UNDER THE APPLE-TREES 



or, rather, is without direction. It is that enigmati- 

 cal contradictory thing. We cannot think of the 

 universe as a whole, because a whole has bounds, 

 and we cannot think of it as a part, because we ask 

 where are the other parts? 



VI. WHY AND HOW 



We are told that the function of science is not to 

 ask why, but how. This is largely true. Philosophy 

 asks why. Science does not ask why we are here, 

 but how we are here and how we stay here — how 

 our food nourishes us, how our physical functions 

 are carried on, how one form of life gives rise to an- 

 other form, and the like. Science aims to give the 

 reason of things, to trace secondary causes. It is 

 dumb before the question of first causes. We often 

 ask the question "Why" when we are really seeking 

 the "How." Why does a plant lean toward the 

 light, why do the seasons change, why do rain and 

 snow fall, why is the sky blue, why is snow white, 

 why does the tide ebb and flow, when we are really 

 in quest of the reason of these things — the how of 

 them. 



We do not know why the sky is blue, or the grass 

 green, that is, for what purpose; or for what pur- 

 pose the tides ebb and flow, or why a man stops 

 growing at a certain age, or why water expands 

 when it freezes. But we think we know why flowers 

 are sweet-scented, or brightly colored, why some of 



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