THE ARBITER OF ETHICS 



it is anything more than our idea of the world; thus 

 scientific hypothesis stands on the same ground as any 

 other kind of logical thought. Criticism of hypotheses 

 should therefore be directed principally to their postu- 

 lates. 



In the next place, the postulates of science are al- 

 ways metaphysical in character since we must assume 

 initial conditions of space, time, and substance which 

 are not subject to experimental verification and which 

 are contradictory to our experience of the present 

 state of those quantities. 



We imagine a simple primordial universe which is 

 crudely fictitious, and start it going on its complicated 

 career by the action of some universal force which un- 

 balances and unlocks its internal actions and reac- 

 tions. 



Then we assume the existence of fictitious sub- 

 stances, atoms, which we deliberately fashion so small 

 as to be below the limit of observation. We endue 

 them with as many different and contradictory at- 

 tributes as may suit our convenience in order to 

 fashion the diverse forms of bodies by their combina- 

 tion. 



And lastly, if we are to attempt to include in the 

 name of science all laws, we must provide portions of 

 this machine with life, thought, and self -consciousness 

 as a form of mechanical forces. 



Evidently, the postulates of science are as complex, 



