Ralph Vary Chamberlin

“ When we see men still so unhappily bound with prejudice and tradition that they are blind to the beauties and light of the grandest conception that science has yet won for man, we sorrow, and in sympathy again recall the plea that the unhappy Castelli made to the pope who was about to inflict punishment upon Galileo for his demonstration of the movements of the earth: "Your Holiness, nothing that can be done can now hinder the earth from moving." ”

“ Those who in the reading of the Old Testament thus fail to gain at the outset some understanding of the world in which the early Hebrews lived and of the conceptions which they held, understand but imperfectly and, of necessity, fail very largely in estimating justly the value of the books. For, assuredly, it is only as We perceive the, constant" growth, the consistent evolution, in the Bible and recognize in it the progressive unfolding of the divine—the spiritual and divine in the Hebrew-race that it has its highest meaning for us and can teach and stimulate us. ”

“ We all stand in the midst of a continuous accretion of facts and experiences and the evolution of truth. The body of human knowledge is forever incomplete, but forever growing. We can see no possible end to its expansion, no prospect of its becoming final. Thus the vitally important thing is not this or that scientific discovery or the materialities of life that flow from it, but the attitude of mind, the mode of thinking without trammel, that makes for the discovery and acceptance of new truth. ”

“ The moral deviations that have scourged mankind have not been matters of depraved conscience, of lack of moral sensibility, or of broken commandments: all resolve themselves into an irrationality which has permitted the establishment and growth of wrong. Every liberty we enjoy, every freedom from wrong, is the outgowth of some intellectual truth, and no error or untruth whatsoever can "contrive to be inoffensive." Thus the distinction commonly drawn between the moral and the intellectual is a fiction or illusion. ”

“ Truth, then, cannot be given to us from without; we attain it, make it ours, only as we work it out and build it up within our minds. Evidently, too, the nature and degree of truth reached by us must depend intimately upon the interpretations accepted by the people among whom we live and received by us in our social heritage and upon the additional facts of our own personal experience. We can construct truth no higher than the suitability and amount of materials in our mental possession permit. ”

“ The opinion of the earth's motion is of all heresies the most abominable, the most pernicious, the most scandalous; argument against the immortality of the soul, the existence of God, and the incarnation should be sooner tolerated than an argument to prove that the earth moves. ”

“ The human situation today corroborates Huxley's observation that "a man's worst difficulties begin when he is free to do as he likes." Liberated from the restraints of drudgery and of much of tradition, he is the plaything of opinion, propaganda, fashions and fads, and has made the popular newspaper, moving-picture and radio what they are. Freed from the ravages of famine and pestilence, he sacrifices millions of men in a futile war-world, using his immensely increased power to achieve primitive, irrational ends. ”

“ We perceive truth no faster than we gain experience, and hence "a man is saved no faster than he gets intelligence."
As an illustration, let us consider the conception of the Divine. Here it appears clearly that the shifting ideals of men have ever been reflected in their thoughts concerning God; and that at no time has the conception of God risen higher than the-highest ideals existing at the time in other phases of life. With the growth of the race has gone steadily on in parallel strengthening and broadening in our conception of the power, love and justice of God. ”

“ Stripping off all surplusage and coming to the heart of the matter, the underlying cause of the controversy with which we are dealing has always been a difference in the philosophic interpretation of Nature. Since the days of early Greece there have been men who saw Nature as something designed and sustained by a conscious intelligence; while there have been others who saw nothing in or behind Nature excepting so-called natural causes, forces acting blindly and inevitably. Either God controls Nature, it has been thought, or else Nature runs itself by virtue of blind resident causes. ”

“ Modern culture has come into being through science and the control of the forces of Nature which it has yielded. The rationalistic spirit of science is the spirit moulding the modern world, its implication being not so much the importance of any particular truth as the right to seek truth and to extend it unhampered by restrictions or authority other than that of Nature herself. Through science man has ceased to be the plaything of blind forces. ”

“ Knowledge, ordinary as well as well as scientific, is possible only when facts are grouped under hypotheses or theories, which are mental reconstructions arrived at by reflection upon the suggestive materials brought to us through sensation. When an interpretation satisfies all conscious minds capable of grasping it and at the same time accords with the body of interpretations already accepted by the race, then only is it properly to be received as truth. ”

“ Thus the end of education is not the mere acquisition of knowledge but the achievement of a point of view, of an attitude toward life and an orientation to the world. Everywhere the most urgent educational problem should be recognized as the broad inculcation of scientific method and understanding, as inducing the habit of independent, rational and equable thinking, the habit of relying upon accurate information and tested facts, upon observation and experiment rather than upon authority and precedent, the habit and capacity of keeping abreast of the latest findings. ”

“ The basic idea that has determined our modern civilization and set it off from all others is the scientific idea. This is unquestionably the age of science; but if we have in mind the people rather than the movement, this statement must be strongly qualified. Our age stands for certain achievement, for a certain mentality which few of us exhibit. It is remarkable that so few even among scientists themselves maintain the scientific attitude outside their own limited subjects, but in such fields as religion, morals and politics reveal an extraordinary inertia of early habit. ”

“ Tennyson's Ulysses As to any final meanings, science requires a hardy renunciation. What can be known, let us seek with all vigor and honesty of means at our disposal; what cannot be known, let us face fearlessly and no less honestly. There clearly emerges then this profoundly significant fact: our entire modern civilization rests upon a technology which has grown out of pure science, which is dependent upon a race of men who deliberately and unswervingly refuse to consider their own "desires, tastes, and interests as affording a key to the understanding of the world." ”

“ All the progress we have won has depended upon truth, and the acquisition of this truth upon intellectual honesty.
For ages the idea of truth in common thought has been that of something absolute and final, "a light planted in eternal principles and shining upon our path." Every such idea of absolute truth, however, has failed in some phase in the test of new knowledge and progressive living. In contrast with this way of thinking, to the scientist what is regarded as truth at any particular time is not likely to be final. ”

“ The time is ripe for a full realization of this role of science in our civilization and of the major results it has reached, especially those now so clearly demonstrated as to the true relation of man to Nature. Such knowledge must soon be made the basis and guide in planning for social development and government, if we are to avoid ultimate catastrophe. Such procedure would abate many persistent evils that now flow from neglect of this knowledge, such as those resulting from futile efforts made under the perennial illusion that progress depends upon economics and social regulations. ”

“ Man would seem to be the only creature who through superior intelligence is able to persuade himself that things are not as they are but as he wishes them to be.
But the really great game man has had to play has not been within his own ranks, where subtle acts of intellectual deception and propaganda have often prospered; it has been an incessant one with Nature who from time to time chastens him and restores his sanity by bringing him back to earth. For Nature can be neither deceived nor wheedled. ”

“ It should be obvious, then, that ethical codes must change as knowledge and civilization change." Hence, as John Dewey has said: "The vanity and inexpansibility of values that are merely final and not also means to the enrichment of other occupations of life ought to be obvious." The process of growth, of improvement and progress rather than the static outcome and result become the significant thing. "Growth itself is the only moral end." Not perfection as a final goal, but the ever-enduring process of perfecting, maturing, refining is the aim of living. ”

“ Science now separated itself from philosophy and has since maintained its course untrammeled by extraneous motives. Thinkers became convinced that the scientific method could be equally well brought to bear in all realms whatsoever, and rendered tremendous service in establishing in the minds of men a new confidence in the stability of the world and in the human reason. The Age of Reason which they so optimistically anticipated has not yet arrived; but science has continued its advance without interruption and pours out its products in ever increasing volume. ”

“ As it was, the 17th century was to prove the crucial one in the development of the new interest, for by virtue of a handful of men of unparalleled genius, who followed one after another, that century was to see the greatest single intellectual achievement the race has yet won. Galileo prepared the way for the miracle, but it was Newton who formulated finally the laws of motion, the law of gravitation and the basic physical ideas which have served so well ever since as the foundation of astronomy and mechanical science. ”

“ In spite of the resistance opposed by the preponderance of contradictory systems of thought, science has transformed the world because it has been able continuously to justify itself by its works. Men may and do ignore logic, but they cannot long ignore the compulsion of concrete events and demonstrations. Science has made our civilization, as manifested in material things, in progressive thought, in individual and social emancipation, and especially in all that falls under the heading of rational control. ”

“ The social situation today to some men, such as Professor Einstein, reveals unmistakable signs of degeneration and decay. However interpreted, it is so obviously one of general confusion, instability, and widening conflict, both between and within nations, and the immediate future is so beclouded, that the need of an early, coherent evaluation of man's nature and behavior is insistent if we are to turn from a course which, in spite of our invincible American optimism, some able thinkers believe is leading toward the greatest tragedy in the history of mankind—the end of modern civilization. ”

“ In regard to the problem raised here, it may be repeated that the advance of social justice has been brought about and conditioned by exactly the same methods of intelligence as those which led to the creation of the radio and to the elimination of yellow fever. Everything we call precious has been wrested by the power of human intelligence from the dark chaos of mystery and brutality. The things man prizes as most worth while are the fruits of his own toilsome effort. The connection of the moral progress of the modern age with its scientific and material achievement is not accidental. ”

“ What was earlier a sporadic and personal attitude "has become an organized social effect which moves mankind more profoundly than anything else in human affairs." As Pasteur once said: "In our century science is the soul of the prosperity of nations and the living source of all progress. Undoubtedly the tiring discussions of politics seem to be our guide—empty appearances! What really leads us forward is a few scientific discoveries and their application." ”

“ The basic need here is the promotion and practice of that rigorous, intellectual honesty upon which truth depends, for social progress and effectiveness, in turn, depend upon that very truth. Speaking of this spirit and method spreading from science, Dr. Whitehead says: "This balance of mind has become part of the tradition which infects cultivated thought. It is the salt which keeps life sweet. The main business of universities ought to be to transmit this tradition as a wide-spread influence from generation to generation." ”