Science and Art 183 



side we happen to be looking at. The very word "value" has 

 many definitions and the mere discussion of these various 

 meanings could fill several books this size. 



When most people use the word "value" they are think- 

 ing in terms of whether or not a certain line of conduct is 

 good or evil or a certain work of art is beautiful or ugly. 

 In some cultures or in certain periods of history these two 

 scales become very closely intertwined so that being good 

 is thought of as being almost the same thing as being beau- 

 tiful. In other cultures, like our own Puritan utilitarian one, 

 goodness and beauty may draw rather far apart. 



When we assert that science has Uttle to say about value 

 problems, we mean that the ordinary methods of science 

 cannot help us to decide whether one picture is more beauti- 

 ful than another or whether a given act is more honest than 

 another. At a still deeper level, we mean that science cannot 

 help us to understand justice or even to decide whether 

 justice is a good thing or not. Strictly speaking, there seems 

 little doubt about the reality of these Hmitations. On the 

 other hand, I will try to show that science comes in contact 

 with such value problems at many points, that awareness of 

 values is indispensable for the progress of science itself, and 

 that knowledge of science is indispensable for anyone who 

 wishes to understand the problem of good and evil in the 

 twentieth century. 



But first let us explore a little further why it is that strictly 

 speaking science has so little to do with value questions. 

 The first reason appears, at least at first glance, to be purely 

 technical; we simply haven't devised the right tools. We 

 have good tools for measuring whether objects or phe- 

 nomena are larger or smaller, heavier or Hghter, faster or 

 slower, hotter or colder, brighter or duller, greener or red- 

 der, louder or quieter, and higher or lower in pitch than 

 are other objects or phenomena. But we have not devised 



