270 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



Commerce" may find frequent occasion 

 in future to introduce similar philosoph- 

 ical themes to the notice of its readers. 



TRUTH AXD ITS PURSUIT. 



TiiEEK is a well-known saying ot 

 Lessing's, according to which the pur- 

 suit of truth is rated as of liigher value, 

 and more to be desired, than the truth 

 itself. Sir Henry Roscoe quoted this 

 sentiment in his recent inaugural ad- 

 dress to the British Association ; and 

 the London "Spectator," in a thought- 

 ful article — all the " Spectator's " arti- 

 cles, we may say in passing, are thought- 

 ful—raises the question as to whether 

 Lessing's "paradox," as it calls it, con- 

 veys as much truth as is commonly sup- 

 posed. It points out that, in scientific 

 naatters generally, the truths discovered 

 are of value to thousands who take no 

 part, and are incapable of taking any 

 part, in bringing them to light ; and 

 that, even in regard to moral questions, 

 it is impossible to conceive of the pur- 

 suit of truth having any value apart 

 from a strong conviction of the value 

 of the result to be arrived at. If the 

 result is not itself of value, or at least 

 is not believed to be of value, then there 

 is nothing ennobling in pursuing it. If, 

 on the other hand, the result is of value, 

 and so far lends significance and digni- 

 ty to the pursuit, how can we say that 

 the mere pursuit, cut off from all hope 

 of an actual realization of the truth, is 

 of more value than the truth itself? 

 How, indeed, can we regard it as hav- 

 ing any elevating effect whatever? 



All that can be said in reply to this 

 reasoning, so far as we can see, is that 

 we should not demand from Lessing's 

 paradox more than, as a paradox, it is 

 able to render. The function of a par- 

 adox, as we conceive it, is to draw atten- 

 tion to some aspect of truth which is in 

 danger of being overlooked, and to do 

 this by piercing below the level at which 

 our thought ordinarily rests. Thus, in 

 regard to truth, it is natural to think 

 only of results, and to regard as failure 



all that does not lead to results. Uere 

 Lessing steps in to tell us, and truly, in 

 our opinion, that more valuable than 

 the discovery of any particular truth is 

 the tendency of the mind toward truth 

 in general. Truth, when realized, in- 

 creases the resources of the human 

 mind, or, as we may say, the intellect- 

 ual capital of the human race. It is 

 like the dollar won by honest labor, 

 and henceforth available for the pro- 

 duction of further capital. But, if such 

 is the character and such the value of 

 realized truth, what shall we say of 

 the eftbrt, of the concentration of mind 

 and purpose, that led to its discovery ? 

 We can surely say that the discipline 

 thus gained is often of far greater value, 

 at least to the individual, than the final 

 resiilt of his labors. Thus, also, the dol- 

 lar gained may really be of far less ac- 

 count tlian the qualities developed in 

 the gaining of it. Of course, it may 

 sometimes be the case, on the other 

 hand, that comparatively slight labor 

 and thought — mere accident even — may 

 sometimes result in the discovery of 

 some truth of the highest importance ; 

 just as one might, with slight or no 

 searching, light upon a source of unlim- 

 ited material wealth. From this point 

 of view we have to consider what hu- 

 man life would be if all our discoveries 

 came to ns in this way without effort, 

 and without any need for the self-con- 

 trol and patient industry which the seri- 

 ous pursuit of truth now involves. la 

 trying to form a conception of this we 

 seem to escape from all bounds of law, 

 and to find ourselves in a region where 

 the stable landmarks of human ex- 

 istence have disappeared. AVork is 

 man's discipline on this earth ; and, 

 without that discipline, he would be a 

 poor, wayward, worthless creature, if, 

 indeed, we can conceive him as exist- 

 ing as an intellectual being at all. 



Lessing's paradox, then, presents us 

 with an impossible situation. The choice 

 between truth and the pursuit of truth 

 could not conceivably be offered to any 



