A good example of self-regulation is that of human temperature – which is so steady that a small rise or fall is a danger signal. The most obvious example of self-repair is the continual renewing of the skin, and the healing of wounds, and the most remarkable of all, is reproduction.
Machines vs Minds:
According to Haldane, the machine theory also fails when we consider our minds. The mind has a unity of its own. Somehow the most varied sensations and emotions are held together. Yet, the mind depends on the body. If you cut off the blood supply from parts of the brain, the most intelligent man becomes a hopeless idiot.
Life – A Synthesis of Opposites - Mechanism and Individuality:
Life then is a synthesis of opposites – of mechanism and individuality. A man is a machine and at the same time an individual. We find the same union of opposites everywhere. Wood is both hard and soft. If it were not hard, we could not use it for furniture. If it were not soft, we could not cut it. Thus we find that there is generally a progress from mechanism to individuality in the life of an individual.
Conclusion:
To conclude, life, according to Haldane, is essentially a pattern of chemical happenings, and so to say that life does not consist of chemical processes is, according to Haldane, as futile and untrue as to say that poetry does not consist of words. And life is something between mechanism and individuality – but seems to strive towards greater individuality or oneness.
John Burdon Sanderson Haldane was a British-born geneticist and evolutionary biologist. He was one of the founders of population genetics. In this essay, Haldane attempts to analyze the essence of life and the composition of life by means of scientific logic and practical philosophy.
Where does ‘life’ belong?
In normal conditions, a thing must correspond to a noun. For example, bricks, water, coal-gas etc are things. At the same time, there are others like a wave, a tune etc which have less claim to be called a thing. In this kind of a classification, where does ‘life’ belong? Does death mean a loss of something, or merely a change of state like a disarrangement of patterns?
Early people thought that life was breath. But breath consists of gas, which can be made into a solid or liquid. Also, many living things do not breathe at all. Hence life is not a kind of matter. When a man or an animal dies, he does not lose or gain weight.
According to our ancestors, anything which moved was alive. That was a good definition before the age of machines. But a machine such as a motor-car moves itself, and so does a steam-ship. Now, people asked, “Is man a machine?”
According to the philosopher Descartes, both men and animals were machines, but that the human machine was controlled partly by the soul whereas animals had no soul. So some scientists think that life is just a very complicated mechanism.
Machines vs Individuals:
A machine is a system capable of performing some function, made up of replaceable parts. For example, if any part of a motor-car is broken, a new one can be got to take its place; and an engineer could tell a great deal about the car’s behaviour. The opposite to a machine is an individual – which cannot be taken to pieces and out together again. Each part depends on the other to keep it alive.
Animals: Perfect Self-regulating Machines:
An animal is only a very perfect self-regulating machine. Many of the bones act like levers. The eye is like a photographic camera. A good example of self-regulation is that of human temperature – which is so steady that a small rise or fall is a danger signal. The most obvious example of self-repair is the continual renewing of the skin, and the healing of wounds, and the most remarkable of all, is reproduction.
Machines vs Minds:
According to Haldane, the machine theory also fails when we consider our minds. The mind has a unity of its own. Somehow the most varied sensations and emotions are held together. Yet, the mind depends on the body. If you cut off the blood supply from parts of the brain, the most intelligent man becomes a hopeless idiot.
Life – A Synthesis of Opposites - Mechanism and Individuality:
Life then is a synthesis of opposites – of mechanism and individuality. A man is a machine and at the same time an individual. We find the same union of opposites everywhere. Wood is both hard and soft. If it were not hard, we could not use it for furniture. If it were not soft, we could not cut it. Thus we find that there is generally a progress from mechanism to individuality in the life of an individual.
Conclusion:
To conclude, life, according to Haldane, is essentially a pattern of chemical happenings, and so to say that life does not consist of chemical processes is, according to Haldane, as futile and untrue as to say that poetry does not consist of words. And life is something between mechanism and individuality – but seems to strive towards greater individuality or oneness.
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