The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1883-06-16
THE STATUS OF SCIENCE.


ems, and the sense of moral responsibility in
man." All reasoning is based on analogy.
We simply extend the method of nature
from the present into the past. In the pres
ent world of observation and experiment
we determine the elements of the curve
which, traced into the antecedent world, have
given the unbroken sequence of evolution
from cosmic matter to the present condition
of sun, planet and satellite, of rock, tree and
man. The uniformity of nature, acting
without caprice, within the range of physi-
cal inquiry, is the basis of scientific reason
ing. Yet, to the philosophical mind there
are no impossibilities, so-called, of nature.
With God all things are possible. He might
have built the world upon another plan,
but thinkers have to do with the
world that is. They have to ex-
plore it with both courage and
reverence, knowing there are limits to I'M
derstanding and lines beyond which boosted
science is as the weakness of infants. The
present cosmogony, the nebular hypothesis,
is rather probable than proven. The pos
tulate on which all scientific conclusions
depend-that the laws of nature are abso-
lutely Interchangeable, and have never been
interfered with by any supernatural cause
is a matter of philosophy rather than sci
ence. 1t may be SO, and it may not. All
that we can safely say of either evolution or
the nebular hypothesis is, that the present
causes working in nature, when we trace
them back, lead i'll unbroken lines to belief
in them, and the more we know the more
difficult to disbelieve. But if DR.. McCosh, or
any other should be skeptical as to the suffi-
cheney of evolution or the present cosmog-
ony, science, as yet has no evidence that can
overthrow their doubts The bones from
Colorado which Mr.. Huxley saw in
the Yale museum may convince
him that evolution is a fixed fact, but it
does not, in the light of anything we yet
know, necessarily and logically bind the
mind of DR.. McCosh.
The true spirit of modern science is to hold
the judgment in suspense, knowing that
questions come to the mind which science
cannot solve and on which revelation opens
not its mouth. There is no use to attempt
the unknowable. Thoughtful men will not
tolerate any Limitation of the horizon of
their souls; they prefer to keep such ques-
tions open. Many minds will speculate as to
evolution, the nebular hypothesis. the con-
nection of mind and body, the plurality of
worlds. Science cannot answer these ques-
visioAal as regards these. Science may, how
ever, guide and limit mans speculation, and
show within what range they are not discord-
ant. The only thing to be avoided in the
discussion of these topics is dogmatism. If
these things are of God, as Gamaliel
said, they cannot be overthrown; if they are
the fancies of men, they will come to naught.
They may be of the unknowable. If so,
their mystery is not without its uses and is a
power in the human soul, filling the mind
with wonder and reverence.
of heat and light from the most distant star,
and that these emanations travel thousands
of years without any loss whatever except
that arising from their being spread over
wider area. Could an intelligent mind have
the keen eye and the rapid flight, he could,
from distance much less than that of the
furthest visible star, see cur planet by light
which left it several thousand years before
Thus equipped, as with the time and space
annihilatng hats of Teufelsdrockh, he could,
like the angel of the backward look, see the
whole drama of human history reacted. The
light of every human action performed
under clear sky still speeds on among the
stars and it needs only the powers men,
toned to put being in front of the rays and
show him the drama Of the world
from the beginning. Every action,
them is amending in its influence.
"The end of man." said Epictetus, sis an &C
ton, not thought, though it were the no.
blest." Knowing as he did the laws of the
universe and the wide range of action-that
the moral and spiritual reacts forever
through space and matter-it is no wonder
that Kant, both philosopher and astronomer,
should exclaim: 1.-TWO things fill me with
awe-the starry heavens and the sense of
moral responsibility in man."
sATURnAY AFTERNo0N VACATIONS