COSxMIC PHILOSOPHY 



quaint or grotesque fancies with which Euro- 

 pean and barbaric folk-lore is filled, in the 

 framing of which the myth-maker was but rea- 

 soning according to the best methods at his 

 command."^ Obviously the broad contrast here 

 indicated between modern and primeval think- 

 ing is at bottom simply the contrast between the 

 use of the objective and the subjective methods, 

 — between the constant recourse to experimen- 

 tal tests and the implicit reliance upon mere sub- 

 jective congruity. 



But it may fairly be urged that we ought to 

 consider the subjective method as exhibited in 

 some of its more plausible proceedings, if we 

 would properly contrast it with the objective 

 method by which scientific discoveries are made. 

 Let us do so ; and, as we have just now alluded 

 to the discovery of the law of gravitation as an 

 instance of association of ideas corroborated by 

 the employment of the objective method, let us 

 choose our example from the history of that 



logically, between dreaming, insanity, myth-making, and rea- 

 soning according to the subjective method ? It is not without 

 reason that we commonly speak of the ** dreams " of meta- 

 physicians ; and the distinguishing mark of insanity is the in- 

 ability to test the validity of one's conceptions by confronting 

 them with the phenomena. On the other hand it is in con- 

 stantly applying the test of Verification that waking-thought, 

 common sense, and scientific reasoning exhibit their kinship 

 with one another. 



^ Myths and Myth-makerSy p. 216. 



156 



