UNDER THE APPLE-TREES 
or, rather, is without direction. It is that enigmati- 
cal contradictory thing. We cannot think of the 
universe as a whole, because a whole has bounds, 
and we cannot think of it as a part, because we ask 
where are the other parts? 
VI. WHY AND HOW 
We are told that the function of science is not to 
ask why, but how. This is largely true. Philosophy 
asks why. Science does not ask why we are here, 
but how we are here and how we stay here — how 
our food nourishes us, how our physical functions 
are carried on, how one form of life gives rise to an- 
other form, and the like. Science aims to give the 
reason of things, to trace secondary causes. It is 
dumb before the question of first causes. We often _ 
ask the question “ Why” when we are really seeking 
the “How.” Why does a plant lean toward the 
light, why do the seasons change, why do rain and 
snow fall, why is the sky blue, why is snow white, 
why does the tide ebb and flow, when we are really 
in quest of the reason of these things — the how of 
them. 
We do not know why the sky is blue, or the grass 
green, that is, for what purpose; or for what pur- 
pose the tides ebb and flow, or why a man stops 
growing at a certain age, or why water expands 
when it freezes. But we think we know why flowers 
are sweet-scented, or brightly colored, why some of 
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