GENETICS AND ETHICS 451 



accept them like brave men. "Truth is truth 

 if it sears our eyeballs." But when theories 

 lead to such revolutionary results it behooves 

 us to examine carefully those theories to see if 

 there is not somewhere a fundamental flaw in 

 them. 



One of the most difficult things in the world 

 is to recognize a great truth, to feel its signi- 

 ficance and yet not be carried away by it. 

 Great scientific errors are frequently due not 

 so much to faulty observations as to sweeping 

 conclusions. In biology the search for univer- 

 sal laws is a peculiarly dangerous pursuit. In 

 philosophy great errors are often due not so 

 much to false premises as to supposed logical 

 necessities. As a test of truth logic is inferior 

 to experience ; its faults are not so much in its 

 methods as in its premises and applications. 

 For this reason a logical chain has led many 

 a man into the bondage of error. Truth is not 

 usually found in extremes, in "carrying out a 

 process to its logical conclusions," but rather 

 in some middle course which is less striking 

 but more judicious. 



Having observed that the main characteris- 



