406 INTRODUCTION TO PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE 



A difficulty which is somewhat more specific arises in 

 connection with the attempt to locate the sciences which 

 are themselves synoptic in character. One of the best 

 examples of these is geography. This science is obviously 

 composed of material drawn from geology, biology, and 

 sociology, to mention only the most important. The ques- 

 tion may be argued as to whether it contains any unique 

 subject matter, or is merely a study of the interrelations 

 of these fields. In either event it cannot be placed on the 

 same level as the other sciences, for the result would be a 

 cross-classification. The difficulty may be avoided by mak- 

 ing an initial distinction between the special sciences and 

 the synoptic, or complex, sciences, but this only creates a 

 new problem, for every science except the most highly 

 specialized may be considered as composite with reference 

 to its parts. For example, physics may be considered as 

 composite relatively to optics, acoustics, electro-dynamics, 

 etc. Similar difficulties arise in the attempt to place dis- 

 ciplines which cut across the more basic lines of demarca- 

 tion, e.g., in the location of mathematical logic, which is 

 both science and philosophy, and in the placing of geology, 

 which is both science and history. 



Even more serious are the obstacles which are encountered 

 in the form of disciplines about disciplines. Recent thought 

 has compelled the recognition of such studies as the history 

 of science, the philosophy of science, and the history of 

 philosophy. The location of such pursuits creates obvious 

 difficulties. The situation is not helped any by the appear- 

 ance of such disciplines as the history of history, and even 

 the history of the philosophy of science and the philosophy 

 of the history of science. These are apparently legitimate 

 enterprises, each of which is acquiring a literature and de- 

 fining its problems. It is part of the task of the classifica- 

 tion of the sciences to assign each of them to its proper place. 



A difficulty to which Rliss calls attention is important 

 since it injects an element of arbitrariness into the problem. 1 



1 Organization of Knowledge, Chap. XII. 



