Circle of Life
- Author:
Kenneth Walker. Jonathan
Cape. Pp. 156. 7s. 6d.
Mr. Walker has already proved his ability to deal with *? Questions which concern all ages and all peoples, tp j to re’ate them sympathetically to the particular oi?t t^ie day. In The Circle of Life, he sets de 1? examine the nature of disease, pain, old age and a|h, and in searching for an attitude to their manifold 0r?, ‘erns. presents us with a far-reaching philosophy rath ?ut ^ *s a Philosophy for the ordinary person ] her than the expert, in which the technicalities of renSuage are subdued and the needs of the majority of ^ers borne steadily in mind.
tin Stern man n encleavour to improve his condi- SgJ1 0n the earth has multiplied his problems and every kn ?us writer is faced with the increasing tyranny of ^?P^’edge. Mr. Walker is dealing with questions 0j- lch have exercised the minds of men for thousands 0_ years and that, strictly speaking, lie outside the range ? scientific enquiry. His task takes him over heavy ^jUnd. The diversity of the subject and the area ind covers a hundred and a half odd pages, js LCate new possibilities of the mind. The philosopher the -nc the inevitable restrictions of thought, but hj^ide field of psychology and science lies open before have been made increasingly aware in this century e0n ? nature of our material environment, of the cont*nU-ty organic life, and the part played in this S0 t’nuity by unicellular organisms and bacteria, ^ciety is siow to adapt itself to new generalizations, in i f-re the masters of our fate, perhaps, at rare moments an lte: at all times we are the intimate companions of fa 0ut-numbering host of invisible animalculae. This f0 ?f man’s interdependent position in the world 1118 the underlying motif of the book:
Organic life on the earth forms an integrated whole, and it is only by relating the individual to the mighty organism in which he lives that such Problems as birth, disease, old age and death can understood (p. 21).
in th* man *s more than an organism, more than a unit v^V16 sum-total of physical life ; mind and spirit mingle Pan cIay’ and the struggle for material existence is a t of a much wider conflict whose nature is but dimly pj^hended. The author sums up his position with llcular emphasis on the fact of human choice:
Man has been fashioned out of the materials ?f the universe and there is everything in him from a mineral to God His fate is in his own hands. Either he partakes in ever-increasing degree of his sPiritual inheritance, or he identifies himself “fore and more with the world of organic life, the world of fear, pain, disease, of suffering, Co/?’fusion and death (p. 156).
be 0 discussion of this interesting little book would S0r50rnPlete without reference to the subject of Time, in tv ^e(ect i? the nature of our thinking is involved cent- S difficult problem. Though our ordinary con- for th0 Time is sufficient for the necessities of life, ena ? n?ore exact purposes of scientific and philosophic thiqu*y it proves to be inadequate ; particularly must %ai so in the case of so intricate a question as sur- is 3 Some change in our habitual modes of thought the -e*?re demanded, and, like many divisions which ^nd creates for natural ends, that between space ir,. time has to go. To quote from one of the modern rPretations put forward by Mr. Walker:
Our ordinary conception of life is that of Progress along a straight line, but dimensions of time, like those of space, are not really straight but curved. This being so, man moves in a circle … (p. 99).
If we fail to grasp the meaning of this provocative fact, we are yet more deeply made aware of our ignor- ance. Shaken for a period from habitual inertia, we may catch a glimpse of the strange incongruity that exists between life itself, and our piece-meal approach to so great a mystery. E.F.I.
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