HUMAN FREEDOM 



tion. Here is a box of floor-sweepings, 

 containing sawdust, a few iron nails, bits 

 of leather, sand, pebbles and other odds 

 and ends. A magnet is stirred around in 

 the mixture and it draws out all the nails 

 and nothing else. The magnet makes a 

 selection but not a choice as we have de- 

 fined it. 



Again, a man observes the box of sweep- 

 ings and wishes to recover the nails. He 

 selects the magnet from a rack of miscel- 

 laneous tools and in a moment he has the 

 nails in his hand. Are not his wish to 

 have the nails and his choice of the magnet 

 causally related with his previous experi- 

 ence and present bodily organization just 

 as truly as the magnet's power to select 

 iron is related with its previous history 

 and present organization? They cer- 

 tainly are if our previous reasoning is 

 valid. 



What determines the selection of the 

 Iron by the magnet? We know the mech- 

 anism of this process pretty well and the 

 physicist can explain the rules of magnetic 

 action in detail. But even here he soon 

 reaches a point in his explanation of mag- 

 netism where he must say, "I do not 

 know." 



[67] 



