ESSAY-REVIEWS 



DR. MERZ'S PHENOMENALISM, by Joshua C. Gregory, B.Sc, 

 F.I.C. : on Religion and Science, by John Theodore Merz. [Pp. 192.] 

 (Blackwood & Sons, 191 5. Price 5^. net.) 



Mr. Balfour describes the conviction that the universe 

 includes each individual as an item surrounded by things and 

 other personalities as an " inevitable " belief. Inevitableness, 

 he adds, is not in itself a ground of philosophic certitude. If 

 it were, we should not find Dr. Merz among the metaphysicians 

 who, as Mr. Balfour remarks in the same connection, wish to 

 rethink the universe that quite satisfies the plain man. 



As the universe expands before the eyes of science this 

 " inevitable " belief becomes more and more a source of 

 humiliation. Man not merely seems to himself to be one 

 portion of reality, but also perceives that he is dwindling into 

 a more and more insignificant item. He has, however, one 

 great resource — his egotism. He can and does think that he, 

 when the universe is rightly interpreted, is the real centre of 

 all being. The egotism of this conclusion is largely uncon- 

 scious, and is, perhaps, on this account all the more effective. 

 Man perceives a vast reality around him, but he feels that he 

 is, after all, a very superior sort of item. Emotion and desire 

 are the real sources of egotistical belief ; intelligence inclines 

 to humility. Sigurd Ibsen has summarised the present situa- 

 tion. The Copernican decentralisation and Darwin's with- 

 drawal of man's divine patent of nobility, he writes in Human 

 Quintessence, have been received by human intelligence, 

 but have not penetrated the emotions. Dr. Merz foresees that 

 this penetration will come. He notes a steady minimising 

 of the value of human effort and originality. The movement 

 began from Copernicus to Laplace. Darwin strengthened it. 

 It gathered momentum as scientific method rapidly mechanised 

 the aspect of the world and social organisation converted 

 human beings into instruments of production. Science will, 

 in the end, impose its humble view on feeling as well as on 



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