COSMIC PHILOSOPHY 



deed an abstract law ; it formulates a property 

 of bodies. But it holds good of terrestrial as 

 well as of celestial phenomena : and its appli- 

 cation to either class of phenomena, in their 

 actual complications, constitutes a concrete sci- 

 ence. 



These are the considerations which irretriev- 

 ably demolish the Comtean classification, con- 

 sidered as an expression of the true relations be- 

 tween the sciences. It appears that Comte has 

 intermingled three abstract sciences — math- 

 ematics, physics, and chemistry — with three 

 concrete sciences — astronomy, biology, and so- 

 ciology. He was led into this confusion by con- 

 founding the general with the abstract. But, as 

 Mr. Spencer has pointed out, these terms have 

 different meanings. " Abstractness means de- 

 tachment from the incidents of particular cases; 

 generality means manifestation in numerous cases. 

 On the one hand, the essential nature of some 

 phenomenon is considered, apart from the phe- 

 nomena which disguise it. On the other hand, 

 the frequency of recurrence of the phenomenon, 

 with or without various disguising phenomena, 

 is the thing considered. An abstract truth is 

 rarely if ever realized to perception in any one 

 case of which it is asserted. A general truth 

 may be realized to perception in all of the cases 

 of which it is asserted. ... In other words, a 

 general truth colligates a number of particu- 

 42 



