554 



LOGIC OF THE MORAL SCIENCES. 



tions had only mastered the main 

 phenomena, but not the perturbations. 

 The phenomena with which this 

 science is conversant being the 

 thoughts, feelings, and actions of 

 human beings, it would have at- 

 tained the ideal perfection of a 

 science if it enabled us to foretell 

 how an individual would think, feel, 

 or act throughout life, with the same 

 certainty with which astronomy en- 

 ables us to predict the places and the 

 occultations of the heavenly bodies. 

 It needs scarcely be stated that no- 

 thing approaching to this can be done. 

 The actions of individuals could not 

 be predicted with scientific accuracy, 

 were it only because we cannot fore- 

 see the whole of the circumstances in 

 which those individuals will be placed. 

 But further, even in any given combi- 

 nation of (present) circumstances, no 

 assertion, which is both precise and 

 universally true, can be made respect- 

 ing the manner in which human beings 

 will think, feel, or act. This is not, 

 however, because every person's modes 

 of thinking, feeling, and acting do 

 not depend on causes ; nor can we 

 doubt that if, in the case of any indi- 

 vidual, our data could be complete, 

 we even now know enough of the ulti- 

 mate laws by which mental pheno- 

 mena are determined to enable us in 

 many cases to predict, with tolerable 

 certainty, what, in the greater number 

 of supposable combinations of circum- 

 stances, his conduct or sentiments 

 would be. But the impressions and 

 actions of human beings are not solely 

 the result of their present circum- 

 stances, but the joint result of those 

 circumstances and of the characters 

 of the individuals; and the agencies 

 which determine human character are 

 Eo numerous and diversified, (nothing 

 which has happened to the person 

 throughout life being without its por- 

 tion of influence,) that in the aggre- 

 gate they are never in any two cases 

 exactly similar. Hence, even if our 

 science of human nature were theore- 

 tically perfect, that is, if we could 

 calculate any character a** we can cal- 



culate the orbit of any planet, froiA 

 given data; still, as the data are 

 never all given, nor ever precisely 

 alike in different cases, we could 

 neither make positive predictions, nor 

 lay down universal propositions. 



Inasmuch, however, as many of 

 those effects which it is of most im- 

 portance to render amenable to hu- 

 man foresight and control are deter- 

 mined, like the tides, in an incompar- 

 ably greater degree by general causes, 

 than by all partial causes taken to- 

 gether ; depending in the main on 

 those circumstances and qualities 

 which are common to all mankind, 

 or at least to large bodies of them, 

 and only on a small degree on the 

 idiosyncrasies of organisation or the 

 peculiar history of individuals ; it 

 evidently possible, with regard to al 

 such effects, to make predictior 

 which will almost always be verifiec 

 and general propositions which ar 

 almost always true. And whenevei 

 it is sufficient to know how the grea 

 majority of the human race, or ol 

 some nation or class of persons, wil 

 think, feel, and act, these propositioi 

 are equivalent to universal ones. Yoi 

 the purposes of political and socis 

 science this is sufficient. As we foH 

 merly remarked,* an approximat 

 generalisation is, in social inquiries 

 for most practical purposes equivs 

 lent to an exact one ; that which 

 only probable when asserted of inc 

 vidual human beings indiscriminately 

 selected, being certain when affirme 

 of the character and collective conduc 

 of masses. 



It is no disparagement, therefor 

 to the science of Human Nature tha 

 those of its general propositions whic 

 descend sufficiently into detail to serv 

 as a foundation for predicting phenc 

 mena in the concrete are for the moi 

 part only approximately true. But i^ 

 order to give a genuinely scientif 

 character to the study, it is indispen- 

 sable that these approximate genera- 

 lisations, which in themselves would 

 amount only to the lowest kind of 

 « Supra, p. 394. 



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