VIL] ON THE PHYSICAL BASIS OF LIFE. 125 



conception of law, the materialistic position that there is nothing 

 in the world but matter, force, and necessity, is as utterly devoid 

 of justification as the most baseless of theological dogmas. The 

 fundamental doctrines of materialism, like those of spiritualism, 

 and most other &quot; isms,&quot; lie outside &quot; the limits of philosophical 

 inquiry,&quot; and David Hume s great service to humanity is his 

 irrefragable demonstration of what these limits are. Hume 

 called himself a sceptic, and therefore others cannot be blamed 

 if they apply the same title to him ; but that does not alter the 

 fact that the name, with its existing implications, does him 

 gross injustice. 



If a man asks me what the politics of the inhabitants of the 

 moon are, and I reply that I do not know ; that neither I, nor 

 any one else, have any means of knowing ; and that, under these 

 circumstances, I decline to trouble myself about the subject at 

 all, I do not think he has any right to call me a sceptic. On the 

 contrary, in replying thus, I conceive that I am simply honest 

 and truthful, and show a proper regard for the economy of time. 

 So Hume s strong and subtle intellect takes up a great many 

 problems about which we are naturally curious, and shows us 

 that they are essentially questions of lunar politics, in their 

 essence incapable of being answered, and therefore not worth the 

 attention of men who have work to do in the world. And he 

 thus ends one of his essays : 



&quot; If we take in hand any volume of Divinity, or school metaphysics, for 

 instance, let us ask, Does it contain any abstract, rea son ing concerning quan tity 

 or number f No. Does it contain any experimental reasoning concerning 

 matter of fact and existence? No. Commit it then to the flames; for it 

 can contain nothing but sophistry and illusion.&quot; L 



Permit me to enforce this most wise advice. Why trouble 

 ourselves about matters of which, however important they may 

 be, we do know nothing, and can know nothing ? We live in a 

 world which is full of misery and ignorance, and the plain duty 



1 Hume s Essay li Of the Academical or Sceptical Philosophy,&quot; in the 

 &quot; Inquiry concerning the Human Understanding.&quot; 



