atter).

The value of Aristotle's theory of evolution is immense. It is not the
details that signify. The application of the principle in the world of
matter and life could not be carried out satisfactorily in the then
state of physical science. It could not be carried out with perfection
even now. Omniscience alone could give finality to such a scheme. But
it is the principle itself which matters. And that it is one of the
most valuable conceptions in {308} philosophy will perhaps be more
evident if we compare it, firstly, with modern scientific theories of
evolution and secondly, with certain aspects of Hindu pantheism.

What has Aristotle in common with such a writer a Herbert Spencer?
According to Spencer, evolution is a movement from the indefinite,
incoherent, and homogeneous, to the definite, coherent, and
heterogeneous. Aristotle has all this, though his words are different.
He calls it a movement from matter to form. Form he describes as
whatever gives definiteness to a thing. Matter is the indefinite
substrate, form gives it definiteness. Hence for him too the higher
being is more definite because it has more form. That matter is the
homogeneous, form the heterogeneous, follows from this. We saw that
there are in matter itself no differences, because there are no
qualities. And this is the same as saying it is homogeneous.
Heterogeneity, that is, differentiation, is introduced by form.
Coherence is the same thing as organization. Aristotle has himself
defined the form of a thing as its organization. For him, as for
Spencer, the higher being is simply that which is more organized.
Every theory of evolution depends fundamentally upon the idea of
organism. Aristotle invented the idea and the word. Spencer carried it
no further, though the more advanced physical knowledge of his day
enabled him to illustrate it more copiously.

But of course the great difference between Aristotle and the moderns,
is that the former did not guess, what the latter have discovered,
namely that evolution is not only a logical development, but is a fact
in time. Aristotle knew what was meant by the higher and lower
organism as well as Darwin, but he did not know, that the latter {309}
actually turns into the former in the course of years. But this,
though the most obvious, is not really the most important difference
between Spencer and Aristotle. The real difference is that Aristotle
penetrated far more deeply into the philosophy of