50 The Universe and Life 



it does not mean that his individuality counts for 

 nothing in the course of events. On the contrary, as 

 new combinations of the constituents of the universe 

 are made, new phenomena and new methods of action 

 occur. Among these new phenomena is the particular 

 individual, with his special combination of desires, 

 hopes, fears, purposes, ideas. These help to determine 

 what occurs. 



This is the just basis for the conception of freedom 

 of action. The individual is not controlled exclusively 

 by forces lying outside of himself, forces extraneous 

 to his own individuality. His conduct is not governed 

 by rules of action that were discoverable before his 

 existence. He is a new combination with methods of 

 action that are not determined by what occurs in 

 other combinations. His freedom is thoroughly com- 

 patible with that experimental determinism on which 

 depends the practice of life and of science ; but he is 

 determined by conditions that did not before occur, 

 by conditions that lie in his own individuality. 



This biological outlook is thus thoroughly com- 

 patible with the practice and formulation of science. 

 But since the universe changes with the passage of 

 time, yielding new phenomena and new methods of 

 action, science can never be finished. It must con- 

 tinue to develop, to change, to progress, as long as 

 evolution continues. In this, it partakes of the nature 

 of history; its later content is bound to be different 

 from its earlier content, since the universe itself is 

 different. As new things appear, science must be so 

 modified or supplemented as to give an account of 



