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form , and under what mental , moral , and spiritual condition , we do not venture to conjecture . Against this ^ rational opinion— -the deeply cherished notion of the world—in the simple and unpretending form in which we state it , no difficulty can be justly raised , and
Ho argument rightly maintained . Were we to maintain , which we do not , that men , in all respects like ourselves , were the inhabitants of Jupiter , the only competent argument against the supposition would be to prove , that the light and heat which the sun dispenses to that planet would be insufficient for man , and that the weight of bodies on its surface would be incompatible , which we have shown it
xs not , with his physical organization . " Mr . Baden Powell says , " Viewed simply as a question of philosophical conjecture , or rational probability , without reference to any ulterior consideration , the argument must be based on ah extension of inductive analogies , a generalization , so far as we can legitimately pursue it , upon the acknowledged relation of animated existence with physical conditions and cosmical arrangements adapted to it . "
Again it is said , " We cannot know whether the planets are inhabited by organic beings " : our conjectures are based upon analogies , which themselves want confirmation . " An examination of the grounds of analogy will lead us to ask if the physical attributes of the planets and fixed stars agree with those of our planet . As far as our knowledge reaches , we may conclude their physical identity , and here we must rest in the absence of positive
proof . The moral argument , as we would term it , is in favour ; the physical presumption is against the existence of man upon the stellar orbs , such as we are acquainted with him ; for the least variation in the constructive material , or the combination of atmospheric element , might be prejudical to the maintenance of life . But , presuming that there might be another order of beings adapted to such different physical composition , we have met with an argument fully to our purpose .
" Granted there are no human beings elsewhere than on our planet , because such are products not presumable to have taken place in the same serial order elsewhere ; " yet the question of inhabitants is not necessarily limited to the genus homo . Other forms of life will exist , even if the peculiar forms known to us do not . What those forms are we cannot even imagine , for our imagination is restricted within the limits of our knowledge ; we can only combine known elements . There is not even evidence to show that these
forms of life will display themselves in the modes known to us—viz ., as active , sentient , reflective . There may be intelligence in the other planets , even under conditions totally unlike those known by us , but taking the analogy of organic beings , we must first say , not ; since ,
as far as we know , intelligence is never found except connected with nervous tissue ; and this being a peculiar , special combination of the elements , rare even on our globe , we cannot assume it will be found elsewhere . Yet this argument , seemingly so conclusive , can be met by arguments from the circle of known analogies thus : True , on our globe neurine alone has the property of sensibility ; but on another
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Untitled Article
form , and under what mental , moral , and spiritual condition , we do not venture to conjecture . Against this ^ rational opinion— -the deeply cherished notion of the world—in the simple and unpretending form in which we state it , no difficulty can be justly raised , and
Ho argument rightly maintained . Were we to maintain , which we do not , that men , in all respects like ourselves , were the inhabitants of Jupiter , the only competent argument against the supposition would be to prove , that the light and heat which the sun dispenses to that planet would be insufficient for man , and that the weight of bodies on its surface would be incompatible , which we have shown it
xs not , with his physical organization . " Mr . Baden Powell says , " Viewed simply as a question of philosophical conjecture , or rational probability , without reference to any ulterior consideration , the argument must be based on ah extension of inductive analogies , a generalization , so far as we can legitimately pursue it , upon the acknowledged relation of animated existence with physical conditions and cosmical arrangements adapted to it . "
Again it is said , " We cannot know whether the planets are inhabited by organic beings " : our conjectures are based upon analogies , which themselves want confirmation . " An examination of the grounds of analogy will lead us to ask if the physical attributes of the planets and fixed stars agree with those of our planet . As far as our knowledge reaches , we may conclude their physical identity , and here we must rest in the absence of positive
proof . The moral argument , as we would term it , is in favour ; the physical presumption is against the existence of man upon the stellar orbs , such as we are acquainted with him ; for the least variation in the constructive material , or the combination of atmospheric element , might be prejudical to the maintenance of life . But , presuming that there might be another order of beings adapted to such different physical composition , we have met with an argument fully to our purpose .
" Granted there are no human beings elsewhere than on our planet , because such are products not presumable to have taken place in the same serial order elsewhere ; " yet the question of inhabitants is not necessarily limited to the genus homo . Other forms of life will exist , even if the peculiar forms known to us do not . What those forms are we cannot even imagine , for our imagination is restricted within the limits of our knowledge ; we can only combine known elements . There is not even evidence to show that these
forms of life will display themselves in the modes known to us—viz ., as active , sentient , reflective . There may be intelligence in the other planets , even under conditions totally unlike those known by us , but taking the analogy of organic beings , we must first say , not ; since ,
as far as we know , intelligence is never found except connected with nervous tissue ; and this being a peculiar , special combination of the elements , rare even on our globe , we cannot assume it will be found elsewhere . Yet this argument , seemingly so conclusive , can be met by arguments from the circle of known analogies thus : True , on our globe neurine alone has the property of sensibility ; but on another