Simply stated, the difference between these two examples does not
consist in the existence of a relationship in the one case and the
absence of a relationship in the other; it consists in the fact that in
the case of the flowers the relationship occurs now and then but is not
permanently knowable. It is possible that there is a natural law
controlling the relation between color and odor, and if that law were
known there would be no question of accident or of analogy, but of law.
Our ignorance of such a law, in spite of the multiplicity of instances,
lies in the fact that we are concerned only with the converse
relationships and not with the common cause of perfume and color.
Suppose I see on the street a large number of people with winter
over-coats and a large number of people with skates in their hands, I
would hardly ask whether the coats are conditioned or brought out by the
skates or the skates by the coats. If I do not conclude that the cold
weather is the condition both of the need of over-coats and the utility
of skates, I will suppose that there is some unintelligible reflexive
relation between over-coats and skates. If I observe that on a certain
day every week there regularly appear many well-dressed people and no
workingmen on the street, if I am ignorant of the fact that Sunday is
the cause of the appearance of the one and the disappearance of the
other, I shall try in vain to find out how it happens that the working
people are crowded out by the well-dressed ones or conversely.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account