Ofcourse,nothingbutthemostmeagreandsketchiestoutlineofthismatterispracticableinthisplace,andeventhatonlyinitsrelationtothemachineindustryduringthepastonehundredyearsorso。WhatissaidaboveoftheBritishleadinmodernsciencemayperhapsbequestioned,anditisnotnecessaryforthepresentpurposetoinsistonitstruth;butsomuchseemsbeyondhazardasthattheleadinthematerialscienceslaywiththeBritishthroughtheearlymachineage,andthattheprovenanceofthismodernscientificresearchto-daydoesnotextend,inanypronounceddegree,beyondthosecommunitiesthatliewithintheareaofthemodernmachineindustry。
  Intimeandspacetheprevalenceofthemodernmaterialisticscienceisroughlyextensivewiththatofthemachineprocess。Itis,nodoubt,relatedtoitbothascauseandaseffect;butthatitsrelationtomodernindustryismorethatofeffectthancauseseemsatleastbroadlysuggestedbythedecaywhichpresentlyovertookscientificresearch,e。g。,inthesouthofEuropewhenthosepeoplesturnedtheirattentionfrommaterialtospiritualandpoliticalaffairs。28*
  Whatisofimmediateinterestisthechangethathascomeoverthescopeandmethodofscientificresearchsincethedominanceofthemachineprocess,incomparisonwithwhatprecededthecomingofthemachineage。Thebeginningsofmodernscienceareolderthantheindustrialrevolution;theprinciplesofscientificresearchcausalexplanationandexactmeasurement
  antedatetheregimeofthemachineprocess。Butachangehastakenplaceinthepostulatesandanimusofscientificresearchsincemodernsciencefirstbegan,andthischangeinthepostulatesofscientificknowledgeisrelatedtothegrowthofthemachinetechnology。
  ItisunnecessaryheretoharkbacktothatscholasticscienceorphilosophythatservedasanintellectualexpressionoftheecclesiasticalandpoliticalcultureoftheMiddleAges。
  Itscharacter,ascomparedwithlaterscience,issufficientlynotorious。Bythechangefromscholasticknowledgetomodernscience,totheextenttowhichthechangewascarriedthrough,theprinciplehabitofmindofadequatecausewassubstitutedforthatofsufficientreason。Thelawofcausationasitisfoundatwork,inthematurerscienceoftheeighteenthandearlynineteenthcenturies,comprisestwodistinguishablepostulates:
  1equalityquantitativeequivalenceofcauseandeffect;and2similarityqualitativeequivalenceofcauseandeffect。Theformermay,withoutforcingit,bereferredtocommercialaccountancyasitsanalogueinpracticallifeandastheprobableculturalgroundoutofwhichthehabitofinsistingonaninviolablequantitativeequivalencegatheredconsistency。Theascendancyofthelatterseemsinasimilarmannertobereferabletotheprevalenceofhandicraftasitsculturalground。
  Statednegatively,itassertsthatnothingappearsintheeffectbutwhatwascontainedinthecause,inamannerwhichsuggeststherulethatnothingappearsintheproductofhandicraftbutwhatwaspresentintheskilloftheartificer。“Naturalcauses,“
  whicharemademuchofinthismiddleperiodofmodernscience,areconceivedtoworkaccordingtocertain“naturallaws。“Thesenaturallaws,lawsofthe“normalcourse“ofthings,arefelttotendtoarationalendandtohavesomethingofacoerciveforce。
  SothatNaturemakesnomistakes,Naturedoesnothinginvain,Naturetakesthemosteconomicalcoursetoitsend,Naturemakesnojumps,etc。Underthislawofnaturalcausationeveryeffectmusthaveacausewhichresemblesitintheparticularrespectwhichclaimstheinquirer’sattention。Amongotherconsequencesofthisviewitfollowsthat,sincethedetailsaswellasthewholeofthematerialuniverseareconstruedtoshowadaptationtoapreconceivedend,this“naturalorder“ofthingsmustbetheoutcomeofpreexistentdesignresidinginthe“firstcause,“
  whichispostulatedbyvirtueofthisimputeddesignandisdesignatedthe“GreatArtificer。“Thereisanelementofconationinthisoriginalmodernpostulateofcauseandeffect。Theshadowoftheartificer,withhisintelligenceandmanualskill,isforeverinthebackgroundoftheconceptsofnaturallaw。The“cause“dealtwithinagivencaseisnotthoughtofasaneffect;andtheeffectistreatedasafinality,notasaphaseofacomplexsequenceofcausation。Whensuchasequenceisunderinquiry;asintheearlier,pre-Darwiniantheoriesofevolution,itisnothandledasacumulativesequencewhosecharactermayblindlychangefrombettertoworse,orconversely,atanypoint;
  butratherasanunfoldingofacertainprimecauseinwhichiscontained,implicitly,allthatpresentlyappearsinexplicitform。
  Intheconceptionofthecausalrelationasitmaybeseenatworkahundredyearsago,causeandeffectarefelttostandoveragainstoneanother,sothatthecausecontrols,determinestheeffectbytransmittingitsowncharactertoit。Thecauseistheproducer,theeffecttheproduct。Relativelylittleemphasisorinterestfallsupontheprocessoutofwhichtheproductemerges;
  theinterestbeingcentreduponthelatteranditsrelationtotheefficientcauseoutofwhichithascome。Thetheoriesconstructedundertheguidanceofthisconceptionaregeneralizationsastoanequivalencebetweentheproducingcauseandtheeffect-product。Thecause“makes“theeffect,inmuchthesamesenseasthecraftsmanisapprehendedtomakethearticleonwhichheisengaged。Thereisafeltdistinctionbetweenthecauseandtheenvironingcircumstances,muchasthereisbetweentheworkmanontheonehandandhistoolsandmaterialsontheotherhand。Theinterveningprocessissimplythemanneroffunctioningoftheefficientcause,muchastheworkman’sworkisthefunctioningoftheworkmanintheintervalbetweentheinceptionandthecompletionoftheproduct。Theeffectissubsequenttothecause,astheworkman’sproductissubsequenttoandconsequentuponhisputtingforthhisproductiveefficiency。Itisarelationofbeforeandafter,inwhichtheprocesscomesinforattentionascoveringandaccountingforthetimeintervalwhich,inanalogywithworkmanlikeendeavor,isrequiredforthefunctioningoftheefficientcause。29*
  Butastimepassesandhabituationtotheexigenciesofthemachinetechnologygainsinrangeandconsistency,thequasi-personal,handicraftconceptionofcausationdecays,-
  firstandmostnotablyinthosematerial,inorganicsciencesthatstandintheclosestrelationtothemechanicaltechnology,butpresentlyalsointheorganicsciences,andeveninthemoralsciences。Themachinetechnologyisamechanicalormaterialprocess,andrequirestheattentiontobecentreduponthisprocessandtheexigenciesoftheprocess。Insuchaprocessnoonefactorstandsoutasunequivocallytheefficientcauseinthecase,whosepersonalcharacter,sotospeak,istransfusedintotheproduct,andtowhoseworkingstherestofthecomplexofcausesarerelatedonlyassubsidiaryorconditioningcircumstances。Tothetechnologisttheprocesscomesnecessarilytocount,notsimplyastheintervaloffunctioningofaninitialefficientcause,butasthesubstantialfactthatengageshisattention。Helearnstothinkintermsoftheprocess,ratherthanintermsofaproductivecauseandaproductbetweenwhichtheprocessintervenesinsuchamannerastoaffordatransitionfromonetotheother。Theprocessisalwayscomplex;alwaysadelicatelybalancedinterplayofforcesthatworkblindly,insensibly,heedlessly;inwhichanyappreciabledeviationmayforthwithcountinacumulativemanner,thefurtherconsequencesofwhichstandinnoorganicrelationtothepurposeforwhichtheprocesshasbeensetgoing。Theprimeefficientcausefalls,relatively,intothebackgroundandyieldsprecedencetotheprocessasthepointoftechnologicalinterest。
  Thismachinetechnology,withitsaccompanyingdisciplineinmechanicaladaptationsandobject-lessons,cameongraduallyandrosetoadominatingplaceintheculturalenvironmentduringtheclosingyearsoftheeighteenthandthecourseofthenineteenthcentury;andasfastasmenlearnedtothinkintermsoftechnologicalprocess,theywentonatan。acceleratedpaceinthefurtherinventionofmechanicalprocesses,sothatfromthattimetheprogressofinventionshasbeenofacumulativecharacterandhascumulativelyheightenedthedisciplinaryforceofthemachineprocess。Thisearlytechnologicaladvance,ofcourse,tookplaceintheBritishcommunity,wherethemachineprocessfirstgainedheadwayandwherethedisciplineofaprevalentmachineindustryinculcatedthinkingintermsofthemachineprocess。SoalsoitwasintheBritishcommunitythatmodernsciencefellintothelinesmarkedoutbytechnologicalthinkingandbegantoformulateitstheoriesintermsofprocessratherthanintermsofprimecausesandthelike。Whilesomethingofthiskindisnoticeablerelativelyearlyinsomeoftheinorganicsciences,as,e。g。,Geology,thestrikinganddecisivemoveinthisdirectionwastakentowardthemiddleofthecenturybyDarwinandhiscontemporaries。30*Withoutmuchpreliminaryexpositionandwithoutfeeinghimselftobeoutoftouchwithhiscontemporaries,Darwinsettoworktoexplainspeciesintermsoftheprocessoutofwhichtheyhavearisen,ratherthanoutoftheprimecausetowhichthedistinctionbetweenthemmaybedue。31*DenyingnothingastothesubstantialservicesoftheGreatArtificerinthedevelopmentofspecies,hesimplyandnaivelyleftHimoutofthescheme,because,asbeingapersonalfactor,Hecouldnotbestatedandhandledintermsofprocess。SoDarwinofferedatentativeaccountofthedescentofman,withoutrecoursetodivineorhumandirectiveendeavorandwithoutinquiryastowhencemanultimatelycameandwhy,orastowhatfortunewouldultimatelyovertakehim。Hisinquirycharacteristicallyconfinesitselftotheprocessofcumulativechange。Hisresults,aswellashisspecificdeterminationofthefactorsatworkinthisprocessofcumulativechange,havebeenquestioned;perhapstheyareopentoallthecriticismslevelledagainstthemaswellastoafewmorenotyetthoughtof;butthescopeandmethodgiventoscientificinquirybyDarwinandthegenerationwhosespokesmanheishassubstantiallynotbeenquestioned,exceptbythatdiminishingcontingentofthefaithfulwhobyforceofspecialtrainingorbynativegiftarenotamenabletothedisciplineofthemachineprocess。Thecharacteristicallymodernsciencedoesnotinquireaboutprimecauses,designinnature,desirabilityofeffects,ultimateresults,oreschatologicalconsequences。
  Ofthetwopostulatesofearliermodernscience,-thequantitativeequivalenceandthequalitativeequivalenceofcauseandeffect,-theformerhascomepracticallytosignifythebalancedarticulationoftheprocessofcumulativechange;theendeavorofthePositiviststoerectthiscanonofquantitativeequivalenceintothesolecanonofscientifictruth,andsotoreducescientifictheorytoasystemofaccountancy,havingfailed。Thelatterthesis,thatlikecausesproducelikeeffects,orthattheeffectis,insomesense,ofthesamecharacterasthecause,hasfallenintodecayasholdingtrueonlyinsuchtenuouslygeneraltermsastoleaveitwithoutparticularforce。
  Thescientistsarelearningmoreandmoreconsistentlytothinkintheopaque,impersonaltermsofstrains,mechanicalstructures,displacement,andthelike;termswhichareconvertibleintotheworkingdrawingsandspecificationsofthemechanicalengineer。
  Theolderpreconceptionsare,ofcourse,notwhollyeliminatedfromtheintellectualapparatusofscientificresearchandgeneralization。Theculturalsituationwhosedisciplinegivestheoutcomeismadeupofinheritedtraditionalnotionsatleastasmuchasofthenotionsbroughtinbythemachineprocess。Evenamongthescientificadeptstherehasbeennocompletebreakwiththepast;necessarilynot,sincetheyare,afterall,creaturesoftheirowngeneration。Manyofthem,butmoreespeciallythosewhoareengagedinupholdingtheauthenticresultsofscientificresearch,aresomewhatpronetomakemuchofthedefinitiveresultsachieved,ratherthanoftheprocessofresearchinwhichtheseresultsareprovisionalappliancesofwork。Andmanyofthese,together。withthegreatpartofthosewell-meaningpersonswhoexploitthesciencesforpurposesofedification,suchasclergymenandnaturalisticmyth-makers,stillpersonifytheprocessofcauseandeffectandfindinitawell-advisedmeliorativetrend。Butthatworkofresearchwhicheffectuallyextendsthebordersofscientificknowledgeisnearlyalldoneundertheguidanceofhighlyimpersonal,mechanical,morallyandaestheticallycolorlessconceptionsofcausalsequence。Andthisscientificworkiscarriedoutonlyinthosecommunitieswhichareinduecontactwiththemodernmechanicallyorganizedindustrialsystem,-onlyundertheshadowofthemachinetechnology。
  Inthenatureofthecasetheculturalgrowthdominatedbythemachineindustryisofasceptical,matter-of-factcomplexion,materialistic,unmoral,unpatriotic,undevout。Thegrowthofhabitsofthought,intheindustrialregionsandcentresparticularly,runsinthisdirection;buthithertotherehasenoughoftheancientnormsofWesternChristendomremainedintacttomakeaveryrespectableprotestagainstthatdeteriorationoftheculturaltissueswhichthefermentofthemachineindustryunremittinglypusheson。Themachinediscipline。