Chapter I

Introduction

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The Evolution of Life—Mechanism and Teleology

Of duration in general—Unorganized bodies and abstract time—Organized bodies and real duration—Individuality and the process of growing old

Of transformism and the different ways of interpreting it—Radical mechanism and real duration: the relation of biology to physics and chemistry—Radical finalism and real duration: the relation of biology to philosophy

The quest of a criterion—Examination of the various theories with regard to a particular example—Darwin and insensible variation—De Vries and sudden variation—Eimer and orthogenesis—Neo-Lamarckism and the hereditability of acquired characters

Result of the inquiry—The vital impetus