New-York tribune., 1922-11-26

Nisoount Haidane. Yale University Press.
WV r HEN Viscount Haldane last
wa year in his bulky philosoph-
" ical work, "The Reign of
Relatively" devoted several
hundred pages to Albert
Einstein, there were those who COM
planned that he had drawn far too
heavily for any legitimate purpose
upon q merely scientific theory, in fact,
that he was advertising Professor
Einstein not wisely, but too much.
There was faint lifting of eyebrows
and quill pens within the solid ivory
towers Of the metaphysicians.
Either to borrow working methods
from the mathematicians or to trick
out philosophy in the timely garments
OF the new ply sizes was regarded in
certain quarters as both unwarrarted
and irrelevant. II the nature of ulti-
mate reality and the relations of mind
and matter were at the mercy Of the
rnost recent improvements in physical
measurement, IL epistemology were to
depend upon the latest ingenuities of
the scientists, it was thought that
Plotinus had indeed fallen upon evil
days. What, went che whisper, was to
prevent Lord Haldane from writing an
| other entirely diRarent book as soon
as some one happened to invent COM
bination picture frame and button
hook?
As it turned out, things were not so
Bad az that, but almost. Those who
read more khan the eleven-page table
pt contents OF "Tffe Reign of ReIariv-
ity" discovered, and may assure them
selves anew by consulting it's COM
psnion volume, '"The Philosophy of
Humanism," that Lord Haldane comes
at his subject in more dignihed man
her. He holds with the ancient
Greeksl that relativity is universal
principle, namely, that things are true
relatively to the plane they occupy in
the scale Of reality, and that it is
not the monopoly Of any one restricted
branch of learning. Professor Einsten
is simply applying the broad principle
In o special field.
In the belief that philosophy has
always to turn to science for material"
"a debatable position, of course), Lord
Haldane eonceives it hts task "to en-
dcavor to bring out the relations of
certain sciences to each other and to
knowledge, relations which depend
upon the principle Of relatively in it's
most general form"-a form familiar,
ever observed that much depends upon
the point of view. Since he thinks it
"no longer practicable to dissociate in
tei1igently any one branch of knowl :
edge from a place within the entirety
of knowledge" it is his peaceful object
to talk things over with the scientists.
And this Lord Haldane proceeds TO
do in his new book, after handling his
central idea broadly in what is other
wise quite negligible essay on the
subject of humanism. Although he
offers some food for thought, chiefly
of metaphysical nature, he does not
| escape monotony, and may come in for
| calumny, since he tells each one of the
restricted" sciences he treats of ex-
| actly the same things, to wit, that its
| only value is ''to enable US to study
| scientifically a single aspect which pre-
sents itself in special domain" and
that "a view obtained from single
standpoint may be Of great value, but
it does not disclose the full truth
II there was need to point these things
out Lord Haldane's work deserves at
tention.
The physical relativists ara informed
that they need not think they have dis
covered ali that Is to be known, that
Experience may compel an enlarge
ment of Einstein's conceptions" and
are offered to boot some larger and
more metaphysical reflections upon
their own work. This is the sort Of
thing the physicists Of every nation on
| earth are daily beseeehing the philoso-
piers not to do, but I see no reason
why Lord Haldane should heed their
prayers. Did Bishop Berkeley inquire
Of matter if he might please excom-
| municate it?
The views set forth in the chapter
In an Essay on the Relation of Phi
losophy to Science" written in conjunc-
tion with the authors brother, now
Professor J. S. HaIdane, thirty eight
years ago. 1t is TO be feared that
many biologists of an advanced nature
| will regard this fact as merely d
symptom Of arrested development
The main idea Is that "life can be in
terpreted only in terms of life," and
that therefore biologists should be
careful when they employ concepts
! more appropriate to the description of
| lifeless mechanisms. Can it be that
Lord madame 1earS wave OF material
ism?
Professor A. N. Whitehead went
| over the proofs of the sections on
mathematical physics, and Professor
J. S. Haldane did the same for that on
biology, but nc one, apparently, looked
at the chapter on psych ology, where
Lord Haldane is obviously much less
at home. The behaviorists, truly,