A NEW PHASE OF AN OLD CONFLICT 547 



the church, that the latter has accepted progress as a practical principle. 

 So, protestantism advances along the path where science has led the 

 way — at a variable distance. At present, in the whole protestant church, 

 science is recognized as the court of last resort. The church no longer 

 undertakes to say what shall be valid in science, i. e., what shall be true, 

 but, on the contrary, endeavors to keep its doctrines in harmony with 

 the established results of science, or, at least, seeks to show that no 

 disharmony exists. 



The root of the irresistible power of science lies therein, that she is, 

 in fact, in possession of the truth. Certainly not of all truth, and still 

 less of the absolute truth: but, all the truth which exists in our world 

 is in the possession of science. This possession can never grow less, but 

 is bound to increase. 



What is truth ? To this question Ostwald replies : Truth is that 

 which makes possible prediction of the future. If a man says he fell 

 down yesterday while alone, it is impossible to determine the truth of the 

 statement, and his story must forever remain in that uncertain limbo 

 where the distinction between true and false is lacking. If, however, he 

 says : " To-morrow I shall go to Chicago," it is perfectly feasible to test 

 the truth of the affirmation by observing the man on the following day. 



The lesson taught by the illustration is a general one. In strict- 

 ness, truth exists only as regards the future, since only in the future 

 can we exercise trustworthy control. Although as to the past we have 

 many witnesses and traces, nevertheless, our conclusion from them has 

 only the character of a probability, and floats somewhere between truth 

 and falsehood, although at times very near the former. The truth of 

 an allegation with regard to the future can, in general, be positively 

 settled. Moreover, we have no interest in the past as such, since we 

 can not change it for better or worse. We can change the future, and it 

 only. Hence, we call that truth which enables us to have a sure influence 

 on the future. Many cases indeed exist where we wish to know the truth 

 about the past, but such truth interests us only in so far as it enables us 

 to exert a defined influence on the future. Whether snow fell on Feb- 

 ruary 3, 1325, on the spot where my house now stands has for me no im- 

 portance, because for me nothing depends upon it. But if I had infor- 

 mation of the qualities of my ancestors for several generations back, it 

 would interest me, for the reason that it would give me knowledge of my 

 own mental and moral make-up and assist my self-culture. Self-culture 

 is, however, equivalent to a regulation of my conduct in the future. 



All our fellow-men are able to predict the future more or less, in the 

 measure that they possess science. When the domestic lights a fire in 

 the stove of a winter morning she goes through a series of manipula- 

 tions, which of themselves produce no heat, on the sure prediction that 

 her labors in carrying coal, chopping kindling and striking a match will 



