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November 13, 1852.] THE LEADER. 1095
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A HATCH OF NEW BOOKS. The activity of th...
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Wheweix On Fundamental Ideas. A Letter T...
I lay stress on the condition that the Ideas must be clearly and distinctly possessed The Idea of Space must be quite clear in the mind , or else the Axioms of Geometry will not be seen to be true : there will be no intuition of their truth ; and for a mind in such a state , thero can be no Science of Geometry . A man may have a conf used and perplexed , or a vacant and inert state of mind , in which it is not clearly apparent to him , that two straight lines cannot inclose a space . But this is not a * frequent case . The Idea of Space is much more commonly clear in the minds of-men than the other Ideas on which science depends , as Force , or Substance . It is much more common to find minds in which these latter Ideas are not so clear and distinct as to make the Axioms of Mechanics or of Chemistry self-evident . Indeed
the examples of a state of mind in which the Ideas of Force or of Substance are so clear as to be made the basis of scienc e , are comparatively few . They are the examp les of minds scientifically cultivated , at least to some extent . Hence , though the Axioms of Mechanics or of Chemistry may be , in their own nature , as evident as those of Geometry , they are not evident to so many persons ; nor at so early a period of intellectual or scientific culture . And this being the case , it is not surprising that some persons should doubt whether these Axioms are evident at all ;—should think that it is an error to assert that there exist , in such sciences as Mechanics or Chemistry , Fundamental Ideas , fit to be classed with Space , as being , like it , the origin of Axioms .
" In speaking of all the Fundamental Ideas as being alike the source of Axioms when clearly possessed , without dwelling sufficiently upon the amount of mental discip line which is requisite to give the mind this clear possession of most of them ; and in not keeping before the reader the different , degrees of evidence which , in most minds , the Axioms of different sciences naturally have , I have , as I have said , given occasion to my readers to misunderstand me . I will point out one or two passages which show that this misunderstanding has occurred , and will try to remove it . " The character of axiomatic truths seen by intuition is , that they are not only seen to be true , but to be necessary ;—that the contrary of them is not only false , but inconceivable . But this inconceivahleness depends entirely upon the clearness
of the Ideas which the axioms involve . So long as those Ideas are vague and indistinct , the contrary of an Axiom may . be assented to , though it cannot be distinctly conceived . It may be assented to , not because it is possible , but because toe do not see clearly what is possible . To a person who is only beginning to think geometrically , there may appear nothing absurd in the assertion , that two straight lines may inclose a space . And in the same manner , to a person who is only beginning to think of mechanical truths , it may not appear to be absurd , that in mechanical processes , Reaction should be greater or less than Action ; and so , again , to a person who has not thought steadily about Substance , it may not appear inconceivable , that by chemical operations we should generate new matter , or destroy matter which already exists .
" Here then we have a difficulty : —the test of axioms is that the contrary of them is inconceivable ; and yet persons , till they have in some measure studied the subject , do not see this inconceivableness . Hence our Axioms must be evident only to a small number of thinkers ; and seem not to deserve the name of self-evident or necessary truths . "This difficulty has been strongly urged by Mr . Mil ] , as supporting his view , that all knowledge of truth is derived from experience . And in order that the opposite doctrine , which I have advocated , may not labour under any disadvantages
which really do not belong to it , I must explain , that I do not by any means assert that those truths which I regard as necessary , are . all equally evident to common thinkers , or evident to persons in all stages of intellectual development . I may even say , that some of those truths which I regard as necessary , and the necessity of which I believe the human mind to be capable of seeing , by due 2 > reparafion and th-ovf / ht , are still such , that this amount of propai-ation and thought is rare and peculiar ; and I will willingly grant , that to attain to and preserve such a clearness and subtlety of mind as this intuition requires , is a task of no ordinary difficulty and , labour . "
What is all this preparation , and labour , but Experience ? A less metaphysical mind would suggest that if these Fundamental Ideas are " intuitions '" which cannot be given by Experience , but are above and beyond it , how is all this Experience needed before these Necessary Truths can be seen to be true F Dr . Whewoll is ready with his answer : — " That some steady thought , and oven some progress in the construction of Science , is needed in order to see the necessity of the Axioms thus introduced , is true , aiuHs repeatedly asserted and illustrated in the History of tho Sciences . The necessity of such Axioms is seen , but it is not seen at first . It becomes clearer and clearer to each person , and clear to one person after another , as the human mind dwells more and more steadily on the several . subjects of speculation . There arc srienUjh ; truths which are . seen by intuition , hut this intuition is progressive . This ' « the remark which I wish to make in answer to those of my critics who luive ohjed , ed that truths which 1 have propounded as Axioms , are not evident to all . "
That this is no answer at all , but ia virtually a concession of the very Point in dispute , will be seen by an attentive ' perusal of the following passage , wherein he brings his new form of the doelrine into greater distinctness —
An alile wriler in the Edinburgh . Jtevicw ( No . ll " Kt , p . 2 !)) has , in like manner , "l , ' Dr . Wliewell seems to us to have gone much too far in reducing to necessary truths what assuredly the generality of mankind will not feel < o lie so . " It is n ' •< ' ( - which I do not at all contest , that the generality of mankind will not feel the Axioms of Chemistry , or even of Mechanics , to l > e necessary truths . Kill ; I hud ?""• , not that the generality of mankind would feel this necessity , but ( in a passage . l "* t before quoted |> y tho Reviewer ) that tho mind under certain cireuinstances " ""«•* a ¦ poiuf of view from which it can pronounce , niechanieiil ( and other ) fitnda-Wtilat . truths to he necessary in their nature , though disclosed to -its by c . rperiencr « " observation . "
' <> say thatTruths are necessary , but "disclosed through observation and y perience , " solar from assisting Dr . YVlie \ veH ' s philosophy , amounts to it ( <> sl | I >» efion of it , or | o thi . s astounding truism that JNee . esHM . ry Truths are ^^' ssaril y true ! be question , reinernher , is ( his eapil . nl one : Oan we transcend phe-. 'oinenji and know anything of NoumennP To do ho we must , have Ideas '"' " liemlentof Kxporience , because Experience tells us only of phenomen o n ; v r ( y of t | l ( , JVlind . Dr . Whewell , "xiouH for the existence of that Metaphysical science ho bo congenially
upholds , declares we have such ideas . He elaborately demonstrates the fact . And his demonstration amounts to this : the mind can , by laborious training , following the efforts of centuries , arrive at these ideas ; through observation and experience the ideas will be disclosed . This demonstration docs not impress us with a high , sense of Dr . Whewell ' s sagacity . It confounds the necessity of a fact , i . e ., its being the fact it is , with the necessity of our knowing it . Because things bear certain relations to each other ( and these relations , if they are , must be necessary ) and because the inquisitive mind can , by patient training , ascertain these relations , he calls the objective necessity of the fact a Necessary truth , and says it is a Fundamental Idea independent of Experience . In other words , he gravely enunciates the proposition that , if a truth is a truth it is a necessary truth . But the question never was : Is
the truth true , and , when you know it , known to be true ? but : How does tho mind get at that truth , ? That the whole is greater than the part , is a truth , a necessary truth , the contrary of which , is inconceivable . But why inconceivable ? Because as soon as you conceive " a part , " you conceive something of which it is a part , i . e . the whole . An apple pip bears a relation of size to the whole apple ; and this relation , being a simple one , is universally perceived , and the perception is an universal , self-evident , irresistible truth ; but simple as it is , it is disclosed through experience . " Fire burns , " is equally a necessary truth ; the greater affinity of sulphur for iron than for lead is a necessary truth ; all truths are necessary . The only distinction that can be made is , that some relations from their xmiversality admit of a more universally intelligible expression ; but , obvious or obscure , the relation has to be learnt through experience , and t / ten expressed in a formula .
In conclusion , let us recal to Dr . Wliewell that , indeed , which we are almost ashamed to recal , the simple fact of there being no dispute respecting the mental existence of certain general ideas capable of standing as the foundations of axioms , and so forming sciences ; the dispute has been , and is , respecting the genesis of those ideas—whether they are " disclosed" by experience , or whether fliey have a source superior to all experience . In this dispute , Dr . Whewell , with strange unconsciousness , concedes all that his adversaries demand ; like the French at Waterloo , he quits the iield , proclaiming loudly that he has won the victory .
November 13, 1852.] The Leader. 1095
November 13 , 1852 . ] THE LEADER . 1095
A Hatch Of New Books. The Activity Of Th...
A HATCH OF NEW BOOKS . The activity of the publishing season somewhat taxes our space . Oui table is covered with new books , some of which we must cJear off at once , or they will grow old before in due course we can reach them . Therefore , for a week , we postpone the continuation of Butler ' s Analogy , and summarily notice a few volumes to keep the reader au coxirant , reserving to ourselves the right of returning on a more convenient occasion to any of them that may require more lengthened examination . Dr . Tilt ' s Elements of Health , and Principles of Hygiene , ( H . G . Bohn , ) for example , is an excellent work on a very important subject , the health of our Avives and daughters . It has little novelty , but following Southwood Smith , A . Combe , and others , expresses in plain , popular style , the leading principles requisite to be borne in mind with reference to female health at various epochs . It is a book for mothers . Of a somewhat
similar character is Dr . Henry Davies ' s little work , The Young Wife ' s Guide during Pregnancy anal Childbirth , and in the Management of the Infant , ( II . ( Jr . Bohn . ) treating of a special section of Dr . Tilt ' s general subject . Such books arc always of great utility when they are themselves free from quackery and ignorance , because they help to destroy the tyrannous ignorance of nurses and mothers who "having reared largo families , " are invariably formidable with their " experience . " Ignorance is at all times had , but for genuine danger there is nothing like experienced ignorance ! Dr . Whewell ' s Astronomy and General Physics is a reprint of the Bridgewater Treatise , and forms a volume of Air . Holm ' s excellent Scientific TAhrary . This is one of Hie books we must lind an opportunity of examining hereafter , for the sake ; of the subject .
In Dr . Lardner ' s Handbook of JSataral ' Philosophy and Astronomy ( Taylor , Walton , and JVIaberley ) , the student and the man of business will find an unusually clear , systematic , practical treatise , unencumbered by rhetoric ! or twaddle , fulfilling every requisite of a handbook . This , the second course , comprises . Heat , Magnetism , and ICleelricity , illustrated with some two hundred diagrams , and rendered useful with various appliances of index , analytical tables , and titles < o paragraphs . It is a solid , not a , flashy , compilation ; it is intended for the -use of the . student ,, and not by any means to " astonish the Browns . " What , with its accuracy , its careful tables , its cognisance of Hie latest , discoveries , and its clear arrangement , we can emphatically recommend it as the most serviceable book of ( he kind we have met with .
j ) r . . l , andshorough ' s Popular History of Jin fish Xoophyfcs or Corallines , ( Reeve and C ' o ., ) is a volume we must commend , though at the expense of tho author . The numerous coloured illustrations render it a peculiarly attractive and valuable book ; and . indeed , . some of ( he text may he commended for its information ; but ( he religious reflections and twaddle dragged 111 at , all times , and the wai . nl , of any artistic or philosophic power in tho arrangement of the materials , makes ( he book little better ( ban a coinmon-plaeo book wilh capital illustrations . So interesting a topic might have employed a , better pen . Smith ' s Parks and , Pleasure Grounds ; or Practical Notes on Country li ' c . sidcnccs , lUfas , Public . Parks , and ( la ' rdcns , ( K ' eeve ami Co ., ) is a . practical work , meant for the country house rather than the study , conveying the views of (< il pin , Price , and others , with sonic oflhe results of the author ' s own experience .
in the rcpublieation of ( , 1 m Iuiei / cfoptcdia ' Ulctropolitana , Miueh Messrs . « I . t ) . ( jJ riflin have undertaken ( in compact volumes ) , ( he . Hisfirry of Grvccc , Macedonia , and , Syria , by Dr . Lyall , I > r . Mountain , Dr . Renouurd , K . I'ococko , ( belaud , and I > V . Russell , has been edited by Mr . 10 . l'ococke , who has not only enriched it . from his own stores , but has added a vairiet y of p ictorial illustrations of sites and coins . Punch ' s Pocket-JJook for IS 5 . ' { will be welcomed with open arms fov
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Nov. 13, 1852, page 19, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_13111852/page/19/
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