KIRTLEY F. MATHER 



we may deduce certain very definite Inferences concern- 

 ing the forces which produced them. 



This approach to truth is of course the method 

 which science always attempts to use. It Is the habit 

 of mind which is responsible for whatever success has 

 been gained by those in scientific pursuits. Most 

 people nowadays like the spirit of science and approve 

 its tactics. The method of appeal to facts and ex- 

 periences rings true; its authority may not be abso- 

 lute, but it Is sufficient. Certainly, with great accord 

 the citizens of the modern scientific world are accept- 

 ing as their final court of appeal, not the assertions 

 of prophets or scholars, but the very facts and expe- 

 riences themselves. No scientific argument Is settled 

 to-day by an appeal to Aristotle, Darwin or Einstein; 

 no theological discussion is terminated by a citation 

 from the Bible, the Koran or the Book of Mormon. 



Words are symbols; facts and experiences alone are 

 real. An authority based upon them Is of course not 

 Infallible, but it Is the best we have. Human falli- 

 bility, necessarily Inherent in every Intellectual process, 

 is involved In each appeal to them. The conclusion 

 of the scientist is inevitably based upon descriptions 

 of facts; the fact may be real, but its description may 

 be either true or false. The revelation of the theo- 

 logian Is merely the Interpretation of experiences; the 

 experience may be real, but its interpretation may be 

 either right or wrong. Knowledge and wisdom are 

 filtered through human brains before they can Issue in 

 action. In sentiments or In Ideas. It Is an unescapable 

 limitation upon us all. 



With the widespread recognition of that limitation. 



