THE PROBLEM OF KNOWLEDGE 293 



momentary whim. He finds that his cause is 

 bound up with that of the discovery of truth as 

 the necessary instrument and method for action. 

 Only by reference to the general and the rational 

 can the individual find perspective, secure direc 

 tion for his appetites and impulses, and escape from 

 the uncontrolled and ruinous reactions of his own 

 immediate tendency. 



The concept, once more, in its very generality, 

 in its elevation above the intensities and conflicts of 

 momentary passions and interests, is the conserver 

 of the experience of the past. It is the wisdom of 

 the past put into capitalized and funded form to 

 enable the individual to get away from the stress 

 and competition of the needs of the passing mo 

 ment. It marks the difference between barbarism 

 and civilization, between continuity and disintegra 

 tion, between the sequence of tradition that is the 

 necessity of intelligent thought and action, and 

 the random and confused excitation of the hour. 



When we thus consider not the details of the 

 positions of the sensationalist and rationalist, but 

 the motives that have induced them to assume 

 these positions, we discover what is meant in saying 

 that the question is still a practical, a social one, 

 and that the two schools stand for certain one 

 sided factors of social life. If we have on one side 

 the demand for freedom, for personal initiation 

 into experience, for variety and progress, we have 



