206 Spiritual Evolution of Society 



however gifted to deal with such matters, and no other 

 profession gives such opportunity for the observation 

 of the phenomena of nature scientifically considered. 

 Mr. Elliot devotes a chapter of this work to what he 

 calls " The Origin of Fallacies," and a consideration of 

 some of his statements may be of benefit. One of these 

 is to the following effect : " Whether a man believes a 

 true theory or a false one appears to be a matter of 

 heredity as much as anything else. He derives from 

 his ancestors his mental tendencies just as much as the 

 shape of his nose. If he lives in an enlightened period, 

 his tendencies will of course crystallise in a more 

 reasonable form than if he had lived in a period of 

 ignorance." And quoting Lankester : " Man, on the 

 contrary, is born with singularly few instincts or capa- 

 bilities of acting ; but instead of this, he has enormous 

 capabilities of being educated." Surely, for a logician 

 this fallacy is astounding ; he mixes up heredity and 

 environment ; talks about a child being born with a 

 belief, while at the same moment he admits it can only 

 have been communicated by its parents when possessed 

 of sufficient intelligence to appreciate it, and is there- 

 fore solely the result of environment. Talk of the 

 origin of fallacies ; they are due to the limitation of the 

 human intellect resulting in confusion of thought, as in 

 this instance when we are told that mental tendencies 

 and the shape of the nose are both hereditary, and in 

 the same breath demonstrates the cause of the former 

 to be environmental only, and Lankester is actually 

 dragged in to prove it. The dogmatism characteristic 

 of this and other statements in this chapter calls to 

 mind the famous pronouncement of the late famous 

 Master of Balliol, put into his mouth by a witty under- 

 graduate : 



" I am Principal of my college : my name is Jowett ; 

 Nothing is knowable, if I don't know it." 



