PART IV. PREPARATORY STAGE. 



Gradually thus, more and more, higher and higher, increas- 

 ingly synthetic, methods develop through the ages. If, then, 

 at some historic stage speculation, observation, or reckless de- 

 duction prevails, excellent reasons may usually be cited in justi- 

 fication. Nor may we forget that, since the development is 

 encouraged by but a few social factors, almost at every epoch 

 we encounter the comparatively highest developed and the 

 comparatively lowest developed methods and their inter- 

 mediatessocially diffused. 



Such, broadly speaking, is the basis for the transitional syn- 

 thetic methodology which we have presented in the first part 

 of this Conclusion. It is not the result of an intrinsically 

 superior age or of profounder methodological acumen in an 

 individual ; it can be only compared with less elaborate metho- 

 dologies in the light of historical development; and the distant 

 future should be regarded as evolving a far more highly per- 

 fected instrument of enquiry than ours is. Above all, our 

 analysis suggests that methods and methodologies are first and 

 foremost historical products, and that therefore evolutionary, 

 and not personal, considerations should primarily enter in any 

 appraisement of their adequacy. 



74. (b) 1 A cognate study casts a flood of light on a 

 complementary aspect of profound methodological significance, 

 especially for our day. In 5 we stressed the unity of nature 

 and life, and endeavoured to show how the domain of science 

 gradually widened until nothing appeared to be excluded there- 

 from, so much so that even "business" came to be compre- 

 hended by it, both on the side of bringing in science as an 

 auxiliary and of reorganising commerce and industry on a 

 scientific basis. 



Not infrequently this successive, but often reluctant, admis- 

 sion into the charmed circle of the established sciences has 

 suggested the existence of a sheer struggle between those 

 within and those without that circle, those within appearing 

 to be animated by the- selfish motive of reserving for them- 

 selves the attendant privileges. Many a successful competitor 

 for this honour tends to regard his entry as a triumph over 

 unappreciative conservatism, and. the whole history of this 

 long process is often conceived as a forceful vindication of 

 justice against prejudice. However, here also it is objective 

 considerations which are the prime determining factors in the 

 struggle. Only as one science develops, does the possibility 

 arise of a slightly more complex science developing, and this 

 mode of addition to the established sciences continues through 

 the ages until from the simple science of mathematics we pro- 

 gress, by diverse well-marked stages, to the inclusion of the 



1 The line of thought developed here was first suggested by an examina- 

 tion of the works of Professor Patrick Geddes. 



