ERNST HAECKEL AND THE REDEMPTION OF NATURE by Nolan Heie A thesis submitted to the Department of History in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Queen’s University Kingston, Ontario, Canada (January 2008) Copyright © Nolan Heie, 2008 Abstract A respected marine biologist at the University of Jena, Ernst Haeckel (1834–1919) was the most visible proponent of Darwin’s theory of evolution in Germany around the turn of the twentieth century. Alongside his natural-scientific research activities, he attempted to popularise a philosophy that he dubbed ‘Monism’ – which consisted essentially of mid-nineteenth-century mechanistic materialism permeated with elements derived from early-nineteenth-century German Romantic pantheism – and to use this outlook as the basis for a worldwide anticlerical movement. His popular science books were an outstanding success, selling hundreds of thousands of copies throughout the world, but his organisation attracted far fewer adherents. By examining Haeckel’s popular science writings and contemporary reactions to them, especially among lesser-known contemporaries who have received relatively little attention in previous studies, this thesis explores the subjective appeal of Haeckel’s monistic philosophy. Specifically, it investigates the way in which he employed metaphors and visual images to communicate scientific and philosophical concepts, and in so doing seemed to provide his readers with what they had feared lost along with the decline of orthodox religious belief: a feeling of greater purpose, a foundation for ethical behaviour, an appreciation of beauty in the world, and a stable sense of identity. The imagery and metaphors that he employed were open to multiple interpretations, and others saw in them an expression of the destructive modern forces that threatened to bring about social collapse. Paradoxically, the same devices that accounted for Haeckel’s appeal as a popular science writer contributed to the incoherence and fragmentation of his Monism movement. ii Acknowledgements First of all I would like to thank my supervisor, Dr. Harold Mah, for his support and encouragement. For their insightful questions and suggestions I would like to thank the other members of the oral examination committee, comprising Dr. Christiane Arndt, Dr. Sandra den Otter, Dr. Jennifer Jenkins, and Dr. Ian McKay. I am indebted as well to numerous colleagues at Queen’s University who offered their reactions to earlier versions of chapters that were read as seminar series presentations, including, but certainly not limited to, Dr. Richard Bailey, Dr. Peter Campbell, Christopher Churchill, Dr. Gordon Dueck, Dr. Adnan Husain, Milen Jissov, Dr. Mark Jones, Dr. Tiffany Jones and Dr. Barrington Walker. I also benefited from the constructive suggestions offered by the anonymous reviewers at the Journal of the Canadian Historical Association concerning the article ‘Ernst Haeckel and the Morphology of Ethics’, which became the basis for the seventh chapter, and those of Dr. Brett de Bary, who chaired a conference panel at Cornell University at which I presented the paper ‘Haeckel in Ceylon’, which became the basis for the ninth chapter. For guiding me through the many procedures, forms and deadlines that are an inevitable part of life for a graduate student, I must express my appreciation to the graduate assistant, Yvonne Place. Finally, I am grateful to my family for their patience during the long process of preparing this thesis. Research for this project was carried out at the Ernst-Haeckel-Haus Archives at Friedrich-Schiller University at Jena and the libraries of Queen’s University, the University of Toronto and the University of Alberta, as well as the Thüringer Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek at Jena, the Staatsbibliothek at Berlin and the Deutsche Bibliothek / Deutsche Bücherei at Leipzig. I would like to thank the researchers at the Ernst-Haeckel-Haus Archives for their suggestions and assistance, in particular the archivist Dr. Thomas Bach, as well as Dr. Uwe Hossfeld and Dr. Heiko Weber. Financial support for this project was provided by a Doctoral Research Fellowship from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, an Ontario Graduate Scholarship and a Queen’s University Graduate Fellowship. Overseas research was funded by a Queen’s Dean’s Travel Grant for Doctoral Field Research and a Timothy C. S. Franks Research Travel Fund Award. iii Table of Contents Abstract ................................................................................................................. ii Acknowledgements ................................................................................................ iii Table of Contents .................................................................................................... iv List of Tables and Illustrations ............................................................................. vii Chapter 1: Introduction ......................................................................................... 1 Haeckel’s place in intellectual–cultural history ......................................... 2 A new vision of the universe ....................................................................... 12 Chapter 2: Literature Review .................................................................................. 22 Contemporary reception of Haeckel’s ideas ............................................... 24 Interwar interpretations of Haeckel’s historical significance ................ 44 Interpretations in the GDR ....................................................................... 49 Social Darwinism and the aetiology of National Socialism ....................... 51 Sympathetic interpretations ....................................................................... 62 Recent trends ............................................................................................... 67 General observations ................................................................................... 69 Chapter 3: Ernst Haeckel’s Conversion to Monism .............................................. 72 Childhood doubts ......................................................................................... 74 Encounter with materialist philosophy at university .................................. 79 Messina, Darwin and Anna Sethe .......................................................... 86 From morphology to Monism ................................................................. 92 Conclusion ............................................................................................... 110 Chapter 4: Elective Affinities of the Soul ........................................................... 112 Soul, spirit and mind .................................................................................. 115 The monistic tradition ................................................................................ 118 Cell-souls and soul-cells ............................................................................ 122 J. G. Vogt and the pyknotic theory of substance ........................................ 133 Sensation .................................................................................................... 135 Crystal Souls .............................................................................................. 137 Reactions to Haeckel’s theory of the soul .................................................. 140 Conclusion ................................................................................................... 149 Chapter 5: ‘It Is Even a Regression Merely to Stand Still’ ................................... 154 The inevitability of progress ...................................................................... 159 Ontogeny and phylogeny ............................................................................164 Darwin and evolutionary progress ............................................................ 168 iv Chance versus determinacy ....................................................................... 172 Entropy ....................................................................................................... 175 Political implications of biological evolution ............................................ 179 Conclusion ................................................................................................... 189 Chapter 6: A New Reformation ............................................................................. 193 Travel impressions ..................................................................................... 200 A palace of reason for the goddess of truth ............................................... 204 Monist ceremonies ..................................................................................... 208 Leaving the Church .................................................................................... 213 A Monistic Alliance .................................................................................... 216 Conclusion ................................................................................................... 232 Chapter 7: The Morphology of Ethics ................................................................... 234 Morphology and evolution ......................................................................... 237 Histonal ethics and the supreme moral law of love ................................... 242 Practical applications ...............................................................................