INTRODUCTION. xliii 



This aspect of Science, in which she is properly her- 

 self and truly great; in which she brings not merely 

 the fruit which Bacon chiefly sought, but also truth, not 

 merely material but spiritual bread, not merely the 

 power which knowledge gives but the satisfying know- 

 ledge itself, and the pleasure from its discovery or redis- 

 covery, I have dwelt upon in the Second Book, on 

 account of its intrinsic importance and the constant 

 extension of this positive spirit over all departments of 

 inquiry. Further, it is from this positive point of view 

 that the Socialism and Pessimism of our time can be 

 most profitably considered and best answered. 



It must, however, be allowed that hitherto it has 

 been chiefly in the physical and biological sciences, and 

 in the practical sciences and arts to which these supply 

 the necessary knowledge, that the conclusions and 

 results of the positive methods have been of great and 

 evident value. It is the positive conclusions of astro- 

 nomy, chemistry, physics, physiology, and their applica- 

 tions in engineering, medicine, surgery, navigation, and 

 the numerous other useful arts, that have multiplied 

 man's power and increased the material conditions of his 

 happiness. It is these same positive conclusions that 

 have slowly altered and aggrandized his conception of 

 the universe. But when we come to the mental, moral, 

 and social sciences, there is less unanimity in their culti- 

 vators. Neither the laws of mind nor those of society 

 are beyond dispute, like physical laws. There is less 

 universality, and less permanence in the laws, because 

 mental and social phenomena vary with the individual 

 and the society. Nevertheless, of psychology at least it 

 may be said, that, however its scientific claims be rated, 

 it will at no distant day be regarded as an important 

 department of study in connection with physiology, 



