Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1890-01-23
A CATHOLIC VIEW OF MILL.
frof. Pohie Says the Philosopher Was n
Believer I'm Spite Of Himself.

AT the Catholic university yesterday after
noon DIR. Pohle, professor OF phiIosonhy Loo
tured on the theism Of John Stuart Mill He
gave an exposition OF the philosophy Of Mill.
showing il to base human knowledge exeIu-
sively upon induction, TO the exclusion of de-
ductive or priori reasoning.
The truths OF religion, the lecturer said. are
intimately bound up with the principles which
underhe physical science itself. Smart MIL
does evade the principle OF casualty. in
SO lar as 1t establishes the connection between
cause and effect TO be absolutely necessary, but
IN doing so he not only sets the AZ a, the root
OF religion, but he also puts all scientific
knowledge TO ruin. Our religion and science
may be truly said 60 stand or fail together.
The principle OF John Stuart Mil has proved q
complete failure. because in the long run IL
must become the death of science. But. in the
lecturers opinion, and IN the opinion OF all
people who think. system that does not work
ought not 10 be acquiesced in.
MILLS PHILOSOPHY AND ms COMMON SENSE.
Ii many followers of Mil do not go as far az
their system leads that must be attributed to
their common sense preventing them from ac-
cepting so many absurdities. II 10 in like man
ner owing to common sense that Stuart Mil
himself WAS not led into atheism. The logical
consequences of his own system were. FORUM
ately, hidden from his gaze. He did not VEN
ture TO be an advocate OF agnosticism. He be-
heyed in God as the designer of the universe
and the author of the contrivances OF nature.
Although his mental powers swooned when ne
thought of God Ms the omnipotent and omnis-
Client, he shrank from aGnosticlsm and atheism
ana was a believer in spite OF himself.
AaSosTIcIsN.
Agnosticism must be considered as a chronic
intellectual disease prevalent among a large
part Of the people of our age. There is no
blinking the fact of Its prevalence, however dis
couraging II may be. But modern acnosticism
Is not so much the result of a bad will as the
outcome OF a series of earlier heresies IL NAV
be said to grow directly out of. and be trace
able TO, the positlvlSm OF which Stuart Mill
was perhaps the ablest advocate.
LOST THRoUGH PosIrIvrSM
Positiyism seemed at the outset 10 strengthen
the intellectual insight by Its scientific methods
and TO add to the accuracy and certainty of our
knowledge; but, after ALL the truth turns out
to be that IT has deprived us of the most noble
and dignified objects of the human thought
This generation, by turning its ewes exclusively
10 the outer world OF matter. has thereby sus-
tanned greater losses than any victories else
where can repay. 1t Is drawn away little by
little toward the edge of that terrible abyss Of
skepticism which is the death Of all scientific
knowledge as well as of all religion.
lake away from before our eyes the blue sky
and the brilliant sun, and at once We will
stagger and grope in utter darkness Take
away from our minds and hearts the glorious
name OF God, and all around will turn into a
wilderness dark and terrible TO traverse. The
cosmos will be transformed into q chaos;
SCIENCE into universal dotage. IL we have lost
God we have lost all. lie, indeed, is the sun
which enllghtens our minds; the object of our
falth, Of our hope, and of our charity: Deus
lux mea.