CHAPTER I. 



ON THE MATEKIALISM OF ATOMS AND FORCES. 



1. SCIENCE is often, in our days, characterized as 

 atheistic. What is the justice of the charge ? It de- 

 pends on what we mean by science and what by atheism. 

 If we mean by science, as in strictness we should, a 

 knowledge of the laws of phenomena, their regular 

 sequences and conjunctions, the discovery of which is 

 the business of science, then science is not and cannot 

 be atheistic, no matter what meaning we attach to 

 " atheism." But if we mean by science, what those who 

 bring forward the charge mostly mean, namely, some of 

 the philosophies professedly based on the conclusions of 

 science, as materialism, positivism, evolution, then it 

 depends on what these several philosophies conclude 

 respecting the First Principle and Ultimate Reality of 

 things, and very particularly it depends on the definition 

 of atheism or of God which we ourselves shall agree to 

 accept. 



Now, there are three philosophies current which 

 profess to be based on the verified conclusions of science, 

 the three above named positivism, materialism, and 

 evolution (or Darwinism, substantially the same as evo- 

 lution). Are these atheistic ? Let us consider them 

 severally. Does positivism deny the existence of a 

 Deity? No. It merely ignores the question. It does 



