﻿THE 
  UNFATHOMED 
  UNIVERSE 
  21 
  

  

  basis 
  to 
  start 
  from, 
  but 
  what 
  is 
  matter, 
  and 
  what 
  has 
  been 
  

   its 
  history? 
  Must 
  there 
  not 
  have 
  been 
  a 
  differentiation 
  of 
  

   various 
  forms 
  of 
  matter, 
  may 
  there 
  not 
  have 
  been 
  a 
  pre- 
  

   material 
  state 
  of 
  things, 
  do 
  we 
  ever 
  get 
  to 
  beginnings 
  ? 
  This 
  

   necessary 
  limitation 
  is 
  well 
  stated 
  by 
  Dr. 
  Arthur 
  Shipley 
  :- 
  

   " 
  ]STo 
  body 
  of 
  scientific 
  doctrine 
  succeeds 
  in 
  describing 
  in 
  

   terms 
  of 
  laws 
  of 
  succession 
  more 
  than 
  some 
  limited 
  set 
  of 
  

   stages 
  of 
  a 
  natural 
  process; 
  the 
  whole 
  process 
  if, 
  indeed, 
  

   it 
  can 
  be 
  regarded 
  as 
  a 
  whole 
  must 
  for 
  ever 
  be 
  beyond 
  

   the 
  reach 
  of 
  scientific 
  grasp. 
  The 
  earliest 
  stage 
  to 
  which 
  

   science 
  has 
  succeeded 
  in 
  tracing 
  back 
  any 
  part 
  of 
  a 
  sequence 
  

   of 
  phenomena 
  itself 
  constitutes 
  a 
  new 
  problem 
  for 
  science, 
  

   and 
  that 
  without 
  end. 
  There 
  is 
  always 
  an 
  earlier 
  stage 
  and 
  to 
  

   an 
  earliest 
  we 
  can 
  never 
  attain. 
  The 
  questions 
  of 
  origins 
  

   concern 
  the 
  theologian, 
  the 
  metaphysician, 
  perhaps 
  the 
  

   poet" 
  (Schuster 
  and 
  Shipley, 
  1917, 
  p. 
  276). 
  

  

  (i) 
  Another 
  limitation 
  has 
  to 
  do 
  with 
  causal 
  sequences. 
  

   In 
  ordinary 
  scientific 
  discourse, 
  as 
  Bergson 
  points 
  out, 
  three 
  

   different 
  meanings 
  of 
  the 
  term 
  i 
  cause 
  ? 
  are 
  common. 
  A 
  

   cause 
  may 
  act 
  by 
  impelling 
  (one 
  billiard 
  ball 
  striking 
  an- 
  

   other), 
  or 
  by 
  releasing 
  (a 
  spark 
  exploding 
  the 
  gunpowder), 
  

   or 
  by 
  unwinding 
  (the 
  relaxing 
  of 
  the 
  spring 
  turning 
  the 
  

   cylinder 
  of 
  a 
  gramophone 
  and 
  having 
  the 
  melody 
  as 
  effect). 
  

   Now 
  " 
  only 
  in 
  the 
  first 
  case, 
  really, 
  does 
  cause 
  explain 
  

   effect; 
  in 
  the 
  others 
  the 
  effect 
  is 
  more 
  or 
  less 
  given 
  in 
  ad- 
  

   vance, 
  and 
  the 
  antecedent 
  invoked 
  is 
  in 
  different 
  degrees, 
  

   of 
  course 
  its 
  occasion 
  rather 
  than 
  its 
  cause 
  ' 
  (Creative 
  

   Evolution, 
  English 
  Trans., 
  p. 
  77). 
  

  

  In 
  the 
  domain 
  of 
  mechanics, 
  in 
  Gravitational 
  Astronomy, 
  

   we 
  see 
  the 
  high-water 
  mark 
  of 
  scientific 
  description, 
  in 
  exact- 
  

   ness 
  and 
  approximate 
  completeness. 
  There, 
  with 
  a 
  clear 
  in- 
  

   tellectual 
  conscience, 
  we 
  can 
  proclaim, 
  " 
  causa 
  a?quat 
  effec- 
  

  

  