but unique and exceptional, and that Man stands apart from and above all natural products, whether animate or inanimate. Some of these thinkers appear to accept the conclusion that if life and Man are regarded as products of the kosmic process—that is, of Nature—'life' and 'Man' lose so much in importance and significance that dire consequences must follow to Man's conception of his dignity and to the essential features of his systems of conduct and social organization. Accordingly they cling to the belief that living matter and Man have not proceeded from an orderly evolution of Nature, but are 'super' natural. It is found on the other hand, by many who have considered these speculations, and hold no less explicitly than do the 'supernaturalists,' that life is a momentous and peculiar feature of our earth's surface and Man the isolated and unparalleled 'piece of work,' 'the beauty of the world,' 'the paragon of animals'—it is found by many such, I say, that nothing is gained in regard to our conception of Man's nobility and significance by supposing that he and the living matter which has given rise to him, are not the outcome of that system of orderly processes which we call Nature.
There is one consideration in regard to this matter which, it seems, is often overlooked and should be emphasized. It is sometimes, and perhaps with a sufficient excuse in a want of acquaintance with Nature, held by those who oppose the conclusion that Man has been evolved by natural processes, that the products of Nature are arbitrary, haphazard, and due to chance, and that Man cannot be conceived of as originating by chance. This notion of 'chance' is a misleading figment inherited by the modern world
