388 INTRODUCTION TO PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE 



to show what the possible problems are, and why their 

 solutions are required for a satisfactory view of things in 

 general. One cannot legislate as to what the possible types 

 of problem are and as to the way in which they are inter- 

 connected unless he has already had that inclusive view of 

 the universe which is precisely the solution to one of those 

 problems. One must solve the speculative problem in order 

 to know what the possible speculative problems are. 



As a consequence, one is compelled to resort to the empir- 

 ical approach in the consideration of problems of this kind. 

 Instead of saying, "Here is an exhaustive list of the possible 

 speculative problems," one is obliged to say, "An examina- 

 tion of the literature in this unique field of overlapping 

 philosophy and science discloses the fact that such and such 

 problems have been considered most frequently by writers, 

 and may therefore be presumed to be both important and 

 capable of solution." Such an approach gives one not a 

 classification of problems, but merely a listing of them. It 

 does not show an interdependence of solutions upon one 

 another, nor does it establish the fact that the given prob- 

 lems are exhaustive of the field. It does not attempt to show 

 that there is one type of solution which is most plausible, 

 nor even that there is a general method which is common 

 to all of the problems. In fact, the great diversity in solu- 

 tions offered — though often based upon what appear to be 

 the same data — suggests rather the absence of any common 

 method. For example, it is not far from the truth to say 

 that from the mathematical character of scientific symbols 

 Jeans infers that God must be a mathematician, and Edding- 

 ton infers that He cannot be. 



THE MAIN SPECULATIVE PROBLEMS 



Adopting the empirical approach, one finds at least three 

 problems lying within this field. They may be characterized, 

 respectively as (1) the problem of the classification of the 

 sciences, (2) the problem of human freedom, and (3) the 

 problem of the nature of reality. 



