THE ARBITER OF ETHICS 225 



different from the exact and virile sciences. If stu- 

 dents of science are ever to attain to the wide outlook 

 which the dignity of science deserves, teachers of sci- 

 ence must themselves first learn the historical and 

 critical development of their subject, establish its rela- 

 tion to other knowledge, and then impart this spirit to 

 their neophytes. 



If the postulates of science are doubtful and con- 

 tradictory, what is likely to be the effect on science 

 and thought in general of the hypotheses derived from 

 them? The very general belief that any hypothesis, 

 whether false or not, is useful to science puts us in 

 a curious attitude in respect to other methods of 

 thought. Evidently, it is a doctrine which does not 

 hold elsewhere; the theologian, the philosopher, or the 

 historian who ventured the same opinion would quickly 

 be attacked; and yet science is supposed to be the 

 search for objective truth. The reason for this pecu- 

 liar attitude of men of science is due to the fact that 

 the real work in science is connected with phenomena 

 and laws, and this true aim of science has never really 

 been lost sight of, however much the hypothetical 

 method may have distorted it. 



I suppose it may be granted that hypotheses should 

 be divided into the three general classes of the good, 

 the false, and the indifferent. 



Good hypotheses are those which are known as laws. 

 They are generalizations from such necessary postu- 



