Indeterminism, the doctrine of causeless activity of the mind, of freedom of a will which is regarded as an entity added to the contents of the mind, is no better supported by these special arguments than by general considerations. More than a hundred years ago Priestley said of this doctrine: “There is no absurdity more glaring to my understanding.” QUESTIONS 201. Give at least a dozen words all meaning the foreseeing of a future experience resulting from action. 202. How are free actions defined? 203. What other name is mentioned in the text for unfree, compulsory action, a name which has already been much used in a previous chapter? 204. What are the three arguments mentioned in favor of the assumption that causeless action is possible? 205. What do we learn from a post-hypnotic suggestion with respect to the question of free will? 206. Give examples from history showing that both energy and indolence are independent of theories about the will. 207. Can the belief in causeless activity be expected to contribute to educational endeavor? Give reasons for your answer. 208. What is the aim of legal punishment? How is this aim related to the doctrine of causeless activity? 209. Why are children not made subject to legal punishment? CHAPTER IV HIGHEST ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF CONSCIOUSNESS § 23. EVILS OF KNOWLEDGE Into the remotest distances, spatial and temporal, mind penetrates through the accumulation and theoretical elaboration of experiences. Knowledge may be obtained of the names and the deeds of Assyrian kings, of the shape of the oceans and the continents thousands and hundreds of thousands of years ago, of eclipses of the sun and the moon, of the appearance of the starry sky for any number of years hence. Knowledge means power. Insight into the relations of things enables the mind to adapt itself more perfectly to them. Science and industrial development are the results of this advancement of mental activity. Nevertheless, it is not exclusively happiness that is thus gained. So complicated is mind that what contributes to its welfare and removes obstacles to its well-being, at the same time creates new sources of unhappiness, which call for new means, new methods, of relief. “La prévoyance, la prévoyance,” complains Rousseau, “voilà la véritable source de toutes nos misères.” We must make allowance for the exaggeration necessary to make the desired impression; but even then there is much truth in Rousseau’s words. Not all evils spring from prescience, but a good many do. Three classes of unintended and unpleasant effects of knowledge anticipating future events may be described.