physicist? Only if we have such other account of nature, then only
do we speak of that nature in which we live and in which we act, and
compared with such an account of the fuller reality, the constructed
schematism of the physicist must appear, indeed, as Emerson said,
"barren like a single sex." Not the slightest result of natural science
is depreciated, not the slightest discovery ignored, if we insist that
all these so-called facts have a meaning only under certain artificial
conditions which set them apart from the reality of our life; and in
this reality lies the interest of the philosopher. We have thus no
reason to reproach the scientist so long as the scientist does not
fancy that his science gives an account of nature as it really is. Both
kinds of work are necessary, and the scientist may well speak, as the
squirrel in Emerson's poem:
"Talents differ,
All is well and wisely put;
If I cannot carry forests on my back,
Neither can you crack a nut."
Natural science has to crack our nuts, but philosophy has to carry
on its back the flourishing forests of life, in which we wander and
breathe. And if Emerson is right, to-day and forever, in claiming that
the facts of natural science are not expressions of reality, it is only
a small step to see that he was not less right in saying that man is
free. Consider man as a particle in the physical universe, consider his
actions from the point of view of a causal science, and there is no
possibility of escaping materialism and fatalism. We must understand
every activity as a necessary outcome of foregoing conditions.
Psychology must do so, and physics must do the same. The empirical
sciences would be disloyal to their own principles if they allowed
the slightest exception. The noblest gesture, the greatest word, the
bravest action, must be considered by them under the category of
causality. They are necessary effects of all the preceding causes. It
may be interesting, it may be fascinating to follow such lines with the
enthusiastic energy of scholarly research. But are we really obliged
to accept the outcome as an ultimate word concerning the meaning of
our freedom? "Forever wells up the impulse of choosing and acting in
the soul." Is it really merely an illusion? Has responsibility still
its moral value, are we the actors of our actions, are we still good,
are we still guilty, when every deed follows as necessary effect? Is
not, then, the whole constitution of the world, which has made us,
responsible whenever we move our hand for good or for bad?
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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