﻿18 
  THE 
  UNFATHOMED 
  UNIVERSE 
  

  

  " 
  promise 
  and 
  potency 
  of 
  all 
  terrestrial 
  life 
  ", 
  is 
  exhaust- 
  

   ively 
  described 
  in 
  terms 
  of 
  the 
  dynamics 
  of 
  particles, 
  then 
  

   we 
  cannot 
  by 
  any 
  ingenuity 
  evolve 
  the 
  conscious 
  out 
  of 
  it; 
  

   if 
  on 
  general 
  grounds 
  we 
  feel 
  bound 
  to 
  regard 
  conscious 
  life 
  

   as 
  evolved 
  from 
  Tyndall's 
  " 
  matter 
  ", 
  then 
  the 
  reality 
  of 
  that 
  

   " 
  matter 
  " 
  could 
  not 
  be 
  exhaustively 
  described 
  in 
  terms 
  of 
  the 
  

   dynamics 
  of 
  particles. 
  

  

  ' 
  All 
  explanation 
  of 
  the 
  higher 
  by 
  the 
  lower 
  is 
  philosoph- 
  

   ically 
  a 
  hysteron-proteron. 
  The 
  antecedents 
  assigned 
  are 
  

   not 
  the 
  causes 
  of 
  the 
  consequents, 
  for 
  by 
  antecedents 
  the 
  

   naturalistic 
  theories 
  mean 
  the 
  antecedents 
  in 
  abstraction 
  

   from 
  their 
  consequents 
  the 
  antecedents 
  taken 
  as 
  they 
  ap- 
  

   pear 
  in 
  themselves, 
  or 
  as 
  we 
  might 
  suppose 
  them 
  to 
  be 
  if 
  

   no 
  such 
  consequents 
  had 
  ever 
  issued 
  from 
  them. 
  So 
  con- 
  

   ceived, 
  however, 
  the 
  antecedents 
  (matter 
  and 
  energy, 
  for 
  ex- 
  

   ample) 
  have 
  no 
  real 
  existence 
  they 
  are 
  mere 
  entia 
  rationis, 
  

   abstract 
  aspects 
  of 
  the 
  concrete 
  fact 
  which 
  we 
  call 
  the 
  

   universe 
  ' 
  (Pringle-Pattison, 
  Mans 
  Place 
  in 
  the 
  Cosmos, 
  

   pp. 
  11-12). 
  

  

  (/) 
  The 
  aim 
  of 
  science 
  is 
  not 
  so 
  much 
  " 
  to 
  give 
  an 
  ac- 
  

   count 
  of 
  the 
  whole 
  matter 
  ", 
  as 
  used 
  to 
  be 
  said, 
  but 
  rather 
  to 
  

   work 
  out, 
  patiently 
  and 
  piecemeal, 
  a 
  number 
  of 
  descriptions 
  

   and 
  formulations 
  of 
  diverse 
  aspects, 
  each 
  for 
  a 
  certain 
  pur- 
  

   pose, 
  by 
  certain 
  methods, 
  in 
  certain 
  symbols. 
  The 
  chemist's 
  

   account 
  of 
  a 
  peacock's 
  tail 
  is 
  an 
  abstraction, 
  and 
  so 
  is 
  the 
  

   physicist's, 
  the 
  biologist's, 
  and 
  the 
  psychologist's. 
  But 
  even 
  

   when 
  all 
  these 
  results, 
  reached 
  by 
  scientific 
  abstraction, 
  are 
  

   pooled, 
  we 
  have 
  not 
  " 
  an 
  account 
  of 
  the 
  whole 
  matter 
  " 
  

   of 
  " 
  the 
  positive 
  full-orbed 
  reality 
  ". 
  That 
  correlation 
  often 
  

   has 
  to 
  wait 
  for 
  genius. 
  Moreover, 
  the 
  scientific 
  synthesis, 
  if 
  

   it 
  be 
  achieved, 
  requires 
  to 
  be 
  assimilated 
  with 
  what 
  the 
  

   artist, 
  the 
  poet, 
  and 
  the 
  genuine 
  lover 
  of 
  birds 
  may 
  be 
  able 
  

  

  