276 THE PRESENT IMPORTANCE OF SCIENCE 



accumulated wealth in ignorance of the world of ideas and of 

 the essential facts in human progress, poses as an expert in 

 the problems of society and opposes any suggestion of 

 change in the social situation. On its emotional side, this 

 type of mind is often strongly religious in a formal way. It 

 possesses moral convictions which are incapable of progres- 

 sive development; while a general inclination toward mysti- 

 cism and conventionality, together with a willingness to 

 accept irrational explanations, indicate that it is a survival 

 and might properly be described as archaic, when com- 

 pared with the outlook of the modern world. The intimate 

 relation existing between the sacerdotal and the militaristic 

 spirit is but one example of a linkage that connects to- 

 gether a whole series of mental states which are deep-seated, 

 and which are, in general, opposed to the rationalism of 

 scientific thought. 



The behavior of the legalistic mind within the legal pro- 

 fession presents striking illustrations. Research in anthro- 

 pology and archaeology has shown the probable course by 

 which law and justice originated from their foundation upon 

 the minimum of mutual confidence, which was necessary, 

 before any associations beyond the family could be formed; 

 and upon the attempts to punish digression from the un- 

 written laws of the group. Some measure of loyalty, self- 

 restraint, and honesty had to be enforced from the first. 

 Law and the administration of justice arose from this natural 

 source and not from supernatural revelations. The later 

 evolution of the law and its ideals hi the European world are 

 familiar to the student of history. The law has exercised its 

 larger functions, only in so far as it has adjusted itself to the 

 new demands of a changing social order. It is necessary to 

 have regard for precedent in order to conserve those prac- 

 tices of the past which are applicable to the present. But 

 the real problem for the law is what is here and now, not what 

 was at an earlier period. The lawyer tends, unconsciously, 

 to feel that his law came down from heaven, and that what has 



