THE HIGHER VALUES OF SCIENCE 299 



the convenience and profit of the landlord or the employer 

 of labor. It is a question involving the welfare of the in- 

 dividual and of society, and all the facts that seem to have 

 a bearing need to be carefully considered, before an effective 

 policy can be discovered leading to the elimination of this 

 festering sore from our social life. The biologist may be 

 influenced by his preconceptions of heredity and environ- 

 ment, the humanitarian by his quickened sympathies; but 

 in so far as either shuts his eyes to the evidence and fails 

 to consider all the factors involved, he is false to the scien- 

 tific spirit, which must be the final arbiter in the just de- 

 cisions of conscience. We contend, therefore, that the scien- 

 tific method furnishes the only talisman that can be used 

 effectively in solving the complex problems of social life; 

 since it enables us to grapple with these problems in dispas- 

 sionate fashion, and since it makes for fair judgment and 

 the elimination of prejudice. 



This elimination of what influences the you and the me, 

 in favor of what can be agreed upon as a fair interpretation 

 by us all, is no easy matter. Scientific men do not always 

 live up to their ideal of dispassionate thinking within their 

 own domain, nor do they always carry over this ideal to 

 daily life. But the impersonal manner of thought is a price- 

 less possession of the human race. If men strive to apply 

 it in the problems of human relationships, the effort is worth 

 while, however short it falls of the ideal. We need more 

 facts of science for our material progress; but more than this 

 we need the unprejudiced judgments of science for the pene- 

 tration of sham and for the elimination of personal interest 

 in dealing with our fellow men. 



THE SCIENTIFIC SPIRIT AND THE OPEN MIND 



The ideal of fair judgment necessitates living in a state of 

 suspended judgment with reference to many questions. 

 Those who acquire the scientific frame of mind find that it 



