One or two remarks may, perhaps, be hazarded in concluding this account
of the relation of the scientific to the philosophic problem of
illusion. Science, as we have seen, takes its stand on a stable
consensus, a body of commonly accepted belief. And this being so, it
would seem to follow, that so far as she is allowed to interest herself
in philosophic questions, she will naturally be disposed to ask, What
beliefs are shared in by all minds, so far as normal and developed? In
other words, she will be inclined to look at universality as the main
thing to be determined in the region of philosophic inquiry. The
metaphysical sceptic, fond of daring exploits, may break up as many
accepted ideas as he likes into illusory _debris_, provided only he has
some bit of reality left to take his stand on. Meanwhile, the scientific
mind, here agreeing with the practical mind, will ask, "Will the beliefs
thus said to be capable of being shown to be illusory ever cease to
exercise their hold on men's minds, including that of the iconoclast
himself? Is the mode of demonstration of such a kind as to be likely
ever to materially weaken the common-sense 'intuition'?"
This question would seem to be most directly answerable by an appeal to
individual testimony. Viewed in this light, it is a question for the
present, for some few already allege that in their case philosophic
reasonings exercise an appreciable effect on these beliefs. And so far
as this is so, the man of scientific temper will feel that there is a
question for him.
It is evident, however, that the question of the persistence of these
fundamental beliefs is much more one for the future than for the
present. The correction of a clearly detected illusion is, as I have
more than once remarked, a slow process. An illusion such as the
apparent movement of the sun will persist as a partially developed error
long after it has been convicted. And it may be that the fundamental
beliefs here referred to, even if presumably illusory, are destined to
exercise their spell for long ages yet.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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