第20章

Sciencehasnotsimplytorecognisethatmotiondeclines，buttoshowatwhatrate，andunderwhatconditionsitdeclines。Then，aswecannotmeasure’absolutemotion，’orassignanyfixedpointinspace，wecanobtainnoruleastoabsolutemotion。Ifweassume，however，thatwehavetoaccountnotformotionbutforchangeofmotion，wecangetaconsistent’law’whichatoncegivesasufficientaccountofmanyobservedphenomena。Weproceedtodefineforceasthecauseofchangeinmotion。Thenitbecomesanidenticalpropositionthatallchangeofmotionimpliesforce，orthatbodiesnotacteduponcontinuetomoveuniformly。Thusthedefinitionofforcetakestheshapeofanaprioriaxiomastoforce。Weimaginethatinsteadofsimplyco-ordinatingourexperienceweare’applyingafundamentalidea’toit，theidea，namely，ofa’cause’or’force。’(102*)Theaxiomisnot’independentofexperience。’Rightlyunderstood，thewholeprocessisoneofinterpretingexperience。Mill，however，ishardlycorrectinsayingthatthelawwasprovedbyexperiment。

Wecannotobservea’force’apartfromthemovingbody。ForceisoneofBentham’s’fictitiousentities，’awordwhichenablesustostatetherelationsofmovingbodiesaccurately。Itharmonisesourconceptions。Theoldbeliefthatallmotionsstopisnotdisprovedbydiscoveringcasesinwhichforceisabsent，butbypostulatingthepresenceofforcewhereverwefindchangeofmotion。Therealproofisnotindirectexperimentbutintheharmonisingofanindefinitenumberofcomplexstatementswhenoncetheprincipleissystematicallyapplied。Itcanrevealnofacttous，fornothingbutexperiencecanshowthattherearesuchthingsastheplanetsfortunatelyare，bodiesmovingfreely，soastoillustratethelawcontinuously。Millputsthefirstlawofmotiononalevelwiththelawthattheperiodoftheearth’srotationisuniform。Both’inductions，’hesays，areaccuratelytrue。(103*)Infact，however，theearth’smotionisnotabsolutelyuniform，atruthwhichwediscoverbyapplyingthelawsofmotion，thoughnodirectexperimentcouldexhibitthefact。Thelawofmotionhastheauthorityderivedfromitsrenderingpossibleaconsistentinterpretationofexperiences，whereastheearth’srotationissimplyaparticularfactwhichmightchangeiftheconditionswerealtered。The’law’implies，therefore，areconstructionofexperiencenotgivenbysimpleobservation。

ThisappliestoacontroversybetweenMillandWhewellastoKepler’sgreatdiscoveries。Theybothacceptthefamiliarfacts。

Kepler’sproblemwastoshowhowasimpleconfigurationofthesolarsystemwouldpresentthecomplexappearanceswhichwedirectlyobserve。Theoldobservationsgaveapproximatelycorrectstatementsofthemovementsoftheplanets，assumingtheearthtobefixed，or，aswemaysay，neglectingtheconsiderationofitsmotion。Histheoryshowshowtheapparentmovementsmustresultifwesupposethesuntobefixed，orrather(asthesunisnotreallyfixed)ifwemeasurefromitasfixed。Whewelltreatsthisasacaseof’induction。’Itillustrateswhathecallsthe’colligationoffacts’——ahappyphrase，acceptedbyMill，forthearrangementoffactsinaneworder，andtheapplicationtothefactsoftheappropriateconceptions；inthiscase，ofthetheoremsofconicsectionsandsolidgeometry。Theargumenttakestheformofadiscussionastowhetherthisshouldbecalledinductionoranoperationsubsidiarytoinduction。(104*)Kepler，asMillurges，wassimplydescribingfacts。Hediscoveredafactinwhichallthepositionsoftheplanetagreed——namely，thattheywereinanellipse。Ifhehadbeensomewhereinspace，ortheplanethadleftavisibletrack，hemighthaveactuallyseenittobeanellipse。Hehadonlyto’piecetogether’hisobservations，asamanwhosailsroundanislanddiscoversitsinsularity。Theonlyinduction，then，wasthatasMarshadbeeninanellipsehewouldstayinanellipse。Apartfromtheverbalquestionwhethertheprocessberightlycalledinductionorsubsidiarytoinduction，therealissueisinMill’scomplaintthatWhewellsupposeda’conceptiontobesomethingaddedtothefacts。’Theconception，Milladmits，isinthemind，butitmustbeaconceptionof’somethinginthefacts。’TheellipsewasinthefactsbeforeKeplersawit。Hedidnotputit，butfounditthere。WhetherKepler’sprocesswasinductiveordeductiveorsubsidiary，itwasanessentialpartofscientificinvestigation。

Themanofsciencemust，asMilltrulysays，interpretthefacts，andnothingbutthefacts；hemustalso，asWhewelltrulyreplies，’colligate’orarrangethefactsinaneworder。Theconstructiveprocesswhichjustifiesmeinsayingthisisanisland，orthisisanellipse，ispreciselywhatmakesscientificknowledgepossible，andinvolvessomethingmorethanamereputtingtogetherofrawfact。Everyfact，asWhewellsees，mayberegardedasacaseofcountlesslaws，eachofwhichmaybetrueunderappropriateconditions。Toeliminatetheirrelevant，toorganisethewholesystemoftruths，soastomaketheorderofnature(asMillforciblysays(105*))deduciblefromthesmallestpossiblenumberofgeneralpropositions，istheaimofscience；

andMillobscuresthissofarasheregardssuchoperationsasKepler’sasmereobservationsoffact，insuchasenseastoomitthenecessityofaneworganisationofthedata。

IhavegoneintosomedetailinordertoshowwhatwastheessentialcharacteristicofMill’sdoctrine，whichwasitself，asIhavesaid，anexplicitstatementoftheprinciplesimplicitlyassumedbyhispredecessorsinthesameschool。Todohimfulljustice，itwouldbenecessarytoshowwhatwasthealternativepresentedbyhisopponents。TheScottishwritersandWhewellbroughtback’innateideas，’orendeavouredtoconnectknowledgebybeliefsandintuitionsarbitrarilyinsertedintothefabricasakindofsupernaturalrevelation。Toexplaintheseintuitivedogmasintoeffectsof’association’wasthenaturalretort。

Meanwhilethetranscendentalschoolwastakingthebolderlineofrejectingexperiencealtogether，treatingitwithcontemptasamereropeofsand，andinferringthattheuniverseitselfisincarnatelogic——acomplexwebwovenoutofdialectic，andcapableofbeingevolvedfrommixing’is’and’isnot。’ToMillthisappearedrightly，asIshouldsay，tobemysticismandontology，orachimericalattempttogetridoftheinevitableconditionsofallknowledgeofreality。Therealproblemofmetaphysicsappearstobethediscoveryoftherightmethodofstatement，whichwillexplainwhatappearedtobetheinsolubleantithesisbetweenempiricismandintuitionism(totakeMill’sphrase)，andshowthattheyareattemptstoformulatecorrelativeandessentialtruths。

IX。THEMORALSCIENCES

Happily，philosophicaltheoriesarenotreallyimportantsolelyasgivingtenableanddefinitiveresults，butasindicationsoftheintellectualtemperamentofdifferentschools，andofthemethodsofreasoningwhichtheyfindcongenial。

Withoutfurtherdisquisition，IshallconcludebyindicatingbrieflyMill’sapplicationofhisprinciplestothe’MoralSciences。’Thisisthesubjectofthelastbookofhistreatise，andrepresents，aswehaveseen，thepurposeofthewhole。As，however，thefullapplicationwillappearhereafter，Imayhereconfinemyselftocertaincriticalpoints。Millbeginsofcoursebyarguingthatthe’MoralSciences’arepossible，andaretobecreatedbyapplyingthemethodofthephysicalsciences。Thissuggeststhefreewilldifficulty。Thedoctrineof’philosophicalnecessity’had’weighedonhisexistencelikeanincubus’duringhisearlydepression。(106*)HeescapedbythesolutionwhichnowformsachapterintheLogic。HediscoveredthattheHumeandBrowntheoryremovedthemisleadingassociationswiththeword’necessity。’Itwouldbetruer，hethinks，tosaythatmatterisfreethanthatmindisnotfree。(107*)Thesupposedexternal’tie’whichbindsthingstogetherisanonentity。Inpractice，however，Owenandhislikehadbecomefatalistsratherthannecessitarians。Holdingthatcharacterisformedbycircumstances，theyhadforgottenthatourowndesiresarepartofthe’circumstances，’andthereforethatthemindhasthepowertoco-operateinthe’formationofitsowncharacter。’This，Millthinks，istheennoblingbeliefwhichiscompletelyreconcilablewiththeadmissionthathumanactionsarecaused，althoughthetwodoctrineshadbeenonbothsidesregardedasincompatible。

UponthisendlesscontroversyIcanonlysuggestonehint。Mill，Ithink，wasrightinsayingthatthedifficultydependsontheconfusionof’determinism’with’fatalism’。thatis，withthebeliefthatthewilliscoercedbysomeexternalforce。Buthedoesnotseethathisdoctrineofcausationalwaysraisesthedifficulty。Heordersustothinkofthesuccessionofideasasduesimplytoassociation，asintheexternalworldeventsaretoberegardedassimplyfollowingeachother；andineithercaseitisimpossibletoavoidtheimpressionthattheremustbesomeconnectinglinkwhichbindstogetherentirelydisparatephenomena。Wecannothelpaskingwhy’this’shouldalwaysfollow’that，’andinferringthatthereissomethingmorethanabaresequence。Thereallineofescapeis，Ithink，shownbyanimprovedviewofcausation。Ifweholdthatthetheoryofcauseandeffectsimplyarisesfromtheanalysisofasingleprocess，weneednoexternalforcetoactuponthewill。Thereisno’coercion’involved。Giventheeffect，theremusthavebeenthecause；asgiventhecause，theeffectmustfollow。’AlltheuniversemustexistinorderthatImustexist’isastrueasthat’Imustexistifalltheuniverseexists。’Thereisnotamanplusalaw，butthelawisalreadyimpliedintheman；orthedistinctionofcauseandeffectcorrespondstoadifferenceinourwayofregardingthefacts，andimpliesnoadditiontothefacts。Imustnot，however，launchintothisinquiry。IonlynotethatMill’sviewisconnectedwithhisfavouriteprincipleoftheindefinitemodifiabilityofcharacter。(108*)ToMill，astohisfather，thisseemedtoholdouthopesforthe’unlimitedpossibility’ofelevatingtherace。IfJ。S。Milldenied’thefreedomofthewill，’or，rather，theexistenceof’will’itselfasaseparateentity，actuallyoriginatingactiveprinciples，headmittedthatthedesireserroneouslyhypostatisedas’will’

couldworkwonders。Asthecausallinkbetweeneventsisafigment，so，inthesphereofmind，weareboundbynofixedmysterioustie。Hethusescapesfromthepainfulsenseofcoercionbyholdingthataninfinitevarietyofresultsismadepossiblebytheinfinitecombinationsofmaterials，though，ineachcase，thereisanecessarysequence。Association，infact，isomnipotent。Asitcanmaketheso-callednecessarytruths，itcantransformtheveryessenceofcharacter。Accordinglythefoundationofthemoralsciencesistobefoundinthepsychology，foranexpositionofwhichhereferstohisfather，toMrBain，andtoMrHerbertSpencer。(109*)Hethusdrops，consciouslyornot，theclaimoftreatingmetaphysicaldoctrineascommonground，andassumesthetruthoftheassociationdoctrine。Topassfromtheseprinciplestoquestionsofactualconductrequiresasciencenothithertoconstructed——thescience，namely，ofhumancharacter，forwhichheproposesthenameEthology。This，aswehaveseen，occupiedhisthoughtsforsometime，tillitwasultimatelydroppedforpoliticaleconomy。

Thedifficultyofformingsuchascienceuponhistermsisobvious。Itholdsanambiguousplacebetween’psychology’andthe’sociology’whichheafterwardsacceptsfromComte；andasProfessorBainremarks，hisdoctrinewouldnotfiteasilytoanysuchscience。Hehasgotridof’necessity’onlytoocompletely。

Infact，hisviewoftheindefinitepowerofassociation，andhisstrongdesiretoexplainalldifferences，eventhosebetweenthesexes，asduetooutwardcircumstances，seemtomakecharactertooevanescentaphenomenontobesubjectedtoanydefinitelaws。(110*)Ethology，however，istakenbyhimtobethesciencewhichcorrespondstothe’artofeducation，’takeninitswidestsense，andwould，ifconstructed，bea’deductivescience，’

consistingofcorollariesfrompsychology，the’experimentalscience。’(111*)Theutilityofsuchasciencefromhispointofviewisobvious。Itwouldbeastatementofthewayinwhichsocietywasactuallytobebuiltupoutoftheclustersofassociatedideas，heldtogetherbytheunitMan。