C. J. Patten's <i>Passing of the Phantoms</i> is published in the <i>To-day and To-morrow</i> Series

C. J. Patten's Passing of the Phantoms is published in the To-day and To-morrow Series

1925.Evolutionary psychology was still a burgeoning sub-discipline in the biological sciences when Charles Joseph Patten (1870 – 1948) penned his contribution to the To-day and To-morrow series in 1924 (see accompanying picture for Patten’s abbreviated credentials). Passing fits into the series right after F.C.S. Schiller’s overtly eugenic Tantalus, or the Future of Man (1924); also following close on the heels of F.G. Crookshank’s ‘covertly eugenic’ The Mongol in our Midst (1924), and like the latter, it departs from the usual series naming convention. Although the full title of the book: The Passing of the Phantoms: a Study of Evolutionary Psychology and Morals makes it an obvious candidate for overt coverage of eugenic themes, detailed examination did not bear this out. Instead, one might describe it as a sort-of secular, latter-day Natural Theology in the pattern of William Paley (1740-1805), blended with copious amounts of anatomy, anthropology, ‘loose’ Darwinism; and written for the average nature-lover, bird-watcher or animal fancier. Only in the last chapter, “The Evolution of Human Morality” do eugenic themes make an appearance, but even here, not under the explicit banner of eugenics.

An obvious choice for pairing this volume with others in the series would be W.R. Brain’s Galatea, or the Future of Darwinism (1927), but without its strident Neo-Lamarckian advocacy. Passing incorporates similar arguments for the type of evolution of complex behaviors that Brain speculated upon. Despite fairly sympathetic reviews, including one in Nature by J.B.S. Haldane, Passing of the Phantoms was dropped from the series’ listings and promotional reviews after 1926, but it was retained in the series when republished in 2008 by Routledge (in Volume 11: Psychology). This internal censorship may explain why Brain’s Galatea makes no mention of Patten’s contribution, despite the similarity in subject matter and included themes. Although Patten is an anatomist, he does not seem a slavish disciple of August Weismann’s strict hereditarianism, but is much closer to Charles Darwin’s looser, less “mechanistic” conception of heredity, and even ‘evolution by initiative,’ as postulated by Brain in Galatea – more discussion on these aspects later.

-Michael Kohlman

  • Brain, W.R. (1927). Galatea, or the future of Darwinism. London: Kegan Paul, Trench & Trubner.

  • Crookshank, F.G. (1925). The mongol in our midst. London: Kegan Paul, Trench & Trubner.

  • F.D. (1949). Obituary for C.J. Patten. Journal of Anatomy, 83(2), 178.

  • Gentry, J. R. (1925). Review of The Passing of the Phantoms. Journal of Applied Psychology, 9(3), 325-326.

  • Haldane, J.B.S. (1923). Daedalus, or science and the future. London: Kegan Paul, Trench & Trubner.

  • Haldane, J.B.S. (1925). Review of The Passing of the Phantoms. Nature, 118(2885), 219.

  • Patten, C.J. (1924). The passing of the phantoms: A study of evolutionary psychology and morals. London: Kegan Paul, Trench & Trubner.

  • Schiller, F.C.S. (1924). Tantalus, or the future of man. London: Kegan Paul, Trench & Trubner.

C. J. Patten's <i>Passing of the Phantoms</i> is published in the <i>To-day and To-morrow</i> Series

C. J. Patten's Passing of the Phantoms is published in the To-day and To-morrow Series

1925.Evolutionary psychology was still a burgeoning sub-discipline in the biological sciences when Charles Joseph Patten (1870 – 1948) penned his contribution to the To-day and To-morrow series in 1924 (see accompanying picture for Patten’s abbreviated credentials). Passing fits into the series right after F.C.S. Schiller’s overtly eugenic Tantalus, or the Future of Man (1924); also following close on the heels of F.G. Crookshank’s ‘covertly eugenic’ The Mongol in our Midst (1924), and like the latter, it departs from the usual series naming convention. Although the full title of the book: The Passing of the Phantoms: a Study of Evolutionary Psychology and Morals makes it an obvious candidate for overt coverage of eugenic themes, detailed examination did not bear this out. Instead, one might describe it as a sort-of secular, latter-day Natural Theology in the pattern of William Paley (1740-1805), blended with copious amounts of anatomy, anthropology, ‘loose’ Darwinism; and written for the average nature-lover, bird-watcher or animal fancier. Only in the last chapter, “The Evolution of Human Morality” do eugenic themes make an appearance, but even here, not under the explicit banner of eugenics.

An obvious choice for pairing this volume with others in the series would be W.R. Brain’s Galatea, or the Future of Darwinism (1927), but without its strident Neo-Lamarckian advocacy. Passing incorporates similar arguments for the type of evolution of complex behaviors that Brain speculated upon. Despite fairly sympathetic reviews, including one in Nature by J.B.S. Haldane, Passing of the Phantoms was dropped from the series’ listings and promotional reviews after 1926, but it was retained in the series when republished in 2008 by Routledge (in Volume 11: Psychology). This internal censorship may explain why Brain’s Galatea makes no mention of Patten’s contribution, despite the similarity in subject matter and included themes. Although Patten is an anatomist, he does not seem a slavish disciple of August Weismann’s strict hereditarianism, but is much closer to Charles Darwin’s looser, less “mechanistic” conception of heredity, and even ‘evolution by initiative,’ as postulated by Brain in Galatea – more discussion on these aspects later.

-Michael Kohlman

  • Brain, W.R. (1927). Galatea, or the future of Darwinism. London: Kegan Paul, Trench & Trubner.

  • Crookshank, F.G. (1925). The mongol in our midst. London: Kegan Paul, Trench & Trubner.

  • F.D. (1949). Obituary for C.J. Patten. Journal of Anatomy, 83(2), 178.

  • Gentry, J. R. (1925). Review of The Passing of the Phantoms. Journal of Applied Psychology, 9(3), 325-326.

  • Haldane, J.B.S. (1923). Daedalus, or science and the future. London: Kegan Paul, Trench & Trubner.

  • Haldane, J.B.S. (1925). Review of The Passing of the Phantoms. Nature, 118(2885), 219.

  • Patten, C.J. (1924). The passing of the phantoms: A study of evolutionary psychology and morals. London: Kegan Paul, Trench & Trubner.

  • Schiller, F.C.S. (1924). Tantalus, or the future of man. London: Kegan Paul, Trench & Trubner.