Mr. Buckle's Fallacies. 173 



truths," it means simply that fewer discoveries 

 are made in moral science than in all the other 

 sciences put together. It is ^as if he should say 

 that " optical truths " receive fewer additions than 

 " physical truths." As we have shown, he is 

 not justified in using the expression " intellectual 

 truths," so as to exclude from it truths relating 

 to morality, which are recognized by the intellect 

 as much as any others. His statement, there- 

 fore, merely compares a part with all the other 

 parts of the whole to which it belongs. 



We are quite willing to admit that moral science 

 has not been enriched by as many discoveries as 

 any one of the other sciences. This results from 

 the circumstance that it is far more difficult and 

 complicated than the rest. Our knowledge of 

 morality is less complete than our knowledge of 

 chemistry, for the same reason that our acquaint- 

 ance with chemistry is less perfect than our ac- 

 quaintance with astronomy. The laws express- 

 ing the relations of men to one another are the 

 most recondite of all, and the most liable to ap- 

 parent exceptions. We are accordingly longer in 

 ascertaining them. 



To sum up : we have seen that the distinction 

 made by Mr. Buckle between " intellectual " and 

 " moral " truths is a vague and popular one, and 



