Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- PREFACE
- AUTHOR'S PREFACE
- CHAPTER I THE NATURE OF THE PROBLEM
- CHAPTER II OUR BODILY FRAME
- CHAPTER III OUR LIFE
- CHAPTER IV OUR EMBRYONIC DEVELOPMENT
- CHAPTER V THE HISTORY OF OUR SPECIES
- CHAPTER VI THE NATURE OF THE SOUL
- CHAPTER VII PSYCHIC GRADATIONS
- CHAPTER VIII THE EMBRYOLOGY OF THE SOUL
- CHAPTER IX THE PHYLOGENY OF THE SOUL
- CHAPTER X CONSCIOUSNESS
- CHAPTER XI THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL
- CHAPTER XII THE LAW OF SUBSTANCE
- CHAPTER XIII THE EVOLUTION OF THE WORLD
- CHAPTER XIV THE UNITY OF NATURE
- CHAPTER XV GOD AND THE WORLD
- CHAPTER XVI KNOWLEDGE AND BELIEF
- CHAPTER XVII SCIENCE AND CHRISTIANITY
- CHAPTER XVIII OUR MONISTIC RELIGION
- CHAPTER XIX OUR MONISTIC ETHICS
- CHAPTER XX SOLUTION OF THE WORLD-PROBLEMS
- INDEX
CHAPTER XII - THE LAW OF SUBSTANCE
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 August 2011
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- PREFACE
- AUTHOR'S PREFACE
- CHAPTER I THE NATURE OF THE PROBLEM
- CHAPTER II OUR BODILY FRAME
- CHAPTER III OUR LIFE
- CHAPTER IV OUR EMBRYONIC DEVELOPMENT
- CHAPTER V THE HISTORY OF OUR SPECIES
- CHAPTER VI THE NATURE OF THE SOUL
- CHAPTER VII PSYCHIC GRADATIONS
- CHAPTER VIII THE EMBRYOLOGY OF THE SOUL
- CHAPTER IX THE PHYLOGENY OF THE SOUL
- CHAPTER X CONSCIOUSNESS
- CHAPTER XI THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL
- CHAPTER XII THE LAW OF SUBSTANCE
- CHAPTER XIII THE EVOLUTION OF THE WORLD
- CHAPTER XIV THE UNITY OF NATURE
- CHAPTER XV GOD AND THE WORLD
- CHAPTER XVI KNOWLEDGE AND BELIEF
- CHAPTER XVII SCIENCE AND CHRISTIANITY
- CHAPTER XVIII OUR MONISTIC RELIGION
- CHAPTER XIX OUR MONISTIC ETHICS
- CHAPTER XX SOLUTION OF THE WORLD-PROBLEMS
- INDEX
Summary
The fundamental chemical law of the constancy of matter. The fundamental physical law of the conservation of energy. Combination of both laws in the law of substance. The kinetic, pyknotic, and dualistic ideas of substance. Monism of matter. Ponderable matter. Atoms and elements. Affinity of the elements. The soul of the atom (feeling and inclination). Existence and character of ether. Ether and ponderable matter. Force and energy. Potential and actual force. Unity of natural forces. Supremacy of the law of substance.
The supreme and all-pervading law of nature, the true and only cosmological law, is, in my opinion, the law of substance; its discovery and establishment is the greatest intellectual triumph of the nineteenth century, in the sense that all other known laws of nature are subordinate to it. Under the name of “law of substance” we embrace two supreme laws of different origin and age—the older is the chemical law of the “conservation of matter,” and the younger is the physical law of the “conservation of energy.” It will be self-evident to many readers, and it is acknowledged by most of the scientific men of the day, that these two great laws are essentially inseparable. This fundamental thesis, however, is still much contested in some quarters, and we must proceed to furnish the proof of it. But we must first devote a few words to each of the two laws.
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- Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2009First published in: 1900