第1章

Lifehasnowandthensomesuprememomentsofpurehappiness，whichinreminiscencegivetosingledaysthevalueofmonthsoryears。Twoorthreesuchmomentsithasbeenmygoodfortunetoenjoywithyou，intalkingoverthemysterieswhichforeverfascinatewhiletheyforeverbaffleus。ItwasourmidnighttalksinGreatRussellStreetandtheAddisonRoad，andourbrightMayholidayontheThames，thatledmetowritethisscantyessayonthe“UnseenWorld，“andtowhomcouldIsoheartilydedicateitastoyou？Ionlywishitweremoreworthyofitsorigin。AsforthedozenpaperswhichIhaveappendedtoit，bywayofclearingoutmyworkshop，Ihopeyouwillreadthemindulgently，andbelievemeEverfaithfullyyours，JOHN “Whatareyou，wheredidyoucomefrom，andwhitherareyoubound？“——thequestionwhichfromHomer’sdayshasbeenputtothewayfarerinstrangelands——islikewisetheall-absorbingquestionwhichmaniseveraskingoftheuniverseofwhichheishimselfsotinyyetsowondrousapart。Fromtheearliesttimestheultimatepurposeofallscientificresearchhasbeentoelicitfragmentaryorpartialresponsestothisquestion，andphilosophyhaseverbusieditselfinpiecingtogethertheseseveralbitsofinformationaccordingtothebestmethodsatitsdisposal，inordertomakeupsomethinglikeasatisfactoryanswer。Inoldtimesthebestmethodswhichphilosophyhadatitsdisposalforthispurposeweresuchasnowseemverycrude，andaccordinglyancientphilosophersbungledconsiderablyintheirtask，thoughnowandthentheycamesurprisinglynearwhatwouldto-daybecalledthetruth。Itwasnaturalthattheirmethodsshouldbecrude，forscientificinquiryhadasyetsuppliedbutscantymaterialsforthemtoworkwith，anditwasonlyafteraverylongcourseofspeculationandcriticismthatmencouldfindoutwhatwaysofgoingtoworkarelikelytoprovesuccessfulandwhatarenot。Theearliestthinkers，indeed，werefurtherhinderedfromaccomplishingmuchbytheimperfectionsofthelanguagebytheaidofwhichtheirthinkingwasdone；forscienceandphilosophyhavehadtomakeaserviceableterminologybydintoflongandarduoustrialandpractice，andlinguisticprocessesfitforexpressinggeneralorabstractnotionsaccuratelygrewuponlythroughnumberlessfailuresandattheexpenseofmuchinaccuratethinkingandloosetalking。Asinmostofnature’sprocesses，therewasagreatwasteofenergybeforeagoodresultcouldbesecured。Accordinglyprimitivemenwereverywideofthemarkintheirviewsofnature。Tothemtheworldwasasortofenchantedground，peopledwithspritesandgoblins；thequaintnotionswithwhichwenowamuseourchildreninfairytalesrepresentastyleofthinkingwhichoncewascurrentamonggrownmenandwomen，andwhichisstillcurrentwherevermenremaininasavagecondition。Thetheoriesoftheworldwroughtoutbyearlypriest-philosopherswereingreatpartmadeupofsuchgrotesquenotions；andhavingbecomevariouslyimplicatedwithethicalopinionsastothenatureandconsequencesofrightandwrongbehaviour，theyacquiredakindofsanctity，sothatanythinkerwhointhelightofawiderexperienceventuredtoalteroramendtheprimitivetheorywaslikelytobevituperatedasanirreligiousmanoratheist。Thissortofinferencehasnotyetbeenwhollyabandoned，evenincivilizedcommunities。Evento-daybooksarewrittenabout“theconflictbetweenreligionandscience，“andotherbooksarewrittenwithintenttoreconcilethetwopresumedantagonists。Butwhenwelookbeneaththesurfaceofthings，weseethatinrealitytherehasneverbeenanyconflictbetweenreligionandscience，norisanyreconciliationcalledforwhereharmonyhasalwaysexisted。Therealhistoricalconflict，whichhasbeenthuscuriouslymisnamed，hasbeentheconflictbetweenthemore-crudeopinionsbelongingtothescienceofanearlierageandtheless-crudeopinionsbelongingtothescienceofalaterage。Inthecourseofthiscontestthemore-crudeopinionshaveusuallybeendefendedinthenameofreligion，andtheless-crudeopinionshaveinvariablywonthevictory；butreligionitself，whichisnotconcernedwithopinion，butwiththeaspirationwhichleadsustostriveafterapurerandholierlife，hasseldomorneverbeenattacked。Onthecontrary，thescientificmenwhohaveconductedthebattleonbehalfoftheless-crudeopinionshavegenerallybeeninfluencedbythisreligiousaspirationquiteasstronglyastheapologistsofthemore-crudeopinions，andsofarfromreligiousfeelinghavingbeenweakenedbytheirperennialseriesofvictories，ithasapparentlybeengrowingdeeperandstrongerallthetime。Thereligioussenseisasyettoofeeblydevelopedinmostofus；butcertainlyinnoprecedingagehavementakenuptheworkoflifewithmoreearnestnessorwithmorerealfaithintheunseenthanatthepresentday，whensomuchofwhatwasoncedeemedall-importantknowledgehasbeenconsignedtothelimboofmythology。 Themore-crudetheoriesofearlytimesaretobechieflydistinguishedfromtheless-crudetheoriesofto-dayasbeinglargelytheproductsofrandomguesswork。Hypothesis，orguesswork，indeed，liesatthefoundationofallscientificknowledge。Theriddleoftheuniverse，likelessimportantriddles，isunravelledonlybyapproximativetrials，andthemostbrilliantdiscoverershaveusuallybeenthebravestguessers。 Kepler’slawsweretheresultofindefatigableguessing，andso，inasomewhatdifferentsense，wasthewave-theoryoflight。Buttheguessworkofscientificinquirersisverydifferentnowfromwhatitwasinoldertimes。Inthefirstplace，wehaveslowlylearnedthataguessmustbeverifiedbeforeitcanbeacceptedasasoundtheory；and，secondly，somanytruthshavebeenestablishedbeyondcontravention，thatthelatitudeforhypothesisismuchlessthanitoncewas。Ninetenthsoftheguesseswhichmighthaveoccurredtoamediaevalphilosopherwouldnowberuledoutasinadmissible，becausetheywouldnotharmonizewiththeknowledgewhichhasbeenacquiredsincetheMiddleAges。Thereisonedirectionespeciallyinwhichthiscontinuouslimitationofguessworkbyever-accumulatingexperiencehasmanifesteditself。Fromfirsttolast，allourspeculativesuccessesandfailureshaveagreedinteachingusthatthemostgeneralprinciplesofactionwhichprevailto-day，andinourowncorneroftheuniverse，havealwaysprevailedthroughoutasmuchoftheuniverseasisaccessibletoourresearch。Theyhavetaughtusthatforthedecipheringofthepastandthepredictingofthefuture，nohypothesesareadmissiblewhicharenotbasedupontheactualbehaviourofthingsinthepresent。Oncetherewasunlimitedfacilityforguessingastohowthesolarsystemmighthavecomeintoexistence；nowtheoriginofthesunandplanetsisadequatelyexplainedwhenwehaveunfoldedallthatisimpliedintheprocesseswhicharestillgoingoninthesolarsystem。Formerlyappealsweremadetoallmannerofviolentagenciestoaccountforthechangeswhichtheearth’ssurfacehasundergonesinceourplanetbeganitsindependentcareer；nowitisseenthatthesameslowworkingofrainandtide，ofwindandwaveandfrost，ofsecularcontractionandofearthquakepulse，whichisvisibleto-day，willaccountforthewhole。Itisnotlongsinceitwassupposedthataspeciesofanimalsorplantscouldbesweptawayonlybysomeunusualcatastrophe，whilefortheoriginationofnewspeciessomethingcalledanactof“specialcreation“wasnecessary；andastothenatureofsuchextraordinaryeventstherewasendlessroomforguesswork；butthediscoveryofnaturalselectionwasthediscoveryofaprocess，goingonperpetuallyunderourveryeyes，whichmustinevitablyofitselfextinguishsomespeciesandbringnewonesintobeing。Intheseandcountlessotherwayswehavelearnedthatalltherichvarietyofnatureispervadedbyunityofaction，suchaswemightexpecttofindifnatureisthemanifestationofaninfiniteGodwhoiswithoutvariablenessorshadowofturning，butquiteincompatiblewiththefitfulbehaviouroftheanthropomorphicdeitiesoftheoldmythologies。Bythusabstainingfromallappealtoagenciesthatareextra-cosmic，ornotinvolvedintheorderlysystemofeventsthatweseeoccurringaroundus，wehaveatlastsucceededineliminatingfromphilosophicspeculationthecharacterofrandomguessworkwhichatfirstofnecessitybelongedtoit。Modernscientifichypothesisissofarfrombeingahaphazardmentalproceedingthatitisperhapshardlyfairtoclassifyitwithguesses。Itisliftedoutoftheplaneofguesswork，insofarasithasacquiredthecharacterofinevitableinferencefromthatwhichnowistothatwhichhasbeenorwillbe。Insteadoftheinnumerableparticularassumptionswhichwereonceadmittedintocosmicphilosophy，wearenowreducedtotheoneuniversalassumptionwhichhasbeenvariouslydescribedasthe“principleofcontinuity，“the“uniformityofnature，“the“persistenceofforce，“orthe“lawofcausation，“andwhichhasbeenvariouslyexplainedasanecessarydatumforscientificthinkingorasanetresultofallinduction。Iamnotunwilling，however，toadoptthelanguageofabookwhichhasfurnishedtheoccasionforthepresentdiscussion，andtosaythatthisgrandassumptionisasupremeactoffaith，thedefiniteexpressionofatrustthattheinfiniteSustaineroftheuniverse“willnotputustopermanentintellectualconfusion。“Forinthismodeofstatementtheharmonybetweenthescientificandthereligiouspointsofviewiswellbroughtout。Itisasaffordingtheonlyoutletfrompermanentintellectualconfusionthatinquirershavebeendriventoappealtotheprincipleofcontinuity；anditisbyunswervingrelianceuponthisprinciplethatwehaveobtainedsuchinsightintothepast，present，andfutureoftheworldaswenowpossess。 Theworkjustmentioned[1]isespeciallyinterestingasanattempttobringtheprobabledestinyofthehumansoulintoconnectionwiththemoderntheorieswhichexplainthepastandfuturecareerofthephysicaluniverseinaccordancewiththeprincipleofcontinuity。Itsauthorshipisasyetunknown，butitisbelievedtobethejointproductionoftwoofthemosteminentphysicistsinGreatBritain，andcertainlytheaccurateknowledgeandtheingenuityandsubtletyofthoughtdisplayedinitaresuchastolendgreatprobabilitytothisconjecture。SomeaccountoftheargumentitcontainsmaywellprecedethesuggestionspresentlytobesetforthconcerningtheUnseenWorld；andweshallfinditmostconvenienttobegin，likeourauthors，withabriefstatementofwhattheprincipleofcontinuityteachesastotheproximatebeginningandendofthevisibleuniverse。Ishallinthemainsetdownonlyresults，havingelsewhere[2]givenasimpleexpositionoftheargumentsuponwhichtheseresultsarefounded。 [1]TheUnseenUniverse；or，PhysicalSpeculationsonaFutureState。[AttributedtoProfessorsTAITandBALFOURSTEWART。]NewYork:Macmillan&Co。1875。8vo。pp。212。 [2]OutlinesofCosmicPhilosophy，basedontheDoctrineofEvolution。Boston:J。R。Osgood&Co。1875。2vols。8vo。