VALUES AND FINAL CAUSES 89 



For the theoretic basis of scientific law, and for all the 

 other facts of experience which are not susceptible of reduc 

 tion to scientific law, the only possible explanation is by 

 reference to some purpose or design. The only alternative 

 conception of the universe besides this is chaos, and chaos, 

 or the absence of design, is another word for the inexplicable. 

 That this should be so follows directly from the limitations 

 of our reason, or, to use an expression which is more in 

 consonance with the views which we are discussing, from the 

 fact that all our knowledge is limited, and conditioned 

 by our needs. When we wish to explain human action, 

 we must refer it to some intelligent purpose. Action without 

 purpose is insane, and bears the same relation to intelligent 

 human action as chaos does to an orderly universe. This 

 appears to me to be a fatal objection to all assumptions 

 of a blind will as the guiding principle of the cosmos. This 

 theory too is anthropomorphic, but by excluding purpose 

 it excludes all possible explanation, and cuts away its own 

 raison d etre. A will without reason in a man would pre 

 clude all explanation of his actions ; he would be a madman, 

 and his actions unaccountable. Explanation begins with 

 the assumption of reason, and reason, when applied to action, 

 is the same thing as purpose. A conscious will means will 

 combined with intellection, and to this concept the same 

 objection does not apply. 



What is meant by purpose in man is a representation in 

 the consciousness which determines action ; the purposed 

 result, or final end, of that action being the realization of the 

 idea which is represented. The explanation is complete for 

 each single action taken by itself, the result which is repre 

 sented being the final cause, while the representation itself is 

 the efficient cause. It is unnecessary to inquire further. To 

 the question Why does a man act in such and such a way ? 

 the answer Because he believes it will make him happy 

 gives (if it is true) a complete explanation. To ask why 

 it makes him happy opens a new question, and is irrelevant. 

 The word cause (Ursache) properly means the initiation 

 of a chain of events by the free and purposive action of 



