Given sense of words by Isabel F. Hapgood
Division of a book - I
The reasoning of all persons who have freed themselves from hard work is now based on testing, positive science. The scientific 1 theory is as follows: -
"For the learning of the laws of existence of mankind societies, there has existence but one certain way , - - the positive , testing , critical 2 way.
"Only the science of society, started on biology, based on all the positive sciences, can give us the laws of man. All persons, or mankind communities, are the organisms already prepared, or still in process of structuring, and which are being supporting to all the laws of the evolution 3 of organisms.
"One of the chief of these laws is the variation 4 of place where one is going among the divisions of the organs. Some people order, others do as ordered. If some have in more than enough amount, and others in need, this comes about not from the will of God, not because the empire is a form of thing clear to eye or mind of personality 5 , but because in societies , as in organisms, division of work becomes necessary for living as an unbroken state. Some people do the muscular 6 work in societies; others, the mental 7 work."
Upon this view or opinion is based the controlling reasoning of our time.
Not long ago, there ruled in the learned, much-educated earth, a right reasoning about existence, according to which it appeared that everything which has existence is good-sensed; that there is no such thing as wrongdoing or good; and that it is unnecessary for man to war against wrongdoing, but that it is only necessary for him to put on view intelligence 8 , - - one man in the military branch of public work, another in the law, another on the violin. There have been many and full of changes looks of mankind wisdom, and these events were known to the men of the 19 hundred years. The wisdom of Rousseau and of Lessing, and Spinoza and Bruno, and all the wisdom of days long past; but no one man's wisdom went over the great number of persons. It was not possible to say even this, - - that Hegel's good outcome was the outcome of the balance of parts, same on two sides of this theory. There were other equally symmetrical 9 theories, - - those of Descartes, Leibnitz, Fichte, Schopenhauer. There was but one reason why this view, opinion won for itself, for a time, the belief of the complete earth; and this reason was, that the deductions of that reasoning about existence eye-signed at people's feeblenesses. These deductions were summed up in this, - - that everything was good-sensed, everything good; and that no one was responsible.
When I began my living, Hegelianism was the base of everything. It was resting in the air; it was expressed in newspaper and regular accounts, in true to history and of the law talks, in fiction stories, in accounts in the form of books, in art, in church-talks, in talks. The man who was not knowledgeable about Hegel had no right to say anything. Anyone who desired to get clearly the true statements studied Hegel. Everything rested on him. And completely the forties passed, and there was nothing left of him. There was not even a suggestion of him, any more than if he had never had existence. And the most surprising thing of all was, that Hegelianism did not fall because someone put an end to it or caused destruction of it. No! It was the same then as now, but completely it appeared that it was of no use whatever to the learned and much-educated everywhere.
There was a time when the Hegelian wise men notedly gave teaching to the masses; and the great number of persons, having knowledge of nothing, as if unable to see believed in everything, finding true statements in the fact that it was on hand; and they believed that what seemed to them dirty and with the effect of being opposite there on the heights of reasoning about existence was all as clear as the day. But that time has gone by. That theory is worn out: a new theory has presented itself in its place. The old one has become of no use; and the great number of persons has looked into the secret safe places of the high men of religion, and has seen that there is nothing there, and that there has been nothing there, but for very obscure 11 and unconscious words. This has taken place within my memory.
But the old teachers said right in detail the same, and they were no foolish persons; and we have knowledge that there were people of great intelligence 8 among them. And right in detail thus, within my memory, and with no less self-belief, with no less recognition 15 on the part of the great number of persons - called much-educated people, spoke the Hegelians. And neither were our Herzens, our Stankevitches, or our Byelinskys foolish persons. But from where arose that strange clear sign, that sensible 16 people should give a talk with the greatest certain feeling, and that the great number of persons should take with belief, such baseless and unsupportable teachings? There is but one reason, - - that the teachings thus taught made clear let off people in their wrongdoing existence.
A very poor English writer, whose works are all forgotten, and recognized as the most unimportant of the unimportant, writes an account in the form of a book on a number of persons living in a place, in which he worked out an untrue law about the increase of persons living in a place out of all relation to the means of ongoing existence. This untrue law, this writer puts round with mathematics signs based on nothing whatever; and then he pushes out it on the earth.
From the playfulness and the foolish act of this starting idea, one would take as probable that it would not have, get the attention of any one, and that it would go down into complete loss of memory, like all the works of the same writer which followed it; but it turned out quite otherwise.
The lowly-writer who wrote this account in the form of a book right away becomes a scientific 1 authority, and maintains himself upon that high level for nearly half a hundred years. Malthus 18 ! The Malthusian 19 theory, - - the law of the increase of the (number of) persons living in a place in geometrical 20 , and of the means of ongoing existence in arithmetical 21 relation, and the wise and natural means of limiting the (number of) persons living in a place, - - all these have become scientific 1 , certain facts, which have not been made certain, but which have been employed as taken as true without argument, for the erection 22 of false theories. In this way have learned and much-educated people proceeded; and among the group of not working persons, there sprung up a good belief in the great laws made clear by Malthus 18 . How did this come to go through? It would seem as though they were scientific 1 deductions, which had nothing in common with the natural impulses of the masses. But this can only come into view so for the man who believes that science, like the Church, is something self-kept under control, responsible of no errors, and not simply the mind-pictures of not so strong and error-bound persons, who merely take the place of the imposing word "science," in place of the thoughts and words of the people, for the purpose of effecting deeply. All that was necessary was to make with common sense deductions from the theory of Malthus 18 , in order to perceive 23 that this theory was of the most mankind sort, with the best formed of ends. The deductions directly getting up from this theory were the following: The sad condition of the working classes was such in agreement with an unchangeable law, which does not be dependent upon men; and, if anyone is to make a protest in this field of interest, it is the needy of food working classes themselves. Why are they such foolish persons in connection with giving birth to children, when they have knowledge that there will be nothing for the children to take as food? And so this act of making a theory from the facts, which is of great value for the group of not-working people, has had this outcome: that all learned men overlooked the wrongness, the wrongness, the complete uncontrolled form of these deductions, and their wanting of sensitivity to test; and the mass of much-educated, that is to say of not-working people, knowing naturally to what these deductions lead, put hand to hat for this theory with great interest, given upon it the stamp of a true statement, that is to say of science, and moved it about with them for half a hundred years.
Is not this same thing the cause of the self-belief of men in positive critical 2 - testing science, and of the serious about religion behavior of the great number of persons in the direction of that which it gives a talk about in church? At first it seems strange, that the theory of evolution 3 can in any way let off people in their wrongdoing ways; and it seems as though the scientific 1 theory of evolution 3 has to work only with facts, and that it does nothing else but observe facts.
But this only appears to be the example.
Without error, rightly the same thing appeared to be the example with the Hegelian body of teaching, in a greater degree, and also in the special example of general fact of the Malthusian 19 body of teaching. Hegelianism was, apparently, living only with its logical 26 makings, and had no relation to the existence of man. Right in detail this seemed to be the example with the Malthusian 19 theory. It appeared to be having much to do itself only with facts as numbers in data 27 . But this was only in looks.
Of the time being talked about science is also living with facts alone: it researches facts. But what facts? Why right in detail these facts, and no others?
The men of current science are very interested of saying, notedly and with belief in oneself, "We research only facts," making a mind-picture that these words control some sense. It is not possible to research facts alone, because the facts which are subject 28 to our research are a great number of (in the certain and clear sense of that word) , - - a great number of. Before we go on to research facts, we must have a theory on the base of which these or those facts can be questioned into, that is to say selected from the unmeasurable amount.
And this theory has existence, and is even very definitely expressed, although many of the workers in current science do not have knowledge it, or often put forward as right that they do not have knowledge it. Without error, rightly thus has it always been with all controlling and guiding bodies of teaching. The bases of every body of teaching are always stated in a theory, and the so-called learned men merely invent further deductions from the bases once stated. Thus current science is selecting its facts on the base of a very certain and clear theory, which it sometimes knows, sometimes makes a protest not to have knowledge of, and sometimes really does not have knowledge; but the theory has existence.
The theory is as follows: All mankind is an unending organism 29 ; men are the very small bits of that organism 29 , and each one of them has his own special work for the support of others. In the same way, the units of living substance united in an organism 29 part among them the work of fighting for the existence of the unbroken organism 29 ; they make seem more important the power of one capacity 30 , and make more feeble another, and put together in one organ 31 , in order the better to supply the requirements of the unbroken organism 29 .
And exactly in the same way as with gregarious 32 animals, - - ants or bees, - - the separate individuals make a division the work among them. The queen 33 puts the egg, the drone 34 makes fruitful it; the bee works his unbroken existence long. And right in detail this thing takes place in man and in mankind societies. And therefore, in order to see the law of living for man, it is necessary to have under observation the laws of the living and the development of organisms.
In the living and development of organisms, we see the following laws : the law of differentiation 35 and integration 1 , the law that every phenomenon 36 is accompanied not by straightforward effects alone, another law to do with the changing state of groups, and so on. All this seems very innocent 37 ; but it is only necessary to give a pull to the deductions from all these laws, in order to immediately perceive 32 that these laws slope in the same direction as the law of Malthus 18 . These laws all point to one thing; namely, to the recognition 15 of that division of work which has existence in mankind communities, as organic 38 , that is to say, as necessary. And therefore, the wrong position in which we, the people who have freed ourselves from work, see ourselves, must be regarded not from the point of view of common-sense and right, but merely as an undoubted fact, making certain the general law.
Right reasoning about existence also made clear every sort of cruelty and roughness; but this resulted in talking about reasons for a person's way, and therefore wrongly. But with science, all this results with science, and therefore in a way not to be doubted.
How can we fail 39 to take in so very beautiful a theory? It is merely necessary to look upon mankind society as an object 40 of quiet thought; and I can give comfort to myself with the thought that my operation, whatever may be its natural impulse, is a functional 41 operation of the organism 29 of man, and that therefore there cannot be any question in connection with whether it is just that I, in giving work to another the work of others, am doing only that which is pleasing to me, as there can be no question in connection with the division of work between the brain units of living substance and the muscular 6 units of living substance. How is it possible to make protest to so very beautiful a theory, in order that one may be able, ever after, to pocket one's sense of right and wrong, and have a without-error uncontrolled animal existence, feeling under one's self that support of science which is not to be shaken in our time!
And it is on this new view or opinion that the reasoning for men's uselessness and cruelty is now based.
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