3 i4 THE GROUNDWORK OF SCIENCE

К оглавлению1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 
17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 
34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 
51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 
68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 
85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 
102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 
119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 
136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 
153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 
170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179  181 182 183 184 185 186 
187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 
204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 
221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 
238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 
255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 
272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 
289 290 291 292 293 294 295 296 297 298 299 300 301 302 303 304 305 
306 307 308 309 310 311 312 313 314 315 316 317 318 319 320 321 322 
323 324 325 326 327 328 329 330 331 332 333 334 335 336 337 338 339 
340 

 

All the phenomena of nature are alike wonderful, and

amongst its wonders is to be ranged our faculty of evolving,

by abstraction, perceptions of objective, necessary, and self-

evident truths as objective, necessary, and self-evident, when

the requisite means (careful attention, i.e , certain beams of

intellectual light) are brought to bear upon it.

 

As to the eight perceptions and convictions above enu-

merated, unless we really know and trust them, science is

logically impossible. Without them (as we have seen in

chapter four) it is impossible to have a complete, harmonious,

and stable system of knowledge. If these truths were

denied, or even really doubted, by anyone, he would

necessarily be reduced to a state of mental paralysis and

intellectual inanition. His intellect, deprived of their aid,

would, indeed, not only be paralyzed so that it could no

further advance, but it would be entirely disintegrated like

a world in which the force of gravity had been suddenly

annihilated. But because we must (to be rational) recognize

the self-evidence and absolute certainty of the fundamental

principles of all human knowledge, we must always be

extremely careful to be guilty of no exaggeration as to

the amount of that knowledge, but to keep an open mind

as to possibilities concerning which we have no evidence.

However improbable any such possibilities may be, we must

be scrupulous in not representing any improbability, however

great it may be, as an impossibility.

 

Thus as to the structure, composition, or nature of the

universe, very divergent conditions are by no means evidently

impossible. It is, of course, evident that there is an in-

telligent energy in the universe, because we are conscious

of what exists in ourselves our own self-conscious intelli-

gence. But it is not impossible (though so improbable that

the mere possibility seems hardly worth mentioning) that

besides intelligent energy, there may be nothing but one

 

 

All the phenomena of nature are alike wonderful, and

amongst its wonders is to be ranged our faculty of evolving,

by abstraction, perceptions of objective, necessary, and self-

evident truths as objective, necessary, and self-evident, when

the requisite means (careful attention, i.e , certain beams of

intellectual light) are brought to bear upon it.

 

As to the eight perceptions and convictions above enu-

merated, unless we really know and trust them, science is

logically impossible. Without them (as we have seen in

chapter four) it is impossible to have a complete, harmonious,

and stable system of knowledge. If these truths were

denied, or even really doubted, by anyone, he would

necessarily be reduced to a state of mental paralysis and

intellectual inanition. His intellect, deprived of their aid,

would, indeed, not only be paralyzed so that it could no

further advance, but it would be entirely disintegrated like

a world in which the force of gravity had been suddenly

annihilated. But because we must (to be rational) recognize

the self-evidence and absolute certainty of the fundamental

principles of all human knowledge, we must always be

extremely careful to be guilty of no exaggeration as to

the amount of that knowledge, but to keep an open mind

as to possibilities concerning which we have no evidence.

However improbable any such possibilities may be, we must

be scrupulous in not representing any improbability, however

great it may be, as an impossibility.

 

Thus as to the structure, composition, or nature of the

universe, very divergent conditions are by no means evidently

impossible. It is, of course, evident that there is an in-

telligent energy in the universe, because we are conscious

of what exists in ourselves our own self-conscious intelli-

gence. But it is not impossible (though so improbable that

the mere possibility seems hardly worth mentioning) that

besides intelligent energy, there may be nothing but one