METHODS OF SCIENCE; NUMBERS 7 



if it be near the very foundations, he can re- 

 place that part without damage to the remain- 

 der. On the whole, he is satisfied with his work, 

 for while science may never be wholly right it 

 certainly is never wholly wrong; and it seems 

 to be improving from decade to decade. 



The theory that there is an ultimate truth, 

 although very generally held by mankind, does 

 not seem useful to science except in the sense of 

 a horizon toward which we may proceed, rather 

 than a point which may be reached. If there 

 were an absolute truth of to-day, would it be the 

 absolute truth of to-morrow .^^ The trenchant 

 Remy de Gourmont^ writes : "There is no truth 

 since the world is perpetually changing. You 

 have acquired the notion of evolution . . . but 

 you have wished at the same time to preserve 

 the notion of truth." We have all been merry 

 at the expense of the preacher who began his 

 prayer, "Paradoxical as it may seem to Thee, 

 O Lord," but our laughter is due to the very 

 assumption that we are now questioning, that 

 there is an absolute truth free from paradox. 

 If we adopt the view that ideas are constantly 

 evolving to meet an ever changing environment, 



3 Remy de Gourmont, A Night in the Luxembourg. 



