﻿38 
  THE 
  UNFATHOMED 
  UNIVERSE 
  

  

  of 
  ultimate 
  Reality, 
  is 
  a 
  problem 
  which 
  can 
  only 
  be 
  dealt 
  with 
  by 
  

   the 
  science 
  which 
  systematically 
  analyses 
  the 
  meaning 
  of 
  reality, 
  

   i.e., 
  by 
  Metaphysics. 
  We 
  may 
  perhaps 
  follow 
  the 
  usage 
  of 
  some 
  

   recent 
  writers 
  in 
  marking 
  this 
  difference 
  of 
  object 
  by 
  a 
  difference 
  

   in 
  terminology, 
  and 
  say 
  that 
  the 
  goal 
  of 
  experimental 
  science 
  is 
  

   the 
  description 
  of 
  facts, 
  the 
  goal 
  of 
  Metaphysics 
  their 
  interpretation. 
  

   The 
  difference 
  of 
  aim 
  is, 
  however, 
  not 
  ultimate. 
  Description 
  of 
  facts, 
  

   when 
  once 
  we 
  cease 
  to 
  be 
  content 
  with 
  such 
  description 
  as 
  will 
  sub- 
  

   serve 
  the 
  purpose 
  of 
  calculation, 
  and 
  call 
  for 
  the 
  description 
  of 
  the 
  

   fact 
  as 
  it 
  really 
  is, 
  of 
  itself 
  becomes 
  metaphysical 
  interpretation." 
  

  

  Along 
  with 
  the 
  sympathetic 
  interest 
  that 
  many 
  modern 
  

   philosophers 
  (such 
  as 
  Ward, 
  Royce, 
  Pringle-Pattison, 
  Stout, 
  

   Taylor, 
  Lovejoy, 
  Bergson) 
  have 
  taken 
  in 
  the 
  general 
  results 
  

   of 
  science, 
  there 
  is 
  benefit 
  accruing 
  to 
  science 
  through 
  their 
  

   expert 
  criticism 
  of 
  scientific 
  categories. 
  For 
  the 
  mood 
  

   and 
  training 
  of 
  the 
  scientific 
  investigator 
  is 
  rarely 
  such 
  

   that 
  it 
  leads 
  far 
  in 
  that 
  direction. 
  Some 
  of 
  the 
  ablest 
  

   scientific 
  minds 
  the 
  world 
  has 
  known 
  have 
  betrayed 
  in 
  

   their 
  would-be 
  philosophical 
  deliverances 
  an 
  extraordinary 
  

   naivete. 
  

  

  In 
  thinking 
  of 
  the 
  empirical, 
  scientific, 
  and 
  philosophical 
  

   orders 
  as 
  reconstructions 
  of 
  increasing 
  completeness 
  and, 
  

   it 
  is 
  hoped, 
  of 
  increasing 
  nearness 
  to 
  reality, 
  it 
  must 
  be 
  re- 
  

   membered 
  that 
  they 
  co-exist 
  in 
  our 
  midst 
  like 
  outcrops 
  of 
  

   strata 
  of 
  different 
  epochs. 
  Thus 
  we 
  have 
  little 
  more 
  than 
  

   empirical 
  knowledge 
  in 
  regard 
  to 
  the 
  variability 
  of 
  living 
  

   creatures, 
  or 
  in 
  regard 
  to 
  certain 
  obscure 
  diseases. 
  In 
  med- 
  

   ical 
  practice, 
  stock-breeding, 
  and 
  engineering, 
  empirical 
  

   knowledge 
  has 
  often 
  worked 
  extraordinarily 
  well. 
  The 
  ex- 
  

   planation 
  is 
  sometimes 
  diagnostic 
  genius, 
  sometimes 
  remark- 
  

   able 
  development 
  of 
  perception 
  in 
  quite 
  ordinary 
  individuals. 
  

   A 
  patiently 
  accumulated 
  working 
  knowledge 
  often 
  leads 
  a 
  

   shrewd 
  man 
  a 
  long 
  way 
  without 
  much 
  science 
  in 
  the 
  strict 
  

  

  