NATURE S GOOD: A CONVERSATION 25 



mentalism which is troubled because the universe 

 as a whole does not sustain good as a whole. But 

 that is the only thing it alters. The &quot; pathetic 

 fallacy &quot; of Ruskin magnified to the wth power is 

 the motif of modern idealism. 



Moore. Certainly nobody will accuse Eaton of 

 tender-mindedness except in his logic, which, as 

 certainly, is not tough-minded. His excitement, 

 however, convinces me that he has at least an ink 

 ling that he is begging the question ; and like the 

 true pragmatist that he is, is trying to prevent 

 by action (to wit, his flood of speech) his false 

 logic from becoming articulate to him. The ques 

 tion being whether the values we seem to appre 

 hend, the purposes we entertain, the goods we pos 

 sess, are anything more than transitory waves, 

 Eaton meets it by saying : &quot; Oh, of course, they 

 are waves; but don t think about that just sit 

 down hard on the wave or get another wave to but 

 tress it with ! &quot; No wonder he recommends action 

 instead of thinking! Men have tried this method 

 before, as a counsel of desperation or as cynical 

 pessimism. But it remained for contemporary 

 pragmatism to label the drowning of sorrow in the 

 intoxication of thoughtless action, the highest 

 achievement of philosophic method, and to preach 

 wilful restlessness as a doctrine of hope and illu 

 mination. Meantime, I prefer to be tender-minded 

 in my attitude toward Reality, and to make 



