k philosophy came under the influence of logic and
mathematics, modern philosophy under the influence of natural science.
The name of Charles Darwin stands with those of Galileo, Newton, and
Robert Mayer--names which denote new problems and great alterations in
our conception of the universe.

First of all we must lay stress on Darwin's own personality. His deep love
of truth, his indefatigable inquiry, his wide horizon, and his steady
self-criticism make him a scientific model, even if his results and
theories should eventually come to possess mainly an historical interest.
In the intellectual domain the primary object is to reach high summits
from which wide surveys are possible, to reach them toiling honestly
upwards by the way of experience, and then not to turn dizzy when a summit
is gained. Darwinians have sometimes turned dizzy, but Darwin never. He saw
from the first the great importance of his hypothesis, not only because of
its solution of the old problem as to the value of the concept of species,
not only because of the grand picture of natural evolution which it
unrolls, but also because of the life and inspiration its method would
impart to the study of comparative anatomy, of instinct and of heredity,
and finally because of the influence it would exert on the whole conception
of existence. He wrote in his note-book in the year 1837: "My theory would
give zest to recent and fossil comparative anatomy; it would lead to the
study of instinct, heredity, and mind-heredity, whole [of]
metaphysics."[195]

We can distinguish four main points in which Darwin's investigations
possess philosophical importance.

The evolution hypothesis is much older than Darwin; it is, indeed, one
of the oldest guessings of human thought. In the eighteenth century is
was put forward by Diderot and Lamettrie and suggested by Kant (1786).
As we shall see later, it was held also by several philosophers in the
first half of the nineteenth century. In his preface to _The Origin of
Species_, Darwin mentions the naturalists who were his forerunners.
But he has set forth the hypothesis of evolution in so energetic and
thorough a manner that it perforce attracts the attention of all
thoughtful men in a much higher degree than it did before the
publication of the _Origin_.

And further, the importance of his teaching rests on the fact that he,
much more than his predecessors, even than Lamarck, sought a
foundation for his hypothesis in def