7

Logic II 7

course, is the total of whatever objects there may be in the
universe which have are of a certain description. What if
we try taking the term "natural" or "real class" to
mean a class of which all the members owe their
existence as members of the class to a common final cause?
In the case of lamps, we know what that sense it:
that instinct which enables us to distinguish human
productions and to divine their purpose gives informs us
of this with a degree of certainly which it were futile to
hope that any science could surpass. But in the case of natural
classes the final cause remains occult. Perhaps,
since phrases retain their sway over men's minds
long after their meaning has evaporated, maybe that some reader
may, even at this day, remains imbued with the old notion
that there are no final causes in nature; in which
case, natural selection, and every form of evolution,
will be false. For evolution is nothing more nor