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I lay stress on the condition that the Ideas must be clearly and distinctly possessed . The Idea of Space must he quite clear in the mind , or else the Axioms of Geometry will not be seen to be true : there will he no intuition of their truth ; and for a n > ind in such a state , there can be no Science of Geometry . A man may have a confused and perplexed , or a vacan t 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 m t han 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 arid distinct as to make the Axioms of Mechanics or of Chemistry self-evident . Indeed
the examples oi a state of mind in which the Ideas of Force or of Substance are so clear as t o be made the basis of science , 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 read er 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 , hut to be necessary ;—that the contrary of them is not only false , but inconceivable . But this inconceivableness depends entirely upon the clearness
of the Ideas which the axioms involve . So long as those Tdeas are vague and indistinct , the contrary of an Axiom may be assented to , though it cannot be distinctly conceived . It may be assented tt > , not because it is possible , but because -we 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 necessavy truths . " This difficulty has been strongly urged by Mr . Mill , 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 reall y 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 intellecttial 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 , hi / due preparation anil thought , are still . such , that this amount of preparation and thought is rare and peculiar ; and I will willingly grant , that to attain to and preserve such a clearness and subtlety of mind a . s this intuition requires , is a task of no ordinary dijfieidf / and labour . "
What is all this preparation , and labour , hut . "Experience ? A less metaphysical mind would suggest that if these Fundamental Ideas are " intuitions" which cannot be given by Kxperiejice , but are above and beyond it , how is all tin ' s Experience needed before these Necessary Truths can be seen to be true p . Dr . Whew ell is ready with his answer : — " That souk ; steady thought , and . even some progress in the construction ol Science , is needed in order to see the necessity of the Axioms thus introduced , is true , and is repeatedly asserted and illustrated in the History of the Sciences . The necessit y of such Axioms is seen , but it is not seen at first . It becomes clearer mid clearer to each person , and clear to one person after another , as tin ; human mind dwells more and more steadily on the several subjects of speculation . Tltere arc yiriitijic truths which , are seen by intuition , but thin intuition is progressive . This Js the remark which I wish to make in answer to those ; of my critics who have * objected that truths which I have propounded as Axioms , an ; not evident to all . "
_ Hiat this is no answer : it nil , but is virtually a concession oi' the very l'oint in dispute , will be seen by an ntlontive perusal of the following passage , wherein he brings his new ibrin oi" the doctrine into greater distinctness —
" An able writer in the lulinburgh Rec ' u w ( No . 1 DI 5 , p . 2 !)) has , in like manner , Sl "d , ' Dr . Wlutwell seems to us to have gout ; much too far in reducing to necessary <• nil . hu what assuredly the generality of mankind will not feel to be so . " It , is a *«<•<< which I do not , at all contest ., that the generali / g of nian / iind will not feel ( lie Axioms of Chemistry , or even of Mechanics , to he necessary truths . Hut I had wud , not , that the generality of mankind would feel this necessity , but ( in a passage , l"s t before quoted by the Kcvievver ) that the mind under certain circumstances " 'tains- a . point , of vino from which it can pronounce mechanical ( and other ) funduixenfa / . truths to he ¦ nceessari / in . their nature , tlioiu / h disclosed to us by experience < tud observation : ' ' '
loHay thatTruf h . s are necessary , but "disclosed through observation and ^ iwrience , " solar from assisting ; Dr . WlirweH ' s philosophy , amounts ton ' 'struelion of it , or to this astounding truism thai . Necessary Trufcji . s arc J »< -cessanl y true ! ' he question , remember , in ( his capital one : Can we transcend phenomena and Know anything of JNoumcnu P To do ho we niusl , have Ideas "" ¦ ' ? 'pendent of Experience , bemuse Experience fells iih only of phenomena ; * <> lniiNl , therefore be furnished A \ ifh a Net oi' Intuitions miperior to Ex-IX'i'ienee ; not given in it ; the property of the Mind . Dr . Whewell , iinxiouH for tho existence oi' tliaL Motttphyaicyl Hcienco ho ho 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 . WJiewell ' 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 tliese 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 , lie 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 , hnown to be true ? but : How does the 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 universality admit of a more universally intelligible expression ; but , obvious or obscure , the relation lias to be learnt through experience , and then expressed in a formula .
In conclusion , let us reeal to Dr . Whewell 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 they 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 field , proclaiming loudly that he has won the victory .
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A BATCH 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 clear oh" at once , or they will grow old before in due course we can reach them . Therefore , for a week , we postpone the continuation of Hutlev ' ^ Analogy , and summarily notice a few volumes to keep the reader au eourani , 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 , ( II . G . Bohn , ) for example , is an excellent work on a very important subject , the health of our wives 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 J ) r . Henry Davies ' s little work , The Young Wife ' s Guide daring Pregnancy and Childbirth , and in the Management of the Infant , ( II . G . 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 large families , " are invariably formidable with their " experience . " Ignorance is at all times bad , but for genuine danger there is nothing like experienced ignorance !
Dr . Wliewell ' s Astronomy and ( Joicral . Physics is a Vepnnt of the Bridge water Treatise , and forms a . volume of Mr . Bohn ' s excellent S'cicnti / ic Library . This is one of the books we must , find an opportunity of examining hereafter , for the sake of ( lit ; subject . In \) v . Lai'dncr ' s Handbook of Natural J'hilosopfiy and , Astronomy ( Taylor , Walton , and Maberley ) , tlie student and the man of business will lind 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 Electricity , illusl rated with sonic two hundred diagrams , and rendered useful with various appliances of index , analytical tables , and titles to paragraphs . It is a , solid , not a , flashy , compilation ; it , is intended lor the vr \ c of flu ; student-, and not . by any means to " astonish I he llrowns . " What with its accuracy , its careful tables , its cognisance of the latest Tliscovcrics , and its clear arrangement , we can emphatically recommend it as the most serviceable book of ( be kind we have met with .
Dr . Landsborough ' s Popular History if liritish Zoophy tes- or ( \> ral-Inics , ( Keevcand Co ,, ) is a volume we must commend , though at the expense of ( Ik ; author . The numerous coloured illustrations render it u peculiarly attractive and valuable book ; and , indeed , sonic of ( lit ; text may be commended for its information : but the religious reflections and ( -waddle dragged in at all times , and ( he want of any artislic or philosophic power in the arrangement of the materials , makes the book lifllo better than a . common-place book with capital illustrations . So interesting a topic might have ; employed a . bettor pen . Smith ' s Parks and I'fcasiiw ( 1 rounds ; or Practical Soli son Countn / ticsulenees , I if las , /'/// die Parks , and ( hardens , ( Reeve and Co ., ) is a , practical work , meant for the count ry house rather than the study , ' conveying the \ iewH of Cilpin , Price , and others , with souk * of the results of " the author ' s own experience . ,
In the repuhlicat ion of the j < hici / cl <>})< cdia ' Melvopolita-na , which Messrs . . / . J . (* ri ( lin have undertaken ( in compact volumes ) , the History of (/ recce , Ahtcedonia , and , S // ria , by \) r . Lyiill , Dr . iVIounl ain . Dr . IJenouard , E . Pococke , Clcland , and Dr . Russell , has been edilod by Mr . E . I ' ocoeke , who has not only enriched it from his own stores , but has added a variety of pictorial illustrations of sites and coins . Punch ' s J ' ocket-liook for 185 . "J will bo welcomed with open arms for
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November 13 , 1852 . ] THE LEADER , 1095
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Nov. 13, 1852, page 1095, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1960/page/19/
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