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r

rTHE

TO

WILL
OTHER

AND

BELIEVE
ESSAYS

POPULAR

IN

PHILOSOPHY

BY

WILLIAM

JAMES

sr

LONGMANS,
FOURTH

GREEN,
AVENUE

LONDON,

""

30TH

BOMBAY,

STREET,
AND

I9IO

AND
NEW

CALCUTTA

CO.
YORK

1896,

Copyright,

February,

Edition,

First

Reprinted,

May,

March,

1897

September,

1897,

1898,

January,
March,

James.

William

By

August,
May,

1903,

1904,

June,
June,

1902,

1905,

April, 1908

1907,

September,

1899,

and

1897,

1909,

December,

1910

WLtitiomity freest
John

THE

Wilson

Son,

and

Cambridge,

LIBRARY
i/"*

ikiiiirn^iTW

U.S.A.

To

Old

My

SANDERS

CHARLES

and

to

writings

whose

PEIRCE,

in

owe

help

and

more

I
can

express

or

old

recent

more

incitement

in

comradeship

philosophic

whose

To

Friend,

repay.

years

than

times

PREFACE.

of

most

AT

formed

branches

of

of

being

made

inviting

such

accepted

in

seemed

to

of collection

worthy

light
a

technical
I

in

'

as

future
the

of

taken

and

time
course
dis-

my

Reviews.

might
shed

in

It
be

now

tory
explana-

together

attitude

doctrine

fact

because

conclusions
liable

of

that

monism

of

express
very

brief

than

in

it is contented

modification
*

say

un-

itself

as

an

attitude

cism,
empiri-

nicknames

philosophy.
to

matters

in

radical/

the

radical

such

concerning

to

and

to

name

it that

misleading

more

experience

short

call

the

empiricism,'

hypotheses

give

to

should

spite

assured

most

the

often
to

had

they

as

philosophic

obliged

nowhere
say

time

addresses

volume,

other,

definite

question,

are

some

way.

Were
in

each

upon

tolerably

in

these

able
laud-

occasion

from

of

the
year

afterwards

other

particular

the

Clubs

are

have

twice

or

and

or

that

clubs

I have

one.

one

me

to

them,

invitations,

printed

devoted

once

address

public

there

these

and

to

Colleges

students

learning

scholar

maturer

the

by

custom

has

American

our

the

because

regard
of
course

its

fact
of

it treats

hypothesis,

and,

viii

Preface.

unlike

much

so

under

current

scientific

or

monism

has got to

of the

half-way empiricism that is


the name
of positivismor agnosticism
firm
naturalism, it does not dogmaticallyafas
something with which all experience
The

square.

difference

between

monism

pluralism is perhaps the most pregnant of all the


differences
in philosophy. Prima
facie the world is
find it,its unity seems
to be that
a pluralism;
as
we
and

collection ; and

of any

higher thinkingconsists

our

it from that first crude


chieflyof an effort to redeem
form.
Postulatingmore
unity than the first experiences
But absolute unity,
yield,we also discover more.

in

brilliant dashes

spiteof

in its

undiscovered, stillremains
"

quite

Grenzbegriff. Ever not


rationalistic philosopher's
last confession

be the

must

concerning
has

direction,stillremains
"

After

it.

all that

the

done, there still remains

been

reason

do

can

opacity of

the

merely given,with most of their peculiarities


and
mutually unmediated
unexplained. To
the very last,there are
the various
points of view '
which
the philosophermust
distinguishin discussing
the world ; and what
is inwardly clear from one
point
finite facts

as

'

to the other.
externalityand datum
The
is never
wholly banished.
negative,the alogical,
"call it fate,chance, freedom, spontaSomething
neity,

remains

bare

"

the devil, what


other

will

you

"
"

is stillwrong

unincluded, from

and

point of
view, even
though you be the greatest of philosophers.
fact and
givenness; and
Something is always mere
there may
be in the whole
universe
no
one
point of
view

and

extant

be the

case.

outside

from
"

and

which

Reason,"

this would
as

not

your

be

giftedwriter

found

to
"

says,

is

Preface.
but

in the mystery ; and

item

one

that

consciousness

hope

and

is miracle

bring

the different.

lathe

gains

that

of

I call

of

not

ever

for his

der
won-

save

to

er's
engrav-

hair, but
whole

the

curve,

*
quite."
pressed.
rhapsodically extion
hypothesis the no-

form

eternal

an

the

of the

empiricist.For

remains

not

of the

round

over

permanent

radical

experience

There

back

"

returns

same

breadth

takes

it is the

and

Not

slow

the

but

who

est
proud-

inevitable stales,
while

pluralism, somewhat

is

He

what

The

instant true,

an

This

all ; the

is distributed

difference

the

unfortunatelythe
game-flavoredas a hawk's wing.

"

Nature

never

The

sisters.

are

is wild,

universe

behind

reigned,reason

ever

face to face.

blushed
doubt

ix

him

world

the

element

is

crudity
thereof.

possiblepoint of view from which the


world can
an
absolutelysinglefact. Real posappear
sibilitie
real indeterminations, real beginnings,real
and
ends, real evil,real crises,catastrophes,
escapes,
real God, and a real moral
a
life,just as commonconceives
these things,may
remain
in empirisense
cism
as
conceptions which that philosophy gives up
the attempt either to
in
to reinterpret
overcome
or
is

no

'

monistic

Many
smile

at

form.
of my
the

artlessness
But

they

trained
professionally

irrationalism

of my

should

of
in

essays

be taken

as

this

point

confrereswill
view, and at the

of technical

form.

illustrations of the radically

empiricistattitude rather than as argumentations


for its validity. That admits
meanwhile
of be1

B. P. Blood

Amsterdam,

N.

The

Flaw

Y., 1893.

in

Supremacy

Published

by

the Author,

Preface.

argued

mg

desire,and
share
to

in

technical

as

possiblyI

Meanwhile

of that work.

lightup

with

may

shape as
be spared

certain

dramatic

it visible

and make
itself,

these

later

do

to

can

one

any

seem

essays

realitythe

alongsideof

the

tude
atti-

higher

dogmatisms between which in the pages of


philosophichistoryit has generallyremained eclipsed
from sight.
with
The
first four essays
are
largely concerned
faith. To some
defending the legitimacyof religious
readers
such advocacy will seem
a sad
rationalizing
misuse of one's professional
position. Mankind, they
will say, is only too prone
to follow faith unreasonin
ingly,and needs no preaching nor encouragement
I quite agree
mankind
that what
that direction.
at
lacks is criticism and
caution, not faith.
large most
is to let belief follow recklessly
Its cardinal weakness
when the conception
livelyconception,especially
upon
I admit, then, that
has instinctive likingat its back.
neous
miscellaI addressing the Salvation Army
or
a
were
it would
be a misuse
of opporpopular crowd
tunity
to preach the libertyof believingas I have in
such audiences
these pages preached it. What
most

and

lower

is that their faiths should

need

that the
into

them

away.

and

blow

academic

But
have

northwest

very

wind

their

be broken
of science

sickliness

and

up

and

should

need.

get

barbarism

audiences, fed already

different

tilated,
ven-

on

ence,
sci-

Paralysisof their

native

abulia in the
capacity for faith and timorous
ness,
religiousfield are their specialforms of mental weakbrought about by the notion, carefullyinstilled,
that there

is

something

called scientific evidence

by

xi

Preface.

waiting upon which they shall escape all danger of


shipwreck in regard to truth. But there is reallyno
steer
can
scientific or other method
by which men
the opposite dangers of believingtoo
safelybetween
To face such dangers
too much.
littleor of believing
is apparently our
duty, and to hit the rightchannel
between

them

It does

not

vice

in

is the

of

measure

follow, because

soldiers,that

wisdom

our

recklessness

ought

courage

as

men.

be

may

be

to

never

should
be preached is
What
preached to them.
weighted with responsibility,such courage
courage
failed to show
the Nelsons and Washingtons never
as
that
taken everything into account
after they had
might tell againsttheir success, and made every provision
disaster in case
to minimize
they met defeat.
of preachcan
I do not think that any one
accuse
me
ing
reckless faith. I have preached the rightof the
individual to indulgehis personalfaith at his personal
"

risk.

I have

that

the kinds

discussed
none

of

us

have

only pleaded that

eyed

than

to act

as

if

escape

of risk ; I have
all of them;

and

it is better to face them


we

did

not

know

tended
con-

open-

them

to

be

there.
After

all,though, you

will say,

Why

such

an

ado

we
concerning which, however
may
differ,we all practically
theoretically
agree? In this
scientist will ever
no
try activelyto
age of toleration,
interfere with our
religiousfaith,provided we enjoy
it quietlywith our
friends and do not make
a
lic
pubnuisance of it in the market-place. But it is just
this matter
of the market-placethat I think the
on
If reliutilityof such essays as mine may turn.

about

matter

xii

Preface.

gious hypothesesabout
all, then

the

active

the

faiths of

freelyexpressing themselves
tests by which
they
by which
The
wrought out.
which, as we
say,
means

otherwise

knowledge
have

of

before

the

life,are

verified,and
falsehood

or

scientific

works'

of

crumbled
the

men.

maintained
and

truest

in

best;

them,

experimental
the only
can

hypothesisis
and

it

can

at

be

be
that
no

tory
religioushypotheses. Religious histhat one
hypothesis after another has

ill,has

minds

truth

in order

individuals

in
are

be

with

proves
worked

their

'

universe

possess

world,
Some

at

and

it is for the

more
*

has

articles

themselves
even

contact

science

with

widening

lapsed from the


of faith,however,

tude,
through every vicissivitality
to-day than ever
! to tell us
of religions

the freeMeanwhile
justwhich hypothesesthese are.
faiths with one
est competition of the various
another,
and their openest applicationto life by their several
favorable conditions
under
champions, are the most
which
the survival of the fittest can
proceed. They
ought therefore not to lie hid each under its bushel,
indulged-inquietlywith friends. They ought to live
in publicity,
to
vying with each other; and it seems
that (the regime of tolerance
me
once
granted,and
a fair field shown) the scientist has
nothing to fear for
his own
interests from
the liveliest possible state of
Those
in the religious
fermentation
world of his time.
faiths will best stand the test which adopt also his hypothese
of their
make
them
and
integralelements
He
should welcome
therefore every species of
own.
ing
religiousagitationand discussion,so long as he is willto allow that some
hypothesis may be
religious

vlA

Preface.
la

plentyof scientists who would


maintaining that science has
deny that dogmatically,
alreadyruled all possiblereligioushypotheses out of
posing
Such scientists ought, I agree, to aim at imcourt.
festation
privacy on religiousfaiths,the public maniof which
could only be a nuisance
in their
true.

eyes.

Of

there

xiii

course

all such

With

allies outside

are

scientists,as

well

as

with

their

of science, my

quarrel openly lies ; and


book
do something to persuade
I hope that my
may
the reader of their crudity,
and range him on my
side.
fermentation
is always a symptom
of the intellectu
Religious
vigor of a society; and it is only when they
istic
forget that they are hypotheses and put on rationalauthoritative
and
that our
faiths do
pretensions,
The most
and valuable thingsabout
harm.
interesting
a

man

true

are

his ideals and

of nations

of which

and

historic

over-beliefs.

epochs ;

and

the

The
the

same

is

excesses

individuals and
particular
epochs are
guiltyare compensated in the total,and become
fitable
proin the long run.
to mankind
The
On
some
Hegelisms doubtless needs
essay
with which it treats a
an
apology for the superficiality
serious subject. It was
written as a squib,to be read
in a college-seminary
in Hegel'slogic,
several of whose
devout champions of the
members, mature
were
men,
dialectical method.
aimed
My blows therefore were
almost entirely
at that. I reprintthe paper here (albeit
with some
I believe the
partly because
misgivings),
dialectical method
be wholly abominable
when
to
worked
by concepts alone, and partly because the
positivelighton the pluralist-empiricist
essay casts some
point of view.
'

'

Preface.

xiv
The
volume

for

study

play
of

its

in

some

The

can.

of

need

of

and

I wish

for

gain

of the

if my

it will

thereto,

to

this

me

it what

Society

article
have

the

fair

convince

to
to

and

to

sportsmanlike

Branch

support,

added

Attracted

enough

seen

associates

new

love

American

more

is

utility.

my

importance,

great
I

by

have

Research

and

ago

years

science,

interest
is

convenience

some

in

Psychical

on

paper

draws

served

its

turn.

is

Apology
same

also
in

passage

100-1).

My

the

forcible,
The

W.

M.

in

the

so

to

(who

Salter
*

Index'

for

of

Sand's

George

p.

one's
on

employed

is

174

"

1882),

reminiscence

is

due

"

press
ex-

manner

dreamnovel

some

read

Mr.

to

the

and

from

forget which

96-7,

equally

similar

the

words.

62

it in

24,

and

seem

former

page

of

always

that

ways

copy

August

repetition

cannot

one

in two

Crillon-quotation

on

by

me

thirty

ago.

the

Finally,
almost
page

is that

has

one

the

(pp. 59-61

essays

thought

metaphor

years

two

excuse

same

for

needed

of

entirely

in

excisions.

half

in

all of

and

Harvard

revision

the

new

University,
Cambridge,

Massachusetts,

December,

1896.

has

essays

Probably
matter

has

consisted
less

been

than
added.

CONTENTS.

PAGB

Will

The

Believe

to

and

Hypotheses
8.

veto,

Essay,

options,

Psychological
its

of

and

of

of risks

sorts

Faith

19.

conditions

the
tude
certi-

Objective

12.

different

Two

Logical

verification, 22.

own

Thesis
belief/"9J)

unavoidable,

risk

Some

Clifford's

5.

wager,

absolutism,

unattainability,13.

believing, ifh
its

Pascal's

I.

causes

Empiricism

II,

and

forth

bring

may
of

in

religious

belief, 25.

Is

Life

Living

Worth

life

cure,

39.

to

bent

one

Decay

suicide ?

on

of

Natural

pessimism, 46.
of the

and

Optimism

Temperamental
with

32

..."

38.

involves

Scientific

How

33.

reconcile
and

Religious melancholy

Theology,

Religion

world, 51.

Pessimism,

Instinctive

43.
belief

in

an

positivism, 52.

its

antidotes
sion
exten-

unseen

Doubt

actuates

conduct

much

as

logicallyabsurd,

belief

as

for

they

does, 54.

make

their

deny

To

certain

faiths

objects true, 56.

is

sion,
Conclu-

61.

The

Sentiment

Rationality
66.

Clearness,
68.

theory
restore

The

cannot

the

76.

Rationality

of

Their

banish

thinking, 63.

antagonism, 66.

thought

feeling
'

fluent

means

6$

of

of

Substance,'

7 5.

The

rationality,75.
80.

Inadequacy

nonentity, 71.

wonder,

rational

Simplification,65.
Mysticism,

passage

to

must

the

stract,
ab-

74.

Pure

practice

may

Familiarity
world

of

and
appear

ancy,
expectcon-

Contents.

xvi
with

gruous

Faith

88.

man,

is

of

one

96.
May verifyitself,
Is this

101.

Reflex

moral

Action

universe

versus

Conclusion,

107.

necessary,

Its
a

these

But

The

Dilemma

Philosophiesseek
Indeterminism

involves

The

Moral

Contrast

to

assumption

world

The

mind's

Gnosticism,

134.

rational

defined,

Conclusion,

ultimate

an

are

postulates of

ality,
ration-

Determinism

considered, 153.
via
A

Providence,

and

142.

and

Subjectivism,164.
world

with

patible
incom-

not

180.

Life

Moral

the

jectivism
Sub-

in it is

chance

Chance

alternative,
176.

Philosopher

137.

Determinism

world, 146.

chance

less irrational

129.

145

Both

149.

as

three

subjectivedemand,

God

action,113.
between

120.

extremes,

pessimism, 159. Escape


leads to corruption,170.
with

of neural

ends, 140.
practical

Objectionsto

morally the

problem

Determinism

of

152.

the

Active

107.

God,

due

two

intellection except for

No

does

in

Science

between

mean

what

"

energy,

conceived, 118.

as

departments, 123.
a

no.

Plan
Prestigeof Physiology,112.
the mind's
adequate object,116.

Theism

to

man

Theism

and

perceivedand

differ from

them, 90. Inseparablefrom doubt, 95.


role in ethics,98. Optimism and pessimism,

Anaesthesia

? 103.

mean

82.

powers,

our

184

gin
philosopherpostulatesa unified system, 185. Oriof moral
created
and
ills are
by
judgments, 185. Goods
created
The
demands,
are
judgments, 189. Obligations
by
192.
conflict of ideals, 198. Its solution,205.
Impossibilityof an
abstract system of Ethics, 208.
The
ous
easy-goingand the strenuThe

moral

mood,

/ Great

Men

211.

Connection

and

their

of
Solidarity

causes

in order

Nature,
and

220.

225.

the

When

in the world, 216.

explain,219.

Different

distinction

preserve

environment

adopted

Ethics

and

Religion,212.

216

Environment

Darwin's
that

causes

produce,

to

between

between

variation,221.
only adopts or

they become

The

mind

human

stracts
ab-

cyclesof operationin
that produce
causes
causes
Physiological
preserves,

great

social ferments, 226.

men,

Messrs.

xvii

Contents.

and

Spencer
zanowski

quoted,

Importance

The

world

negation

280.

lution,
evo-

Darwin's

views,

251.

255

important,

because

they

Individual

256.
the

are

ences
differof

causes

social

justified, 261.

263

and
The

as

268.

bond

and

"

Note

the

Research

The

unclassified

Research

and

Gurney's

work,

diumship,

313.

work,

The

its

309.
The

320.

The

The

personal-romantic

of

of

He

totality,

accident

in

The

303.
census

Society

clusion,
Con-

hallucinations,

self,' 315.
The

Psychical
308.

scientific

Me-

312.

'Science'
character

mechanical-impersonal
view,

for

299

Thought-transference,
of

277.

294.

299.

in
of

Hegel,

286.

Negation,

revelation,

unity
makes

Accomplished

'subliminal
317.

fallacy

Anaesthetic

has

history,

272.

principle

infinite, 284.

residuum,

counter-presumptions,

the

273.

bad

on

The

of

Elements

claims,

excessive

279.

the

264.

pluralism,

union,

pluralism,

Psychical

Myers's

Hegel's
of

good
292.

Index

be

may

appears

Monism

versus

and

Spencer's

of

Gry-

Mental

244.

ideas

original

Criticism

Hero-worship

pluralism,

What

history,

and

Hegelisms

some

the

between

important
259.

of

Wallace

Individuals

differences

change,

Messrs.

232.

laws

247.

of

are

On

239.

variations,

Small

The

Analogy

245.
accidental

The

criticised,

Allen

view

and

her

of

Mr.

of

life

324.

329

Essays in Popular Philosophy.

intellect may

have

not

been

Believe/ accordingly,is
I have

got well

have

as

rule

'

The

Will

faith ;

imbued

with

refused

to

but

the

admit

as

soon

as

logical spirit,
my

contention

lawful

to

be

of

fact

of

some

philosophically,even
though in point
they were
personally all the time chock-full
faith

other

or

themselves.

all

^X^m

while, however, so profoundly convinced that,


invitation
own
position js^xoxcect, that your
seemed

to
more

than

open

me

clear.
those

I will be

deal.
I must

to

title of my
paper.
students
the lawfulness
own
my

to
long defended
of voluntarilyadopted

have

they
they

the

coerced.

good occasion
Perhaps your

with
as

which

minds

has

will be

more

had

to

I can,

though

technical

tions
distinc-

as

some

my

ments
state-

my

hitherto

I have

little technical

begin by setting up
that will help us in the

make

to

the

end.

I.

of hypothesis
to anything that
give the name
tricians
be proposed to our
belief; and just as the elecspeak of live and dead wires, let us speak of
A
live hypothesi
hypothesis as either live or dead.
which
is one
to
appeals as a real possibility
If I ask you
it is proposed.
to believe
to whom

Let
"-

may

any

him

in the

us

Mahdi,

with

one

among

shows
are

makes

notion

nature,

"

no

it refuses

electric
to

tion
connec-

scintillate with

pletely
hypothesis it is comdead.
To
Arab, however
an
(even if he be
the hypothesis is
of the Mahdi's
followers),
This
the
it is alive.
mind's
possibilities:
that
liveness
in an
deadness
and
esis
hypothintrinsic properties,but relations to the
not

credibilityat

any

not

your

the

all.

As

an

The
individual thinker.
to

Will

to

Believe.

They

are

measured

The

act.

maximum

of

3
ingness
by his will-

liveness

in

an

willingness to act irrevocably,y


belief; but there is some
Practically,that means
there is willingness
to
believing tendency wherever

hypothesis

act

means

all.

at

two
Next, let us call the decision between
eses
hypothbe of several kinds.
an
option. Options may
They may be
1, living or dead ; 2, forced or avoid"

able

3, momentous
call an
may

or

trivial ; and

for

our

purposes
when
it is

option a genuine option


of the forced, living,and
momentous
kind.
A
in which
both hypothe1.
livingoption is one
ses

we

live

are

.phistor

be

alive.

be

Christian,"it

you
it is

for you
neither
But if I say : " Be
is otherwise

hypothesis makes

Be

agnostic or

an

as

you

appeal, however

some

theoso-

probably a dead
hypothesis is likely

trained

"

are,

be

each

small,

to

belief.

your

Next, if I

2.

out

to

Mohammedan,"

option,because
to

If I say

ones.

with

your

"

to

you

umbrella

or

say

without

genuine option,for it
easilyavoid it by not going
a

you

I say,

"

Either

theory true
You

may

or

remain

hating,and

you

love

me

call it

or

Choose

it,"I

is not
out

hate

between

at

me,"

do

forced.
all.
"

going

not

You

offer
can

Similarly,if

Either

call my

false,"your

indifferent to
may

decline

option is avoidable.
neither loving nor
me,
to offer any
judgment

if I say, " Either


accept this
truth or go without it,"I put on you a forced option,
for there is no
tive.
standing place outside of the alternaas

'

to

my

theory.

But

based
on
a
Every dilemma
complete logical
with
no
disjunction,
possibilityof not choosing,is
an
option of this forced kind.

Essays in PopularPhilosophy.

4
3.
you

Finally,if
to join my

Dr. Nansen

and

proposed to
North
Pole expedition,your
option
for this would
be momentous;
probably be
only similar opportunity,and your choice now

would
your

were

either exclude

would
of

from

you

immortality altogetheror

of it into

He

hands.

your

the

put
who

North

Pole

least the

at

refuses

to

sort

chance
embrace

unique opportunity loses the prize as surely as if


he tried and failed. Per contra, the option is trivial
the stake
when
the opportunity is not unique, when
is reversible if
the decision
when
is insignificant,
or
Such
trivial options abound
it later prove
unwise.
in the scientific life. A chemist
finds an
hypothesis
live enough to spend a year_in its verification: he
But if his_experiments
believes in it to that extent.
he is quit for his loss
inconclusive either way,
prove
of time, jiq_ vital harm
being done.
if we
It will facilitate our
discussion
keep all these
a

well

distinctions

mind.

in

II.

The

next

of

human

facts,it
look
when
us

take
Does

it to

the

at
at

to

root

others, it
the

the
it not

talk of

is the actual

consider

ogy
psychol-

look at certain
we
opinion. When
if our
ture
as
passionaland volitional na-

seems

lay
we

matter

of all
seems

intellect had

latter facts up
seem

as

When

convictions.

our

if

they could

once

said

do

its say.

ing
noth-

Let

first.

preposterous

the very face of


modifiable
at will?
on

opinions being
hinder our
intellect in
will either help or
Can
our
its perceptions of truth?
Can we, by justwillingit,
believe
Lincoln's existence is a myth,
that Abraham
our

Will

The

all of

are

of

portraitsof

that the

and

will,or

our

by

any

ourselves

roaring with

rheumatism

the

of the

sum

these

things,but

them

fabric of the
"

there
which
of

there

if not

our

known

for

can

with

stakes

in

words

be

cannot

say

any

of

to

lieve
be-

whole
up,
Hume

as

either

are

them

see

so,

and

action

put there by any

the

what

You

of

bring
gains

your
stake
should

our

celebrated

passage
In it he tries

if

Translated

will you
is

game

and

all you

at

either

heads

your

losses

have

on

not

or

the

would

heads,

be
God's

or

be-

"

you

of

day

tails.

or

the

human

between

on

our

freely his

Your

do?

going

things which

out

with

concern

either believe

must

which

"

say.

nature

will

resembled
of chance.

is

cannot

reason

by reasoning as
Christianity

game

these

are

there is

Pascal's wager.

as

truth

lieve that God

judgment
Weigh

if you

"

ence:
exist-

tude;
gain eternal beatilose nothing at all. If there
if you lose,you
of chances, and
an
only one for God in
infinity
if you

win

in such

case,

you

this wager,
stillyou ought to stake your
for though you
surely risk a finite loss
any
one

pocket

remote,

we

that

our

ideas, which
if

are

in made

believe
or

us

Thoughts
into

us

concern

were

bills in

do

we

between

in literature

force

and

we

own.

In Pascal's

to

when

feel certain

or

We

fact, immediate
there

not

or

about

and

in bed,

that

relations

said, and

any effort
that it were

by

absolutelyimpotent
just such things is the

of

truths

of

matters

wish

zine
Maga-

are

we

and

strengthof

dollars?

hundred

be

we,

one-dollar

two

must

Can

well

believe

true,

in McClure's

him

else?

one

some

Believe.

to

is

finite loss is reasonable,

reasonable,if there

is but

the

all

by

even

on

God

this cedure,
procertain
a

of
possibility

Essaysin Popular Philosophy.

6
infinite

gain. Go, then, and take holy water, and


have masses
and
said; belief will come
stupefy your
abetira.
scruples, Cela vousfera croire et vous
Why
"

should

At

not?

you

bottom, what

have

to

you

lose?

You

presses
probably feel that when
religiousfaith exitself thus, in the language of the gamingtable,
it is put to its last trumps.
Surely Pascal's
had far
and holy water
own
personal belief in masses
other springs; and
this celebrated
of his is but
page
an
argument for others, a last desperate snatch at a
againstthe hardness of the unbelievingheart.
weapon
We
feel that a faith in masses
and holy water
adopted
calculation
would
wilfullyafter such a mechanical
lack the inner soul of faith's reality;and if we
were
ourselves
should
in the place of the Deity, we
ably
probtake particularpleasure in cutting off believers

of this

pattern from

that
to

unless there

believe

offered

in

Turk

its account;
of

salvation

some

and

by

Pascal

ever

and

took

dent
It is evi-

pre-existingtendency
holy water, the option
is not
a
living option.
and holy wato masses
ter

even

such

to

us

Protestants

these

impossibiliforegone ties
for them
that Pascal's logic,invoked
specifically,
leaves
write
unmoved.
As. W^H m^ht the Mahdi
us
God
f to us, saying, I am the Expected One whom
I has created in his effulgence. You shall be infinitely
\ happy if vou
shall be cut
confess me
; otherwise
you
J off from the light of the sun.
Weigh, then, your
/ infinite gain if I am genuine against your finite sacri\ flee if I am
be that of Pascal ;
His logicwould
not !
but he would
vainly use it on us, for the hypothesis
he offers us is dead.
No tendency to act on it exists
in us to any degree.
means

"

"

be

masses

the will

to

Certainlyno
on

their infinite reward.

seem

Will

The

then,
believingby our volition seems,
another
point of view, simply silly. From
it is vile. When
than
it is worse
view
silly,
of the physical
to the magnificentedifice

one

point of
one

talk of

The
from

Believe.

to

turns

sciences, and

how

sees

it

lives of

moral

of disinterested

thousands

; what

reared

was

lie buried

men

in

its

patience and postponement,


to
of preference,what submission
what choking down
fact are wrought into its very
the icy laws of outer
how
and
stones
absolutely impersonal it
mortar;
in

stands
and

; what

foundations

mere

c on

te

besotted
then how
augustness,
tible_.se
e m s
ey e ry, little sentimentalist

its vast
m

"

blowing his voluntary smoke-wreaths,


of his
out
and
things from
pretending to decide
if those
wonder
bred
in
private dream ! Can we
feel
the rugged and
manly school of science should
of their mouths?
like spewing such subjectivismout
which
The
whole
system of loyalties
grow
up in the
schools
of science
against its toleration ; so
go dead
have
that it is only natural that those who
caught
the scientific fever should
to the opposite
pass over
if the incorruptibly
and write sometimes
as
extreme,
truthful intellect ought positively
to preferbitterness
and
unacceptablenessto the heart in its cup.
who

comes

soul to know

It fortifies my

That, though I perish,Truth

sings Clough,
consolation
our

lies in

posteritymay

rule
[plain

'no

while

of not
to

reason

Huxley
the

is

so

pretendingto

believe/because

"

exclaims:

far

"My,

as

they

hold

believe what
it may

be

to

'

bad

by

the

they have
vantage
their ad-

to

pretend [theword
pretend
here redundant],they will not have reached
so

only

that, however

reflection

become,

so

'

is

surely

the low-

Essays in PopularPhilosophy.

~fest depth

of

immorality." And

(' terrible Clifford

"

writes:

that delicious

enfant

Belief...is---desp^.rated__w

unproved and unquestioned, statements


\ the solace and private pleasure of the believer.

for

given to

^Whoso

would

well of his fellows in this matter

deserve

guard the purity of his belief with a very


fanaticism of jealouscare, lest at any time it should
rest on
an
unworthy object,and catch a stain which
be wiped away.
If [a] belief has been
can
never
accepted on insufficient evidence [even though the
belief be true, as Clifford on the same
explains]
page
the pleasureis a stolen one.
It is sinful because
it is stolen in defiance of our
That
duty to mankind.
duty is to guard ourselves from such beliefs as from a
our
own
pestilencewhich may shortly master
body
It is
and then spread to the rest of the town.
to
always, everywhere, and for every
one,
wrong
insufficient evidence."
believe anything upon
will

...

...

...

III.

All

this strikes

pathos in

what

remains

after wish

preference have
what

then

taken

settles

our

somewhat

matter

the

too

Free-will

the voice.

wishing do seem, in the


to
be only fifth wheels
should
thereupon assume

when

healthy, even

as

by Clifford,with

as

robustious

one

of

and

if any

Yet

that

intellectual

and

will

wing,

or

and

that

opinions,he

of

much

simple
credences, to

our

coach.

pressed,
ex-

pure

would

one

insightis

sentimental
reason

is

fly quite

directlyin the teeth of the facts.


It is only our
already dead hypotheses that our
is unable
to bring to life again. But
willingnature
for us is for the most
them
dead
what has made
part
as

Essays in Popular Philosophy.

io

experiments and studies and discussions must


put us
in a continuallybetter and better position towards
it;
this line we
and on
to fight out
our
thinking
agree
if a pyrrhonisticsceptic asks us how
lives. But
we
know
all this,can
our
tainly
logic find a reply? No! cerit cannot.
It is justonejvjalition againsr^antrust or
a
other,
wejvillingto go in for life upon
not
to
care
assumption whicLJie,Jfor^
-"

make.1
As
which
find
the

rule

have

we
no

no

in his scheme

no

for

use

Newman,

and

Romanism,

to

over

goes

of life.

is

on

for

emotions
belabors

feelings. Huxley

there

because

bishops

theories

Clifford's cosmic

use.

for Christian

use

all facts and

disbelieve

we

ism
sacerdotal-

the contrary,

finds all sorts

of

reasons

for

a
priestlysystem is
staying there, because
do so few
for him an organic need and delight. Why
look
for telepathy,
scientists
at the evidence
even
called ?
Because
so
they think,as a leadingbiologist,
said to me,
if such a thing
that even
now
dead, once
were
together to keep
true, scientists ought to band
undo
the
it suppressed and
concealed.
It would
all sorts of other
and
things
uniformity of Nature

good

'

which

without

But
which

scientists

cannot

had

if this very
man
he
as
a scientist

been

might

their suits.
purshown
thing
some-

on

carry

do with

telepathy,

the

the evidence, but


only have examined
have found it good enough. This very law which
if I may
us
give
j^u!cLimpose_upon
logicians

the

name

he

might

even

not

"

of

willing

our

their
1

own

those

logiciansto
here

nature

natural

wish

Compare the admirable


Space," London, 1865.

"

to

page

who

is based
exclude
310 in S. H.

rule

would
on

out

nothing but

all elements
Hodgson's

"

Time

for
and

which

they,in

find

can

no

The

Will

their

professional
qualityof logicians,

are

when

naf-nre
c\r"p"*
non-intellectual
There
dencies
are
passionalten-

our

rnnvirttoncs

n^r

and
which

use.

Evidently,then,
influence

Believe.

to

which

volitions
after

before

run

belief,and

and

others

only the latter that


late for the fair ; and
too
they are not too late
the previous passionalwork
has been
already
come

in

their

of

being powerless,then

and

direction.

own

is the

last stroke

it is

Pascal's
seems

needed

argument,

regular clincher,

to

instead

make

faith in

our

holy water complete. The state of things


is evidentlyfar from
simple; and pure
insightand
logic,whatever
they might do ideally,are not the
that reallydo produce our
creeds.
only^things
and

masses

IV.

Our

duty, having recognized this mixed-up


is to ask whether
it be simply represtate of affairs,
hensible
and pathological,
or
whether, on the contrary,
it as a normal
in making up
element
must
treat
we
The
thesis I defend
minds.
our
is, brieflystated,
this :
Our passional nature
not
only lawfully may^
but must, decide an optionbetween propositions,
when-\
it is a genuine optionthat cannot
ever
by its nature be \
decided on intellectual grounds ; for to say, under such \
circumstances, Do not decide,but leave the question
ing
a passionaldecision,
open!'is itself
just like decidnext

"

"

yes

or

no,

of losing the

"

and

truth.

will, I trust,
I must

is attended

with

The

thesis thus

soon

become

first indulge in

bit

more

the

same

risk

pressed
abstractlyexquite clear. But
of preliminary

work.

Essays in Popular Philosophy.

12

V.

It will be

that

observed

for the

purposes

of

this

'

dogmatic ground,
ground, I
leaves systematic philosophicalsceptiwhich
cism
mean,
The
altogether out of account.
postulate that
that it is the destiny of our
there is truth, and
minds
to attain it,we
are
deliberatelyresolvingto make,
pany
though the scepticwill not make it. We part comwith him, therefore, absolutely,
at this point.
discussion

the

But

are

the

on

faith that

find it,may

can

of

we

"

truth

be held

empiricistway
in truth.

exists, and
in two

ways.

that
We

minds

our

may

talk

of the absolutist way


lieving
of beabsolutists in this matter
say

and

The

attain

knowing truth,but we
have
attained
when
know
to
we
can
knowing it;
while the empiriciststhink that although we
may
To know
know
when.
attain it,we
cannot
infallibly
is one
thing,and to know tor pertainthat we know is
hold to the first being possible
One
another.
may
the empiricistsand
the
the second; hence
without
is a sceptic in
absolutists,although neither of them
of the term, show very
the usual philosophic sense
different degrees of dogmatism in their lives.
that
look at the historyof opinions,
we
If we
see
the
empiricist tendency has largely prevailed in
science, while in philosophy the absolutist tendency
The
characteristic
has had everythingits own
way.
sort of happiness,indeed, which
philosophiesyieldhas
cessive
mainly consisted in the conviction felt by each sucschool or system that by it bottom-certitude
lections
Other
attained.
had
been
philosophies are colof opinions, mostly false; my
philosophy
that

we

not

only

can

"

to

The

Will

Believe.

to

13

ognize
gives standing-groundforever," who does not recin this the key-note of every
system worthy
of the name?
A system, to be a system at all,must
"

closed system, reversible in this


detail,perchance,but in its essential features
come

Scholastic

orthodoxy,

which

to

never

always'

must

one

that

or

as

clear statement,
wishes to find perfectly
one
go when
has beautifullyelaborated
this absolutist conviction
in

it calls that

which

doctrine

If,for example, I
I

exist before

now

that

if all

men

you,

unable

am

dence.'
objectiveevi-

doubt

to

then

that

three, or

is less than

that two

mortal

are

of

mortal

am

too,

sistibly.
things illumine my intellect irrefinal ground of this objectiveevidence
The
possessed by certain propositions is the adcequatio
certitude
volves
intellects nostri cum
The
it brings inre.
an
aptitudinem ad extorquendum certum assenthe part of the truth envisaged,and on
the
sum
on
when
side of the subjecta quietem in cognitione,
once
the objectis mentally received,that leaves no
bility
possiit is

because

these

of doubt

behind

; and

nothing operates but


and the entitas ipsa of
thinkers
to

talk in set terms

abandon
uncritically

do

we

know.
of us,

of

our

over

among

certain

are

There
a

mental
the
us

bell that

meridian
are

own

things

some

and

we

we

jective
in ob-

feel

we

that

know

something that gives a click

is

clock

our

believe

You

Of

know,

we

like
dis-

we

like this whenever

much

I do.

indeed,

"

all ; but at bottom

ourselves:

evidence, and
that

the mind.

at

is very

transaction

ipsa of the object


We
ern
slouchy mod-

entitas

dislike to talk in Latin,

of mind

state

the

in the whole

strikes twelve, when


have

hour.

the

swept
The

we

side
in-

the hands

dial and

meet

greatest empiricists

only empiricistson

reflection:

when

Essays in Popular Philosophy.

14
left to

their instincts,they

When
popes.
be Christians

them

it makes

Cliffords
such

on

the
the

how

us

way.

an

anti-christian

is

no

is
livingoption : Christianity

the

it is to
ciency
insuffi-

thing they have in mind.


is absolutely sufficient,
only
They believe so completely

in

from

sinful

last

evidence

other

tell

insufficient evidence/

'

really the

is
For

the

dogmatize like infallible

order

of the

universe

that

dead

there

sis
hypothe-

start.

VI.

But

since

now,

what

ought
and
of

about

Or

it?

shall

absolutists

stinct,
by inphilosophy

of

students

fact?

the

which

from

nature

our

all such

are

qualityof

our

do

to

we

indorse

Shall

we

we

treat

it

we

must

free

as

espouse
weakness

ourselves,if

can?

we

in

we

one

sincerelybelieve that the latter


can

we

and

follow
certitude

reflective

as

are

course

menj

doubtless

very

is the

only
dence
Objective evifine ideals

to

this moonlit
and
dreamon
play with, but where
I
visited
therefore,
they found?
am,
planet are
( myself a complete empiricistso far as my theory of
I live,to be sure, by the
t human
knowledge goes.
experiencing and
go on
practicalfaith that we must
our
our
experience,for only thus can
thinking over

opinions
them

"

grow

more

true;

absolutelydo

not

but
care

to

hold

which

"

any
as

one

if it

of

never

I believe to be
or
corrigible,
reinterpretable
attitude,and I think that the
a tremendously mistaken
There
out.
whole
history of philosophywill bear me
could

is but

be

one

truth that

indefectiblycertain

truth, and

that

scepticism itself leaves


pyrrhonistic

is the
stand-

The

ing,

"

the

WiU

to

Believe.

15
of

-the present phenomenon


truth__thaj;
exists.

consciousness

That, however,

starting-pointof knowledge, the


stuff to be philosophized about.
a
but

are

so

many

the

is

bare

of

admission

mere

The

attempts

various

philosophi
at
expressing
repair to our

if we
really is. And
discover
libraries what disagreement do we
! Where
is a certainlytrue
stract
found?
answer
Apart from abpropositionsof comparison (such as two and
the same
two
are
as
four),propositions which tell
about
concrete
us
we
nothing by themselves
reality,
find no
dently
evias
propositionever regarded by any one

this stuff

what

certain

that
least

has not
had

either

been

called

hood,
false-

its truth

sincerelyquestioned
else. The
one
by some
transcending of the axioms
of geometry,
in play but in earnest, by certain
not
of our
contemporaries (as Zollner and Charles H.
Hintort),and the rejectionof the whole Aristotelian
logic by the Hegelians, are
strikinginstances in
point.
is really true
No
of what
has ever
concrete
test
make
been agreed upon.
Some
the criterion external
of perception, putting it either
to the
moment
in revelation,the consensus
gentium, the instincts of
the heart, or the systematized experience of the race.
Others
make
its own
the perceptive moment
test,
distinct
Descartes, for instance, with his clear and
ideas guaranteed by the veracity of God ; Reid with
or

at

"

his

'

'

common-sense

and

Kant

with

his

forms

of

syntheticjudgment a priori. The


inconceivability
of the opposite ; the capacity to be verified by sense
;
the possession of complete organic unity or self-relation,
when
realized
a
other,
are
thing is its own
standards which, in turn, have been used.
The much
"

Essays in PopularPhilosophy,

evidence is never
objective
triumphantlythere;
it is a mere
aspirationor Grenzbegriff,
marking the
ideal of our
remote
thinkinglife. To claim
infinitely
that certain truths now
it, is simply to say
possess
think them
and
true
that when
they are true,
you
is objective,
otherwise it is not.
then
their evidence
one's conviction
that the evidence
But
practically
one
goes by is of the real objectivebrand, is only
For
to the lot.
one
more
subjectiveopinion added
what
a
contradictoryarray of opinions have objective
lauded

The

absolute

and

evidence

through

is rational

world
is

brute

ultimate

an

certitude
and

been

claimed

through,
"

fact; there

is

its existence
nal
perso-

personal God is inconceivable ; there


is an extra-mental physicalworld immediately known,
ideas ; a moral imperative
the mind can
only know its own
exists,
obligationis only the resultant of
principleis in every
desires; a permanent spiritual
of mind; there
states
there are only shifting
one,
God,

"

"

"

"

is

first cause;
purpose,

Many

"

there is an absolute
of causes,
eternal necessity, a freedom;
a

chain

endless

an

an

"

"

a
a
primal One,
primal
purpose;
universal continuity, an essential tinuity
disconno

"

"

infinity.There is
there is that ; there is indeed
this,
nothing which
has not thought absolutelytrue, while his
one
some
it absolutely false; and
not
an
neighbor deemed
in

things;

an

infinity,
"

no

"

absolutist

among

that the
and

that

grasp,

whether

the

trouble

seems

may

intellect,even

have
no
may
it be truth
that

to

them

or

no.

to

all the time

have
be

ered
consid-

essential,

with truth

infallible

the most

life of the doctrine

ever

directlyin its
signal for knowing

When,

indeed,

one

members
re-

strikingpractical
application
of objective
certitude has been

Essays in PopularPhilosophy.

hood
believingthe falsebelieving
B, it hardly ever
happens that by merely disB we
We
in
necessarilybelieve A.
may
escaping B fall into believing other falsehoods, C or
B
D, just as bad as B ; or we
by not
escape
may
A.
believing anything at all,not even
Believe
Shun
!
truth !
error
these, we
see, are
tween
two
materially different laws; and by choosing bethem we
end by coloring differentlyour
may
whole
intellectual life. We
regard the chase
may
as

an

incidental

from

consequence

"

for truth

paramount,

as

secondary;
avoidance

or

of

we
error

as

on
more

the avoidance
the

other

of

hand,

imperative,and

Clifford,in the

take its chance.


which

may,

and

instructive

error

treat

as

the

let truth
passage

I have

quoted, exhorts us to the latter course.


Believe nothing,he tells us, keep your
mind
in suspense
forever,rather than by closing it on insufficient
evidence
incur the awful risk of believing
lies. You,
1:hink that the risk of being in
the other hand, may
on
is a very small macter
when
error
compared with the
blessingsof real knowledge, and be ready to be duped
times
in your
investigationrather than postpone
many
of guessing true.
I
indefinitelythe chance
myself find it inapjasajbleto go with Clifford. We
remember
that these feelingsof our
must
duty about
in any case
either truth or error
are
only expressions
of our
passional life. Biologicallyconsidered, our
minds
are
as
ready to grind out falsehood as veracity,
and

he

than

believe

who

"

says,

Better

go

without

lie ! "

merely shows
privatehorror of becoming
a

his
a

belief forever
own

dupe.

preponderant
He may

be critical of many
of his desires and
fears,but this
fear he slavishlyobeys. He
cannot
imagine any one

questioningits binding force.

For

my

own

part, I

Will

The
also

have

horror

of

worse

man

in this world

19

but I

being duped ;
things than being duped

that

Believe.

to

happen__to_a

may
Clifford's exhortation

so

believe

can

has

to

my

of

It is like a genthoroughly fantastic sound.


eral
informing his soldiers that it is better to keep out
Not
battle forever than to risk a singlewound.

so

are

ears

gained. Our
things.
in

them

incur

either

victories

of heart

errors

In

where

all

behalf.

fittestthing for the

we

than

At

nature

over

such

emn
awfullysol-

are

caution,

our

healthier

seems

their

on

world

spiteof

or

surely not

are

enemies

over

certain to

so

certain

ness
light-

this excessive
rate, it

any

vousness
ner-

the

seems

philosopher.
empiricist
VIII.

And

let
after all this introduction,

now,

us

straight

go

question. I have said, and now


repeat it,that
find our
of fact do we
not only as a matter
passional
nature
influencingus in our opinions,but that there
this
some
are
options between
opinions in which
be regarded both as an inevitable and
influence must
at

our

as

of

lawful determinant

I fear here that

some

of you
lend an

danger, and
first steps of passion you

to scent

necessary,
and we
must
"

path

to

we

so

as

to

had

indeed
so

Two

; but

as

dupery,
the surest

will

you

to take

admit

to

avoid

to

as

gain truth

onwards

now

begin

inhospitableear.

those ideal consummations,

consider, is from

will

hearers

my

have

think

must

think

choice.

our

probably

further passional

no

step.

Well, of
allow.
and

course,

Wherever

gaining it

the
is not

agree

far

as

option

as

the

between

momentous,

we

facts will

losing truth
can

throw

the

Essays in PopularPhilosophy.

20

of

chance
ourselves

gaining
from

truth

away,
of
chance

and

at

rate

any

save

falsehood by
believing
not
making up our minds at all till objectiveevidence
In scientific questions,
has come.
this is almost always
in human
affairs in general, the
the case
even
; and
need of acting is seldom
so
urgent that a false belief
to

act

on

is better

indeed, have
for the

any

to

"

than

decide

belief

no
on

because

at

all.

Law

the best evidence

courts,

attainable

judge's duty is to make


law as well as to ascertain
it,and (as a learned judge
said to me) few cases
worth spending much
once
are
decided
time over:
the great thing is to have
them
and
on
got out of the way.
any acceptable principle,
But in our
dealingswith objectivenature we obviously
are
recorders, not makers, of the truth ; and decisions
for the mere
sake of deciding promptly and
getting
business
be wholly out of place.
would
to the next
on
of physicalnature
facts are
Throughout the breadth
what they are quite independently of us, and seldom
is there any such
hurry about them that the risks of
being duped by believinga premature theory need be
The questions here are always trivial options,
faced.
the hypotheses are
hardly living (at any rate not
the choice between
livingfor us spectators),
believing
truth

or

moment,

falsehood

would

does

it make

forced.

is seldom
is therefore

the

escape

mistakes.

What

to

of

whether

balance
sceptical
if we

most

us

The

attitude

absolutelywise

of
one

difference,indeed,
we

have

or

have

theory of the Rontgen rays, whether we believe


the
about
in mind-stuff,or have a conviction
not
or
It makes
difference.
states?
no
causalityof conscious
On every account
Such options are not forced on us.
it is better not to make
them, but still keep weighing

not

reasons

pro

et contra

with

an

indifferent hand.

The
I

speak,of

she

than

individuals to get their


kept out of the game.
which

and

Spencer

other hand, if you

is to

faiths confirmed

See for

far

had

been

example the sagacity


now
display. On the

absolute

an

be

passionatedesires of

is if the
own

be

would

science

Weismann

want

indifference

and

highly recommended,

21

purelyjudgingmind.

discoverysuch

of

less advanced

Believe.

to

here of the

course,

For purposes
less

Will

duffer in

tigation,
inves-

an

who has no
take the man
must, after all,
interest whatever
in its results: he is the warranted
you

The

incapable,the positivefool.
he whose

interest in

eager

balanced

by

sensitive observer,is

the most

because

side of the

one

equallykeen

an

deceived.1

gator,
useful investi-

most

always
questionis
lest he become

nervousness

ness
organizedthis nervousof
into a regulartechnique,
her so-called method
verification ; and sheThas^allen so deeply in love with

the
care

that

method

for truth

by

has

Science

one

even

may

itselfat all.

say she has ceased to


nically
It is only truth as tech-

verified that interests her.

might

in

come

decline

repeat with
her

duty

merely affirmative form, and

touch

to

it. Such

truth

Clifford,would

to mankind.

stolen in defiance

be

Human

however,
passions,

Le
stronger than technical rules.
sons," as Pascal says, " que la raison

however

cceur

ne

ses

connait

of
are

rai"

pas ;

bare rules of

the

to all but

indifferent

she would

that,she might

as

"

and

truth of truths

The

the game
the umpire, the abstract intellect,
be,
may
the concrete
playerswho furnish him the materials to

judge of

usually,each one
some
pet live hypothesis of
there
however, that wherever
are

'

'

Compare

Wilfrid

Ward's

of them, in love with


his

is no

Essay,'* The

Witnesses to the Unseen, Macmillan

"

own.

Let

forced
Wish

Co., 1893.

to

us

agree,

option^the^
Believe,"in his

Essays in PopularPhilosophy.

22

dispassionately
judicialintellect with no pet hypoth*
it does, from jiupery at any
as
us,
rate,
esis1j"aving
ought to be our ideal.
The- questionnext arises : Are there not somewhere
forced options in our
speculativequestions, and can
who
be interested
at least as much
we
(as men
may
in merely escaping
in positivelygaining truth as
dupery) always wait with impunity till the coercive
It seems
evidence
shall have
arrived ?
probable
a
priori imthat the truth should be so
nicelyadjusted
to

needs

our

as

powers
of nature, the

seldom

syrup

clean.

so

and

out

come

Indeed,

cakes

and

the

ing-house
great board-

butter
leave

and

even

so

should

we

In the

that.

them

view

and

the

with

the

plates
tific
scien-

suspicionif they did.

IX.
as
immediately present themselves
questions
solution
wait
for sensible
cannot
questions whose
proof. A moral question is a question not of what
sensiblyexists,but of what is good, or would be good

Moral

Science

if it did exist.
compare
what
does

what

Pascal

calls

of

moral

she

of what
consult

heart.

Science

lays it

fact and

exists ; but
exists and
of

not

herself

that the

down

correction

of

science, but
consults

infinite

false belief

certainment
asare

ment,
Challenge the stategoods for man.
supreme
and
science
can
only repeat it oracularly,or

else prove
correction
man's

our

what

us

must

exist,we

not

her heart when

the

worths, both

the

to

tell

can

by showing
all
bring man
it

that such

ascertainment

and

goods which
The
heart in turn declares.
question of having
is decided by
beliefs at all or not having them
sorts

of other

Will

our

moral

Are

will.

our

The

they only odd


things good or bad
How

heart

your

can

does

Believe.

23

preferencestrue or false,
phenomena, making
biological

are

or

to

for
your

not

but

us,

pure

want

themselves

in

different?
in-

If

intellect decide?

world

of moral

reality, /

make
believe in
/)
assuredly never
you
one.
Mephistophelianscepticism,indeed, will satisfy
much
better than any rigorthe head's play-instincts
ous

your

will

head

idealism

age) are

Some

can.

(even at

men

the

student

naturally cool-hearted that the moralistic

so

has for them any


and
hypothesis never
pungent life,
Injheir supercilious
|^.e^eace...theJiQtj^.uiig_iiiacal
ill ^
The appearance,
of
always feels strangely
knowingness is on their side,of naivete' and gullibility
on__his.Yet, in the inarticulate heart of him, he clings
to it that he is not
a
dupe, and that tl^ereis a realm
in which
w".ancOntel(as Emerson
says) all_thejr_
****

of
lgctual superiorityis_Jia-b-ette.iLthan^lie_j^unnjng
"

"

"

fox.

be refuted or
no
more
MpraL_sc^ptirj?mcan
)
/
prove^_by_j5"ic__thaj3mte41ec"ual_scepticismcan.
When
stick to it that there is truth (be it of either (
we
a

kind),we

do

so

with

whole

our

nature, and

resolve to

fall

by the results. The


sceptic with his
whole nature
adopts the doubting attitude ; but which
of "s is the wl'ser,Omniscience ^n1y Vn?_ws,
Turn
from these wide questions of good to a
now
certain class of questionsof fact,questions concerning
between
personal relations,states of mind
one
man
stand

and

or

another.

Whether

you
on

to

assume

and
your

Do
do

whether
that you

you

like
not

or

I meet
must

expectation. The
existence
liking's

me

or

not

for

"

example.

stances,
depends, in countless inhalf-way,am willing
you

like me,

and

show

previous faith
is in such

cases

on

you

trust

my

part in

what

makes

Essays in Popular Philosophy.

24

shall have

you

say, ad

if I stand

But

likingcome.
budge an inch

your

aloof,and refuse

to

until I have

objectiveevidence, until
something apt, as the absolutists

done

extorquendum

assensum

ten

meumy

to

one

your

How
women's
hearts are
comes.
likingnever
many
sanguine insistence of some
vanquished by the mere
love him ! he will not consent
that they must
man
to
the hypothesis that they cannot.
The
desire for a
certain kind of truth here brings about
that special
truth's existence

; and

so

it is in innumerable

other

sorts.

Who

come,

and

takes

risks

for them

the

powers

above

cases

of

gains promotions,boons, appointments,


but the man
in whose
life they are
to
seen
play the part of live hypotheses,who discounts them,
sacrifices other thingsfor their sake before they have
faith acts

its

creates

on

duty

own

him

as

claim, and

of any
sort whatever, large or
each member
it is because
proceeds to

organism

small, is what
his

His

advance?

verification.

own

social

in

with

trust

that the other

simultaneouslydo theirs. Wherever


is achieved
by the co-operationof

members

will

desired

result

independent

many

a fact is a
as
pure
consequence
persons, its existence
diately
of the precursivefaith in one
another of those imme-

concerned.

system,
exist

this condition, without

on

train of

will be looted
the latter

can

we

mercial
com-

athletic team,

which

all

only is
attempted. A

but

count

he will be
If

army,

not

nothing is even
brave enough)
(individually
passengers
by a few highwaymen, simply because

fears that

up.

an

ship,a college,an

nothing achieved,
whole

government,

on

if he
shot

believed

one

makes
before

another, while
a

any

that the whole

movement
one

each

passenger
of resistance,

else backs

car-full would

him
rise

Essays in Popular Philosophy,

l6
The

better off
to

affirmation

second
even

now

if

of

religionis

webelieyeher

that

we_are

first affirmation

Be true.

logicalelements of
this situation are in case the religious
hypothesisin both
its branches be reallytrue.
(Of course, we must admit
If we
that possibility
at the outset.
to discuss
are
involve
the question at all,it must
a
livingoption.
be a hypothesisthat cannot,
If for any of you religion
be true, then you
need
by any livingpossibility
go
I speak to the 'saving remnant'
farther.
no
alone.)
that religionoffers itself
So proceeding, we
see, first,
mo7nentous
are
as
a
option. We
supposed to gain,
noneven
belief,and to lose by our
by our
now,
belief, a certain vital good. Secondly, religionis a
We
cannot
forced option,so far as that good goes.
the issue by remaining scepticaland waiting
escape
for more
light,because, although we do avoid error
in that way
if religionbe untrue, we lose the good,
chose
if it be true, justas certainlyas if we positively
Now,

to

let

consider

us

It is

disbelieve.
to

ask

as

certain

what

if a
woman

man

the

should
to

nitely
hesitate indefihim

marry

because

that she would


an
perfectlysure
prove
he net
Would
angel after he brought her home.
himself off from that particularangel-possibility
cut
married
and
some
one
as
decisivelyas if he went
of option;
else?
Scepticism,then, is not avoidance
kind of risk. Better
it is option of a certain particular
that is your
risk loss of truth than chance of error,
faith-vetoer's exact
position. He is activelyplaying
the believer is; he is backing
his stake
much
as
as
the field against the religioushypothesis,
just as the
believer is backing the religious
hypothesisagainstthe
field. To
preach scepticismto us as a duty until
he

was

not

"

Will

The
'

to

Believe.

27

mount
religionbe found, is tantain presence
of the
therefore to tellingus, when
yield to our fear of its
religioushypothesis,J:hat_jto
is wiser
and better than
to yield to our
being error
be true.
It is not
intellect against
hope that it may
alT passions,then ; it is only intellect with one
sion
pasits law.
And
laying down
by what, forsooth,
is the supreme
wisdom
of this passion warranted?
Dupery for dupery, what proof is there that dupery
than dupery through
through hope is so much worse
fear?
I, for one, can
see
no
proof; and I simply
1

sufficient evidence

refuse, obedience

to

for

the

scientist's

command

to

tate
imi-

of

his kind

stake
option,in a case where my own
is important enough to give me
the right to choose
form
of risk. If religionbe true
and
the
own
my
for it be still insufficient,
I do not wish, by
evidence
nature
vputtingyour extinguisher upon
(which
my

feels to

me

as

matter),to

if it had

forfeit my

after all
sole

business

some

chance

in this

in life of

getting
the winning side,
that chance
depending, of
upon
the risk of acting
on
willingnessto run
course,
my
if my passionalneed
of takingthe world religiously
as
might be prophetic and right.
All this is on
the supposition that it really may
be prophetic and right,and
who
to
that,even
us
are
discussing the matter, religionis a live hypothesis
be true.
which
of us
Now, to most
religion
may
"

in

comes
our

active
and

still further

faith

eternal

more

in

even

more

way

that

makes

illogical.The

aspect of

the

a
more

universe

veto

on

fect
peris represented

religionsas having personal form.


The
universe
is no
It to us, but a Thou,
longer a mere
if we
relation that may
are
be
religious
; and
any
to person
possible from person
might be possible
our

Essays in Popular Philosophy.

28
here.

instance, although in

For

the

passiveportionsof
a

curious

autonomy,
our

on

of

appeal
from

us

take

word

us

we

we

We

the

gentlemen

another

be

to

active

our

from

all the

tres
cen-

if the

as

active

own

forever

made

no

withheld

advances, asked

for every
concession, and believed
himself off
cut
without
proof,would

churlishness

show

we

hypothesishalf-way. To
who
in a
just as a man

trivial illustration:
of

made

are

we

feel,too,

might

met

sense

small

were

were

if evidence

unless

company
warrant

if

as

religionto

as
good-will,

universe, in

account.

own

one

social rewards

that

one's

no

by
a

such
more

so
here, one who should
trustingspiritwould earn,
and try to make
shut himself up in snarlinglogicality
his recognitionwilly-nilly,
not
the gods extort
or
get
it at all,might cut himself off forever from his only
opportunity of making the gods' acquaintance. This
know
forced
not
we
on
us
whence, that by
feeling,
obstinatelybelieving that there are gods (although
"

not
our

to

do

so

life)we
we

can,

would
are
seems

be

so

doing

easy

the

both

universe

for

our

the

logicand
vice
deepest ser-

part of the livingessence

of the

in
true
religioushypothesis. If the hypothesis were
intellectuall its parts, including this one, then pure
alism, with its veto on our
making willingadvances,
be
would
an
participationof
absurdity; and some
required.
our
sympathetic nature would be logically
to accepting
see
I, therefore, for one, cannot
my
way
the agnostic rules for truth-seeking,
or
wilfullyagree
I cannot
to keep my
willingnature out of the game.
that a rule of thinking
for this plain reason,
do so
\ which
would
absolutelyprevent me from acknowledge
ing certain kinds of truth if those kinds of truth were
reallythere,would be an irrational rule. That for me

The
short

long and

the

is

Believe.

to

of the formal

what

matter

no

Will

the kinds

of

29

tion,
logicof the situatruth might materially

be.

confess

But

escaped.
with

me,

believe

at

enough

to

not

sad

of you

some

do

how

see

experience
still shrink

this

logic can

makes

be

fear that

me

from

radicallysaying
in abstracto,that we
have
the right to
risk any hypothesis that is live
our
own
tempt our will. I suspect, however, that
may

if this is so,
the abstract

it is because

have
got away from
you
of view altogether,
and are

logicalpoint
thinking(perhaps without realizingit)of some
ticular
parfor you
is dead.
religioushypothesis which
The freedom
believe what
will you
to
we
apply to
the case
of some
the faith
patent superstition
; and
think of is the faith defined by the schoolboy
you
when he said, Faith is when
believe something
you
that you
know
ain't true."
I can
only repeat that
this is misapprehension. In concrete, the freedom
to
believe can
lect
only cover
livingoptions which the intelof the individual cannot
by itself resolve; and
absurdities to him who
has
livingoptions never
seem
'

'

"

them

consider.

to

question

When

look

the

at

religious

it

and
reallyputs itself to concrete
men,
when I think of all the possibilities
which both practically
and theoretically
it involves,then this command
that we
shall put a stopper on
our
heart, instincts,
and
and
wait
mean-''
acting of course
courage,
while more
less as if religionwere
true1
or
not
as

"

"

Since belief is measured

to
religion
we

did

be

by action, he
also forbids
true, necessarily

believe it

hingesupon

to

action.

be

true.

The

If the action

hypothesis is in

no

way

whole

who
us

forbids
to

defence

required or

different from

act

of

as

us
we

to

believe

should

if

religiousfaith
gious
inspiredby the relithat dictated by the

Essays in Popular Philosophy.

30

till doomsday,

till such

or

time

working together may


this command,
I
enough,

have

senses

queerest

idol

more

If

excuse.

had

we

to

the

me

in the

philosophic
there might be
absolutists,

scholastic

we

in evidence

seems

manufactured

ever

Were

cave.

raked

say,

"

intellect and

our

as

infallible intellect

an

with

its

loyal
objectivecertitudes,we might feel ourselves dissuch
to
a
perfect organ of knowledge in not
ing
trustingto it exclusively,in not waiting for its releas-

no

word.

But

bell in

us

truth

is in

if we

tolls to

our

grasp,

to preach
fantasticality

for the

bell.

if we
empiricists,

are

let
then

it

seems

solemnly

so

Indeed

for

know

us

we

that
when

certain

piece of idle
ing
duty of waitif

wait

may

you do not think that I


do so
do so, we
at our

our

believe

we

will,
"

denying that, but


if we
if we
as
peril as much
believed.
In either case
life in
we
act, taking our
No
of us ought to issue vetoes
hands.
to
our
one
should
We
the other, nor
we
bandy words of abuse.
ought, on the contrary, delicatelyand profoundly to
: then
only shall
respect one another's mental freedom
we
bring about the intellectual republic; then only
have
without
that spiritof inner tolerance
shall we
hope

which

all

our

outer

tolerance

am

"

is soulless,and

which

is

live and
let
empiricism's glory; then only shall we
live,in speculativeas well as in practical
things.
I began by a reference
to Fitz James Stephen ; let
do you think
What
end by a quotationfrom him.
me
"

naturalistic

hypothesis,then

religiousfaith

pruned away, and controversy about


of idle trifling,
unworthy of serious minds.
that the religioushypothesisgives to
course,

better

which

determines
specifically

large part
of belief.

unlike

what

our

they might

is

superfluity,
its legitimacyis a piece
I myself believe, of

on

pure

the world

reactions, and
be

makes

an

expression
them

purely naturalistic

in

scheme

Will

The

These

good
in

and

all

in the

leap

the

of
deal

must

we

deal

must

riddles

are

of

make,

we

to

turn

no

one

make

we

it

as

Sphinx,

with

life

them.
have

we

to

that

can

prevent

must

act

much

the

in

shall

be

to

dashed

whether
Be

there

strong

hope

for

and

the

We

him.

whirling

If

is
of

We

pieces.

to

any

right
good

best,

and

the
do

take

still

of

road

what

for

so

mist,

paths
shall

we

must

Act

see

mountain

certainly

not

courage.'

not

wrong,

wrong

man

Each

then

What

one.

blinding

stand

we

is

on

and

now

take

we

beyond

I do

he

and

snow

future,

If

stand

If

the
show

if

and

best;

chooses

mistaken.

is

in

choice

man

and

thinks,

he

that

can

he

as

deceptive.

death.

the

waver

mistaken.

get glimpses

we

be

may

frozen

of

midst

which

through
which

for

is

acts

thinks

worse

one

he

prove

he

as

the

pass

can

If

God

on

we

whatever

but

no

leave

to

if

peril.

our

him

and

one

choice

choice

that

otherwise
any

is

decide

we

altogether

back

doubt

thinks

is

it at

his

reasonable

that

that, too,

answer,

our

If

dark.

unanswered,

riddles

take

be

all

transactions

important

world

the

of

which

other

or

ji

They

way

some

In
.

them.

to

think

you

with

questions

are

seems

do

What

yourself?

of

Believe.

to

we

the

we

know
do

best,
If

comes.
...

death

ends

all, we

cannot

Liberty, Equality, Fraternity,

meet

p.

353,

death

2d

better."

edition.

London,

1874.

Essays in Popular Philosophy.

32

LIFE

IS

Mr.

WHEN

of
"

one

"it

The

newspapers.

more

no

bear

to make

you

and

In the

theme.

be my
is

had

great

which

answer

In

I
the

corner

things works

in which

sadly;

and

laugh; thingsnow,

serious

a
weighty
full
Sad, high,and working,

there

this title peared


apago, the jocose

"

come

That

must

with

be jocose.
give to-night cannot
of Shakespeare'sprologues,

to

propose

book

fifteen years
depends on the liver"

in the

currency

words

Mallock's
some

that

answer

LIVING?1

WORTH

brow,

of state

and

woe,

"
"

deepest heart of all of

us

the

ultimate

of

I know

not

mystery

what

such

an

what
ask of
intends, nor
you
yours
those whom
you, unless it be to
you invite to address
the surface-glamour
of existence,and
lead you from
association

for

as

hour

an

buzzing

and

at

least

to

jigging and

excitements

that

form

make

heedless
to the
you
vibration
of small interests
the tissue of

ordinary
further explanation or apoWithout
consciousness.
logy,
then, I ask you to joinme in turning an attention,
commonly too unwilling,to the profounder bass-note
hour
of life. Let us search the lonelydepths for an
in the last folds and
together,and see what answers
of things our
recesses
questionmay find.
and

Published

and

as

Young Men's Christian Association.


in the International
Journal of Ethics for October, 1895,
1896.
pocket volume by S. B. Weston, Philadelphia,

Address

An

our

to the Harvard

Essays in Popular Philosophy.

34
worked

garden, I gathered the fruits,I helped at


me
work, and happiness followed
everywhere.
one
assignablething; it was all within myself;

indoor

the
It

in the

in

was

it could

no

leave

not

If moods

like

this could

philosopher

that

life is worth

is

would

so

made

discourses

would

seek

living,for

vouch

and

permanent,

universal, there

No

one.

be

for such

occasion

any

singleinstant."

like these

constitutions
be

for

me

would
the

as

to

the

never

present

articulately
prove
fact that it absolutely

for itself,
and

the

problem

disappear in the vanishing of the question rather than


in the coming of anything like a reply. But
we
are
the optimistictemperament
not
magicians to make
universal ; and
of temperamental
alongside of the deliverances
peramental
optimism concerning life,those of temto
pessimism always exist, and oppose
them
In what
is called
lar
circua standing refutation.
insanity,'
phases of melancholy succeed
phases of
'

mania, with

no

and

often

will

present

enough

dreariness

what

outward
to

medical

of the humors."
"

it depends

joke,

on

can

discover;

same

radiance

books

we

life
well person
to-day and incarnate

the

according to

to-morrow,

the older

and

one

incarnate

that

cause

used

the

fluctuations

to call

In the words

"

the

tion
concoc-

of

the newspaper
the liver." Rousseau's
ill-balanced

undergoes a change, and behold


evil days a prey
to melancholy and

constitution
his latter
delusions

of

launched

upon

suspicion and
the

of

world

even

fear.

Some
their

from

men

him

in

black
seem

birth with

incapable of happiness as Walt Whitman's


in
of gloom, and they have left us their messages
was
the
than
his,
even
more
exquisite
lasting verse
Leopardi, for example; or our own
contemporary,
souls

as

"

Is Life Worth
in that

Dreadful

which

for

its

be

it should

than

men

is

City of

well-known

less

literarybeauty, simply
they
quote its words,

afraid to

are

think

35
The

patheticbook,

James Thomson,
Night,

Living?

"

cause
beare

In one
time so sincere.
gloomy, and at the same
place the poet describes a congregation gathered to
cathedral
listen to a preacher in a great unillumined
is too long to quote, but it
at night. The
sermon
so

thus

ends
u

'

"

Brothers

few

would

if you

Lo, you

not

the fear of

waking

so

laboringbreath

life fulfil,
you will,
after death.'

"

The

organ-likevibrations of his voice


Thrilled through the vaulted aisles and died away;
The
yearning of the tones which bade rejoice
sad and tender as a requiem lay:
Was
Our shadowy congregation rested still,
As

broodingon

Our

that

End

'

it when

will.'

you

"""""

"

"

brief ;
all relief :

they are

this poor
free to end it when

are

Without
"

lives !

short years must


bring us
bear
these
not
we
years of

Can
But

of sad

shadowy congregationrested still,

As

had heard,
we
musing on that message
'
And
brooding on that End it when you will,'
Perchance
other word ;
awaiting yet some
When
keen as lightningthrough a muffled sky
Sprang forth a shrill and lamentable cry :
"

'

The

man

We

have

There

is

Can
"* '

In all
One

The

no

speaks sooth, alas ! the man


speaks sooth
no
personal life beyond the grave ;
God

; Fate

knows

I find here the comfort


I
eternity

had

one

nor

which

wrath
I

chance,

few

sweetness

ruth

crave

years'term of gracious human


splendorsof the intellect's advance,

The

nor

of the home

with

babes

life,
"

and

"

wife ;

"3

Essays in Popular Philosophy.


ft "

social

The

pleasureswith

fascination

The

their

genialwit;

of the worlds

of art ;
of Nature
lit

gloriesof the worlds


By largeimagination'sglowing heart

The

'

rapture of

The

The

reverend

storied

various

with

prerogativesof

memories

Through

Man

of the times

of

'This

chance

For

and

sequences

was

me

the infinite past is blank

me

old,

great plan

changes myriadfold.

offered

never

wealth,

life'slong truth

patienttrackingof the world's

The

"

of health ;
the ardent youth ;

winning

serene

age

All the sublime


The

and

manhood

strenuous

The

being,full

mere

childhood

careless

The

before;
dumb

and

chance

recurreth never, nevermore


;
the
infinite
for
blank
To-come.
me
Blank,

This

"

'

this sole chance

And

mockery,

Of noble

racks

So

"

'

me

my

birth,

; and

life upon
that I sigh for senseless death.

can

of comfort

Speak not
Speak not
life 's

at all

Hush, and
This

no

words

comfort

make

is,

can

foul

voice

came

from

the northern

shrill to its abrupt harsh

aisle,

close ;

for a certain while,


gave answer
wordless
shrink from these most
words must

none

For
At

and

where

things fair?
cheat, our death a black abyss :
be mute, envisagingdespair.'

vehement

Rapid
And

lose the years which


are
my all :
for the loss supreme
console me
?

than

worse

Our

"

from

my breath
this earth

delusion

frustrate

My wine of lifeis poison mixed with gall,


My noonday passes in a nightmare dream,
What

"

human

was

last the

With

humid

woes;

pulpitspeaker simply said,


eyes

and

thoughtful,
droopinghead,

"

Is Life Worth

it ends

But

And
And
I

and

soon,

in truth

never

it when

end

truthfullyfrom

the

is far

continual

fountain

of

delight.

terminates.

We,

'

must

life we

with
share.

suicides, and

for

comfort,

our

we

their

are

of

one

life is the
"

case.

If

"

in

never

plainestintellectual integrity,
simplest manliness and honor, forbid

forget their

to

army
of the

gun
the world and

things also,

these

an

evening

sit here

we

worth

The

the

more,

as

of fear than

"

round

and

him,

to

as

you

flow

pen,

declare,

'

these

ponder

substance

too,

sun

Lo,

life is not

That

whole

follows the

den

"

verses

whom,

steady

"

Thomson's

for all to

like

British army,

us

"

me.'

these

will,"

melancholy

more

earth

be,"

can

of suicides
army
roll-call,like the famous

livingthe

nay,

more

you

consolation

the world

whose

be ;

can

nevermore

nothing of it ere our birth,


shall know
nothing when consigned to
ponder these thoughts,and they comfort

free to

are

and

soon

knew

we

It ends

are

37

My Brother, my poor Brothers, it is thus:


This life holds nothing good for us,

ui

"

Living?

"

suddenly,"says Mr. Ruskin, in the midst of the


of heart of a London
enjoymentsof the palateand lightnesses
the walls of the chamber
were
dinner-party,
parted,and
ishing
famthrough their gap the nearest human
beings who were
and

in

misery were

borne

into the midst

of the

pany
com-

and
feasting

in

fancy free ; if,pale from death, horrible


broken
destitution,
by despair,
body by body they were

laid upon

guest,
them

"

the
would

; would

vouchsafed
of each

soft carpet,

beside

the

chair

of

every

of the dainties be cast to


only the crumbs
only a passingglance,a passing thought,be

to them

Dives

one

and

Yet

the actual

Lazarus,are

not

facts,the real relation


altered

by

the interven-

Essays in Popular Philosophy.

38

tion of the house-wall

by

the few feet of

between

the table and

ground (how

that separate the merriment

from

the

sick-bed,"

few

!)which are, indeed,all


the misery."

II.

To

then, what
with
life that

the

immediately to

come

I propose

fellow-mortal

the
"

assurance,

is to

only

comfort

You

may

end

heart

imagine

who

is

left him
it when

on

of my
ourselves
such

ing
reason-

with

terms

is to brood
you

theme,

will."

on

the

What

plead that may render such a brother


(or sister) willing to take up the burden
again?
cides,
suiOrdinary Christians, reasoning with would-be
have
little to offer them
beyond the usual
of
alone is master
shalt not."
God
negative, Thou
life and death, they say, and it is a blasphemous act
But
find
to
can
we
anticipatehis absolving hand.
tions
positivethan this,no reflecnothing richer or more
to urge
whereby the suicide may actuallysee,
and in all sad seriousness
feel,that in spiteof adverse
life is still worth
for him
even
living?
appearances
suicides (in the United
States
suicides and
There
are
of them
thousand
three
about
year), and I
every
must
frankly confess that with perhaps the majority
of these my suggestionsare
impotent to deal. Where
frenzied
sudden
is the result of insanity or
suicide
impulse, reflection is impotent to arrest its headway ;
like these
and
cases
belong to the ultimate mystery
tions
I can
of evil,concerning which
only offer consideratending toward religiouspatience at the end of
is practically
this hour.
now,
My task, let me
say
that
deal only with
words
to
and
are
narrow,
my
metaphysicaltedium vita which is peculiar to reflectreasons

we

can

"

Is Life Worth

ing
to

Living?

39

of you are
devoted, for
of you
reflective life. Many
are
Most

men.

the

good

or

ill,
of

students

philosophy, and have already felt in your own


sons
perthe
scepticism and unreality that too much
grubbing in the abstract roots of things will breed.
of the regular fruits of the overThis is,indeed, one
Too
much
studious
career.
questioning and too
often
little active
as
as
responsibilitylead, almost
much
sensualism
too
does, to the edge of the slope,
of which
lie pessimism and
the nightat the bottom
mare
suicidal

or

reflection

which

breeds,

effective

oppose

of

view

But

bred

diseases

reflection

it is of

and

the

to

still further

remedies

Weltschmerz

and

life.

can

choly
melan-

the

of reflection that

now

speak.
Let me
final appeal is to
say, immediately, that my
recondite
than religiousfaith. So far
nothing more
as
argument is to be destructive,it will consist in
my
than the sweeping away
of certain views
nothing more
that often keep the springs of religiousfaith compressed

proceed

to

; and

consist

far

so

holding

in

it is to

as

up

calculated

normal, natural

liable,it

demand

to

consists

which

reply.
Now, there
disease, two

second

and

it

let loose

in

there

certain

these

springs in -sl
ligious
rea
essentially

is
it to

which

nothing but

comes

no

siderations
con-

you

are

religious

normal

religious

J
are

two

different

from
the
emerge
view of things,and

The

to

constructive, it will

lightof day

Pessimism
way.^
In the form of

disease.
most

the

to

be

stages of recovery

from

levels

one

midnight
I

must

stage is the

corresponds

to

more

the

which

upon
view

to

the

treat

of

them

complete

freer exercise

this
may

daylight
in turn.

and

joyous,

of

religious

Essays in Popular Philosophy.

40

as
fancy. There
are,
are
naturallyvery free

and

trust

who
who

not

are

all

at

There

so.

is well

known,

persons
in this regard,others

for instance,
persons,
their heart's content
in

are

find

indulging to
prospects of immortality; and there are others who
in making such
a
experience the greatest difficulty

whom

we

notion

tied

are

persons

natural

to

themselves

to

their senses,

real

seem

and

experience ;

at

at

the

bare

call of sentiment.

restricted

latter
to

their

moreover,

loyalty to what they call


' hard
shocked
facts/which is positively
by the easy
that other people make
into the unseen
excursions

feel

of intellectual

These

of them,

many

sort

all.

class

intensely religious. They may


and
atonement
reconciliation,and

be

however,

may,

of either

Minds

equally desire
with
the total
crave
acquiescence and communion
the craving, when
the mind
soul of things. But
is pent in to the hard
facts,especiallyas science
breed
reveals them, can
pessimism, quite as
now
it inspires religious
easily as it breeds optimism when
trust and
fancy to wing their way to another
and

That

world.

better

religious
pessimism an essentially
nightmare view of life has plenty of

I call

is why

The

disease.

at

and

of nature
believe

that

great reflective

the contradiction

been

all times

its

but

organic sources;

behind

the

is. What
expression nature
theology has been one
craving ; that poetry of nature
'

literature is
suppose

so

mind

rich

has

been

of the latter of

imaginationis pent

in

the

the

nomena
phe-

heart

to

spiritwhose
ural
philosopherscall natof appeasing this
way
in which
our
English

there

nature

between

craving of

has

source

is

'

another
our

two

and
consequently,

way.

Now,

classes,whose
who

takes its

Essays in Popular Philosophy.

42

gether meaninglessly to
an

doom.

common

sinister,a nightmare view

uncanny,

This
of

is

and
life,

its

peculiar unheimlichkeit,or poisonousness,lies expressly


in our
not
holding two thingstogetherwhich canin our
the one
possibly agree,
clinging,on
that there shall be a livingspirit
hand, to the demand
of the whole ; and, on
the other, to the belief that
of nature
the course
be such a spirit's
must
adequate
manifestation
and
diction
expression. It is in the contrabetween
the supposed being of a spiritthat
and
with which
owns
we
ought
us, and
encompasses
"

have

to

the

and

communion,

some

character

of such

spiritas revealed by the visible world's course, that


choly-breedi
this melanthis particulardeath-in-life paradox and
the
puzzle reside.
Carlyle expresses
result in that chapter of his immortal
Sartor ResarThe
entitled
I lived," writes
tus
Everlasting No.'
in a continual,indefinite,
Teufelsdrockh,
pining
poor
fear; tremulous, pusillanimous, apprehensive of I
if all things in the heav-.
knew
not what : it seemed
as
a

'

'

'

"

"

above

ens

if the
of

the

and

heavens

and

earth
the

earth

devouring monster,
waiting to be devoured."
a

This

brute

who

is

shudder
the

mere

can

have

this

can
irreligious

of the

sort

become

would

hurt

me

as

but boundless

jaws
I, palpitating,
lay

speculativemelancholy.
of melancholy ; no
man
its prey.

It is the

sick

religiousdemand, and not


of animal
outcome
experience.

frustrated

necessary

Teufelsdrockh

were

wherein

first stage of

is the

No

beneath

himself

could

have

made

shift to

face

of this world's
bedevilment
and
general chaos
of an
the victim
he not
experiences very well, were
originallyunlimited trust and affection towards them.
them
If he might meet
piecemeal,with no suspicion
the

Is Life Worth

Living?

43

expressingitself in them, shunning the


the
bitter parts and
as
husbanding the sweet
ones,
foul or
occasion
fair,he
served, and as the day was
could have
an
end, and felt
zigzagged toward
easy
the air vocal with his lamentations.
no
obligationto make
of
The
of levity,
I don't care,'is for
mood
this world's ills a sovereign and
practicalanaesthetic.
in Teufelsdrockh
and
But, no ! something deep down
in the rest of us tells us that there is a Spiritin things
for whose
and
sake we
to which
owe
we
allegiance,
And
the inner
must
so
keep up the serious mood.
taken
fever and discord
also are kept up ; for nature
such Spirit,
her visible surface reveals no
yond
and beon

of any

whole

the facts of nature

the

at

are

we

stage

present

inquiry not supposing ourselves to look.


fess
Now, I do not hesitate franklyand sincerelyto conthat this real and
to you
genuine discord seems
it the inevitable
to me
to carry with
bankruptcy of
natural religionnaively and
There
simply taken.

of

our

times

were

when

in monstrous

when

Leibnitzes

wigs

could

stall-fed officials of

prove

by

the valves

we

in the heart

of the

heads

buried

Theodicies, and

established

an

hip-jointthe
Contriver of the
Intelligent
past ; and

their

compose

of the

are

with

and

existence

World."

nineteenth

church

the
of

round
"

ment
liga-

Moral

But

could

those

and
times

century, with

our

mechanical
evolutionarytheories and our
phies,
philosonature
too
already know
impartiallyand too
well to worship unreservedly any God
of whose
acter
charshe can
be an
adequate expression. Truly, all
know
of good and
we
duty proceeds from nature;

but
nature

none

the
is all

multiverse,as

less

so

all

we

know

of evil.

Visible

plasticityand indifference, a moral


one
might call it,and not a moral uni"

Essays in Popular Philosophy.

44

her

as

whole

; and

__

harlot

we
are

we

we

owe

no

allegiance
; with

no

moral

establish

can

free in

our

ion
commun-

dealingswith

her several

obey or destroy, and to follow no law but


that of prudence in coming to terms
with such of her
particularfeatures as will help us to our privateends.
If there
be a divine
Spiritof the universe, nature,
know
such
her, cannot
we
as
possiblybe its ultimate
Either
there is no
word
to man.
Spiritrevealed in
there ; and
nature, or else it is inadequately revealed
(as all the higher religionshave assumed) what we

parts

such

To

verse.

to

call visible nature,


and

surface-show

supplementary

or

this world, must


full

whose
unseen

be

meaning

but

resides

veil
in

other world.

or

help,therefore,accounting it on the whole


for certain poetic constitutions
gain (though it may seem
sad loss)that the naturalistic superstia very
tion,
of nature, simply taken
the worship of the God
have begun to loosen its hold upon
such, should
I cannot

as

the

mind.

educated

In

fact,if I

am

to

express

my

personalopinion unreservedly,I should say (in spite


of its sounding blasphemous at first to certain ears)
mate
that the initial step towards
getting into healthy ultirelations with the universe

is the act

of rebellion

againstthe idea that such a God exists. Such


essentiallyis that which in the chapter
quoted from Carlyle goes on to describe :

lion
rebelI have

"

Wherefore, like a coward, dost thou forever pip and


whimper, and go cowering and trembling? Despicable
suffer
thou not
thou not a heart ; canst
Hast
biped !
cast,
whatsoever
it be ; and, as a Child of Freedom, though outsumes
trample Tophet itself under thy feet,while it conitand defy it !
then ; I will meet
thee ?
Let it come,
"'

'

And

as

so

thought, there

rushed

like

stream

of fire

over

whole

my

forever.

Is Life Worth

Living?

soul ; and

base Fear

I shook

45
from

away

me

No pealedauthoritatively
through
Everlasting
it
of my
all the recesses
being,of my Me ; and then was
stood up, in native God-created
that my whole Me
majesty,
and recorded
its Protest.
Such a Protest,the most
tant
imporance,
that same
transaction in life,
Indignationand Defimay
called. The
in a psychological
point of view, be fitly
had said :
No
cast,
outBehold, thou art fatherless,
Everlasting
had the

Thus

"

'

and

the

made

now

"

began

And
writes
"

to be

not

am

'

to

which

whole

my

thine,but Free,

and

Me

forever

adds,
hour," Teufelsdrockh-Carlyle

that

From

our
:

'

answer

hate thee ! '

is mine

Universe

man."

friend,James Thomson,

poor

similarly

"

Who

I think

myself; yet

miserable

My

formed

Who
The

in this dolorous

wretched

is most

vilest

I would

self than

such

creatures

thing must

rather

He, than
to

his

place?
be

He

disgrace.

own

be less vile than

Thou

being, God and Lord!


and sin ! abhorred,
Creator of all woe
Malignant and implacable ! I vow
That

for all

not

Would

We

having

him

and

unfurled,

made

such

men

in such

world."

enough in this community with the


exulting in their emancipation
persons
the

made
the

have

furled

temples to Thy glorybuilt,


the ignominious guilt
assume

belief in the God


who

power

familiar

are

spectacle of
from

Thy

its

all the

For

Of

it had

whom

From

found
converts

garden

eternal

humaner
from

of their ancestral

all

and

fires of

the

Calvinism,

serpent, and

hell.

Some

of

"

appointed
pre-

them

ply
gods to worship,others are simtheology ; but, both alike,they

Essays in Popular Philosophy.

4.6
assure

that to have

us

of
got rid of the sophistication

thinkingthey could feel any


that impossible idol gave
a
their

souls.

Now,

or

tremendous

make

to

duty toward
happiness to
of the spiritof
sophistication
;

reverence

an

idol

and

worship it,also leads to


in souls that are
and
also be
religiousand would
scientific the
a
sophisticationbreeds
philosophical
cape
melancholy, from which the first natural step of esnature,

is the

idol,whatever

of the

remain, there
and
as

of the

denial

such,

lack

cowering
can

of

also

comes

men

idol ; and

the downfall

positivejoyousness

the

mood.

make

with

short

may

downfall

of the whimpering

With

simply

work,

evil

taken

for their relations

only practical.It looms up no longer


it loses all its haunting and
so
perplexing
spectrally,
the mind
attacks the instances
soon
as
as
significance,
of it singly,and ceases
about their derivation
to worry
and only Power.'
from the
one
this stage of mere
Here, then, on
emancipation
the would-be
suicide may
from monistic
superstition,
to his question about
already get encouraging answers
with

it then

are

'

of life.

the worth

There

in most

are

men

instinctive

the
respond healthilywhen
infinite responsibility
burden
of metaphysical and
rolls off. The
certainty that you now
step out
may
of life whenever
please,and that to do so is not
you
relief.
is itself an immense
blasphemous or monstrous,
The
no
longer a guilty
thought of suicide is now
challengeand obsession.

springs

"

vitalitythat

of

This

littlelife is all

The

grave'smost

says

Thomson

and

they

comfort

must

we

holy peace

adding,
me."

"

endure
is

ever

ponder

Meanwhile

sure,"

"

these
we

thoughts,
can
always

Is Life Worth

47

twenty-four hours longer,if only

it for

stand

Living?

what

to-morrow's

next

postman

will contain,

newspaper

will

to

see

what

or

the

bring.

vital curiosity
deeper forces than this mere
in the pessimistically-tending
are
arousable, even
the loving and
mind
admiring impulses
; for where
are
dead, the hating and fightingimpulses will still
feel so
respond to fit appeals. This evil which we
throw
deeply is something that we can also help to overBut

far

; for
'

'

is behind

Spirit

with

its sources,

each

them,

of them

fact that

rule, abate

that

now

in turn.

It

love

of life ;

'

Substance

finite,and

are

sufferingsand

the

'

no

we

or

deal

can

is,indeed,

able
remark-

hardshipsdo
they seem, on

not,

as

the

trary,
con-

The sovereign
usuallyto give it a keener zest.
of melancholy is repletion. Need
and strugsource
gle
excite and
what
hour
of triumph
are
inspire us ; our
is what
Not the Jews of the
brings the void.
but those
of the days of Solomon's
captivity,
glory
those
from
whom
the pessimisticutterances
are
in
Bible come.
she lay trampled
our
Germany, when
beneath
the hoofs of Bonaparte's troopers, produced
perhaps the most
optimisticand idealistic literature
that
*

the

world

milliards'

has

the

there

to-day.

and

distributed

were

overrun

seen;

The

after 187 1 did

in the

country

till the

not

shape

historyof

pessimism

in which

our

own

French

we

race

it

see

is

one

the cheerfulness that comes


on
long commentary
with
fightingills. Or take the Waldenses, of whom
I
latelyhave been reading,as examples of what strong
men

will endure.

In

1485

papal

VIII. enjoined their extermination.


who

should

take

up

the crusade

ecclesiasticalpains and

bull

of Innocent

It absolved

those

againstthem from all


released them
from
penalties,

they might

is

There

"

where

have

of

some

Jordan Terbano
Vilermin

brethren

our

burnt

was

Michael

Turin;

should

Piedmont, "

in

town

no

Goneto,

hanged

Ambrosio

at Turin

had
in

place

buried alive
the

fate

same

bound

hand

the

on

and
at

snow

San

at

Sarcena

sabres, had the wounds


thus

Baridari

Bobbo

at

forced

in
fingers,

the

lighted
;

with

Charbonnier

Anna

from

Und
away

fifteen
these
1

A.

Giovanni

San

to

had

of
were

of the

their

Fauno

was

underwent

Michelini
cold

was

and

quicklime,and
Michelini

his
the

between

Torre."

In

all over

his mouth

impaled,and

mehr
dergleichen
one-half

from

road

La

Romano

had

perished
his

which
sulphurous matches
under
the nails,
between
the

slitopen

was

thrust

with

Rovelli

the

manner

having praised God

blew
which, being lighted,

Rostignolwas
left so to perishon

like

living

for

and
in the lips,
nostrils,

Sara

his

hunger
Fache, gashed with

Bartolomeo

into his flesh

Daniel

death.

to

fierce cat

perishof

Fenile ; Daniel

at

in

Susanna

filled up

perished covered

been

then

out

torn

tongue
had

in agony

Bobbio

Magdalena

left to
:

of

from

further ; Maria

Giovanni

foot,and

put

writer,

HippoliteRossiero

Lucerna, and

Patia ;

Rocca

at

been

not

his entrails torn

him

torture

to

promised

octogenarian,at Sarcena;
the Col di Meano
; Hugo

an

on

in

out

and

aVaudois

says

have

Geymarali

; Peter

his entrails taken


their

property which

kill the heretics.

alive at Susa

Chiambs, of Fenestrelle,had

body

all

illegallyacquired,

of sins to all who

remission

at

Popular Philosophy.

their title to
oath, legitimized

any

"

in

Essays

48

head

the

James

body, and

filledwith gunpowder,

pieces;
legsto the bosom, and
Eyral and Lucerna ;
carried thus on
a
pike
to

1630 the plague swept

population, including
places of
pastors. The
and Dauphiny, and
Geneva

Vaudois

seventeen

suppliedfrom

Quoted by George E. Waring in his book


Berard:
Les Vaudois, Lvon, Storck, 1892.

on

Tyrol. Compare

Essays in Popular Philosophy.

50

sophistical' resignation'
of cowering religionspreach: it is
devotees
which
of licking a despotic
not
resignation in the sense
the contrary, a resignation
It is,on
Deity's hand.
and
manliness
based
on
pride. So long as your
circumstances,

is not

leaves

suicide

would-be

the

an

evil of his

unremedied,

own

long he has

with evil in the


strictlyno concern
submission
abstract and
which
at large. The
you
demand
of yourself to the general fact of evil in
the world, your
apparent acquiescence in it,is here
that evil at large is none
nothing but the conviction
of your business until your business with your private
evils is liquidatedand settled up.
A challenge
particular
of this sort, with proper
designationof detail,is
that- need only be made
to be
one
accepted by men
whose
normal
instincts are
not
decayed ; and your
reflective would-be
suicide
by
easilybe moved
may
ment
it to face life with a certain interest again. The sentiof honor
is a very
penetrating thing. When
innocent
and
I, for instance, realize how
many
you
beasts have had to suffer in cattle-cars and slaughtertheir lives that we
and
might grow
lay down
pens
clad, to sit together here in comfort
up, all fattened and
so

and

relation

our
"

carry

not," as

Does

Clark,
a

Are

not

ourselves, to do

our

lives,in

return

are

built?

To

but

such

we

one

"

to

take

hear

some

lives upon
this question is to

if

point of
suffering

self-denyingservice

some

one

have

of

acceptance

involve

terms

bound

the

for all those

possibleway,
heart.

philosopher (Xenos

wrote,

once

life upon

honor?"

Amherst

young

dead)

now

happy

upon

to

this discourse, it does, indeed, put


in a more
solemn
the universe
light.

on

which
answer

with
ours

it in

tuted
normally consti-

Is Life Worth
that

Living?

51

instinctive

curiosity,
life on
make
a
purely
may
pugnacity, and honor
worth
naturalistic basis seem
livingfrom day to day
all metaphysics in order
have
who
cast away
to men
resolved
to
are
to get rid of hypochondria, but who
owe
positive
nothing as yet to religionand its more
of you
be
gifts. A poor half-way stage, some
may
Thus, then, we

inclined

to

honest

an

mere

say ; but at least you must


should
stage; and no man

instincts which

meanly of these
equipment, and
last resort

see

address

her

dare

to

own

to

be

speak

nature's best

our

religionherself must
peculiarappeals.

which

to

are

grant it

in the

IV.

turning to what religionmay have to


is the soul of my
to what
say to the question,I come
discourse.
man
Religion has meant
things in humany
I use
onward
the
history; but when from now
it in the supernaturalistsense, as
I mean
to use
word
declaringthat the so-called order of nature, which
constitutes this world's experience,is only one
portion
of the total universe,and
that there stretches beyond
And

in

now,

this visible

world

an

of which

world

unseen

nothing positive,but in its relation


of our
the true significance
present mundane
A man's
religiousfaith (whatever more
it may
items of doctrine
for
involve)means

know

his faith
kind

some

may

be

as

the

in which

found

the
religions
mere

in the

the

world

or
scaffolding

eternal world, and

affirmed

In

has

an

the

which

life consists.

special
me

tially
essen-

order

unseen

more

always

vestibule
to

to

now

of the natural

riddles

explained.

natural

of

existence

we

be

of

been
a

order

developed
regarded

truer,

sphere

of

more

of educa-

Essays in Popular Philosophy.

52

tion, trial,or
in

must

fashion

some

into

enter

can

one

In

redemption.
die

life eternal.

of wind

physicalworld

to

and

these

the

religions,one

natural

The

life before

notion

water, where

the

that
sun

this
rises

sets, is

absolutelyand ultimatelythe
divinelyaimed-at and established thing,is one which
such as that of
find only in very
we
early religions,
the most
primitiveJews. It is this natural religion
in spite of the fact that poets and
(primitivestill,
whose
their perof science
men
good-willexceeds
spicacity
editions
tuned
keep publishing it in new
to our
ears)that, as I said a while ago,
contemporary
has suffered definitive bankruptcy in the opinion of a
whom
I must
count
circle of persons,
myself,
among
For
and who are
numerous
growing more
every day.
ply
such persons the physicalorder of nature, taken simthe

and

moon

knows

science

as

harmonious

one

Chauncey

as

be

it,cannot

held to reveal

It is mere
intent.
spiritual
Wright called it, doing and

any

weather,

undoing

end.

without

I wish

Now,

to

make

you
that

feel,if I
have

in the short

can

rightto believe
the physicalorder to be only a partialorder; that
have
a
we
right to supplement it by an unseen
assume
on
we
trust, if only
spiritualorder which
better worth
to us
livingagain.
thereby life may seem
of you
to some
such a trust will seem
But
sadly
as
first say a
mysticaland execrably unscientific,I must
remainder

word

of this

two

or

to

hour,

weaken

we

the veto

that science

to our
opposes
in human
is included

There
naturalism
admit

of

materialism

and

the

which

you

are

may

sider
con-

act.
nature

mind

an

which

actuallytangible. Of
entity called 'science' is

facts that

mind

of

ingrained
can
only
this sort

the

idol.

Is Life Worth
for the

Fondness
which

by

of
way
call it

word

scientist

know

may

you

'

that

It must

unscientific.'

'

is

53
of the notes

one

its votaries

killingany opinion
'

Living?
; and

its short

it disbelieves

be

granted

in is to

that

there

for this. Science


has made
such
slightexcuse
glorious leaps in the last three hundred
years, and
extended
our
so
knowledge of nature
enormously
in detail ; men
of science, moreboth in generaland
over,
have
class displayed such admirable
tues,
viras
a
if the worshippers of
that it is no
wonder
science
In this very
lose their head.
University,
than one
teacher
accordingly,I have heard more
say
that all the fundamental
conceptions of truth have
already been found by science, and that the future
has only the details of the pictureto fillin.
But the
reflection on
the real conditions
will suffice
slightest
barbaric such notions
how
to show
are.
They show
such a lack of scientific imagination,that it is hard to
is activelyadvancing any
how one
who
see
part of
is

no

"

science

make

can

many

absolutely

arisen

in

have

then

of before, and
science's

career.

hundred

years

each

this

some

it could
us

away

Four

into

our

speak
to the

have

were

never

upon

the

problems
thought
brevityof

new

with

Galileo, not three


thinkers
since Galileo,
discoveries

hands
matter

as

we

his

passed

sit here

of that,an

in

ence
audi-

than

the present one, an audience


six score
people, if each person in
for his own
generation,would
carry

smaller
or

many

achieved, might have

seen

Indeed, for the


five

eye

how

conceptions

of what

successor

of science

room.

much

an

began

ago.

informing his

the torch

of

It

lifetime had

own

cast

that

Think

crude.

generation,how
formulated

been

so

scientific

new

own

our

mistake

black

unknown

of the human

species,

Essays in PopularPhilosophy.

54

days without

to

tale.

their

document

it credible

Is
such

monument

or

that

such

tell

to

mushroom

growth

overnight as this, can


the minutest
than
glimpse of what
represent more
will reallyprove
the universe
to be when
adequately
No!
science
is a drop, our
understood?
our
rance
ignoknowledge,

is

else

Whatever

sea.

the world

that

certain,
"

be

certain, this

of

present

our

at

least

natural

is

of some
enveloped in a larger world
residual
of whose
sort
properties we at present can
frame no positiveidea.
this prinadmits
Agnostic positivism,of course,
ciple
cordial
terms, but
theoreticallyin the most
insists that we
it to any
must
not
turn
practicaluse.
We
have
no
right,this doctrine tells us, to dream
dreams, or suppose
anything about the unseen
part
of the universe, merely because
for
be
do
to
so
may
what
we
are
pleased to call our
highest interests.
for our
We
must
always wait for sensible evidence

knowledge

beliefs ; and

is

safe

had
or

in the

unknown,

no

languishaccording to what the


a philosophic
neutralityand

either

is inaccessible

we

no

stake

no

evidence

this
Of course
hypotheses whatever.
If a thinker
enough position in abstracto.

frame

must

such

where

one

or

way

the other

would

vital needs, to
world

unseen

refusal
be

to

live
tained,
con-

believe

his wisest

cue.

But, unfortunately,neutralityis not


only inwardly
it is also outwardly unrealizable, where
our
difficult,
relations
This

an

because,

practicaland vital.
psychologists tell us, belief

alternative
as

the

are

livingattitudes, and involve conduct


ing,
on
our
part. Our only way, for example, of doubtor
refusing to believe, that a certain thing is,is
not.
If,for instance,
continuing to act as if it were

and

is

to

doubt

are

Is Life Worth
believe

I refuse to

leave the windows


still were

warm.

if you
the need of

just as

secrets

I doubt

as

And

much

gettingcold, I
lightno fire just as if it
that you
are
worthy of
uninformed

of all my
of the same.
If

you

/^worthy
insuring my house,
were

believe

not

55

is

room

if I believed

as

if I must

so

the

and
open
If I doubt

confidence, I keep

my

that

Living?

there

I leave

were

it

need.

no

that the world

insured
un-

is divine,

only express that refusal by decliningever to


if it were
act distinctively
as
can
so, which
only mean
not
acting on certain critical occasions as if it were
There
evitable
irreligious
so, or in an
are, you
way.
see, incan

in life when

occasions
and

must

count

inaction

action,and

as

is

kind

when

not

to

of

tion,
ac-

be for

is to be

against; and in all such cases strict


practically
and consistent
neutralityis an unattainable thing.
And, after all,is not this duty of neutrality
where
only our inner interests would lead us to believe,the
ridiculous

most

of commands?

say that

follyto

Is it not

inner interests

our

real connection

with the forces

contain?
may
inner interests

In

our
we

such

sweat

such

that the hidden


divinations

cases

have

no

world

based

on

have

should

have

never

lie hidden

harmonies

interstices
law

can

matic
dog-

proved prophetic enough. Take


itself! Without
an
imperious inner demand
nies,
harmopart for ideal logicaland mathematical

science
on

other

sheer

of

the

attained

between

crude

natural

to

proving

all the chinks

that
and

world.

Hardly a^
has been
established in science, hardly a fact ascertained,
which
not first sought after,often with
was
and
blood, to gratifyan inner need.
Whence
needs

them

classes

in

us,

them

from

come

and

we

do

not

know:

biologicalpsychology

with

Darwin's

'

accidental

we

so

far

find

only

variations/

Essays in Popular Philosophy.

56
But

the

inner

nature

is

eternal

than

in those

who

of causation

of

believingthat this world of


something more
spiritualand
justas strong and authoritative

need

sign

of

itself is
feel it,as

the inner
be in

need

of uniform

laws

scientific
professionally
head.
The
toL of many
generations has proved the
latter need prophetic. Why
the former
not
one
may
if needs
be prophetic,too?
And
of ours
the
outrun
visible universe, why may
that be a sign that
not
invisible universe
is there?
an
What, in short, has
authority to debar us from trusting our
religious
demands?
Science as such assuredly has no authority,
for she can
only say what is, not what is not ;
and
the agnostic "thou
believe without
shalt not
is simply an
sensible evidence
coercive
expression
(freeto any one to make) of private personal appetite
of a certain peculiarkind.
for evidence
I speak of trustingour
mands,
Now, when
religiousdeby trusting ? Is the
just what do I mean
can

ever

"

'

'

word

to

carry

with

invisible world, and


those

whose

it license
to

to

define in detail

anathematize

and

an

cate
excommuni-

is different?

Certainly not!
not
Our faculties of belief were
primarilygiven us to
heresies
make
and
orthodoxies
withal; they were
mands
given us to live by. And to trust our religiousdefirst of all to live in the lightof them,
means
and to act as if the invisible world which
they suggest
were
men

can

trust

real.

It is

live and

die

fact of human

nature,

that

by the help of a sort of


singledogma or definition.

faith

that goes without


a
bare assurance
that this natural

order

is not

The

ultimate

sign or vision, the external staging of


a
spiritualforces
many-storied universe, in which
have the last word and are eternal, this bare assur-

but

mere

"

Essays in Popular Philosophy.

58
be

may

present

paid, without an inklingof what


without a suspicionthat it has anything

the

see

it all

money

means,

with him

he

and

take

Or

life.

and
step of the negotiations,

at every

never

can

another

case

to

do

in his natural

know

dog's
greatlyjto

used

which

days. Consider-a
impress me in my medical-student
they are vivisectingin a laboratory.
poor dog whom
and shriekingat his executioners,
He lies strapped on
a board
is literally
dark consciousness
and to his own
He
a
cannot
see
single redeeming
in a sort of hell.
events

human

by

controlled

often

are

cal-seeming
diaboli-

yet all these

; and

business

in the whole

ray

benighted mind
catch a glimpse of them, all
to
could only be made
would
in him
that is heroic
religiouslyacquiesce.
Healing truth, relief to future sufferingsof beast and
be genuinely
It may
to be bought by them.
are
man,
the
his back
on
of redemption. Lying on
a process
culably
incalbe performing a function
board there he may
life
canine
higher than any that prosperous
admits
performance, this
of; and yet, of the whole
function is the one
portionthat must remain absolutely
beyond his ken.
Now

turn

dog's life we
we

see

our

see

both

there,
believe

worlds

by

in that world

that

our

us

life of

be

may

world

lives in this world


"

"

may

life have

for

maybes?"

world

is

by

Well,

; and

him

have

to

hears

the

use

may

be
to

tion
essential func-

the most

now
be ! may be ! one
"
contemptuously exclaim ; what

But

because

it,yet encompassing

still wider
our

as

the

life,although we

human

his within
a

In

man.

invisible to him

In

world, and

poor

the

world

the

worlds.

these
unseen

as

if his

this to

from

live in both

only

which,

with

intentions

can

perform.
positivist
scientific

reply,the

'scien-

Is Life Worth
'

tific lifeitselfhas much

large has

life at

at all,his
originative

have

to

not

upon

deal with

to

to do with

maybe

maybes, and human

entire vital function


Not

maybes.

of faithfulness

deed

59

So
everything to do with them.
for anything, and
is productive

stands

man

as

Living?

or

or

said

victoryis gained,
is done, except

courage

service, not

be

may

far

sallyof generosity,
book,
not a scientific explorationor experiment or texting
that may
It is only by risknot be a mistake.
a

; not

persons
live at all. And

from

one

often

enough

in

result is the

our

uncertified

an

the result

hour

Suppose,

true.

come

to
our

another

we

faith beforehand
that

only thing
for

that

makes

instance, that

you

yourself
climbing a mountain, and have worked
into a position from which
the only escape
is by a
faith that you
terrible leap. Have
can
successfully
nerved
feet are
make
to its accomplishit,and your
ment.
mistrust
But
yourself, and think of all the
sweet
things you have heard the scientists say of
maybes, and you will hesitate so long that, at last,all
unstrung and trembling,and launching yourself in a
of despair,you roll in the abyss. In such a
moment
are

(and

case

it

of wisdom

as

in the line
need

belongs to
well

of your

an

of courage

as

the part
class),

enormous

is to believe what

needs, for only by such

fulfilled. Refuse

to

believe, and

is "
belief is the

you

shall

deed
in-

right,for you shall irretrievably


perish. But
shall
shall be right,for you
believe, and again you
the other of two
make
save
one
or
yourself. You
true
by your trust or mistrust,
possible universes
both universes
having been only maybes, in this particular,
be

"

before

Now,

you

it appears

life is worth

contributed
to

me

that

your

the

act.

question whether

livingis subjectto conditions

logically

Essays in PopularPhilosophy.

60
much
liver.
crown

like these.

It

does, indeed, depend

If you
the
surrender
to
the evil edifice by your
own

indeed

nightmare

far

as

whatever

might

Your

goes.

worth

have

mistrust

that this world

yourself a
"

is not

very

Zeal, and
As

on

the

doubt,

of life has

of that

have

other

so
moved
re-

Of heart, the sailor

courage

divining
instead

you

Wordsworth

the virtue to exist

by

had

cling to it
Suppose you find

the ultimatum.

as
well-spring,

existence,

hand, that

view

nightmare

soldiers live

own
enduring existence
your
it; and now,
throughout the

given to
whole
sphere of possibleinfluence
the mistrust has proved itself to
But suppose,
power.
of giving way
to the

have

Pessimism,

world

your

you the
view
and

suicide, you

picture totally black.


completed by your act, is true beyond
made

on

by

says, of

"

faith

by strength
roaringseas."

; as,

fightswith

thicklyevils crowd upon you, that


Suppose, however
unconquerable subjectivityproves to be their
your
wonderful
joy than
match, and that "fou find a more
in the
bring in trustingever
any passive pleasure can
made
life worth
Have
not
now
larger whole.
you
What
of a thing would
sort
livingon these terms?
life really be, with your
qualitiesready for a tussle
and gave these
with it,if it only brought fair weather
Please remember
higher faculties of yours no scope?
that optimism and
pessimism are definitions of the
world, and

that

our

own

reactions

on

the world, small

they are in bulk, are integralparts of the whole


the definition.
thing, and necessarilyhelp to determine
be the decisive
elements
in
even
They may
have
can
determining the definition. A large mass
its unstable equilibriumoverturned
by the addition
as

Is Life Worth
of

feather's

weight;
by the

reversed

sense

is what
we

are

so

far

to make

determined

anything to
descriptionof

I have
order

is what

which

make

that

assumed

inspiresthose

that

point of view,

it,a

faiths that

efforts and

success.

selves
verifythem-

faith in

our

letters

say, since it
point of view ; and

with

do

three

its

can

it from

have

we

in this

Now,

living,we

have

may

of the

it',
from the moral

make

we

as

addition

life is worth

This

n-o-t.

long phrase

61

Living?

an

invisible

that

patience

this visible order

good for moral men.


world's goodness (goodness now
Our faith in the seen
and
meaning fitness for successful moral
religious
has verified itself by leaning on
faith in the
our
life)
world.

unseen

will

But

similarlyverify itself?
Once

it is

more

maybes

are

that I do

essence

see

why

which

response

of

maybe

the

the very
of

and

us

make

may

my

blood

which

by

part, I do

own

what

know

not

and

tragedy of

this lifemean,

short

of this.

If this life be

is

something
it is

success,

from

it feelslike

reallywild
and

eternallygained

better than

no

which
real

one

may

fight,
"

in the universe

as

are
faithfulnesses,

first of all to

redeem

and

fears.

For

our

nature

is

such

our
a

adapted.

the

draw

fidelity.

our

if there
we,

needed

anything
real fight,
in

of

will.

But

something

were

with

all

alities
ide-

our

redeem

; and

from

atheisms

half-wild,half-saved

universe

own

The

hearts

universe

atricals
privatethe-

at

to

and

mean

for the

game
withdraw

gious
relivital

the sweat

which

personal

to

if they
not

ble
invisi-

an

the

on

more

I confess

of

existence

appeal. God himself,in short, may


strengthand increase of very being from
For

once

situation.

part depend

one

any

world

unseen

knows?

of

in

not

may

Who

case

the

not

world

faith in the

our

deepest thing

in

ouf

Essays in Popular Philosophy.

62

is this Binnenleben

doctor
(as a German
lately
called it),
this dumb
region of the heart in which
with our
alone
dwell
and
willingnesses
nesses,
unwillingAs
faiths and fears.
our
through the cracks

nature

has
we

of

crannies

and

which

the earth's bosom


of

in these

springs,so
the

Here

rise.

these

concrete

is

the

which

our

of

from

the fountain-heads

deeds

of personality

and

decisions

munication
deepest organ of comthings; and compared

of

movements

scientific

and

statements

form

outer

our

the nature

with
with

then

exude

waters

crepusculardepths

of all

sources

their

take

those

caverns

soul all abstract

our

arguments

the

"

veto,

for

strict

positivist
pronounces
upon
like mere
faith
sound
to us
our
chatteringsof the
here
finished facts,are
teeth.
For
not
possibilities,
have activelyto deal ; and
the realities with which
we
friend William
to quote my
Salter,of the Philadelphia
of courage
is to stake
Ethical Society, as the essence
the essence
of faith is to
one's life on
so
a possibility,
example,

"

"

These,
of

afraid
"r

exists."
possibility

that the

believe

then,

last words

are

my
Believe

life.

that

to

you

life is worth

Be

not

living,and

the fact. The


scientific
help create
proof that you are rightmay not be clear before the
that
stage of being which
day of judgment (or some
But
expression may serve to symboiize) is reached.
the beings that
the faithful fightersof this hour, or

your

belief will

then

and

the
words

there

will represent them, may

faint-hearted, who
like those

with

tardy Crillon after a


Hang yourself,brave
"

and

you

were

not

here

decline

to

then
go

turn
on,

to

with

Henry IV. greeted the


great victory had been gained :
which

Crillon !

there."

we

fought at Arques,

The

THE

Sentiment

SENTIMENT

of

Rationality.

63

RATIONALITY.1

OF

I.

is the task which

WHAT
at

selves
philosophersset themto perform ; and
why do they philosophize
Almost
will immediately
one
every

all?

reply: They desire


frame of things which
that

than

by

one

But

shall

on

conception

the whole

chaotic

somewhat

carries

nature

attain

to

about

with

be

view
him

of

more

which

under

the
tional
ra-

every

his hat.

this rational

conception attained,how is
the philosopherto recognize it for what it is,and not
let it slip through ignorance? The
can
only answer
he recogbe that he will recognize its rationality
as
nizes
certain
everything else, by
subjective marks
When
it affects him.
he gets the marks,
with which
know
he may
that he has got the rationality.
A
What, then, are the marks?
strong feelingof
suppose

ease,

from

But
a

rest, is

peace,
state

this

This

them.

The

transition

of

puzzle and perplexityto rational


is full of livelyrelief and pleasure.
relief seems
to be
a
negative rather

positivecharacter.
of

of

one

is
rationality

essay
printedin Mind

as

far
for

as

Shall

we

constituted

page

then

say

of extracts

than

that the feeling

merely by

75 consists

prehension
com-

the

from

absence

an

article

it is a reprint of an
July, 1879. Thereafter
to the Harvard
PhilosophicalClub, delivered in 1880, and
the
Princeton
Review, July,1882.
publishedin
address

Essays in Popular Philosophy.

64-

I think there are very


feelingof irrationality?
All feeling
good grounds for upholding such a view.
whatever, in the light of certain recent
chological
psyto
speculations,seems
depend for its
physical condition not on simple discharge of nervecurrents, but on their discharge under
arrest, impediment,
resistance.
feel no
or
Just as we
particular
pleasure when we breathe freely,but a very intense
are
feelingof distress when the respiratorymotions
prevented, so any unobstructed
tendency to action
the production of much
discharges itself without
cogitativeaccompaniment, and any perfectlyfluent
of thought awakens
but
little feeling;but
course
when
is inhibited,or when
the movement
the thought
with difficulties,
meets
we
experience distress. It is
only when the distress is upon us that we can be said
to
to
or
strive, to crave,
aspire. When
enjoying
plenary freedom either in the way of motion or of
thought, we are in a sort of anaesthetic state in which
we
might say with Walt Whitman, if we cared to say
cient
anything about ourselves at such times, I am suffiof the
This feelingof the sufficiency
I am."
as
of any

"

"

of

present moment,
of all need

in short, as

think

seems

explain it,account

to

I call the Sentiment

is what

to

its absoluteness,

to

we

with
us

are

enabled

of

this absence

"

for it,or

it,
justify
Rationality. As soon,

from

any

tanto

whatever

cause

perfectfluency,the thing

pro

"

we

think

of

rational.

tate
faciliconceiving the cosmos
of rationality.
this fluency,produce the sentiment
for itselfand
in such modes, being vouches
Conceived
But
this
further philosophicformulation.
needs
no
fluency may be obtained in various ways ; and first
Whatever

I will take up

modes

of

the theoretic way.

Essays in Popular Philosophy.

66

identical ;

earth

goes,
combustion
balloon

rises

one

the

by

friction

the

same

the

knowing respirationand
of understanding that
the
law
whereby the stone
warmth
in one's palm when

is identical

checks

beast

between

sleeve

one's

rubs

which

be

feelingthat

sinks ; of
one

to

of

; of

fish

and

fell the

the

sun's

which

tree

rays

got

we

to

be

which

of

climb
than

the

made

morning

our

father

other

no

the

motion

ence
recognizing the differbe
to
only a higher

human
degree of that between
we
strengthwhen
believingour
or

with

and
the

the

corn

; of

son

mountain

strength of
of

out

grow

meal?

this

passion for simplification


in some
there exists a sister passion,which
minds
is its rival.
though they perhaps form the minority
This
pulse
is the passion for distinguishing;it is the imthe parts rather than
to
to be acquaintedwith
and
Loyalty to clearness
comprehend the whole.
integrityof perception,dislike of blurred outlines,of
But

alongside

"

"

its characteristics.

identifications,are

vague

recognize particularsin

their

It loves

full

completeness,
of these it can
and the more
carry the happier it is.
of incoherence, abruptness,and
It prefersany amount
fragmentariness (so long as the literal details of the
ceiving
saved) to an abstract way of conseparate facts are
them, dissolves
things that, while it simplifies
to

at the

away

and
a

man's

balance
of

philosophic attitude
of these

in him

men

set

up
for the thinker.

philosophy

among

their concrete

simplicitythus

real dilemma
A

time

same

can

which

two

rival

fulness.

ness
Clear-

claims, and

make

is determined

cravings.

No

by

the

system

hope to be universallyaccepted
grossly violates either need, of

the

entirelysubordinates
of Spinosa, with his
substance,

of

Sentiment

The

the

on

the other.

to

one

of all

union

barren

hand

one

Rationality.

that

of

67

The

fate

thingsin

one

with

Hume,

'

looseness
and
of
separateness
equally barren
ing
everything,on the other, neither philosopherownstrict and
systematic disciplesto-day, each
any
being to posteritya warning as well as a stimulus,
that the only possible philosophy must
be
show
us
abstract
and a
an
a
compromise between
monotony
concrete
heterogeneity. But the only way to mediate
between
diversity and unity is to class the diverse
'

his

"

"

items

as

in
'

of

cases

kinds

common

is thus

of their relations

and

the

which

essence

Classification

them.
'

of

things

first step ; and

conduct

into

cover
disyou
into extensive

classification

extensive

laws

'

is the last step, in their

philosophicunification. A
thus
be
never
completed theoretic philosophy can
than a completed classification of the
anything more
its results must
world's ingredients; and
always be
abstract, since
the abstract
the rest

the

essence

of the

basis

of

embedded

classification is
every
in the living fact,

livingfact being

"

for the

time

ignored

that none
of our
by the classifier. This means
explanations are
complete. They subsume
things
under
wider
heads
or
more
familiar; but the last
heads, whether of things or of their connections, are
abstract
data
which
mere
we
just find in
genera,
things and write down.
When, for example, we think that we have rationally
of the facts A and
B by
explained the connection
attribute x" it is
classingboth under their common
obvious
that we
have reallyexplained only so much
of these items as is x.
To explain the connection
of
is
choke-damp and suffocation by the lack of oxygen

Essays in Popular Philosophy.

68
to leave

and
on

on
agony
the other.

n, and

are

The

view.

likes

the

such

"

the

hand, density and

one

In

word,

far

so

as

convulsions

as

explosibility

and

in addition
p, q, respectively,

contain

they
Each
additional
not
explained by x.
larity
particuits distinct appeal. A
makes
single explanation
of a fact only explains it from
a
singlepoint of

/, m,

and

of suffocation,

and

choke-damp

both of
peculiarities

all the other

untouched

o,

fact is not

entire

all of its characters


To

elsewhere.

universe,

we

see

accounted

have

apply
that

been

this
the

x,

for until each

classed
to

now

to

with

the

their

case

of

explanation of the
explains it only so

movements
by molecular
To
invoke
far as it actuallyis such
the
movements.
is unknowable,
Unknowable
as
explains only so much
is thought, God
as
Thought
only so much
is God.
Which
as
thought? Which
only so much
God ?
are
questions that have to be answered
by
bringing in again the residual data from which the
All those data
abstracted.
that
was
general term
be analyticallyidentified with
the attribute
cannot
remain
universal principle,
invoked
as
as
independent
kinds or natures, associated
empiricallywith the said
attribute but devoid of rational kinship with it.
of all our
the unsatisfactoriness
Hence
tions.
speculathe one
On
hand, so far as they retain any
of
in their terms, they fail to get us
out
multiplicity
the other, so far
the empirical sand-heap world ; on
the practical
pises
desman
as
they eliminate multiplicity
The
most
their empty barrenness.
they can say

world

'

'

'

"

is that the

elements

and

that each

but

the

is left

of the

world

is identical with

are

such

itself wherever

is it found?
question Where
wit.
to answer
by his own

the

and

such,
found

practicalmai
Which, of all the

The

shall here

essences,

and

are

the

held

be

now

We

decide.

to

Rationality.

69
of

essence

philosophynever

fundamental

thing,the

this concrete

attempts

of

Sentiment

led

thus

the

to

clusion
con-

simple classification of things is,on


hand, the best possibletheoretic philosophy,
one
and inadequate
miserable
is,on the other, a most
the

that

the
but

for the

substitute

of the

fulness

It is

truth.

strous
mon-

abridgment of life,which, like all abridgments


loss and
is got by the absolute
casting out of real
This is why so few human
matter.
beings truly care
which
for philosophy. The
particulardeterminations
the real matter
she ignores are
exciting needs, quite
as

potent and

authoritative

enthusiast

moral

to

the artist

of
an

The

entire

nothing as an
livingitself.

who

Freund, ist alle Theorie

goldner Baum.

feels all needs

equivalent for
Since

of desolation?

abomination

griindes Lebens

man,

the

does

ethics?
Why
philosophical
German
philosopher appear
every

Grau, theurer
Und

What

hers.

for

care

the ALsthetik

does

as

the

essences

by

life but
of

turns, will take


the

fulness

things

are

as

of
a

through the whole extent


of time
and
space, it is in their spread-outness and
When
of
alternation that he will enjoy them.
weary
the concrete
clash and
dust
and
pettiness,he will
in the eternal
refresh himself by a bath
springs,or
natures.
fortifyhimself by a look at the immutable
But he will only be a visitor, not a dweller
in the
the
philosophic yoke
region; he will never
carry
matter

upon

of fact disseminated

his shoulders, and


of her

results,will
and

dramatic

when

problems and
always escape
richness

tired of the

gray

tony
mono-

insipidspaciousnessof her
into the teeming
gleefully

of the concrete

world.

Essays in Popular Philosophy.

70
So

study turns back here to its beginning.


of classifyinga thing is but a way
of
Every way
handling it for some
particularpurpose.
tions,
ConcepNo
stract
abkinds,' are
teleologicalinstruments.
our

'

concept

be

can

realityexcept

with

in the conceiver.
the

relief of

human

substitute

valid

reference

The

to

concrete

particularinterest
theoretic rationality,
a

interest of

is
identification,

for

but

of

one

thousand

When
others
their heads, it
rear
purposes.
and
retire till its turn
pack up its littlebundle

must

The

recurs.

exaggerated dignity

philosophershave
greatlyreduced.

solutions

for their

claimed

value

and

that

is thus

ception
only virtue their theoretic conneed
have is simplicity,
and a simple conception
is an
equivalent for the world only so far as the
world
is simple,
the world
meanwhile, whatever
plex
simplicityit may harbor, being also a mightily comaffair. Enough
simplicity remains, however,
and
in our
enough urgency
craving to reach it, to

The

"

make
of

the theoretic

human
of

long
But

last

we

impulses.
things is an
there

as

function

suppose
have

are

the
a

ideal

that

unified

system

in the

explained. Our world can


simply, and our mind enjoys the

But

now

has

I ask, Can

that

in all else be

It would

tempted

seem

at

the

made

at

that

sense

be

now

relief.

is the

first

rational.

ground

of

tionality
ra-

rational?

is
might. One
that,since the craving for

sight that

any rate to say


is appeased by
rationality

has

sal
univer-

Our

itself properly called

at

conceived

chaos

concrete

which

that

Suppose

been

concept

all.

at

attained.

ments
ele-

will follow, as

some

think

to

goal

fewest

quest of the

The

men

invincible

of the most

one

the

it

identification

of

one

The

of

Sentiment

which

thing with another, a datum


outstanding might quench
or

be

rational

we

should

us,

in

sit down

further

spinning no

that

otherness

71

left

nothing else
craving definitively,
being left to annoy
In

at peace.

other

the boor

of
tranquillity

theoretic

the

No

se.

Rationality.

considerations

words,

results from

as

his

his chaotic

about

(provided it were
to banish
puzzle
philosopher and confer

whatever
datum
any
simple, clear, and ultimate) ought

universe,

so

inasmuch

peace,

Bain

would

then

considerations

in fact is what

says,

the

there

as

further

absolutely no
This

of

universe

the

from

some

for

be

spin.

to

think.

persons

him

Professor

"

is solved,a mystery unriddled,


when
it can
difficulty
be shown
to resemble
something else ; to be an example of
a fact alreadyknown.
Mystery is isolation,
exception,or it
"

of the mystery
: the resolution
may be apparent contradiction
is found in assimilation,
When
all things
identity,
fraternity.
so
assimilated,
holds,there

are

what

to

The

the

path of

is

mind

and

assimilation

as

an

end

as

can

go,

so

far

explanation; there

to

do, or

can

science

wider
generality,
widest

far

ness
like-

an

end

desire.
intelligently

can

exhibited

is

as

in modern

wider,until

we

reach

ages is toward
the highest,
the

laws of every

department of things; there explanation


is finished,
mystery ends, perfectvision is gained."
this first
But, unfortunately,
Our

mind

other beside

is

so

wedded

of

the
its

process

will not
of

hold.

seeing

an

experience,that when
the notion
of an
is presented to it,it
absolute datum
ing
pointgoes through its usual procedure and remains
at the void beyond, as if in that lay further matter
for contemplation. In short, it spins for itself the
further positiveconsideration
of a nonentityenvel'
every

item

to

answer

Essays in PopularPhilosophy.

72

"ping

the

being

back

of its datum

recoils

and

as

that leads

where,
no-

the

its datum
thought toward
tity
again. But there is no natural bridge between nonenand this particulardatum, and the thought stands
to and fro,wondering
oscillating
Why was there anything
but nonentity; why just this universal
datum
and
and
another?"
finds no
not
end, in wandering
lost. Indeed, Bain's words
that
untrue
mazes
are
so
in reflecting
the attempt to fuse
it is just when
men
the manifold
into a single totalityhas been
most
the conception of the universe
as
successful,when
a
its perfection,
that the craving
unique fact is nearest
for further explanation,the ontologicalwonder-sickness,
arises in its extremest
As Schopenhauer
form.
The uneasiness
which
keeps the never-resting
says,
clock of metaphysics in motion, is the consciousness
that the non-existence
of this world is just as possible
"

"

as

its existence."

The

notion

parent of the

profoundest

thus be called
nonentity may
philosophiccraving in its subtilest
of

sense.

Absolute

with

existence

the
and

is absolute

the

nothing remain
unmediated
to our
understanding. One philosopher
only has pretended to throw a logicalbridge over
this chasm.
tity
Hegel, by trying to show that nonenlinked
and
concrete
together by a
being are
series of identities of a synthetic kind, binds
thing
everyinto a unity,with no
conceivable
tion
outlying nomystery,

to

within

for

disturb

its relations

the free rotary circulation

its bounds.

Since

such

unchecked

of the

mind

movement

be held, if
feelingof rationality,he must
he has succeeded, to have
eternallyand absolutely
quenched all rational demands.
But for those who
deem
Hegel's heroic effort to

gives

the

Essays in Popular Philosophy.

74

Such

datum.

uttermost

also is the attitude

of all hard*

Verstandesmenschen.
analysts and
Renouvier, and Hodgson promptly say that
minded

as

seek
nor

whole

soften the

to

reconcile

to

But

with

us

The

through ecstasy
of every

the world,

may

be made

by

confession

more

tical
mys-

of

be sought
rationality
may
logic fails. To religiousper

peace

when

shade

be

can

of

experience
ther
given,but nei-

abruptness of the
our
impotence.

mediating attempts
minds.

sons

account

no

Lotze,

of doctrine

it is,seems

moments

come

when

divinelyorderly,and the
plete,
rapturously comacceptance of it by the heart so
that
the
intellectual questions vanish ; nay,
intellect itself is hushed
Wordsworth
to sleep,
as
thought is not; in enjoyment it expires."
says,
fills the soul that ontologiso
Ontological emotion
cal speculation can
no
longer overlap it and put
her girdle of interrogation-marks round
existence.
of men
have
felt with
the least religious
Even
must
when
Walt
Whitman,
loafingon the grass on some
and
swiftlyarose
morning, that
transparent summer
spread round him the peace and knowledge that pass
as

so

"

"

"

all the

argument

of the

At

earth."

such

moments

something
energeticlivingwe feel as if there were
and
diseased
contemptible, yea vile, in theoretic
grubbing and brooding. In the eye of healthy sense
fool.
the philosopher is at best a learned
of

Since

the

heart

which

the

can

thus wall

head

out

the

ultimate

ascertains,the erection

tionality
irraof its

be
would
a
procedure into a systematized method
of first-rate importance. But
philosophicachievement
used by mystics hitherto it has lacked
universality,
as
being available for few persons and at few times, and

of

Sentiment

The

Rationality.

75

tion
being apt to be followed by fits of reacshould
that the
and
dryness ; and if men
agree
is a subterfugewithout
logicalpertinency,
mysticalmethod
entity
a
plasterbut no cure, and that the idea of nonbe exorcised, empiricism will be the
never
can
then will be a brute
ultimate
philosophy. Existence
the emotion
of ontologic
whole
fact to which
as
a
shall rightfully
wonder
cleave, but remain
eternally
Then
wonderfulness
unsatisfied.
or
mysteriousness
of things,
will be an essential attribute of the nature
and
and
the exhibition
tinue
emphasizing of it will conto be an
ingredient in the philosophicindustry
of the race.
Every generation will produce its Job,

in these

even

its

its

Hamlet,

With

this

Faust,

we

to

seem

its Sartor

or

have

Resartus.

considered

the

ties
possibili-

of

purely theoretic rationality.But we saw at the


that rationality
outset
meant
only unimpeded mental
function.
Impediments that arise in the theoretic
if the stream
of
sphere might perhaps be avoided
mental

action

should

leave

that

sphere

betimes

and

into the

practical. Let us therefore inquirewhat


the feelingof rationality
constitutes
in its practical
aspect. If thought is not to stand forever pointing
at the universe
in wonder, if its movement
is to be
pass

diverted

from

the

issueless channel

of

purely theoretic
contemplation,let us ask what conception of the universe
will awaken
active impulses capable of effecting
this diversion.

give back
blocked
make

to

in the

of

definition of the world

the mind

the world

Well,

two

logicaldemand,

the

free motion

which

which

will

has been

purely contemplative path may so far


rational again.
seem
conceptions equally fit to satisfythe
that

one

which

awakens

the

active

Essays in Popular Philosophy.

76

satisfies other

impulses,or

other, will be

the

than

aesthetic demands

accounted

the

better
rational

more

conception, and will deservedly prevail.


There
is nothing improbable in the supposition
that an analysisof the world
of
yield a number
may
with the facts. In physical
formulae, all consistent
science different formulae
explain the phenomena
may
the one-fluid and the two-fluid theories
equallywell,
of electricity,
for example.
it not
be so
Why may
with
there not
the world?
be different
Why
may
points of view for surveying it,within each of which
"

harmonize, and which

all data

choose

the observer

may

fore
there-

one
simply cumulate
A Beethoven
is truly,
another?
string-quartet
upon
has said, a scraping of horses' tails on
one
as
some
be exhaustively described
cats' bowels, and
in
may
the applicationof this description
such
terms
; but
of
in no way
applicability
precludesthe simultaneous
an
going
entirelydifferent description. Just so a thoroughin terms
of the world
of mechanical
interpretation
is compatible with its being interpreted
sequence
itself may
for the mechanism
be
teleologically,
designed.
several systems excogitated,
If, then, there were
equally satisfyingto our purely logicalneeds, they
stillhave to be passed in review, and approved
would
Can
nature.
or
rejectedby our aesthetic and practical
which
these parts of
define the tests of rationality
we

either

our

nature

between,

would

use?

Philosophers long
fact that
a

school

mere

ago

observed

the

familiaritywith things

feelingof
has been

or

so

their
much

remarkable

is able to

duce
pro-

rationality.The
empiricist
struck by this circumstance

The
as

and

to

Sentiment

laid it down

have

Rationality.

that the

thing, and

that

this exists.

The

juxtaposed in

one

kind

the

and

same

of

rationalitythan
daily contemplation of phenomena
certain
order
begets an acceptance
no

connection,

by theoretic
explain a thing is
; to know

other

77

feelingof rationality

are
feelingof familiarity

the

of their

of

absolute

as

as

the

repose

engendered
To
insightinto their coherence.
to

pass

easilyback

its antecedents

to

easilyto foresee its consequents.


lets us
do
Custom, which
both, is thus the source
of whatever
rationalitythe thing may
gain in our
thought.
In the broad
in which
defined
sense
was
rationality
of this essay, it is perfectlyapparent
at the outset
that custom

it is

must

be

one

of its factors.

We

said that

of
devoid
perfectlyfluent and easy thought was
of irrationality.
the sentiment
Inasmuch
then as custom
acquaints us with all the relations of a thing,it
teaches us to pass fluentlyfrom that thing to others,
and pro tanto tingesit with the rational character.
Now, there is one
particularrelation of greater
I mean
the
practicalimportance than all the rest,
relation of a thing to its future consequences.
So
long as an object is unusual, our
expectations are
baffled ; they are
it
as
soon
as
fully determined
any

"

becomes

familiar.

therefore

first practicalrequisitewhich

propose

this

as

the

philosophicconception
must
: It must, in
a
satisfy
general way at least,
banish uncertainty
from the future. The permanent
of the sense
of futurity
in the mind
has been
presence
strangelyignored by most writers, but the fact is that
consciousness
our
is never
at a given moment
free
from the ingredientof expectancy.
Every one knows
how when
a painfulthing has to be
undergone in the
a

Essays in Popular Philosophy.

78

future,the vague

near

all
vitiates

our

mood

our

attention

feelingthat it is impending penetrates


and
thought with uneasiness
subtly

; it

when

even

keeps

it does

from

us

being

control

not

our

rest, at home

at

in

is true
when
a
given present. The same
great
the future is neutral
But when
happiness awaits us.
do not
and perfectlycertain, 'we
mind
it,'as we say,
but give an
attention to the actual.
Let
undisturbed
this haunting sense
of futuritybe thrown
off its
now
bearings or left without an object,and immediately
takes
But
uneasiness
in
possession of the mind.
novel
unclassified
or
experience this is just
every

the

what

occurs

while

custom

because

per

the

one

know

not

novelty per

; and

next

do

we

becomes

se

is

se

baffles while

mental

mental

will

what

come

irritant,

sedative, merely
other

the

settles

our

expectations.
feel the

Every reader must


meant
by coming to
with new
or
people?

feel at

'

take

we

know

what

up
what

doors

our

It is

may

what

open,

be

interestingobjects may

new

blow

may

'

home

in

simply that,at

quarters in

draughts

truth of this.

room,

in

forms
found

upon
may

in

What

is

place,
when
first,

new

we
our

do

not

back,

enter, what

cupboards and

days we have learned the


the feelingof strangeof all these possibilities,
ness
range
with
it does
so
people, when
disappears. And
have
tially
we
got past the point of expecting any essenWhen

corners.

new

after

few

from

manifestations

their character.

effect of expectation
utilityof this emotional
natural selection,'in fact,was
is perfectlyobvious ;
later. It is of the
bound
to bring it about
or
sooner
that he
utmost
practicalimportance to an animal
of the objects
have prevision of the qualities
should
The

'

Sentiment

The

him, and

that surround

sleep,for example,
of enemies,

dens

peril or
with

view

or

that

appearing object
important addition

might
to

"

indifference
if

might,
the

that

not

advantage,
go
of precipices,
in

the brink

on

79

he should

of circumstances

in presence
fraught either with

be

Rationality.

especiallythat

rest

to

come

of

some

chased,

the

newan

prove

larder.

Novelty ought to
All curiosityhas thus a practicalgeneirritate him.
sis.
We
need
only look at the physiognomy of a
into his
a
new
object comes
dog or a horse when
view, his mingled fascination and fear,to see that the
of conscious
element
insecurityor perplexed expectation
lies at the root
of his emotion.
A
osity
dog's curito

of his master

the movements

about

or

strange

far as the point of deciding


as
objectonly extends
is going to happen next.
what
That
osity
settled,curiThe
is quenched.
dog quoted by Darwin,
in

behavior

whose

of

presence

moved

newspaper

to testifyto a
of the
sense
by the wind seemed
was
merely exhibitingthe irritation of
supernatural/
'

an

future.

uncertain

in

spontaneouslywas
could

brute

poor

tell what

which

could

unexpected
wonders

new

move

that

the

the next

might bring forth.

moment

To

not

newspaper
itself so

back

turn

to

now

philosophy. An ultimate
be logicallyunrationalized,

though it
its qualityis such as to define expectancy, be
peacefullyaccepted by the mind ; while if it leave
the least opportunity for ambiguity in the future,it
datum,
will,if

even

will

that

to

distress.
universe

from
be

extent

in

Now,
which

mental

cause

the

the

ultimate

craving

for

uneasiness

if not

explanations of the
has elicited
rationality

the human

mind, the demands

satisfied have

always played

of
a

expectancy

fundamental

to

part

Essays in Popular Philosophy.

80
The

term

been

by philosophersas

set

up
which

one

for

banishes

example,

Beharrlicheywhich
be

not

may

phenomena
set

may

have

we

the

minds

our

called

at

the

for

us

character

rest

And
in

be

its

although

detail

the

we

future

shall

is in store

inconsistent

that

so

das

says,

that whatever

bottom

of this term

stance/
Sub-

give rise,we
in a general way,
when
God, Perfection,Love,

substance

at

never

can

'

been, because

substance

Reason, by the reflection

or

it has

prophesy

to

which

to

as

Kant

as

eternal.

and

able

incalculable.

means,

will be

is essential

being

the

primordial has

attitude

our

with

the
ward
to-

even

the

defined.
unexpected is in a general sense
Take
mon
again the notion of immortality,which for combe the touchstone
of every
to
people seems
philosophic or religiouscreed : what is this but a
of expectancy
of saying that the determination
way
of rationality? The
essential
factor
is the
wrath
of science
against miracles, of certain philosophers
of free-will,has
precisely the
against the doctrine
root,

same

dislike

"

things which
stabilityof our

to

rout
may
outlook.

in the

such

substratum"

continue
would

the

should

we

to

terminated?
believe
we
can

that

should
we

be

in the

occur

be

discover

Should

we

so

then

be

now?"

upset the
this

If there

be

"

order, and

same

missed?

able to

not

it still existed

not

"

in

it at this
suppose
tions
annihilated, and let the sensa-

substratum
be

substance

Mill,

says

miraculously

instant

factor

strangely overlook

of

doctrine

ultimate

any

prevision or

our

writers

Anti-substantialist
function

admit

as

By

that
have
we

what

how

signs

its existence
as

now

much

have?

had

reason

And

to

if

believingit,how
have
Truly enough, if we

warranted

in

Essays in Popular Philosophy.

82

in their presence,

to rest

come

will seek

and

for solutions

reassuringkind.
We
then, I think, with perfect confidence
lay
may
first point gained in our
down
as
a
inquiry,that a
prime factor in the philosophiccraving is the desire
to have
expectancy defined ; and that no philosophy
will definitively
triumph which in an emphatic manner
denies the possibility
of gratifying
this need.
of

We

pass

with

this to

It is not

topic.
to

more

know

sufficient for

the future
in either of
For

scale

it must

define

in other
be

as

fatal to

great division of
satisfaction

our

determined, for it may

many

the
A

to

our

merely

be

mined
deter-

agreeable or disagreeable.

ways,

philosophy

spontaneous powers.
will

the next

succeed

on

universal

future

congruously with our


peachable
be unimphilosophy may
either of two

respects, but

its universal

acceptance.

defects

First, its

be one
that essentially
not
principle must
dearest desires and most
baffles and
disappoints our
A pessimistic
penhauer's
cherished
principlelike Schopowers.
incurably vicious Will-substance,or Hartthe Unconscious, will
mann's
wicked
jack-of-all-trades
perpetuallycall forth essays at other philosophies.
tive
Incompatibilityof the future with their desires and ac-

ultimate

tendencies

is,in fact,to

most

men

source

of

more

uncertainty itself. Witness


the
the attempts to overcome
problem of evil,'the
is no
problem of good.'
mystery of pain.' There
defect in a philosophy
and
second
But
worse
a
active propensitiesis
than that of contradictingour
to press against. A
to give them
no
object whatever
principleis so incommensurate
philosophy whose
all
to deny them
with our
intimate powers
as
most
fixed

disquietude than

Sentiment

The

in universal

relevancy
motives

at

Rationality.

affairs,as

blow, will be

one

Better

pessimism.

than

of

their

unpopular

more

the

the

enemy
materialism

than

is called

extradition

will always
why
fail of universal
adoption, however well it may fuse
clearlyit may
things into an atomistic unity,however
denies
prophesy the future eternity. For materialism
realityto the objectsof almost all the impulses which
The
cherish.
real meaning of the impulses,
most
we
it says, is something which
has no
emotional
interest
Void

eternal

for
is

This

face

annihilate

to

even

83

whatever.

us

quite

is

what

Now,

characteristic

as

both

of

'

emotions

our

as

of

'

our

of the
object as the cause
ence
an
intenselyobjective referIn like manner
lies in fear !
an
enraptured man
and
of
not
are
a
dreary-feelingman
simply aware
the force of their
their subjectivestates ; if they were,
feelingswould all evaporate. Both believe there is
outward
cause
why they should feel as they do :
either, It is a glad world ! how good life is ! or,
loathsome
What
tedium
is existence
!
a
Any
erence
philosophy which annihilates the validityof the refby explaining away its objects or translating
of no emotional
them into terms
pertinency,leaves the

point to
present feeling. What

senses

an

"

"

"

"

mind

with

little to

acutely brought
to

kindred
act, but

motives.
the

no

that

home

horror.

to

In

power

of

of there

for.

This

nightmare
we

is the

nightmare,

consciousness

; here

nameless

thought

act

or

from

condition

care

we

have

unheimlichkeit

but

it
have
powers,
comes

posite
op-

when

produces
motives

but
over

no
us

being nothing eternal in our


final purposes,
in the objectsof those loves and aspirations
which
are
our
strously
deepest energies. The monlopsided equation of the universe and its
at

Essays in Popular Philosophy.

84

knower, which
is

postulate as the ideal of cognition,


perfectlyparalleledby the no less lopsided equation
of the

we

universe
for

character

which

shall be
is the

as

each

that

point

whole,

vast

speak, and

"

is able

doer.

which

Small
the

as

what

do

in it

active

we

are,

propensities
minute

impinges

to

feel that his

is congruous
with
that he balances
to

demand

and

cosmos

desires

one

We

emotions

our

match.

of us, each

one

at

the

point by

the

and

the

tion
reac-

demands

the

it expects

upon

latter,so
of him.

of
to

But

ral
wholly in the line of his natutions
propensities
; as he enjoys reactingwith such emoness,
fortitude,hope, rapture, admiration, earnestas
he very
and the like ; and
as
unwillinglyreacts
with
a
fear, disgust,despair,or doubt,
philosophy
of the latter
should
which
only legitimateemotions

his abilities to do

as

lie

"

sort

be

would
and

sure

to

leave the mind

tent
to discon-

prey

craving.
littlerecognized how

lect
entirelythe intelinterests.
The
is built up of practical
theory of
evolution is beginning to do very good service by its
of all mentalityto the type of reflex action.
reduction
a
Cognition, in this view, is but a fleetingmoment,
in its totality
cross-section at a certain point, of what
In the lower forms
of life
is a motor
phenomenon.
will pretend that cognition is anything more
no
one
The
than
germinal
a
guide to appropriate action.
question concerning things brought for the first time
It is far too

consciousness

before

is not

the

theoretic

'

'

What

is

or
rather,
practical Who
goes there?
is to be
has admirably put it, What
Horwicz
as
In all our
sions
discus'Was
done?'
fang' ich an?'
of lower animals, the only
the intelligence
about
is that of their acting as if for a purpose.
test we
use

that?'

but

the

'

'

"

of

Sentiment

The

Rationality.

85

Cognition,in short, is incomplete until dischargedin


that the later mental
velopmen
deand although it is true
act;
which
attains its maximum
through the
of man,
gives birth to a vast
hypertrophiedcerebrum
that
and
above
of theoretic
amount
activity over
which
is immediately ministerial to practice,
yet the
earlier claim
is only postponed, not
effaced,and the
its rightsto the end.
active nature
asserts
is the object offered
When
in its totality
the cosmos
to

consciousness, the relation

is in

whit

no

altered.

It was
congenialway.
a
deep instinct in Schopenhauer which led him to
reinforce his pessimisticargumentation by a running
and his
volleyof invective againstthe practicalman
requirements. No hope for pessimism unless he is

React

it we

on

must

in

some

slain !
Helmholtz's
to

great

parts

words

as

on

the eye

than

sensations

shall

we

and

ear

commentary

utility
wholly
practical

our

which

works

little more

extent

the law that

parts of

immortal

determines

be

aware

are
on

which

of, and

shall

nate
ignore. We notice or discrimian
ingredient of sense
only so far as we depend
it to modify our
We
actions.
comprehend a
upon
thingwhen we synthetize it by identitywith another
standing,
thing. But the other great department of our underacquaintance (the two departments being
recognized in all languages by the antithesis of such
what

we

wissen

is that

also

and

but

kemien

scire and

noscerey

etc.),

synthesis, a synthesisof a
passive perception with a certain tendency to reaction?
We
are
as
we
acquainted with a thing as soon
have learned how
towards
behave
to
to
it,or how
the behavior
meet
which we
expect from it. Up to
that point it is still ' strange to us.
a

"

'

Essays in PopularPhilosophy.

86
If there
that

however

datum, he

universal

ultimate
it unknown

to

pretends that
be

it should
"

who

anything at all in this view, it follows


vaguely a philosopher may define the

be

says

us

so

long

as

emotional

our

of

life is

he in the
or

said

to

leave

slightest
degree

active

rather

sort

one

be

cannot

attitude

than

toward

another.

real, life is earnest," however

He
much

speak of the fundamental


mysteriousness of
ness
things,gives a distinct definition to that mysteriousby ascribing to it the right to claim from us the
which
mood
called seriousness,
the
means
particular
willingnessto live with energy, though energy bring
who
is true
of him
pain. The same
says that all is
vanity. For indefinable as the predicate vanity may
sia,
be in se, it is clearlysomething that permits anaesthefrom suffering,
rule of life.
to be our
mere
escape
There can
be no greater incongruitythan for a disciple
stance
of Spencer to proclaim with one
breath that the subthat
of things is unknowable, and with the next
the thought of it should inspireus with awe, reverence,
and a willingness
to add
our
co-operativepush in the
he

may

"

'

'

its manifestations

which

toward

direction

drifting. The

unknowable

be

if it make

distinct

upon

such

surely are
If

we

not

may
demands

ignorant of

survey

the

seem

unfathomed,

its essential

to

be
but

we
activity
quality.
our

field of

history and ask what


revival,of expansion of

periods of
shall find, I
the human
we
mind, displayin common,
have
think, simply this: that each and all of them
said to the human
being, The inmost nature of the
possess."
reality is congenial to powers which
you
of primitive
In what
did the emancipating message
that
consist but in the announcement
Christianity
feature

all great

"

recognizes those
paganism had so

God
which

repentance
at

least

the

it the

straightto

the

the

overlooked

be

nothing rightlycan
for paganism this
But

do

supernumerary,
pure
fair. Christianity
took

within
And

which

us

after the

so

it,in what

Take

did

the

it,

appealed
night of
obloquy

long branded with


impulses of the flesh,and
such that only slavish natures

generous

with

the

impulses

tender

and

87

of God.

had

ages

realityto

commune

can

power

the heart

middle

even

one

was

Rationality.

rudely

repent of his failures.

made

the

weak

who

man

facultyof repentance
stragglertoo late for
and

of

Sentiment

The

defined

could

corda of the

sursum

lie but in the proclamation


platonizing renaissance
that the archetype of verity in things laid claim
of our
whole
aesthetic being ?
the widest activity
on
Luther's mission and Wesley's but appeals
What
were
the meanest
which
of men
even
to powers
might
faith and self-despair,but which
carry with them,
were
personal,requiring no priestlyintermediation,
which
and
face to face with
brought their owner
"

God

but

What
the

"

caused

the wildfire
he

assurance

gave

influence

that man's

of Rousseau
nature

was

of things,if only the


harmony with the nature
would
from
stand
paralyzing corruptions of custom
How
did Kant
between?
and
and
Fichte, Goethe
Schiller,inspiretheir time with cheer, except by saying,
Use all your powers
; that is the only obedience
the universe
And
exacts
?
Carlyle with his gospel
of work, of fact, of veracity,how
he move
does
us
imposes no tasks
except by saying that the universe
but such as the most
humble
us
can
perform ?
upon
Emerson's
creed that everything that ever
will
or
was
be is here in the enveloping now;
that man
has but
to obey himself,
He
who will rest in what
he is,
in

"

"

"

"

Essays in PopularPhilosophy.

88
is

part of destiny,"

"

of

exorcism

an

natural

of one's
In

I will
truth

"

word,

speak
to

all

Son

the

that

disciple.But

scepticism

manner

as

to

the

nothing but
pertinency

faculties.

unto

which

is in like

of Man,
thee ! "

stand
is the

upon thy feet and

only

revelation

of

solvingepochs have helped the


has been
enough to satisfythe

greater part of his rational

need.

In

se

and

per

se

has

defined
hardly been more
by any of these formulas than by the agnostic x ;
that my
such as they
but the mere
assurance
powers,
irrelevant to it, but pertinent; that it
not
are, are
recognize their
speaks to them and will in some
way
reply; that I can be a match for it if I will,and not a
it rational to my
suffices to make
ing
feelfootless waif,
in the sense
Nothing could be more
given above.
absurd than to hope for the definitive triumph of any
and to
philosophy which should refuse to legitimate,
the more
in an emphatic manner,
powerful
legitimate
and practical
tendencies.
emotional
of our
Fatalism,
whose
solvingword in all crises of behavior is all
for the
reign supreme,
strivingis vain," will never
is indestructible
in the
impulse to take life strivingly
creeds which
Moral
speak to that impulse will
race.
be widely successful in spiteof inconsistency,
vagueness,
Man
of expectancy.
and shadowy determination
if one
be
needs a rule for his will,and will invent one
the

universal

essence

"

"

not

given him.
But

Men's

now

active

observe

most

impulsesare

so

important consequence.
that
mixed
differently

philosophy fit in this respect for Bismarck will almost


certainlybe unfit for a valetudinarian poet. In other
in advance
the
can
lay down
words, although one

Essays in Popular Philosophy.

90

that he owns
the rough, harsh, sea-wave,
powers
north-wind
element, the denier of persons, the democ"

ratizer

is banished

"

because

for communion.

desire

much

jarstoo

it is the very

Now,

that throws

of this element

it

men

many

the

on

enjoyment
the materialistic

upon

agnostichypothesis,as a polemic reaction


They sicken at a life
against the contrary extreme.
of intimacy. There
is an
powering
overwholly constituted
desire at moments
to escape
to
personality,
or

action

revel in the
our

ego,

over

us.

of

let the

to

The

forces that have

tides

will,I think, always be


men

will

that

lies in the

on
keep insisting

others,

with;

react

must

the

on

seen

the

kinds
in

for

of mental

per
tem-

Some

philosophy.

the atonement,

reason,

of

things,and that we
opacity of brute fact

act

can

that

we

against.

there

Now,

heart

two

respect

though they flow

flow, even

strife of these

no

is

element

one

of

active

our

nature

religionhas emphaticallyrecognized,
but which
philosophers as a rule have with
tried to huddle
of sight in their
out
great insincerity
pretensionto found systems of absolute certainty. I
the

which

the

mean

Christian

element

of

faith.

Faith

doubt
is
something concerning which
possible; and as the test of belief
to

act,

in

to

us

one

may

say

that faith is the

which

we

call courage

in

in

cally
still theoretiis

willingness

readiness

issue of which
the prosperous
It is in fact the same
in advance.

cause

belief

means

to

certified

is not
moral

practicalaffairs ;

act

and

quality
there

of vigorous
widespread tendency in men
of uncertainty
amount
to enjoy a certain
nature
in their philosophiccreed, justas risk lends a zest to
worldly activity. Absolutely certified philosophies

will be

very

Sentiment

The

the inconcussum

seeking

one

conceiving the

he
of
to

trust, to

to

function.

universe

which

makes

and

makes

the

power,

generous

on
man,
average
risk a little beyond

essential

an

the

In the

part.

contrary, the power


literal evidence, is
this

natures

passion for identity (which we saw to be


normally
abfactor of the rational appetite)plays an
exclusive

of

fruits of mental

are

91

the

in which
but

Rationality,

of

an

the

Any mode
appeal to

man

seem

if

as

individuallyhelping to create the actuality


the truth whose
metaphysical realityhe is willing
will be sure
to be responded to by large
assume,
were

numbers.
tal
necessityof faith as an ingredientin our menattitude is strongly insisted on
by the scientific
philosophersof the present day ; but by a singularly
arbitrarycaprice they say that it is only legitimate
in the interests of one
when
used
particularproposition,
the proposition,namely, that the course
of

The

"

That

is uniform.

nature

the

admit,

which

truth

that she

laws

same

no

of

cognition as

postulateor
giltnur der

it.

interests

give

to
or

it

treat

regard
of

number

think

reason

any

as

man

well
As

as

row
to-mor-

to-day is,they
know

can

but

of action

Helmholtz

vertraue

:
:

urges

follows

follow

und

says

handle

in the
must

we
:

!"

all

"

Hier
And

Our

is in proposonly error
ing
of the postuor
justification
late,
otherwise
than begged at the
"

outset."

With
a

to

Rath

eine

Bain

Professor

very

assume

will

nature

that

to
our

all other
most

attitude

possibletruths,however,
influential

of faith is not

contemporaries

but
only illogical
Faith in a religious
shameful.
dogma for which there
is no
outward
are
proof, but which we
tempted to
just as we pospostulatefor our emotional interests,
an

tulate

Popular Philosophy.

in

Essays

o2

uniformity of

the

for

nature

intellectual

our

interests, is branded
of

depth

lowest

"

the

on

'sin'

'guilt'and

'

other

Why

does

the

stuff'

the

are

Why

it?

of

use

being

evidence
scientific
truth

more

than

theory, although the


which

same

as

they?

would

which

evidence

make

Mr.

seem

'

fore
proofs beLewes
reject
'

units
primordial

he believe in

does

on

without

Clifford fearlessly
proclaim his belief in the

conscious-automaton
him

is the

same

reach

can

calls it

He

truth

the

even

what

But

with

one

men,

of Belief.'

Ethics

believe

to

scientificevidence.'

genius, unless

this kind

Aufklarung might be
Professor Clifindefinitely.Take
ford's

multipliedalmost
article

the

"

as

modern

the

of

leaders

from

by Professor Huxley
immorality." Citations of

of4 mind-

quite worthless

Simply because, like every human


mental originality,
he is pecubeing of the slightest
liarly
Professor Bain ?

to

sensitive

evidence

to

that bears

in

some

rection
di-

one

utterlyhopelessto try to exorcise such


sensitiveness by calling it the disturbing subjective
jective
Subfactor, and branding it as the root of all evil.
be it called ! and
disturbing'to those whom
It is

'

'

'

it foils !
"

vim

naturae

Pretend
work

helps those who, as Cicero says,


magis sentiunt,"it is good and not evil.
if it

But

what

when

we

we

the

may,

form

our

will,taste, and
do

in

be

not

whole

man

within

us

is

philosophical
opinions.

at

tellect,
In-

passionco-operate justas they


it is if the passion
love of personalconquest

affairs; and lucky


practical

something
over

the

as

petty

as

philosopheracross

abstraction

of

an

the way.

The

surd
ab-

intellect verbally formulating

carefullyestimating the probability


thereof by a vulgar fraction by the size of whose
alone it is swayed, is
denominator
and
numerator

all its evidence

and

it is

ideallyas inept as
incredible

that

or

has

ever

Rationality.

actuallyimpossible.
who

men

philosophers should
be,

of

Sentiment

The

93

It is almost

themselves

working
philosophy can
any
without the help of

are

pretend that

been, constructed

How
have
personal preference,belief, or divination.
in so stultifying
their sense
for the living
they succeeded
facts of human
nature
not to perceivethat every
as
of science
either,whose initiative
philosopher,or man
for anything in the evolution
of thought, has
counts

taken

his stand

truth

must

and

be

can

in

lie in

one

of

sort

made

The

rather

direction

work

make

; and

has

than

another,

that his notion


borne

These

it work?

that the

his

best

mental

fruit

instincts

variations
the spontaneous
upon
is based.
the intellectual struggle for existence

in different
which

conviction

preliminary assurance
to

trying to

of dumb

sort

on

men

are

fittest

conceptions survive, and with them the


of their champions shining to all futurity.
names
The
coil is about
The
struggle as we
us,
may.
we
only escape from faith is mental nullity. What
in a Huxley or a Clifford is not the proenjoy most
fessor
with his learning,but the human
personality
ready to go in for what it feels to be right,in spite of
all appearances.
The
has but one
est,
interconcrete
man
for him is the art of all arts,
to be right. That
"

fair which

and

all

means

are

he is

flunginto

the

there
the

are

no

world,

rules

of

scientific game,

and

to

him

between

civilized

burdens

him

help

it

of fact

helps us

to

we
our

frustrate the end

all

end.
and

or

more

But

call

us

and

nature

rules

of

proof,presumptions,

experimenta cruris,complete inductions,


are
only binding on those who enter that
matter

Naked

The

warfare.

of

it.

less do
if the

cheats

enter

means

for

and

the

game.

like,
As

it,because
presume

to

being right in

Essays in Popular Philosophy.

94

of their slow

advance

shall

crook, what

or

aid, by guesswork

Clifford's works,

say of them?
the Ethics
of

we

except

hook

by

or

all of

Were

Belief, forgotten,

he

might well figure in future treatises on psychology


in place of the somewhat
threadbare
instance
of the miser
led by the association
who
has been
of
ideas to preferhis gold to all the goods he might buy
therewith.
In

short, if I

with

born

such

superior general
reaction
that I can
to evidence
rightand act
guess
of right action,
accordingly,and gain all that comes
while my
less giftedneighbor (paralyzedby his scruples
which
he dares
and waiting for more
evidence
he
not
as
longs to) still stands
anticipate,much
bidden
shivering on the brink, by what law shall I be forto reap the advantages of my
superior native
belief in such
sensitiveness?
I yield to my
Of course
this or distrust it,alike at my
a
case
as
peril,just as
I do in any of the great practicaldecisions
of life.
inborn
If my
faculties are
good, I am a prophet ; if
I

poor,

mouth,

am

am

failure

there

and

of life we

stake

theoretic

part

our

not

most,

end

an

the command

yet verified by the

senses

may

me.

on

are

safer if

sion,
conclu-

ever
there, how-

laid upon
us
by science to believe nothing
is a prudential rule intended
maximto ize

our
errors
right thinking and minimize
instance
must
we
frequently lose
particular

we

to

be.1

our

the whole

her

In the total game


all the while ; and if in its

of

persons

they

of

out

me

spews

will help us
persons
also stake
should
them

inarticulate
At

nature

our

surely we

is

we

follow

in the

truth

long run.

by

In

the

obeying it ; but

it consistently,
for

we

are

sure

to

ance
gains. It is like those gambling and insurourselves
rules based on probability,in which
we
secure
against
total
But
this
losses in detail by hedging on the
run.
hedging philosophy

cover

our

losses

with

our

requiresthat long run

should

be there ; and

this makes

it

inap-

what
a

being myself

in

But

live

think

or

words?

We

seem

cannot

of

degree

some

95

proving

realitywill

for

sense

wasting

not

refuted

in

five minutes,

who

chemist

the

take

trouble

bottle, finds
he

whether

some

others

conjectures that
has

arsenic, and

contains

to

faith.

or

some

the

labors

tester

of

of their

that he acts

"

expects the result

of

results

his

action

or

the

corroboration, each

simple way,

put

hypotheses can be
A
defy ages.
may
certain
a
wall-paper
enough to lead him
of it into a hydrogen

But
like
theories
wrong.
of
that of the kinetic constitution

exhaust

may

faith

by

out

right

was

that of Darwin,
matter,

while

is that

difference

only

this

articulate in

very

all without

at

Rationality.

i^synonymous with working hypothesis.The

Faith

to

am
platitude,

so

with

all readers

to

of

Sentiment

The

generationsin their
truth proceeding in
if it were

as

true, and

disappoint him if his assumption


is false. The
longer disappointment is delayed, the
his faith in his theory.
stronger grows
lute
Now, in such questions as God, immortality,absono
morality,and free-will,
non-papal believer at
the present day pretends his faith to be of an essentially
different complexion ; he can
always doubt his
But his intimate
creed.
persuasion is that the odds
in its favor are
him
in acting
strong enough to warrant
all along on
the assumption of its truth.
His
corroboration
of things
or
repudiation by the nature
be deferred
until the day of judgment.
The
may
plicableto

to

the

question of religiousfaith as
to the individual
He
man.
plays the game
for
he
with
him to lose
losses,
bringsnothing
and

it is
for

deny,
one

he

now

or

humanity, is
runs

it shall be.

with

never

his

not

has

for
the

him.

Let

natural

latter

; he
run

him

home

comes

of life not

him, for the long

there

risk, and

the

to

escape

plays it for gains ;


which

exists

deed
in-

doubt, believe,or

right to

choose

which

Essays in Popular Philosophy.

96

he

uttermost

to

should

out,

fool's

my

days

in

the

dupe

of such

of

materialism

of Rome,

which

much

as

or

Our

too

vague

reasons

are

with the volume

if it

spent
been

the

should

go

in, had

we

French

empire or the
other system of thingstoward
is vast enough to determine

any

energeticaction, but

but

have

"

cunning reader
then
beyond all doubt
short, we go in against

we

second

repugnance

our

In

view."

against the

chance,

Church

which

that

very

better

paradise,why,
than

this

that I have

it may,

dreamland

itself to

unmasks

like

world

indeed

as

something like
tenfold glory ;

with

triumph

expect then
turn

is

means

now

of

our

to

issue in distinct

gumentation
ar-

surate
ludicrouslyincommenfeeling,
yet on the latter

unhesitatinglyact.

we

I wish

show

what

knowledge has
been
ured
never
clearlypointed out, that belief (as meascontinually
by action) not only does and must
outstripscientific evidence, but that there is a certain
class of truths of whose
realitybelief is a factor as
well as a confessor ; and that as regards this class of
truths faith is not
tial
only licit and pertinent,but essentruths
become
and
cannot
indispensable. The
Now,

true

tillour

to

faith has

made

to

them

my

so.

climbing in the
Suppose, for example, that I am
Alps, and have had the ill-luck to work myself into a
positionfrom which the only escape is by a terrible
leap. Being without similar experience,I have no
of my
evidence
abilityto perform it successfully;but
I shall
sure
hope and confidence in myself make me
not

miss

aim, and

nerve

my

feet to execute

what

subjectiveemotions would perhaps have


impossible. But suppose that,on the contrary,

without
been

my

those

Essays in Popular Philosophy.

98

the reaction of the


represent the entire world minus
thinker
it,and if M + x represent the absolutely
upon
of philosophicpropositions(x standingfof
total matter
the thinker's
a

universal

Let

its results), what


"

be

to

if

in which

said that

the

change

of

were

egregious error

it not

component

and

truth if the term

become

might

whole

reaction

is too

be

complexion,

altered

character

it lies imbedded.

one

would

its character.

infinitesimal
of the

immense

Everything depends
philosophic proposition

point of view of the


in question. If we
have
the universe
from
to define
the critical material
the point of view of sensibility,
for our
judgment lies in the animal kingdom, insignificant
The
moral
that is,quantitatively
considered.
as
definition of the world
depend on phenomena
may
restricted still in range.
In short, many
more
a long
reversed
phrase may have its sense
by the addition of
on

the

three

letters,n-o-t

many

monstrous

mass

have

its

equilibriumdischarged one way or the other


by a feather weight that falls.
Let us make
this clear by a few examples. The philosophy
of evolution
criterion
offers us to-day a new
ethical test between
to serve
as
an
right and wrong.
Previous
have
left
criteria,it says, being subjective,
of opinion and
still floundering in variations
the
us
belli. Here
is a criterion
which
is objective
status
is destined
and fixed : That is to be called good which
But we
to prevail or survive.
immediately see that this
standard
can
only remain objectiveby leaving myself
and
If what
conduct
out.
prevailsand survives
my
does
that
without
do so
so
by my help, and cannot
help ; if something else will prevailin case I alter my
of alternative
how
conscious
I possiblynow,
conduct,
can
unstable

"

courses

of action

open

before

me,

either of which

Sentiment

The

of

Rationality.

99

the path of events,


capable of altering
to take
course
by asking what path
If they follow my
follow?
dently
direction, evidirection
wait on them.
The
cannot
only

I may
suppose
which
decide
will

events

my

in which

possiblemanner
is the

standard

evolutionist

an

obsequious

method

of

can

use

his

the
forecasting

societywould take but for hint,and then putting


of
an
extinguisheron all personal idiosyncrasies
with bated
desire and interest,and
breath and
tiptoe
tread followingas straightas may
be at the tail,and
tures
bringingup the rear of everything. Some pious creafind a pleasure in this ; but not only does
may
it violate our
generalwish to lead and not to follow
if we
but lead
(a wish which is surely not immoral
but if it be treated as every ethical principle
aright),
be treated,
must
namely, as a rule good for all men
would
lead to its pracalike, its generalobservance
tical
refutation
lock.
by bringing about a general deadEach
good man
hanging back and waiting for
orders from the rest, absolute stagnationwould
ensue.
contribute an
Happy, then, if a few unrighteousones
initiative which
sets thingsmoving again !
course

"

"

All

this

is

no

caricature.

That

the

of

course

tionist
destiny may be altered by individuals no wise evoluought to doubt.
Everything for him has
has a bud which
small beginnings,
be
nipped,'
may
and
and
races
nipped by a feeble force. Human
'

follow

tendencies

The
which
race

has
of men,

in

have

best, according

also small

nings.
begin-

evolution, is that
biggest endings. Now, if a present

the

enlightened in

able

and

the law, and

to

tribe

future supremacy;

the

to

evolutionaryphilosophy,

forecast the future,were

arisingnear
were

able

them
to

the
see

able

to

cern
dis-

of
potentiality
that their

own

Essays in Popular Philosophy.

i oo

race

would

the

new-comers

eventually be wiped out of existence


if the expansion of these were

unmolested,

these

"

to

open

courses

with

the

now,

and

would

present sages

ours

both

In

the

cases

action

foundation

the evolutionist

for

is

in the

zero

herd

of

right as

it

sured
mea-

for

it is action

"

of ethics is

nullities

of events.

march

and

purely

whose

But

votes

for

others,

opinion or potentates, and in general those


actions positionor genius givesa far-reaching

whose

import, and
whenever

to

we

the

rest

of us, each

this school

ultimate

ethical factor.

such

questions as, What

makes

is

conduct

going

to

succeed?

belief

as

one

For

again

act

; energy

"

Take

"

must

that

full it is

which

type of
What

virtues?

is
question,What
fall back on personal

depends

of the truth.
on

of
energy
shall not

on

faith that

we

on

the

that

faith

example the question

himself

whether

much

so

being

of

noise

are

we

world
age,

optimism
just now

sometime

must

life is worth

looking at the
of misery, of old
in

faith

admit

faith thus verifies itself.

pessimism, which makes


Germany.
Every human
for

right. The

ideal

conditions

and

an

the determinat

philosophy

is the

needs

again success
again depends

to

"

the

of the ultimate

which
as

Any

on

that faith in turn

fail ; and

right,

depend

good?

will then

reckoned

shall be

What

humanity?

in his measure,

contribute
a cause
we
espouse
of
of the evolutionarystandard

discipleof

trulywise
an

the

to

race

of

leaders

as

two

harmony

Strangle the new


survives; help the new
race,

objectiveonly

to

have

them, either perfectlyin

by the evolutionarystandard,
the winning side.

count

left

evolutionary test:

survives.

Thus

by

and

or

in
cide
de-

pose
living. Supseeing how

of wickedness

and

The

of

Sentiment

Rationality.

101

future,he yieldsto
conclusion, cultivates disgustand dread,
pessimistic

pain,and
the

unsafe

how

own

thus

pendent
phenomena, indethe
of his subjectivity,
subjectivecomplement
of the whole
makes
an
utterlyblack
xy which
by no gleam of good. Pessimism
picture illumined
completed, verified by his moral reaction and the deed
in which
M
this ends, is true beyond a doubt.
+ x
of things totallybad.
man's
The
state
a
expresses
belief supplied all that was
it so, and
lacking to make
that it is made
the belief was
now
so
right.
adds

the

to

But

now

mass

that

instead

and

finds

of

mundane

that with

suppose
reaction

man's

the

of

He

suicide.

finallycommits

and
striving,

ceases

is his

is

giving

sterner,

the

not

the M

every
is here

the

evil he

suppose

braves

it,

wonderful

joy than any passive


triumphing over
pain and
does this successfully,
and

more

confess

one

the

to

pleasure can yield in


he
defying fear ; suppose
however
thickly evils crowd
dauntless
to be more
subjectivity
will

reversed

exactly

way

evil facts M"

same

conditio

upon

that

than
the

sine qua

him

his
proves
their match,
"

bad

character
of

of

the

good
character of the x?
Will not every one
clare
instantlydefitted only for fair-weather human
a world
beings
susceptibleof every passive enjoyment, but without
or
independence, courage,
fortitude,to be from
a
moral
point of view incommensurably inferior to a

world

framed

to

elicit from

and
triumphant endurance
As James Hinton
says,

the

non

man

every

conquering moral

form

of

energy?

"

"

Little

inconveniences,exertions,pains,

only thingsin
be

not

"

which

we

there, existence

these

feel our life at all.


rightly
becomes
or
worthless,
worse

are

the

If these
;

sue-

Essays in PopularPhilosophy.

102

cess

in

in

puttingthem all away is fatal. So it is men


engage
athletic sports, spend their holidaysin climbing up mountains,
find nothing so
enjoyableas that which taxes their

endurance
I say.
a fact.
the

to

the

It may

or

Now,

this

is not

fixed

That

be

life : the

more

it.

The

our

"

they are

life.

So

an
evil,but
necessarily
good."1

an

got

our

proper

the

But

it if

some

good,

we

shall

we

enjoyablesuffering

the

exhaustion

thus

unendurable,

we

are

must

say,

make

it

the

cognition of

the

creation

of the

makes

alone

sick.

be
and

achieved
that

can

We

not

means

have

other

since

it is what
How

good.
truth

not
more

highest

only by

our

about

come

born
of the faith
energy
shall succeed
in getting
we

moral

try pertinaciouslyenough.

we

of satisfaction.

utter

can

life ;

or

way

perceive pain is no
you
of the
essential element

highest good

getting our
proper
only by help of a
that in

line of

that

great, but

too

made,

are

perfectnessof the
they are, unendurable, awful,
in misery
be
borne
to
save

pains are, as
overwhelming, crushing,not
and dumb
impatience,which
patient, that our pains are
that

or

element

an

; it fluctuates with

one

we

paradox ; it is
endurance
is justaccording
physicalvigorand balance,

be made

stand

is the way

mystery

in

enjoyment
can

cannot

man

This

not

may

endurance

more

life.

their energy.

of
intensity

sick

and

truth?

can

we
we

faith which
M

has

This

world

make

it,

and

"

exclude

from

is involved

its character

is

in

terminate,
inde-

going
susceptibleof forming part of a thoroughhand, or of a meliorism,
pessimism on the one
moral
(as distinguishedfrom a sensual)optimism
of the
All depends on
the other.
the character

a
on

Life of
on

Picton.

James Hinton,
Faith
and
Sight
Hinton's

See also the excellent chapter


pp. 172, 173.
in the Mystery of Matter, by J. Allanson

Mystery

the classical utterance

on

of Pain

this

will

subject.

undoubtedly always

remain

personalcontribution

The

desire.

belief

wish

father

was

Let

question whether

the

unmoral

an

radical

this be

universe,

"

what
The
the

fact, as

thought.1

the

to

turn

now

us

the

to

be

ically,
log-

may

its verification.

creates

the

to

103

facts to

inexpugnably believe

father
literally

thought becomes

the

contribution,we

legitimately,and
we

Rationality.

Wherever

x.

such

contain

formulated

of

Sentiment

The

and

at

question of life,
"

bottom

whether

see

moral

the

or

method

faith may
legitimatelyhave a place there. It is
Is the world
a
really the question of materialism.

of

brute

de facto about
actuality,an existence
be said is that it
which
the deepest thing that can
happens so to be ; or is the judgment of better or
of ought, as intimatelypertinent to phenomworse,
ena
the simple judgment is or is not f
The
as
rialistic
matetheorists
of worth
are
say that judgments
themselves
of fact; that the words
matters
mere
bad
have no sense
good and
apart from subjective
passionsand interests which we may, if we please,play
fast and loose with at will,so far as any duty of ours

simple

'

to the
a

'

'

non-human

materialist

inconvenience

universe

says it is better
than to break
a

that his social

Observe

If M

interests have

that in all this not

all applies as

well to

the belief

prompts

for him

also

are

we

If,however, free

by augmenting
their

the moral

frequencyin

acts

be

has
as

to

been

energy
given individual.

said

leads

fixed.

But

with

of free-will.

indeterminate

an

possible,a

which

suffer great

knit up

so

subjectivestates form a phenomenal condition


the facts ; necessarily
constitutive,
therefore,of
seek.

to

become

belief which

the

Thus, when

promise, he only means

word

predetermined

-\-x is fixed in advance,


which

is concerned.

to

fixed

or

It

universe.
and

the desire

not, these

necessarily
preceding
the truth M

faith in their

givesthem

-{-x

which

possibility,

birth,will increase

Essays in Popular Philosophy.

104

keeping faith that,those


for him

it is better

ulterior

again

are

either

good

except

themselves

possibly
interests

with

in

spite of

are

neither

reference

which

to

themselves

without

subjective data

mere

character,

bad.

or

the absolute

For

of

order

being granted,

once

keep the promise

to

the interests

everything. But
right nor
wrong,
some

interests

the

moralists,on

terests
contrary, the in-

merely to be felt, they are to


be believed in and obeyed. Not only is it best for
social interests to keep my
promise, but best for
my
are

have

to

me

have

this

not

there

those

best

interests,and
the old

Like

me.

"

for the
in the

woman

to

cosmos

story who

resting on a rock, and then


explained that rock to be supported by another rock,
and finallywhen
pushed with questions said it was
the

described

world

all the way


radicallymoral

rocks
a

either

rest

to
on

The

on

as

down,

"

universe

and

the other

in morals, when
jectivist

between
one

is

the

ultimate

this to

moral

be

order

should, or

down.1

all the way

practicaldifference
and

believes
hold

must

absolute

an

series of shoulds

of moralist

he who

this

enormous.

objectivesort
The

sub-

his moral

feelingsare at war
mony
with the facts about
him, is always free to seek harby toning down the sensitiveness of the feelings.
data, neither good nor evil in themselves,
Being mere
lull them
to sleep by any
he may
or
pervert them
serving,
at his command.
means
Truckling,compromise, timeof conscience, are conventionally
capitulations
carried out,
for what, if successfully
opprobrious names
1

explains (seep. 193),the should


be rooted in the
him must
moralist regards as binding upon
mands
deother thinker, or collection of thinkers,to whose
some

In either

which

the

feelingof
he

case,

as

later

bows.
individually

essay

Essays in Popular Philosophy.

io6

without
interpretation,
obliging you in any way ta
of its formulation.
If this be an
change the essence
universe, all acts that I make
on
objectivelymoral
that assumption, all expectationsthat I ground on
it,
will tend
and
more
more
completely to interdigitate
with
the phenomena
already existing. M + x will
I live,and the more
the
be in accord ; and the more
the more
fruits of my
tory
satisfacto light,
activitycome
the
a

moral

the

universe, and
of

course

While

will grow.

consensus

if it be

of my

belief,and
in

such

that it is,

mistakenly assume
experience will throw ever

in the way
difficult to

not

ments
impedi-

new

become

and

more

its

language. Epicycle
lipon epicycleof subsidiaryhypothesis will have to be
invoked
a
to give to the discrepant terms
temporary
of squaring with each
other; but at last
appearance
more

this

even

to

be

not

will fail.

resource

the

If,on

express

other

the universe

hand, I rightlyassume

moral, in what

does

my

verification

sist?
con-

by lettingmoral interests sit lightly,


them
by disbelievingthat there is any duty about
(since duty obtains only as between them and other
if I find it
phenomena), and so throwing them over
hard to get them
satisfied, it is that by refusing to
take up a tragicattitude,I deal in the long-run most
All is vanity
with the facts of life.
satisfactorily
Even
the last word
of wisdom.
is here
though in
It is that

"

"

"

limited

certain
of

series

there

seriousness, he who

be a
may
in the main

great appearance
treats

things

good-natured scepticismand radical


rean
levitywill find that the practicalfruits of his epicuand
and
not
more,
hypothesis verify it more
his sahim
to
from
gacity.
only save
pain but do honor
While, on the other hand, he who contrary
with

degree

of

of

Sentiment

The

Rationality.

107

realitystiffens himself in the notion that certain


things absolutelyshould be, and rejectsthe truth that
to

it makes

bottom

at

thwarted

evermore

muddled

drift farther

farther

and

is, will find

and

from

away

which

reconciliation

or

certain

final atonement

that

partialtragedies

get.
is the watchword

Anaesthesia

brought to bay

and

results

the

to

put
Act

moralist.

of the
and

what

perplexed and beappointm


by the facts of the world, and his tragicdisto
will,as experience accumulates, seem

himself

often

difference

no

on

of your

his

of the

moral

sceptic

trumps. Energy is that


creed, cries the latter,

my
action

will

the

prove

creed

of

that the nature

things is earnest infinitely.


Act on mine, says the epicurean,and the results will
is but a superficial
that seriousness
glaze upon
prove
of fundamentally trivial import. You
and your
a world
of things will be alike enveloped
the nature
acts and
in a singleformula, a universal vanitas vanitatum.
true, and

of

the sake

For

have

simplicityI

written

as

if the

in the life of a singlephilosomight occur


pher,
which
is manifestlyuntrue, since the theories
still face each
other, and the facts of the world
give
Rather
should we
to both.
countenance
expect, that,
in a question of this scope, the experience of the entire
make
the verification,
human
must
and that
race

verification
"

will not

all the evidence


of

the

his share

proof will
doubt

gap

which
an

the last

things,when

contributed

even

be

whether
alone
and

'

be

to

kept

'

till the

final

has had

man

; then

moralistic

the M

harmonious

tion
integra-

his say

the still unfinished

complete
the

in

x.

and
Then

it will appear
x

has

out
with-

filled up

of the world

from

unity, or

whether

the

ing
form-

the

Essays in PopularPhilosophy.

io8

has

touches which
given the finishing
needed
the M
to make
outwardly
appear
it inwardly was.

if this be

so,

non-moralistic
alone

were

vain

as

as

But
taken

clear that

is it not

facts

Mt

justifya conclusion
either way
in advance
of my
action?
My action is
the complement which, by proving congruous
or
not,
per

reveals

se,

are

latent nature

the

applied. The
lock, whose

world
inward

reveal

never

inadequate

the

of the
in

may

which

to

mass

fact be
moral

nature,

itself to

to

likened

it is
unto

unmoral,

or

simply expectant

our

will
gaze.

The

forbidding us to make
positivists,
any assumptions
to eternal
us
regarding it,condemn
ignorance,
for the
evidence
which
never
they wait for can
has put
come
so
long as we are passive. But nature
into our
hands
two
keys, by which we may test the
If we
lock.
it is a moral
try the moral key and itfits,
If we
lock.
key and it fits,it is an
try the unmoral
unmoral
I cannot
of any
lock.
possibly conceive
other sort of evidence
or
'proof than this. It is
quite true that the co-operation of generations is
'

'

'

'

needed

The

to

it.

educe

But

in these

the solidarity

matters

is a patent fact.
race
(so called) of the human
active prefessential thing to notice is that our
erence
that it is
is a legitimatepart of the game,
of the keys, and
to try one
plain business as men
If then the proof
confide.
in which
most
we
one
"

our

the

exist not

tillI have

acted, and

I must

needs

in

acting

how
the popular
can
being wrong,
science
professors be right in objurgating in me
the strict logic of
infamous
as
a
credulity which
the situation
requires? If this really be a moral
universe ; if by my
acts I be a factor of its destinies;
run

the

risk

of

'

'

if to believe

where

I may

doubt

be itself a moral

act

The

Sentiment

of

Rationality.

109

analogous to voting for a side not yet sure to win,


and
me
right shall they close in upon
by what
of
function
steadilynegate the deepest conceivable
that
I
being by their preposterous command
my
shall stir neither hand
nor
foot,but remain balancing
myself in eternal and insoluble doubt?
Why, doubt
of the widest
itself is a decision
practicalreach, if
miss
we
only because
by doubting what goods
may
we
might be gaining by espousing the winning side.
But more
than that ! it is often practically
impossible
from
doubt
to distinguish
dogmatic negation. If I
"

refuse

whether

to

stop

it be

abetting the
because

mountain

not

because

homicide,
justifiable
If I refuse

crime.
in doubt

am

her afloat,I

murder

whether

to

bale

virtually

am

out

reallyhelping to sink her.


precipiceI doubt my right to risk
at

my
to be

efforts will

my

am

activelyconnive

doubt

in

am

He

destruction.

boat

keep

If in the
a

who

leap,I
mands
com-

duty, of
freedom, of immortality, may
again and again be
from
him
who
dogmaticallydenies
indistinguishable
is an active ally
them.
Scepticism in moral matters
of immorality. Who
for is against. The
is not
will have
universe
in these
neutrals
no
questions.
In theory as in practice,
dodge or hedge, or talk as
like about
wise scepticism,we
we
are
a
reallydoing
volunteer
militaryservice for one side or the other.
sands
this necessity practically
Yet obvious
is,thouas
of innocent
magazine readers lie paralyzedand
terrified in the network
of shallow
negations which
the leaders of opinion have
thrown
their souls.
over
All they need
free and
to be
hearty again in the
exercise
of their birthrightis that these fastidious
vetoes

himself

not

should

be

swept

credulous

away.

of God, of

All

that the

human

in

Essays

no

heart

chance.

its

is

wants

Popular Philosophy.

certainty in universal
to

feel

to

run

matters

in them

that

no

like the

pages,
of

rewarded

for

To

up

sum

my

No

rational

meeting

logical demands)

pretend

to

of

And

if

make

will

not

direct

which

appeal
hold

it in

to

I, in these

last

gnawed

few

that

be

has

been
than

more

and

expectancy,
a

right

permanently be
to
(in addition
to
some
degree

which
does

allowed

refusing

fable, have

men

determine

degree

of

all

by

be

can

inalienable

same

philosophy

deemed

greater

it

sophistical net
lion-strength,I shall
pains.

its

down

binding

only

willinglyforego

the

strings of

the

in the

mouse

if

dreams

one

pettiestpractical affairs.

the

will

that

it has

risks, which

It

to

in

still

all those

ers
pow-

highest esteem.
of these
will always remain
Faith, being one
powers,
be
banished
from
factor not
to
structions,
a
philosophic conthe more
it brings
since in many
so
ways
forth
In these
its own
verification.
points, then,
it is hopeless to look
for literal agreement
among
nature

our

we

in

mankind.
The

ultimate
must

in all its

philosophy,
be

not

heresy

therefore

may

strait-laced

too

parts divide

we

in

from

form,

clude,
con-

orthodoxy

by

above
be left over
and
must
sharp a line. There
propositions to be subscribed, ubique, semper,

omnibus,
may
own

done

which

escape

from

faith at

its

will

realm

another

be

to

fall within

into

which

pedantic scruples
own

risks ; and

mark

faith's

out

et

ab

soul

indulge its

and

can

distinctlythe

sphere.

too

the

stifled

the

all that

not

must

here

be

questions

Reflex Action

REFLEX

Members

LET

confess

me

find

Ministers'

the

Institute:

the

to

ill

THEISM.1

AND

ACTION

of

Theism.

and

with

diffidence

myself standing

here

When

to-day.

reached
invitation of your committee
me
simple truth is that I accepted it as most

which

I
the

last fall,
the

accept

men

they wish to fight,but


challenge," not because
ashamed
because they are
to say no.
Pretending in
be
small sphere to be
a
teacher, I felt it would
my
cowardly to shrink from the keenest ordeal to which
be exposed,
the ordeal of teaching
a teacher
can
other
teachers.
Fortunately, the trial will last but

"

short hour

one

Goethe's
"

verses,

Vor

den

Sicher

for if experts are


have at any
rate
of one's

I have

; and

task, and

the consolation

sich

stellen,
Fallen,"

ist 's in alien

the

bering
remem-

"

Wissenden

the

of

"

hardest
liveliest

they

people
sense

know

to

they
satisfy,

of the difficulties

quickest when

hits

one

the mark.

Since
most

it

was

as

teacher

of

when
unworthilyofficiating
Address

delivered

Mass., 1881, and


that year.

to the

Unitarian

printedin

the

physiology that
your

committee's

Ministers'

Unitarian

was

invi-

Institute at Princeton,

Review

for October

of

Essays in Popular Philosophy.

U2

tation reached
of

it to be for the sake


suppose
puff of the latest winds of doctrine which

bringing a

blow

I must

me,

that somewhat

over

is desired.

restless
all the

Among

that my

sea

healthy

presence
that
symptoms

this age, I know


sounder
than
no
one
the eagerness
which
theologiansshow to assimilate
results of science, and
to hearken
to the conclusions
characterize

of
a

of science

men

chance

better

Darwin

quote

about
of

universal
listened

being

Helmholtz

and

Schleiermacher

One

matters.
to

runs

to-day if one

than

if

one

can

only

can

Coleridge. I almost feel


I to produce a frog
that were
myself this moment
and put him through his physiological
performances
in a masterly manner
before your eyes, I should gain
for what
I have to say during
reverential ears
more
quote

of

the remainder
there be not

or

the

something

I will

hour.
of

ask

not

fashion

whether

in this

prestige
of the physiologistsenjoy just now.
the words
which
If it be a fashion, it is certainlya beneficial one
upon
with a
the whole ; and
to
come
challenge it would
he speaks is
who
at the moment
poor
grace from one
so
conspicuously profitingby its favors.
I will therefore
only say this : that the latest breeze
need
horizon
not
from the physiological
necessarily
amount
Of the immense
be the most
important one.
ica,
the laboratories of Europe and Amerwhich
of work
and

may

one

add

producing

year,
every
refutation ; and of more
is purely technical,and
or

mere

of

Asia

and

Australia,

are

much

is destined

it may

be said that its interest

not

in any

to

speedy

degree philosophical

universal.

This
fall back

being
on

established

the case,
doctrine

rather than

I know
which

you will justifyme


and
is fundamental

novel, and

ask

you

if I

well

whether

Essays in Popular Philosophy.

H4

for the

only

is thus

action
the
or

sake

of

callingforth

reaction

the

the

upon

final act.
world

outer

All
; and

or
contemplation
stage of consideration
of a
thinking is only a place of transit,the bottom

middle

loop, both

whose

ends

outer

world.

in the

in the outer

roots

it led to

abortive.

pathologicalor
in

runs

at

our

eyes

or

hands, feet,or lips.


occasions

while

of these

whichever

the

inside

circumstances

ears

The

The

to

organs

run

of the

is to determine

shall,on

that

either

of life which

current

use

no

tial
essen-

considered

is meant

only

happen

fail of its

be

to

tion
applicahave

ever

ever

it would
have

of

point

if it should

measures,

would

function, and

their

If it should

world,

active

no

have

out

at

our

thoughts

its direction
the

actually present,

it
to

whole, under

act

in

the

way

welfare.
propitious to our
The
nature, in short,
willing department of our
dominates
both
the conceiving department and the
feelingdepartment; or, in plainer English, perception
and
only there for behavior's
thinking are
most

sake.
I
one

am

sure

am

not

of the fundamental

drift of modern
If asked

what

in
wrong
conclusions

statingthis
to which

result

as

the entire

us.
physiologicalinvestigation
sweeps
physiology has made
great contribution

sure
psychology of late years, I am
every
tent
compeauthoritywill reply that her influence has in no
been
so
weighty as in the copious illustration,
way
of this broad, general
verification,and consolidation
point of view.
be the posI invite you, then, to consider
what may
sible
involved
in this great
speculativeconsequences
inates
achievement
of our
generation. Already, it domdone
in psychology; but
work
all the new

to

Reflex
I wish

what

of

those

beyond
theology

of reflex
of

doctrine

theism

been
and

the

wanting

less

no

first in

writers

of
superstition
open,

of

matter

topic

to

the

trine
doc-

than

the

which

for

There

have

not

God.

instance, such
der

as

will

you

the field.

enough to say that reflex action


from
it give the coup de grdce to

psychology,
Schneider,

relations

into

attention.

all that follows

If you

The

with

not

may

psychology, even

is,in fact, the

the

not

are

herself.

115

its influence

the limits of

action

invite your

We

Theism.

and

is whether

ask

to

far

extend

now

Action

book

Thierische

on

Wille

find, sandwiched

in

ative
compar-

of G.
among

H.
the

ject,
dealings of the author with his proper suband popping out upon
in unexpected places,
us
the most
delightfully
naif German
onslaughtson the
degradation of theologians,and the utter incompatibility
of so
reflex adaptations to the environment
many
with the existence
of a creative
intelligence.
There
of us
was
a
time, remembered
by many
here,
admirable

when

the

existence

harmonies
held

to

him.

Into

my

not,
did

objectfor
possible
as
lying at
in other

about

ambition

which, if he

other

organism and the world were


Now, they are held to disprove
of the whirligig
bring back
may

I must

enter.

or

all the

and

again.

this debate

to

existent

him

action

the

between

a God.
prove
The
next
turn

proof of

limit

of reflex

words,

to

his existence,I will not


take

that

all events

exist,would
framed

minds
root

is this

up

showing

is at

the

humbler

the

form

ground, and
God, whether
kind

the most

like

our

own

of the universe.

that

some

tend
pre-

outward

of

being
adequate
to

ceive
con-

My thesis,
realityox

Essays in Popular Philosophy.

n6
a

defined

nature

God's

as

nature

be

must

defined, is

time
object that is at the same
rational and
mind's
plation.
contempossiblefor the human
is not
Anything short of God
rational,
than
is not possible,if the huGod
man
anything more
mind
be in truth the triadic structure
of impression,
the

ultimate

only

reaction

reflection,and

which

at

we

the

outset

allowed.
whatever

its

thus
objectivewarrant, would
be seen
to have
a
subjectiveanchorage in its conit
nature
as
thinkers; and, however
gruity with our
fare with its truth,to derive from this subjective
may
adequacy the strongest possible guaranty of its permanence.

Theism,

It is and

opinion,the

will be the classic

mean

of rational

of

gravity of all attempts to solve


it by defect,
the riddle of life, some
fallingbelow
some
flyingabove it by excess, itself alone satisfying
normal
need
in strictly
mental
Our
measure.
every
gain will thus in the first instance be psychological.
We
shall merely have
investigateda chapter in the
natural historyof the mind, and found
ter
that, as a matbe called the
of such
natural history,God
may
normal
over
object of the mind's belief. Whether
this he be reallythe livingtruth is another
and above
of our
question. If he is,it will show the structure
with the nature
of reality.
mind
to be in accordance
centre

"

it be

Whether
to

one

me,

of

or

in such

not

those

accordance

questions

that

is,it seems

belong

to

the

I will not touch


province of personalfaith to decide.
the question here, for I prefer to keep to the
upon
I will only remind
point of view.
natural-history
strictly

that

you

doubt

or

and

to

each

believe

of

one

is entitled

either

to

ties
harmony between his faculthat,whether he doubt or be-

in the

the truth ; and

us

Reflex

it alike

lieve, he does
and

Action

his

on

Theism.

and

117

personal responsibility

risk.
"

Du

glauben, du

musst

die Gotter

Denn

ein Wunder

Nur

In das

schone

musst

wagen,

leihn kein
dich

kann

Pfand,

tragen

Wunderland."

I will

presentlydefine exactly what I mean


by God
and
by Theism, and explain what theories I referred
of attempts to flybeyond
I spoke just now
to when
the

and

one

to

the other.

outbid

But, firstof all,let

longer over
mind,

so

what
to

as

before

ask

you to
called the

me

I have
be

going

of which

that

sure

to

on

lingera
reflex

moment

theory of

understand

we

consider

those

it absolutely
of its

sequences
con-

to speak.
particularly
I am
not
quite sure that its full scope is grasped even
by those who have most zealouslypromulgated it. I
that
not sure, for example, that all physiologists
am
see
it commits
them
to regarding the mind
as
an
tially
essenmechanism.
I mean
teleological
by this that the
conceiving or theorizingfaculty the mind's middle
functions
department
exclusivelyfor the sake of
ends that do not exist at all in the world
of impressions
receive by way
of our
but are
we
set
senses,
by
emotional
and
our
practicalsubjectivity
altogether.1
It is a transformer
of the world
of our
impressions
into a totallydifferent world,
the world of our
ception;
conam

more

"

"

"

and

interests of

the

our

transformation

volitional

nature,

whatsoever.
Destroy the
purpose
the definite subjective purposes,
1

See

and

for

in

volitional

Remarks

on

the

other

no

nature,

preferences, fond-

Spencer's Definition of Mind,


SpeculativePhilosophy for January, 1878.

some

Journal of

is effected

in the

1 1

Essays in Popular Philosophy.

8
for

nesses

certain

motive
slightest
our
experience
have

the

the

would
to

elaborate

world's

order
can

remain

be

remodelled

be

contents

order

; there

is

We

have

do
no

have,

escape.
in an

break

to

that

and

'

'

able to make

are

and

we

we

as

by picking out from it the


with
which
concern
connecting them
us, and
far away,
which
we
belong with them,
say
"

others

But,

constitution

effected

it is like.

altogether,

items

all.

of

order

given to each of us
subjectiveinterests that we
of the imagination pictureto

foreign to our
hardly by an effort
what

at

the

not

brute

are

so

ourselves

for the

volitional

remodelling must

The

we

effects,forms, orders, and

tendency;

to

get ready for them

out

definite

foresee
; and

to

of sequence
particular liabilities and
threads

mony
har-

enjoy simplicityand

Is not the sum


of
place of what was chaos.
actual
and
at this moment
experience taken
your
The
chaos?
utter
impartially added
together an
strains of my
inside the
voice, the lightsand shades
of the wind, the ticking
and
room
out, the murmur
of the clock, the various
organic feelingsyou may
a
happen individuallyto possess, do these make
whole
the only condition
Is it not
of your
at all?
mental
sanityin the midst of them that most of them
in

should
others
should

become

non-existent

the

sounds, I hope,

"

evoke

nothing

to

with

thought,
which

from

with this

do

in what

them

no

have

or
organ
order.
The

this moment

scene
we

rational,because

"

we

places in

some

real

world

is the

sum

that

it leads

"

rational
to

few

uttering

that
your
memory
fitted to
associates
call

have
bine
com-

train

of

conclusion

appreciate? We have
appreciate the simply given
it is given objectivelyat
as
total of all its beings and

organ

facultyto

for you, and


I am
which

to

Action

Reflex
events
we

But

now.

realize for

existence

the

flies

wilderness,
dies in

Amazon,

with

events

one

another

and

into

them

unite

in

France.

in

with

million

bond
that

all

While

fish at

between

of these

others

them,

for

means

horse
What

contemporaneity

rational

anything

Germany,

born

are

the

of

falls in the Adirondack

tree

Does

form
disjointed,

Can

sum?

cross-section

sneezes

twins

Tartary,and

that mean?

does

man

119

point of time would be?


buzz, a sea-gullcatches a

definite

of the

mouth

the

of such

what

instant

an

Theism.

think

we

at

and

I talk

can

and

us

as

and

world?

ing
justsuch a collateral contemporaneity, and nothIt is an order
else,is the real order of the world.
have
with which
we
nothing to do but to get away
break it:
from it as fast as possible. As I said,we
Yet

we

and

break

we

histories,and

it into

break

feel at home.

it into
We

it, and

orders

of

though

the others

sciences

make
any

did

not

; and

exist.

We

begin to

we

separate serial

of these

one

it into arts,

then

thousand

ten

on

break

we

react

we

discover

as

among

never
given to
parts relations that were
all (mathematical relations,tangents, squares,

its various
at

sense

and

roots

and

infinite number

logarithmicfunctions),and
of these

we

call certain

ones

out

of

an

essential

lawgiving,and ignore the rest. Essential these


relations are, but only for our
tions
purpose, the other relabeing just as real and present as they ; and our
is to conceive simply and to foresee. Are not
purpose
simple conception and previsionsubjectiveends pure
and
call
simple? They are the ends of what we
and

science

; and

the

miracle

of

miracles, a miracle not


by any philosophy,is

exhaustively cleared up
that the given order lends itself to
of
It shows
itself plasticto many

yet

the
our

remodelling.
to
scientific,

Essays in Popular Philosophy.

120

of

many

to
aesthetic,

our

and

the

of affairs,
the artist,or

man

he
fails,

is not

rebutted.

He

must
says the impressionsof sense
reduced
to the desiderated
form.1

the

latter and

theologiandoes
of the

mind's

yet have

as

that

the

mind's

of
'

"No

though

to

mean

of failure

amount

He

again.

all

reflex doctrine

theology should

obeyed

but

confess

in form

asked

above

the

What

if he did exist ?

be

God

come

of

man

law.2

question I

would

has

the

itself at least

necessary

for the

'

God

And

tries

failed of its endeavor, could

endeavor

being

nature

more.

structure,

most

Now

no

the

the

give way, must be


They all postulate
nature
a
harmony
of things. The

in the interests of their volitional


between

practicalpurposes

our

ends.

When
science

of

many

in the

The

the

things in

many

attempt

to

kind
word

history

subject the

world

of

sensible

experience to a thorough-going system of conceptions, and


of immutably valid law, is
to bring all happenings back
to
cases
able to shake
faith in the Tightness of our
our
principles.We hold
fast to
sooner

work

have

the

must
greatest apparent confusion
We
later solve itself in transparent formulas.
or
begin the
that nature
will permaafresh ; and, refusing to believe
ever
nently
think
of our
rather that we
withhold
the reward
exertions,

only failed
pertinacityflows

hitherto

all this
to

that

demand

our

the

renounce

even

to

push

from
of

fulfilment

in the

them

a
our

conviction

This

is

differ from

advance,
success,
2

the
is

one

form

of

faith

certainly doomed

the transformation

of the

S. H. Hodgson, The
conception, see
H.
chap. v. ;
Lotze, Logik, sects. 342-351

60-63, 105.

to

we

have

in

short

obligationof

of the

account

other

Concerning

of

of

spiritof science.
And
is any one
the spiritof religion?
true

that, while
the

that

What,

task.

of investigatorsis the force


the courage
idea."
(Sigwart: Logik, bd. ii.,
p. 23.)

right direction.

shall

Does

it

entitled
be

And

right

no

sustains
an

ethical

essentially
to

crowned

say in
with

fail?

given order into the order

Philosophy
; C.

of

Reflection,

Sigwart, Logik,

sects.

Essays in Popular Philosophy.

122

what

Now,

is essential
power

essential

these

are

that

be

God

in the

universe

under

the

conceived

of

First,it

the

as

and, second, he

form

features ?

deepest
be

must

ceived
con-

mental

personality. The
personalityneed not be determined
intrinsically
any
further
than
is involved
in the holding of certain
things dear, and in the recognitionof our dispositions
toward
those things,the things themselves
being all
considered,
good and righteousthings. But, extrinsically
to speak, God's
so
garded,
personalityis to be relike any other personality,
as
something lying
outside

of

existence

and

own
my
I simply

come

but
such

is the definition

inclined
shadow

dispute.

to

forth

the

idolatrous ; some
man's
intellect has
subtile

that

edge

of

power

for

Various

are

lineaments

the

of

attempts
so

supreme
imagination; various

are
ever

whose

"

human
personalityto our
of conceiving in what
ways
the hearkening to our
cry, can
and

and

eousness
rightonly makes
which
recognizes us,
I think nobody will be

which

other

find.

not

it, and

means

me,

and

upon

ourselves,then, which

not

than

other

mode

the

the most
made

the

recognition,

Some

come.

to

are

sustained

gross
efforts

keep still livingon


speech and thought

to

things where

expire. But, with all these differences, the essence


remains
other respects the
unchanged. In whatever
divine
differ from
semble
reours
or
personality may
may
are
it, the two
consanguineous at least in
for which
this, that both have purposes
they care,
"

and

each

hear

can

Meanwhile,
and

point of

one

theory

we

of

mind.

the other's call.

can

already

connection

Any

mind,

see

with

one

the

consequence
reflex-action

constructed

on

the

Reflex

Action
must

object which
object is, and decide
the

that

demands

presence
reaction

; and

depends

of course,

the

what

active

its

measures

stage of

The

finallyreact.

the

on

123

first get its impression


it confronts
what
; then define

triadic-reflex pattern,
from

Theism.

and

stage of definition,and
of

these,

the

impressing object.
miliar,
When
the objects are
particular,and faconcrete,
firm
reactions
and
certain
are
our
enough,
I see
lean on
it ;
the desk, and
often instinctive.
But
I see
to talk.
quiet faces,and I continue
your
and
the objects will not
:
stay concrete
particular
into general essences,
and they
they fuse themselves
on

nature

"

themselves

sum

then
our

into

the

object

mental

door

that

and

upon

universe

itself and

What

The

asks

flood

whole

be

to

us,

its

And

universe.

that

knocks

let in, and

actively met,

is

on

fixed

and

whole

just this

essence.

how

they,and

are

the

"

confronts

and

decided

whole,

shall I meet

of faiths and

Philosophiesand denials
atheisms, scepticisms

them

systems here

rush

in.

of

and
philosophy, religions
and
mysticisms, confirmed
and
moods
habitual practicalbiases, josemotional
tle
alike trials,
another ; for all are
one
hasty,prolix,
this momentous
of seemly length,to answer
or
tion.
quesfunction
them
And
of
the
all,long or short,

that which
and
of action.

form
and

but
not

and

moods

no

of them

one

middle

segment

its termination.
it does

it is but
in which

rhythmic

the

pause.

not

the

"

the

itself is final.
of

the

mental

the last theoretic

As
leave

alike

systems

into, is the third stage,

pass
For

the

dies away,
:

the

the mental

forerunner

of the

process

serve
sub-

stage

They
curve,

pulse
plete
com-

ment,
practicalmoalone the cycle of mentalityfinds its

Essays in Popular Philosophy.

124

Sometimes

we

amid

the

see,

think

have

can

one

the direction

final,and

this middle

sometimes

diversityin
essential

one

pointed
which

about

cogitationswhich

the

but

have

we

it

monstrous

complication of
it

ourselves

easilydelude

We

our

the

length

and

fill it,that

may

that

function, and
the

of

immediate
activity,

or

"

fail to

we

function

out,

stage.

the

defining
remote,

shall take.
If I

Vanitas
vanitatum, omnia
vansimply say,
itas !
of things in a
I am
definingthe total nature
that carries
with it as
practicalconsequences
way
in
decidedly as if I write a treatise De Natura Rerum
"

"

worth

of either treatise

than

more

less.

them

draw

have

definitions

identical

would

in which

time

My

to this truth
assume

to

those

us

should

definitions

two

the

merely by

delusively
different verbiage

short to stay and

grant it without
step in my
to

bespeak

I pass

further

give
I will

parley,and
And

argument.

your

the

over

; but

it deserves

close attention

subject far

more

here,
for

rap-

ence,"
admirably original Illustrations of the Logic of Scisecond
make
How
the
to
by C. S. Peirce, especially
paper,
for
Science
in
the
Popular
Monthly
January,
Thoughts clear/'
See

the

"

"

our

no

apparently

realitybefore

the

unfortunatelytoo
the development

while

if two

that

is

too, I shall have


moment,

said

does

expressed.1

are

that you
the next

definition

short

the

identical definitions,made

different

they

of

quences
conse-

the

consequences,

reallybe

appear

or

be

Indeed, it may

different

its

trace

may

saying; but the only


quences
saying is that the consedo no
long definition can

The

there.

are

pass

treatise

minutely than

more

to

The

volumes.

twenty

1878.

Action

Reflex

idly than
mind

the

or

Not

be will also
do

not

any

the

ceaseless uneasiness,tillit be formulated


in

other

some

of what

the

mind's

me

without

of the
no

detail.1

any

argument,
alike have

mind

conception

their essential
without

But

which

into

much

so

nition
defi-

enter

now

will grant

departments

in the matter,

vote

intensely

you

all three

that

"

with

the

an

cannot

I think

if it

and

interpreted
The study

or

in this respect, form

interestingsubject

to

to

seem

mind

more

of its exactions

with

umpire

congenial way.
criteria of rationality
are,

and

own

rational universe

rational, it will afflict the

seem

mind's

thingswhich may
ipsofacto rational;

be

to

seem

the

of

nature

false, any

or

be

mind

called

it be fit to be

whether

not.

least let the

at

12

completely satisfy
of

conditions

obey

must

true

shall

which

universe

imposing, must
decide

Whether

it deserves.

of the

view

Theism.

and

that

and

will pass
which
violates
of
muster
any
leaves them
modes
of activity,
which
or

By what title is it that


universal
would-be
formula, every
system of
every
the inevitits head, receives
able
rears
philosophy which
half of mankind,
critical volleyfrom one
and falls

to

chance

the rear,

work.

to

become

to

best

the very

at

the

net

Either it has dropped out


partialsect?
of our
what we
some
impressions of sense,

the

facts of nature,

some

definingdepartment
unmediated
it has
and

of its

call

"

emotional

defects

to

with

transitions

left some

selves

or

"

one

is fatal to

On

this

more

with

left the theoretic

lot of inconsistencies
its hands
of

our

or

subject,see

fundamental

no

the

and
and

else, finally,

object outside of
live for.
of
to
or
Any one
its complete success.
Some

powers

react-on

or

on

it has

of

creed

precedingEssay.

active
theirs
these
one

Essays in Popular Philosophy.

126
will be
and

an

discover

another

seek

to

I need
to

to

sure

not

audience

the

flaw,to

the system,

scout

in its stead.

go far to collect examples


of theologianswhat
I mean.

to

illustrate
Nor

will

as
particular,
champions of the Unitarianism
of New
England, be slow to furnish,from the motives
led to your departure from our
orthodox
which
tral
ancesCalvinism, instances
enough under the third or
A
who
God
practicalhead.
gives so little scope to
takes from
all
endeavor
love, a predestinationwhich
all its fruit,
irrational
its zest with
are
conceptions,
because
cherished
There
they say to our most
powers,
is no
object for you.
kinds
Well, justas within the limits of theism some
of their greater practiare
survivingothers by reason
cal
theism
of its pracitself,
so
rationality,
by reason
tical
all lower creeds.
is certain
to survive
rationality,
Materialism
and
were
they true,
agnosticism, even
could never
gain universal and popular acceptance;
for they both, alike, give a solution of things which
is
irrational to the practicalthird of our
nature, and in
feel at home.
which we
Each
can
never
volitionally

in

you

of the

out

comes

second

theoretic

or

stage of mental

functioning,with its definition of the essential nature


of things, its formula
of formulas
prepared. The
whole

of active

upon

life. "Well!"

cry

Ignoramus, ignorabimus
upon

and

atoms

of

forces

impatient for the word


discharge themselves

to

"

array

their

our

which

they,
!

"

"

says

ing,
wait-

shall tell them

deeply

most

stands

nature

what

and
shall

worthily
we

agnosticism.

concussions

how

"

says

do?"
"

act
Re-

rialism.
mate-

collapse! The mental train misses


fire,the middle fails to ignitethe end, the cycle breaks
down
half-way to its conclusion; and the active
What

Action

Reflex

left alone, with

powers

no

object
proper
either atrophy,

must
their energy,
die, or else by their pent-up

vent

the whole

keep

convulsions

machinery

less incommensurable

in

127
which

on

ment
excite-

and

more

to

sicken, and

fe^er until

solution,some

rational formula, shall provide

some

practically
issue for the

normal

of the soul.

currents

theism

Now,

always

rational
practically
Not

Theism.

and

an

of

energy

ready with
it is possibleto

solution
active

our

the

stands

to

nature

most

conceive.

which

it does

of which
authoritatively
appeal,not an emotion
it does not normally and naturallyrelease the springs.
At a singlestroke, it changes the dead blank it of the
the whole man
world into a livingthouywith whom
may
have dealings. To you, at any rate, I need waste
no
its supreme
words
in trying to prove
commensuratethat department Number
with all the demands
ness
has the power to impose on departThree of the mind
ment
not

Number

volitional

Our

time,

Two.

exert

of

nature

constant

the

mind

theistic conclusions.

must

then, until the

end

of

the other departments


pressure
upon
induce
them
function
to
to
to
No

contrary formulas

can

be

than

more

must

assert

provisionallyheld. Infra-theistic theories


be always in unstable
equilibrium; for ment
departNumber
Three
lurks in ambush, ready to
ever
its rights; and
the slightestshow
of justifion
cation
its fatal spring,and
it makes
them
converts

into the other


order

alone

mental

permanently reign.
question is, then, Can departments

can

of

The

in which

peace

and

One

and

can

The

Two,

form

the facts of nature

them, always lead

future

and
to

the

theoretic

ration
elabo-

theistic conclusions?

historyof philosophy is the only author*

Essays in PopularPhilosophy.

128

of

ity capable

answering

that

question. I, at all
into it to-day,as
not
that would
enter
events, must
the
be to abandon
purely natural-historypoint of
view I mean
to keep.
This only is certain, that the theoretic facultylives
fires which
between
two
never
give her rest, and
make
her incessantlyrevise her formulations.
If she
sink into a premature, short-sighted,
and
idolatrous
One
with its
theism, in comes
department Number
battery of facts of sense, and dislodgesher from her
If she lazilysubside
into equilibdogmatic repose.
rium
with

the

mechanical

bed

its

up

and

demands,

viewed

sense

outwardness,

with

reason

facts of

same

starts

makes

in their simple

the

practical

that

couch

From

of thorns.

generationto generationthus it
of reception from without,
movement
a
now
goes,
of expansion from within ; department Number
one
now
excused
Two
to death, yet never
always worked
from
responsiblepart in the arrangetaking the most
ments.
a
facts; to-morrow,
To-day, a crop of new
the theoretic facultyalways
motives,
flowering of new
having to effect the transition,and life growing
that her
withal so complex and subtle and immense
almost
of conceiving are
ruptured with the
powers
strain.
See how, in France, the
mummy-cloths of
and official theistic philosophy are
rent
the academic
thinkers
by the facts of evolution, and how the young
the dryness
! See, in Great Britain, how
at work
are
"

"

of

the

strict associationist

of Mill, Bain, and

ministration

but
born

the

yesterday,gives way
of
same

school, which

more

to

more

urgent emotional

facts

These

in

far
are

more

but

Spencer

dominated

generous
needs
and

massive

tackings

under

the

us

idealisms,

wrapping

intellectual
to

the

common

monies!
har-

Essays in Popular Philosophy.

130
the

order

of

being

It transforms

of

world

'

of the

continuum

sharp

for

the

given

unutterable
'

world

differences

other

no

presents itself to

it

as

passions we

reason

into

dead

than

reception.
level and

utterlyunlike

an

hierarchic

and

our

tions
subordina-

satisfycertain

to

jective
sub-

possess.1

given world is there


only for the sake of the operation. At any rate, to
it is our
only chance of approaching it;
operate upon
for never
can
we
able
get a glimpse of it in the unimaginof its virgin estate.
To bid the man's
insipidity
itself
subjectiveinterests be passive till truth express
from
the environment,
is to bid the sculptor's
out
itself from out
chisel be passive tillthe statue
express
the only choice
the stone.
! and
must
Operate we
left us is that between
operating to poor or to rich
results.
The
be in the
only possibleduty there can
is the duty of getting the richest results that
matter
the material
given will allow. The richness lies,of
in the energy
of all three departments of the
course,
fact
mental
of department
cycle. Not a sensible
be left in the cold, not a facultyof departOne
must
ment
Three
be paralyzed ; and department Two
must
form
indestructible
an
bridge. It is natural that the
habitual
neglect of department One by theologians
should
z/zmatural
arouse
indignation; but it is most
take the form of a wholesale
that the indignationshould
of department Three.
It is the
denunciation
again,denouncing the presstory of Kant's dove over
And,

far

so

as

can

we

see,

the

'

'

"

As

soon

it, reposes

as
on

the theoretical

our

itis

recognizedthat

will

to

think, the
be

thought, as

our

primacy

conceded

of the

the
; and
'
I think
must

sphere, must
merely [Kant's]that '
representations,but also that ' I will
my
thinking." (Sigwart: Logik, ii. 25.)
is not

'

must

logic deals with


will, even

in

last of

presuppositions
all
accompany

dominate

all my

Action

Reflex

Certain

of the air.

sure

to

is Scientific

name

be

that

but

commandment,
shalt not

of

wreck

Truth,

"

he

one

saying, Thou
to satisfy
thy
of those

satisfaction

These

is intellectual damnation.

his

but

has

one

the

god

that

upright,

that

and

subjectivepropensities,and

ing
chim-

other

every

supreme,
be
theistyfor that would

131

keep
positivists

our

divinitystill stands

idol,one

and

of

the

that,amid

us,

Theism.

and

conscientious

most

feet,
gentlemen think they have jumped off their own
trol
emancipated their mental operationsfrom the conin
of their subjectivepropensitiesat large and
But
deluded.
toto.
they are
They have
simply
from
the entire set of propensitiesat
chosen
among

"

out

of the

est

result,

namely,

of

excess

pre-eminence
and

Had

from

As

in

there

ever

justiceor
a

ter
charac-

unnecessary

life not

he

been

have

never

has

done

established
the

in

to

are

be

more

see

he

good, must,

to be made
sweep
obligationto be scientific go

with

fair chance

another.

to understand

nothing

one

but

of

necessary.

draw

; that

so

we,

even

who

do

these

accordingto

perish,in order
or

himself

should

trusted

exquisiteidol of the den,

lectual.
intel-

quest for the

of this

any absolute
the world

In the clean

of cold makes

lies in the

said,Fiat /ustitia,
pereat mundus,

prophets,be willingto
Was

brutes

"

consciousness

ancestors

our

believe

and

"

physical,moral, aesthetic,and

the lesson that his wants

not

world,

subjective propensities,
them
simply and solelyin the

his whole

the

the

from

fantastic and

superfluous,he would
as
inexpugnably as

construct,

his

over

in the

of his wants,

And

molecular

the bare

chief difference

exuberant

number

to

sacrificed all the rest.1

have

Man's

his

certain

were

given,the leanest,lowest, arid-

materials

"

they

that

those

their command

that scientia

rather of the

fiat.
shop ?

let the idol of stern


superstitions,
the rest, and people will have
a

confusion.

But

this

blowing

of hot and

Essays in Popular Philosophy.

132

their

when

will lead

and

is still the

occasion

they

farthest off,the uneasiness

seems
gratification

him

to

best

guide of his life,


entirelybeyond his present

issues

of reckoning.
powers
sober
him, and you

Prune

his extravagance,

down

him.

undo

The

appetite

consistency at any cost, or what the


thing
logicians call the 'law of parsimony,' which is nobut the passion for conceiving the
universe
the exin the most
will,if made
clusive
labor-savingway,
law of the mind, end
opment
by blighting the develof the intellect itself quite as much
that
as
of the feelingsor the will. The scientific conception
of molecules
this
of the world
an
as
gratifies
army
appetiteafter its fashion most exquisitely. But if the
religionof exclusive scientificism should ever succeed
in suffocatingall other
appetites out of a nation's
with
the persuasion
race
mind, and imbuing a whole
and
that simplicity
a tabula
rasa
consistency demand
immediate

for

"

"

that does
form
notion
of every
not
part
that nation, that
of the soi-disant scientific synthesis,
be

to

made

race,

will

their

more

just as surely go
richlyconstituted

of the field,as

moral,

Its

stubble

fallen

little fear for

aesthetic, and
be

dense

razor

that

has

yet been

razor

will

never

form

to

fall

ruin, and

neighbors, as

whole, have

myself

I have

to

prey

prey to
the beasts
a

to

man.

Anglo-Saxon
form
practical wants
our

by

mown

any

forged.
among

us

race.

too

scientific Occam's
The

knights of

more

than

the

sect;

their

fraternity
increasingin numbers,
their negations acquirI see
when
and, what is worse,
ing
much
almost
as
prestigeand authority as their
claim
the minds
of the
affirmations
over
legitimately
docile
public,I feel as if the influences working in

but

the

when

see

direction

of

our

mental

barbarization

were

be-

Reflex
be

ginning to

Action

rather

counteraction.

quarter the

what

find

can

strong, and

needed

And

I ask

when

invasion

answer

no

task, no

eyes around
fitter body of

exists.

Who

Three

of the

long since showed


department One
a

with

the

fact of

sense

this needful

clergy
department

rightsof

grace than those who


could
fightand suffer for

they

As, then,

burst

you

result of science

or

myself from
be checked, I
suggested by

Unitarian

ecclesiastical tradition,by

narrow

tive
posi-

some

For
the

133

better

how
?

one

room.

than

men

uphold

mind

the

as

this

casting my

best

may

good

as

can

Theism.

and

the bonds

insistingthat
be

must

left out

of
no

of

in the

still be
so
religioussynthesis,
you
may
the champions of mental
completeness and all-sidedthe formation
avert
ness.
May you, with equal success,
account

of

bonds

scientific

narrow

to which
reality,

hear

these

it said

days.
but

at

are

that

present

only

nothing

board.

theistic science,

in

scientific

as

task will have

been

of the truth of the statement;

will

you

successfullyas

Until that distant

me

I said that

pass
we

your

have

day, you
directions awaitingyou.
Meanwhile, let

approach.
growing in

is not

If

done, and

to

are

tional
emo-

of

avenues

you

theology,your separate
of
perishfrom the mouths

may

and

surely because
nearing the port and

is

in

subject.

active

our

true, it is

ship of Orthodoxy
is being taken
on

the

pretend to leave
being, those relations

Unitarianism

I know

if it be

of

our

burst

would

forms

those

tendencies
I

tradition, and

synthesiswhich

of any

of account

out

of

have

men

as

to

led
tarians
Uni-

; for your
at

enough

the next
forced

only lead

name

function

work

the great
the pilot

an

end.

in both

division of

regard God

our
as

Essays in Popular Philosophy.

134
normal

object of
conception that

the

any
if the

word

while

any

'

'

be

human

God

Infra-theistic

stimuli

have

we

irrational
man's

latter half

I dare

for
it may
that I should

sense

of

disposed

materialisms

because

such

at

has been

they

and

agnosticis
quate
inade-

are

I have

practicalnature.

justifythe

irrational,

discussed

conceptions,

to

is

its fullest

in

first half of the thesis

are

to

of

as

is impossible
beyond God
goes
be constructed
after the

mind

pattern

The

length.

belief,inasmuch

taken

that

conception

triadic-reflex

mind's

falls short

rational

if the

of.

the

now

the thesis.
instant

have

perplexed
of you
some
speak of conceptions that
aimed
at going beyond
God, and of attempts to fly
him
outbid
him ; so
I will now
above
or
explain
In defining the essential attributes
exactly what I mean.
of God, I said he was
a
personalitylying
outside

say

our

ourselves.

the

Now,

of which

other

and

own

speak, are
dualityof God

theistic
third
into

thou,

try

to

to

make

ground
to

seem

it

well

am

That

may

the

it with

cover

in

part of

mutilate

characterizes

theistic

consciousness

with

him,

and

so

to

identity.

world

leave

if theism

form
trans-

If infra-

it in the
the

turns

begin

here

it

tread

to

distinctions

on

easily

may

facts.
with

reconciliation

the

from

this ultimate

me.

of emotional

which

of

the

trenchant
the

flybeyond theism,

to

other

not

power

say that these other theories


mantle of the first person, and

that

aware

which

sense

or

it; and

we

so

"

and

mere

"

get over
his believer, and

looking on

person,
a

of

ways

us,

to

attempts

sort

some

than

attempts

it into

an

may

highest

the

be

described

very

of

moments

bosom

as

God
the
'

oneness

of theism

Reflex

Action

Theism.

and

135

doctrine

monistic

to

seem

self-surrender, of

of

ness
this conscious-

absolute

the divine

one's self and

between

But

arise.

practical union
templation,
object of one's conthing from any sort
object God and the

totallydifferent
of substantial identity. Still the
Still I simply come
him, and
subjectI are two.
upon
find his existence
given to me ; and the climax of my
with what is given,forms at the same
union
practical
of my
time the climax
perception that as a numerical
I am
fact of existence
something radicallyother than
the Divinitywith whose
effulgenceI am filled.
that the only sort of union of
to me
Now, it seems
with which
with creator
creature
theism, properly so
and
called, comports, is of this emotional
practical
kind ; and it is based
unchangeably on the empirical
fact that the thinking subjectand the objectthought
How
mind
and will,which
are
numerically two.
my
not
God, can yet cognize and leap to meet
are
him,
how I ever
to be so separate from
came
him, and how
himself
God
to be
at all,are
came
problems that for
is

the

theist

unsolved

remain

can

It is sufficient for him

is,and

needs

simply
hear

God

is and

his call.

; and

will be
In

the

know

to

and

insoluble

forever.

that he himself

that behind

forever,and

simply

this universe

God

will in

way

some

practicalassurance

of
'

these

Erkentnisstheorie
or
empirical facts,without
sophical
philoontology, without metaphysics of emanation
creation
make
them
to justify
or
or
more
intelligible,
in the blessedness
of their mere
acknowledgment as
he craves.
The
given, lie all the peace and power
of the religious
life are
floodgates
opened, and the full
currents
can
through.
pour
It is this empiricaland practicalside of the theistic
position,its theoretic chastityand modesty, which I
'

Essays in Popular Philosophy.

136
wish

to accentuate

here.

istic

mysticism, far

The

of
highestflights

the-

from

pretending to penetrate the


of the me
and
the thou in worship, and
secrets
to
the dualism
transcend
ply
simby an act of intelligence,
The
their backs on such attempts.
turn
problem
has simply vanished,
for them
from
vanished
the
"

sightof
theoretic

difficulties.

refuses to notice

Get

that

of

"

peace

God

the

passeth understanding," and

understanding will cease


scruplesbe at rest. In other words, theistic mysticism,
that form of theism which
at first sight seems

most

to

of God

that

have

transcended

from

man,

the

has done

to

necessary

The

them.
such

be

to

as

define

procedure is precisely
dealing with the simplest

Both

what

he and

into

so

long

as

is

that confronts
presence
is
that its character

theist decides

; and

the theist tarry

only

is the

fitlyresponded

religiousreaction

otherness

its

of their minds

Two

department

fundamental

it least of all in the theoretic

The
pattern of
way.
of the simplest man

fact of his environment.


in

but

futile

such

questions of
from puzzling and pedantic

which
the

which

attitude

an

to

that

on

his part

reaction

he

by

with
forth-

insightinto the what of life


leads to results so immediately and intimatelyrational
of it are questhat the why, the how, and the whence
tions
ist Alles,'Faust
Gefuhl
that lose all urgency.
have drained
The channels of department Three
says.
of their contents
those of department Two
piness
; and hapitselfwhat
the fact that being has made
over
his soul.

pours

His

'

it is,evacuates

all

speculationas

to

how

it could

make

itself at all.
But

now,

although

most

human

minds

such

librium
position of rational equicertain
difficult to bring forward

positionas this will


it is not

to

be

the

Essays in Popular Philosophy.

138

whether

such

thingsas practicalreactions can


be the final upshot and
of all our
tive
cognipurpose
Mere
outward
acts, changes in the position
energy.
of parts of matter
(for they are nothing else),
can
tion
they possiblybe the culmination and consummarelations with the nature
of our
of things? Can
they possibly form a result to which our
godlike
of insightshall be judged merely subservient?
powers
it closely,
Such
scan
idea, if we
an
soon
begins to
Whence'
this piece of matter
rather absurd.
seem
to ask

and

comes

ought

that

whither

that

make

one

the

goes,

what

difference

of

things,except
far as with the comings and the goings our
so
derful
wonconscious
be reaped?
inward
harvest may
And
be
naturallyand gradually,one may
so, very
the theistic and
led from
practicalpoint of view to
think
I shall call the gnosticalone.
We
what
may
of the mind, with its doings of
that department Three
be there only to
rightand its doings of wrong, must
serve
department Two ; and we may suspect that the
than
sphere of our activityexists for no other purpose
to illumine
our
by the expecognitiveconsciousness
rience
to

to

of its results.

Are

nature

not

all

sense

and

all

tion
emo-

perplexed modes of what


in its clarified shape is intelligent
cognition? Is not
all experience justthe eating of the fruit of the tree
?
of knowledge of good and evil,and nothing more
These
questions fan the fire of an unassuageable
in
from theism
gnosticthirst,which is as far removed
from it in
direction
as
one
agnosticism was removed
the other ; and which
aspiresto nothing less than an
absolute
unity of knowledge with its object,and refuses
at bottom

to

be

but

turbid and

satisfied short
of both

of

fusion

impressionand

and

solution

action with

and

reason,

ration
satu-

and

Action

Reflex

absorption of

an

into

learning,which
forth

The

of all of them

aim

is to shadow
from

emerging
by which spirit,
exhausting the whole circle of

of process

sort

departments of the mind


fail us to-day (even had I the
not) to speak of gnosticsystems

I have

in detail.

139

all three

would

Time

one.

Theism.

and

finite
beginnings and
experience in its sweep, shall at last return and possess
itselfas its own
object at the climax of its career.
At the
This
climax
is the religious
consciousness.
latest and
giddy height of this conception, whose
form is the Hegelian philosophy,definite
best known
its

fail to

words

serve

their

; and

purpose

the

ultimate

shipper,
objectand subject,worshipped and worfacts and
the knowledge of them, fall into
other is left outstandingbeyond this
no
one, and where
that we
call indifferently
that alone is,and
one
may
this
act
fact, realityor idea, God
creation,
or
or
to our
goal,I say, has to be adumbrated
haltingand
gasping intelligenceby coarse
physical metaphors,
removals
and
! positings and
self-returningsand
which
free,'
hardly help to make the matter
'settings

where

goal,
"

"

'

'

'

'

'

clear.
But

the midst

from

of it all
in which

the

knowing

shall

that each
the

twain

its

have

to

be

curdlingand the circling


catch a glimpse of a state
known

become

so

exhaustivelyis absorbed
become
one
flesh,and

shall somehow
into

dimly
realityto

seem

we

of the

have

soaked

up

and

the

power

of

mutually adequate
by the other and
in which
the light

all the

outer

darkness

Like
all headlong
ubiquitous beams.
ideals,this apotheosis of the bare conceiving faculty
has its depth and wildness, its pang
and
its charm.
To
it sings a truly siren strain ; and
so
many
long
it is held only as a postulate,
as
as
a mere
vanishing
own

Essays in Popular Philosophy.

140

point to give perspectiveto our intellectual aim, it is


hard
to
see
we
empirical title by which
any
may
That we
deny the legitimacyof gnosticism'sclaims.
the goal it prefigurescan
be
not
as
never
are
yet near
to
a
reason
why we might not continue
indefinitely
drawn
approach it; and to all scepticalarguments,
reason's actual
from
finiteness, gnosticism can
our
faith in the infinite charits indomitable
still oppose
acter
of its potentialdestiny.
it is that the

physiologist's
tion,
generalizait seems
to me,
in, and by
as
fairlycome
may
rulingany such extravagant faith out of court help to
personal mistrust of its pretensions.
legitimateour
I confess that I myself have always had
trust
a
great misof the pretensions of the gnostic faith.
Not
what
a
cognitive
only do I utterlyfail to understand
facultyerected into the absolute of being, with itself
if we
but even
its object,can
as
grant it a
mean;
reason
being other than itself for object,I cannot
self
myhere

Now,

of the

out

belief that

however

familiar

and

at

with the character


of that
might become
being, the bare being of it,the fact that it is there at
all,must
always be something blankly given and presupposed
that conception may
in order
begin its
and
in short lie beyond speculation,
work
not
; must
be enveloped in its sphere.
Accordingly,it is with no small pleasure that as a
of physiology and psychology I find the only
student
home

we

lesson

can

corroborates
to

these

from

these sciences

convictions.

to

be

one

that

its first dawn

From

highest actual attainment, we find that the cognitive


it appears
to exist at all,appears
where
faculty,
in an
element
organic mental whole, and
as
one
the powers
minister to higher mental
powers,

its

but
as

learn

"

Reflex

Action

Theism.

and

141

lution
thing as its emancipation and absofrom these
est
organic relations receives no faintfrom
color of plausibility
discern.
can
any fact we
Arising as a part, in a mental and objectiveworld
it must, whatever
which
both largerthan itself,
its
are
of growth may
be (and I am
far from wishing
powers
This
to disparage them), remain
a
part to the end.
of the cognitive element
is the character
in all the

Such

of will.

mental

life we
that

that

the nature

therewith

being

that is real

sacred

from, the

by

the

from

best

shall

there is

to

pose
sup-

On

the

that to the end

of

volitional

deepest

ever

to
response
munication
organ of com-

In every

possess.

something

of every
To

ours.

reason

change.

probable

we

grasp

no

ever

of moral
and
power
of thingswill be the

our

is sacred

will

than

more

have

we

character

contrary, it is
time

and

know,

external

other.

co-operate with

to, and

God's

being

his creation

and

all he wants
seems
rightest
response
of us.
In such co-operationwith his purposes,
not in
chimerical
speculativeconquest of him, not in
any
lie the real
drinking of him up, must
any theoretic
meaning of our destiny.
All men
This is nothing new.
know it at those rare
when

moments

her

chatteringand

formula
then

the

that.

or

seem

to

soul

sobers

herself,and

leaves off

protestingand

about
insisting

In

of

the

listen,and

silence
hear

to

our

this

theories

something

we

like

the

pulse of Being beat; and it is borne in upon us that


the mere
turning of the character,the dumb
willingness
to

suffer and

all theories

theory

about

it is that
power,

about
it

can

to

serve

it

universe, is

put together. The

do

the acutest
the

this

most

more

most

bring us to that.
theories,the greatest
elaborate
education,

is to

than
any

tain
Cerlectual
intelare

Essays in Popular Philosophy.

142
sheer

mockery when,

mean

motives
that

certain

and

inarticulate

or

were

matter
no
energy,
with
learning its

us

respect

satisfied that the

not

we

moral

unequipped
from

be, extorts

may

happens, they feed


will.
And
it is equally

nerveless

resolute

often

too

as

we

should

never

essential root

how
owner

pay

of human

lay there.
personality
I have

sketched

but still I

my subjectin the briefest outlines ;


will agree that I have established
you

my

that the

hope
point,and
far from

so

the

to

theistic attitude

and
holds
goes

Being
so

far

when

to

made
as

to

is true

as

to

itself

or

how

With

that

agnosticism
midway, and

we

agnosticism,it

cannot

know

how

With

us.
we

Between

stands

in each.

confess

insist that

made, and

If any

of mind.

gnosticism, theism

what
far

so

ity,
physiologicalview of mentalbut give aid and comcan
fort
invalidating,

gnosticism,it goes
know
Being's character

can

it asks

us

to

behave.

havior
so
insisting
stronglythat beis the aim and end of every sound
philosophy
of the speculaI have curtailed the dignityand scope
tive
function
in us, I can
tainment
only reply that in this ascernite
infiof Being lies an almost
of the character
tions
consideraspeculativetask. Let the voluminous
toward
thought converges
by which all modern
idealistic or
pan-psychic conclusions
speak for me.
of a Hodgson, of a Lotze, of a ReLet the pages
within
the
limits drawn
nouvier, reply whether
by
purely empirical theism the speculativefacultyfinds
But do
not, and shall not always find,enough to do.
it little or
much, its place in a philosophy is always
form
of the
the same,
and
is set by the structural
mind.
whether
or
expressed in sonnets
Philosophies,
one

fear that in

Reflex
systems, all

must

Action

Theism.

and

this form.

wear

143

thinker

The

starts

experience of the practicalworld, and asks


the tive
He
launches himself upon
its meaning.
speculaand makes
a
cends
long or short. He assea,
voyage
from

some

the

into

eternal

essences.

be while

discoveries
in is

issue

the denial
is

and
empyrean,
But whatever

sooner

concrete

some

of

the

gone,

old one,

later washed

or

the

his achievements
result

utmost

practicalmaxim

new
some

with

communes

or

with which

ashore

the

on

and

they

can

resolve, or

inevitablyhe
terra firma of

life

Whatever

again.
thought takes

this voyage

is a

philosophy.
have
how theism takes it. And
We
in the phiseen
losophy
of a thinker who, though long neglected,is
the spiritual
life of his native
doing much to renovate
France
Charles
to-day (I mean
Renouvier, whose
than they
us
writingsought to be better known among
are),we have an instructive example of the way in
which
this very empirical element
in theism, its confession
of an
ultimate
sion
opacity in things,of a dimenof being which escapes
theoretic control, may
our
definite practicalconclusion,
this
suggest a most
wills are free/
I will say nothing
our
one, namely, that
of Renouvier's
line of reasoning; it is contained
in many
volumes
which I earnestlyrecommend
to your
"

'

attention.1

But

of volumes

enforce

to

is

what

not

my

makes

conclude

by recallingto you
Tennyson, published last year, in
me

voyage
in

is

few lines

Especiallythe

made, and

the

that the

doctrine

same

the

ber
num-

philosophy, let

the

which

little poem
the

conclusion

of

tive
speculareached

"

Essais

de

Critique Generale, 2me


Edition,6 vols.,
d'une
Classification Systematique
i2mo, Paris, 1875
Esquisse
des Doctrines Philosophiques,2 vols.,8vo, Paris, 1885.
'""

and

the

Essays

144

**

of

Out

the

From

the
of

the

Out
With

this

Down

From

that

Drew

to

And

all

this
the

thine

That
And

light

one

shore

and

shadow

own

thou

banish'd

into

And

shattered

Who
Out

thee

Live

thou,

And

ivyberry,

From

and

death
and

Nearer
Not

matter,

But

this

With

the

to
ever

nor

death

thine

and

One,

all

in

and

husk,

still

depart

life
who

and

all,
the

"

grape

life, and

wrought

finite-infinite,
that
own

"

thyself

Him

nearer

the

veil
Infinite

that

through

miracle,
on

born

being

mortal

and

grain

choose

main

power

of

world-self
of

moons

fleshly sign

unconceivably

whole

his

man,

phantom

made
of

be

Spirit, half-lost

wailest

our
.

said,

upon,

and

"

mystery,

sun

should

suns

this

who

thou,

art

"

boy.

they

look

dear

shore,

darling

which

the

by

see,

hidden

the

can

"

deep,

ours,

man

shadows.

we

the

not

that

no

lit

world

sends

is

and

man,'

deep,

comest,

which

will,

bounding

of

out

thou

sea,

world

the

that

moon

make

us

Spirit,

dark

the

in

Let

In

ninth

yon

For
*

deep,

the

he

the

of

the

begins,

as

out

but

is

deep,

world

moves

within

world

our

of

God

world

the

our

child,

my

true

Whereof

of

Spirit

of

out

before

deep

deep,

that

From

child,

my

great

Whereon

Philosophy.

Popular

deep,

that

Out

in

thou
act

and

art
on

thou,
the

world?

find

Essays in Popular Philosophy.

146

clearer

of determinism

decide

for

againstthat

or

of what
decide

to

least

at

all

pretensionto

will

is true.

you

to

and

is.

to

prove

The

most

follow my

own

if it

acting as

to

Its truth

who

ought

In

other

words,

not

free.

are

ought

With

But

advance.
as

all

much

thus

well.

proceed

theories

about

another,

we

do

will

it true,
to

seems

logic of the case.


down
our
willy-nilly
be freelyespoused by
backs

exclude, it

to

to

question all hope


to

of

which

at

one

in order

and
to

that

from

me,
a

we

coercive

I, for

one,

without.

go

arguments
world

free,

are

affirm

seems

it.

upon

of freedom, if we

the

we

point

more

outset,
about

am

when
suppositions: first,

the

of

some

assuming

demonstration

The

of the

induce

their

turn

without

not

so

to

understood

two

on

in

propriety to be

perfectlycontented

am

prefer

in the strict

It

should

"

is to

If it be true, it

be forced

the free-will side of the

demonstration,

if you

that the freedom

hope
example

first act

our

This

doubters, you

to

in all inward

ought

standing
under-

remain

you

equally well

can

better

And

true.

were

indifferent throats.
men

about.

that this is involved

me

with

plainly what the subject of your


thus disclaim openly on the threshold

more

see

hesitation

all,but

at

they have been


it possiblefor you
to

doctrine

are

you

than

you
made

before, I shall have

made

not

to

them

discuss
attain

can

stood
under-

to
we

with

urge
make
one

conception

of

give us subjectivesatisfaction ; and,


second, if there be two
conceptions, and the one
rational
than the
the whole, more
to us, on
seems
entitled to suppose
that the more
tional
raare
other, we
thingswhich

one

are

all

shall

is the truer

willingto

make

hope that
suppositionswith

of the two.
these

you
me;

for I

point;

here who
if there be any of you
will find little edification in the rest of

they
have

what

to

but

myself
of

doctrines

the rest

world

the
than

the

cannot

into

shape

the

argue

magnificentT^

all the

and
of

physicalscience
uniformity of law, and
"

indomitable

rational

more

into

our

to

which

shape

it is thrown

desire
in

our

there

to

cast

j
'

minds

by

the

experience. The world has shown


of ours
to a great extent, plastic
to this demand
itself,
for rationality.How
much
farther it will show
itself
of findingout
Our only means
can
no
one
plastic
say.
is to try ; and I, for one, feel as free to try conceptions
A
of moral
of mechanical
of logicalrationality.
as
or
If a certain formula
for expressing the nature
of the
violates my
moral
world
demand, I shall feel as free
crude

to

order

throw

it

of

from

stop

that

believe

evolution,

proceed

"

say.

of mathematical

achievements
our

147

afraid that

am

not,

are

of Determinism.

Dilemma

The

our

overboard,

disappointed my

demand

or

at

for

least to doubt

it,as

if it

uniformityof sequence,
being,so far as I can

demand
example ; the one
emotional
the other is.
see, quite as subjectiveand
as
The
for example,
what is it
principleof causality,
but a postulate,
an
name
empty
covering simply a
demand
that the sequence
of events
shall some
day
manifest
of belongingof one
a deeper kind
thingwith
than the mere
another
which
arbitraryjuxtaposition
now
It is as much
phenomenally appears?
altar
an
unknown
to an
god as the one that Saint Paul found
All our
at Athens.
scientific and
philosophicideals
altars to unknown
are
gods. Uniformity is as much
is free-will. If this be admitted, we
as
so
debate"
can
for

"

on

even

freedom

and

But

if any one
pretends that while
varietyare, in the first instance,subjective

terms.

demands, necessityand uniformityare

something

Essays in Popular Philosophy.

148

altogetherdifferent,I

do not

how

see

we

debate

can

all.1

at

acquainted
all the usual
not
arguments on the subject. I canstop to take up the old proofs from causation,
the certainty with
which
statistics,from
we
foretell one
another's conduct, from the fixityof

with

from
can

all the

character, and
which

"

suppose

whole

The
that

the

arisen

from

you

there

But

rest.

these

usually encumber

notion
have

I must

begin, then,

To

classical arguments,

historyof popular beliefs about Nature


thought of a universal physicalorder
the

words

two

are

refutes

possibly

can

purely passive reception and association

perceptions. Indubitable

it is that

as

infer from

men

of ticular
parknown

equallycertain that this

procedure, if restricted
materials
that spontaneously offer themselves,
to the phenomenal
led to the belief in a general uniformity,
would
but only
have
never
to

unknown,

to

cases

the

"

is not

for

is

in

nation.
motley alterexperience, nothing exists

discovered

in the world
is looked

//'//the order

on

the

the other.

on

order

more

than

at first sight
appears
The first impulse to look

for.

practicalneeds

ends must
be attained,
: where
proceeds from
which
know
must
infallibly
trustworthymeans
possess a property,
n
eed
is
result.
But
the
a
produce
only the first occasion
practical
it

reflection

our

there

or

there

That

rule the world

point of view of strict


particularperceptions,with their coincidences

hand, their contradictions

one

or

of

sum

lawlessness

the

From

we

and

the belief that law

but

for

it is

the

no

such

on

the conditions

need, motives

the stage of
rather with an

would

association.

mere

equal lack

of true

knowledge

; and

even

were

still be present for


For not with an

of interest,does

yond
carrying us beequal interest,
contemplate those

man

mate,
thing is linked with its former
and
it is linked to something else.
The former processes
harmonize
with the conditions of his own
thinking: the latter do not.
In the former, his concepts,generaljudgments, and inferencesapply to
thus the
: in the
latter,they have no such application. And
reality
natural

processes
those in which

in which

intellectual satisfaction
at last excites

the entire
and

in him

phenomenal

necessities
of his

own

which

which

at

the conscious
world
are

to him

first comes

those

wish

to

rational

the fundamental

without

find realized

reflection,

throughout

continuities,uniformities,
element

thought." (Sigwart,Logik, bd.

2,

and
s.

guidingprinciple

382.)

The
which

and

freedom, and

word

The

chance.
wish

have

'

'

all the rest

far overshadowed

so

we

eulogistic
is the opprobrious word
I wish
to
keep, but I
freedom.'
Its eulogistic

chance

get rid of the word

to

associations
its

'

word

if

of

is the

One

progress.
the other

any

149

immediately dispose

must

we

make

to

are

of Determinism.

Dilemma

of

partiesclaim the sole rightto


it,and determinists
to-day insist that they alone
freedom's
ism
determinOld-fashioned
champions.

use
are

what

was

both

that

meaning

we

may

call hard

determinism.

words

fatality,
bondage
like. Nowadays,

not

shrink

the

will,necessitation, and

have

from

such

the

which

soft determinism

as

harsh

abhors

and, repudiating fatality,


necessity,and
that its real

says
freedom

It did

we

words,

terminati
prede-

even

is freedom

name

of

; for

only necessityunderstood, and bondage


Even
freedom.
to the highest is identical with true
little used
of soft
to making capital out
a writer
as
words
hesitates not to call himself a
Mr. Hodgson
as
'

is

free-will determinist.'
all this is

Now,
the

real

of

issue

Freedom

fact has

in all these

all. No

at

whole,

free and

are

problem,
of

the

decided
in

mean

who

"

one

ivho

an

most

spin out

the

soft determinist

mean

the

mean

cannot

him

answer

sometimes

we

discussion
a

whole

But

not

sentence,

in
"

chapters in

one

by

there

of words,

importance,

momentous

of

that sometimes
not?

are

issue of fact and

without
clause

entirelysmothered.
lem
presents simply no prob-

actingwithout external
he mean
the acting rightly,or
the acquiescing in the law of the

"

he

what

which

under

been

senses

matter

by it, whether he
constraint; whether
whether

of evasion

quagmire

which

sentence,
those

very

an

we

is

issue

is often
"

nay,
writers

their efforts to show

Essays in PopularPhilosophy.

150
'

what

true

freedom

"

which

determinism, about

or

is ; and

that

we

is the
talk

to

are

question of
to-night.

Fortunately,no ambiguities hang about this word


about
its opposite, indeterminism.
Both
nate
desigoutward
an
thingsmay happen, and
way in which

their cold

and

mathematical

that

associations

Now,

advance.

between

I intimated
Let

of

evidence

while

at

for ourselves.

the

external

an

and

in

way

kind

to

indeterminism

cide
de-

is, as

back, strictly
impossible to find.
difference

What

does

determinism

professesthat those parts of the


laid down
absolutelyappoint and
parts shall be.

The

them

between

It

other

sentimental

no

either
partiality

our

determinism

look

us

bribe

can

has

sound

see

profess?
universe
already
the

what

decree

has

future

and

ambiguous

no

hidden
in its womb
call the
: the part we
possibilities
totality. Any
present is compatible with only one
than
the one
other future complement
fixed from
is in each
and
whole
eternity is impossible. The

welds

part, and

every

it with

the

into

rest

unity,an iron block, in which there


of turning.
equivocation or shadow
"

With

earth's first clay they did the last


of the last harvest

there

And

the first morning of creation

What

the last dawn

Indeterminism,
have
that

sowed

And

certain

the

on

amount

laying down

determine

what

of

can

lute
abso-

be

no

knead,

man

the seed.

wrote

reckoning shall read."

the contrary, says


of loose

of

an

one

play on
of them

the others

shall

that the parts


one

does
be.

another,
not

so

sarily
neces-

It admits

and
be in excess
of actualities,
possibilities
may
that things not
knowledge may
yet revealed to our
alterOf two
be ambiguous.
really in themselves
that

The

which

futures

native

of Determinism.

Dilemma

reallypossible
;

conceive, both

we

the

and

become

one

151

impossibleonly
excludes
it by

when
the other
very moment
thus
becoming real itself. Indeterminism

the

at

be

now

may

the

denies

unbending unit of fact. It says there


ultimate pluralismin it; and, so saying,
is a certain
it corroborates
our
ordinary unsophisticatedview of
to float in a
things. To that view, actualities seem
of possibilities
from
wider sea
of which
out
they are
such
chosen; and, somewhere, indeterminism
says,
exist, and form a part of truth.
possibilities
where,
Determinism, on the contrary, says they exist noand
that necessityon
the one
and
possibil
imhand
the other are the sole categoriesof the
on
be

world

to

real.

Possibilities that

one

determinism,

The

there.
this

There

is

of ours, all that


in it having been
from

actual

are,

were
they never
nothing inchoate,

this universe

about
be

get realized

illusions:

pure

all.

at

fail to

cloud

of

alternatives

was

is

or

for

sibilitie
posit says,

shall

or

eternityvirtually
minds

our

escort

of

withal is a cloud of sheer decepactuality


tions,
is the only name
to which
that
impossibilities
belongs.
rightfully
The
issue, it will be seen, is a perfectly
sharp one,
which
no
eulogistic
over
or
terminology can smear
The
truth must
lie with one
side or the
wipe out.
side makes
the other
other, and its lying with one
mass

'

"

false.
The

question relates solelyto


in the strict

may,

but
for

need

instance, has

say another

the

volition

determinists

of the term,

sense

not, be.

Both

sides

occurred.

might

swear

the existence

have

that

as

admit

The

that

tion,
voli-

indeterminists

occurred

nothing

of sibilitie
posthingsthat

in its

could

place:
possibly

Essays in Popular Philosophy.

152
have
called

tell

in to

of

contradicters
draw

to

its

in

occurred

no

place. Now,

which

us

each

of these

other

is

conclusions

science

can

point-blank

two

Science

right?

but

be

such

as

fesses
pro-

based

are

of fact,thingsthat have

actuallyhappened ;
of assurance
but how can
that something
any amount
tion
actuallyhappened give us the least grain of informaanother
to whether
as
thing might or might not
have happened in its place?
Only facts can be proved
and
by other facts. With things that are possibilities
If we
have no other
not facts,facts have no concern.
of existingfacts,the posevidence
than the evidence
sibilitymatters

on

remain

must

cleared

to

never

be

up.

the truth

And

mystery

is that

facts

have
practically

hardly

or
making us either determinists
make
flourish of
Sure enough, we
indeterminists.
a
minists,
deterare
quoting facts this way or that; and if we
the infallibility
with which
talk about
we
we
can
predictone another's conduct; while if we are
indeterminists, we
lay great stress on the fact that it
foretell one
another's concannot
is just because
we
duct,

anything

do with

to

either in

statecraft

intriguesand
intenselyanxious

so

who

or

small

and
is

war

does

so-called
fillsup

not

see

the

in any of the great


businesses
of men,
that life

and

or

hazardous

wretched

objectivetestimony

But

game.

of
insufficiency
on

both

sides?

minds
is something
in our
the gaps
What
divides
into
external.
not
us

this

What
not

jective,
ob-

ity
possibil-

is different faiths or
men
anti-possibility
postulates, postulatesof rationality.To this man
in
rational with
the world
more
seems
possibilities
rational with possibilities
cluded;
exmore
it, to that man
will about
and talk as we
having to yield to
men

and
"

"

Essays in Popular Philosophy.

154

information

no

that

about

of which

it is

except that it happens to be disconnected


not
else,
controlled, secured, or

with

other

As

this

thingsin advance
point is the most

lecture, and

I say

What

it.

actual

own

subtile
time

same

hinges,I beg

the rest
to

the

at

of its

of

one

thing
some-

necessitated

"

by

predicated,

presence.

the

whole

the

point on which all


to pay
particularattention
it tells us
nothing about

you

is that

It
thing may be in itself to call it chance.'
be a bad thing,it may
be a good thing. It may
may
be lucidity,
transparency, fitness incarnate, matching
it has once
the whole
system of other things,when
All you
befallen, in an unimaginably perfectway.
is that this is not
mean
by callingit chance
anteed,
guar-

what

'

'

that

of other

things has
chance-thing. Its originis

system

it escapes,

and

otherwise.

fall out

also

it may

positivehold

no

in

Hands

says,

off!

the

on

certain fashion

the

For

tive:
nega-

when

coming,

not
at all.
or
gift,
This negativeness,
however, and this opacity of the
ab extra, or from
thus considered
chance-thing when
the point of view of previous thingsor distant things,
of positivedo not
preclude its having any amount
and luminosityfrom within, and at its own
ness
place
it comes,

and

there

it is that

whole

must

of chance.

is

If the
wait

till it

That

the

course

both
a

limited

can

Nevertheless, many

reallyof

may

persons

matter

actuallybe

this sort, in which

conceivable

its

property

get it,if it be

universe

asserts

this property, the

wants

liabilities and

simple and

in it

the unconditional

whole

joint-stocksociety of

have

something

that is not

something
whole.

its chance-character

that

All

of the

of

free

moment.

about
own,

as

limited

the

sort

sharers

powers,

is of

notion.

talk

as

if the minutest

would
a

of

matter

tempted

Since

fact

to

the

believe

ourselves

sure

character

accidental
c~'

part with

one

future

human

volitions

only ambiguous
in, let

whether

to

walk

of chance

matter

It

Oxford

after the

home
as

a
are

moment

to

independent and
fraughtwith such direful

lecture is

of which

ambiguous

and

the present moment


is concerned?
both
and
Divinity Avenue

as

that

means

Street

far

we

as

their

be

need

things

stop for

us

are

these.
to the universe
as
sequences
vVhat is meant
by saying that my choice

way

another,

of

modicum

all.

at

make

15$

independence, the faintest


the future, for example,
of ambiguity about
this goodly universe
ruin everything,and turn
of insane
verse
sort
sand-heap or nulliverse,no uni-

smallest

tremor

into

of

of disconnectedness

dose
the

of Determinism.

Dilemma

The

called ; but

that

only one, and that


either one, shall be chosen.
one
ously
Now, I ask you serithat this ambiguity of my
to suppose
choice is
the impossible hypothesis
real; and then to make
are

that

the

falls

on

that

I first walk

choice

is made

different

twice
In

street.

over,

other

and

each

words,

time

imagine

through DivinityAvenue, and then


hilate
imagine that the powers governing the universe anniof time with all that it contained,
ten minutes
and set me
back at the door of this hall just as I was
before
the choice
made.
was
Imagine then that,
make
ent
a differeverythingelse being the same, I now
choice
and traverse
Oxford
Street.
You, as passive
spectators, look

universes,
"

one

on

of them

and

the

see

with

me

two

alternative

walking through

in it,the other with


DivinityAvenue
walking through Oxford Street. Now,

the
if you

same

me
are

de-

of these universes to have


terminists you
believe one
been from eternityimpossible: you believe it to have

Essays in Popular Philosophy.

156

impossiblebecause

been

accidentally

or

somewhere

outwardly at these
the impossible and

is

rational

and

of the

necessary

determinist

intrinsic

involved

in it.

universes, can
accidental

could

you

among

But

ing
look-

say which
which
the

you
and

one,

I doubt

one?

irrationality

if the most
have

the

clad
iron-

slightest

lighton this point. In other words, either


there would, to our
universe
after the fact and once
and understanding,appear
of observation
means
just
would
There
be absolutely
rational as the other.
as
criterion by which
we
no
might judge one
necessary
of chance.
and
the other matter
we
Suppose now
relieve the gods of their hypothetical task and
sume
asglimmer

of

choice,

my

made,

once

to

be

forever.

made

for good and all. If,as


through DivinityAvenue
begin to affirm,what all
good determinists, you now
punctually do affirm, that in the
good determinists
of things I could rit have gone
nature
through Oxford

go

had

Street,
"

I done

it would

so

insanity, a
irrationality,
simply call your attention
is what

conception
insight into

details.

figured

in

no

what

character

no

Before

Machtsprnch, a mere
dogma and based on no
a

my

choice, either
I

in

present

were

whatever

I have

the

street

happened

would
in

gap

it with

have

nature;
the

best

world.

outcry, then, is this against a

hoDow

which, if it
!

but

as

conscience

deterministic

chance

to

"

philosophy as the
have
so
proclaimed

your

would

you

But

in
I
nature,
gap
tion
this,that your affirma-

as

take

and

fulminated

chance,

horrid

call

Germans

been

Had
natural to you as to me.
Oxford
Street, Divinity Avenue

seemed
to

the

have

taken

to

us,

distinguishfrom
the most

possibleexample

could

could

we
a

rational

trivial of
lead to any

by
cessity
ne-

examples,
different

Dilemma

The

what

For

result.

are

of Determinism.
the alternatives which, in

fact, offer themselves

of

Are

they

and

Oxford

not

now

Street
kinds

human

volition?

What

of chance

matters

seem

point
?

all like the

and

one

all of them

to

that

futures

those

are

157

Divinity Avenue
of our
Are
example?
they not
of things already here and
based

Is any
one
ever
existingframe of nature?
tempted to produce an absolute accident, something
utterlyirrelevant to the rest of the world ? Do not

the

in

that assail us, all the

all the motives

themselves
of the

to

past

our

; and

choice, spring equallyfrom the soil


of them, whether
would
not either one

realized

through

moment

it

and
to

chance

through necessity,the

or

realized,seem

was

to

continuous
manner
completest and most
with the phenomena
interdigitate
already there?

thinks

one

more

that

wonders

and

empty

so

of the

tells

us

about

of

use

gratuitousa

murderer
mother
as

as

great

so

which

word

argument

against free-will

is that if it be true,

may

as

be

doors, etc.

of this argument
till they learn what
the real

that

possible.
will

found

It is

one

hubbub

probably be his best friend as his worst


as
likelyto strangleas to suckle her first-born,and
windows
to
to go out
as
ready
jump from fourth-story

debate
say

have

more

absolutely nothing about what chances, or


the modus
operandi of the chancing; and the
it as a war-cry
shows
only a temper of intel-

favorite

the

matter,

this outcry againstchance


should
echo
in the hearts of men.
an

be

fit that past,

to

us

in the

The

futures that offer

Users

everything that
It
than

merely

says

is

is

of

man's
a

enemy,
all of

us

of front

should

properly be excluded from


Free-will
does not
question is.
'

physicallyconceivable

that

alternatives

that

'

is also

morally

reallytempt our^

reallypossible. Of course, the alternatives that


Lire
tempt our
vastlyfewer than the physicalpossibilities
we
can
their
coldlyfancy. Persons
reallytempted often do murder
best friends, mothers
do strangletheir first-born,
people do jump out
of fourth-story
windows, etc.
do

more

thus

one

will

Essays in Popular Philosophy.

158

lectual absolutism, a demand


a

solid

which

block, subjectto
demand, the world
In

all.

at

respect,

from

choice

entirelywillingto
a

of

world

those

as

appear
makes

Self-luminous
at which
to

is rather who

that

now

decided

it,so

were

far
To

me.

as

choices

your

yourselves,it

go,

is true,

effect them.

and
;

and

To

you

they

decisions, for

him

who

altogetherpeculiar psychic facts.


the
and
at
ment
self-justifying
living mothey occur, they appeal to no outside

are

put its stamp


with

continuous

in their

them

decisions

them,

moment

alternatives

of

within

are

for

and

are
so
choice, which to me
blind,
external, are the opposites of this, for

and

opaque,
you

chance
acts

very

call

gratify
practical

to

by pure
absolutelyundistinguished
live. I am, therefore,
now

me

in which

the world

verifiable

the

temper,

be bound

not

may

shall be

which

"

in which

your
be by

would

control,

one

outwardly

every
world

actuallydistract
chance

that the world

the

seem

strange and

upon

of

rest
to

make

them

make

them

Themselves

nature.
nature

intense

or

continuous

it
and

of

function

sent
granting conand withholding it from another,
to one
possibility
future into an
to transform
an
equivocal and double
inalterable and simple past.
have no
But with the psychology of the matter
we
this evening. The quarrelwhich determinism
concern
has with chance
fortunatelyhas nothing to do with
It is a quarrel
this or
that psychological detail.
the
denies
altogether metaphysical. Determinism
it affirms that
ambiguity of future volitions,because
nothing future can be ambiguous. But we have said
tions
future volienough to meet the issue. Indeterminate

do

from

the

mean

chance.

Let

house-topsif need

us

fear to

not

be ; for

we

now

shout

know

it

that

The

thing
of gift, the one
simply being a disparaging,
the other a eulogistic,
for anything
name

the idea

which

have

we

chances

and

this at last

And

ject.

have

We

or

whether

And

for

worse

within

bringsus
what

seen

either

sightof

determinism

what

be.

to

sub-

our

means

we

rightlydescribed as
have
that chance,
seen
meaning chance ; and we
the very name
of which we
are
urged to shrink from
from
as
a
means
metaphysical pestilence,
only the
negative fact that no part of the world, however big,
claim to control
can
absolutelythe destinies of the
But although,in discussingthe word
whole.
chance,'
have
I may
seemed
at moments
to be arguing for its
have

that

the

claim.

having
it will depend altogether
on
unclaimable
thingsturn out

giftsin

or

uncertain

these

effective

no

be the better

the world

same

"

and
on

159

is,at bottom, exactlythe

the idea of chance


as

of Determinism.

Dilemma

seen

indeterminism

is

'

real

existence, I have

have

so.

from

or

; at

no

most,

any

strict theoretical

repeat what

now

To

deepen

between
difference

this I may

at

now

clearing of
I wish

have

with

judgments

what
of

it

the

seems

upon,

that,

question
of

sense

hope

can

of

the

in it and
to do

after all

; and

ous
tedi-

our

the

deterministic

make

world

that

chances

begin

justwhat
implies.

you

world

I call your
attention
fact that it is a world
to

theoretic

our

way.
first of all to show

that this is

I said at the outset,

is the most

last

this be

agreed

We

yet.

so

point of view,

world

world

deterministic

have

we

do

to

whether

And

is insoluble.

the

meant

yet ascertained

not

chance

not

regret.

are

in

which

Hardly

notion

The

cations
impli-

all bound

to

shall,with

the

your
an

up

with

constantly
permission, call
we

hour

passes

in

160

Essays in PopularPhilosophy.

which

do

we

; and

have

echoed

That

make

Inscribe

"

Ah

To

mend

the wish

it nearer

infancy,the
Acorn,
Fool

! had

Thy

whimsies

Even

quite obliterate.

I with

in

par

fate

conspire

of these

point

of

the universe

on

regrets

are

philosophic
of that friend

of the fable The

hero

that

bough
would

the

from

point
probably make

should

Atheist

of

regret

as

ends

we

little as

of

of view

botch

and

cannot

see

they

and

hard

ends,

own

we

remodelling the
from the point of

Wise
But

can.

our

etc.

of

then

more

pretty obstinate
acts

pumpkin bore,
worked
no
more,"

have

much

How

universe.

for

fate,

"

"

are

of

"

fairer leaf

that most

the criticisms

our

view

Khayam

the heart's desire ? "

to

Now, it is undeniable
foolish,and quite on

the

hearts

this sorry scheme


of things entire,
and then
not shatter it to bits,
we

Remould

of

be otherwise

whose

us

closed, the book

and

you

of

of Omar

on

or

names,

Love, could

with

those

are

the writer

our

Would

value

something might

might clasp,ere

we

And

that

indeed

happy

never

11

wish

not

therefore

men

still some

regrets

stifle, regrets

to

"

ple,
cruelty or treachery, for examperformed by others or by ourselves.
remain
can
one
entirelyoptimisticafter

of wanton

whether

Hardly any
reading the confession
the other
day: how,

of the
to

murderer

get rid of

the

at

Brockton

wife

whose

him, he inveigledher into


desert spot, shot her four times, and
then, as she
a
lay on the ground and said to him, You did n't do
dear?"
it on
did
replied,"No, I
you,
purpose,

continued

existence

bored

"

62

as

Essays in Popular Philosophy.


which

place in

words,

in other

flaw.

The

more

than
that

and

an

as

with

is afflicted

what

incurable

an

pessimism of a
this, that the
vicious

whose

murder

constitution
irremediable

taint, an
is

because

symptom

whole, which

"

no

says

symptom
it

belongs

its nature
no
express
otherwise
than
by bringing forth just such a symptom
that at this particularspot.
as
Regret for the

to

vicious

impossible, /

is

Schopenhauer

"

it is

be

ought to
organism

murder

transform

must

if
itself,

we

determinists

are

larger regret. It is absurd


alone.
Other thingsbeing what

and

wise, into

the

murder

it could

can

be

not

to

different.

What

that whole

frame

of

thingsof

member.

no

escape

see

which

from

whatever

to stand

are,

regret is

the murder

is

one

this

conclusion, if,being determinists, our


of regret is to be allowed

they

should

we

regret

pessimistic
judgment

at all.

The

from
only deterministic
pessimism is
escape
the judgment of regret. That
everywhere to abandon
this can
be done, historyshows
to be not
impossible.
The
be good.
That is,
devil, quoad existentiam,may
although he be a. principleof evil,yet the universe,
with
such
a
principle in it, may
practicallybe a
better

universe

every

hand, in

of

good
anybody

that

if

ways,

we

small

of evil is

amount

it could

than

way,

condition

been
find

we

by

which

without.
that
a

On
certain

higher form

is nothing to
bought. There
prevent
from
generalizing this view, and trusting
could
but see
things in the largestof all

is

even

would

such

matters

and
Voltaire

as

this

Brockton

murder

paid for by the uses that follow


matic
optimism quand mirne" a systeinfatuated
optimism like that ridiculed
of the possible
in his Candide, is one

to be
appear
An
in their train.

by

have

of Determinism.

Dilemma

The

163

in which
train himself to look
ideal ways
a man
may
and lit up with
life. Bereft of dogmatic hardness
on
and
the expression of a tender
pathetic hope, such

optimism has been the grace of


religiouscharacters that ever lived.
"

Throb
And

thine

with

Nature's

all is clear from

east

of the most

some

an

throbbingbreast,
to

west."

the
be among
cruelty and treachery may
absolutelyblessed fruits of time, and to quarrel with
of their details may
be blasphemy.
The
only
any
be
that
real blasphemy, in short, may
pessimistic
such
lets it give way
to
temper of the soul which
and
grief.
things as regrets, remorse,
deterministic
become
a
Thus, our
pessimism may
deterministic optimism at the price of extinguishing
our
judgments of regret.
this immediately bring us
into a
does
But
not
curious logical
leads\
predicament? Our determinism
because
to call our
us
judgments of regret wrong,
'theyare pessimisticin implying that what is impossi^y
then about
the judgble yet ought to be/ Buthow
If they are wrong,
E"fof regret themselves
other
?
judgments,judgments of approval presumably, ought
in their place. But
to be
as
they are necessitated,
nothing else can be in their place ; and the universe
is justwhat it was
before,
namely, a place in which
what
ought to be appears
impossible. We have got
foot out of the pessimistic
one
bog, but the other one
actions
sinks all the deeper. We
have rescued
our
of evil,but our
from the bonds
judgments are now
Even

i_

"

held fast.

When

sins,regrets
theoretic

and

are

murders
theoretic
the

active

and

treacheries

absurdities
life thus

and

play

cease

to

The

errors.

kind

be

of

see-

Essays in PopularPhilosophy.

164
with

saw

oi either

other

each

the

sends

other

bad.

foredoomed

so

Murder

something must

absurd, and wrong


place of which either
From

part.

and

Are

pessimism

from

is there

we

sin

then

which

be

rise

ery
treach-

able,
fatallyunreason-

in the world.
or

this dilemma

escape.

And

down.

The

good without regret being bad : regret


be good without
treachery and murder
being
been
Both, however, are
supposed to have

cannot

no

of evil.

ground

be

cannot

V^

the

on

so

forms

error

there

seems

to

soon

no

first

at

had

be

necessary

fall back

thought we
possibleway by which
we

It must

sight

into the

emerged

with
may,
cruelties and

we

good intellectual consciences, call the


and
the treacheries,the reluctances
the regrets, all
good together?
Certainlythere is such a way, and you are probably
of you
most
ready to formulate it yourselves. But,
before doing so, remark
how
inevitablythe question
of determinism

indeterminism

and

slides

us

into the

question of optimism and pessimism, or, as our fathers


called it, the question of evil.' The
theologicalform
of all these disputes is the simplest and the deepest,
'

the

from

form

because,

as

which

there

have

some

is the

least escape,

said, remorse
sarcastically

"

not

and

fondness
by the
clung to with a morbid
luxuries, but because
theologiansas spiritual
they are
existingfacts of the world, and as such must be taken
of all
into account
in the deterministic
interpretation
that is fated to be.
If they are fated to be error, does
the bat's wing of irrationality
stillcast its shadow
not

regret

are

the world

over

The

refuge

far off.

The

from

the

necessary

quandary lies,as
acts

we

I said, not

erroneously regret

The
may

be

may

be

is this

The

deepening

the

world

theoretic

evil in their

so

165

regrettingthem

simple condition
must

final purpose
good, but rather

outward

and

in

error

whose

machine

any

of Determinism.

good, and yet our


also good, on
one

condition
a

Dilemma

be

is the
a

natures

of what

of

ness
good-

Not

are.

as

for

contrivance

consciousness

intrinsic

that

regarded
making real

not

as

; and

the

cares
doing either of good or of evil, is what nature
Life is one
for,but the knowing of them.
long eating
of the fruit of the tree
of knowledge^ I am
in the
habit,in thinking to myself,of callingthis point of
view the gnostical
point of view. According to it,the
world is neither an
optimism nor a pessimism, but a
gnosticism. But as this term
perhaps lead to t
may
some
misunderstandings,I will use it as little as possible
rather
of
and
the
here, and speak
subjectivism,
subjectivistic
point of view.
we
Subjectivism has three great branches,
may
"

call them

sentimentalism,
scientificism,

and

ism,
sensual-

h
respectively.They all agree essentiallyabout
the universe, in deeming that what
happens there is
subsidiaryto what we think or feel about it. Crime
its criminality
by awakening our intelligence
justifies
of that criminality,
and
and
eventuallyour remorses
regrets ; and

the

error

included

in

remorses

and

grets,
re-

supposing that the past could have


itself by its use.
Its use
is to
been different,justifies
of what
the irretrievably
lost is.
sense
quicken our
When
think
of it as that which
we
might have been^j
('the saddest words of tongue or pen'), the qualityj
of its worth speaksto us with a wilder sweetness
; and, I
think of {
we
conversely,the dissatisfaction wherewith
driven
it from its natural place \
what
to have
seems
Admirable
artifice of J
gives us the severer
pang.
the

error

of

Essays in Popular Philosophy.

66
!

nature

undone

nothing
the yawning

to

thus

have

We

ing
deceiv-

"

accentuate

to

our

leaving

consciousness

of those

distance

evil between

and

tempted to exclaim,
better to enlightenus, and

the

in order

us

be

might

we

opposite poles of good


which
creation
swings.
view
what
to
our
clearly revealed

be called the dilemma


of determinism, so far as
may
determinism
pretends to think things out at all. A

determinism, it is true, rather


merely mechanical
It is very
out.
sure
rejoicesin not thinking them
that the universe
must
satisfyits postulateof a physical

continuity and
s

who

one

forward

comes

herence

as

number

of

coherence,

well.

have

which

is small.

The

mingle
what
to

of

sort

be.

whose

The

determinism,
of

of

and

cause

universe
dilemma

left horn

is

this
of

may

this

pessimism

any

the

determinism

"

the

good
effect

is what

determinism
and

bad

to

in

deciding
rationallybe held
is

determinism

and

co-

determinists

exposed

most

considerations

those

with

are

you

at

however, that
hard

soft

allows

suppose,
mechanical
or

purely
this evening

called

it smiles

of moral
postulate

I may

among
you
seductions
to whose
I

with

but

whose

one

righthorn

is

is to
Subjectivism. In other words, if determinism
^escape pessimism, it must leave off looking at the
Sf goods and ills of life in a simple objectiveway, and
materials, indifferent in themselves,
as
regard them
for the production of consciousness, scientific and
""

ethical, in
To

escape
Your

us.

pessimism is, as

all know,

no

easy

shown
sufficiently
you
of making the notion
the almost
desperate difficulty
that
that there is a single principle of things,and
principleabsolute perfection,rhyme together with

task.

own

studies

have

we

The

daily vision of
principle,how

our

the

if he did

or,

the

various

ways

bad

appears

by

seem

far the

our

ordinary notion

or

bad

in themselves?

matter,

"

"

the
permit
explained as seeming:
he

to

"

universe

be

must

best.1

in

of

create

God's

For, after all,is there

considered

to

his unity
goodness nor
And
of all
remain
to
impugned.
of operating the disinfection, and
less bad, the way
of subjectivism

are

making

167

perfectionbe
imperfection

he

came

comes

be

If

any

whitewashed, the

be

disinfected, if neither
power

how

good,

evil facts must

the devil must

and

there

comes

create, how

not

The

devil?

the facts of life.

be

If God

here?

of Determinism.

Dilemma

as

mere

be

bad

something rather absurd


external
things being good

not

of

Can

murders

outward
without

and

treacheries,

happenings,

feel their

to

one

any

motions

or

ness?
bad-

could

And

paradise properly be good in the


of a sentient principleby which the goodness
absence
was
goods and evils seem
perceived? Outward
tically
pracindistinguishableexcept in so far as they
result in getting moral
about
them.
judgments made
But then the moral
the main
judgments seem
thing,
facts mere
and the outward
for
perishing instruments
is subjectivism. Every one
their production. This
must

at

of

paradox
1

To

makes
to

who

objectionto

no

fewer

look

moral

our

reader

says

him

not

demands

on

little further

and

prevent

of the

views

he

is satisfied with

things

as

bad,

the world
I

means

his acceptance

Whole, which

at

that

nature, that, though

before

satisfaction,I welcome

notion

wondered

thinking the whole

If, however, all he


does

have

time

some

than

I have

strange
the

pessimism,
no

more

I, who, making

and

purhas

say: he
them, wish
to

give

isfied.
satup all hope of having them
is that the badness
of some
parts
of a universe
whose
other parts give

him
is the

as

an
essence

pluralism,
just

as

ally.
of

He

has

abandoned

deterministic

I do in this paper.

the

monism,

Essays in Popular Philosophy.

68

f~+ysuit

of outward

good

of

outward

attainment

is the breath

of its nostrils,
the

be its
to
seem
good would
suffocation and death.
Why does the painting of any
or
on
earth, awaken
paradise or Utopia, in heaven
such yawnings for nirvana
and
The
whiteescape?
robed
of our
sabbath-schools,
harp-playing heaven
the ladylike tea-table
and
elysium represented in
of Ethics, as the final consummaMr. Spencer's Data
tion
of progress,
are
exactly on a par in this respect,
and
all.1 We
lubberlands, pure and simple, one

"

look

them

upon

this delicious

from

of insanities

mess

deadnesses, hopes
realities,strivings and
fears,agonies and exultations,which forms our

and

and

ent
pres-

vitce is the

only sentiment
they
To
in our
breasts.
awaken
our
crepuscular natures,
for the
moral
born
conflict, the Rembrandtesque
in
chiaroscuro, the shiftingstruggle of the sunbeam
the gloom, such
light are
pictures of light upon
tedium

state, and

and

and
tears

of such

and

win

from

saecula

the whole

so

that

joyed
en-

fruit ot

began

race

of
ceed,
suc-

their

tented
con-

battle, or

before

should
insipidity

why,

"

flat a
singularly

Compare Sir James


1862,pp. 138,318.

that

than

saeculorum

lives,

the

the curtain
business

end

unexampled

inoffensive

better lose than

ring down

be

to

generations of mankind
lives ; if prophets confessed
the fire,and all the sacred

other

no

protract in

and

saved

for

shed

creatures

that

in

martyrs sang

were

neither

if the
say;
their
laid down

victory,we

suffered

so

If this be

understood.

nor

the

and
expressionless,

and

vacuous

the

at

such

at all events

last act

rate,

better

of the

importantly may
winding-up.

so

Stephen'sEssays by

play,
be

Barrister,London,

Essays in Popular Philosophy.

170

of them

each

ethical

point
I

aught
love

choose

to

for

little room

rational

centuries
of

livingheart
subjectivism!

for
be

see

the

of the

much

of view.

know, be

nothing

on

the

and

one,

roll

dilemma

it and

are

the

world

the

more

possibly,for
the healthy

When

all its forms

theoretical
strictly

may,

else.

of determinis

pessimism,

Subjectivism seems

And

great

man.

from

hesitation

they

as

If the

between

scheme.

of life is

in the

indispensable note

an

which

concert

grinding out
So

is

and

its appetites

the most
brutal
unutterablyreal ; when
and the most
spiritualthings are lit by the same
sun,
is an integralpart of the total richness,
and each
ing
a grudging and
why, then it seems
sicklyway of meetseem

so

"

robust

so

wish

and

universe

them

not

to

shrink

be.

to

from

any

take

Rather

of its facts

the

strictly
thing as a

point of view, and treat the whole


the spiritof the uniwhich
verse,
great unending romance
content, is eternally
strivingto realize its own
thinking out and representingto itself.1
dramatic

hope, will accuse


me,
all this,of underrating the reasons
And
that I proceed
now
strong as they are, fail to
reasons,
mind, I trust the presumption may
No

If

we

in favor
to

say

said

of

tivism.
subjec-

why

those

convince

my

be that my

own

tions
objec-

franklyconfess that they are of a practicalorder.


take up subjectivismin a sincere and
practically

radical
with
1

after I have

stronger still.

are

one,

some

Cet

Servons

meet
follow its consequences,
we
make
Let a subjectivism
us
pause.

and

manner

that

univers

est

les intentions

un

du

spectacle que Dieu


grand chorege en

aussi
spectacleaussi brillant,

varie que

donne

se

contribuant

possible.
"

Renan.

a
a

lui-m6me.
rendre

le

The

begin in
forced

so

never

the

by

law

of

in

notion

themselves, and
how

matter

of

that

that

duty

are

to

the

we

for

here

are

them

duties
to

do

good

are

them,

and

no

the

consecrate

once

performances

our

corruptest curiosity.

that certain

feel about

we

notion

opposite

with

end

the

dismiss

its nature

171

way, it is
develop another

intellectual

and

severe

side of itself and

Once

of Determinism.

Dilemma

our

lations
vio-

the attainment
purpose,
and
feeling,and

common

of

subjectiveknowledge
of our
that the deepening of these
is the chief end
lives, and at what point on the downward
slope are
In theology, subjectivismdevelops as
to stop?
we
its left wing
antinomianism.
In literature,
its left
And
life it is eiin practical
ther
wing is romanticism.
out
witha nerveless
sentimentalityor a sensualism
"

'

'

bounds.

Everywhere
It makes

those

still; it renders

already in excess.
as
subjectivism,
itself in every
license.
Its

it fosters the fatalistic mood


who

wholly
All
soon

sort

as

of

reckless

Britain,were

those

more

whose

mind.

passive

through historywe

is
energy
find how

it has

exhausts

free career,

moral,
spiritual,

optimism turns
which
infallibly
brings
It is perfectlysafe to say now
gnosticism,which has begun
in Great

inert

already too

are

of

to become

to

an

ethical

dissolution
that
show

to

and

practical
ence,
indiffer-

in its train.

if the

Hegelian

itself here

and

popular philosophy,
in Germany, it would
it once
as
was
certainlydevelop
its left wing here as there, and
produce a reaction of
a
disgust. Already I have heard
graduate of this
in the pulpit his willingnessto sin
very school
express
like David, if only he might repent like David.
You
tell me
he was
only sowing his wild, or rather
may
his tame, oats ; and perhaps he was.
But the point is
a

Essays in Popular Philosophy.

172

that in the

or
subjectivistic
gnosticalphilosophy oat*
a systematic necessity
sowing, wild or tame, becomes

the

and

classic

chief

truths,the
and

experienced ;
herd

do

not

influence

of

of

function

then
the

we

see

at the

its inevitable

literature,with
are

so

often

last

runnings of

in that

them

After

the

and

pure

be
must
excitingand rancid ones
if the stupidvirtues of the philistine
in and
come
save
societyfrom the
children
of light,a sort of inward

putrefactionbecomes
Look

life.

the

romantic

school, as
Parisian

strange contemporary

which

driven

doom.

of

we

rinse

to

the
out

less clever
minds

our

countries
after

they

clogged with the dulness and heaviness


of our
school
native pursuits. The
romantic
began
with the worship of subjectivesensibility
and
the revolt
the first
was
against legalityof which Rousseau
fluxes and
fluxes,
regreat prophet: and through various
right wings and left wings, it stands to-day
with two
of genius,M. Renan
and M. Zola, as its
men
one
line,
principalexponents,
speaking with its mascuinine,
and the other with what might be called its femof less noble
I prefer not
voice.
to think now
I have in mind
members
of the school,and the Renan
have

become

"

is of

course

the

Renan

of latest

dates.

As

I have

gnostic,both he and Zola are gnostics


of the most
Both
athirst for
are
pronounced sort.
think
the facts of human
the facts of life,
and both
tion.
to be of all facts the most
worthy of attensensibility
Both
that sensibility
to
seems
agree, moreover,
be there
for no
certainlynot, as
higher purpose,
ward
outthe Philistines say, for the sake of bringing mere
outward
rightsto pass and frustrating
wrongs.
used

the term

"

One
other

dwells

on

the

sensibilities for their

for their sweetness

one

speaks with

energy,
a

voice

the

of

The

Dilemma

of Determinism.

bronze, the other with

that of

harp ;

^Eolian

an

173
one

ruggedly ignores the distinction of good and evil,the


other plays the coquette
between
the craven
unmanthe butterfly
liness of his PhilosophicDialogues and
optimism of his Souvenirs de Jeunesse. But under the
the hoarse bass
incessantly
pages of both there sounds
vanitatum, omnia

of vanitas

vanitas,which the reader


the lines. No
he will,between

hear, whenever

may

writer

of this French

rescue

from

the hour

of

the hour

in which

we

"

them,"

from

or

"

school

romantic

hour

thingsof life,
no
pleasure in

I take

say,

of

word

the

satietywith
"

the

has

of terror

at

meaningless grinding,if perchance


should
For terror
and satiety
are
come.

vast

the

world's

such

hours

facts of

sibility
sen-

like any others ; and


hour
at their own
they
right. The heart of the romantic
reign in their own
utterances, whether

is
or
historical,
poetical,critical,
this inward
remedilessness,what Carlyle calls this faroff whimpering of wail and woe.
And
from this romantic
there is absolutelyno
state of mind
possible

theoretic escape.
life in

refined

more

whether,

or

'

prefer to

be

scientific

on

appears

and

since

say

spirit
;
selves
pique our-

'

analytic character, and

call the world

scale,
"

'

roman

in either

case

perimental
ex-

the

lyle
Carpotentiallyas what the same
it,a vast, gloomy, solitaryGolgotha
us

mill of death.

The

name

to

upon

of the

Zola, we

of M.
'

look

we

romance

and

infinite

an

called

once

'

cynical,and

'

world

as

way,

like the friends

our

on

Whether, like Renan,

only
I have
of

is
escape
mentioned

Carlyle,let

it is the

Carlyle'slife,no

way

of
matter

the

by

And
practicalway.
nowadays much-reviled

the

mention

me

his

it

teaching.

for

once

more,

No

matter

great deal

and

for

of his writ-

Essays in Popular Philosophy.

174
What

ing.
to

He

most

important thing

said:

"Hang
your
snivellingcomplaints,and

us?

your

the

was

raptures !

Leave

off

he

sensibilities!

said

Stop

ling
equally snivelgeneral emotional

your

your
like

"

!
But this
men
tomfoolery, and get to WORK
with the subjectivist
means
a complete rupture
osophy
philof things. It says conduct, and
ity,
sensibilnot
is the ultimate
fact for our
recognition. With
the

vision

outward
our

of

certain

changes

to

works
be

intellectual horizon"
succeed

to

be

done, of certain

wrought or resisted, it
terminates. No matter

says

hovt.

in

duties, whether
doing these outward
gladly and spontaneously,or heavily and unwillingly,
do them
somehow
must
we
; for the leaving of them
undone
is perdition. No
how
feel ; if we
matter
we
refuse to do
act and
are
only faithful in the outward
the world will in so far be safe,and we
quit of
wrong,
debt
toward
it. Take, then, the yoke upon
our
our
shoulders
neck
beneath
the heavy legality
our
; bend
of its weight ; regard something else than our
feeling
law ; be willingto
as
our
limit,our
our
master, and
we

live and
have

die

in

its

service,
"

and,

at

stroke,

we

passed from the subjectiveinto the objective


from
some
philosophy of things,much as one awakens
feverish
dream, full of bad lightsand noises, to find
coolness
and
one's self bathed
in the sacred
quiet of
the air of the night.
of this philosophy of
what
But
is the
essence
and
finite,but
objectiveconduct, so old-fashioned
chaste
and
and
sane
so
compared with
strong, when
its romantic
It is the recognition of limits,
rival?
to our
foreignand opaque
understanding. It is the
external
after bringing about
some
good,
willingness,
ends
with the
to feel at peace ; for our
responsibility

of Determinism.

Dilemma

The

performance of that duty, and the


we
lay on higher powers.1
may
'*

we

to

Thou

art

of the rest

burden

O Universe,
thyself,
better

and

worse,"

not

say in that philosophy,the moment


stroke of conduct, however
small.

may

done

Look

175

our

have

we

in

For

philosophy the universe belongs to


of
a
pluralityof semi-independent forces, each one
which may
help or hinder, and be helped or hindered
by, the operationsof the rest.
of that

the view

this

brings us right back, after such a long


and to the
detour, to the question of indeterminism
of all I came
here to say to-night. For
conclusion
the only consistent way of representinga pluralismand
affect one
another
whose
a world
through
parts may
their conduct
being either good or bad is the indeBut

terministic
can

there

way.
be in

are

enabled

to

and

and

in

feel that

natural

the

feel, without

and

bad.

I cannot

is bad, without

understand

have
was

the

The

taking
nothing

to

open

that

at

its

regret without
the

some

act,
acts

the

wrong
of the sort,
I

reallygood

are

that
I

Only

it that

gain.

act

an

cannot

of

real,

then

is it

admission

to

not
can-

how

matter

no

belief

world.

positiveuniversal

the

well?

as

sible
pos-

there

can

happening.

burden, for example, of seeing

righteousnessbe

us

the

understand

regret

sense

for

we

menacing

more,

what

done

belief

unless

is also

way

willingnessto

in
genuine possibilities
1

And

ourselves

excitement

or

right way,

nay,

"

way?

condemning

understand

the

the wrong

way,

need
way, unless we
unless the rightway

we

interest,zest,

achieving

imminent

an

be

What

the end

of all

our

Essays in Popular Philosophy.

176
other
do

than

mockery to feel,after we have failed to


best, that an irreparableopportunity is gone

our

from

the

after

universe, the loss of which

back
and

it must

forever

mourn.

insist that this is all

If you

was

that possuperstition,
sibility
is in the eye of science and reason
bility,
impossiand that if I act badly 'tis that the universe
foredoomed
fall right
to suffer this defect,you
into the dilemma, the labyrinth,of pessimism
from out of whose
toils we
have just
subjectivism,

wound

our

Now,

way.

of

are

we

please. For

own

my

beset

course

free

fall back, if

to

part, though, whatever

we

ties
difficul-

philosophy of objectiveright and


and
it seems
the indeterminism
to
imply,
wrong,
determinism, with its alternative of pessimism or
may

contains

romanticism,
still. But

you

awhile
which
fashion

in

the

difficulties

will remember

ago
could

this

the

that

that I

are

greater

expresslyrepudiated

pretensionto

be coercive
And

in

consequently find
myself,at the end of this long talk,obliged to state
conclusions
This
in an altogetherpersonalway.
my
of appeal seems
the
to be among
personal method
of the problem ; and
the most
conditions
very
any
he
the
confess
is
do
to
one
can
can
as
candidly as
grounds for the faith that is in him, and leave his
example to work on others as it may.
circumlocution
Let me, then, without
say justthis.
The
world
is enigmaticalenough in all conscience,
take
whatever
it. The
theory we
may
up toward
I defend, the free-will theory of popuindeterminism
lar
the judgment of regret,represents
based on
sense
matter.

offer any
ments
arguso-called scientific

Essays in Popular Philosophy.

178
I, for

will not

with.

The

ing
only remainalternative,the attitude of gnosticalromanticism,
wrenches
personal instincts in quite as violent a
my
It falsifies the simple objectivity
of their deliverance.
way.
It makes
the goose-fleshthe murder
excites
in me
sufficient reason
for the perpetrationof the
a
life from
It transforms
crime.
a
tragic realityinto
one,

insincere

an

tawdry

melodramatic

as

one's

any

And

it out.

carry

'

naturaliste

man

of the

tamper

baser

exhibition,

diseased

with

its consecration

of Parisian

crew

or

as

curiositypleases

of mind, and

state

foul

as

to

'

of the

ro-

its enthronement

litterateurs among
the
by which the infinite

eternallyindispensableorgans
tion
spirit of things attains to that subjectiveilluminais the task of its life,
it leaves
in prewhich
me
sence
of a sort
of subjectivecarrion
considerably
noisome
than the objectivecarrion I called it in
more
take

to

away.
! better

No

corruption

it be

that the

than

of the

clean

moral

the
with
the
with

very

world
a

no

in it of

chance

chance

such

notion

come

never

am

it may

the

other

and

if I still wish
lets

it
totality,

at

is better

pass,

all.

exhorted

That

and

'

deny
bers
mem-

to

think
a

being altogethergood,
to

some

ticated
unsophis-

an

feel that

me

that

If

views
to

of affection
And

sense.

as

chance

breast

turn

an

bad, the philosophy

pluralism are
broad

far

great
know

as

pluralism,whatever
permits me, at least,to

better

as

please, I
you
pluralismand nothing more.

members

with

but

Make

chance.

of

me,

systematic
plainestpessimism,

straightforward
;

chance

means

the

such

sanity, the

of

world

about

uproar
chance

moral

our

that

so

of

of

times, than

thousand

than

chance

world
even

a
'

of

if

world
whose

conjured to banish

The
from

of the

view

my

concerning it,that

chance

Shame,

exist.
!

For

rather, on

its presence

And

here

all I

be

may

is the

This

for

lets the

is the vital air which

live,the salt which

world

future

supposing to
nial
repudiation and its de-

motive
its

reason
"

past has been.

any

of

Just this,

what?

"

respects the

the

have

we

is

179

the suicide

as
'

chance

than

better

and

only

'

future

that in moral

the chance
other

of Determinism.

Dilemma

keeps

it sweet.

might legitimatelystop, having

pressed
ex-

by others to-night.
But I know
that if I do stop here, misapprehensions
will remain
in the minds
of some
of you, and
keep
said from
all I have
having its effect; so I judge it
best

add

to

to

care

few

see

admitted

more

words.

In the first place,in

spiteof all my explanations,the


chance
will still be giving trouble.
word
Though
yourselves be adverse to the deterministic
may
you
chance
than
doctrine, you wish a pleasanter word
the opposite doctrine
to
name
by; and you very
likelyconsider my preference for such a word a perverse
of a partiality
sort
on
part. It certainlyis
my
'

'

'

'

bad

had
to

word

thrust it

not
use

make

to

milder

so

with ; and
butt-foremost
at you,
converts

you
"

wish

you

wish

term.

there may

just a dash of perversity


in its choice.
The
wordspectacle of the mere
played by the soft determinists has
grabbing game
too
perhaps driven me
violentlythe other way ; and,
rather
than be found
for the
wrangling with them
good words, I am
willing to take the first bad one
which
comes
along,provided it be unequivocal. The
for them ;
names
question is of things,not of eulogistic
Well, I admit

and

the

best

word

is the

be

one

that

enables

men

to

Essays in Popular Philosophy.

j8o
know

the

quickestwhether they disagree or not about


the word
the things. But
chance,' with its singular
for this purpose.
is just the word
ever
Whonegativity,
it instead of freedom,' squarely and
uses
lutely
resogives up all pretence to control the things he
free. For him, he confesses
that they are no
says are
'

'

than

better

would

chance

mere

be.

It is

of

word

impotence,and is therefore the only sincere word we


to certain
can
things,we
use, if,in granting freedom
Who
grant it honestly,and reallyrisk the game.
chooses
must
me
Any
give and forfeit all he hath."
other word
permits of quibbling,and lets us, after the
"

of the

fashion

soft

determinists, make

restoring the caged


while

leg to
But

make

other

we

it does

sure

hand,
liberty with one
anxiously tie a stringto its
not
get beyond our sight.
to

you will bring up


of such
admission
an

now

the

not

the

with

bird

unguaranteed

preclude utterlythe
Does
governing the world?
universe

and

so

at

the

notion

craving of

our

tempests, for

it not

of

leave

Does

chance

or

Providence
the

fate of

of the

mercy

far insecure?

final doubt.

your

freedom

the

of

pretence

Does

nature

for

blue

zenith

an

it

chance-possibilities,
not, in short, deny the

ultimate
above

all

behind

peace

all clouds?

be very brief. The


belief
this my
must
answer
in free-will is not in the least incompatible with the
To

provided you do not restrict the


fulminatingnothing but fatal decrees.
well as
him to provide possibilities
as

belief in Providence,
Providence
If you

to

allow

actualities to

the

in those

chances

may

the

course

to

carry

on

his

own

categoriesjust as we do ours,
be there, uncontrolled
even
by him,
of the universe be reallyambiguous;

thinking
and

universe, and
two

The
yet the

and

of all

end

be

things may

from

be

it to

intended

of Determinism.

Dilemma

just what

he

all

eternity.
the meaning

of this clear.^\
analogy will make
before
the one
a
chessboard,
a
Suppose two men
The
novice, the~other an expert player of the game.
An

"

intends

expert

exactly what

he knows

of them

the

by
of

direction

arrives,after

of his

his

adversary
possiblemoves

how

matter

no

how

to

which

own

the

And

victory.

meet

leads

in

victory infallibly

devious

of check-mate

predestined form

one

of

move

in advance

move

foresee

cannot

knows, however, all the

of the latter ; and


each

he

But

actual

one

any

He

be.

may

beat.

to

in the

course,

the

to

novice's

king.
Let

the

and

the

now

to

will not

of
And

I have

no

to

form

see

to

us

none

and

his world
the

timeless

of

another
that

all

in

which

the

unknown.

one

to whom

under

mind

been

which

rather

eternitybeing given
of

whacking
way
exist ?
possibilities

the

upon

all time
form

thinks

of

decided
can

stroke

when

moments

law

of

under
as

biguous
am-

they are past. So


called hypothetical,
?

Is not, however,
And

is not

omniscience

at

us

the block-universe, and


to be

left

of that mind

is excluded.

to

the

or
actuality,

gratuitous fiction

be

simultaneouslyknow

possiblybe

chance

At

is simultaneously

certain

future, he must

judgments
from

subject to

the timelessness

on

If he

have

mind

creative

while

content

steps thereto.

shall
possibilities

insists

things

of his mental
is

the

A mind

make.

ambiguity will

that

notion

all the

on

who

one

any

replyto
must

the

leaves

course

in their
how

decide

points,ambiguous

time.

some

now

various

present

infinite mind

Suppose the latter to be thinking out


it. Suppose
before he actuallycreates
I will lead things to a certain
end, but I

say,

This

finite free agents,

us

lies.

his universe

for

stand

the

for

expert

universe

him

novice

the

only just
of

denying

proved. To say that


just the point
roundabout
is
of saya
manner
illusory
only
appearance
ing
there is no
and
real plurality,
that the frame
of things is an
Admit
absolute unit.
and time may be its form.
plurality,

time

"

is

an

Essays in Popular Philosophy.

82

either of which, at

open,

whichever

actual.

But

become

real, I know

creator's

left blank

of

of these

realization

be

would

chance

Other

need

to

came

And

Eastern

some

the

sun,

the

So

The

all

realization

the

his

moment

be

how

of absolute

the

matters

of the

cluding
plan, inrigorously deter*

rest

be

himself

creator

partly of

be

would

details of

time

thus

details,but

when

the

But

would

not

actualityuntil they
view

own

facts and

the gross
which
has

sage
would

sky

'

means

course

sort
so

fathers

our

think

under

as

lost its

of the

world

partly of possibilities
ever,
one
thing,how-

but
not
interposition,
such
in
delight representing,

for

magic

saying that if evil


incontinentlyshrivel

Emerson

reallydone

were

to

us.

snakeskin
of

the spasms

Nature
But, says Emerson,
and
will
man's
wait
it
tax
to
so
patience
;
God
in
his
of the reserved
keeps
possibilities

invisible

and

molecular

and

think
of
please. We
may
ad
hoc.
agencies which he inspires
obstruction

took

as

we

convulsions

'

miraculous

in spasms.
centuries

may

as

would

absolutelyto chance

upshot, would

any

view

this of

and

and

at
a

necessarilyof

out

the

is now.
Of
exactly as ours
he might be certain ; and that is that his world
how
much
it might zigsafe,and that no matter
zag
at last.
he could surelybring it home

was

be

from

is,their decision

seen

was

all the

know
and

would

furcati
bi-

next

would
possibilities

; that

fell out.

for all.

once

left

came.

its final
mined

the

at

universe

determined

till it

wait

to

bifurcations

driftingaway

only be

determined
contingently
have

do

of its actual
many
be marked
down.

to

as

is,would

that

I shall

of the

plan

would
possibilities
some

what

of these

jecome

I intend.1

final result

of

branch

keep things from

to

The

given instant,may

of
to

the
a

earth

and

god'splans of

sky
which

quotes
under

and

them

as

years
We

long.

hand,

own
a

form

counteracting human
and
signs and wonders

only neutralizers
it is possibleto think.

are

not

it

cast

are

slowly self-summating

In short,

the

the

of

the

whether

be

to

this

alienate

by himself,

The

are.

us,

fate's scales

seem

of

fight, is

small

account,

is what

gives

makes

strange

and

it

the

here

and

and

and

you

may

of

error

for

then

continuing
the

with

discussion

hominem

can

have

its

in that

small

voice

which

selves

from

effort

saying,

tense,
urges
in

an

future

last

It will

opposite

quite unanswerable

the

have

course

it be

so,

that

It

in every

ad

determinists,

of least

been

fated,"

way.

thus

resistance,
to

excuse

=4-^

tunate
is for-

word.

tense,

/the

to

lines

; and

is

things

argumentum

perfect

passion,
"

all

If

ago.

this

and

anything

liberty.1

in

so

reality,

foredoomed

adversary's

long as languages contain


following the bent of laziness or
reply

been

with

hard

that

of controversy

up

As

can

long

determinism

be

that

dogma

believe

to

winding

denial

settled

moral

This

determinisms,

their

and

now,

foredoomed

were

their

by

alike, suppress

decided

the

now.

our

says,

excitement.

an

what

are

Mallock

Mr.

that

and

here

than

the

admit

palpitating realityto

elaborate

this excitement,

else

tingle,as

snatches
from

we

as

he

or

moments

good

and

long

so

nowhere

is decided

issue

them,

nerveless

shrinks

or

men

possibilitiesare

soul-trying

quiver,

to

cision
de-

we

as

solve

who

we

the

leave

such

the

those

at

evil

from

life and

it be

he

contrary,

and

creatures

that

is

point

Whether

victory

soft

finite

to

through

working

That

out

the

on

its proper

when

each

himself,

from

great

really here.
when

whether,

or

power

and

out

the

decided

arrives,

moment

the

leave

scheme,

bilities
chance-possi-

absolute

the

creator

183
this

in

entirely immaterial,

is

it

Now,

Determinism.

of

Dilemma

The

the

still

then*

Essays in PopularPhilosophy.

184

THE

MOBAL

PHILOSOPHER

purpose
such
is no

of this paper

contribute

to

main

there

THE

LIFE.1

MORAL

THE

AND

is to show

that

thing possibleas an ethical


in advance.
We
philosophy dogmaticallymade
up
of ethical philosophy
all help to determine
the content
far

so

other

as

we

words, there
than

more

in

while

prompt
which

waiting, and
are

us,

among

determine

what

First of all,what

race's

moral

final truth
the last

the
that

the

acts

life.

in ethics

has

man

In the one
his say.
the hypotheses which

said

other, however,

make

no

physics,until

experience and
the

be

can

the

to

any

had

case
we

which

In

his
as

in

now

they

indispensableconditions
'say' shall be.

positionof him who seeks


ethical philosophy? To
be
an
begin with, he must
distinguishedfrom all those who are satisfied to be
be a sceptic; therefore
ethical sceptics. He
will not
far from ethical scepticism being one
so
possible
it can
fruit of ethical philosophizing,
only be regarded
that residual alternative to all philosophy which
as
the outset menaces
from
philosopher
every would-be
who may
give up the quest discouraged,and renounce
aim is to find an
of
his originalaim.
That
account
the moral
relations that obtain
things,which
among
1

An

Address

International

to

the

Journal

of

is the

PhilosophicalClub, published in the


Ethics, April,1891.
Yale

Essays in Popular Philosophy.

86

satisfaction that an
divinityhas proved to his own
be
must
altogetherunique facultycalled conscience
postulatedto tell us what is right and what is wrong ;
when
has proor
popular-science enthusiast
your
claimed
that
apriorism is an exploded superstition,
moral
and that our
judgments have graduallyresulted
from
the teaching of the environment, each of these
thinks that ethics is settled and nothing more
persons
The
is to be said.
familiar pair of names,
Intuitionist
used
and
to connote
now
Evolutionist, so commonly
in ethical opinion,reallyrefer
all possible differences
The
discussion
to the psychological question alone.
of this question hinges so much
tails
particulardeupon
it at all within
that it is impossible to enter
upon
I will therefore only express
the limits of this paper.
that the
belief,which is this,
dogmatically my own
Benthams, the Mills, and the Bains have done a lasting
human
of our
service
in taking so
ideals and
many
have
arisen from
the association
showing how they must
with acts of simple bodily pleasuresand reliefs
from
remote
pleasures
pain. Association with many
of goodwill unquestionably make
a thing significant
ness
in our
minds
vaguely the goodness
; and the more
is conceived
of, the more
mysterious will its
But
it is surely impossible to
to be.
source
appear
and
sentiments
preferences in this
explain all our
The more
minutely psychology studies
simple way.
human
clearly it finds there traces
nature, the more
of secondary affections, relating the impressions of
'

'

'

'

"

the

with

environment

impulses
associations

in

quite

different

of coexistence

all
practically

that

pure

the love of drunkenness

another

one

ways

and

and

from

succession

with

those
which

empiricism can admit.


; take bashfulness,the

our
mere
are

Take
terror

The

Moral

and
Philosopher

Moral

Life.

187

high places,the tendency to sea-sickness,to faint


musical
at the sight of blood, the
to
susceptibility
of the comical, the passion
sounds
; take the emotion
for poetry, for mathematics, or
for metaphysics,
of these things can
be wholly explained by
one
no
either
association
or
utility. They go with other
things that can be so explained,no doubt ; and some
of them
since there is
are
prophetic of future utilities,
be found.
not
use
nothing in us for which some
may
But
their originis in incidental
complicationsto our
cerebral
whose
structure, a structure
originalfeatures
with no reference
cords
disto the perception of such
arose
of

"

and

Well,

harmonies
vast

as

number

these.
of

our

moral

perceptions also

kind.
certainlyof this secondary and brain-born
They deal with directlyfelt fitnesses between
things,
and
often fly in the teeth of all the prepossessions
")f habit and presumptions of utility.The
moment
and more
commonplace
get beyond the coarser
you
moral
Richard's
maxims, the Decalogues and Poor
and positionswhich
Almanacs, you fall into schemes
are

to

the

eye

of
The

persons

have

common-sense

for abstract

sense

is

as

are

excentric

fantastic and

strained.
over-

justicewhich

some

variation,from

the

natural-history
point of view, as is the passion for
music
for the higher philosophicalconsistencies
or
the soul of others.
which
The
consumes
feelingof
the inward
dignity of certain spiritualattitudes,as
sential
veracity; and of the esserenity,simplicity,
peace,
vulgarityof others, as querulousness,anxiety,
are
cept
egoisticfussiness, etc.,
quite inexplicableexinnate
ideal
by an
preference of the more
sake.
attitude for its own
The
nobler thing
pure
"

tastes

better,and

that

is all that

we

can

say.

'

Ex-

Essays in Popular Philosophy.

88
'

perience
things are
do

with

shot

of consequences

what

his

is

wife's

we

paramour,

things

hear

that

have

vulgar
by reason

of

is it that
the wife

world

Messrs.

Morris's

Utopias should
kept permanently happy
a

should

lost soul

certain
lead

Fourier's
all be
the

on
on

the

what

we

and

what
are

the

it up and are
livingcomfortably
if the hypothesis were
offered
Or

in which

us

to

consequences
?
If a man

made

again?

that

what
and

mean

in

repugnancy
when
have

but

wicked,

trulyteach

may

and

has
tile
subgusted
dis-

so

husband

together
us

of

Bellamy's

outdone, and

and

millions

simple condition
far-off edge of things
one

life of

lonely torture, what except a


it be
can
specificaland independent sort of emotion
make
which
would
us
immediately feel,even
though
within us to clutch at the happiness
an
impulse arose
be its enjoyhideous a thing would
so
offered, how
ment
when
deliberatelyaccepted as the fruit of such
but subtile braina
bargain? To what, once
more,
all these
be due
born
recent
feelingsof discord can
protests againstthe entire race-tradition of retributive
justice? I refer to Tolstoi' with his ideas of nonof
resistance, to Mr. Bellamy with his substitution
oblivion for repentance (in his novel of Dr. Heidenhain's Process),to M. Guyau with his radical condemnation
All these subtileties
of the punitiveideal.
of the moral sensibility
beyond what can
go as much
from
the
laws of association
be ciphered out
as
of sentiment
the delicacies
a
possible between
pair
of young
lovers
beyond such precepts of the
go
as
during engagement*
etiquette to be observed
of social form.
are
printed in manuals
forces
No ! Purely inward
are
certainlyat work
All the higher, more
here.
penetrating ideals are
a

"

'

'

The

Moral

Life.

Moral

and
Philosopher

189

far
revolutionary. They present themselves
the guise of effects of past experience than in
of future experience,factors to
probable causes

less in

far

taught

learn

must

us

is all I

This

the

In

now.

the

and

the environment

it has

lessons

so

that of

which

bend.

to

of the

psychologicalquestion

can

say

last

chapter of a
a generalway

work

recent

I have

the existence,in our


sought to prove in
thought, of relations which do not merely repeat the
couplings of experience. Our ideals have certainly
ing
sources.
They are not all explicableas signifymany
corporeal pleasuresto be gained,and pains to be
for having so
constantly perceived
escaped. And
this psychological fact, we
must
applaud the intuisuch
Whether
tionist school.
not
or
applause must
be extended

next

of what

we

characteristics

other

that school's

will

up the followingquestions.
in order is the metaphysical question,

take

we

as

appear
The

to

one

by

mean

the

'

words

'

obligation,'good/

'ill.'

and

II.

First of all,it appears

that such

words

have

can

no

in which
no
relevancy in a world
life exists.
sentient
Imagine an absolutely material
facts,
world, containing only physical and chemical
and
a
God, without
existing from eternity without

application or

even

interested

an

in

sense

better

saying

than

another?

possible,would
good
callingone

The

1890.

Principlesof

Or

there be any
the other
and
New

of

one

if there

Psychology,

there

would

that

of that world

worlds
in

spectator

H.

"

or

reason

good
Holt

is

such

two

rhyme

York,

any

its states

were

bad,

be

"

or

Co,

Essays in PopularPhilosophy.

190

I mean,
and
positively,
apart from the fact that
one
might relate itself better than the other to the
But we
leave
must
philosopher'sprivate interests?
these
private interests out of the account, for the
philosopher is a mental fact,and we are asking whether
goods and evils and obligationsexist in physical facts
Surely there is no status for good and evil to
per se.
exist in, in a purely insentient world.
How
can
one
physical fact,considered
simply as a physicalfact,be
'better'
Betterness
is not a physical
than another?
In its mere
material capacity,a thing can
relation.
than it can
be pleasantor
be good or bad
no
more
for what?
for the production
Good
painful. Good
of another
physical fact,do you say? But what in a
the production of
purely physical universe demands
fact?
that other
Physical facts simply are or are
neither
when
not ; and
they
present or absent, can
If they do, they can
be supposed to make
demands.
only do so by having desires ; and then they have
ceased
to be
purely physical facts,and have become
facts of conscious
sensibility.Goodness, badness, and
in order really
obligationmust be realized somewhere
the first step in ethical philosophy is to
to exist ; and
of things can
that no
see
merely inorganic nature
bad

'

'

realize them.

Neither

law

in

mind

can

swing

which

vacuo.

feels them

moral

relations

Their
; and

only
no

nor

habitat

world

the
can

moral
be

composed

of

merely physicalfacts can possiblybe a world to which


ethical propositionsapply.
sentient
The
moment
one
being, however, is made
for goods
of the universe, there
is a chance
a part
Moral
relations
evils reallyto exist.
have
and
now
their status, in that being's consciousness.
So far as
he feels anything to be good, he makes
it good.
It

Moral

The

and
Philosopher

good, for him


good, for

is

such

In
absurd

to

thinker's

Truth

of

sort

question
judgments of good

solitude.

In

there

be

can

conform;

such

outward

no

another.
and

pungent
will have

will return

haunt

them

So

here

which

the

he

thinker

have

several

own

the

us

that

only

will be

ideals

doubt

no

moral

that the

to

to

is

Let

it is clear

is liable

not.

or

thinker

inhabits

solitude

be

with
more

rest, their

goodness
penetratingtaste ; they

with

thinker

its chief

as

of the

and
obligation,

him

the

are

be

solitary-

higher judge.

appealing than
profounder, more

if violated.

true

ill

of these will

Some

to

and

no

god-like thinker
consistencyof his

the

in

course

the

but

moral

of

of whether

outside

the

trouble

with

standard

values

opinion things have

that it would

as

subject to
divinity,
supposed universe

call the

over

of his

the

raise

of

creator

all.

at

universe

supposes
he must

which

outside

sole

191

for him, is absolutely

being good

is the

character

moral

one

he

universe, and

that
no

; and

Life.

Moral

obstinate

more

will

have

regrets

to

order

or

else

determinants,

his life
remain

and
Into
whatever
inwardly discordant
unhappy.
he
settle,though, and however
equilibrium he may
straightenout his system, it will be a rightsysmay
tem;
for beyond the facts of his own
subjectivity
in
there is nothing moral
the world.
If
and

now

we

dislikes

becomes

each

immediately

to

what

second

thinker

universe, the

seen

to

about
to

the

and

several

may

his likes
situation

ties
possibili-

obtain.

good and
indulge his own
other

with

ethical

is that the thinkers

attitude

continue

complex,

more

of these

other's

the

into

much

are

One

introduce

ignore each
evil altogether,
and
ferent
preferences,indif-

feel

may

or

do.

In such

Essays in PopularPhilosophy.

192

have

we

case

quality in it as our
ethical unity. The
according as you
one

that

or

with twice

world

moral

of the ethical

object is good or bad there,


it by the view which
this

measure

the

thinkers

find

any

possibleground

that

one

thinker's

in such
is

opinion

Nor

takes.

Not

it from

within

for such

is there

only

of

indifferent

than

but

moral

of view
be

things can
a

quivocally
une-

demand

thinkers

two

each

the
Such

sense.

even

you

saying

singlepoint

no

judged, but there is not


point of view, since the
be

for

correct

more

the values

which

can

world

other's,or that either has the trurer moral


moral
universe
a
a world, in short, is not
dualism.

it is without

solitude,only

same

of

one

much

as

are

other's

thoughts
and acts.
Multiply the thinkers into a pluralism,and
find realized for us in the ethical sphere something
we
the antique sceptics conceived
like that world which
supposed

"

but

individual

in which

of,
all

to

things,and
only

minds

which

in

multitude

of

to

of

measures
'

'

objective truth,
subjectiveopinions,can be
no

'

the

are
one

'

found.
this is the kind

But

so

long

as

he

of world
holds

to

with which
the

hope

the

of

philosopher,
phy,
philoso-

the various
ideals repAmong
resented,
have
which
there must
be, he thinks, some
truth or authority; and to these the others
the more
ought to yield, so that system and subordination
ought the notion of
reign. Here in the word
may
emphatically into view, and the
obligationcomes
be
make
to
its meaning
next
thing in order must

will not

put up.

'

'

clear.

Since
to show

the outcome
us

that

of the discussion

nothing can

be

good

so
or

far has been

rightexcept

Essays in PopularPhilosophy.

194

remain, What

would

is the

ground of the obligation,

here?

even

answering this question,there


is an
inevitable tendency to slip into an
assumption
which
follow when
they are disputing
ordinary men
another
with one
about
questions of good and bad.
They imagine an abstract moral order in which the
objective truth resides ; and each tries to prove that
order is more
this pre-existing
accuratelyreflected in
ideas than in those of his adversary. It is
his own
because
one
by this overarching
disputant is backed
In

first essays

our

abstract

order

that

at

the other

think

we

should

submit.

question no longer of two finite


and
thinkers,but of God
ourselves, we follow our
usual
habit, and imagine a sort of de jure relation,
which
antedates
the mere
and
overarches
facts,and
conform
make
should
it right that we
would
our
though he made
thoughts to God's thoughts, even
claim
to that effect,and
no
though we
preferredde
facto to go on thinking for ourselves.
take a steady look at the quesBut the moment
we
tion,
not
see
we
actually
only that without a claim
be no
made
concrete
by some
tion,
obligaperson tJiere can
but that there is some
obligationwherever there
and obligationare, in fact, coexis a claim.
Claim
tensive
each
other exactly. Our
terms
; they cover
as
subject
ordinary attitude of regarding ourselves
in
to an
overarching system of moral relations,true
Even

so,

when

it is

"

'

either

themselves,' is therefore
or

else

it must

abstraction
actual

demand

obligationmust
ethical

be

upon
be

philosophy

treated
that

from
us

an

to

out-and-out

merely provisional
in whose

real Thinker

think

as

ultimatelybased.
that

as

thinker

in

stition,
super-

he
In

does
a

our

theistic-

question is, of

the

course,

Deity

whom

to

Moral

the

Life.

195

of

existence

the

is due.

universe
I

and
Philosopher

Moral

The

how

well

know

accustomed

hard
I have

what

to

it is for

realize that every

those
the

called

who

are

superstitious

facto claim creates in so


far forth an
obligation. We
inveteratelythink that
something which we call the validity of the claim is
what
gives to it its obligatorycharacter,and that this
istence
exvalidityis something outside of the claim's mere
view,

to

de

'

'

as

claim, we

think,

being, which
the
Pole

matter

fact.

from

steel of the

It rains

law

out

upon
dimension

inhabits,much

compass-needle the
from

down

sublime

some

moral

the

rains down

of

as

influence

of the starry heavens.

the

o,f
upon

of the
But

such an
again,how can
inorganic abstract character
the imperativeness
of imperativeness,additional
to
Take
claim itself,
which is in the concrete
exist?
any
which
demand, however
slight,
any creature, however
make.
sole sake,
weak, may
Ought it not, for its own
If not, prove
satisfied?
The
to be
why not.
only
be
would
possible kind of proof you could adduce
the exhibition
demand

that

of another
the

creature

other

who
The

should

make

only possible
be why any phenomenon
there can
reason
ought to
exist is that such a phenomenon
actuallyis desired.
Any desire is imperative to the extent of its amount
;
itself valid by the fact that it exists at all.
it makes
Some
desires,trulyenough, are small desires ; they
and we
are
tomarily
cusput forward by insignificant
persons,
make
light of the obligationswhich
they
as
bring. But the fact that such personal demands
these impose small
obligationsdoes not keep the
largestobligationsfrom being personal demands.
If we
talk impersonally,
to be sure
must
can
we
say
a

ran

way.

Essays in PopularPhilosophy.

196
that

'

such
itself
But

such

or

through

the

it is better

such

of
in

of such

talk

to

unless

the

believe

we

tory
obliga-

it expresses

such

or

about

which

creature.

universe

in

it is

they
then

or

If there

its demands

obligationsimply because

in this

universal

actuallyexists.

consciousness, then
But

makes

or

action, whenever

desires

consciousness

divine

most

requires,exacts,
an

not

personifiedway,
be

'

the universe

carry

the

the great

are

abstractly
It is only con*
right that we should respect them.
cretelyright, or right after the fact,and by virtue
of the fact,that they are
actuallymade.
Suppose we
do not respect them, as seems
largelyto be the case
That
in this queer world.
ought not to be, we say ;

est

amount.

even

not

"

that
ness

But

is wrong.
made

imagine

consist

rather

than

in the

ideal order
priori
personalGod?

Do

we,

and

blanket

from

which

he

is this fact of wrongwhen


we
intelligible

in the

laceration

disappointment of
perhaps, think that we
make
his impotence

protect him and


back
less ultimate, when
we
God

way

acceptable or

more

it to

in what

may

him

up
draw

with

this

of

an

living

cover
over
a

us

priori
of

warmth

some

appeal? But the only force of appeal to us,


abstract
ideal order
either a livingGod
which
or
an
wield, is found in the
can
everlastingruby vaults of
human
sponsive
hearts, as they happen to beat reown
our
and not irresponsive
So far as
to the claim.
by a livingconsciousness,
they do feel it when made
it is life answering to life. A claim thus livingly
knowledged
acness
fuland
is acknowledged with a solidity
ideal
which
no
backing can
thought of an
render
more
complete ; while if,on the other hand,
the heart's response
is withheld, the stubborn
nomenon
pheis there of an
impotence in the claims
further

'

'

'

'

'

Moral

The

the

which

as

it is

hard

as

We

about

God

in the eye

; and

of

philosophy,

thing to explain.

that what

consider

now

may

talk

197

or
things can
gloze over
dispel.
priori order is as impotent a thing

ineffective

an

no

Life.

of

nature

ineffective

An

embodies, which

universe

eternal

an

Moral

and
Philosopher

distinguished
ethical philosophy
we

metaphysical question in
have
is sufficiently
learned
answered, and that we
what
the words
erally
good,' bad,' and
obligation sevabsolute
pendent
no
mean.
They mean
natures, indeof personal support.
They are
objects of
the

as

'

'

feelingand desire,which
in

have

from

Being, apart

'

foothold

no

the

existence

age
anchor-

or

of

actually

living minds.
such

Wherever

demands

good

and

is

ethical world

an

and
ill,

all other

blotted
but

would

with

rock

one

and

have

as

and

two

which

the

It would

harbor.
the

men

loving souls
thoroughly moral a

possible world
could

in

this universe, and

from

rock's

judgments of
another, there

one
upon
its essential
features.

things,gods
out

exist, with

minds

inhabitants

starry heavens,
were

there

left

it,that rock
upon
constitution
as
any

eternities
be

Were

and

immensities

cause
tragic constitution,bewould

die.

But

while

they lived, there would be real good things and real


bad things in the universe; there would
be obligations,
claims, and expectations; obediences, refusals,
and disappointments; compunctions and longingsfor
of conharmony to come
again, and inward
science
peace
restored ; there would, in short,
when
it was
be

moral

limit but
which

whose
life,

the

active

intensityof

the hero

and

heroine

would
have no
energy
interest in each other with

might

be endowed.

Essays in Popular Philosophy.

198
We,

this terrestrial

on

facts go,
Whether

this

real

basis

God

the

is

'

for

ethics
human

purely
demand

in

The

well

well

exist, in

as

have

where

as

the

universe

as

theism

ine
genu-

highest

where

there

'

affords

Whether

does.

pher's
gratify the philoso-

can

the other
must

rate

tion
first reflec-

religionof humanity

ourselves

we

in

as

rock.

at any

the

ethics

universe

system

as

form

we

And

is that

to

as

bent,

visible
a

God

no

below.

human,

well.

as

which

leads

whether

us

foothold

consciousness
is

above

the

as

of such

inhabitants

or

republic here

which
and

the

exist,

heaven

ethical

an

God

blue

yon

just like

are

far

globe, so

is

answer

different

ere

tion,
ques-

close.

we

III.

The

last fundamental

be remembered,

the

question in Ethics was,


casuistic question. Here

where

the

existence

in

been
the

of

world

of

divine

it will
we

thinker

are,

has

of
perhaps always will be doubted
by some
lookers-on, and where, in spite of the presence
human
of ideals in which
beings
large number
and

agree,

there

are

mass

of

others

which

about

no

It is hardly necessary
obtains.
to
general consensus
present a literarypicture of this,for the facts are too
the spirit
The
of the flesh and
in
well known.
wars
the concupiscences of different individuals
each man,
material
social
unshareable
or
pursuing the same
so
according to races,
prizes,the ideals which contrast
circumstances, temperaments,
philosophical beliefs,
of apparently inextricable conall form a maze
fusion
etc.,
"

with
out.

Yet

no

the

adds

obvious

Ariadne's

thread

justbecause
philosopher,
his own
peculiarideal to

to

he is

lead
a

one

sopher,
philo-

the confusion

Moral

The

Moral

and
Philosopher

Life.

199

willing to be a sceptic he
all
be passably content),and insists that over
would
individual
these
opinions there is a system of truth
if he only takes sufficient pains.
discover
which he can
We
stand ourselves
at present in the place of that
fail to realize all the features
and must
not
philosopher,
In the first place we
that the situation
comports.
be sceptics
hold to it that there is a
will not
; we
But in the second
truth to be ascertained.
place we
be
have justgained the insightthat that truth cannot
abstract
moral
set of laws, or
an
a self-proclaiming
reason,' but can
only exist in act, or in the shape of
thinker
an
reallyto be found.
opinion held by some
if he

which

(with

were

'

There

is, however,

authority.

Shall

visible

no

then

we

thinker

invested

simply proclaim

our

with
own

the

No; for if we are true


lawgiving ones?
throw
must
our
own
philosophers we
spontaneous
the dearest, impartiallyin with that total
ideals,even
of ideals which
But how
to be judged.
are
mass
fairly
then can
find a test; how
we
as
philosophers ever
avoid
complete moral, scepticism on the one
hand,
and on the other escape
bringinga wayward personal
of our
standard
ply
own
along with us, on which we simpin our faith?
ideals

The
more

as

is

dilemma
easy

as

we

hard

revolve

one,

it in

does

nor
our

it grow

minds.

The

bit

entire

undertaking of the philosopher obliges him to seek


nated
an
impartialtest. That test, however, must be incarof some
in the demand
actuallyexistent person
how
he pick out
the person
can
save
; and
by an
his own
act in which
sympathies and prepossessions
are
implied?
One
matter

method
of

indeed

history been

and
presents itself,

taken

by

the

more

has

as

serious

Essays in Popular Philosophy.

200

ethical

schools.

proved
seemed,

on

measure,

If it

were

If the

things demanded
than
at first they

inspection less chaotic


if they furnished
their own
relative test and
then the casuistic problem would
be solved.
found
that all goods qud goods contained
a

common

involved

in any

the

then

essence,

goodness, and

for

essence

show

could

order

happy in
dignity;

the
to

flow from

its rank

be

in the

quickly made

species on

long

harm

make

others

; to

run

no

the

one

add

; to

to

as

his

well

perfectionor

follow from

has

No

one

or

reason

with the
law ; to be in accordance
promote the survival of the human

; to

this

planet,
"

are

so

many

tests, each

maintained

by somebody to
of all good things or actions
the essence
they are good.

which

him

as

universal

will of God

as

to

moment;

be

essence

which
all
good upon
thinkers
were
agreed, the relativelyobjective and
Even
universal good that the philosopher seeks.
his
own
by their share
privateideals would be measured
the rest.
of it,and find their rightful
place among
of good have thus been found and
Various essences
Thus, to be
proposed as bases of the ethical system.
between
two
extremes
a
mean
; to be recognized by
the agent happy
a specialintuitive
faculty; to make
for the

would

of this

amount

would

good

one

scale of
this

of

heap

been

of the

measures

that

have

been

of

tute
constiso

far

actually

given general satisfaction.


Some
are
obviously not universallypresent in all
of harming no
character
or
e. g., the
one,
cases,
that of followinga universal law ; for the best course
reckoned
acts are
is often cruel ; and
good on
many
that they be exceptions,and serve
the sole condition
characOther
not as examples of a universal law.

proposed
"

has, however,

Essays in Popular Philosophy.

202

such

would

imaginary world
was
gratifiedas
however, have
need

mensions,'

be

soon

that

include

best

simply

every demand
a world
would,

Such

physical constitution

of the

only

not

in which

one

made.

as

have

to

from

different
would

the

primd facie respectable,and

are

which

one

inhabit.

we

but

space,
all the

entirely

time,

'

It

of n-dX-

and

experiences
here
another
below, which
incompatible with one
would
then go on in conjunction,
such as spending
our
holiday,yet
yet growing rich ; taking our
money,
with our
work; shooting and fishing,
getting ahead
end of
yet doing no hurt to the beasts; gaining no
youthful freshness of
experience, yet keeping our
heart; and the like. There can be no question that
of things, however
such
a
brought about,
system
be the absolutelyideal system ; and
that if a
would
universes
and
a priori,
philosopher could create
vide
proto

acts

"

conditions, that is the

all the mechanical


he

of

sort

should

unhesitatinglycreate.
of ours
is made
rent
But this world
on
an
entirelydiffepattern, and the casuistic question here is most
actually possible in this
tragicallypractical. The
than all that is demanded
world
is vastly narrower
;
the ideal and the
and there is always a pinch between
actual which
can
only be got through by leaving part
There
is hardly a good which
of the ideal behind.
we
can
imagine except as competing for the possession
universe

which

of the
other

bit of space

same

imagined good.

nerves

follow
cannot

Shall

his

fancy

drink

man

in condition?

of

"

he

and

or

with

time

of desire

smoke,

or

both.

for Henrietta?

of his heart.

some

that

presents
of
end

other

some

do

cannot

for Amelia,

be the choice

end

exclusive

itself appears
desire.

Every

and

keep

his

Shall he
"

Shall he have

both
the

Moral

The
old

tion

in

scale of subordination

in ideals is the fruit of

Some

practicalneed.
he

butchered, and
with which
Now

we

know

to

no

which

must

It

part.

drum,
speculativeconun-

mere

he has to deal.
blinded

are

gether
alto-

an

part of the ideal

needs

tragic situation,and

203

"

So that

is

Life.

Republican party, or a spiritof unsophisticahe cannot


have
both, etc.
public affairs?
the ethical philosopher'sdemand
for the right

dear

be

Moral

and
Philosopher

the

to

real

of
difficulty

the

task by the fact that we


born into a
are
philosopher's
ideals are
largelyordered
societywhose
already. If
follow the ideal which
is conventionallyhighest,
we
which

the others

haunt

to

of murder,
a

deaf

ear.

butcher

we

us

either

if they

or

every one
In other

back

come

applauds
words,

die and

for

us

do

and

turn
re-

accuse

us

them

turning to

environment

our

not

ages
encour-

be

philosophers but partisans. The


philosopher,however, cannot, so long as he clings to
his own
ideal of objectivity,
rule out
ideal from
any
He
is confident, and
being heard.
rightlyconfident,
that the simple taking counsel
of his own
intuitive
preferenceswould be certain to end in a mutilation of
not

us

the

fulness

have

to

of the
'

written
of

copy

so

that
as

so

soon

as

he

it read

safe

not

Bunsen

work

to

in der

attempts

best of

men

place

of

entitled

"

the

that

to

'

is said

Gott

God

'

to

in his

in

tory,"
His-

in der Geschichte.'

good

and

learned

single philosopher,
be just
sympathies, must

put

any

of the

Geschichte

howling mob
get breathing-room for
very

poet Heine

Bunsen

say

his

wide

into that

The

'

disrespect to

however
such

in the

author's

no

Baron, is it

'

Bunsen

to make

with

Now,

The

truth.

his

moral

world,

ideas of order

own

of desires, each
the

must

ideal
not

to

strugglingto
which
it clings?

only be insensible,but

Essays in Popular Philosophy.

204
be

ludicrouslyand peculiarlyinsensible,to many


that the
goods. As a militant,fightingfree-handed
goods to which he is sensible may not be submerged
of life,
the philosopher,like every
and lost from out
other
human
being, is in a natural position. But
think of Zeno
and of Epicurus,think of Calvin and of
Paley,think of Kant and Schopenhauer, of Herbert
no
sided
Spencer and John Henry Newman,
longer as oneters
champions of specialideals,but as schoolmasand what
think,
more
decidingwhat all must
grotesque topic could a satirist wish for on which to
fabled attempt of Mrs. PartThe
ington
exercise his pen?
the risingtide of the North
Atlantic
to arrest
with her broom
a reasonable
was
spectaclecompared
"

with

their

effort to

clean-shaven

systems

the

substitute

for

that

content

exuberant

of

their

mass

of

is in travail,and
nature
goods with which all human
more,
groaning to bring to the lightof day. Think, furtherof such individual moralists,no longer as mere
schoolmasters,but as pontiffsarmed with the temporal
and
having authority in every concrete
power,
ered
of conflict to order which good shall be butchcase
and

which

shall be suffered

to

survive,
"

and

the

pale. All one's slumbering


reallyturns one
revolutionaryinstincts waken at the thought of any
singlemoralist wieldingsuch powers of life and death.
notion

Better

chaos

forever

than

an

order

based

on

any
the

rule, even
though he were
closet-philosopher's
of his tribe. No !
most
enlightenedpossiblemember
he
if the philosopheris to keep his judicial
position,
of the partiesto the fray.
become
must
one
never
What

can

scepticismand
philosopherat all?

to fall back

being a

he do, then, it will


on

be asked, except
give up the notion of
now

Moral

The
do

Moral

and
Philosopher

already see

Life.

205

perfectlydefinite path
is open
which
of escape
to him
justbecause he is a
philosopher,and not the champion of one particular
Since
is demanded
ideal?
is by
everything which
the guiding principle for
that fact a good, must
not
ethical philosophy (sinceall demands
not
conjointlycanbe satisfied in this poor world) be simply to satisfy
But

not

we

at all times

the

be

must

act

for the best

as

demands

many

best

whole, in

those

ideals

at the least

as

we

That

can?

makes
accordingly,which
of awakening the least
sense

act,
the

of dissatisfactions.

sum

must

cost, or

In the casuistic
be

written

by

whose

fore,
scale, there-

highest which
realization

vail
pre-

the least

of other ideals are destroyed. Since


possiblenumber
be, the victory to be
victoryand defeat there must
sive
incluprayed for is that of the more
philosophically

side,

of

"

triumph will

the

side

which

even

in

the

hour

of

degree do justiceto the ideals


in which
the vanquished party'sinterests lay. The
of history is nothing but the story of men's
course
struggles from generation to generation to find the
and

more

of

to

some

inclusive

more

realizingyour

alien

own

that

order.

ideals which

that

some

manner

will also

the
satisfy
the path of

only is
itself
peace ! Following this path,societyhas shaken
into one
sort of relative equilibriumafter another
by a
series of social discoveries
quite analogous to those of
science.
Polyandry and polygamy and slavery,private
warfare
and
and
libertyto kill,judicialtorture
have
to actually
arbitraryroyal power
slowly succumbed
aroused
one's
complaints ; and though some
ideals are
off for each
provemen
imunquestionably the worse
of them
yet a vastlygreater total number
find shelter in our
civilized societythan in the older
demands,

"

and

Invent

206

Essays in

Popular Philosophy.

tic
So far then, and up to date, the casuissavage ways.
for the philosopher already far better
scale is made
he

than

make

ever

can

it for himself.

searching kind

An

ment
experi-

has

proved that the


of the land are what yield the maximum
laws and usages
of satisfaction to the thinkers taken all together.
of conflict must
The
always be
presumption in cases
The
in favor of the conventionallyrecognized good.
be a conservative, and
in the construction
philosopher must
of his casuistic scale must
put the thingsmost
of the community on
with the customs
in accordance
of the

most

top.
yet if he be

And

true

see
philosopher he must
in any actuallygiven librium
equi-

nothing final
of human
ideals, but that, as our
present
laws and
have fought and
customs
conquered other
be overthrown
past ones, so they will in their turn
order
which
will hush
by any newly discovered
up
the complaints that they still give rise to, without
Rules
made
for
are
producing others louder still.

that there

is

"

not

man,

enough

to

Ethics.

And

the

all times

provided
upon
under

the

away

that

"

Green's

although

man

to
Prolegomena
always risks much

rules

than

whole

is

sentence

one

established

from

larger ideal
philosopher must

strives to realize

yet

rules,"

immortalize

breaks

he

when

for

man

allow

that

and

they

permit,
it is at

the experiment,
make
to
to any
one
open
character
he fear not
to stake his life and
The

throw.

every

system

pinch
of

is

moral

always

rules

are

here.

Pent

in

innumerable

it
goods which
these are
always rumbling and grumbling
; and
represses
issue by
in the background, and ready for any
which
they may get free. See the abuses which the
persons

whom

it

weighs

upon,

and

Moral

The

Life.

Moral

Philosopherand

207

institution of

that even
so
private property covers,
that one
us
to-day it is shamelessly asserted among
of the prime functions of the national
is
government
citizens to grow
rich.
See the
to help the adroiter
unnamed

and

the

whole

on

unnamable

See

unwed.
our

with

the

flourish
the

so

so-called

equality and industrialism,


the counter-jumper in the

and

faculties and

many

in the feudal

humble

tion
marriage-institu-

both of the married


and the
many,
the wholesale
loss of opportunity under

drummer

saddle, for

the tyranny,

so

of

regime

beneficent, of the

so

brings to

which

sorrows

the

and

which

graces

world.

See

outcast,

how

could

kindliness

our

with

that

been

the

perfection in the breed.


everywhere the struggle and the squeeze ; and
the problem how
them
less.
to make

See

which

weeding-out

stern

of

condition

until

ites,socialists,and
civil-service

of the

all the

has

now

free-lovers ; the

lastingly
ever-

The

free-silver-

the free-traders
single-taxmen;
and
reformers; the prohibitionists
; the

anti-vivisectionists
idea

wars

every

anarchists, nihilists,and
and

it

for

radical

darwinians

with

their

of

weak,

these

and

suppression

conservative

the

sentiments

"

of

society arrayed
simply deciding through actual

against them, are


the maximum
experiment by what sort of conduct
of good can
be gained and kept in this world.
amount
These
experiments are to be judged, not a priori,
but by actuallyfinding,
after the fact of their making,
how

much

What

about.

comes

anticipatethe
Or

outcry

more

what

can

worth, in
ideals

has

or

how

much

closet-solutions

result of trials made


any

world
its

appeasement

on

can

such

possibly
a

scale ?

theorist's judgment
superficial
where

every

one

special champion

of

hundreds

be

of

already provided

Essays in Popular Philosophy.

208
in the

genius expresslyborn to feel


shape of some
in its behalf?
The
it, and to fight to death
pure
only follow the windings of the
philosopher can
that the line of least resistance
spectacle,confident
towards
the richer and
the
will always be
more
that by one
inclusive
tack
after
arrangement, and
another
some
approach to the kingdom of heaven
is
incessantlymade.
IV.

All this amounts

to

question goes,
once

ethical
instead

science, and
abstract

from

far

saying that,so
science

is

as

just

the
like

of

being deducible
principles,must
simply

istic
casu-

sical
phyall at

bide

its

ready to revise its conclusions from day


The
to day.
presumption of course, in both sciences,
always is that the vulgarly accepted opinions are
the right casuistic order that which
public
true, and
be
folly
opinion believes in ; and surely it would
ently
quite as great, in most of us, to strike out independin ethics as in physics.
and to aim at originality
and
is born
one
then, however, some
Every now
his revolutionary
and
the right to be original,
with
bear
fruit. He
thought or action may
prosperous
by better ones ;
replace old laws of nature
may
rules in a certain
he may,
by breaking old moral
ideal
place,bring in a total condition of things more
had the rules been kept.
have followed
than would
conclude
that
the whole, then, we
must
On
no
philosophy of ethics is possible in the old-fashioned
of the term.
absolute
sense
Everywhere the ethical
facts.
wait on
The
who
thinkers
philosopher must
time, and

be

'

'

create

the

ideals

sensibilities

are

come

he

knows

evolved

he

knows

not
not

whence,
how

; and

their

the

Essays in Popular Philosophy.

2io

which

with

these

goods respectively
belong.
knows
that he must
vote
He
always for the richer
most
universe, for the good which seems
organizable,
into complex
fit to enter
combinations, most
most
universes

apt

be

to

of

member

inclusive

more

particularuniverse this is he
in advance
; he only knows

which
certain

mistake

bad

of the fact.

him

of

cries

the

the

whole.

But

know

cannot

that if he

makes

will

wounded

for

soon

In all this the

philosopheris
justlike the rest of us non-philosophers,so far as we
far as
and
so
are
just and sympathetic instinctively,
to the voice of complaint. His function
we
are
open
from that of the best kind
is in fact indistinguishable
His books
of statesman
at the present day.
upon
ethics,therefore,so far as they trulytouch the moral
with
and
more
more
a
life,must
ally themselves
is confessedly tentative and suggesliterature which
tive
I mean
with novels and
rather than dogmatic,
dramas
of the deeper sort, with sermons,
with books
statecraft and
on
nomical
philanthropy and social and ecoinform

"

Treated

reform.
may

be

voluminous

and

ethical treatises

in this way

well ; but
their abstractest

luminous

final,except in
vaguest features; and they must
be

can

never

and

and

more

old-fashioned, clear-cut,and

the

abandon

they

as

more

would-be

scientific ' form.


V.

The

chief
be

cannot

of all the

final is that

and

back

that

called

they have
theologicalbeliefs.

real ethical

world.

human

why

reasons

moral

They

relations
would

solitude

if the

to

wait

I said

existed

exist

ethics

concrete

even

thinker

on

physical
meta-

time

some

purely

in

in

what

had

we

various

Moral

The

took

ideals which

day

one

and
Philosopher

would

hold

make

of him

Life.

Moral

in turn.

demands

on

211

self of

His

his self of another

of the demands

might be urgent and tyrannical,


while others were
gentle and easilyput aside.
call the tyrannicaldemands
We
imperatives.If we
ignore these we do not hear the last of it. The good
have wounded
which
to
returns
we
plague us with
of consequential damages, cominterminable
punctions,
crops
and
thus
exist
regrets. Obligation can
inside a singlethinker's consciousness
perfect
; and
abide
with him
can
only so far as he lives
peace
of a casuistic scale which
sort
according to some
imperative goods on top. It is the
keeps his more
of these goods to be cruel to their rivals.
nature
Nothing shall avail when
weighed in the balance
in
They call out all the mercilessness
againstthem.
and do not
our
easilyforgiveus if we are
disposition,
and

some

soft-hearted

so

as

to

shrink

from

sacrifice

in

their

behalf.
in
deepest difference,practically,

The

life of
and
mood

man

the
the

is the difference
strenuous

shrinkingfrom
The

makes

us

mood.

quite

greater ideal be

strenuous

between
When

present ill is
mood, on

indifferent to
attained.

in

The

the
the
our

the

moral

easy-going
easy-going
sideration.
rulingcon-

the

contrary,

if only the
present ill,

nuous
capacity for the stremood
probably lies slumbering in every man,
in some
than
in others in
but it has more
difficulty
It needs
the wilder passionsto arouse
it,
waking up.
the big fears, loves, and
indignations; or else the
of the higher
one
deeply penetratingappeal of some
like justice,
fidelities,
truth,or freedom.
Strong relief
is a necessity of its vision ; and a world where
all the
mountains
and
all the valleysare
are
brought down

Essays in Popular Philosophy.

212

This
congenialplace for its habitation.
this mood
thinker
is why in a solitary
might slumber
forever without
on
waking. His various ideals,known
too
to him
to be
mere
are
preferences of his own,
denominational
value : he can
nearly of the same
play fast or loose with them at will. This too is why,
world
without
in a merely human
a
God, the appeal
is

exalted

to

our

no

moral

Life, to be

power.
world
in the

falls short

energy

of its maximal
is

sure,

genuinelyethical symphony
of a couple of poor
compass

of values

infinite scale

indeed,

Sir

like

"

fails to open

ulating
stim-

in such

even

; but

it is

octaves,

played

and

the

Many of us,
up.
in those
eloquent

James Stephen

openly laugh at the


mood
in
idea of the strenuous
being awakened
very
tute
us
posteritywhich constiby those claims of remote
the last appeal of the religionof humanity. We
of the future keenly enough ;
do not love these
men
hear
love them
and we
we
perhaps the less the more
their high average
of their evolutionized
perfection,
from war
and
longevity and education, their freedom
crime, their relative immunity from pain and zymotic
all their other
disease, and
negative superiorities.
*

Essays by

This

is all too

mystery, and
No

mood.

may
need

agonize for

When,
that he is

"

would

finite,we

beyond.

vacuum

others

Barrister/

however,

say ; we
It lacks the note
all be

dealt

see

too

well

of infinitude

with

in the

the
and

don't-care

agonizing ourselves or making


these good creatures
justat present.
of

we

of the

believe

that

claimants,the

God

is

infinite

there, and

perspective
The scale of the symphony is incalculably
out.
opens
more
begin
imperative ideals now
prolonged. The
to speak with an
nifican
altogethernew
objectivityand sigthe penetrating,shattering,
and
utter
to
one

The

Moral

Philosopherand

Life.

Moral

213

tragically
challengingnote of appeal. They ring out
like the call of Victor Hugo's alpineeagle, qui parle
nuous
au
precipiceet que le gouffreentend," and the stre"

awakens

mood

the

at

sound.

the trumpets, ha, ha ! it smelleth

the

thunder

the

It saith
battle

among
afar off,

of the

captains and the shouting. Its


blood is up ; and
crueltyto the lesser claims, so far
from
being a deterrent element, does but add to the
it leaps to answer
stern joy with which
to the greater.
All through history, in the periodical conflicts of
the
see
puritanism with the don't-care
temper, we
and
antagonism of the strenuous
genial moods, and
the

contrast

the ethics

between

obligationfrom
and

the

The

satisfaction

down

high, and those


merely finite need.

of

on

of

capacity of

of infinite and

the

prudence

lies

mood

strenuous

rious
myste-

so

deep

natural human

that even
possibilities
no
metaphysical or traditional grounds
for believingin a God, men
would
ply
postulateone simas
a pretext for living
hard, and gettingout of the
of existence
of zest.
its keenest
possibilities
game
evils is entirelydifferent
Our attitude towards
concrete
our

among
if there were

in

world

where

finite demanders,

believe

we

what

from

there

it is in

are

none

where

one

but
we

sake.
joyouslyface tragedy for an infinite demander's
and
Every sort of energy and endurance, of courage
capacity for handling life's evils,is set free in those
who
have
the strenuous
religiousfaith. For this reason

type of character

historyalways
will drive

It would
"

will
the

outwear

to
irreligion

seem,

too,

that the stable

"

the battle-field of human

on

easy-going type,

gion
reli-

the wall.

and
and

and

this is my

sion,
final conclu-

systematic moral

universe

Essays in Popular Philosophy.

214
for which
in

only

the ethical
world

philosopherasks

where

there

is

is

fullypossible
thinker

divine

with

thinker
If such
a
existed,
all-envelopingdemands.
his way
of subordinating the demands
another
to one
would
valid casuistic scale ; his claims
be the finally
would
be the most
appealing ; his ideal universe would
be

the

inclusive

most

exist,then

in his

actualized

which

our

of

the interests

must

own

seek

we

be

the

as

tern
pat-

approach.1 In
of systematically
unified
would-be
philosophers,

evermore

truth,therefore, we,

moral

now

thought already must

ideal

own

our

If he

whole.

philosophy which

ethical

that

realizable

as

postulate a divine thinker, and pray for the


Meanwhile,
exactly
victory of the religiouscause.
be is
what
the thought of the infinite thinker
may
must

hidden

from

that

so

in

the

us

in all men,

it does

The

philosophy.
he

ventures

best, is

on

good,
to

comes

and

and
us,

but

to

which

say

death

of my

set

level from

our

choice

mon
com-

day

life

if we

and

use

and

sonal
per-

invoke

any
of that alsj

pacity
personal aptitude or incathis unsparing practical

lectures
professor's

and

no

great freshness

Josiah Royce

Philosophy." Boston, 1885.

this

total character

trial; and

life. From

colleague,Professor

thee

before

the

is the

"

our

All this is set forth with

of action

course

evil; therefore,choose life


live," when this challenge

and

of

revelations

no

interest in

no

ever
therefore,whenphilosopher,

thy seed may


it is simply

for moral

ordeal

have

to

this is what

But

who

only

serves

ethical

genius that are on


so-called philosophy,our
are

after all
mood.

those

even

of his existence

sure

him

strenuous

See, I have

"

that thou

we

different
essentially

no

man.

and

were

postulationof

our

let loose

even

us

"

and

The

array

of books

force

in the work

ReligiousAspect

of

Moral

The

the

The

us.

save

can

unlearned

dumb

solving
alike,

man

willingnesses

is

nigh

unto

thou

mayest

it

beyond

thee,
do

in

it.

the

thy

in

the

the

else.

sea;

mouth

It
but

the

and

in

and
in

resort

of
is

215

learned

last

unwillingnesses

nowhere

and

characters,
neither

and

for

word,
lies

Life.

Moral

and

Philosopher

not

word

thy

their
in

the
rior
inte-

heaven,
is

heart,

very-

that

Essays in PopularPhilosophy.

2i6

AND

MEN

GREAT

THEIR

REMARKABLE

A
social

which
parallel,

evolution

evolution

as

think

has

noticed,obtains between the facts of


the one
on
hand, and of zoological

been

never

ENVIRONMENT.1

expounded by

Mr.

Darwin

the other.

on

It will be best to prepare


the ground for my
thesis
of ting
by a few very generalremarks on the method
getIt is a common
at scientific truth.
platitudethat

complete acquaintance with any


small, would
require a knowledge
a

Not
of the remote

falls to

sparrow

of the

the

entire

ground

of his fall

conditions

thing,however

one

are

to

but
be

verse.
unisome

found

milky way, in our federal constitution, or


That is to say, alter
the earlyhistoryof Europe.
milky way, alter the federal constitution, alter

in

in the

facts

of

would

so

is.

One

our

ancestry, and

barbarian

far be

different

universe

from

in the difference

fact involved

the

the
the

universe

what

might

it
be

now

that

particularlittle street-boywho threw the stone


self
the sparrow
which brought down
might not find himat that particularmoment
opposite the sparrow
;
or, findinghimself there, he might not be in that particular
of mind
which
and
serene
disengaged mood
But, true as
expressed itself in throwing the stone.
the

all this is,it would


1

lecture

before

lished in the Atlantic

be
the

very

Harvard

foolish
Natural

Monthly, October,

1880.

for

any

one

who

History Society; pub*

Essays in Popular Philosophy.

2i

his

disciples. Our

problem is,What are the causes


communities
that make
change from generation to
generation, that make the England of Queen Anne
the England of Elizabeth, the Hardifferent from
vard
so
College of to-day so different from that of thirty
"

years ago?
I shall reply to

this

the accumulated

to

problem,

influences

The

of

difference

is due

individuals,of their

and
The
their decisions.
examples, their initiatives,
Spencerian school replies,The changes are irrespective
of persons,
and independent of individual control.
due
the environment, to the circumstances,
to
They are
the physicalgeography, the ancestral conditions,
the increasing experience of outer
relations;
and the Bisto everything,in fact,except the Grants
marcks, the Joneses and the Smiths.

that

I say
the same

Now,
death

these

theorizers

of his friend to the dinner


to the

fall of the sparrow


in the fable,who

drops

image, they drop

the real

which

from

available

free-will

us

where

myself,I

should
with

to

causes

Their
it lies.

cisely
pre-

ascribe

the

thirteen,or

the

Like

way.

his real bone

attainable.
see

milky

possible human

no

or

Let

one.

he who

fallacyas

guiltyof

are

to

the

snatch

snatch

at

at

dog
its

others,

point of view are


fallacyis a practical
Although I believe in

sion,
that belief in this discus-

will waive

tination
Spencerians the predesof all human
actions.
On that assumption I
the intelligence
investigating
gladly allow that were
and omthe man's
the sparrow'sdeath omniscient
nipresent,
or
and

assume

with

the

able to take in the whole

single glance,there
objectionto the milky way

at

would
or

not

of time
be

and

the

the fatal feast

space

slightest
being in-

Men

Great

their Environment.

and

219

the

divine
Such
a
sought-forcauses.
would
see
instantaneouslyall the infinite
intelligence
lines of convergence
towards
a
given result, and it
it would
the
see
would, moreover,
:
see
impartially
fatal feast to be as much
of the sparrow's
a condition
of the man's ; it would
death
the boy with the
as
see

voked

among

to

stone

be

much

as

condition

of the man's

fall

as

of the

sparrow's.
human
The
an
mind, however, is constituted on
versal
entirelydifferent plan. It has no such power of uniintuition.
Its finiteness obliges it to see
but
If it wishes
three things at a time.
two
to take
or
it has to use
wider
general ideas,'as they are
sweeps
truths.
called, and in so doing to drop all concrete
'

Thus, in the

present

between

the connection
and
we

the dinner
do

can

We

must

and

of what

say,

as

milky

the sparrow
is called

an

propositionwe

links ; and

in all

law.
have

wish

men

and

way

to

the

on

abstract
are

feel

the

the man's

and

thingsin the world


hang together in the

system of natural

of this vast

facts and

the

we

All

and
of

if

back
only by falling

so

emptiness

case,

boy
death,

enormous

proposition.
fatallypredetermine

adamantine

ity
fix-

in the vagueness
lost all the concrete

But

the concrete
practicalmatters
links are
the only things of importance. The
human
mind
is essentially
partial. It can be efficient
at all only by picking out what
to attend
to, and ignoring
everything else, by narrowing its point of view.
little strength it has is dispersed,
Otherwise, what
and
it loses its way
altogether. Man
always wants
his curiositygratified
for a particularpurpose.
If,in
the case
of the sparrow,
the purpose
is punishment, it
be idiotic to wander
would
off from
the cats, boys,
and other possibleagencies close by in the street, to
"

Essays in Popular Philosophy.

yio

early Celts

the

survey
would

meanwhile

unfortunate

man,

the

on

step and

fellow,who
poor
it in coming
on
head

it with

never

to

in

and

mystery,

cover

the

the

way:
the
in
if,
case

dined

out

door,

and

boy

of the

contemplation

fail to

ashes,
in his

notice

the

other

some

life,may

fall and

slip

break

his

too.

It is,then,
limit

to

necessitylaid

of

ignoring

of

lying outside

certain

differential calculus.

all the

upon

us

as

In mathematics

view.

our

method

this

the

milky

And
escape.
lose ourselves
we

of the thirteen-at-table
ice

the

and

infinitesimals

'

and

we

human

ings
be-

know

how

neglecting quantities
has been
adopted in

range
The

calculator

throws

out

of the

dering.
quantities he is consiHe
them
treats
(under certain rules)as if
they did not exist. In themselves they exist perfectly
if they did not exist for
all the while ; but they are
as
of his calculation.
the purposes
mer,
Just so an astronoof the ocean,
in dealingwith the tidal movements
Vs. takes no account
made
of the waves
by the wind, or by
which
of all the steamers
the pressure
day and night
of tons upon
its surface.
are
moving their thousands
Just so the marksman, in sighting his rifle,allows for
'

of the wind, but

the motion
of

motion

earth

the

and

for the

equally real
Just so a
system.

not

solar

punctualitymay overlook
five minutes, while a physicist,
measuring
of a
each thousandth
of light,must
count
man's

business

There
nature

error

the

of

velocity

second.

short,differentcycles of operationin
different departments, so to speak, relatively
are,

an

in

independent of

one

in

any

moment

any

condition

The

mould

on

of

one

another,
may

things at

the biscuit

so

be

the

that what

compatible
same

time

in the store-room

on

goes
with

almost

in the
of

at

next.
man-

Great

Men

their Environment.

and

vegetates in absolute

of-war

of

the

flag,the
the

weather, and
board

; and

abstraction

indifference
of

direction

human

that

dramas

mycologist

from

all these

the

voyage,

may

go

on

on

it in

study

may

ality
the nation-

to

the

221

complete
Only by so

largerdetails.

studying it,in fact,is there any chance of the mental


concentration
by which alone he may hope to learn
On the other hand, the capsomething of its nature.
tain
who
in manoeuvring the vessel through a naval
to bring the
mouldy
fight should think it necessary
would
biscuit into his calculations
very likelylose the
battle by reason
of the excessive
thoroughness of
'

'

his mind.
The

cycles
take

the

pointsof

whole

universe

view

it is lawful

necessary
irrelevant to

And
we

from

this

look
the

with

connected

are

wisdom
and

operate in these

which

causes

at

"

one

bringsus
animal

an

into

able

to

them

disconnected

to

nearer
or

human

between

specialtopic. If
being,distinguished
possession of some

our

the

or

bad,
causes

we

shall

which

be

nally
origi-

peculiarityin him and the causes


that maintain
it after it is produced ; and
shall
we
be one
that he was
born
with,
see, if the peculiarity
that
these
of causes
two
sets
belong to two such
the triumphant originality
irrelevant cycles. It was
of Darwin
to see
this,and to act accordingly. Separating
the causes
of production under
the title of
tendencies to spontaneous variation,'and
relegating
them
to
he forthwith
a
physiologicalcycle which
produced

the

as

another.

of his kind

discriminate

all lesser

it is for human

more,

by the
good
extraordinary peculiarity,
rest

only if we

For

account.

regard

to

another

one

nay,

"

ble
incommensura-

Essays in Popular Philosophy.

222

he confined
agreed to ignore altogether,1
of preservation,
and under
to the causes
natural

selection
as

selection

of

doctrine

the

be

to

studied

of

names

them

clusively
ex-

cycle of the environment.


lish
philosophershad also tried to estabwith

descent

the blunder
they all committed
into one.
cycles of causation
animal with his peculiarity,
if
saw

the

of the

functions

Pre-Darwinian
the

sexual

and

his attention

modification

of

an

preserves

useful one,
of the environment
to which

nature

it be

but

the two

clumping

What

they

the

with his peculiar


was
adjusted. The giraffe
peculiarity
neck
is preserved by the fact that there are
in his
tall trees
whose
leaves
he can
environment
digest.
But these philosopherswent
further,and said that the
of the trees not
animal
an
only maintained
presence
with a long neck
their branches, but
to browse
upon
also produced him.
his neck
They made
long by
the constant
strivingthey aroused in him to reach up
The
them.
to
environment, in short, was
supposed
the animal
by a kind oi
by these writers to mould
direct

pressure,

very

harmony with
given of the way in
into

The
the

stimulates

combustion, and

so

Now

these

many

forth.

examples might

more

theory of pangenesis is,it is true,

Darwin's

variation.

of

gemmules

talks of the
he

strong,

cold

arctic

adhesions

talks of the

Dh'ide

et

more

relations

impera t

But

invokes
than

it

an

be

the

are

to account

own

environment

animal

and

changes,

adduced,

attempt

he invokes

of the whole

air

cunning

occupies its

the

were

eyes.

the

bird

(among other things)for


place, and its author no
when

our

shy,

of which
1

which

mountain

chased

wax

callous to the oar, the


grows
fox grows
the chest, the chased

palm

animal

as

this goes on under


of the forge makes
the rightarm

exercise

distends
the

seal presses the


instances
itself. Numerous

much

these
to the

separate
when

he

adhesions
ment
environ-

Great
at

Men

and

their Environment.

223
of

by the specialname
present distinguished
changes.

feature

Their

in the environment

which

to

that

that

peculiarityis

the

tive
adap-

animal's

very
ture
na-

adjusted,itself produces the adjustment.


The
Mr. Spencer's phrase,
relation/ to use
efficient cause.
corresponds with its own
grows
inner
'

'

Darwin's

first achievement

to

was

the

show

utter

in amount
of these changes produced
insignificance
of
by direct adaptation,the immensely greater mass
dents,
accichanges being produced by internal molecular
of which
know
ment
we
nothing. His next achieveto define the true
was
we
problem with which
have to deal when
we
study the effects of the visible
the animal.
That
environment
on
problem is simply
this : Is the environment
more
likelyto preserve or to
of this or
that peculiarity
destroyhimy on account
he may
In giving the name
with which
be born?
'of
with which
accidental variations
to those peculiarities
animal
is born, Darwin
does
for a moment
not
an
the fixed outcome
to suggest that they are
not
mean
'

of natural

taken

law.

If the total system

into account,

the

of these

causes

the visible environment

which

them, undoubtedly do,

in

way,

that, since

environment

variations

preserves
remote

some

hang together.
that

of the universe

What
is

Darwin

be
and

destroys

or

and
means

about
round-

is,

perfectly known
thing,and its relations to the organism in the way of
destruction
or
preservationare tangibleand distinct,
it would
utterlyconfuse our finite understandings and
frustrate our
hopes of science to mix in with it facts
from such a disparateand
incommensurable
cycle as
the variations
that in which
are
produced. This last
before the animal
is born.
cycle is that of occurrences
It is the cycle of influences upon
and embryos ;
ova
a

Essays in PopularPhilosophy.

224

lie the

that

tip them and


towards
masculinity or femininity,towards
health or disease,and
weakness, towards
or
the
What
parent type.
divergence from
in which

causes

tilt them

strength
towards
are

the

there?

causes

and
ble,
invisiplace, they are molecular
of
therefore,to direct observation
inaccessible,
kind.
Secondly, their operationsare compatible
any
and
with
of
social,political,
physical conditions
any
The
environment.
same
parents, livingin the same
birth produce a
at one
environing conditions, may
ble
visiThe
genius,at the next an idiot or a monster.
In

first

the

"

conditions

external

of this
the

matter,

other

each

by

effects

Gulf
which

of

and

forces
such

there

are

consider

we

to

believe

made

to

the

of

two

differ from

Pacific Ocean

toward

flow.
severally
distinction between

discharging forces is nowhere


scale as in physiology. Almost
forces

that

the

mate
disproportionateto their ultifamous
pebble on the Rocky
to the
separates two rain-drops,
and

St. Lawrence

great mechanical

The

on

is the

them

more

are

minants
direct deter-

not

as

causes

it makes

the

parents

same

as

therefore

forced

are

we

crest, which

Mountain

and

cycle ;

more

of the

children

are

detent, which

transitive
illustrated
all

causes

operate by simply

already stored up.


They are upand
the resultant effect
of unstable equilibria,
setters
the nature
of the materials
more
on
depends infinitely
upset than on that of the particularstimulus which
Galvanic work, equal to unity,
joggles them down.
will discharge from the muscle
done
a frog'snerve
on
work
the nerve
to which
belongs mechanical
equal to
muscular
seventy thousand; and exactly the same
unlocking

energy

Essays in Popular Philosophy.

226

sphere wholly inaccessible to the social philosopher.


He
win
must
simply accept geniuses as data, just as Darvariations.
accepts his spontaneous
for Darwin, the only problem is, these

given, How
how do they
that

the

the

does

the

affect

of

relation

environment

data

as

being

them, and
Now, I affirm

visible

environment

to

the

exactly what it is to the


variation
in the Darwinian
philosophy. It chiefly
or
destroys,in short selects
adopts or rejects,
preserves
whenever
it adopts and
him.1
And
the
preserves
modified
it becomes
by his influence in
great man,
He
acts as a
an
entirelyoriginaland peculiarway.
vent
ferment, and changes its constitution,just as the adof a new
zoologicalspecies changes the faunal
floral equilibriumof the region in which
it apand
pears.
great

is in the

him,

affect

environment?

the

For

man

all recollect

We

their

in

of

effects
have

we

of

about

the

most

canker-worms,

English

Just

birds.

the

so

great

large

or

the

Zealand, and

whether

man,

like Clive

in
the

native

most

away

he

India

be
or

portatio
im-

an

Agassiz

soil like Mahomet

rearrangement,

on

pre-existingsocial

scale, of the

small

of

"

spring from
Franklin, brings about

or

read

part in the controversy


whether
he kills
here,

he

whether

or

ment
state-

of clover

growth

in New

drives

or

without

from

here,

sparrow

famous

all have

rabbit

taken

us

the

on

We

neighborhood.
the European
many

Darwin's

Mr.

of cats

influence

of the

main

'

relations.

that it remodels

It is true

influence, and
between

the

of the

relation

social

case

that
and

him, also, to

this constitutes
the

of the article I will return

to

it

zoologicalcase.

here, for the other is the

degree,by

some

more

incidentally.

considerable
I

cative
its edu-

difference

neglect this aspect

important.

At

the end

Men

Great

in the

generation,are

to

main

generation
rectly
directlyor indi-

due

the

example of individuals whose


of the moment,
genius was so adapted to the receptivities
accidental
whose
or
position of authority was
critical that they became
ferments, initiators of
so
of precedent or fashion,centres
of
setters
movement,
whose
corruption, or destroyers of other persons,
had they had free play,would
have led society
gifts,
to

the

227

of societies,then, from

mutations

The

their Environment

and

in another

acts

or

direction.

this power
of individual initiative exemplified
small
scale all about
on
a
on
a
large
us, and
of the leaders of history. It is only
scale in the case
We

see

followingthe

method

of

Lyell, a
Darwin, and a Whitney to interpretthe unknown
by
reckon
and
the known,
cumulatively the only
up
of social change we
causes
can
directly observe.
Societies of men
are
just like individuals,in that both
offer ambiguous potentialities
at any
given moment
of development. Whether
ness
busienters
a young
man
the ministry may
or
depend on a decision which
has to be made
before a certain day. He
takes the
place offered in the counting-house,and is committed.
Little by little,the habits, the knowledges, of the
other
which
be
once
to
lay so near, cease
career,
reckoned
his possibilities.
At
he
even
first,
among
may

common-sense

in that decisive
of the two

hour

; but

dream.

into

It is

be committed

no

might

with

expire, and
vivid, fades

whether

doubt

sometimes

the

not

the years

the

old

otherwise
and

self he murdered

have
such

been

less

with

the

ego,

once

substantial
nations.

ministers

better

selves
questions them-

alternative

something

than

They

to peace
by kings
by generals to victoryor defeat,by prophets

so

or

to

may
war,

this

Essays in Popular Philosophy.

228

religionor

that,by various geniuses to fame

to

in art,

cation
industry. A war is a true point of bifurof future possibilities.
Whether
it fail or succeed,
its declaration must
be the starting-point
of newpolicies. Just so does a revolution,or any great civic
a deflecting
influence,whose operaprecedent,become
tions

science,

or

with

widen

obey their
ideal,as an

the

of time.

course

ideals ; and

accidental

an

Communities
fixes

success

failure

accidental

blightsit.
to-day the
imperial
certain boy named
Bob

'

England have
which
she now
has, if a
had shot himself,as he tried to do, at Madras
?
raft she is now
in European
she be the drifting
Would

if

'

the

Frederic

instead

of

Cobden,

and

Bright

England

has,

no

intrinsic value
ever

inherited

if Messrs.
all been

had

her

in

the

to
relatively

is

no

other

such

throne

Mill,

Prussia?

nations

fine

Clive

affairs

Bentham,
born

ideal

Would

doubt, to-day precisely the

There

had.

human

had

Great

Victoria, and

an

same

that she

accumulation

of

the globe. But in England the


upon
lost effective form, while in Germany it i

material
has

material

has found

it.

give the form.

Leaders

Would

Eng*

she!
at once,
as
crying forward and backward
I would/
does
lettingI will not wait upon
now,
if her ideal had
but not to fight,
wishing to conquer
of statesbeen fixed by a succession
in all these years
men
of supremely commanding
personality,
working
She would
have;
direction?
in one
Certainly not.
either one
or
course
espoused, for better or worse,
land

be

'

another.

Had

would
as

stillbe
race

herbivora, and
1

The

Bismarck

of
to

reader

in his

died

satisfied with

mans
cradle, the Ger-

appearing

spectacled Gelehrten
the

French

will remember

as

when

ces

and

bons" or

this

was

to

selves
them-

political
ces

written.

naifs%

Great

Men

their Environment.

and

will showed

Bismarck's

Allemands.

The

livelier game.

Germany

have

may

will

"

The

marks

that

at

as,

could

do away, I ween,
hath
of that which
once
never

been

any

of

rate,

factor

one

"
"

i860

influence

social

constitute

their

to

"

fermentative

admitted

they

initiative,
namely, from

of Bismarck's
The

them,

play a far
be
will not
lesson
forgotten.
vicissitudes,but they
many

great astonishment, that

own

229

geniuses

be

must

in the

changes
community

The

evolution.

1873.

to

The
accidental
evolve
in many
ways.
presence
may
it shall
of this or that ferment
decides
in which
way
the

very

mino, have

the

evolve.

Why,

the

power
it of themselves

develop

never

there

teac"

to

birds

^Viem.
ttc*^h

with

So

the

of

forest,the

parrot,
speech, but

of human
;

some

must

one

individuals.

us

be

brandt
Rem-

enjoy the struggleof light


with
to
darkness, Wagner
enjoy peculiar musical
effects;Dickens
gives a twist to our
sentimentality,
Emerson
kindles
Artemus
Ward
to
our
a
humor;
moral
But it is like Columbus's
new
lightwithin us.
must

"

egg-

All

the seed."

as

may

raise the flowers

can

But

the community,
whole?

to

us

if this be

how

of the

certain

it; if not, it will

take

for all have


individuals

got
in

it be false of the community

can

If shown

true

now,

never

way,

find

community

it.

And

the

indeterminate
in advance.
large extent
A
nation
alternative impulses
obey either of many
may
of genius,and still live
given by different men
and be prosperous,
either of
enter
just as a man
may
businesses. Only, the prosperities
differ in
many
may
ways

are

to

their type.

But the indeterminism

is not

absolute.

Not

every

'

in

Essays

230
'

'

fits every

man

are.

too

late.

Peter

the

asylum.
have

rifles ;

lived

and,

Spencer

to

tribe which
to

or

come

may

Hermit

their

Mill

turn

the

in

in the

sent

tenth

unknown.

to

century

Cromwell

and

his civil

war.

of

telescopic-sighted
instance
which
an
differently

could

day

Watt

have

precursivegenius

no

be

now

revolutions, Grant

fame

what

there
incompatibilities
either too
early or

would

died

and

express

uses,

Some

John

Napoleon need
An Ajax gets no

iron

hour.'

given genius

lunatic
would

Popular Philosophy.

had

effected

taught to

in

smelt

lathe?

the

important thing to notice is that what


makes
certain
a
incompatible with his
genius now
surroundings is usually the fact that some
previous
genius of a different strain has warped the community
from
the sphere of his possible effectiveness.
away
Now,

After
IX.

Voltaire,
Louis

and

France

XIV.,

after

success

is

makes

little

transient;

after

; and

headway

after

Hermit;

Charles

of
general protestantization

no

Manchester

off certain

cuts

the

Peter

no

sides of the

school,
a
so

Beaconsfield's
Castelar

Philip II., a
Each

on.

field

bifurcation

and
altogether,

limits

A community
possible angles of deflection.
which
I can
do no
is a livingthing,and in words
Professor
better than quote from
Clifford,1 it is the
peculiarityof living things not merely that they
stances,
change under the influence of surrounding circumtakes
but that any
place in
change which

the

future

"

them
the

is

not

organism

actions.
of

lost but

tree

afterwards

to

retained, and

serve

If you
cause
it
and make
to

make
1

as

any

the

as

it

foundation

distortion

crooked, whatever

the tree

Lectures

and

straightthe
Essays,i. 82.

built into

were

in

for

the

you
mark

future

growth
may

do

of your

Men

Great

No

cool.
.

or

Any

into

in the

even

who

one

its trunk

itself

existence, but

Every
deflects

by

oak

tell by the

can

frozen

has

winter
times

many

the

in logic
geoof
hand

summer

livingbeing must always


the history,not merely of its

it

has
tain
conown

of all its ancestors."

painter can
his picture

lines follow

cooled

and

it into life.

within

how

and

an

times

many

last year

down

cuts

how

widowhood,

warmed

melted

been

it has

often

ages,

rings in

one

how

man.

take

that you

gold

absolutelyindelible ; it has
ever,
tree's nature.
Suppose, howof gold, melt it,and let it
a lump
tell by examining a piece of
can

part of the

231

is there ; it is

distortion
become

their Environment.

and

tell
in

on

each

how

certain

built

be

must

us

added

Whatever

sense.

those

line

first laid down.

starts
to rewrite
a
Every author who
piece of work
knows
how
to
use
impossible it becomes
any of the
first-written
beginning has
again. The new
pages
the
already excluded
possibilityof those earlier
phrases and transitions, while it has at the same
time
created
of
indefinite
the possibilityof an
set
of which, however, is completely
new
one
no
ones,
determined
in advance.
ings
Just so the social surround-

of

the

and

past

present

hour

exclude

the

from
possibilityof accepting certain contributions
individuals ; but they do not
positivelydefine what
contributions
shall be
accepted, for in themselves
of the
the nature
they are
powerless to fix what
individual
offeringsshall be.1
1

Mr.

Grant

Allen

quote, admits

himself, in

article from

which

I shall

ently
pres-

people who, if they had been exposed


would
have
ages ago to the geographical agencies of Timbuctoo,
into
after
to the
developed
a protracted exposure
might now,
negroes
conditions
Timbuctoo.

of

that

an

Hamburg,

set

never

of

become

negroes

if

transplantedto

Essays in Popular Philosophy.

232
Thus

social evolution

is

resultant

of two

of the

action
inter-

wholly distinct factors, the individual,


derivinghis peculiargiftsfrom the play of physiological
and infra-social forces,but bearing all the power
of initiative and origination
in his hands ; and, second,
of adopting or
the social environment, with its power
rejectingboth him and his gifts. Both factors are
essential to change. The
out
community stagnates withThe
the impulse of the individual.
impulse dies
without the sympathy of the community.
away
All this seems
than common-sense.
nothing more
All who wish to see it developed by a man
of genius
should read that golden littlework, Bagehot's Physics
and Politics,in which
to me) the complete
(itseems
in which
of the way
concrete
sense
things grow and
change is as livinglypresent as the strainingafter a
pseudo-philosophy of evolution is livingly absent.
such
But
there are
to whom
never
wanting minds
views seem
personal and contracted, and allied to an
anthropomorphism long exploded in other fields of
individual withers, and
the world
The
knowledge.
and more," to these writers ; and in a Buckle,
is more
much
the
how
a
Draper, and a Taine we all know
"

"

world

'

has

We

the climate.

kept
history and

has been

'

of

like

all

with
synonymous
the controversy
too, how

know,

up between
those who
'

necessary

almost

be

to

come

partisansof

the

deny
'

laws

the

'

existence

where

human

science

of thing
anysocieties

Spencer, at the opening of


an
onslaught on
Study of Sociology, makes
which
a
great-man theory of history,from
be quoted :
may
passages
concerned.

are

Mr.

'

'

his

the
few

"

"The
may

be

genesis

of societies

comfortablybelieved

by
so

the

long

action
as,

of great

men

restingin general

Essays in Popular Philosophy.

234

which
Suppose I say that the singular moderation
and
cussion
now
distinguishessocial, political,
religiousdisin England, and
contrasts
so
strongly with
the bigotry and
dogmatism of sixty years ago, is
largelydue to J. S. Mill's example. I may possibly
be
1

the

about

wrong

facts; but

for

at

rate,
any
restingin general
am,

and
not
particulars,'
And
if Mr.
notions.'
it
Spencer should tell me
started from no personal influence whatever, but from
the
Mill
generations,'
aggregate of conditions,' the
all his contemporaries
and
descended
from,' the
whole
in short, surely he, not I,
past order of nature
satisfied with vagueness.'
be the person
would
The
fact is that Mr. Spencer's sociologicalmethod

asking

'

'

'

'

'

is identical
zodiac

to

thirteen
It

at

of

who

one

would

for the fall of the

account

table

of little

is

that

with

to

explain
scientific

more

the

invoke

death.

gentleman's
than

the

and

sparrow,

value

the

the

Oriental

of

replying to whatever
question arises by the
is great." Not
fall
to
unimpeachable truism, God
the gods, where
back
a proximate
on
principlemay
be found, has with us Westerners
long since become
ficient
the sign of an efficient as distinguishedfrom an inefmethod

"

intellect.
To

found

that

believe

in its antecedents

postulate,not
science.

by
thousand
have

the

If she
the

same

years

followed

is

cause

of

is the

the

everything is to
the
starting-point,

goal and
simply to lead
hole

we

ago, it seems
her
through

went

itial
in-

of

consummation,
us

out

of the

by three
hardly worth

the

be

in

darkness

at

rinth
laby-

or

four

while

all.

to

Ii

anything is humanly certain it is that the great man's


him before
society,properly so called, does not make
he can
remake
it. Physiological
forces,with which

Great

Men

their Environment.

and

social, political,
geographical,and

the

235

to

great

have
anthropologicalconditions
just as
of the
and justas little to do as the condition
has to do with the flickering
of this
of Vesuvius

much

extent

which

holds

Spencer

so

of

26th

the

all his mental

with

cause

of

stream

aforesaid

W.

have

needs

the

restore
stream

you

it be

Can
of

outside

certain

mother

form

he

does

to

boat

into

ooze

to

mean

had

certain

say

particular
if the

that

of cholera

died

will

tum,
infan-

Stratford-upon-Avon would
engendered a duplicate copy of him, to
sociologicequilibrium, justas the same
at

"

of water

will reappear,
how
often
matter
no
the leak, so
side
over
long as the outpass a sponge
level remains
Or might the tute
substiunchanged?
arise

at

'

'

Stratford-atte-Bowe

it is very
hard, in the midst
he does mean
to tell what
vagueness,

Here,

of Mr.

leaves

who

us

in

no

doubt

as

where,
else-

Spencer's

at all.

Mr.
have, however, in his disciple,

We
one

gas by
that Mr.

sociologicalpressures
impinged on Stratford-upon-Avon
April, 1564, that a W. Shakespeare,
had to be born there,
peculiarities,

Shakespeare

another

him.

convergence

And

leak?

make

of water

the pressure

as

"

the

have

to

about

what

write,are

crater

whatever

Grant

Allen,

of his

precise

This

liant
widely informed, suggestive,and brilwriter published last year a couple of articles in
the Gentleman's
that
Magazine, in which he maintained
individuals
have
initiative in determining social
no
change.

meaning.

"The
whether

differences
in

between

intellect,
commerce,

one

nation

art, morals, or

and

another,
perament,
general tem-

ultimatelydepend, not
mysterious
any
upon
and
or
propertiesof race, nationality,
any other unknown
but simply and solelyupon
the
unintelligible
abstractions,

Essays in Popular Philosophy.

2^6

physicalcircumstances
be

fact,as

know

we

which

to

they

be, that the

it to

If it

exposed.

are

French

nation

fers
dif-

Chinese, and the people of


Hamburg differ recognizablyfrom the people of Timbuctoo,
the notorious
and
then
conspicuous differences between
them
are
wholly due to the geographicalposition of the
If the people who
various
had
went
to Hamburg
races.

recognizablyfrom

Timbuctoo,

gone

to

from

the

would

they

semi-barbarian

metropolis; 1

African

the

now

be

who

inhabit

negroes

and

indistinguishable
that

central

if the

buctoo
people who went to Timhad
have been
to Hamburg,
they would now
gone
white-skinned
merchants
tation
driving a roaring trade in imiting
differentiaThe
sherry and indigestible
port.
.

be

must

agency

geographicalfeatures
necessarilyand

of

land

the

upon

surrounding circumstances

direction.

active

causation.]To

of

mind

the

of

is

There

No

not

factor
difference

of

the

Even

two

identical

with
2

each

is to

suppose

universal

law

is

races

of

ancestors

as, if set

as

the

Nation

nothing
two

be

in identical

in

to

environments,
at

factor.

geographical
The

of ultimate

cause

though
the

could

race

The

difference

even

races,

invisible

divergence
with

the

ation.
caus-

selves
them-

must

brothers

as

to

of

ancestral

Timbuctoo

might
homogeneous

Making,'

the

that

impulse, in

inclinations

bodily

before

and

lineages. The minute


generation,and ends

Article

Only

effect in such

spontaneous
and

tastes

Hamburg

of the most

couples

identical

the

caprice,no

no

brothers, this difference

so

from

utterlyvanishes

between

divergence of

two

otherwise

though they were

even

ries
histo-

regard

cannot

any

the result of surroundingcauses."

be

and

sentences

suppose

endeavors.

human

We

have

can

is exempt

man

dogmaticallydeny the
independent physiological
relatively
cycle

[These two

of the

existence

have

these

itself.
agent in differentiating

the
a

the characters
.

nation

an

permament

great

sea

earth.

any

as

and

moulded
inevitably

of every nation

the

in

sought

of
as

tution
constiin twin

naked

No
eye.
possiblybe found

to

give

the start

rise to two

grows

broader

entirelydissimilar breeds.
Gentleman's
Magazine, 1878.

Men

Great
Elsewhere
says

their Environment.

and

237

Allen, writingof the Greek

Mr.

culture,

"

absolutelyand unreservedlythe product of


the given factor of
geographical Hellas, acting upon
It

"

the

was

undifferentiated

To me
Aryan brain.
propositionthat nothingwhatsoever

it

seems

...

evident

body

one

of

from

men

in which
the

in which

they

stand

causation.

imagine that

outcry
being undone,
kind

of

is

it

the mind

the

law

moment

causation

place and

under
time

differentiate itself

can

differentiated without

the

about

course,

regard to other bodies of men.


to deny the
primordial law of

be

can

ditions
physicalcon-

of
including,

"

the relations of

imagine that

To

This

the

with

otherwise

suppose

is to

set,

physicalconditions

term

To

they are

self-

differentiate

can

the

another, except

the

of

refuse

we

which

universal

is

cause."

causation

invest

to

in

by
peddled round
impatient. These

one
particularschool, makes
have
writers
no
imagination of alternatives. With
them
outward
ronment
envithere is no
tertium quid between
and
Aut
miracle.
Ccesary aut nullus! Aut
Spencerism,aut catechism !
If by
Mr. Allen means
what
physical conditions
he
the outward
does
cycle of visible nature
mean,
his assertion is simply physiologically
and man,
false.
a

'

'

For

national

is born

genius

the
means

his

invisible
*

in

differentiates
its midst

molecular

by
cycle.

by physical conditions
assertion,though true, forms

quote from
December,
1

and

mind

Article

Popular

'

'

itself

whenever

acting

causes

But

the whole

if Mr.
of

but the vague

in

Allen

nature,

Asiatic

reprint in the Popular Science Monthly Supplement,


1878, pages 121, 123, 126.
Hellas,' in Gentleman's
Magazine, 1878. Reprint iQ
the

'

Science

Monthly Supplement, September, 1878.

Essays in Popular Philosophy.

238

belief in

profession of
certainly need
advanced

to

how

scientific character.

can

thinker

so

clever

between
distinguishedin these matters
conditions
of
and
conditions
sufficient

French

The
break

must

our

necessary

sufficient

that to

say

have

condition?

Does

an

they

are

afforded
a

given

omelet

we

are

necessary

mind.

that such

ical
geograph-

condition.

condition, why

sufficient

ever
when-

appear
of the Greek

broken?
So
eggs are
To get such versatile intelligence
be
it may
commercial
dealingswith the world as the
Hellas

sary
neces-

omelet

an

fail

eggs ; that is,the breaking of eggs


of the omelet.
condition
But
is it a

three

if

Allen

Mr.

as

have

result?

is

not

or

And

fate,which
all-enveloping
plume itself on
specially
any
an

did

But

not

the

Phoenicians

outstripthe Greeks in intelligence? No.


can
geographical environment
produce a given type
It can
of mind.
only foster and further certain
produced, and thwart and frustrate
types fortuitously
others.
Once
again,its function is simply selective,
shall actually be only by deand
determines
what
stroying
what
tic
Arcis positivelyincompatible. An
is incompatible with
environment
improvident
habits
of

in its denizens

such

region
peacefulness of the
a

far

; but

shall

unite

Eskimo

Norseman

is,so

accident.

Evolutionists

as

whether

or

the

with
the

climate

should

not

the

inhabitants

their

thrift the

pugnacity

of the

is concerned,

forget that

an
we

four or
six would
fingers not because
the first vertenot
do just as well,but merely because
brate
the fishes happened to have that number.
above
his prodigious success
in founding a line of
He owed
know
descent
to some
entirelyother quality, we
all have

five

"

which,

not

"

their Environment.

and

Men

Great

but

inessential

the

239

five

fingers were
present day. So

preserved to the
shall be
of them
Which
of most
social peculiarities.
the environment
which
taken in tow
by the few qualities
is a matter
of what
necessarilyexacts
logical
physioaccidents
shall happen among
individuals.
his thesis in detail by
Mr. Allen promises to prove
I
the examples of China, India, England, Rome,
etc.
hesitation in predictingthat he
have not the smallest
will do no
he has
with these examples than
more
taken

in tow

done

with

and

He

Hellas.

after the

fact, and

harmonies

between

will appear
show
that the

the

upon

scene

qualitydeveloped
by each race was, naturallyenough, not incompatible
with its habitat.
But he will utterlyfail to show
that
fallen into in each
the particularform of compatibility
the one
and only possibleform.
case
was
necessary
Naturalists know
well enough how indeterminate
the
animal

An

may

fauna

better

either

and

his

of many
ways,
subterranean
; small and

its environment

chances

are.

of existence

in

growing aquatic,arboreal, or
and bulky ;
swift,or massive

"

timid
or
spiny, horny, slimy, or venomous
; more
fertile of
more
pugnacious ; more
cunning or more
in
solitary
gregarious or more
offspring; more
; or
other

besides,

ways

suit him

to

of Mr.

Readers

the

vast

and

any

one

widely different
A.

R. Wallace

strikingillustrations
:

"

many

"

of these

ways

may

environments.
will well

of this in his

remember

Malay

pelago
Archi-

"

closelyresembles

Borneo
size and

its freedom

New

from

Guinea

not

volcanoes,but

only in

its

in its variety

of

geologicalstructure, its uniformity of climate,and the


face
general aspect of the forest vegetationthat clothes its sur; the

Moluccas

are

the

counterpart of the Philippines

Essays in PopularPhilosophy.

240
in

volcanic

their

structure, their

forests, and

luxuriant

their

Bali,with the east end


dry and a soil almost as
these

of

after the

arid

by

the

that

as

differences

does

Nowhere

different countries

differences

or

of

climate

almost

of Timor.

Yet

are

there

oceans,
we

due

ancient

to

similarities in the

tween
be-

the

same

exists the

their animal

compare

the

as

islands,constructed,

in the various

similarities

or

same

when

greatest possiblecontrast

productions.

pattern, subjectedto

same

bathed

climate,and

inhabit

Java, has

correspondinggroups

it were,

as

their
fertility,
frequent earthquakes; and
extreme

doctrine

forms

that

of life that

cal
correspondingphysicountries

themselves,

Borneo
palpablea contradiction.
distinct counand New
two
as
tries
Guinea, as alike physically
can
be, are zoologicallywide as the poles asunder;
with its dry winds, its open plains,
its stony
while Australia,
deserts,and its temperate climate,yet produces birds and
quadrupeds which are closelyrelated to those inhabiting
forests which
the hot, damp, luxuriant
everywhere clothe
meet

the

with

direct

so

plainsand

and

mountains

of New

Guinea."

similar

ments
physical-geography environharmonizing with widely differinganimal lives,
animal
lives harmonizing with
and
similar
widely
A
singularly
differinggeographical environments.
accomplished writer, E. Gryzanowski, in the North
American
Review,1 uses the instances of Sardinia and

Here

have

we

Corsica

in

He

says

support

of

this thesis with

great effect

"

of the
islands,lying in the very centre
Mediterranean, at almost equal distances from the centres
within easy reach of
Neo-Latin
and
of Latin
civilization,
"These

the

sister

Phoenician,the Greek,
1

Vol.

cxiii. p.

and

the

Saracen, with

318 (October,1871).

coast-

Essays in Popular Philosophy.

242
born

there

seem

to

with

patriotism and

abilityenough to
their countrymen
inflame
with
national
tion,
pride,ambiand
thirst for independent life. Corsicans
and
Sardinians
are
probably as good stuff as any of their
neighbors. But the best wood-pile will not blaze
the appropriate torches
till a torch is applied,and
have

wanting.1

been

come
everywhere.
Sporadic great men
community to get vibrating through and

that
Mr.

well

am

that

be

to

seem

Galton, for whose

that

for

through

(though in nothing
of
crossing
heavily shotted bows
laborious
investigationsinto the heredityof

aware

precedes) I

in much

But

follows

the

the greatest respect. Mr. Galton


inclines to think
genius I have
that genius of intellect and passion is bound
ever
to express
itself,whatoutward
and
the
that within
an
opportunity,
any given race
number
of
needs
be
born
of
each
in
equal
geniuses
grade must
every
of
subordinate
time
cannot
a
race
equal period
possiblyengender
;
of high-classgeniuses, etc.
He
a
would, I suspect,
large number
infer the

suppositionsI

assembling around

being

go

make

of

"

great

men

fortuitously

making it great, and of their


times (from Sarcertain places and
dinia,

given epoch and

fortuitouslyabsent
from

to

on

from

I hardly
etc.) to be radicallyvicious.
think, however, that he does justiceto the great complexity of the
conditions
the physioof effective
logical
greatness, and to the way in which
be masked
of production may
entirely during long
averages
either
the
accidental
of
periods,
by
mortality geniuses in infancy,or
by the fact that the particulargeniuses born happened not to find
tasks.

Boston

I doubt

murder,

now,

the truth

'will out.'

"

of his assertion

It is true

Voltaire, Shelley,Carlyle,can
and

that

vegetative life in any epoch.

be

types

conceived

take

Mr.

are

genius, like

irrepressible.

leading

Galton

dumb

himself, take

Spencer : nothing is to me more


than that at another
conceivable
might
epoch all three of these men
in them,' known
have died 'with all their music
only to their friends
has
of strong and originalcharacter and judgment. What
as
persons
is
effective
of
started them
their career
on
simply the
greatness
task vast, brilliant,and
of each
genial
conaccident
a
stumbling upon
of all his passions and powenough to call out the convergence
ers.
I see
more
reason
no
why, in case
they had not fallen in with
their several hobbies
at propitiousperiods in their life,they neec
his cousin

Mr.

Darwin,

and

certain

hardly
But

that intellectual

take

Mr.

Men

Great

and

their Environment.

243

intensely active life,many


geniuses coming
together and in rapid succession are required. This
is why great epochs are
so
why the sudden
rare,
bloom
of a Greece, an
early Rome, a Renaissance, is
with

"

such

cooling

no

of

mass

high tides

hear

geniuses

should

But

and

fast that

so

intervals.

Then

the

inertia

thei7

after

long
have

movement

may

passed

surprise expressed that in


affairs not only the people

of human

filled with

blow

incandescent, and

grows

pure
its internal

often

We

be

the

glow by

originatorsof

should

in

nation

to

away.

follow

must

occur

can

the

continue

these

Blow

mystery.

stronger life,but

that individual

exceptionally abundant.
This mystery
is just about
ored
as
deep as the time-honconundrum
to why great rivers flow by great
as
that
It is true
towns.
great public fermentations
awaken
and
in more
adopt many
geniuses, who
have
had
chance
to work.
no
torpid times would
over

seem

above

fermentation

the

this there

be

must

of

concourse

the

so

genius about a
begin at all. The

is far greater than

concourse

an

time,

the

tional
excepmake

to

unlikeliness

of

unlikeliness

of

particulargenius ; hence the rarityof these periods


and
the exceptional aspect which
they always

any

wear.

hit

necessarilyhave

equally great. Their


Cromwells,

tons,

and

other

upon
case

similar

seems

Grants, who

of
apart from these causes
transcendent
think
that where
But

anyhow
any

scheme

just
might

be

and
firing,
be

more

so

are

of

averages.
the two

as

fired
the

small

that
That
or

great

simply

geniuses

are

their

balls

near

nearest

themselves

of the
their

to

occasions.

concerned
will

the
not

the

would

target
on

and
the

to

bers
num-

fit into

might appear

longer epochs
balls

Washing-

stronglydisposed

appearance
three
or

is, two

and

made

that

rose
am

three

geniuses

to

I
fallacy,

consecutively. Take

spread out.

and

hobbies,

gether,
to-

centre
more

whole

Essays in Popular Philosophy.

244
It is
as

of

folly,then, to speak of
something inevitable,which

laws

consequences
nothing to alter

do

of

science

whose

discover, and
foretell but

the Maws

has

one

any

of

deal

"

And

it.

the

so

will

fire be kindled

the

utmost

with

water

"

beneath

the

Why,

physics are conditional, and


The
ifs. The
physicistdoes not say,
boil anyhow ;
he only says it will boil if a
very

then

can

avert.

or

history*
only to

student

of

predict is that if a genius of a


certain sort
show the way,
low.
societywill be sure to folIt might long ago
have
been
predicted with
that both Italyand
Germany would
great confidence
reach a stable unity if some
could but succeed
in
one
have
been
It could
not
startingthe process.
dicted,
prehowever, that the modus
operandi in each case
sociology

would
than

be

can

ever

subordination

to

federation,because

historian could

no

the freaks of birth and


the

fortune

rather

state

paramount

have

which

culated
cal-

gave

at

positionsof authorityto three


such peculiarindividuals as Napoleon III.,Bismarck,
and Cavour.
So of our
own
politics. It is certain
ers,
that the movement
of the independents,reformnow
whatever
or
one
pleaseto call them, will triumph.
But whether
it do so
by converting the Republican
party on the
party to its ends, or by rearing a new
ruins of both our
not
present factions,the historian cansame

There

say.

an

be

can

would

movement

with

such

moment

make

doubt

no

that

progress
leader
than

more

adequate personal

the
in

one
now

as

reform
year

in ten

great citizen, splendid


doubt
with every civic gift,
to be its candidate, who
can
lead us to victory? But, at present,
that he would
without

we,

one.

Were

his environment,

gladlypreserve

and

there

who

sigh

adopt him

for

him

if he came,

and
can

would

so

neither

Men

Great

him,

without

move

their Environment.

and

yet do anything

nor

245

bring him

to

forth.1
conclude

To

the

it denies

when

is,then,
a

an

from

lapse

into the most

hypothesiswith

it

effective.

be

of

the

Even

He

retards

little by the concessions

momentum,
adversaries'

speed

lateral pressure,

which,

now

function
what

pletely
com-

started)

we

stimulating sort to the


the dogged resistance
he
to changes which
is

the

shown

and
justified

deflects

movement;

he extracts

to be
at

gives it a

last at

heads

never

sure,
a

it would

left of that to which

allowed

the

on

which

of

lesson

sultant
re-

compounded of his inertia and his


and keeps up, in short, a constant

about, but brings it up


or

most

reactionaryconservative
hope entirelyto defeat

cannot

(even

made

of the individual.

energy
of the

to

appeal

an

have

determinism
The

oriental fatalism.

we

deterministic
forms

scientific

modern

ancient

analysisthat

the

evolutionary view of history,


ative,
vital importance of individual initiand
unscientific conception,
utterlyvague

The

goal
have

it round

far to the

right

drifted had

he

it to drift alone.

of my
to the last division
subject,the
pass
of the environment
in mental
evolution. After
have

be quite concise.
already said, I may
at firstsightas if that
Here, if anywhere, itwould seem
school
be rightwhich
makes
the mind
must
passively
plastic,and the environment
actively productive of
the form
of its conceptions; which, in a
and order
I

word, thinks that all mental


1

Since
extent

other
been

this paper
was
the need.
met

qualitieswhich
still more

But
not

who

can

doubt

yet shown,

(1896.)

must

result from

Cleveland

written, President

he has

decisive?

progress

has

to

that if he had

his influence

would

tain
cer-

certain

have

Essays in Popular Philosophy.

246
a

series of

adaptive changes, in

of that word.
mental

furniture

We

the

fined
already de-

sense

what

part of
of purely remembered,

know

consists

reasoned, experience. The

vast

field of

entire

associations

that the

think

to

by
be

'

noticed

and

extracted

which

benefits,moreover,

environment

yield, and

the

determine
parts inflict,
interest and our
attention,and

our

of mental
points the accumulation
begin. It might, accordingly,seem
no

his

by

room

for any

other

have

found

we

variation/

born
is
'

rienced
expe-

as

the

therein

certain

parts
hurts

and

of

direction

decide

at

which

experiences
if there

as

der
or-

The

the
so

son
rea-

mind.1

pains

other

which

were

relations

outer

itself determine
may
imbedded
the generalcharacters

pleasuresand
of the

of

The

individual

the

in which
shall

order

not

habits

our

by contiguity belongs here.


entire field of those abstract
conceptions which
taught us with the language into which we were
than this,there
belongs here also. And, more
and

our

than this ;
agency
useful between
so

shall
were

if the distinction

as
'

spontaneous
the producer of changed forms, and
their

and
preserver
of mental
progress

destroyer,
in the case
did not hold
if,in
; as
a
word, the parallelwith darwinism
might no longer
obtain, and Spencer might be quite right with his
"The
of intelligence,
which
law
fundamental
says,
cohesion
between
psychicalstates is proportionateto
which
the
the relation between
the frequency with
answering external pheonmena has been repeated in
experience."2
the

outer

environment,

That

is,if

certain

experience with

it will be

sooner

as

generalcharacter
number

abstracted

of
than

be

rapidlyrepeated in

strongly contrasted
if its associates

are

our

concomitants,
invariable

or

monotonous.
2

Principlesof Psychology,i. 460.

See

also pp.

463,464, 500.

On

Men

Great

their Environment.

and

But, in spiteof all these facts,I have


in

whatever

maintain

from

the

here.

even

all drawn

from

"

the

from

darwinian

distinction

that the

facts in

question are

lower

the

throughout the

that

the

to

of

strata

which

brutes.
whole

And

; and

are

that

as

tendencies

fancies,accidental
instable

the

in the

human

of

the

partment
de-

teristically
characat every

new

of

tions,
concep-

evolve

random

ages,
im-

spontaneous

activityof

brain, which

mental

which

shape

out-births

functional

possesses
easilyshow

violated

active

the

to

so

functions,

most

are

of fact the

originallyproduced
in

can

matter

emotions, and
are

mind,

of those

extent

highest,which
human, Spencer's law is

step

the

the

with

common

hesitation

no

sphere of its least evolved


which
man
region of intelligence

speak,
in

holding firm

247

riation
va-

excessively
environment

outer

simply confirms or refutes,adopts or rejects,


preserves
or
phological
destroys, selects,in short,just as it selects mor"

and
of
It is

analogous

an

due

to

molecular

dents
acci-

sort.

of the tritest of truisms

one

of

social variations

that human

gences
intelli-

simple order are very literal. They are


slaves of habit, doing what
they have been taught
without
variation ; dry, prosaic, and
matter-of-fact in
their remarks
of humor, except of the coarse
; devoid
ing
physical kind which rejoicesin a practicaljoke ; takthe world
for granted ; and
possessing in their
faithfulness and honesty the singlegiftby which
they
are

sometimes

408

page

the

able

law

connection.

Either

law, from

not

think

to

them

warm

is formulated

in consciousness
outer

to

Mr.
my

is

thus

The

proportionate

Spencer works

point

into admiration.

us

of

synonymous.

most

view, is false

to

persistenceof the
the persistenceof

with
; but

the law
Mr.

of

But

nection
con-

the

frequency.
Spencer ought

Essays in PopularPhilosophy.

248

this faithfulness

even

to remind

ring,and
of

of
When

we

defend

his
and

to

No

ticer of their ways

matter

capable

reader

to their

nor

sort of

inorganic

than

ties
properof the fastness
stead-

of alternative

choice.

the brutes, all these

frequent allusions

horses,

have

of the immutable

more

will

human

intensifiea.

are

us

of inanimate

piece

to

seems

to

peculiarities
get
forof Schopenhauer can
the trockener ernst of dogs

ehrlichkeit.

every

no-

deep impression of
the few, simple,and

receive

must

And

fatallyliteral character of
treadmill-like operationsof their minds.
But turn to the highestorder of minds, and what a
things pachange ! Instead of thoughts of concrete
tiently
bitual
followingone another in a beaten track of hasuggestion,we have the most abrupt cross-cuts
the

transitions

and

from

abstractions

rarefied
unheard-of

one

and

combinations

another, the

most

discriminations, the

most

idea

of

to

elements,

the

subtlest

suddenly
analogy ; in a word, we seem
of ideas, where
into a seething caldron
introduced
in a state of
and bobbing about
everything is fizzling
be joined
where partnerships
can
bewilderingactivity,

associations

or

loosened

of

in

an

instant,treadmill routine

is unknown,

ing
only law. Accordlations
the individual,the scintilto
character or another.
will have one
They will
flashes of
be sallies of wit and humor
; they will be
of
poetry and eloquence ; they will be constructions
fiction or
of mechanical
dramatic
device, logicalor
tific
philosophicabstractions, business projects,or scienquences
hypotheses,with trains of experimental consethereon ; they will be musical sounds,
based
ions
or
images of plasticbeauty or picturesqueness,or vistheir differof moral
But, whatever
harmony.

and

the

unexpected seems
the idiosyncrasyof

the

Essays in Popular Philosophy.

250
When

sky

walking along the street, thinkingof


the fine spring weather, I may
either

or

grotesque whim

some

suddenly

catch

unsolved

problem,
thoughts.

from
the

my

which

intuition

an

that

at

"

of

moment

notions

of

I may
a

longfar

was

shaken

are

blue

smile at
or

me,

solution

the reservoir

reservoir,

same

of the

which
Both

to

occurs

the

brain

of

out

in which

reproduction of images in the relations of their


outward
persistenceor frequency has long ceased to
it is
law.
be the dominant
But to the thought, when
of agreement with
once
engendered, the consecration
relations
outward
The
conceit
come.
perishes
may
and is forgotten. The
scientific hypothin a moment,
esis
the

in

arouses

me

fever

for verification.

of desire

read, write, experiment, consult experts.


corroborates
in

book

mouth

to

spreads from
mouth, till at

enshrined
nature's

in
ways.

which
less

notion, which

my

the

unable

idiosyncraticthan

Now,

of the

environment

was

the spontaneous

to

review

last there is

Pantheon

The
it

review

Everything
being then published

my

to

no

and

doubt

from
I

great diviners

preserves

produce

in

the
any

am

of

ception
con-

brain

own.

upsettingsof

brains

this way

particularideas
matched
and combinations
are
by their equallyspontaneous
terminat
detiltingsor saggings towards
permanent
bent
is quite
The
humorous
directions.
And
characteristic ; the sentimental
one
equally so.
makes
it more
of each mind, which
the personaltone
of experience than
classes
others,
alive to certain
to
attentive to certain
more
impressions,more
open
is equally the result of that invisible
certain
reasons,
and unimaginableplay of the forces of growth within
to the enthe nervous
system which, irresponsibly
and

that at

particularmoments

into

Great

Men

the brain

vironment, makes
in

certain

peculiarlyapt to
again the selection

Here

way.

products of

The

their Environment.

and

the mind

with

the determined

251
function
goes on.
aesthetic

bent

We
please or displease the community.
adopt
and serene.
We
Wordsworth, and grow unsentimental
fascinated
are
by Schopenhauer, and learn from him
the true luxury of woe.
The
adopted bent becomes
in the community, and alters its tone.
The
a ferment
be a benefit or a misfortune, for it is
alteration may
(pace Mr. Allen) a differentiation from within, which
has to run
the gauntlet of the larger environment's
selective power.
Civilized Languedoc, taking the tone
of its scholars, poets, princes,and
fell a
theologians,
in the Albigenprey to its rude Catholic environment
sian crusade.
France
in 1792, taking the tone
of its
St. Justs and Marats, plunged into its long career
of
unstable
outward
relations.
Prussia
in 1806, taking
the tone
of its Humboldts
and its Steins,proved itself
in the most
signalway
adjusted to its environment
in 1872.
of the strangest chapters of
Mr. Spencer, in one
'

'

his

tries
Psychology,1

which
race

the

to

development
No

occurs.

according
have

him,

to

reached

law,

is

the
a

few

in

data

displayedin

conception
until

certain

an

belief of which

incapable.
but

belief

the

order in
necessary
of conceptions in the human

abstract

coherence,
definiteness,
"Thus

show

and

the

outward

of

degree
so

be

can

ences
experi-

heterogeneity,

forth.

unchanging order,the
the

oped,
devel-

primitive man

is

belief in

absolutely

Experiences such as he receives furnish


for the conception of uniformity,
whether
as
The dailyimpresthingsor in relations.
.

Part

viii. chap. iii.

Essays in Popular Philosophy.

1^1
sions

which

the

savage

gets yield the

and

in but

few

Of

cases.

trees, stones, hills,pieces of


differ

most

"

likeness

widely,

nearly

so

that,whether

alive

of

the

arts

presented

that

difficult.

speciesit rarelyhappens

same

only along with

...

"

so

discrimination

dead, they are

or

It is

attitudes.

same

of the

animals

between

Even

objectsaround,

forth,
approach complete

few

make

fectly,
imper-

very

clouds, and

water,

to

as

all the

and

notion

there

in

just the

velopmen
gradual de-

come

frequent
complete

lines admittingof
experiences of perfectly
straight
equalit
apposition,bringing the perceptions of equalityand indevoid
is savage life of the experiences
Still more
which
sion.
generate the conception of the uniformityof succesThe

observed

sequences

from

hour

hour

to

and

day

anything but uniform ; difference is a far more


day seem
them.
So that if we
plate
contemconspicuous trait among
life as a whole, we
that multiformity
see
primitive human
to

...

of
which

it tends
of

rather

sequence,

the

to

than

generate.

develops

arts

the

is the notion
uniformity,
Only as fast as the practice

idea, of

measure

clear.
Those
uniformitybecome
furnished
by advancing civilization which
make
possiblethe notion of uniformitysimultaneously
of

consciousness

of

notion

the

exactness.

has little experience which

man

of what

call truth.

we

in

well

statement.

true

mechanical

as
fit,

the

make
sible
pos-

primitive

cultivates the consciousness

Exactness
as

ditions
con-

closelyallied

How

well

Hence

the

implied even
as

practice of the
language. We speak of

which

consciousness

the

can

this is to
cultivates

arts
a

true

surface

the
is
as

in
perfection

describes

between

perfectagreement

the

results of calculations."

The
show

whole
the

passive,is

of

burden

fatal

way

moulded

in

by

Mr.

which

its

book

Spencer's
the

mind,

experiences of

'

is to

supposed
outer

rela-

Men

Great

this

In

tions.'

chapter

to

mind.

the
figure among
Surely they are so,
; but only because

social environment.

of the

all other

and

individual

institutions

head, of

253

yard-stick,the balance,

the

machines

other

and

the chronometer,
come

their Environment.

and

and
'

relations

instruments

external

the

to

ufactured
they have been manof the preservative
power
Originallyall these things
flashes of genius in an
were

after

which

the

environment

outer

become
and
sign. Adopted by the race
its heritage,they then
to
new
supply instigations
inventions
new
geniuses whom
they environ to make

showed

no

and

discoveries

But

take

rolls.
progress
alter their idiosyncrasies,

the

ball of

geniuses,or
increasinguniformities will
We
defy Mr. Spencer or

what
show?

else

so

the

out

and

and

the

ronment
envione

any

reply.
The
tion
plain truth is that the philosophy of evolu(as distinguishedfrom our
special information
about
of change) is a metaphysical
particularcases
of contemplation,
creed, and nothing else. It is a mood
to

'

emotional

an

of
and

thought,
which

(such as
mood

and

and

from

Far

be

mood

which

refutation

no

of any

is
one

old

than
as

system

the

world,

incarnation

of it

spencerian philosophy) will dispel;


fatalistic pantheism, with its intuition of

the

of

One

All, which
whose
it from

hoary

and

this.

What

had

"

attitude,rather

womb
us

mighty
we

was,

at

and

is,and

ever

shall

the
the

be,

each

single thing proceeds.


to
speak slightinglyhere of so
styleof looking on the world as

present call scientific discoveries

nothing to do with bringing it to birth,nor can


that they should
one
ever
easilyconceive
give it its
how
quietus,no matter
logicallyincompatible with
its spiritthe ultimate
phenomenal distinctions which

laugh

the

at

should

draws

it

whether

which

above
from

its

against

me

'

will

far

thus
of

social

just

effacing

all

etc.,

as

the

potential
which

achieved,

the

in

had

the
the

to

'

is

an

so

test
pro-

follow

ophy
philos-

obsolete

type
of

'

Force/
actual

between

with

the

plumes.

to

philosophy

to

in
'

patience

of

voice

pre-darwinian

have

back

truth

scientific

work,

gether
alto-

dwells.

spencerian

momentum,

physicists
us

his

distinctions

previous

least

at

the

progress

spencerian

energy,

carries

itself

intellectual

reverting

thought,

raise

that

agree

and

anachronism,

and

have

who

least

region

science

disprove

disguising

all

that

think

which

in

at

can

is

can

science

from

"

cannot

creed,

metaphysic

who

however,

critic,

that

It

which

on

below

or

be.

to

breath

vital

its

"

different

out

turn

distinctions

phenomenal

for

based,

Philosophy.

Popular

accumulates

science

is

in

Essays

254

force,
much

pre-galilean

mass,

agony
age.

of

Importance of Individuals.

The

OF

IMPORTANCE

THE

by

"

'

the

Genesis

of

It

article.
but

the

saw

It

1890.
the

refused

was

later

day

at

foregoing article,on
light.

Mr.
very

Allen's

simple

contempt

entitled

the

in the

here

appears

Grant

Mr.

titled
Allen, en-

'Sociology and

John Fiske, ibidem, p. 75.


is a rejoinderto Mr. Allen's

follows

article which

The

other

Mr.

Worship,' by

Hero

etc., called

Men,

Genius,' in the Atlantic Monthly,

the

vol. xlvii. p. 351;

INDIVIDUALS.

Great

previous Essay, on
forth two replies, one

THE

255

as

time

natural
it casts

which

for

considerations.

Court

Open
a

the

by

Atlantic,

for

August,
supplement to
some

tory
explana-

hero-worshipis based
A

nation's

great

on

men,

slightdeviations from the general


is merely a specialcomplex of the
The
ordinary qualitiesof his race.
petty differences
minds
ordinary Greek
by Plato or
impressed upon
Aristotle
Zeno, are
or
nothing at all compared with

but
says, are
hero
level. The

he

the
every

them

extra

What

vast

differences

between

every
mind.

Greek

mind

and

We
Egyptian or Chinese
neglect
may
in a philosophy of history,just as
in calculating
the impetus of a locomotive
we
neglect the
impetus given by a singlepiece of better coal.
each

compared

man

with

adds

what

is but

an

he derives

infinitesimal fraction
from

his parents,

of

Essays in Popular Philosophy.

i$6

from
his earlier ancestry.
indirectly
the past gives to the hero
is so much
what

future

the

from

receives

if what

And

bulkier

than

him, it is what

really
problem for

The
philosophical treatment.
the
sociologistis as to what produces the average
and what they produce
man
; the extraordinarymen
by the philosophers be taken for granted,as too
may
trivial variations to merit deep inquiry.
Now, as I wish to vie with Mr. Allen's unrivalled
polemic amiabilityand be as conciliatoryas possible,
I will not cavil at his facts or try to magnify the chasm
between
an
Aristotle,a Goethe, or a Napoleon and
the average
level of their respectivetribes.
Let it be
small as Mr. Allen
All that I object to is
thinks.
as
calls

that

for

he

should

think

the

size of

mere

difference

is

that difference be or be
deciding whether
not a fit subjectfor philosophic
study. Truly enough,
the details vanish in the bird's-eyeview ; but so does
is the
view vanish in the details. Which
the bird's-eye
Nature
right point of view for philosophicvision?
gives no reply,for both points of view, being equally
natural reality
real,are equally natural ; and no one
tuation,
emphatic than any other. AccenPer se is any more
foreground,and background are created solely
by the interested attention of the looker-on ; and if
the genius and his tribe
between
the small difference
that
between
interests me
most, while the large one

capable

of

tribe and

another

be ended

cannot

accounting
us

tribe

interests
until

for all differences

Mr.

Allen,

our

troversy
con-

complete philosophy,
shall justify
impartially,
a

both.
An

said

unlearned
in my

between

one

carpenter of

hearing :
man

and

"

There

another

my

acquaintance

is very
; but

once

little difference

what

little there

Essays in Popular Philosophy.

258
is thus

all the

of

zone

insecurityin
of the

dead

machinery

zone,

the part not

affairs in which

lies ; the rest

interest

dramatic

human

This

stage.

belongs

is the

to

formative

the race's

yet ingrained into

the

age,
aver-

factor
typical,hereditary,and constant
it occurs.
of the social community in which
It is like
the bark of the tree in which
the soft layer beneath
Life has abanall the year's growth is going on.
doned
the mighty trunk
stands
inert
inside, which
and
belongs almost to the inorganic world.
Layer
after layer of human
from
perfection separates me
who
the central Africans
pursued Stanley with cries
!
This
of
difference
meat
vast
meat,
ought, on
attention far more
Mr. Allen's principles,
to rivet my
not

yet

"

"

the

than
birds

of

while

petty

in
I

free
do

in the

Allen
as

and
than

more

indeed, I

Will

moment.

all human
a

I shall

student

of the

Allen

Mr.

eyes

gap

latter

and

differences

Mr.
To

between

my

infinitely

amphioxus

chasm

seriouslysay

tweedledum
the

the

to

debate.

for

counts

the latter and

thought

feel very

inferior

appear

intellectual

dullest

folly,and
Veddah's

myself. Yet
sight of a passer-by
waterings of the

of this momentous

the

such

two

and

that

publicly

not

that between
never

that the

confess

conduct

my

Allen

cannibalistic
to

teacher

ablest

proud

between

obtains

Mr.

as

no

me

am

if I

proud

To

feel

never

mouth,

me

feather

awakens

which

one

till this

that

this

is

tweedledee?
between

two

clothes,
same
slightindeed,
habit
harmless disposition,
same
same
same
spectacles,
and
of scribblingon
books, etc.
poring over
paper
with
will say,
Just two white fellows,"the Veddah
But what
difference to
a
no
perceptible difference."
themselves
! Think, Mr.
the literarymen
Allen, of

white

"

literarymen

seem

"

"

Importanceof

The

Individuals.

259

confounding our philosophies


togethermerely because
tinguishabl
both are printedin the same
magazines and are indisthe eye

to

of

Veddah

flesh creeps

Our

thought.
in judging of historyMr.
But
Allen
deliberately
point of view,
prefersto place himself at the Veddah's
and
to
see
things en gros and out of focus, rather
than minutely. It is quite true
that there are things
and differences
either way.
But
enough to be seen
which
the humanly important ones,
those most
are
our
interest, the large distinctions
worthy to arouse
the small?
In the answer
to this question lies the
or
from the sowhole divergence of the hero-worshippers
ciologists.
As I said at the outset, it is merely a quarrel
do is to
of emphasis ; and the only thing I can
for the emphasis I prefer.
state my
personal reasons
at the

"

The

of the

zone
'

social

'

twists

which

is the
initiate,

belt of

past and
take

not

of life ; and

by

of the

differences,and
confession

common

they
namic
dy-

of formative

zone

quivering

future
for

individual

the
processes,
uncertainty,the line where

It is the

meet.

granted, the stage


however

narrow

of all

theatre

we

do

living drama

of the

its scope,
it is roomy
of human
passions.
range

enough to lodge the whole


The
sphere of the race's average, on the contrary, no
how large it may
and
matter
be, is a dead
stagnant
curity
thing, an achieved
possession,from which all insehas vanished.
been

built up

active

with

successive

by

the trunk

of

tree, it has

of successive

concretions

The

moving present in which we live


its problems and passions,its individual rivalries,
zones.

victories,and
and
to

Like

make

defeats, will

leave
room

its small
for

fresh

soon

pass

deposit on
actors

and

over

to

the

jority
ma-

this static mass,


a

newer

play.

Essays in Popular Philosophy.

260
And
that

though
each

later

forerunners

be

it may

shall

zone

; and

true,

as

Mr.

fatallybe

that when

the

elysium of the Data of Ethics


questionsas the breaking of eggs

warfare,

"

the whole

will span
still even

and

enfeebled

generation,spatioaetatis defessa vetusto, what


will be !

there

Battles

and

its

lady-liketeashall prevail,
such
the
at the large or
of possiblehuman

scope
shrunken

in this

than

narrower

ultimate

table

small end

Spencer predicts,

defeats

ness
eager-

will occur,

the

and the vanquished dishonored


glorified
heart
just as in the brave days of yore, the human
it has in safe posstillwithdrawing itself from the much
session,
and
those
concentratingall its passion upon
still quiver in
of fact which
evanescent
possibilities
victors

will be

fate's scale.
And

is not

its instinct

right? Do not
in the making,

the race-differences
grasp
the only glimpse it is allotted to

working
action
What

units

of

themselves,

us

but
the
form
race-gaps
of scientific
strange inversion
the

here

and

catch

attain

to

whose

we

of

the

differentiating
sum?

stagnant

procedure does
to
us
neglect

he teaches
practise when
elements
and
attend
only to aggregate resultants?
the active
the
On
contrary, simply because
ring,
its bulk, is elementary,I hold that the study
whatever
of its conditions
so
(be these never
'proximate') is
the highest of topics for the social philosopher. If

Mr.

Allen

individual

variations

hair-breadth
Allen
from

and

escapes
Mr. Fiske

tabooing

the

determine
and

both

study

its ups
twists and

of

these

history our

heroes, and

downs

turns,

admit, Heaven

!
the contrary, let us
On
average
the importance of these; and
and
from

and

in

as

forbid
favor

of

and
Mr.
us

the

emphasize these,
in picking out
communing with their

The

Importanceof

spirits,

kindred

this world, while


what

hands, and

each

"

creative

what
This

imagining

261

stronglyas possible
their individualities brought about
in
its surface was
still plasticin their
whilom
feasibilities they made
possible
imof us
best fortify
and
spire
inone
may

"

differences

what

in

Individuals.

energy

as

lie in his

may

soul.1

own

is the

of hero-worship,and
lastingjustification
the pooh-poohing of it by 'sociologists'
is the everlasting
for popular indifference
to their genexcuse
eral
laws

America

and

The

averages.

rescued

by

difference

between

an

Washington or by a Jenkins
Allen
Mr.
be
as
little/but it is,in the
says,
may,
words
of my
carpenter friend,. important.' Some
of things have
in the nature
organizinggenius must
the
French
Revolution; but what
emerged from
a

'

'

'

Frenchman
no

will affirm

it to

that he

consequence

should

have

scarce

word

from

survived

had

Bonaparte?
it

the

numerary
super-

What

mal,
ani-

of

matter

of

accident

an

have

wild, will call

or

that

moment

been

should

of
idiosyncrasies
domestic

have

no

of

sympathy with brutes


the teachings of Jesus of

Nazareth?
The
create

preferences of sentient creatures


the importance of topics. They are

and

ultimate
but

cannot

law-giverhere.

consider

the

talk

of

And

what

are

the

lute
abso-

I for my

the

part

contemporary

and general laws


sociologicalschool about averages
and
predetermined tendencies, with its obligatory
undervaluing of the importance of individual differ1

M.

G.

Tarde's

book

of genius), Les
Lois
de
(itselfa work
l'lmitation,Etude Sociologique (2me Edition,Paris, Alcan, 189=5),
is the best possiblecommentary
this text,
invention
the
on
on
'

'

"

one

hand, and

'

imitation

sole factors of social

'

on

the other,

change.

being for

this author

the two

ences,

as

the

whose

be,

is

There

mine?

one

which

Popular
pernicious

most

there

Suppose

is

in

Essays

262

it

to

lies

no

is

be,
the

study

Philosophy.

social

that

of

of

question
averages

preference,

your

of

isms.
fatal-

fated

equilibrium

"

of

immoral

and

questions,
can

decide.

and

to

or

it

On

ON

WE

are

Hegelisms.

some

263

HEGELISMS.1

SOME

non
witnessinga singularphenomeBritish and
American
philosophy.

justnow
in

Hegelism, so defunct on its native soil that I believe


is to be
but a singleyouthful discipleof the school
the privat-docentenand younger
counted
among
fessors
proolder champions are
of Germany, and whose
ous
zealall passing off the stage, has found
us
so
among
and
able a set of propagandists that to-day it
of the most
one
powerful
really be reckoned
may
of the time in the higher walks
influences
of thought.
And

there

is

no

doubt

that, as

movement

of

tion
reac-

against the traditional British empiricism, the


dom,
freehegelian influence
represents expansion and
and
is doing service of a certain kind.
Such
gent.
service, however, ought not to make
us
blindlyindulof
Hegel's philosophy mingles mountain-loads
that
corruptionwith its scanty merits, and must, now
make
it has become
quasi-official,
ready to defend
itself as well as to attack
others.
It is with no
hope
of converting independent thinkers, but rather
with
the sole aspirationof showing some
chance
ful
youthdisciple that there is another
point of view in
philosophy that I fire this skirmisher's shot, which
I hope, soon
be followed
by somebody else's
may,
heavier musketry.
1

Reprinted from

Mind, April,1882.

Essays in PopularPhilosophy.

264
The

point of

clearer

have

begin with

if I

the

on

view

motives

in

few

become
remarks

preparatory

difficulties of

and

will

mind

philosophizingin

general.
show

To

that

the

real is identical with

roughly be set down as


activity. The atomic

may

of the world

of

some

is

and

ideal from

as

faculties

our

the

the

as

ideal

the
of

mainspring

sophic
philo-

mechanical

conception
the point of view of
is from

one
teleological

In the realm of every


point of view of others.
ideal we
the field,
can
over
begin anywhere and roam
each term
passing us to its neighbor,each member
reason
rejoicingin its
callingfor the next, and our
the parts of a conception seem
glad activity. Where
the
thus to belong together by inward
kinship,where

the

whole

is defined

of reaction, to

real

different law.

The

of

be shot out

simple
far

as

"

can

we

way

parts

pistolat

see,

our

powers
to understand.

Hegel

as

seem,

Each

us.

might

with

the first blush

at

seems

for

fact,uncalled

brute

by

make

even

has

said,to

itself as

asserts

the

follow

to

rest, which,
a

better

a
so

system

ous
Arbitrary, foreign,jolting,discontinuthe adjectivesby which
are
we
tempted

it.

without

to

see

congruous
and
is to approve

of the

Much
a

in

are

describe

it.

And

yet from

out

the bosom

of it

partialidealityconstantlyarises which keeps alive our


day be construed
aspirationthat the whole may some
Not only do the materials lend themin ideal form.
certain circumstances
to aesthetic manipulaselvesunder
tion,
three
are
but underlyingtheir worst
disjointedness
great continua
is
or

in which

actuallyreached.

for each
mean

personal consciousness,

of

us

reason's

the continua

of time

and

ideal

of memory

of space.

In

Essays in Popular Philosophy.

166

further
given time extend
parts; but the beyond is
homogeneous with what is embraced, and follows the
same
law; so that no surprises,no foreignness,can
from
ever
space'swomb.
emerge
Thus
with space
is absolutelyintimate
our
intelligence
and
transparency incarnate.
; it is rationality
The

same

if for

of the ego

said

sake
simplicity's

that

when

the world

the

say

be

may

is what

heaven

the

ignore them,

we

desire.1

our

But

we

the

Cannot

may

breaks, the

of

from
foreignness,be exorcised
leave
them
unitary like the space
this be done, the philosophickingdom

jolts,the margin
other
thingsand
they fill? Could
But

of time.

truly
desiderate
rational knowledge of
we
standard
set by our
knowledge of space

governs

of

and

would

moment

be
turn

we

hand.

at

the

to

material

qualities

ism,
space as actual and space as potential.For idealexists so far as it is represented; but all actuallyrepresented

tinguishesbetween
only

space
that

of

sake
only for simplicity's

Not

rationalizingcontinuum.

items
far

while
or

fixed way

if

other

so

of

manner

matter

of

the paragon
select space as
determines
the relations of the

we

intricate way than


does time ; in
the ego.
By this last clause I mean

all,they

at

all need

make

but

them

the

lodge itself

can

cannot

conform

must

not

rationality.Under

unreason

One

of content.

do

Space
more

does

than

things are in space


being in an ego at

as

to

geometry

conform

respect the devoutness

logic

to

shelteringwings

safely as

of

any other
of the ego-

English-writingHegelians, But at the same


cannot
one
contemplation of
help fearing lest the monotonous
formal
self (which, be it
that of the pure
barren
a principle as

worship
time

far

the

any
self the
kind

it in

that enter

more

that

only possiblyrepresentablespaces

infinite.

are

finite ; it is

are

spaces

never

of

so

some

of

essential

experience

at

give the

from,

not

which

its mantle

of the

transcendental

our

condition

all,must
character

is cast),one
ego

of

the

existence

of

world

notwithstanding take its


to, the
cannot

of ized
organcharacter

own

separate empiricaldata over


fear, I say, lest the religion

but

should, like all religionsof the

and occludingthe minds


needful,'end by sterilizing

'

one

thing

of its believers.

On
of

Hegelisms.

some

267

find the

continuityruptured on every
if we
A fearful joltingbegins. Even
side.
simplify
bare poles,
the world by reducing it to its mechanical
and
their motions,
the discontinuity is
atoms
The
laws
of clash, the effects of distance
bad enough.
and
trary
arbiattraction
repulsion,all seem
upon
being, we

"

"

collocations
so

of which

have

The

in

no

wise

have

We

rest.

involve

banished

not

the

discontinuity,we

that
had

to

great

swept into the dust-bin


suck

still as
rationalized
But

in

when

labelled

facts,and

are

some

of its contents.

stripped off

secondary qualitieswe
and

part

one

existence

it finer-grained.And
to get
only made
into the universe
we
degree of rationality

butcher

are

of any

existence

to

seems

themselves

atoms

independent facts,the

many

of the

of data.

from
'

even

have

The

the

reality
sion/
subjectiveilluthemselves

must

be

way.

deal with

facts believed

be

purely
from
the goal.
subjective,we are farther than ever
have
the refuge of distinguishing
We
between
not
now
the
of
Facts
reality and its appearances.
thought being the only facts,differences of thought
the only differences,and identities of thought
become
the only identities there are.
Two
thoughtsthat seem
different to all eternity. We
different
are
can
no
longer speak of heat and light being reconciled in
tertium quid like wave-motion.
For
motion
is
any
motion, and lightis light,and heat heat forever,and
their discontinuity is as absolute
their existence.
as
Together with the other attributes and things we
Plato's realm
of immutable
conceive, they make
up
we

'

'

ideas.

Neither

out, is its

community

to

per

se

truth,'creates
with

calls for the

it

has any sort of inward


that of being comparable

it,or

it except

other, hatches

Essays in Popular Philosophy,

268
in
or

of

an

found

and

ego

more

the

resembling, as
is a world
qualities
less

inter
each

and

Each

se.

it

says

world

with

and

account

own

of which

continuities

lute
abso-

they partake,

phrase, the ego, space, and time, are


the only grounds of union
them
they

of

for most

possess.
It might

seem

do

forth,
"

not

space,

the

whiteness

and

admitted.

'

mere

heat

time, and

of

heat

space,

and

so

time,

each
other?
help to create
be
few
such
a
priori couplings must
They are the axioms : no feelingexcept

mutually call for


;

'

partaking there
of the discontinuity. If the white
if in the

as

lay a contradiction
must
partake of

as

occupying

in

some

some
no

ego

thought
number,

or

space
motion
of

but

previoustime,
in

The

Plato's

in

no

be.

may

more

tinuous
things almost wholly disconthat I am,"
I am
only says,

its

on

case

or
differing,

"

The

monotony.

Yes

of

less

or

and

but

time,
of

object;

an

the like.

and

"

and

obtain

they

moment

something

moved

no

But

only

or

as

time

they

without
are

between

limited
sively
exces-

leave
of concepts, and
quite
genera
of those genera
what
the specifications
undetermined
stance
What
shall be.
feelingshall fill this time, what subbroad

this
the

qualitiescombine
unanswered
questions as

this motion, what

execute

being, are

as

much

metaphysicalaxioms

never

existed

at

in

if

all.

syntheses as they are does


but slightlymitigate the jolt,jolt,jolt we
then
get
the facts of the world.
when
where
Everywe
pass over
indeterminate
variables, subject only to these
sides,
few vague
enveloping laws, independent in all beThe

existence

"

In

such

seems

yet another

of

such

the truth.
way,

too, ideal and

real

are

so

far

On
apart that
To

eat

their

conjunction
have

and

cake

our

Hegelisms.

some

quite hopeless.

seems

lose

it,to

and

soul

our

of selfishness
it,to enjoy the physical privileges
the moral
time,
luxury of altruism at the same

save

and

would

be

the

shape
only one

of which

But

ideal.

in the

terms

of

be

can

choose,

and

The

wrench

is absolute:

whenever
comes

I bet

without

poorer

just

Portland

when

or

Cambridge

as

New

to

in

resultant

we

possibility.
or!"
Just as

"

on

between
not

direction

event, there

an

hundred

does

that

so

;
one

intermediate

York

these

us

alternatives

once

murder

wavering

my

at

"Either

am

offers

exclusive

dollars

any

real

true

choosing

hundred

instant

an

over;

in

the

mutually

must

or

269

dollars richer

degrees passed
a
journey to
from

me
carry
in which

both

Albany, but at a
results in the conjunction of realityin
given moment
all its fulness for one
alternative and impossibility
in
all its fulness for the other,
the bachelor
so
joys
are
utterlylost from the face of being for the married
motions

are

compounded,

say

to

"

who

man,

must

find

henceforward

that

is not

them

then

think

that

but

his

account

in

good enough to
him forget them ; so the careless
make
and irresponsible
livingin the sunshine, the 'unbuttoning after
in the afternoon,'
and sleepingupon
benches
supper
the path of him who
in
stars that have
set upon
are
makes
The
himself a moralist.
tions
transigood earnest
are
abrupt, absolute, trulyshot out of a pistol;
for while many
are
called,the few that are
possibilities
chosen
in all their sudden
chosen
are
completeness.
something

Must
and
and

we

time

the

is

world

that

yield us no acquaintance of
perfect type yielded by empty space
can

themselves?

Is

what

unity

there

is in

fillsspace
that

high

and

time

the

world

Essays in PopularPhilosophy.

270

and

space
vision

of

time

and

fact that

'partakes'

the

of

facts of

it forestall the

fractions

some

the

from

derived

mainly

others

before

world

the
them?

is in

Can

no

it, or

know

from

the

others

have

logicallyindeterminate
sibilitie
posthere
which
forbid
being any equivalent
for the happening of it all but the happening itself?
that what is to
Can we
gain no anticipatoryassurance
tute,
will have
come
no
strangeness? Is there no substiin short, for life but the livingitselfin all its longdrawn
length and breadth and thickness?
weary
In the
negative reply to all these questions, a
finds no
in acquiescmodest
common-sense
ing.
difficulty
To
such a way
of thinking the notion of
taking
parhas a deep and real significance.Whoso
takes
parinto
of a thing enjoys his share, and
comes
with the thing and its other partakers. But
contact
Are

arrived?

there

real

'

'

he

claims

no

His

more.

share

in

no

wise

negates

does
it preclude his
thing or their share ; nor
possessionof reserved and privatepowers with which
all
not
are
nothing to do, and which
they have
function
of sharing. Why
in the mere
absorbed
may
the world be a sort of republicanbanquet of this
not
all the qualitiesof being respect one
sort, where
another's personal sacredness, yet sit at the common

the

table of space and time ?


To
this view
seems
me

cohere, but the


conditions, and
indeterminate.

comport
not
"

named
so

the

comport

act

of

leaves
As

deeply probable. Things


cohesion
itself implies but few
the rest of their qualifications

the

first three

notes

of

tune

endings, all melodious, but the tune is


till a particularending has actuallycome,
of the universe
may
parts actually known
ideallypossiblecomplements. But as
many
many

On
the facts
the

the

is not

one

the

not

are

Hegelisms.

some

the

knowledge of
other in anything

complements, so
knowledge of the
elements

but the few necessary

271

of which

all must

take
par-

togetherat all. Why, if one act of


knowledge could from one point take in the total perspective,
with all mere
abolished, should
possibilities
have
than
been anything more
there ever
that act?
Why duplicate it by the tedious unrolling,inch by
seems
inch, of the foredone reality? No answer
ble.
possiOn the other hand, if we
stipulateonly a partial
see
community of partiallyindependent powers, we
why no one part controls the whole view, but
perfectly
each detail must
be actuallygiven, before,
and
come
be said to be determined
it can
in any specialsense,
is the moral
at all. This
view, the view that gives to
in order

to be

powers

the

other

my

ridiculous

the

not

"

mouth

the

bounds

After

all,what

accounts

of the

universe

owe

and

right to
philosophicthrone
as

if I

to do

know

in

/ think

as

do

By what
despotism do

me?

to

their

the nethermost

secrets, and

from

play the only airs they

to

the

were

itself,

they think right,or

as

lust of intellectual

I arrogate the

to,

do

have

which
right,'

the freedom
to

insatiate conceit

my
march

do

to

freedom

either.

wrong

it would

freedom

only mean

can

right,but

freedom

same

Lord's

anointed?

shall

Is not

knowing them at all a giftand not a right? And


shall it be given before they are
given? Datai gifts!
something to be thankful for ! It is a giftthat we can
of the time and
approach things at all,and, by means
minds
and they partake,alter our
our
space of which

my

actions
There

where
bounds

so

as

to
'

are

they

meet

bounds

must

of human

them.
of ord'nance

pause

or

rue

knowledge, set

'

it.

set
'

for all

Facts

for it,not

things,

'

are

by

it.

the

Essays in PopularPhilosophy.

272
Now,

to

j" can't

overpass

till we

"

banquet of which

!
we

rational

It

all.

at

nulliverse,to whose
But,

is pure

own,

"

get her

teeth

become

her

have

on

prey

and

in the

sense

her

truckle.

I will not
world

part, the whole


feed

to

The

is

ophy's
philos-

if she

once

shall

inevitably
all-devouringtheoretic
necessities

she

shall

freedom

actual

champion, will be

her

as

or

single block, of which,


any
and

philosopher
nothing. If

sense,

sway

the world.

her will ; ideal and

obey

to

all

off,

grant that it is
incoherence, a chaos, a

Naught shall be but the


and impossibilities
; freedom

maw.

for

we

this is

Heavens,

world

haphazard

! this is not

no

Hands
say,
can't control

surrender, I refuse

of unconditional

that

"

be rational in my

cannot

pusillanimous

Bounds

we
possibilities
merely share !

intolerable ; such a world is no


He
must
to do with.
to have
the world

such

! facts that

Data

given

are

Hegel's

simply loathsome.

sounds

twaddle

like

mind

mean

shall

satisfied

be

one

on

no

ates
cre-

she,

lower

terms.

insolence

The

take vengeance,

vftpLSon which gods


is in temporal and
spiritualmatters
A Bonaparte and
be
to
a
a vice.
the

of sway,

usually admitted
But when
intellect
an
PhilipII. are called monsters.
insatiate enough to declare that all existence
is found
do not call
the knee to its requirements,we
bend
must
but a philosophicprophet. May
its owner
a monster,
all

this be

not

exempted
with

its

from

where

And

excess?

Is there

wrong?

the

one

any

lot of

common

everything else

of

must

our

tions
func-

to
liability

be contented

ulty
part in the universe, shall the theorizingfac-

ride

I confess

He

the whole?

rough-shod over
I

who

can

see

claims

no

it

for the exceppriorireason


tion.
the
be
must
conjudged by

Essays in Popular Philosophy.

274

Germany,
for

where

brought

moment

vaults

into the

of

mental

is endemic.

excess

to

saddle, and

bay,
from

Richard,

is himself

that

again.

time

his

He

career

series of
one
philosophic desperado,
the chastityof thought.
outrages upon
And
ourselves
not
can
we
sympathize with his
in some
mood
degree? The old receiptsof squeezing
have
the thistle and taking the bull by the horns
applications. An evil frankly accepted loses
many
The
Stoics had their
half its stingand all its terror.
cheap and easy way of dealingwith evil. Call your
ings
woes
goods, they said ; refuse to call your lost blessand you are
happy. So of the
by that name,
of intelligibility
call them
:
means
unintelligibilities
further do you
is even
and what
a
require? There
than that.
In the exceedingmore
legitimateexcuse

is that

"

"

ness

of the facts of life over

our

formulas

lies

ing
stand-

temptation at certain times to give up trying to


them, and to take refuge
say anything adequate about
which
but confess our
potence
imin wild and whirlingwords
Thus
Baron
before their ineffability.
Bunsen
but
the far;
his wife:
writes
to
"Nothing is near
nothing true but the highest; nothing credible but
the inconceivable
; nothing so real as the impossible;
nothing clear but the deepest; nothing so visible as
the invisible ; and no life is there but through death."
the credo quia impossibile
Of these ecstatic moments
lies
is the classical expression. Hegel's originality
in his making their mood
permanent and sacramental,
not
and
authorized
as
a
to supersede all others,
tired reason
mystical bath and refuge for feelingwhen
sickens of her intellectual responsibilities
(thank
! that bath is always ready),but as the very
Heaven
itself.
form of intellectual responsibility
"

On
And
of

some

Hegel's ways
resembles

system
the

pass

after this

now

door

Hegelisms.

some

you

long introduction, let me trace


of applying his discovery. His
be

may

not

entering. Hegelians

the

entrance

in

with

abstract

an

form,

fatal arch.
know

considerations
so

almost

drink

to

need

nor

which, stated

plausible as to slide
unwittingly through

necessary

it is salt ;

that

Safety lies in
anointed, so to speak,

have

are

It is not

the

that

proving that its premises are


accordinglyconfine myself to a few of
captivate beginners most; and assume

they

break

shall

down,

prop.
First

of all,Hegel

sharing

and

has to do

call contradiction

identity in another;

and

Contradiction
derive

be

must

from

its credit
in

he

cases

that

we

the

that

is

so

the

glue

in

points
if

that

they

with

much

too

whole

which

system

the

rotten.

utterlyaway

business

partaking

will not

He

the

must

so

us

to

ocean

critic dissect

after

system

once

lost forever.

various

unresistinglyand

if you

mouse-trap, in which

275

the

loathes.

place

one

half-hearted.

glue universal, and must


volved
being shown to be latentlyinhitherto supposed to embody
a

continuity. Thus, the relations of an ego with its


time with another
time, of one
objects,of one
place
with
with
its effect,of a
another
place, of a cause
thing with its properties,and especiallyof parts with
pure

wholes,

be

must

shown

Contradiction, shown
coherence

and

to

defeat

solvent.

dream

of

To

dissolve

'

earlier

that their very

in

continuity,cannot

"

involve

lurk

to

them, and must


solvent, or, rather, there

to

J.

cruder

difference

'

be
is

taken

contradiction.

the
after
as

very

that
the

heart
be

held

universal

longer any need


things in identitywas
no

schools.
is their

of

Hegel will
and
identity,

of
the

show

that

Essays in Popular Philosophy.

276
in the
and

of detachment

act

they

Now,

fall into

each

the very

at

philosopher who

it

words

which
contradictories)

obliges him
understanding,'whenever

of

term

above.

The

common

there

he

secrets,

nothing

make

sees;

but

the

the

use

case

looks

at

space

word
as

used

lieves
be-

acquainted with
hidden
no
machinery, no
parts as they lie side by side

in

it to

static whole.

the

is

in his pages,
of space we

occurs

who

man

nothing

what

beyond
and

is

it

the

Take

contempt.

fact to

in

that

absolutely
it can
be completely
tity
a principle(theidenstanding,
utterly defies under-

on

and

rather odd

the world

that

fall back

is undone,

arms.

seems

pretends that

understood, should
of

detachment

other's

outset

in other

rational,or

the

be

intellect is satisfied

His

with

of the
accepting space as an ultimate genus
given. But Hegel cries to him :
Dupe ! dost thou
it to be one
of incompatibilities?Do
not
nest
see
and the diversityof its
the unity of its wholeness
not
"

parts stand
unite

and

in

patent contradiction

divide

things; and
would
activity,

irreconcilable

dynamism
produces

the

static

Does

it not

both

but for this strange and


it be at all?
The hidden

self-contradiction

of

appearance

is what

by

which

incessantly
sense

your

is fooled."

But

if the

all this,and

man

ask

how

self-contradiction

can

do

to work,
dynamism may be seen
Hegel can only replyby showing him the space itself
In other words, instead of
and
Lo, thus."
saying :
the principleof explanation being more
intelligible
telligible
than
the thing to be explained,it is absolutely uninand
if taken
must
appeal to its
by itself,
its existence.
Surely,
pretended product to prove
of
such a system of explaining noturn per ignotunt,

how

"

its

On

Hegelisms.

some

277

from
credentials
the
making the explicans borrow
explicand,and of creatingparadoxes and impossibilities
where
none
were
suspected,is a strange candidate
of being a complete rationalizer of the
for the honor
world.
of identity
principleof the contradictoriness
is the essence
of
and
the identityof contradictories
But what
the hegeliansystem.
probably washes this
tion
with beginners is the combinamost
principledown
in which
its author works
it with another principle
which
is by no
characteristic of his system,
means
and which, for want
of a better name,
might be called
the
principleof totality.'This principlesays that
cannot
even
a
adequately know
part until you
you
The

'

know

of what

writes

and

is not

loves

Hegel

even

it forms

whole

hand.

"Little

flower

What

And
"

you are,
I should
know

Obviously,
immediate

until
or

we

remote,

to

but
root

what

have
into

part.

As

Aristotle

amputated
Tennyson says,

quote,
as

an

hand

"

if I could
and

understand

all,and

all in all,

and

is."

God

taken
which

man

in all the

the

relations,

thing actually

all
potentiallymay enter, we do not know
about the thing.
And
obviously for such an exhaustive acquaintance
with
the
thing, an acquaintance with every other
is
and
and
remote,
potential,near
thing, actual
science
needed; so that it is quite fair to say that omnialone
one
can
thing
completely know
any
it stands.
as
Standing in a world of relations,that
before the thing is fullyknown.
world
be known
must
This doctrine
is of course
an
integralpart of empiricism,
Since when
an
integralpart of common-sense.
could good men
not
apprehend the passing hour
enters

or

Essays in Popular Philosophy.

278
in the

lightof

not

"

grow

sionate
dispas-

their view?
Did
they stretched
little legitimatetheir procelaw of sharing so
dure
of contradictories,forsooth,
that a law of identity
be trumped up to give it scope?
Out
upon
the

the

life's largersweep,

more

'

'

must

idea !

the

Hume's

of the way

account

of causation

in which

empiricism may
something a cause

is

good

use

illustration

the

principle

at the
totality.We call
; but we
time deny its effect to be in any latent way
same
tained
conidentical with
in or substantially
it. We
thus
tell what
its causalityamounts
until its
cannot
to
effect has actuallysupervened. The
effect,then, or
something beyond the thing is what makes the thing

of

to

be

so

far

as

it is

cause.

Humism

thus

says

and
not
causalityis something adventitious
necessarilygiven when its other attributes are there.
that we
must
Generalizing this,empiricism contends
the intrinsic being of
everywhere distinguishbetween
these, between
a
thing ind its relations,and, among
essential to our
those that are
knowing it at all and
The
be called adventitious.
those that may
thing as
actuallypresent in a given world is there with all its
it there exists, they
as
relations; for it to be known
be known
must
too, and it and they form a singlefact
consciousness
that
for any
large enough to embrace
what constitutes this singleness
world
as
a unity. But
of fact,this unity? Empiricism says, Nothing but the
the several items of
in which
matrix
relation-yielding
find themselves
the world
embedded,
time, namely,

that

its

"

and

space,

that

they
see,

were
are
an

and

the mind

of the knower.

And

it says

quite different from what


for aught we
others the same,
and
can
still,
equallyunitaryworld might be, provided each
some

of the items

On
item

an

were

determinate

Hegelisms.

some

objectfor consciousness
point in space and time.

relations would

in such

and

occupied a

All

the

world

and
along with the intrinsic natures
which
they obtained
beings between
of totality in knowledge would

279

titious
adven-

be

changed,
places of the
but the
ciple
prin'

'

in

wise

no

^_"t Vk~~^

affected.

be
*-

Hegelism dogmatically denies all


possible. In the first place it says there
that may
natures
change; in the

this to

But

no
says there are
relations of what

call

trinsic
in-

second

relations.

adventitious

no

are

be

it

the

When

thing are told, no caput


of intrinsicality,
mortuum
no
nature,' is left. The
items
relations soak up all there is of the thing; the
of the world are but foci of relation with other foci of
we

'

"

'

relation;
of

unity
'

and

all the

the

world

matrix.'

make

has

matrix

The

unity,simply

proof

The

rest.

which

relations

are

nothing

and

the

because

items, each

each

that

infallibly
reproducethe

whole.

which

so

alone

is to

deny the

them

; to

refer to them

that of

on

the

time

to

end.

If
Not

call this

we
so

To

; and

scene

say

to

the
To

latter to

posit one

deny them

is to

operandi

partnership
the identityof

recommends

rest ; to

it and

I said, that

in, as

comes

from

emanate

beginners in Hegel's philosophy.

them

all,

in truth is all the

In the modus

with
principleof totality

contradictories

with

tality,
hegelianprincipleof toif any one
part be positeds

alone all the others shall forthwith

of the

any

lies in the

demands

of the emanation

The

necessary.
do
with
to

is to

item

refer to

begin, at least,to bring

begin is in

monism,

simply that

Hegel
the

one

is

the

fulness of

quick

item

to

cry,

is the rest

Essays in Popular Philosophy.

280

of the universe
it is

simply

is

which

on

that it is,is that

be

in

expressed
The

sentence.

it

the trouble

joininghands
is that

well.

Thus

keeps

in

respects in which

the world

the

us

and

is

one

refuses

judgment

monism

Hegel

formula
to

or

and

introductory

own

or
distinguish,
try

we

of
a

our

this apparent

over

and

the truth

as

appears

appeared

that

neither;

single act

any

world

pluralism,
justas
exposition.
But

as

and

say that

to

as

gain the right to affirm


to keep affirmingall the

we

fail not

we

that it is not,

while

one-sided

itself. It is both

only condition

to

false and

as

from

ever

of brotherhood

the
distinguish,

from

those

in which

while all such stable distinctions are what


it is many,
The
reader
decide which
he most
abominates.
may

procedure helps his

formula

the time-honored

most.

reason

For

my

own

part,

of

empiricistpluralism,that
in any singleproposibe set down
the world cannot
tion,
of more
less instead
when
I
intelligible
grows
add, And yet the different propositionsthat express
!
The unity of the propositionsis that of
it are one
that harbors
them.
who
the mind
insists
Any one
is in any way
itselftheir unity,can
that their diversity
only do so because he loves obscurityand mystification
"

"

for their

Where

you

Herbart

own

pure

meet

used

sakes.

with
to

contradiction

say, it shows

real distinction.

you

ities,
realamong
have failed to

Hegel's sovereign method


and
tions,
of going to work
saving all possible contradiclies in pertinaciouslyrefusing to distinguish.
takes what is true of a term
secundum
He
quid,treats
of the same
and
it as true
term
then, oi
simplicitery
secundum
aliud.
A
applies it to the term
course,

make

282

Essays in Popular Philosophy.

be called

the

predicate'snegation. Well and good !


let the expression pass.
But
notice
must
we
this.
The
created
a
new
judgment has now
subject,the
naked-clad, and all propositionsregarding this must
be judged on
their own
merits ; for those true of the
old subject, the naked,' are
no
longer true of this
'

For

one.

and

pure

is in

or

instance, we

will also take

on

bedroom.

Hold

still,naked

if it
the

but

Like

boon.

say

because

the

naked

the drawing-room
not
enter
simple must
danger of taking cold, that the naked with

his clothes

bond

cannot

to

it

amuse

cold

It does

contradiction

not

either

exclusion, or what
involve.
may
In a version

stay in his

"

so-called

blood

must

eternallythat the clad man


't is designated in
you,

Shylock's pound

consequences.
his Christian

or

of

is

the

sterile

flesh,it leads

entitle you
in the way

is

to

no

drop

of

to

one

of

cial
catarrh,so-

further results pure

nakedness

given by our foremost


American
Hegelian,1 we find this playing with the
of judgment.
Pure
form
being, he says,
necessary
But the having none
is itself
determinations.
has no
Wherefore
determination.
a
being contradicts
pure
its own
self,and so on.
Why not take heed to the
make
the prediwe
cation
meaning of what is said ? When
concerning pure being, our meaning is merely
than the particuthe denial of all other determinations
lar
one

except

make.

we

elephant

'

as

himself
he

where

the

of the first step

audience

The

showman

who

advertised

his

elephant in the world


have been
in an
must
try
hegelian counless explicit
afraid that if he were
was
would
proceed to say:
dialectically

larger than

any

Journal of SpeculativePhilosophy,viii. yj.

On
"

a
so

Hegelisms.

some

any

in the

he

himself

is in

with

the

elephant,largerthan

This

; for

contradiction
stands

endowed

virtue

283

world, involves
the world, and
of

being both
perfect hegelian

larger and smaller than himself, a


self-contradictoriness
immanent
can
elephant,whose
in a higher synthesis. Show
the
us
only be removed
don't care
such a mere
to see
higher synthesis! We
"

elephant." It may be (and


indeed
that all things
it was
suggested in antiquity)
of their own
size by being both largerand smaller
are
But in the case
of this elephant the
than themselves.
nipped such philosophizingand
scrupulous showman
in the bud, by exall its inconvenient
plicitly
consequences
intimatingthat largerthan any other elephant
abstract

was

creature

as

your

all he meant.

Hegel's quibble with this word


the same
fallacy. All others,' as

other

exemplifies*J

'

to

him

identical.

ing
such, are accordThat
is, otherness/ which
can
a given thing A, secundum
quid
'

only be predicated of
is predicatedsimpliciter,
and
(as other than B, etc.),
in question with B, which
made
is
to identifythe A
other only secundum
allied, namely other than A.
Another
maxim
tired of
that Hegelism is never
limit is alreadyto be
to know
a
repeating is that
walls do not
Stone
a
beyond it."
prison make,
"

"

"

tiary
cage." The inmate of the penitenshows
by his grumbling that he is still in the
and of separativethought. The
stage of abstraction
more
keenly he thinks of the fun he might be having
outside, the more
deeply he ought to feel that the
walls
identifyhim with it. They set him beyond
them
secundum
quid, in imagination,in longing,in
and
despair; argal they take him there simpliciter
nor

iron

bars

Essays in Popular Philosophy.

284

in flesh,in power,
convict, to ignore his blessings!

in every

way,

in deed.

"

Foolish

To
statinghis principleis this :
know
the finite as such, is also to know
the infinite."
Expressed in this abstract shape, the formula is as
it is unobjectionable. We
as
can
insignificant
cap
word
with a negative particle,
and
the word
every
finishedimmediately suggests the word
unfinished,
words
and
the two
know
we
together.
it is an
But
entirely different thing to take the
of ending, and
to say
case
knowledge of a concrete
makes
that it virtually
us
crete
acquainted with other confacts in infinitum. For, in the first place,the
mode

Another

end

be

may

an

of

"

absolute

The

one.

of

matter

the

universe, for instance, is according to all appearances


; and

in finite amount

if we

knew

that

we

had

counted

the last bit of it,infinite

knowledge in that respect, so


be impossible. With
far from being given,would
gard
rethat in drawing a bound
to space, it is true
we
But
this little fringeas
of more.
to treat
are
aware
It resembles
the equal of infinite space is ridiculous.
secundum
infinite space
quid,or in but one
respect,
believe
it homogeneous
its spatialquality. We

"

remain
it would
be
; but
may
spaces
dollar in my
fatuous
one
to say, because
pocket is
homogeneous with all the dollars in the country, that

with

to

have

space

the

whatever

it is to

are

dollars

as

have

them.

The

numerically distinct
from

the

dollar, and

further
from

the

not

until

points of
fringe as
we

have

\
be
said to
know
we
can
actually intuited them
them
hegelian reply is that the
simpliciter. The
qualityof space constitutes its only worth ; and that
there is nothing true, good, or beautiful to be known
'

On
in the
the
into
and

the

Hegelisms.

some

beyond

which

285

in
already known
of a eulogisticterm
fringe. This introduction
true
a mathematical
question is original. The
false infinite are
the
about
tinction
as
appropriate disof cognition as the good and
in a discussion
be in a treatise on
ology.
meteornaughty rain would
spaces

is not

'

'

'

'

when

But

we

grant that all the \vorth

of the

knowledge of distant spaces is due to the knowledge


of what they may
more
carry in them, it then appears
than
absurd
that the knowledge of the
to say
ever
fringeis an equivalentfor the infinitude of the distant
The
distant spaces
even
are
knowledge.
simpliciter
not
thinking; and if they were
yet yielded to our
would
be yielded secundum
not
yielded simpliciter,
out.
aliud, or in respect to their material
filling
pared
Shylock's bond was an omnipotent instrument comwith this knowledge of the finite,
which
remains
the ignorance it always was, till the infinite by its own
hands.
act has piece by piece placed itself in our
Here
By the identityof the
Hegelism cries out :
that
meant
knowledges of infinite and finite I never
"

one

could

be

substitute for the

other ;

nor

does

true

tution."
by identitycapacity for substiThis
sounds
suspiciouslylike the g^od and
the naughty infinite,
rather
like the mysteries of
or
the Trinity and the Eucharist.
To the unsentimental
but two sorts of identity, total identhere are
mind
tity
the identityis total,
and partialidentity. Where
the things can
be substituted
wholly for one another.
Where
is impossible,it must
substitution
be that the
identityis incomplete. It is the duty of the student
the exact
then
which
it
to ascertain
quid, secundum

philosophy

ever

mean

"

obtains,
Catholic

as

we

will

have

tell you

tried

to

do

that when

above.

he

Even

believes

in

the

the

286

Essays in Popular Philosophy.

identityof the wafer


in all respects,

mean

muscular
baked
sole

respect of

it is identical

body

that

so

"

fibre, or
in the

meat

Christ's

with

he

He

oven.

make

cook

and

use

in

not

it to

it smell

be substituted

can

does

that in the

means

nourishinghis being

with

he

body,
might

certain

hibit
ex-

like
one

way,

for the very

of his Redeemer.

knowledge of opposites is one,' is one of the


of which
the preceding are
hegelian first principles,
perhaps only derivatives. Here again Hegelism takes
and
ledge
knowledge simpliciter,
substitutingit for knowin a particularrespect, avails itself of the confusion
other respects never
to cover
originally
implied.
When
the knowledge of a thing is given us, we
no
doubt
think that the thing may
have an oppomust
or
site.
This
postulate of something opposite we may
call a
knowledge of the opposite if we like ; but it
is a knowledge of it in only that one
single respect,
of opposites
that it is something opposite. No number
have never
to a qualitywe
directlyexperienced could
lead us
ever
positivelyto infer what that qualityis.
There
is a joltbetween
the negation of them
and the
actual positingof it in its proper
shape, that twenty
drive
abreast
cannot
us
logics of Hegel harnessed
smoothly over.
1

The

'

'

'

"

X.

The
'

use

is the

of the

maxim

fattest and

'

All

most

determination

is tion
negaapplicationof

full-blown

in its
refusingto distinguish. Taken
than anything
confusion, it probably does more
vague
of flicker and dazzle which
else to produce the sort
for the reception of
conditions
the first mental
are
word
The
negation taken simpliHegel's system.
the

method

of

'

'

citer is treated

as

if it covered

an

indefinite number

of

On

Hegelisms.

some

secundums, culminatingin the

very

287

peculiarone

of self-

Whence

is drawn
finallythe conclusion
that assertions are universally
As
self-contradictory.
this is an
worth
while
to
important matter, it seems
treat it a littleminutely.
I measure
When
of milk, and so deout
termine
a pint,say
make
two
it,what do I do ? I virtually
tions
asserregarding it, it is this pint; it is not those
other
gallons. One of these is an affirmation,the
other a negation. Both have a common
subject; but
the predicatesbeing mutually exclusive,the two assertions

negation.

"

lie beside
I may
more

with

remote

each

other

propriety be

in endless
said

still, assertions
"

to

peace.
make
assertions

of which

those

other

gallonsare the subject. As it is not they,so are they


this is
not the
pint which it is. The determination
the pint" carries with it the negation,
those are
have
the pints." Here
the same
not
we
predicate;
of each other, so there
but the subjectsare exclusive
is again endless peace.
In both couples of propositions
aliud: this
negation and affirmation are secundum
This kind of negation involved
is a; this is n't not-#.
in determination
cannot
possiblybe what Hegel wants
The table is not the chair,the firefor his purposes.
place
these are
literal expresis not the cupboard,
sions
of
of the law
identityand contradiction,those
standing
principlesof the abstracting and separating underfor which
Hegel has so sovereign a contempt,
and
to supersede.
which
his logic is meant
And
ther,
accordingly Hegelians pursue the subject furment
elean
saying there is in every determination
of real conflict.
in determining
Do
not
you
the milk to be this pint exclude
it forever from the
chance of being those gallons,
frustrate it from expan"

"

"

"

Essays in Popular Philosophy.

288

And

sion ?

the

do you
which
it now

being
Assuredly
with

and

milk

exclude

maintains

had

been

hearing of

and

found

country,
another

"

there

but

was

front

land flowing

gone there with


the milk would

this

limited
un-

fill;

singlepint in the
of the pint would

the determination
determination

them

its own?

as

honey, and had


expectationsof the rivers

if you

whole

if you

equallyexclude

not

so

which

your

mind

had

There
be a real
would
previouslymade of the milk.
conflict resultingin the victory of one
side.
The
rivers would
be
negated by the single pint being
affirmed ; and as rivers and
pint are affirmed of the
milk (first
same
as
supposed and then as found), the
contradiction
would
be complete.
But
that can
it is a contradiction
never
by any
chance
in real nature
occur
or
being. It can only
between
false representationof a being and
occur
a
idea of the being when
the true
actuallycognized.
it had no
The first got into a place where
rightsand
But in rerum
had to be ousted.
natura
things do not
another's logicalplaces. The
gallons
get into one
We
the pint; the pint
first spoken of never
are
say,
the gallons." It never
tries to
I am
never
says,
for anything to
expand ; and so there is no chance
"

"

"

exclude

or

negate

it.

It

thus

remains

affirmed

absolutely.
it be

believed

in the teeth of these

elementary
truths that the principledeterminatio
negatiois held
throughout Hegel to imply an active contradiction,
Do
the horse-cars jingling
conflict,and exclusion?
Do
outside negate me
I,reader,
writingin this room?
if I say,
Of course,
are
Reader, we
negate you?
two," I negate you, for I am
two, and therefore I am
actuallythrustinga part into the seat of the whole.
Can

"

Essays in Popular Philosophy.

290

Hegel, in daring to insult the spotless


and
of space
time, the bound-respecters,
aay(f)poo-uvrj
in branding as strife that law of sharing under
whose
sacred keeping, like a strain of music, like an odor of
age

and

(as Emerson

incense

forward

goes
own

says),the

seems
still,

to

of the

dance

but

me

to

atoms

manifest

his

deformity.
This

leads

me

to

animadvert

on

an

ference
In-

erroneous

which

from the form


hegelian idealism makes
of the negative judgment.
Every negation,it says,
be an intellectual act.
Even
the most
ism
must
naif realwill hardly pretend that the non-table as such exsists in

se

table and

after the

fashion

same

the table does.

as

But

non-table, since they are

given to our thought


be consubstantial.
the
together,must
Try to make
positionor affirmation of the table as simple as you
thus
can, it is also the negation of the non-table ; and
after all but a function
of
positivebeing itself seems
like negation. Idealism
is proved, realism
intelligence,
is unthinkable.
Now
I have not myself the least
minous
voluan
hypothesis which
objection to idealism,
make
and whose
considerations
culties
diffiplausible,
inations
discrimbe cleared away
day by new
any
may
But I object to proving by
discoveries.
or
that which
these patent ready-made a priorimethods
can
only be the fruit of a wide and patientinduction.
affirmations
and
For
the truth is that our
negations
do not stand
the same
on
footingat all,arid are anything
"

but

consubstantial.

An

affirmation

says

thing
some-

A negation says
objectiveexistence.
something about an affirmation, namely, that it is
false. There
are
no
negativepredicatesor falsities in
false hypotheses that have
nature.
no
Being makes
about

an

"

On

Some

291

be in
only denials she can
construed
to
perform are denials of our
way
any
This shows
errors.
plainlyenough that denial must
be of something mental, since the thing denied
is
table is not
the chair
always a fiction. "The
poses
supthe
false
have
been
with
the speaker to
playing
to

be contradicted.

Hegelisms.

The

"

have

that it may

notion

been

perfectlywell

may

the

be

of

chair.

But

tion
affirma-

something having no
relation to thought.

such

constitutive
and
necessary
it reallyis of such a thing is for harder
Whether

siderations
con-

decide.

to

If idealism

be true, the great question that presents


the necessity of an
itselfis whether
its truth involve
omniscient

infinite,unitary, and
whether

republic of semi-detached

will do,

consciousnesses

"

fund

of

hypothesis is
be

to

one

of
to

or

another

one

some

each

the

united

to

the others

do

by

the nextness

within

them

universe.

To

be

certain

possessing a
Either

share.

not

But

mon
com-

the

whether

representations
tion
the principleof unificathus consciously next

many,

is

each

conceivable.

me

or

consciousnesses

but
representations,

which

privatestore
egos

consciousness,

of

representationis the condition to which


submit, under
penalty of
representationmust
other

excluded

being

Dundreary's bird
separate

'

this

like

by itself. But this is


the representationspartake; it

other

Lord

forming a
tion
only a condi-

universe

of which
all their

universe, and
flocking all alone,' and

from

determinations

undecided.

leaves

To

say,
verse
uni-

because

be in the same
representationb cannot
with a without being c?s neighbor; that therefore

possesses,

flesh and

involves, or

necessitates

all appurtenances
fell,

and

b, hide and

hair,

belongings,
"

is

Essays in PopularPhilosophy.

292

only

the

once

more.

insatiateness
silly hegelian all-or-nothing

logic,with all the senseless hocusof its triads,utterlyfails to prove


his position.
only evident compulsion which representations
is compulsion to submit
another
to
one
upon

Hegel's
pocus
The
exert

own

them

"

have
The

submitted

conditions
In

till we

decide

cannot

we

with

continuity,of selfhood,
penalty of being excluded.

under
space, and time
But
shall be
what this universe

which

universe

same

of

conditions

the

"

into the

of entrance

the conditions

is

know

themselves

impose

short,the notion that

no

real

of fact

matter

what

its sole

these

to

tations
represen-

conditions.

further

requirements.
contingency and

ambiguity may be features of the real world is a perfectly


unimpeachable hypothesis. Only in such a
For
world can
moral judgments have a claim to be.
takes
the place of something
the bad
is that which
else which
is,
possiblymight have been where it now
and the better is that which absolutelymight be where
of Hegel
the
In the universe
it absolutelyis not.
block
loose play, the
absolute
whose
parts have no
of
being with the oxygen
pure plethora of necessary
there can
all suffocated out of its lungs
possibility
dead
level of mere
be neither good nor
bad, but one
"

"

fate.
But

have

the

tired

reader

The

out.

Hegel is that the very arguments


criticising
against him give forth strange and hollow
that make
to

them

addressed.

which

which

itself.

they are
mirage, of
is the
What

almost

seem

very

as

fantastic
The

as

use-

we

sounds

the
of

sense

of

worst

errors
a

versal
uni-

us,
ghostlyunreality,steals over
moonlit
atmosphere of Hegelism

wonder

then

if, instead

of

convert-

On
words
do
ing, our
already baptized in

charmed

senses

only

but
the

of

us

rejoice and
children

seem

have

not

the

293

delight,those

faith of confusion?

all

we

some

Hegelisms.

some

of

To

their

Hegel

wit to know

gether,
toour

father.

Just as Romanists
are
to inform
sure
us
that our
reasons
against Papal Christianity
unconsciously
breathe
the purest spiritof Catholicism, so
Hegelism benignantlysmiles at our
exertions, and
"If
the
red
murmurs,
slayer think he slays;"
"When
me
the wings," etc.
they fly,I am
To
forefend this unwelcome
adoption, let me recapitulate
in a few propositions the reasons
why I am
not an
hegelian.
cannot
eat
cake and
have it; that is,
1. We
our
the only real contradiction
there
be
between
can
thoughts is where one is true, the other false. When
this happens, one
is there any
must
go forever ; nor
higher synthesis in which both can wholly revive.
chasm
is not a bridge in any utilizable sense
2. A
;
that is,no mere
be the instrument
of a
negation can
in thought.
positiveadvance
the ego, are
and
continua, time, space,
3. The
bridges,because they are without chasm.
the chasms
between
4. But they bridge over
sented
reprequalities
only partially.
the qual5. This partialbridging,however, makes
ities
own

'

share
6. The

in

world.

common

other

characteristics

the

of

qualitiesare

separate facts.
7. But

same

Generic

spaces.

found

the

becomes

joltsare
8. But

qualityappears
of the

sameness

thus

in many

further

means

times

and

quality wherever
by which the

reduced.
between

different

qualities
jolts remain*

Essays in Popular Philosophy.

294
Each,

far

as

the

as

other

is

concerned,

is

an

lutely
abso-

separate and

contingentbeing.
moral
judgment may lead us to postulate
9. The
irreducible
the contingencies of the world.
as
Elements
10.
flict
mutually contingent are not in conof time,
so
long as they partake of the continua
partaking being the exact
opposite of
space, etc.,
sive
strife. They conflict only when, as mutually exclupossibilities,
they strive to possess themselves of
"

the

parts of time, space,

same

That

11.

there

such

are

and

ego.

real conflicts,irreducible

and
of
intelligence,
giving rise to an excess
possibilityover
actuality,is an hypothesis, but a
credible- one.
No
philosophy should pretend to be
anything more.
to

any

Note.

Since

"

the

precedingarticle was

written,some

vations
obser-

the effects of

which
I
nitrous-oxide-gas-intoxication
was
prompted to make
by reading the pamphlet called The
and the Gist of Philosophy,
Anaesthetic
Revelation
by Benjamin
understand
Paul Blood, Amsterdam, N. Y., 1874, have made
me
of
better than
before both the strengthand the weakness
ever
Hegel'sphilosophy. I stronglyurge others to repeat the experiment,
which
with pure gas is short and harmless
enough. The
effects will of course
vary with the individual,justas they vary
individual
from
time to time ; but it is probable
in the same
that in the former
a generic resemblance
case, as in the latter,
on

will obtain.
have

With

me,

with

as

every

other

heard, the keynote of the experience

of whom
I
person
is the tremendously

Truth
metaphysical illumination.
lies open
to the view in depth beneath
depth of almost blinding
mind
all the logicalrelations of being with
The
evidence.
sees
its normal
to which
sciousness
conan
apparent subtletyand instantaneity
ing
offers no
parallel
sobrietyreturns, the feel; only as
is left staring vacantlyat a few
of insightfades, and
one
stares
at a cadaverousdisjointedwords and phrases, as one
looking snow-peak from which the sunset glow has justfled,or

excitingsense

at

the black

of

an

intense

cinder left by

an

extinguishedbrand.

On

emotional

immense

The

Hegelisms.

some

'maudlin'

the

of

sense

of

reconciliation

295
which

acterizes
char-

alcoholic

drunkenness, a
to lookers-on,but the subjective
silly
stage which seems
rapture
of which
probably constitutes a chief part of the temptation to
The
is well known.
the vice,
and peripheryof things
centre
to come
seem
together. The ego and its objects,the meum
stage

"

"

the

and

tuum,

make

to

peal through
Hegelism was

that

of

convictions
idea

Now

one.

effect upon

the

was
was

are

me

same

logicalforceps,and

and

that

truth

that

was

things,vanishes

in

all,and

after

true

hitherto

representationoccurred

or

thousandfold

were

the

to

served

to

that the

deepest

Whatever

wrong.

mind

seized

was

illustrate the

but

differences

; that

by

the

truth ;
whatsoever

same

opposition,among
higher unity in which it is based;
every

contradictions,so-called,are

hanced,
en-

of the gas : and


its first result
with unutterable
the conviction
power

me

intellect

my

this,only

that all

all differences

kind ; that
degree ; that all degrees are of a common
of being; and
unbroken
that we
continuityis of the essence
in the midst of an
to perceivethe existence
are
infinite,
literally
are

of

of

which

to

is the

both

strife

occur

in this

attain.

Without

Strife

presupposes

common

parties,the differences
the tenderest
and

; yes
statement
can

thus

can

we

about; and

striven

to

could

basis,how
be

utmost

agree at
is but another

and
It is

no

only occur

of

From

as

something

topic,the
the

same

hardest

same

for

diction
contra-

verbiage differences evaporate


least in being assertions ; a denial of
mode
of statingthe same,
diction
contrathe same
thing, all opinions are
"

the same.
But the same
are
synonymous,
difference of emphasis is two ; and here again ence
differ-

synonyms,

phrase by

merge.
of
diversity

the

are

no-difference merge

impossibleto

of the identification

in

one.

idea of the torrential character


an
convey
of oppositesas it streams
through the mind

experience. I have sheet after sheet of phrases dictated


reader
to the sober
written during the intoxication,which
or
of tranat the
moment
scribing
seem
meaningless drivel,but which
and
fused in the fire of infinite rationality.God
were
devil,good and evil,life and death, I and thou, sober and drunk,
shiver of
and form, black and white, quantityand quality,
matter
of horror, vomiting and swallowing,inspiration
ecstasy and shudder
and
and
fate
and expiration,
small, extent and
reason,
great
other conintent,joke and earnest, tragicand comic, and fifty
in this

Essays in Popular Philosophy.

296

figurein

trasts

mind

how

saw

edge

each

in the

pages

which

the

eternal,was

monotonous

same

it

through a

knife-

effected,and

which, perennial

of life.

thought

stans

nunc

The

way.

its contrast

belongedto

term

of transition

moment

and

these

The

of

implicationof the parts in the bare form of a judgment


of opposition,as ' nothing
but,'' no more
than,' only
if,*
delirium
of
theoretic
And
at
etc., produced a perfect
rapture.
last,when definite ideas to work on came
slowly,the mind went
in identity
by
form of recognizingsameness
through the mere
with
word
the
same
itself,
emphasized,
differently
contrasting
mutual

'

"

or

"

of its initialletter.

shorn

but

*s mistake

What
What's

but

nausea

Let

kind

transcribe

me

few sentences

of take ?
of -ausea?

kind

"

Sober, drunk, -unk, astonishment.

subjectof criticism

the

become

Everything can

something to criticise
disagreement !!
Agreement
without

how

"

cise
criti-

"

Emotion

motion

"

!!!

from, from, die away (withoutthe from).


Reconciliation of opposites; sober, drunk, all the same

Die

away

evil reconciled

and

Good

it escapes

It escapes,

in

laugh !

But
What

?
escapes
there must

what

escapes,

be

Emphasis, EMphasis;
for there to be a phasis.
No verbiage can
give it,because
/^coherent, coherent
And

it fades

If it

it 's infinite !

same

Extreme
1

extreme

tellingyou

me

and

other

Intoxication,and

Every attempt
"

is

to write

at

the

than

that

otherness

than

betterment,

and

'

and

forever

as

not

to

it?

the

to

identity?

write !

the

extretne

'

of

density that
/^tensity.

thing !
intoxication.
every

"

It fades forever

see

you

Within

extreme
extreme,
contains is contained

Something,

on

"

'

it 's infinite!

hold

should

Constantlyoppositesunited
The

verbiage is other.

And

you
don't
the difference,

see

you

the

in order

same.

"

why
Ji'tgoingi

was

Don't

And

emphasis

some

we

move.

attempt

at

otherment,

in

Essays

298

if

intoxication,
within

depth

united,

whichever

you

when

Even

by

so

left

It

indeed,

seems,

world,

Hegel
his

was

life

that

pessimistic

contradictories,

Hegel

which
from
a

laugh

amazement

at

and

less

the
at

to

is

ultimate
a

the

the

to

more

pertain
finally,

being

really

the
the

that

and
or

infinity.

in

mood

that

and

made
that

the

world

and

essence,

that

accidental

mere

identification

of

of
process

process,

terminating
a

mon
com-

much,

so

self-developing

self-consuming

abstract,

nothingness,

meaningless

the

to

of

view
its

employed

he

be

in

throughout
end,

every

to

more

object.'

own

emotion

means

wilderment,
be-

nothing

emotion

supreme

of

attitudes

from

this

his

became

of

said

powerful

to

and

no

things

have

it

itself.

its
of

very

the

one

with

become

which

continuity

moment;

supposes,

the

of

susceptible

true

far

so

lation
reve-

bewilderment

the

save

outcome

the

often

know

togetherness

the

of

subjectivity

the

optimistic

or

that

'escapes;'

intense

an

'spirit

engender

infinity

makes

of

how

bewilderment,

or

as

is

into

at

sharing,

of

'fades,'

intense

unscrupulous

indifferentism
which

that

gratification

its

fact

ultimatum,

quoted

astonishment.

sut,

unusually

so

tolerably

him

this

perceived,

when

may,

law

the

the

upshot

this

of

phrases

changed

is

causa

is

conclusion

My

short

Something

bewildered

is the

and

reason

in

"

the

confusion,

be

this

one,

from

than
to

but

synthesis,

stops

clue.

sensation

indifference,

fatalism,

bright.

insight

of

pessimistic

and

higher

process

puzzle,

particular

rosy

the

losing

singular

in

noticed

have

feeling

the

impotence

it is all

the

will

reader

of

choose

began

that

ends

not

Philosophy.

prolonged.

sufficiently

depth

silliness

Popular

ing
passeither

vertiginous

in

PsychicalResearch.

WHAT

PSYCHICAL

299

RESEARCH

HAS

ACCOMPLISHED.1

"

"

I ''HE

great field for

scientific

friend

discoveries," said

new

to

the

me

always the unclassified residuum."


and
accredited
orderly facts of
floats

ever

of
met

The

dust-cloud

it

always

attend

to.

The

of

closed

of

charm

and

about

proves

is

the
there

easy to
science

more

every

completed system
their

to

"

vations,
exceptional obserdom
irregularand sel-

ideal of

sciences

most

day,

science

every

and

with, which
to

Round

of

minute

occurrences

ignore than
is that

of

sort

other

of

truth.

passive

more

disciplesconsists in their appearing, in fact,to wear


Each
of our
various
one
justthis ideal form.
ologies
offer

to

seems

every

definite

possiblephenomenon
to

and

cover;

fancy,that, when
of this sort

has

a
once

whether
conceived

within

the

This

of

Research,
Science.

consistent
been

whole

which

sort

free

and

it professes

is most

men's

organized scheme

comprehended and
is unimaginable. No
or

parts,

can

any

lated,
assiminative,
alter-

longer

as

is formed

for March,

the

of the

classification for

unclassifiable
possible. Phenomena
therefore paradoxical absurdisystem are

Essay

Magazine
and

to

of

far from

so

scheme

different

be

head

1890, of

President's

published

of

in

portions of
an

Address
the

before

the

Proceedings

article

an

article in the

Forum

in
for

July,1892,
Psychical
June, 1896, and in

Society for

for

Scribner's

300

Essays in Popular Philosophy.

ties,and

must

be

held

When,

untrue.

moreover,

as

often

happens, the reports of them are vague and


marvels
and
dities
odas
mere
indirect; when
they come
rather than as things of serious moment,
one
with the best of scientific
neglects or denies them
consciences.
Only the born geniuses let themselves
be worried
and fascinated by these outstanding exceptions,
till they are
and
brought
get no
peace
within the fold. Your
Galileos, Galvanis, Fresnels,
and Darwins
are
always gettingconfounded
Purkinjes,
and
troubled
by insignificant
things. Any one will
his science who
will steadilylook after the
renovate
the science is reAnd
when
newed,
irregularphenomena.
so

"

its
of the
to be

No
been

often have

formulas

new

exceptions in them
the

than

of the voice

more

of what

were

supposed

rules.

part of the unclassified


with

treated

has

residuum

contemptuous

more

usually
scientific

of phenomena
disregard than the mass
generally
called mystical. Physiology will have
nothing to
do with them.
Orthodox
psychology turns its back
upon
when

them.
in

an

Medicine

anecdotal

them

sweeps

vein, records

out
a

; or, at most,

few of them

as

missal,
disimagination,' a phrase of mere
whose
meaning, in this connection, it is impossible
to make
precise. All the while, however, the
phenomena are there, lying broadcast over the surface
its pages,
of history. No
where
matter
you
open
of divinaunder
the name
find things recorded
tions,
you
demoniacal
possessions,
apparitions,
inspirations,
healings and productrances, ecstasies, miraculous
tions
of disease, and
occult powers
possessed by
and things in their
peculiarindividuals over
persons
neighborhood. We suppose that mediumship origi1

effects of the

"

'

'

PsychicalResearch.
Rochester, N.

in

nated
with

but

Mesmer;

Y., and
look

once

animal

behind

301

magnetism
the

pages

of

and

history,in personalmemoirs, legaldocuments,


popular narratives and books of anecdote, and

you

will find

official

that there

never

was

time

when

these

not
things were
reported just as abundantly as now.
We
follow the stream
of
college-bred gentry, who
cosmopolitan culture exclusively,not infrequently
stumble
old-established
some
journal,or some
upon

voluminous
heard

author, whose

native

of in

our

circle,but who

names

number

are

never

their readers

quarter-million.It always gives us a little


shock
of human
to find this mass
beings not only
livingand ignoring us and all our gods, but actually
a
reading and writing and cogitating without ever
and authorities.
Well, a public
thought of our canons
transmits
from generation
less large keeps and
no
to
generation the traditions and practices of the
science
little for its
cares
as
occult; but academic
for
beliefs and
opinions as you, gentle reader, care
those of the readers of the Waverley and the Fireside
is it given to
To
no
one
Companion.
type of mind
of truth.
discern the totality
Something escapes the
but systematically,
best of us,
and
not accidentally,
by

the

"

because

have

we

twist.

The

scientific-academic

feminine-mysticalmind
shy from each
other's facts,justas they flyfrom each other's temper
have
and spirit. Facts
there only for those who
are
When
mental
once
a
affinitywith them.
they are
and
admitted, the academic
indisputablyascertained
and
critical minds
to
are
by far the best fitted ones
for surely to pass from
interpretand discuss them,
is like passing from
mystical to scientific speculations
lunacy to sanity; but on the other hand if there is
mind

and

the

"

Essays in Popular Philosophy.

3"D2

anything which

human

historydemonstrates, it is the
the ordinary academic
with which
acknowledges facts to exist which

slowness

extreme

critical mind

and

present

themselves

wild

as

which

pigeon-hole,or as facts
the accepted system.
a

and

the

been

about
it in

mystics who
the factSywhile
the

to

respect

have

for

once

the

scientifics had

theories.
'

medical

all

usuallyproved
The

flagrantexample of this is animal


facts were
as
stoutly dismissed
academic

break

to

or

up

psychology, physiology,
the mystics
debate between

medicine, wherever

is the

threaten

stall

no

In

and

scientifics has

facts, with

the

science

decided, it
to

the

be

right

better

and

recent

most

of

magnetism,' whose
a
pack of lies by

world

until

over,

the

'

'

non-mystical theory of
hypnotic suggestion was
found
for them,
admitted
be
when
to
they were
that special
so
excessivelyand dangerously common
be passed to keep all perpenal laws, forsooth, must
sons
diplomas from taking
unequipped with medical
nerabilitie
part in their production. Justso somatizations, invulinstantaneous
inspired discourses,
cures,
of which
and
demoniacal
possessions,the records
libraries but
shelved
in our
were
yesterday in the
the brandalcove
under
headed
now,
superstitions,'
of hystero-epilepsy,'
title of
are
cases
new
lished,
repubtoo
even
reobserved, and reported with an
credulous
avidity.
Repugnant as the mystical styleof philosophizing
there is no
be (especially
when
self-complacent),
may
that it goes with a giftfor meeting with
sort of doubt
certain kinds of phenomenal experience. The writer
"

'

'

past few

of these

in the

to

believes

forced
has been
pages
this admission
he now
; and

will pay

attention

to

facts of the sort

dear

that
to

years
he who

mystics,

PsychicalResearch.
while

reflecting
upon

them

303

in academic-scientific

ways,

in the best

possible positionto help philosophy.


of good augury
It is a circumstance
that certain
trained
minds
in all countries seem
scientifically
conclusion.
The
driftingto the same
Society for
has been one
of bringing
means
Psychical Research
the
occult
and
science
together in England and
and
America;
believing that this Society fulfils a
function
which, though limited,is destined to be not
edge,
knowlunimportant in the organization of human
I am
of it to the
glad to give a brief account
will be

uninstructed

reader.

and
According to the newspaper
drawing-room
idiotic credulity are
and
the
myth, soft-headedness
bond
of sympathy in this Society,and
der-sickness
general wonits dynamic principle. A glance at the
this view.
membership fails,however, to corroborate
The
president is Prof. Henry Sidgwick,1known
by
his other deeds as the most
and exasperincorrigibly
atinglycritical and scepticalmind in England. The
Arthur
Balfour
is one
hard-headed
and
vice-president,
Prof. J. P. Langley, secretary of the
the hard-headed

Institution, is another.

Smithsonian

the

Professor

Lodge,

Professor

Richet, the

are

among

the

most

eminent

men

as

and
English physicist,
French
physiologist,

eminent
active

Such

contributors

Proceedings; and through


membership are sprinkled names

to

the

ety's
Soci-

the

catalogue of
honored
out
throughfor their scientific capacity. In fact,
the world
I asked
to point to a scientific journal where
were
and
hard-headedness
never-sleepingsuspicion of
of error
in their full bloom,
sources
might be seen
1

and

Written
Professor

in

1891.

William

Since
Crookes

then,

Mr.

have

Balfour, the

held

the

present

writer,

office.
presidential

Essays in Popular Philosophy.

304
I think

I should

of

the

common

fall back

level

of

rigorous canons
to
testimony
ago

years
mediums

'

the

on

ings
Proceed-

The
Psychical Research.
physiological
subjects,
papers, say on
in other professionalorgans,
are
apt

the

few
*

for

far lower

Indeed,

Society

finds

one

show

to

to

of

run

which

have

led to the

critical

consciousness.

of evidence
in

secession

the

case

from

the

applied
of

a'

certain

Society of

Messrs. Stainton Moses


and
spiritualists.
A. R. Wallace, among
others, thought that no experiences
have
based
mere
on
a
eyesight could ever
admitted
chance
to be
as
true, if such an impossibly
insisted on
in every
exacting standard of proof were
of

number

case.

S. P. R.,

The

in 1882

founded
among
W. F.

whom

I shall call it for

as

by

number

to

seem

have

Balfour

Barrett, and

of
been

convenience,

was

gentlemen, foremost
Professors Sidgwick,

Stewart, and

Messrs.

R. H.

Gurney, and
Hensleigh Wedgwood, Edmund
Their
was
first,
F. W. H. Myers.
twofold,
purpose
to carry on
tic
systematic experimentation with hypnoand others; and,
subjects,mediums, clairvoyants,
concerning apparitions,
secondly, to collect evidence
which
similar phenomena
haunted
are
houses, and
incidentallyreported, but which, from their fugitive
Hutton,

"

character, admit

Sidgwick, in
the divided
was

of

his

state

scandal

no

deliberate

control.

introductory address,
of

public opinion on
to

science,

"

Professor

insisted

all these

absolute

disdain

that
ters
maton

be called
priorigrounds characterizingwhat may
credulity
professionalopinion, while indiscriminate
those who
often found among
too
pretended to
was
have a first-hand acquaintance with the facts.
for accumulating
bureau
of
weather
As
sort
a

Essays in Popular Philosophy.

306
have

been

looked

the story appears


with
up, and
of evidential worth
stamped on

precise coefficient
that all may

its

it,

know

justwhat its weight as proof may


of these Proceedings,I know
be.
Outside
of no systematic
for the superattempt to weigh the evidence
natural.
the value of the volumes
This makes
already
published unique ; and I firmlybelieve that as the
stillwider,
and the ground covered
years go on
grows
the Proceedings will more
tend to superand more
sede
all other sources
of information
concerning phenomena
deemed
of
occult.
Collections
traditionally
this sort are
usually best appreciated by the rising
and psycholgeneration. The young anthropologists
ogists
so

who

will

will feel how

leave

great

full occupancy
scientific scandal

of the stage

have

soon

been

to

human

experience to take its


chances
between
tradition and credulityon the
vague
hand
and dogmatic denial
the
at long range
one
on
who
extant
other, with no body of persons
are
willing
and competent
with both patience
to study the matter
and rigor. If the Society lives long enough for the
familiar with its presence,
that
so
public to become
house
infested with unor
or
accountable
person
any apparition,
of material objects,
noises or disturbances
of course
be reported to its officers,
will as a matter
we
of facts concrete
shall doubtless end by having a mass
Its sustainers, therefore,
enough to theorize upon.
great

should

duty
this

themselves

to

the

that its first

idea

simply to exist from year to year


recording function well, though no
is

societies

much

mass

accustom

results of

But

of

it has

one

any
have

sort

emerge
begun in some

by

cannot

progress

in

mere

matters

at

first.

such
outward

All

modest

and

perform

conclusive
our

learned

way.

organizationmake

scientific.

Societies

can

PsychicalResearch.
back
The

of

men

genius,but
between

contrast

Branch

American
of

group
work

their

place.

Society and the


In England, a little
and
genius for the

parent

illustrates this.
with

men

the

take

never

can

307

enthusiasm

supplied the nucleus; in this country, Mr.


Hodgson had to be imported from Europe before
What
made.
was
perhaps more
any tangibleprogress
than anything else has held
the Societytogether in
England is Professor Sidgwick'sextraordinarygiftof
in diverse sorts of people. Such
inspiringconfidence
tenacity of interest in the result and such absolute
in discussing the evidence
not
are
impartiality
once
in

century found

belief that

there

in

an

individual.

His

obstinate

is

something yet to be brought to


light communicates
patience to the discouraged ; his
constitutional
clusion
inabilityto draw any precipitateconthose who are afraid of being dupes.
reassures
Mrs.
a
sister,by the way, of the great
Sidgwick
Arthur
Balfour
is a worthy allyof her husband
in
of holdthis matter, showing a similarlyrare
ing
power
in suspense,
and
her judgment
of
keenness
a
and
observation
capacity for experimenting with
human
in either sex.
are
rare
subjects which
The worker of the Society,as originally
constituted,
Edmund
of the
was
a
man
Gurney. Gurney wTas
rarest
sympathies and gifts. Although, like Carlyle,
he used to groan
the burden
of his labors,he
under
yet exhibited a colossal power of dispatchingbusiness
and
getting through drudgery of the most
repulsive
"

"

kind.

His

two

thick volumes

on

'

Phantasms

of

the

collected and
published in three years, are a
Living,'
proof of this. Besides this,he had exquisite artistic
and
instincts,

Sound*

was,

his massive

when

it

volume

on

appeared, the

'The
most

Power

of

important

Essays in Popular Philosophy.

308

aesthetics in the

work

on

also

the

heart

tenderest

power,
Quid,'will prove

as

to

English language.
and

his

volumes

any

reader.

mind

of

He

rare

had
physical
meta-

of

'
Tertium
essays,
Mr. Frederic
Myers,

of the most
brilliant of
as
one
already well known
English essayists,is the ingenium prcefervidum of
the S. P. R.
Of the value of Mr. Myers's theoretic
later. Dr. Hodgson, the
writings I will say a word
American
secretary, is distinguishedby a balance of
mind
in its way
almost as rare
as
Sidgwick's. He is
of the phenomena
persuaded of the realityof many
ness
keencalled spiritualistic,
but he also has uncommon
in detectingerror
; and it is impossibleto say in
it will give him
satisfaction
advance
whether
more
offered
to confirm
to smash
to his
or
a
given case

examination.

It is

to

of these

contents
were

time

now

largelytaken

transference.

The

cast

brief look

upon

the

actual

Proceedings. The first two years


experiments in thoughtup with
earliest lot of

these

were

made

Creery, and
Messrs. Balfour Stewart, Barrett, Myers, and
convinced
of
Gurney that the girlshad an inexplicablepower
and objectsthought of by other perguessing names
sons.
Two
years later,Mrs. Sidgwickand Mr. Gurney,
detected
girls,
recommencing experiments with the same
It is true that
them
signallingto each other.

with

the

daughtersof

for the most

clergyman

part the conditions

named

of the

earlier

series

and it is also possiblethat the


signalling,
have
nally
grafted itself on what was origicheating may
wise
Yet Gurney was
a genuine phenomenon.
in abandoning the entire series to the scepticismof the
of all
out
reader.
Many critics of the S. P. R. seem
had

excluded

PsychicalResearch.
its

labors to have

heard

only

of this

309

experiments recorded with upwards


were
subjects. Three
experimented
length during the first two years : one
are

Smith

; the

other

two

were

young
Malcolm

in the

there

But

case.

of

thirtyother
at

upon

great

Mr.

was

ladies in

G. A.

Liverpool

Guthrie.
employment of Mr.
It is the opinion of all who
took
ter
part in these latof conscious
and unconscious
experiments that sources
excluded, and that
deception were
sufficiently
the largepercentage of correct
reproductions by the
subjectsof words, diagrams, and sensations occupying
other persons'consciousness
were
entirelyinexplicable
results

as

of

The

chance.

in fact all

of

witnesses
satisfied of

these

formances
per-

the

genuineness
of the phenomena, that
telepathy has figured
freelyin the papers of the Proceedings and in GurPhantasms
which
on
as
vera
a
causa
on
ney's book
additional
mere
hypotheses might be built. No
be blamed, however, if he demand,
reader
for so
can
revolutionarya belief,a more
overwhelming bulk of
testimony than has yet been supplied. Any day, of
bring in fresh experiments in successful
course,
may
picture-guessing.But meanwhile, and lackingthat,we
can
only point out that the present data are strengthened
in the flank,so to speak,by all observations
that
the possibility
of other kindred
tend
to corroborate
ance,
phenomena, such as telepathicimpression,clairvoywhat is called
or
test-mediumship.' The wider
the narrower
will naturallycover
specieswith
genus
were

so

'

'

'

its credit.

Gurney's
next.

on
papers
of them
Some
new

facts

omitting these, we

hypnotism
are

than with

must

be mentioned

less concerned

analyzingold

with

lishing
estab-

ones.

But

find that in the line of pure

obser-

Essays in Popular Philosophy.

310

Gurney claims to have ascertained in more


than
The
one
subject the following phenomenon:
thrust through a blanket, which
are
subject'shands
vation

the

screens

absorbed

operator

from

in conversation

his
with

eyes,
a

and

third

his mind
person.

is

The

points with his fingerto one of


the fingersof the subject,
which
fingeralone responds
this silent selection
to
thetic,
by becoming stiff or anaesbe.
The
the case
as
interpretationis
may
I have
but the phenomenon,
which
difficult,
myself
authentic.
witnessed, seems
observation
made
Another
to
by Gurney seems
the
possibilityof the subject'smind
being
prove
directly influenced
notized
hypby the operator's. The
subject responds, or fails to respond, to
questions asked by a third party according to the
operator's silent permission or refusal. Of course,
in these experiments all obvious
of deception
sources
But
excluded.
were
tribution
Gurney's most
important conhis
to
our
knowledge of hypnotism was
series of experiments on
the automatic
writing of
subjectswho had received post-hypnotic suggestions.
For
example, a subject during trance is told that he
will poke the fire in six minutes
after waking.
On
of the order, but
he has no
being waked
memory
while he is engaged in conversation
his hand
is placed
which
on
a planchette,
tence,
immediately writes the senP., you will poke the fire in six minutes."
Experiments like this,which were
repeated in great
that below
the upper
to
sciousness
convariety, seem
prove
the hypnotic consciousness
grossed
persists,enwith the suggestion and able to express
itself
through the involuntarilymoving hand.
Gurney shares,therefore,with Janet and Binet, the
operator

"

meanwhile

PsychicalResearch.
credit of

demonstratingthe

different

two

other, in the

simultaneous

of consciousness,

strata

'

The

same

person.
call it,can
be

311
existence

ignorant of

of

each

extra-consciousness/

kept on tap, as it were, by the


of automatic
method
writing. This discovery marks
in experimental psychology,and it is imposa new
era
sible
its importance. But Gurney's greatto overrate
est
of the
Phantasms
piece of work is his laborious
Living.' As an example of the drudgery stowed away
in the volumes, it may
suffice to say that in looking
of
up the proofs for the alleged physicalphenomena
witchcraft,Gurney reports a careful search through
and sixtybooks
hundred
the subject,with the
two
on
result of findingno
first-hand evidence
recorded
in
as

one

may

the trials except the confessions


and
to

either
in

made

the

these, of

torture

course,

note, is

selves;
them-

presumptively due

are

hallucination.

or

unobtrusive

an

of the victims

This

only

one

statement,
instance

displayed throughout the volumes.


of these, Gurney discusses
about
seven
of apparitionswhich he collected.
cases

In

care

course

number

of these

'

were

veridical,'in the

sense

of
the

dred
hunA

large

of coinciding

calamity happening to the person


who
appeared. Gurney's explanationis that the mind
of the person
at that
undergoing the calamity was
of the percipient
able to impress the mind
moment
with

with

some

hallucination.

an

'

'

be
Apparitions, on this telepathic theory, may
called
rial
mateobjective facts,although they are not
'

'

'

facts.

veridical

Gurney
has

In

'

order

to

hallucinations
the

instituted

been
from

continued
over

'

test

the

being
census

with

the

likelihood

due

to

mere

of

such

chance,

of hallucinations,'
which
result

twenty-fivethousand

of

swers
obtaining an-

persons,

asked

Essays in Popular Philosophy.

312
at

random
health

good
seen

in

and

form,

could

different

touch
for.

account

roughly speaking, that


in ten

has had

life,and
number

to

that

whether, when

awake, they had


felt

or

countries

ever

which
The

no

heard

with

to

in

distant

some

between

the

two

cases

suppose

events?

be,

adult
in his

large

The

event.

is,Is the frequencyof these latter


be deemed
fortuitous,and must we
connection

ence
pres-

seems

England about one


such an experience at least once
of the experiences themselves

coincide

voice,

material

result

in

tion
ques-

too

great
an

Mr.

cult
oc-

and

Mrs.

this problem on the


out
Sidgwick have worked
basis of the English returns, seventeen
thousand
in
and
number, with a care
thoroughness that leave
is that the
nothing to be desired. Their conclusion
is seen
where
the apparitionof a person
the
on
cases
and fortytimes too
day of his death are four hundred
The
to chance.
to be ascribed
numerous
reasoning
is simple enough.
employed to calculate this number
between
If there be only a fortuitous connection
the
death

of

an

to

individual
some

one

the

and
at

occurrence

distance, the

of his parition
apdeath is no

day as the apparition


the same
than it is to occur
on
day with any other
in nature.
But the chance-probabilitythat any
event
individual's death will fall on
any given day marked
is justequal to the
in advance
other event
by some
that the individual will die at all
chance-probability
on
specifiedday; and the national death-rate
any
thousand.
in nineteen
gives that probabilityas one
with
coincides
the death of a person
If,then, when
be
the coincidence
an
apparitionof the same
person,
oftener than
merely fortuitous,it ought not to occur
of fact,
in nineteen thousand
As a matter
once
cases.
more

likelyto

fall on

the

same

Essays in Popular Philosophy.

314

Physicalmediumship in all its phases has fared hard


latest case
in the Proceedings. The
reported on is
that of the famous
tected
Eusapia Paladino, who being dein fraud
at Cambridge, after a brilliant career
of success
the continent, has, according to the
on
rules of method
draconian
the Society,
which
govern
been ruled out
from
of
further hearing. The
a
case
Stainton Moses, on the other hand, concerning which
of unpublished
Mr. Myers has brought out a mass
from
to escape
the universal
demnation,
contestimony,seems
and
Andrew
a

appears
calls the

Lang
physical miracle.
In the

medium,

case
we

of Mrs.
seem

to

to force

choice

Piper,not
have

no

upon

between

us
a

what
moral

physicalbut

choice

Mr.

offered

and

trance

all.

at

Hodgson and others have made prolonged study


of this lady'strances, and are all convinced
that supernormal
of cognition are
displayed therein.
powers
These
But the
are
primd facie due to spirit-control.'
conditions
are
so
complex that a dogmatic decision
either for or againstthe spirit-hypothesis
must
as
yet
be postponed.
of the most
tions
One
important experimental contributhe Proceedings is the article of Miss X. on
to
CrystalVision.'
Many persons who look fixedlyinto
other vaguely luminous
surface fall into a
a crystalor
Mr.

'

kind

of daze, and
in

see

visions.

remarkable

Miss

X.

degree, and

has

this

ceptibility
sus-

is,moreover,

ions
viscritic. She reports many
unusuallyintelligent
voyant,
which
can
only be described as apparently clairfilla vacant
niche
and others which
beautifully
in our
mental
operations.
knowledge of subconscious
For example, looking into the crystalbefore breakfast
one
morning she reads in printed characters of the
an

PsychicalResearch.
of

death

lady of

this,she looks

other

are

the

day

speak, the
special corner

out

visual

of

of

hallucination

her

memory,

when

the

is
and

Mr.

by

have

number

Mrs.

As

the

and

of

ghost stories,
discussed
by Messrs.
the best ghost literature
of view

conclusions

of emotional

inhospitableto the notion that


basis of objectivity
dependent on

such

Sidgwick
while Mr.
Myers
pitable
respectivelyhos-

rigorously non-committal,
show

Podmore

themselves

of the

dead.

my

gossip

about

after

all,seems

to

close

naming what,

part of its

by

Mr.

This

contents.

Myers
what

on

what

came

to papers

Mrs.

to

existence

articles

page
remembers

drawn,

I must

tical
iden-

ification
peculiarmodby the crystal-

and
have

the
same

observation

on

Sidgwick and
They form
Myers and Podmore.
I know
of from the point

interest.

the
she

induced

based

papers

narrative,we

etc., sifted

which

are

only explanation
served,
inattentivelyobforthwith
death-item, which

consciousness

gazing set in.


Passing from
on

On

seen.

items

to

fell into
as

the deaths

before ; and
the
then
that her eyes

be

so

based

among
she has

which

to

seems

there

Times

reading

'

'

and
verification,

of the

her

acquaintance,the date and other


all duly appearing in type.
Startled by
Times
of the previous day for
at the

circumstances

words

315

stories

ued
the contin-

the
me

is
he

Proceedings by
the most
ant
importthe long series of

now

calls the

'

liminal
sub-

might designate as ultraThe


result of Myers's learned
marginal consciousness.
and
ingenious studies in hypnotism, hallucinations,
automatic
writing,mediumship, and the whole series
of allied phenomena
is a conviction
which
he expresses
in the followingterms
:
self,'or

one

"

Essays in Popular Philosophy.

3 16
"

Each

of

extensive

more

never

is in

abidingpsychicalentityfar
than he knows,
which
an
can
individuality
itself completelythrough any corporealmanifestation.

us

express

"

The
but

is

there

The

itself

self manifests

always

through

the

organism ;

part of the self unmanifested, and

some

it seems,

always, as
abeyance

an
reality

some

of

power

organic expressionin

reserve."

or

Mr.

ordinary consciousness

visible part of the solar spectrum

Myers likens

to

the

ness
; the total conscious-

is like that spectrum

of the ultra-red and


the

spectrum

ultra

prolonged by the inclusion


In the psychic
ultra-violet rays.
'

parts

may

embrace

far wider

physiologicaland of psychical activity,


and memthan is open
to our
ory.
ordinary consciousness
have the physiological
At the lower end we
tension,
exmind-cures, stigmatization of ecstatics,etc. ;
in the upper,
the hyper-normal cognitionsof the medium-trance.
the judgment of the future
Whatever
be on
Mr. Myers's speculations,the credit will
may
always remain to them of being the first attempt in
the phenomena
nation,
of halluciany language to consider
personality,
hypnotism, automatism, double
whole
and
mediumship as connected
parts of one
be proin this field must
subject. All constructions
visional,
and it is as something provisionalthat Mr.
But, thanks to him,
Myers offers us his formulations.
range,

of

both

'

'

we

begin

to

and
the

rudest

see

for the

first time

graded system

these

motor-automatisms

to

what

vast

locked
inter-

phenomena, from
the most
startling

Mr.
Quite apart from
sensory-apparition,form.
of
treatment
Myers's conclusions, his methodical
them
by classes and series is the first great step
science
toward
overcoming the distaste of orthodox
to

look

at

them

at

all.

Research.
Psychical
reaction

One's

317

hearsay testimony is always


determined
men
by one's own
experience. Most
convinced
who
have once
themselves, by what seems
careful
to them
examination, that any one
a
species
of the supernatural exists,begin to relax their vigilance
minds

more

less

or

along its whole


and

of which

wide

the

work
'

made

insignificant

evidential values,'

full,seems

are

their

supernatural

over

of

quiddling discussion
the Society'sreports

of

that has thus

mind

minute

doors

the

to

open

To

extent.

its salto rnortale,the


cases

throw

evidence, and

to

as

on

ably
insuffer-

species of literature
are
more
trulydull than reports of phantasms. Taken
simply by themselves, as separate facts to stare at,
devoid
of meaning and
so
that,
they appear
sweep,
even
were
they certainlytrue, one would be tempted
leave
them
for being so
of one's universe
to
out
idiotic. Every other sort of fact has some
context
and
These
alone
continuitywith the rest of nature.
tedious.

contextless

are

Hence

'

sense

and

which

"

the

of

loathing no milder
words
search
psychical re"

'

very

'

'

of

conceive

mood

discontinuous.

and

in so many
awaken
psychicalresearcher
scientific breasts is not only natural, but in a
who
is unable
himself to
praiseworthy. A man

honest

only

; few

so

I think that the sort

will do

word

it is

And

any

orbit for these

mental

meteors

can

that Messrs.
suppose
in dealing with them
at

prodigies!

so

Gurney, Myers, " Co.'s


be that of sillymarmust
velling
detached
such
prodigies. And
many
So science simply falls back on her general

non-possumus

and

most

of the would-be

critics

of the
to

to oppose
Proceedings have been contented
the simple presumption
the phenomena
recorded

that

in

some

way

or

other

the

reports

must

be

fal-

Essays in Popular Philosophy.

3 18

lacious,
"

for

so

far

as

the order

has

of nature

been

subjected to really scientific scrutiny,it always has


been
But
the oftener
proved to run the other way.
is forced to rejectan
one
alleged sort of fact by the
of this mere
does
the
use
presumption, the weaker
presumption itself get to be ; and one might in course
of time
use
up one's presumptive privilegesin this
even
though one started (as our anti-telepathists
way,
the great induction
of
as
do) with as good a case
by the use
psychology that all our knowledge comes
of

our

and

eyes

ears

also that

remember

and
this

other

And

senses.

undermining

of the

presumption by reiterated report of


not
require that
logically
contrary does
of

we

must

strength

facts to the

the facts in

question should all be well proved. A lot of rumors


man's credit,though they
in the air againsta business
of them
amount
to
might all be vague, and no one
the
proof that he is unsound, would certainlyweaken

presumptionof

his

And

soundness.

all the

more

they have this effect if they formed what Gurney


that is,if they were
called a fagot and not
a chain,
from different
another, and came
independent of one
for telepathy,weak
and
quarters. Now, the evidence
forms
not
a fagot and
a
strong, taken just as it comes,

would

"

chain.

No

item

one

cites the

content

of another

item

proof. But taken together the items


have a certain general consistency ; there is a method
adds
in their madness, so to speak. So each of them
presumptive value to the lot; and cumulatively,as no
mind
fail to see, they subtract presumptive
candid
can
as

part of its

force

the orthodox

from

in any

own

one's intellect that has

ordinary experiences of
But

belief that there

it is

miserable

not

come

ing
be noth-

can

in

through

sense.

thing for

questionof

truth

Research.
Psychical
to

confined

be

to

319
and

presumption

mere

counter-

presumption,with no decisive thunderbolt of fact to


in
clear the bafflingdarkness.
to say,
And, sooth
of the merely presumption-weakening
talking so much
value of our
records, I have myself been wilfully
rigorously
taking the point of view of the so-called
scientific disbeliever, and
making an ad horninem
point of view is different. For me
plea. My own
'

'

the

thunderbolt

has

fallen,and

had

its

the

belief

orthodox

presumption weakened, but


the truth itself of the belief is decisivelyoverthrown.
If I may
employ the language of the professional
be made
universal proposition can
true
una
logic-shop,
If you
wish to upset
by a particularinstance.
has

not

merely

the

law

that

seek

show

to

that

no

singlecrow
Mrs. Piper.

is

resist the

cannot

which

she

has

crows

to

be

you

; it is

are

white.

In the trances

conviction

never

black,

are

crows

one

prove
crow

all

not

must

if you

enough
My own

white
I

of this medium,

that

knowledge appears
gained by the ordinary waking

the source
and wits.
What
of her eyes and ears
be I know
of this knowledge may
not, and have not
the glimmer of an
explanatory suggestion to make ;
use

but

from

see

no

admitting the
escape.

So

evidence, ghosts and

fact of such

when

all,I

I turn
cannot

knowledge

to

the

carry

rest

with

can

of

the
the

me

'

negativebias of the rigorouslyscientific


irreversibly
the true order
mind, with its presumption as to what
dence
of nature
ought to be. I feel as if,though the evitively
collecnevertheless
be flimsy in spots, it may
rigorouslyscientific
carry heavy weight. The
in
the
mark.
mind
truth, easily overshoot
may,
first of all, a certain dispassionate
Science
means,
'

method.

To

suppose

that

it

means

certain

set

of

Essays in PopularPhilosophy.

320

results that

should

one

pin one's faith upon


mistake
its genius,and

sadly to
the scientific body
forever

is

all,scientists

We

plane

inclined
in

way

he

As

stone

have

broken

such

denies

the

of

be

way

the

which

speak of

far

science

as

lies prostrate in

most

intellectual

urgent

present is that science

I feel at

may

first to cast

Science, so
the

one

the limits of the

exceptionaloccurrences,
and

some

and

trances

mind

own

nature.

for me;

dust

need

for my

down

order

admitted

no

on

plane tips

in another

way

of fact,the

matter

degrades

non-scientists,live

another

hug

sect.

credulity. The

plane tips in

whose

of

status

and

of

man,

one

the

to

and

built

be

such
things may have a
again in a form in which
cay.
defeeds on its own
positiveplace. Science, like life,
New
facts burst old rules ; then
newly divined
ciling
together into a reconconceptions bind old and new
up

law.
is the

here

And

and

Myers

Gurney's work.

of

method

seemed

as

poser
heard
an

I have

it with

fillin all round

might heap
get his

dirt

round

team

over

Myers, startingfrom
long

series which

show

that these

most

but

in

extreme

Myers
has

nature

uses

that

performed
Darwin

facts,as
in

met

the

wagoner
road, and

upsetting. So Mr.
inatordinary facts of tentive
this

follows

of

theory,his regular
colleague say, was

rock

without

terminates
are

his

able

big

laws

When

smaller

the

consciousness,

to

Messrs.

trying with the


ception
reconciling con-

old

hands.

in Darwin's

fact which

thus

find

to

possiblestrain. Mr.
gradual approach which

wonders

custom,
to

are

smallest

the

such

They

subject the

shall

which

of

instructiveness

conscientiousness

utmost

to

real

clue

through

ghosts,and

seeks

manifestations

to

of

Essays in Popular Philosophy.

322

say

the

under

ing

table, but

she

where

has

it,saying:
You
you

'd

put the purse.

"

How

left the

and

rose

did

know

have

we

servant

servant

where

to

duces
proit was?

did n't know


if you
subconscious
thing
some-

as
same

recollect what

The

you

room

dropped it." The

may
accustomed

the

summons

forgotten. A lady

of soda for muscular


takingsalicylate
rheumatism
wakes
one
early winter morning with an
In the twilight
she takes what she supaching neck.
poses
be
her
from
solves
to
a drawer, discustomary powder
it in a glass of water, and
is about
it
to drink
down, when she feels a sharp slap on her shoulder and
hears a voice in her ear saying, Taste it !
On examination,
she finds she has got a morphine powder
is that a sleepby mistake. The natural interpretation
ing
of the morphine powders awoke
in this
memory
A like explanation offers itself
quasi-explosiveway.
most
as
plausiblefor the followingcase : A lady,with
to

"

"

little time
about

to

catch

the

the

train, and

to call,is

for the

expressman
lost key of

a
excitedlylooking
of
packed trunk.
Hurrying upstairswith a bunch
keys, proved useless, in her hand, she hears an
Try the key of the
objective voice distinctly
say,
cake-box."
Being tried,it fits. This also may well
have
been
the effect of forgotten experience.
'

Now,

the

"

effect

is doubtless

mechanism
we

as

instance, goes
servants

who

ascend

; but

the

source

the

scale

of

after breakfast

has

due

become

the

to

same

is less
A

cases.

to

see

ill

over

about

cinatory
hallu-

signed
easilyaslady, for

one

of her

night. She

is

the bedroom
door
distinctly
reading over
in gilt letters the word
small-pox.' The doctor is
sent
for,and ere long pronounces
small-pox to be
The
the disease,although the lady says,
thought of
startled

at

'

"

PsychicalResearch.

323

the

entered
mind
girl'shaving small-pox never
my
the apparent
till I saw
come
inscription." Then
of warning ; for example, that of a youth
other cases
under
a shed, who
sittingin a wagon
suddenly hears
voice say,
his dead mother's
Stephen,get away from
here quick ! and jumps out just in time to see the
"

"

fall.

shed-roof

this

After
to

which

friends

distant

Then, too,

the

come

have

we

experiences of
at

or

persons
ing
appearthe hour
of death.

near

the trance-visions

and

utterances,

ous,
profuse and continuastonishingly
a fairly
high intellectual level. For
all these higher phenomena, it seems
that while
to me
is that of hallucination,'
the proximate mechanism
it
is straining
an
hypothesisunduly to name
any ordinary
mental operation
subconscious
such as expectation,
recollection,or inference from inattentive perception
may
appear
and maintain

'

"

the

as

"

better

tactics,if you

trustworthiness

mind

far from

that

cause

the narratives

brand

The

ultimate

wish

which

is

well all be members

which

we

Thousands
States

not

as

yet know

is to

my

own

yet in the light of the

proved, it
of

of trust.

unworthy

of them

And

might

do

get

themselves

proved.

medium-trance,

to

of most

it up.
It is far
rid of mystery, to

starts

seems

natural kind

as

if

they

of fact of

the full extent.

of sensitive

organizationsin the United


steadily in the light of these

to-day live as
indifferent to modern
ence,
scias
experiences, and are
if they lived in Bohemia
in the twelfth cenas
tury.
ence
They are indifferent to science, because sciis so callouslyindifferent to their experiences.
science
Although in its essence
only stands for a
method
fixed
and
for no
belief,yet as habitually
taken, both by its votaries and outsiders, it is identi-

324

Essays in PopularPhilosophy.

fied with

hidden

certain

fixed

of nature

order

belief,
"

the

is mechanical

belief that

the

exclusively,and

that non-mechanical

categoriesare irrational ways of


such thingsas human
conceiving and explainingeven
life. Now, this mechanical
rationalism,as one
may
of thinking,
one's only way
call it,makes, if it becomes
of thinking that
breach
with the ways
a violent
have played the greatest part in human
ligious
history. Rethinking, ethical thinking,poeticalthinking,
what
one
emotional, sentimental thinking,
tekological,
might call the personal view of life to distinguishit
from
the impersonaland mechanical, and the romantic
it from the rationalistic view,
view of life to distinguish
still are, outside of well-drilled
have
been, and even
forms of thought. But
the dominant
scientific circles,
stantial
for mechanical
rationalism, personalityis an insubbelief of mankind, that
illusion. The chronic
events
nifica
happen for the sake of their personal sigmay
is

abomination

an

; and

the notions

of

our

divinations and
grandfathersabout oracles and omens,
miraculous
changes of heart and wonders
apparitions,
and
worked
to prayer
by inspired persons, answers
providentialleadings,are a fabric absolutelybaseless,
a

mass

of sheer
of course,

Now,

untruth..
we

must

all admit

that the

excesses

personal view of nature


ism,
lead, if wholly unchecked
by impersonal rationalmay
Central African
direful.
are
Mumbo-jumboism
romanticism's
fruits. One
is one
of unchecked
ought
of
accordingly to sympathize with that abhorrence
romanticism
as
a sufficient
world-theory; one
ought
that livelyintolerance of the least grain
to understand
of life of other people,
in the views
of romanticism

to

which

which

are

the

romantic

such

and

characteristic

marks

of

those

who

Research.
Psychical

325

follow the scientific

professionsto-day. Our debt to


is literally
science
boundless, and our
gratitudefor
be correspondwhat
is positivein her teachings must
ingly
But the S. P. R.'s Proceedingshave,
immense.
it seems
to me,
conclusivelyproved one thing to the
reader; and

candid

is that

that

the

insanity,of gratuitouspreference for


without

day

led

are

by

of stition
superthe scientists of our

which

excuse,

an

of pure

verdict

their intellectual

error,

trainingto

pronounce

thought of the past, is a most shallow


The
verdict.
personal and romantic view of life has
of imagination
exuberance
other roots besides wanton
of heart.
It is perennially
fed by facts
and perversity
of
whatever
the ulterior interpretation
of experience,
upon

the entire

those

facts may
prove
historywould it have
times

most

with

advocates
an

array

which

our

relate to

it would
a

to be ; and

been

have

at

less easy

been

much

than
more

documents

as

publications
present. These
real experiences of persons.
three

now

at

"

easy

for

"

little industry to collect in its favor

of contemporary

have

in human

time

no

characters

in

good

as

those
all

documents

These

common

experiences
They are

discontinuous, and not easilycontrolled ;


capricious,
for their production ; their
they requirepeculiar
persons
to be wholly for personallife. Those
seems
significance
who preferentially
attend to them, and still more
those
who
are
individuallysubjectto them, not only easily
bound
valid
to find,in them
find,but are logically
may
and personal conception
arguments for their romantic
of the world's course.
Through my slightparticipation
in the investigations
of the S. P. R. I have become
of this sort, for
of persons
acquainted with numbers
whom

the very word


'science*
of reproach,for reasons
that I

has
now

become
both

name

understand

Essays in Popular Philosophy.

326
and

It is the intolerance

respect.

phenomena

for such

studying,her peremptory denial


of their significance
existence
or
(except

as

are

we

either of their

proofsof

as

of science

absolute

man's

that
folly),

innate

has

sympathies of
I confess that it is on this,its humanizing
the race.
mission, that the Society'sbest claim to the gratitude
of our
It has
to depend.
to me
generation seems
restored
some
continuity to history. It has shown
aberrations
reasonable basis for the most
superstitious
It has bridged the chasm, healed
of the foretime.
science

set

rift that

f-he hideous
way,

the

apart from

so

science, taken

I will

even

step farther.

one

go
advanced

in

certain

When

standpointwe look
thought, whether
past stages of human
thought or theological
thought, we are

present

which

universe

one

little and

so

Descartes's
the

world

materialists

or

us

should

complication

any

to

appears

of

from

back

and

have

ever

last century

the

upon

amazed

vast

so

our

it be scientific
that

seemed

it be
that

or

rious
mysteto

it be

Whether

plain a thing.
Newton's, whether

of the

narrow

world.

shot into the human

has

common

that
of

of
the

Bridgewatertreatises of our own, it always looks the


short.
to us,
and
same
incredibly perspectiveless
Even
sciousness
conLyell's,Faraday's, Mill's,and Darwin's
of their respectivesubjects are
already
beginning to put on an infantile and innocent look.
Is it then likelythat the science of our
own
day will
"

escape
votaries

the
will

never

of the
so.

Yet

past, when
it will be

doom

common

if

we

our

more

look
latter?

that

the

old-fashioned
be

minds
to

the

of

its

children
grand-

follyto suppose
are
to judge by the analogy of the
science once
becomes
old-fashioned,
for its omissions
of fact,for its ignoIt would

Psychical
whole

of

ranee

the
lack

its

in

is

and

spirit

of

science

nothing

the

of

thing

that

only

we

of

elements

part

rigorous
nature

to

prove
be

most

omission

look

personality

belief

that

the

that

to

perspectiveless

at

in

their

eyes

and

own

our

will

short.

the

fessors
pro-

ality,
person-

events,

and

most
inner-

world,

impersonal
of

time

ence's
sci-

on

of

essential

goes

round,
will

descendants

science,

boasted
most

life.

abstract

denial

condition

our

ence
experi-

our

of

of

one

whirligig

form

personal

category

strictly

that

only

thinking,

own

forces

only

own

our

its

defect

very

surprised

is
the

as

The

systematic
as

in

world

our

be

this

And

ing
deal-

personal

our

being

there

from

the

the

is

us,

category

conceivably,

may,

of

tell

that.
of

is

have,

ciples
prin;

science
which

fatal

and

method

effects.

category

other

of

in

any

spirit

encounter,

concretely

philosophy

every

in

new

directly

we

complete

of

this

of

starting-point

that

The

world

for

The

hinder

need

complexity

than

affairs

mere

with

that

of

principles.

them

in

orders

explained,

are

successfully
are

be

to

327

and

ranges

phenomena

Research.

tend

to

make

the

it

Index.

33"

his

Doubt, 54, log.


Dupery, 27.

providence,182;

his

demands

obligation,
193 ; his function

create

Ethics,212-215.
Goethe, in.
Good, 168,200, 201.
Goodness, 190.
Great-man
theory of history,232.
and
Great
their environment,
men
216-254.
Green, 206.
Gryzanowski, 240.
Gurney, 306, 307, 311.
Guthrie,309.
Guyau, 188.
in

mood,

Easy-going

211, 213.

Elephant, 282.
Emerson,

23, 175.

Empiricism, L, 12, 14, 17, 278.


England, 228.
Environment, its relation to great men,
223, 226; to great thoughts,250.
Error, 163; duty of avoiding,18.
of good and bad, 200-1.
Essence
200.
Ethical ideals,
Ethical philosophy,208, 210, 216.
Ethical standards,205 ; diversityof,

Hallucinations, Census of,312.


Happiness, 33.
Ethics, its three questions,185.
16.
282.
Harris,
Evidence, objective,
13, 15,
Hegel, 72, 263; his excessive claims,
Evil,46, 49, 161, 190.
his use
of negation,273, 290;
272;
Evolution,social,232, 237; mental,
of contradiction,
274, 276 ; on being,
245.
ity,
281 ; on
otherness, 283 ; on infinEvolutionism, its test of right,98terminati
deon
100.
284; on identity,285;
289; his ontological
Expectancy, 77-80.
rationalized, emotion,297.
Experience,crude,versus
118 j tests our faiths,
Hegelisms, on some, 263-298.
105.
200.

Heine, 203.
271.
Faith, that truth

Helmholtz, 85, 91.

against 'scientific'
ate
cremay
91-4;
objections,viii-xi,
its own
verification,
59, 96-103.
76.
Familiarity confers rationality,

Hinton, J., 101.


Hodgson, R., 308.

Facts,

Henry IV., 62.


exists,
9, 23 ; in our
tion
Herbart,280.
fellows,24-5 ; school boys' definifor
mism, Hero-worship, 261.
pessiof, 29; a remedy
56 ; defined, Hinton, C. H., 15.
60, 1 01 ; religious,
90;

defended

Hodgson,

H.,

10.

Honor, 50.

Hugo,

Fatalism, 88.
Fiske, 255, 260.

S.

213.

mind,

Human

its habit of

abstracting,

Fitzgerald,160.
Freedom, 103, 271.
Free-will,
103, 145, 157.

Huxley, 6,

Galton,
242.
Geniuses, 226, 229.

Hypnotism, 302, 309.


Hypotheses, live or dead, 2; their
verification,
105 ; of genius,249.

Ghosts, 315.
Gnosticism, 138-140, 165,169.

Ideals,

God, 61, 68
our

relations

our

to

on

causation,278.

200

10, 92.

; their

Idealism,89, 291.
285.
mind, 116, Identity,
211.
Imperatives,
him, 134-6;

43 ; the most

; of Nature,

adequate object for


122;

219.
Hume

202.
conflict,

Index.

331
the,281.

the, 255Importance of individuals,


its
ground,257.
262 ; of things,

Naked,

Zndeterminism, 150.
Individual differences,259.

Nature, 20,

Negation,

Individuals,the importance of, 255-

Newman,

Natural theology,40-4.

as

Nitrous

262.

56.

41-4,

used by

Hegel,273.

10.

oxide,294.

Nonentity, 72.

Infinite,284.
Intuitionism,in Ethics,186,189.

evidence,13, 15, 16.


Obligation,192-7*
Occult phenomena, 300 ; examplesof,
Objective

Jevons, 249.
Judgments of regret,159.

323Omar

Knowing,

Khayam, 160.
Optimism, 60, 102, 163.
Options offered to belief,
3, 11, 27.
Origin of moral judgments, 186-8.
1
Other,'in Hegel, 283.

12.

Knowledge, 85.
Leap

precipice,
59, 96.

on

Leibnitz, 43.

Life,is

it worth

living,
32-62*

Parsimony,

law

of,132.

Partaking,268, 270, 275, 291.


i76-7"
Mahdi, the, 2, 6.
Mallock, 32, 183.
Marcus
Aurelius,41.
Maggots,

Pascal's wager,

'Maybes,' 59.
of

n.

Personality,
324, 327.
Pessimism, 39, 40, 47, 60, 100, 101,
161, 167.
Philosophy,65 ; depends on personal
demands, 93 ; makes world unreal,

Materialism, 126.
Measure

5,

good, 205.

Mediumship, physical,
313, 314.
Melancholy, 34, 39, 42"
Mental evolution,
246; structure,114,
117.

39 ; seeks unification,67-70 ; the


16.
its contradictions,

ultimate, no;

112.
Physiology,its prestige,
Mrs.,
Piper,
314, 319.
Plato,268.
Pluralism,vi,151, 178, I92" 264,267.

Mill,234.
Mind, its triadic structure, 114, 117;
Positivism, 54, 108.
its evolution,
ments, Postulates,
246 ; its three depart91-2.
114, 122, 127-8.
Possibilities,
181-2,
151,

Monism,

Moods,

292, 294.
with
^

279.
the

strenuous

Powers,
and

the

powers
the world, 86.

easy,

211, 213.

Moralists, objective and

our

as

congruous

Providence, 180.
research, what

subjective,Psvchical

103-108.

299-327;

judgments, their origin,186-8


obligation, 192-7 ; order, 193

Moral

;
;

it has

Society

complished,
ac-

for

3"3" 3"5" 325-

Pugnacity,49,

51.

philosophy,184-5.
Moral

philosopherand
the, 184-215.
Murder, 178.
Murderer, 160, 177.

the moral

Myers, 308,315, 320.

Mysticalphenomena, 300.
Mysticism, 74.

life. Questions,
Rationalism,

three,in Ethics,185.
12, 30.

Rationality,the sentiment of,63-110;


limits of theoretic,65-74 ; mystical,
74 ;

152.

of,
82-4 ; postulates
practical,

Index.

33*
Rational
Reflex

order of
action

world,118, 125, 147.

and

theism, m-144.
Reflex action defined,
113 ; it refutes
gnosticism,140-1.
Regret, judgments of,159.
Religion, natural,52; of humanity,
198.
Religious hypothesis,
25, 28, 51.
Religiousminds, 40.
Renan, 170, 172.
Renouvier, 143.
Risks

of

belief

disbelief,
ix, 26

or

rules for

minimizing, 94.
of world, 324.
Romanticism, 172-3.
Rousseau, 4, ^) 87.
Ruskin, 37.
Romantic

view

Subliminal

self,'
315, 321.

Substance, 80.
Suicide,38, 50, 60.
System in philosophy,13, 185,199.
Telepathy,
10, 309.
Theism, and reflex action,111-144.
Theism, 127, 134-6 ; see ' God.'
Theology, natural,41 ; Calvinistic,
45.
Theoretic
faculty,128.
Thought-transference,309.
Thomson, 35-7, 45, 46.
Toleration,30.
Tolstoi,188.
'
Totality,'the principleof,277.
Triadlc structure
of mind, 123.
Truth, criteria of, 15; and error, 18 1
moral, 190-1.

Salter, 62.
Unitarians,
126, 133.
Scepticism, 12, 23, 109.
Unknowable, the,68, 81.
Scholasticism,13.
Universe
M
ality,
=
+ x, 101 ; its rationSchopenhauer, 72, 169.
125, 137.
Science, 10, 21 ; its recency, 52-4 ;
Unseen
world, 51, 54, 56,61.
due to peculiardesire,129-132, 147;
Utopias, 168.
its disbelief of the occult,317-320;
its negation of personality,324-6;
Value, judgments of,103.
nism,
decide questionof determicannot
Variations,in heredity,etc.,225, 249.
152.
Vaudois, 48.
Science of Ethics, 208-210.
Veddah, 258.
226.
Selection of
great

Sentiment

of

men,

rationality,
63.

Verification

of

theories,
95, 105-8.

Vivisection,58.

Seriousness, 86.

Shakespeare, 32, 235.


Waldenses,
47-9.
Sidgwick, 303, 307.
Wallace, 239, 304.
Sigwart, 120, 148.
Whitman,
33, 64, 74.
research,303 ; its
Society for psychical
Wordsworth, 60.
Proceedings,'305, 325.
World, its ambiguity,76 ; the invisible,
Sociology,259.
51, 54, 56 ; two orders of, 118,
Solitude,moral, 191.
Worth, judgments of,103.
Space, 265.
Wright, 52.
Spencer, 168, 218, 232-235, 246, 251,
'

260.

Stephen, L., 1.
Stephen, Sir J., t,
Stoics, 274.
Strenuous
mood,

X., Miss, 314.


30, 212.

Zola,
211,

213.

Subjectivism,
165, 170.

172.

Zollner,15.

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