Foundations of philosophy
Universal Intelligence
The starting premise that intelligence is present throughout matter.
The big idea
Stephenson begins with a universal claim, then develops more specific ideas about living things. Understanding this starting assumption makes later references to Innate, force, and matter easier to follow. It is the foundation of his philosophical argument.
An everyday illustration
The rules of a board game shape every move that follows. Understanding those starting rules helps you follow the reasoning within that game.
An original illustration to help explain the idea, not a quotation or evidence of a biological mechanism.
In the author’s words
“A Universal Intelligence is in all matter and continually gives to it all its properties and actions, thus maintaining it in existence.”
1927 edition · PDF page 29
Explore this book
Short excerpts from the indexed edition; line breaks are normalized. PDF page numbers refer to the source file, and may differ from printed page numbers.
Read it in context
Principle 1 is explicitly named “The Major Premise.” Read it alongside Stephenson’s explanation of deduction to see how the argument is built.
Keep the question going
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How does the Green Books discussion of universal intelligence help a new reader understand chiropractic philosophy? Explain simply, cite the relevant passages, and distinguish historical philosophy from current clinical evidence.
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