This childhood has been unduly long, but happily we are near to the end of it, for humanity, shaken by this war, is coming to its senses and must soon enter its manhood, a period of great achievements and rewards in the new and real sense of values dawning upon us.
The sacred dead will not have died for naught; the "red wine of youth," the wanton waste of life, has shown us the price of life, and we will have to keep our oath to make the future worthy of their sweat and blood.
Early ideas are not necessarily true ideas.
There are different kinds of interpretations of history and different schools of philosophy. All of them have contributed something to human progress, but none of them has been able to give the world a basic philosophy embracing the whole progress of science and establishing the life of man upon the abiding foundation of Fact.
Our life is bound to develop according to evident or else concealed laws of nature. The evident laws of nature were the inspiration of genuine science in its cradle; and their interpretations or misinterpretations have from the earliest times formed systems of law, of ethics, and of philosophy.
Human intellect, be it that of an individual or that of the race, forms conclusions which have to be often revised before they correspond approximately to facts. What we call progress consists in coordinating ideas with realities. The World War has taught something to everybody. It was indeed a great reality; it accustomed us to think in terms of reality and not in those of phantom speculation. Some unmistakable truths were revealed. Facts and force were the things that counted. Power had to be produced to destroy hostile power; it was found that the old political and economic systems were not adequate to the task put upon them. The world had to create new economic conditions; it was obliged to supplement the old systems with special boards for food, coal, railroads, shipping, labor, etc. The World War emergency compelled the nations to organize for producing greater power in order to conquer power already great.
If there is anything which this war has proved, it is the fact that the most important asset a nation or an individual can have, is the ability "to do things."
"In Flanders Fields the poppies blow . . .," that is too true; they blow and they are strong and red. But the purpose of this writing is not the celebration of poetry, but the elucidation and right use of facts.
Normally, thousands of rabbits and guinea pigs are used and killed, in scientific laboratories, for experiments which yield great and tangible benefits to humanity. This war butchered millions of people and ruined the health and lives of tens of millions. Is this climax of the pre-war civilization to be passed unnoticed, except for the poetry and the manuring of the battle fields, that the "poppies blow" stronger and better fed? Or is the death of ten men on the battle field to be of as much worth in knowledge gained as is the life of one rabbit killed for experiment ? Is the great sacrifice worth analysing ? There can be only one answer-yes. But, if truth be desired, the analysis must be scientific.
In science, "opinions" are tolerated when and only when facts are lacking. In this case, we have all the facts necessary. We have only to collect them and analyse them, rejecting mere "opinions" as cheap and unworthy. Such as understand this lesson will know how to act for the benefit of all.
At present the future of mankind is dark. "Stop, look, and listen"-the prudent caution at railroad crossings-must be amended to read "stop, look, listen, and THINK"; not for the saving of a few lives in railroad accidents, but for the preservation of the life of humanity. Living organisms, of the lower and simpler types, in which the differentiation and the integration of the vital organs have not been carried far, can move about for a considerable time after being deprived of the appliances by which the life force is accumulated and transferred, but higher organisms are instantly killed by the removal of such appliances, or even by the injury of minor parts of them; even more easily destroyed are the more advanced and complicated social organizations.
The first question is: what are to be the scientific methods that will eliminate diverse opinions and creeds from an analysis of facts and ensure correct deductions based upon them ? A short survey of facts concerning civilization will help to point the way.
Humanity, in its cradle, did not have science; it had only the faculties of observation and speculation. In the early days there was much speculative thinking, but it was without any sufficient basis of facts. Theology and philosophy flourished; their speculations were often very clever, but all their primitive notions about facts-such as the structure of the heavens, the form of the earth, mechanical principles, meteorological or physiological phenomena-were almost all of them wrong.
What is history? What is its
significance for humanity? Dr. J. H. Robinson gives us a precise
answer: "Man's abject dependence on the past gives rise to
the continuity of history. Our convictions, opinions, prejudices,
intellectual tastes; our knowledge, our methods of learning and
of applying for information we owe, with slight exceptions, to
the past-often to the remote past. History is an expansion of
memory, and like memory it alone can explain the present and in
this lies its most unmistakable value."1
The savage regards every striking
phenomenon or group of phenomena as caused by some personal agent,
and from remotest antiquity the mode of thinking has changed only
as fast as the relations among phenomena have been
established.2
Human nature was always asking
"why" ? and not being able to answer why, they found
their answer through another factor "who." The unknown
was called, Gods or God. But with the progress of science the
"why" became more and more evident, and the question
came to be "how." From the early days of humanity, dogmatic
theology, law, ethics, and science in its infancy, were the monopolies
of one class and the source of their power.3
The first to break this power
were the exact sciences. They progressed too rapidly to be bound
and limited by obscure old writings and prejudices; life and realities
were their domain. Science brushed aside all sophistry and became
a reality. Ethics is too fundamentally important a factor in civilization
to depend upon a theological or a legal excuse; ethics must conform
to the natural laws of human nature.
Laws, legal ideas, date from
the beginning of civilization. Legal speculation was wonderfully
developed in parallel lines with theology and philosophy before
the natural and exact sciences came into existence. Law was always
made by the few and in general for the purpose of preserving the
"existing order," or for the reestablishment of the
old order and the punishment of the offenders against it.
Dogmatic theology is, by its
very nature, unchangeable. The same can be said in regard to the
spirit of the law. Law was and is to protect the past and present
status of society and, by its very essence, must be very conservative,
if not reactionary. Theology and law are both of them static by
their nature.4
Philosophy, law and ethics,
to be effective in a dynamic world must be dynamic; they must
be made vital enough to keep pace with the progress of life and
science. In recent civilization ethics, because controlled by
theology and law, which are static, could not duly influence the
dynamic, revolutionary progress of technic and the steadily changing
conditions of life; and so we witness a tremendous downfall of
morals in politics and business. Life progresses faster than our
ideas, and so medieval ideas, methods and judgments are constantly
applied to the conditions and problems of modern life. This discrepancy
between facts and ideas is greatly responsible for the dividing
of modern society into different warring classes, which do not
understand each other. Medieval legalism and medieval morals-
the basis of the old social structure-being by their nature
conservative, reactionary, opposed to change, and thus becoming
more and more unable to support the mighty social burden of the
modern world, must be adjudged responsible in a large measure
for the circumstances which made the World War inevitable.
Under the flash of explosives
some of the workings of those antiquated ideas were exposed or
crushed. The World War has profoundly changed economic conditions
and made it necessary to erect new standards of values. We are
forced to realize that evolution by transformation is a cosmic
process and that reaction, though it may retard it, can not entirely
stop it.5
The idea that organic species
are results of special creation has no scientific standard whatever.
There is not one fact tending to prove special or separate creation;
the evidence, which is overwhelming, is all of it on the other
side. The hypothesis of special creation is a mere fossil of the
past. Evolution is the only theory which is in harmony with facts
and with all branches of science; life is dynamic, not static.
Philosophy, as defined by
Fichte, is the "science of sciences." Its aim was to
solve the problems of the world. In the past, when all exact sciences
were in their infancy, philosophy had to be purely speculative,
with little or no regard to realities. But if we regard philosophy
as a Mother science, divided into many branches, we find that
those branches have grown so large and various, that the Mother
science looks like a hen with her little ducklings paddling in
a pond, far beyond her reach; she is unable to follow her growing
hatchlings. In the meantime, the progress of life and science
goes on, irrespective of the cackling of metaphysics. Philosophy
does not fulfill her initial aim to bring the results of experimental
and exact sciences together and to solve world problems. Through
endless, scientific specialization scientific branches multiply,
and for want of coordination the great world-problems suffer.
This failure of philosophy to fulfill her boasted mission of scientific
coordination is responsible for the chaos in the world of general
thought. The world has no collective or organized higher ideals
and aims, nor even fixed general purposes. Life is an accidental
game of private or collective ambitions and greeds.6
Systematic study of chemical
and physical phenomena has been carried on for many generations
and these two sciences now include: (1) knowledge of an enormous
number of facts; (2) a large body of natural laws; (3) many fertile
working hypotheses respecting the causes and regularities of natural
phenomena; and finally (4) many helpful theories held subject
to correction by further testing of the hypotheses giving rise
to them. When a subject is spoken of as a science, it is understood
to include all of the above mentioned parts. Facts alone do not
constitute a science any more than a pile of stones constitutes
a house, not even do facts and laws alone; there must be facts,
hypotheses, theories and laws before the subject is entitled to
the rank of a science.
The primal function of a science
is to enable us to anticipate the future in the field to which
it relates.
Judged by this standard, neither
philosophy nor its kindred-the so-called social sciences-have
in the past been very effective. There was, for example, no official
warning of the coming of the World War-the greatest of catastrophies.
The future was not anticipated because political philosophers
did not possess the necessary basis of knowledge. To be just we
must admit that philosophy has been but little aided financially
because it is commonly regarded as unnecessary. The technical
branches of science have been strongly backed and generally supported
by those to whom they have brought direct profit; and so they
have had better opportunities for development.
Ethics in the stifling grip
of myth and legalism is not convincing enough to exercise controlling
influence. Such is the situation in which we find ourselves. Being
still in our childhood and thinking like savages, we looked upon
the World War as a personal creation of a "war-lord,"
because those interested in it told us so. We neglected to use
our common sense and look deeper into its origins; to perform
for ourselves the duty which political philosophy did not perform
for us-the duty of thinking in terms of facts and not in terms
of metaphysical speculations. Knowledge of facts would have told
us that the war lords were only the representatives of the ruling
classes. A system of social and economic order built exclusively
on selfishness, greed, "survival of the fittest," and
ruthless competition, must cease to exist, or exist by means of
war. The representatives of this system determined to continue
to exist, and so war was the consequence. The ruling classes carried
the whole system under which they lived to its logical conclusion
and natural issue, which is "grab what you can." This
motto is not peculiar to any one country; it is the motto of our
whole civilization and is the inevitable outcome of our stupid
philosophy regarding the characteristic nature of man and the
proper potentialities of human life. Where are we to find the
true doctrines ? Where the true philosophy? If we go back over
the history of civilization, we find that in all "sciences,"
except the exact ones, private opinions and theories have shaped
our beliefs, colored our mental processes and controlled our destinies;
we see, for example, pessimism opposed to optimism, materialism
to spiritualism, realism to idealism, capitalism to socialism,
and so on endlessly. Each of the disputatious systems has a large
number of followers and each faction looks upon the others as
deprived of truth, common sense and knowledge. All of them play
with the words "natural law" which they ignorantly presume
to have as the basis and content of their own particular doctrine.
It is the same in the realm
of religions; there are approximately 291 million Confucianists,
or Taoists, 761 million Roman Catholics, 211 million Mohammedans,
209 million Hindus, 177 million Protestants, 157 million Animists,
137 million Buddhists, 115 million Orthodox Christians-to speak
only of the most important religions. Each group, and they are
rather large groups, believes its theory or its faith to be infallible
and all the others to be false.
Bacon seems a bit remote,
but the idols and medieval fetishes which he so masterfully describes
are equally venerated to-day.
(Novum Organum by Francis Bacon.)
34. "Four species of
idols beset the human mind, to which (for distinction's sake)
we have assigned names, calling the first Idols of the Tribe,
the second Idols of the Den, the third Idols of the Market, the
fourth Idols of the Theatre.
40. "The information
of notions and axioms on the foundation of true induction is the
only fitting remedy by which we can ward off and expel these idols.
It is, however, of great service to point them out; for the doctrine
of idols bears the same relation to the interpretation of nature
as that of the confutation of sophisms does to common logic.
41. "The idols of the
tribe are inherent in human nature and the very tribe or race
of man; for man's sense is falsely asserted to be the standard
of things; on the contrary, all the perceptions both of the senses
and the mind bear reference to man and not to the Universe, and
the human mind resembles these uneven mirrors which impart their
own properties to different objects, from which rays are emitted
and distort and disfigure them.
42. "The idols of the
den are those of each individual; for everybody (in addition to
the errors common to the race of man) has his own individual den
or cavern, which intercepts and corrupts the light of nature,
either from his own peculiar and singular disposition, or from
his education and intercourse with others, or from his reading,
and the authority acquired by those whom he reverences and admires,
or from the different impressions produced on the mind, as it
happens to be preoccupied and predisposed, or equable and tranquil,
and the like; so that the spirit of man (according to its several
dispositions), is variable, confused, and, as it were, actuated
by chance; and Heraclitus said well that men search for knowledge
in lesser worlds, and not in the greater or common world.
43. "There are also idols
formed by the reciprocal intercourse and society of man with man,
which we call idols of the market, from the commerce and association
of men with each other; for men converse by means of language,
but words are formed at the will of the generality, and there
arises from a bad and unapt formation of words a wonderful obstruction
to the mind. Nor can the definitions and explanations with which
learned men are wont to guard and protect themselves in some instances
afford a complete remedy-words still manifestly force the understanding,
throw everything into confusion, and lead mankind into vain and
innumerable controversies and fallacies.
44. "Lastly, there are
idols which have crept into men's minds from the various dogmas
of peculiar systems of philosophy, and also from the perverted
rules of demonstration, and these we denominate idols of the theatre:
for we regard all the systems of philosophy hitherto received
or imagined, as so many plays brought out and performed, creating
fictitious and theatrical worlds. Nor do we speak only of the
present systems, or of the philosophy and sects of the ancients,
since numerous other plays of a similar nature can be still composed
and made to agree with each other, the causes of the most opposite
errors being generally the same. Nor, again, do we allude merely
to general systems, but also to many elements and axioms of sciences
which have become inveterate by tradition, implicit credence,
and neglect."7
Metaphysical speculation and
its swarming progeny of blind and selfish political philosophies,
private opinions, private "truths," and private doctrines,
sectarian opinions, sectarian "truths" and sectarian
doctrines, querulous, confused and blind-such is characteristic
of the childhood of humanity. The period of humanity's
manhood will, I doubt not, be a scientific period-a period
that will witness the gradual extension of scientific method to
all the interests of mankind-a period in which man will discover
the essential nature of man and establish, at length, the science
and art of directing human energies and human capacities to the
advancement of human weal in accordance with the laws of human
nature.
1
An Outline of the History of the Western European Mind, by James
Harvey Robinson. The New School for Social Research New York, 1919.
This little volume gives condensed statements, as in a nutshell, of
the historical developments of the human mind and contains a long
list of the most substantial modern books on historical questions.
All the further historical quotations will be taken from this
exceptionally valuable little book, and for convenience they will
simply be marked by his initials—J. H. R.
2
(J. H. R.) "Late appearance of a definite theory of progress.
Excessive conservatism of primitive peoples. The Greeks speculated
on the origin of things but they did not have a conception of the
possibility of indefinite progress . . . Progress of man from the
earliest time till the opening of the 17th century almost altogether
unconscious.... Fundamental weakness of Hellenic learning. It was an
imposing collection of speculation, opinions, and guesses, which,
however brilliant and ingenious they might be, were based on a very
slight body of exact knowledge, and failed to recognize the
fundamental necessity of painful scientific research, aided by
apparatus. There was no steady accumulation of knowledge to offset
the growing emotional distrust of reason.... Unfulfilled promise of
Hellenistic science. Influence of slavery in checking the development
of science.... The deficiencies of Medieval culture. All the
weaknesses of the Hellenic reasoning, combined with those of the
Christian Fathers, underlay what appeared to be a most logically
elaborated and definitive system of thought. Defects of the
university education.... Little history of Natural science, in our
sense of the word, taught in the universities.... Copernicus, 'De
Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium.' Libri VI, 1543.... Copernicus'
own introduction acknowledges his debt to ancient philosophers. Still
believed in fixed Starry Sphere. His discovery had little immediate
effect on prevailing notions. Giordano Bruno (1548-1600) made it his
chief business to think out and set forth in Latin and Italian the
implications of the discovery of Copernicus.... Bruno burned by the
Inquisition at Rome.... Keppler (1571-1630) and his discovery of the
elliptical orbits of the planets. Galileo (1564-1642). His telescope
speedily improved so as to magnify 32 diameters. His attitude toward
the Copernican theory, which was condemned by Roman Inquisition
1616.... Galileo's chief discoveries were in physics and mechanics.
Isaac Newton (1642-1727) proved that the laws of falling bodies apply
to the heavens. This made a deep impression and finally the newer
conceptions of the universe began to be popularized.... Lord Bacon
(1561-1626), the 'Buccinator' of experimental and applied modern
science.... His lively appreciation of the existing obstacles to
scientific advance, the idols of the tribe, cave, market-place, and
theatre.... Necessity of escaping from the scholastic methods of
'tumbling up and down in our reasons and conceits,' and studying the
world about us. Undreamed of achievements possible if only the right
method of research be followed . . . the distrust of ancient
authority.... Descartes (1596-1650), ... he proposed to reach the
truth through analysis and clear ideas, on the assumption that God
will not deceive.... His fundamental interest in mathematics....
His claim to originality and his rejection of all authority....
Obstacles to scientific advance the universities still dominated by
Aristotle; the theological faculties; the censorship of the press
exercised by both church and state, . . ."
3
(J. H. R.) "Phases of religious complex. ‘Religious,’ a vague and comprehensive term applied to:
(1) certain classes of emotions (awe, dependence, self-distrust, aspirations, etc.); (2) Conduct,
which may take the form of distinctive religious acts (ceremonies, sacrifices, prayers, ‘good
works’) or the observance of what in primitive conditions are recognized as ‘taboos’;
(3) Priestly, or ecclesiastical organizations; (4) Beliefs about supernatural beings and man's
relations to them: the latter may take the form of revelation and be reduced to creeds and
become the subject of elaborate theological speculations. 4
(J. H. R.) "The Socio-psychological foundations of conservatism: Primitive natural
reverence for the familiar and habitual greatly reenforced by religion and law. Natural
conservatism of all professions. Those who suffer most from existing institutions
commonly, helplessly accept the situation as inevitable. Position of the conservative;
he urges the impossibility of altering ‘human nature’ and warns against the disasters
of revolution. Conservatism in the light of history: History would seem to discredit
conservatism completely as a working principle in view of the past achievements of
mankind in the recent past and the possibilities which opened before us.... Futility
of the appeal of the conservative to human nature as an obstacle to progress....
Culture can not be transmitted hereditarily but can be accumulated through education
and modified indefinitely."
5
(J. H. R.) "Formulation and establishment of the evolutionary hypothesis. Discovery
of the great age of the earth; . . . gradual development of the evolutionary theory....
Darwin's ‘Origin of the Species,’ 1859. Herbert Spencer (1820-I903).... Haeckel
(1834-1919) and others clarify, defend and popularize the new doctrine. Subsequent
development of the evolutionary doctrine by Mendel, Weisman, DeVries and others.
Weakening of the special creation theory by other evidence such as archeology and
biblical criticism. The significance of the doctrine for intellectual history. Character of
the opposition to the evolutionary theory. Popular confusion of ‘Darwinism’ with
‘evolution’; Revolutionary effects of the new point of view. Does away with
conception of fixed species (Platonic ideas) that had previously dominated
speculation. The genetic method adopted in all the organic sciences, including the
newer social sciences. Problem of adjusting history to the discoveries of the past
50 years. Bearing of evolution on the theory of progress. Organic evolution and
social evolution."
6
(J. H. R.) "The Deists and philosophers destroy the older theological anthropology
and reassert the dignity of man; the growth of criticism and liberalism has made the
analysis of social institutions somewhat less dangerous; the general growth of
knowledge has reacted in a stimulating way upon the sciences of society; the great
increase in the number, complexity and intensity of social problems has proved a
strong incentive to social science; The Darwinian hypothesis has rendered
preposterous any conception of a wholly static social system. However, the
modern social sciences in our capitalistic order meet much the same resistance
from the ‘vested interests’ that theological radicalism encountered in the Middle
Ages. and social science has in no way approached the objectivity and
progressiveness of present day natural science.... Grave effects of vested rights in
hampering experiments and readjustments.... Obstacles to readjustment presented
by consecrated traditions.... Influence of modern commercialism in the inordinate
development of organization and regimentation in our present educational system.
Psychological disadvantages of our conventional examination system. As yet our
education has not been brought into close relation with prevailing conditions of our
ever increasing knowledge.... Excellent aims and small achievements of sociology in
practical results. (Because of absolute lack of any scientific base. Author.) General
nature of the problem of social reform: psychological problems involved in social
reform movements: violent resistance of the group to that criticism of the existing
institutions which must precede any effective social reform.... "
7
(J. H. R.) "During the past two centuries the application of the scientific
discoveries to daily life has revolutionized our methods of supplying our
economic needs, our social and intellectual life, and the whole range of the
relations of mankind. The impulse of invention, iron, coal, and steam essential
to the development of machinery on a large scale; machinery has in turn begotten
the modern factory with its vast organized labor, the modern city and finally,
our well nigh perfect means of rapid human inter-communication. The
tremendous increase in the production of wealth and the growing interdependence
of nations has opened up a vast range of speculation in regard to the betterment
of mankind to the abolition or reduction of poverty, ignorance, disease, and war....
Man advances from a tool-using to a machine-controlling animal. The rise of the
factory system, the concentration and localization of industry; increased division
of labor and specialization of industrial processes. The great increase in the volume
of capital and in the extent of investments; the separation of capital and labor and
the growth of impersonal economic relationship. Problems of capital and labor;
unemployment and the labor of women and children; labor organizations. Increased
productivity and the expansion of commerce. Industrial processes become dynamic
and everchanging-a complete reversal of the old stability, repetition and isolation."
"Association of religion with the supernatural; religion has always had for its primary object
the attainment of a satisfactory adjustment to, or a successful control over, the supernatural....
The cultural mind viewed as the product of a long and hazardous process of accumulation....
Spontaneous generation of superstitions. Prevalence of symbolism, mana, animism, magic,
fetishism, totemism; the taboo (cf. our modern idea of ‘principle’), the sacred, clean and
unclean, ‘dream logic’-spontaneous rationalizing or ‘jumping at conclusions’; . . .
The 16th book of the Theodosian Code contains edicts relating to the Church issued by the
Roman Emperors during the 4th and 5th centuries. They make it a crime to disagree with the
Church; they provide harsh penalties for heretical teaching and writing, and grant privileges
to the orthodox clergy (exemptions from regular taxes and benefit of the clergy). . . .
Christianity becomes a monopoly defended by the state . . . Psychological power and
attraction in the elaborate symbolism and ritual of the church.... Allegory put an end to all
literary criticism.... Flourishing of the miraculous; any unusual or startling occurrence
attributed to the intervention of either God or the Devil.... Older conceptions of disease
as caused by the Devil.... Our legal expression ‘act of God’ confined to unforseeable
natural disasters. How with a growing appreciation for natural law and a chastened taste
in wonders, miracles have tended to become a source of intellectual distress and
bewilderment.... Protestants shared with Roman Catholics the horror of ‘rationalists’
and ‘free-thinkers.’ The leaders of both parties agreed in hampering and denouncing
scientific discoveries.... Witchcraft in its modern form emerges clearly in the 15th
century.... Great prevalence of witchcraft during the 16th and 17th centuries in Protestant
and Catholic countries, alike.... Trial of those suspected of sorcery. Tortures to force
confession. The witches' mark. Penalties, burning alive, strangling, hanging. Tens of
thousands of innocent persons perished.... Those who tried to discredit witchcraft
denounced as ‘Sadducees’ and atheists.... The psychology of intolerance. Fear, vested
interests, the comfortable nature of the traditional and the habitual. The painful
appropriation of new ideas.... The intolerance of the Catholic Church: a natural result
of its state-like organization and claims.... Its doctrine of exclusive salvation and its
conception of heresy both sanctioned by the state. Doubt and error regarded as
sinful.... Beginnings of censorship of the press after the invention of printing, licensing
of ecclesiastical and civil authorities.... Protestants of 16th century accept the theory
of intolerance."