NATUREANDMAN
ManisapartofNature,notsomethingcontrastedwithNature．Histhoughtsandhisbodilymovementsfollowthesamelawsthatdescribethemotionsofstarsandatoms．ThephysicalworldislargecomparedwithMan—largerthanitwasthoughttobeinDante"stime,butnotsolargeasitseemedahundredyearsago．Bothupwardanddownward,bothinthelargeandinthesmall,scienceseemstobereachinglimits．Itisthoughtthattheuniverseisoffiniteextentinspace,andthatlightcouldtravelrounditinafewhundredmillionsofyears．Itisthoughtmatterconsistsofelectronsandprotons,whichareoffinitesizeandofwhichthereareonlyafinitenumberintheworld．Probablytheirchangesarenotcontinuous,asusedtobethought,butproceedbyjerks,whichareneversmallerthanacertainminimumjerk．Thelawsofthesechangescanapparentlybesummedupinasmallnumberofverygeneralprinciples,whichdeterminethepastandthefutureoftheworldwhenanysmallsectionofitshistoryisknown.
Physicalscienceisthusapproachingthestagewhenitwillbecomplete,andthereforeuninteresting．Giventhelawsgoverningthemotionsofelectronsandprotons,therestismerelygeography—acollectionofparticularfactstellingtheirdistributionthroughoutsomeportionoftheworld"shistory．Thetotalnumberoffactsofgeographyrequiredtodeterminetheworld"shistoryisprobablyfinite;theoreticallytheycouldallbewrittendowninabigbooktobekeptatSomersetHousewithacalculatingmachineattachedwhich,byturningahandle,wouldenabletheinquirertofindoutthefactsatothertimesthanthoserecorded．Itisdifficulttoimagineanythinglessinterestingormoredifferentfromthepassionatedelightsofincompletediscovery．Itislikeclimbingahighmountainandfindingnothingatthetopexceptarestaurantwheretheysellgingerbeer,surroundedbyfogbutequippedwithwireless．PerhapsinthetimesofAhmesthemultiplicationtablewasexciting.
Ofthisphysicalworld,uninterestinginitself,Manisapart．Hisbody,likeothermatter,iscomposedofelectronsandprotons,which,sofarasweknow,obeythesamelawsasthosenotformingpartofanimalsorplants．Therearesomewhomaintainthatphysiologycanneverbereducedtophysics,buttheirargumentsarenotveryconvincinganditseemsprudenttosupposethattheyaremistaken．Whatwecallour‘thoughts’seemtodependupontheorganisationoftracksinthebraininthesamesortofwayinwhichjourneysdependuponroadsandrailways．Theenergyusedinthinkingseemstohaveachemicalorigin;forinstance,adeficiencyofiodinewillturnaclevermanintoanidiot．Mentalphenomenaseemtobeboundupwithmaterialstructure．Ifthisbeso,wecannotsupposethatasolitaryelectronorprotoncan‘think’;wemightaswellexpectasolitaryindividualtoplayafootballmatch．Wealsocannotsupposethatanindividual"sthinkingsurvivesbodilydeath,sincethatdestroystheorganisationofthebrain,anddissipatestheenergywhichutilisedthebraintracks.
Godandimmortality,thecentraldogmasoftheChristianreligion,findnosupportinscience．Itcannotbesaidthateitherdoctrineisessentialtoreligion,sinceneitherisfoundinBuddhism．（Withregardtoimmortality,thisstatementinanunqualifiedformmightbemisleading,butitiscorrectinthelastanalysis．）ButweintheWesthavecometothinkofthemastheirreducibleminimumoftheology．Nodoubtpeoplewillcontinuetoentertainthesebeliefs,becausetheyarepleasant,justasitispleasanttothinkourselvesvirtuousandourenemieswicked．ButformypartIcannotseeanygroundforeither．IdonotpretendtobeabletoprovethatthereisnoGod．IequallycannotprovethatSatanisafiction．TheChristianGodmayexist;somaytheGodsofOlympus,orofancientEgypt,orofBabylon．Butnooneofthesehypothesesismoreprobablethananyother:theylieoutsidetheregionofevenprobableknowledge,andthereforethereisnoreasontoconsideranyofthem．Ishallnotenlargeuponthisquestion,asIhavedealtwithitelsewhere.(1)
Thequestionofpersonalimmortalitystandsonasomewhatdifferentfooting．Hereevidenceeitherwayispossible．Personsarepartoftheeverydayworldwithwhichscienceisconcerned,andtheconditionswhichdeterminetheirexistencearediscoverable．Adropofwaterisnotimmortal;itcanberesolvedintooxygenandhydrogen．If,therefore,adropofwaterweretomaintainthatithadaqualityofaqueousnesswhichwouldsurviveitsdissolutionweshouldbeinclinedtobesceptical．Inlikemannerweknowthatthebrainisnotimmortal,andthattheorganisedenergyofalivingbodybecomes,asitwere,demobilisedatdeath,andthereforenotavailableforcollectiveaction．Alltheevidencegoestoshowthatwhatweregardasourmentallifeisboundupwithbrainstructureandorganisedbodilyenergy．Thereforeitisrationaltosupposethatmentallifeceaseswhenbodilylifeceases．Theargumentisonlyoneofprobability,butitisasstrongasthoseuponwhichmostscientificconclusionsarebased.
Therearevariousgroundsuponwhichthisconclusionmightbeattacked．Psychicalresearchprofessestohaveactualscientificevidenceofsurvival,andundoubtedlyitsprocedureis,inprinciple,scientificallycorrect．Evidenceofthissortmightbesooverwhelmingthatnoonewithascientifictempercouldrejectit．Theweighttobeattachedtotheevidence,however,mustdependupontheantecedentprobabilityofthehypothesisofsurvival．Therearealwaysdifferentwaysofaccountingforanysetofphenomenaandoftheseweshouldprefertheonewhichisantecedentallyleastimprobable．Thosewhoalreadythinkitlikelythatwesurvivedeathwillbereadytoviewthistheoryasthebestexplanationofpsychicalphenomena．Thosewho,onothergrounds,regardthistheoryasimplausiblewillseekforotherexplanations．Formypart,Iconsidertheevidencesofaradducedbypsychicalresearchinfavourofsurvivalmuchweakerthanthephysiologicalevidenceontheotherside．ButIfullyadmitthatitmightatanymomentbecomestronger,andinthatcaseitwouldbeunscientifictodisbelieveinsurvival.
Survivalofbodilydeathis,however,adifferentmatterfromimmortality:itmayonlymeanapostpone-mentofpsychicaldeath．Itisimmortalitythatmendesiretobelievein．Believersinimmortalitywillobjecttophysiologicalarguments,suchasIhavebeenusing,onthegroundthatsoulandbodyaretotallydisparate,andthatthesoulissomethingquiteotherthanitsempiricalmanifes-tationsthroughourbodilyorgans．Ibelievethistobeametaphysicalsuperstition．Mindandmatteralikeareforcertainpurposesconvenientterms,butarenotultimaterealities．Electronsandprotons,likethesoul,arelogicalfictions;eachisreallyahistory,aseriesofevents,notasinglepersistententity．Inthecaseofthesoul,thisisobviousfromthefactsofgrowth．Whoeverconsidersconception,gestation,andinfancycannotseriouslybelievethatthesoulinanyindivisiblesomething,perfectandcompletethroughoutthisprocess．Itisevidentthatitgrowslikethebody,andthatitderivesbothfromthespermato-zoonandfromtheovum,sothatitcannotbeindivisible．Thisisnotmaterialism:itismerelytherecognitionthateverythinginterestingisamatteroforganisation,notofprimalsubstance.
Metaphysicianshaveadvancedinnumerableargumentstoprovethatthesoulmustbeimmortal．Thereisonesimpletestbywhichalltheseargumentscanbedemo-lished．Theyallproveequallythatthesoulmustpervadeallspace．Butaswearenotsoanxioustobefatastolivelong,noneofthemetaphysiciansinquestionhaveevernoticedthisapplicationoftheirreasonings．Thisisaninstanceoftheamazingpowerofdesireinblindingevenveryablementofallacieswhichwouldotherwisebeobv-iousatonce．Ifwewerenotafraidofdeath,Idonotbelievethattheideaofimmortalitywouldeverhavearisen.
Fearisthebasisofreligiousdogma,asofsomuchelseinhumanlife．Fearofhumanbeings,individuallyorcollectively,dominatesmuchofoursociallife,butitisfearofnaturethatgivesrisetoreligion．Theantithesisofmindandmatteris,aswehaveseen,moreorlessillusory;butthereisanotherantithesiswhichismoreimportant—that,namely,betweenthingsthatcanbeaffectedbyourdesiresandthingsthatcannotbesoaffected．Thelinebetweenthetwoisneithersharpnorimmutable—asscienceadvances,moreandmorethingsarebroughtunderhumancontrol．Neverthelessthereremainthingsdefinitelyontheotherside．Amongtheseareallthelargefactsofourworld,thesortoffactsthataredealtwithbyastro-nomy．Itisonlyfactsonornearthesurfaceoftheearththatwecan,tosomeextent,mouldtosuitourdesires．Andevenonthesurfaceoftheearthourpowersareverylimited．Aboveall,wecannotpreventdeath,althoughwecanoftendelayit.
Religionisanattempttoovercomethisantithesis．IftheworldiscontrolledbyGod,andGodcanbemovedbyprayer,weacquireashareinomnipotence．Informerdays,miracleshappenedinanswertoprayer;theystilldointheCatholicChurch,butProtestantshavelostthispower．However,itispossibletodispensewithmiracles,sinceProvidencehasdecreedthattheoperationofnaturallawsshallproducethebestpossibleresults．ThusbeliefinGodstillservestohumanisetheworldofnature,andtomakemenfeelthatphysicalforcesarereallytheirallies．Inlikemannerimmortalityremovestheterrorfromdeath．Peoplewhobelievethatwhentheydietheywillinheriteternalblissmaybeexpectedtoviewdeathwithouthorror,though,fortunatelyformedicalmen,thisdoesnotinvariablyhappen．Itdoes,however,soothemen"sfearssomewhatevenwhenitcannotallaythemwholly.
Religion,sinceithasitssourceinterror,hasdignifiedcertainkindsoffear,andmadepeoplethinkthemnotdisgraceful．Inthisithasdonemankindagreatdisservice:allfearisbad．IbelievethatwhenIdieIshallrot,andnothingofmyegowillsurvive．Iamnotyoung,andIlovelife．ButIshouldscorntoshiverwithterroratthethoughtofannihilation．Happinessisnonethelesstruehappinessbecauseitmustcometoanend,nordothoughtandlovelosetheirvaluebecausetheyarenoteverlasting．Manyamanhasbornehimselfproudlyonthescaffold;surelythesameprideshouldteachustothinktrulyaboutman"splaceintheworld．Eveniftheopenwindowsofscienceatfirstmakeusshiverafterthecosyindoorwarmthoftraditionalhumanisingmyths,intheendthefreshairbringsvigour,andthegreatspaceshaveasplendouroftheirown.
Thephilosophyofnatureisonething,thephilosophyofvalueisquiteanother．Nothingbutharmcancomeofconfusingthem．Whatwethinkgood,whatweshouldlike,hasnobearingwhateveruponwhatis,whichisthequestionforthephilosophyofnature．Ontheotherhand,wecannotbeforbiddentovaluethisorthatonthegroundthatthenonhumanworlddoesnotvalueit,norcanwebecompelledtoadmireanythingbecauseitisa‘lawofnature’．Undoubtedlywearepartofnature,whichhasproducedourdesires,ourhopesandfears,inaccordancewithlawswhichthephysicistisbeginningtodiscover．Inthissensewearepartofnature,wearesubordinatedtonature,theoutcomeofnaturallaws,andtheirvictimsinthelongrun.
Thephilosophyofnaturemustnotbeundulyterrestrial;forit,theearthismerelyoneofthesmallerplanetsofoneofthesmallerstarsoftheMilkyWay．Itwouldberidiculoustowarpthephilosophyofnatureinordertobringoutresultsthatarepleasingtothetinyparasitesofthisinsignificantplanet．Vitalismasaphilo-sophy,andevolutionism,show,inthisrespect,alackofsenseofproportionandlogicalrelevance．Theyregardthefactsoflife,whicharepersonallyinterestingtous,ashavingacosmicsignificance,notasignificanceconfinedtotheearth"ssurface．Optimismandpessimism,ascosmicphilosophies,showthesamenaïvehumanism;thegreatworld,sofarasweknowitfromthephilosophyofnature,isneithergoodnorbad,andisnotconcernedtomakeushappyorunhappy．Allsuchphilosophiesspringfromself-importance,andarebestcorrectedbyalittleastronomy.
Butinthephilosophyofvaluethesituationisreversed．Natureisonlyapartofwhatwecanimagine;everything,realorimagined,canbeappraisedbyus,andthereisnooutsidestandardtoshowthatourvaluationiswrong．Weareourselvestheultimateandirrefutablearbitersofvalue,andintheworldofvalueNatureisonlyapart．ThusinthisworldwearegreaterthanNature．Intheworldofvalues,Natureinitselfisneutral,neithergoodnorbad,deservingofneitheradmirationnorcensure．Itiswewhocreatevalueandourdesireswhichconfervalue．Inthisrealmwearekings,andwedebaseourkingshipifwebowdowntoNature．Itisforustodeterminethegoodlife,notforNature—notevenforNaturepersonifiedasGod.
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(1) SeemyPhilosophyofLeibniz,ChapterXV.
