Spencer means to express when he says that force is
persistent. And it seems to me almost needless to show that this fact is
really the basis of all science. For unless this fact is assumed as a
postulate, not only would scientific inquiry become impossible, but all
experience would become chaotic. The physicist could not prosecute his
researches unless he presupposed that the forces which he measures are of a
permanent nature, any more than could the chemist prosecute his researches
unless he presupposed that the materials which he estimates by energy-units
are likewise of a permanent nature. And similarly with all the other
sciences, as well as with every judgment in our daily experience. If,
therefore, any one should be hypercritical enough to dispute the position
that the doctrine of the conservation of energy constitutes the "ultimate
datum" of science, I think it will be enough to observe that if this is
_not_ the "ultimate datum" of science, science can have no "ultimate datum"
at all. For any datum more ultimate than permanent existence is manifestly
impossible, while any such datum as non-permanent existence would clearly
render science impossible. Even, therefore, if such hypercriticism had a
valid basis of apparently adverse fact whereon to stand, I should feel
myself justified in neglecting it on _a priori_ grounds; but the only basis
on which such hypercriticism can rest is, not the knowledge of any adverse
facts, but the ignorance of certain facts which we must either conclude to
be facts or else conclude that science can have no ultimate datum whereon
to rest.
Pages:
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251