First Principles · Herbert Spencer
CHAPTER I. LAWS IN GENERAL.
To speak specifically—it has been shown that though we can never learn the _nature_ of that which is manifested to us, we are daily learning more completely the _order_ of its manifestations. We are conscious of effects produced in us by something separate from ourselves. The effects of which we are conscious—the changes of consciousness which make up our mental life, we ascribe to the forces of an external world. The intrinsic character of these forces—of this external world—of that which underlies all appearances, we find inscrutable; as is also the internal something whose changes constitute consciousness, but at the same time we find that among the changes of consciousness thus produced, there exist various constant relations; and we have no choice but to ascribe constancy to the relations which subsist among the inscrutable causes of these changes. Observation early discloses certain invariable connexions of coexistence and sequence among phenomena. Accumulating experiences tend continually to augment the number of invariable connexions recognized. When, as in the later stages of civilization, there arises not only a diligent gathering together of experiences but a critical comparison of them, more remote and complex connexions are added to the list. And gradually there grows up the habit of regarding these uniformities of relation as characterizing all manifestations of the Unknowable. Under the endless variety and seeming irregularity, there is ever more clearly discerned that “constant course of procedure” which we call Law.
The growing belief in the universality of Law, is so conspicuous to all cultivated minds as scarcely to need illustration. None who read these pages will ask for proof that this has been the central element of intellectual progress. But though the fact is sufficiently familiar, the philosophy of the fact is not so; and it will be desirable now to consider it. Partly because the development of our conception of Law will so be rendered more comprehensible; but chiefly because our subsequent course will thus be facilitated; I propose here to enumerate the several conditions that determine the order in which the various relations among phenomena are discovered. Seeing, as we shall, the consequent necessity of this order; and enabled, as we shall also be, to estimate the future by inference from the past; we shall perceive how inevitable is our advance towards the ultimatum that has been indicated. * * * * * § 36. The recognition of Law, being the recognition of uniformity of relations among phenomena, it follows that the order in which different groups of phenomena are reduced to law, must depend on the frequency and distinctness with which the uniform relations they severally present, are experienced. At any given stage of progress, those uniformities will be most recognized with which men’s minds have been oftenest and most strongly impressed. In proportion partly to the number of times a relation has been presented to consciousness (not merely to the senses); and in proportion partly to the vividness with which the terms of the relation have been cognized; will be the degree in which the constancy of connexion is perceived.
The frequency and impressiveness with which different classes of relations are repeated in conscious experience, thus primarily determining the succession in which they are generalized, there result certain derivative principles to which this succession must more immediately and obviously conform. First in importance comes _the directness with which personal welfare is affected_. While, among surrounding things, many do not appreciably influence the body in any way, some act detrimentally and some beneficially, in various degrees; and manifestly, those things whose actions on the organism are most influential, will, cæteris paribus, be those whose laws of action are earliest observed. Second in order, is _the conspicuousness of one or both the phenomena between which a relation is to be perceived_. On every side are countless phenomena so concealed as to be detected only by close observation; others not obtrusive enough to attract notice; others which moderately solicit the attention; others so imposing or vivid as to force themselves upon consciousness; and supposing incidental conditions to be the same, these last will of course be among the first to have their relations generalized. In the third place, we have _the absolute frequency with which the relations occur_.
There are coexistences and sequences of all degrees of commonness, from those which are ever present to those which are extremely rare; and it is clear that the rare coexistences and sequences, as well as the sequences which are very long in taking place, will not be reduced to law so soon as those which are familiar and rapid. Fourthly has to be added _the relative frequency of occurrence_. Many events and appearances are more or less limited to times and places; and as a relation which does not exist within the environment of an observer, cannot be cognized by him, however common it may be elsewhere or in another age, we have to take account of the surrounding physical circumstances, as well as the state of society, of the arts, and of the sciences—all of which affect the frequency with which certain groups of facts are exposed to observation. The fifth corollary to be noticed, is, that the succession in which different classes of phenomena are reduced to law, depends in part on their _simplicity_. Phenomena presenting great composition of causes or conditions, have their essential relations so masked, that it requires accumulated experiences to impress upon consciousness the true connexion of antecedents and consequents they involve.
While astronomical sequences were still ascribed to volition, certain terrestrial sequences of a different kind, but some of them equally without complication, were interpreted in like manner. The solidification of water at a low temperature, is a phenomenon that is simple, concrete, and of much personal concern. But it is neither so frequent as those which we saw are earliest generalized, nor is the presence of the antecedent so uniformly conspicuous. Though in all but tropical climates, mid-winter displays the relation between cold and freezing with tolerable constancy; yet, during the spring and autumn, the occasional appearance of ice in the mornings has no very manifest connexion with coldness of the weather. Sensation being so inaccurate a measure, it is not possible for the savage to experience the definite relation between a temperature of 32° and the congealing of water; and hence the long-continued conception of personal agency. Similarly, but still more clearly, with the winds. The absence of regularity and the inconspicuousness of the antecedents, allowed the mythological explanation to survive for a great period.
During the era in which the uniformity of many quite simple inorganic relations was still unrecognized, certain classes of organic relations, intrinsically very complex and special, were generalized. The constant coexistence of feathers and a beak, of four legs with a bony internal framework, of a particular leaf with poisonous berries, are facts which were, and are, familiar to every savage. Did a savage find a bird with teeth, or a mammal clothed with feathers, he would be as much surprised as an instructed naturalist; and would probably make a fetish of the anomalous form: so showing that while the exceptional relation suggested the notion of a personal cause, the habitual relation did not. Now these uniformities of organic structure which are so early perceived, are of exactly the same class as those more numerous ones later established by biology. The constant coexistence of mammary glands with two occipital condyles in the skull, of vertebræ with teeth lodged in sockets, of frontal horns with the habit of rumination, are generalizations as purely empirical as those known to the aboriginal hunter.
The vegetal physiologist cannot in the least understand the complex relation between the kind of leaf and the kind of fruit borne by a particular plant: he knows these and like connexions simply in the same manner that the barbarian knows them. But the fact that sundry of the uniform relations which chiefly make up the organic sciences, were very early recognized, is due to the high degree of vividness and frequency with which they were presented to consciousness. Though the connexion between the form of a given creature and the sound it makes, or the quality of its fur, or the nature of its flesh, is extremely involved; yet the two terms of the relation are conspicuous; are usually observed in close juxtaposition in time and space; are so observed perhaps daily, or many times a day; and above all a knowledge of their connexion has a direct and obvious bearing on personal welfare. Meanwhile, we see that innumerable other relations of exactly the same order, which are displayed with even greater frequency by surrounding plants and animals, remain for thousands of years unrecognized, if they are unobtrusive or of no apparent moment. When, passing from this primitive stage to a more advanced stage, we trace the discovery of those less familiar uniformities which constitute what is technically distinguished as Science, we find the order of discovery to be still determined in the same manner. We shall most clearly see this in contemplating separately the influence of each derivative condition; as was proposed in the last section.
In the alchemy of later times, we see how greatly an intense hope of private benefit contributed to the disclosure of a certain class of uniformities. Nor is our own age barren of illustrations. “Here,” says Humboldt when in Guiana, “as in many parts of Europe, the sciences are thought worthy to occupy the mind, only so far as they confer some immediate and practical benefit on society.” “How is it possible to believe,” said a missionary to him, “that you have left your country to come and be devoured by mosquitoes on this river, and to measure lands that are not your own.” Our coasts furnish like instances. Every sea-side naturalist knows how great is the contempt with which fishermen regard the collection of objects for the microscope or aquarium: their incredulity as to the possible value of such things, being so great, that they can scarcely be induced even by bribes to preserve the refuse of their nets. Nay, we need not go for evidence beyond daily table-talk. The demand for “practical science”—for a knowledge that can be brought to bear on the business of life; joined to the ridicule commonly vented on pursuits that have no obvious use; suffice to show that the order in which different coexistences and sequences are discovered, greatly depends on the directness with which they affect our welfare.
That, when all other conditions are the same, obtrusive relations will be generalized before unobtrusive ones, is so nearly a truism that examples appear almost superfluous. If it be admitted that by the aboriginal man, as by the child, the co-existent properties of large surrounding objects are noticed before those of minute objects; and that the external relations which bodies present are generalized before their internal ones; it must be admitted that in all subsequent stages of progress, the comparative conspicuousness of relations has greatly affected the order in which they were recognized as uniform. Hence it happened that after the establishment of those very manifest sequences constituting a lunation, and those less manifest ones marking a year, and those still less manifest ones marking the planetary periods, Astronomy occupied itself with such inconspicuous sequences as those displayed in the repeating cycle of lunar eclipses, and those which suggested the theory of epicycles and eccentrics; while modern Astronomy deals with still more inconspicuous sequences: some of which, as the planetary rotations, are nevertheless the simplest which the heavens present. In Physics, the early use of canoes implied an empirical knowledge of certain hydrostatic relations that are intrinsically more complex than sundry static relations then unknown; but these hydrostatic relations were thrust upon observation.
Or if we compare the solution of the problem of specific gravity by Archimedes, with the discovery of atmospheric pressure by Torricelli, (the two involving mechanical relations of exactly the same kind,) we perceive that the much earlier occurrence of the first than the last, was determined neither by a difference in their bearings on personal welfare, nor by a difference in the frequency with which illustrations of them come under observation, nor by relative simplicity; but solely by the greater obtrusiveness of the connexion between antecedent and consequent in the one case than in the other. Similarly with Chemistry. The burning of wood, the rusting of iron, the putrefaction of dead bodies, were early known as consequents uniformly related to certain antecedents; but not until long after was there reached a like empirical knowledge of the effect produced by air in the decomposition of soil: a phenomenon of equal simplicity, equal or greater importance, and greater frequency; but one that is extremely unobtrusive. Among miscellaneous illustrations, it may be pointed out that the connexions between lightning and thunder and between rain and clouds, were established long before others of the same order; simply because they thrust themselves on the attention. Or the long-delayed discovery of the microscopic forms of life, with all the phenomena they present, may be named as very clearly showing how certain groups of relations that are not ordinarily perceptible, though in all other respects like long-familiar relations, have to wait until changed conditions render them perceptible. But, without further details, it needs only to consider the inquiries which now occupy the electrician, the chemist, the physiologist, to see that Science has advanced and is advancing from the more conspicuous phenomena to the less conspicuous ones.
How the degree of absolute frequency of a relation affects the recognition of its uniformity, we see in contrasting certain biological facts. Death and disease are near akin in most of their relations to us; while in respect of complexity, conspicuousness, and the directness with which they personally concern us, diseases in general may be put pretty nearly on a level with each other. But there are great differences in the times at which the natural sequences they severally exhibit are recognized as such. The connexion between death and bodily injury, constantly displayed not only in men but in all inferior creatures, was known as an established uniformity while yet diseases were thought supernatural. Among diseases themselves, it is observable that comparatively unusual ones were regarded as of demoniacal origin during ages when the more frequent were ascribed to ordinary causes: a truth paralleled indeed among our own peasantry, who by the use of charms show a lingering superstition with respect to rare disorders, which they do not show with respect to common ones, such as colds. Passing to physical illustrations, we may note that within the historic period, whirlpools were accounted for by the agency of water-spirits; but we do not find that within the same period the disappearance of water on exposure either to the sun or to artificial heat was interpreted in an analogous way: though a much more marvellous occurrence, and a much more complex one, its great frequency led to the early establishment of it as a natural uniformity. Rainbows and comets do not differ greatly in conspicuousness, and a rainbow is intrinsically the more involved phenomenon; but chiefly because of their far greater commonness, rainbows were perceived to have a direct dependence on sun and rain while yet comets were regarded as supernatural appearances.
That races living inland must long have remained ignorant of the daily and monthly sequences of the tides, and that intertropical races could not early have comprehended the phenomena of northern winters, are extreme illustrations of the influence which relative frequency has on the recognition of uniformities. Animals which, where they are indigenous, call forth no surprise by their structure or habits, because these are so familiar, when taken to a part of the earth where they have never been seen, are looked at with an astonishment approaching to awe—are even thought supernatural: a fact which will suggest numerous others that show how the localization of phenomena, in part controls the order in which they are reduced to law. Not only however does their localization in space affect the progression, but also their localization in time. Facts which are rarely if ever manifested during one era, are rendered very frequent in another, simply through the changes wrought by civilization.
The lever, of which the properties are illustrated in the use of sticks and weapons, is vaguely understood by every savage—on applying it in a certain way he rightly anticipates certain effects; but the action of the equally simple wedge, which is not commonly displayed till tool-making has made some progress, is less early generalized; while the wheel and axle, pulley, and screw, cannot have their powers either empirically or rationally known till the advance of the arts has more or less familiarized them. Through those various means of exploration which we have inherited and are ever increasing, we have become acquainted with a vast range of chemical relations that were relatively non-existent to the primitive man: to highly developed industries we owe both the substances and the apparatus that have disclosed to us countless uniformities which our ancestors had no opportunity of seeing, and therefore could not recognize. These and sundry like instances that will occur to the reader, show that the accumulated materials, and processes, and appliances, and products, which characterize the environments of complex societies, greatly increase the accessibility of various classes of relations; and by so multiplying the experiences of them, or making them relatively frequent, facilitate their generalization. To which add, that various classes of phenomena presented by society itself, as for instance those which political economy formulates, become relatively frequent and therefore recognizable in advanced social states; while in less advanced ones they are too rarely displayed to have their relations perceived, or, as in the least advanced ones, are not displayed at all.
That, where no other circumstances interfere, the order in which different uniformities are established varies as their complexity, is manifest. The geometry of straight lines was understood before the geometry of curved lines; the properties of the circle before the properties of the ellipse, parabola and hyperbola; and the equations of curves of single curvature were ascertained before those of curves of double curvature. Plane trigonometry comes in order of time and simplicity before spherical trigonometry; and the mensuration of plane surfaces and solids before the mensuration of curved surfaces and solids. Similarly with mechanics: the laws of simple motion were generalized before those of compound motion; and those of rectilinear motion before those of curvilinear motion. The properties of equal-armed levers, or scales, were understood before those of the lever with unequal arms; and the law of the inclined plane was formulated earlier than that of the screw, which involves it. In chemistry, the progress has been from the simple inorganic compounds, to the more involved organic ones. And where, as in most of the other sciences, the conditions of the exploration are more complicated, we still may clearly trace relative complexity as one of the determining circumstances.
The progression from concrete relations to abstract ones, and from the less abstract to the more abstract, is equally obvious. Numeration, which in its primary form concerned itself only with groups of actual objects, came earlier than simple arithmetic: the rules of which deal with numbers apart from objects. Arithmetic, limited in its sphere to concrete numerical relations, is alike earlier and less abstract than Algebra, which deals with the relations of these relations. And in like manner, the Infinitesimal Calculus comes after Algebra, both in order of evolution and in order of abstractness. In Astronomy, the progress has been from special generalizations, each expressing the motions of a particular planet, to the generalizations of Kepler, expressing the motions of the planets at large; and then to Newton’s generalization, expressing the motions of all heavenly bodies whatever. Similarly with Physics, Chemistry and Biology, there has ever been an advance from the relations of particular facts and particular classes of facts, to the relations presented by still wider classes—to truths of a high generality or greater abstractness.
Brief and rude as is this sketch of a mental development that has been long and complicated, it fulfils its end if it displays the several conditions that have regulated the course of the development. I venture to think it shows inductively, what was deductively inferred, that the order in which separate groups of uniformities are recognized, depends not on one circumstance but on several circumstances. A survey of the facts makes it manifest that the various classes of relations are generalized in a certain succession, not solely because of one particular kind of difference in their natures; but also because they are variously placed with respect to time, space, other relations, and our own constitutions: our perception of them being influenced by all these conditions in endless combinations. The comparative degrees of importance, of obtrusiveness, of absolute frequency, of relative frequency, of simplicity, of concreteness, are every one of them factors; and from their union in proportions that are more or less different in every case, there results a highly complex process of mental evolution. But while it thus becomes manifest that the proximate causes of the succession in which relations are reduced to law, are numerous and involved; it also becomes manifest that there is one ultimate cause to which these proximate ones are subordinate. As the several circumstances that determine the early or late recognition of uniformities, are circumstances that determine the number and strength of the impressions which these uniformities make on the mind; it follows that the progression conforms to a certain fundamental principle of psychology. We see _à posteriori_, what we concluded _à priori_, that the order in which relations are generalized, depends on the frequency and impressiveness with which they are repeated in conscious experience.
Silently and insensibly their experiences have been pressing men on towards the conclusion thus drawn. Not out of a conscious regard for these abstract reasons, but from a habit of thought which these abstract reasons formulate and justify, all minds have been advancing towards a belief in the constancy of surrounding coexistences and sequences. Familiarity with special uniformities, has generated the abstract conception of uniformity—the idea of _Law_; and this idea has been in successive generations slowly gaining fixity and clearness. Especially has it been thus among those whose knowledge of natural phenomena is the most extensive—men of science. The Mathematician, the Physicist, the Astronomer, the Chemist, severally acquainted with the vast accumulations of uniformities established by their predecessors, and themselves daily adding new ones as well as verifying the old, acquire a far stronger faith in Law than is ordinarily possessed. With them this faith, ceasing to be merely passive, becomes an active stimulus to inquiry. Wherever there exist phenomena of which the dependence is not yet ascertained, these most cultivated intellects, impelled by the conviction that here too there is some invariable connexion, proceed to observe, compare, and experiment; and when they discover the law to which the phenomena conform, as they eventually do, their general belief in the universality of law is further strengthened. So overwhelming is the evidence, and such the effect of this discipline, that to the advanced student of nature, the proposition that there are lawless phenomena, has become not only incredible but almost inconceivable.
When it is asked why the universality of law is not already fully established, there will be the answer that the directions in which it is not yet established are those in which its establishment must necessarily be latest. That state of things which is inferable beforehand, is just the state which we find to exist. If such coexistences and sequences as those of Biology and Sociology are not yet reduced to law, the presumption is not that they are irreducible to law, but that their laws elude our present means of analysis. Having long ago proved uniformity throughout all the lower classes of relations; and having been step by step proving uniformity throughout classes of relations successively higher and higher; if we have not at present succeeded with the highest classes, it may be fairly concluded that our powers are at fault, rather than that the uniformity does not exist. And unless we make the absurd assumption that the process of generalization, now going on with unexampled rapidity, has reached its limit, and will suddenly cease, we must infer that ultimately mankind will discover a constant order of manifestation even in the most involved, obscure, and abstract phenomena. * * * * * § 41. Not even yet, however, have we exhausted the evidence. The foregoing arguments have to be merged in another, still more cogent, which fuses all fragmentary proofs into one general proof.
Text from Project Gutenberg, public domain in the United States.