THE CLASSIFICATION OF THE SCIENCES 403 



figures consisting of intersecting triangles, circles, etc., 1 

 which aim to indicate the highly complicated relations be- 

 tween the various disciplines may prove helpful, though 

 they are definitely limited in scope. It seems better to omit 

 some of the detail, even at the expense of accuracy, in order 

 that the more significant relations may be clearly indicated. 



DIFFICULTIES IN THE CLASSIFICATION OF THE SCIENCES 



Though the difficulties experienced in constructing a 

 classification of the intellectual disciplines are not insur- 

 mountable, they are great and a frank consideration of some 

 of the most important of them is a valuable preliminary to 

 the examination of the actual problem. In many cases they 

 must be met by arbitrary acts, as in the classification of 

 mathematics under the form of an independent discipline in 

 spite of its obvious use in most of the sciences; in other cases 

 the obstacles must be overcome by admitting defeat, as in 

 the mere attempt to list the various trades, occupations, and 

 avocations; in still other cases the difficulties must be met 

 by open compromise, as in the attempt to make any classifi- 

 catory scheme represent all of the ramifications of natural 

 relations. Some of the most obvious of the difficulties will 

 be considered in the following paragraphs. 



The most superficial examination of the problem con- 

 vinces one that any classification must be highly schematic 

 in character. It seems clear that no such table can represent 

 all of the interrelations which nature itself exhibits. In fact, 

 it is questionable whether one would wish a classification 

 of the sciences to do this ; if a map of nature were as detailed 

 as nature itself, it would lose most of its advantages. The 

 construction of tabular schemes proceeds, as does all science, 

 by the method of abstraction; the attempt is made not to 

 mirror the complexity of nature but to simplify it by select- 

 ing only those events and relations which seem important. 

 Every science bears to other sciences relations which are 

 essential and relations which are unessential. The decision 



1 Such as those given by Bliss, op. cit., pp. 402-403. 



