Torch of reason., April 19, 1900, Image 1

T orch
n
of
SEASON.
•TRUTH BEARS THE TORCH IN THE SEARCH FOR TRUTH.”—
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VOL. 4.
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S IL V E R T O N . O R EG O N , T H U R S D A Y , A P R IL 19, E. M. 300 (A. DT 190<M
NO. 15.
Evolution.
thing else th an m an’s invincible
confidence in the future. “ In d iv id ­
uals live on after death in th e col­
lective work of progress. No action
dies.”
So Comte: Man has, therefore,
two kinds of existence; individual
and hum an, objective and subject­
ive. In the first he partakes of life
consciously, in the second indepen­
dent of space and num bers he is in
the hum an power of the world, and
can only end with it.
In the second, the m etaphysical
. BY EMILY P F E IF F E R .
state, we have the U nknow able as
the Unknown Force, the In sc ru ta ­
unger that striveth in the restless
ble Power, behind all phenom ena. A Lecture Delivered Before th
arms
*
In the th ird , the positive state,
Silverton Thought Exchange
Of the sea-flower, that drivest rooted
the I nknow able is an abstract,
Sunday Evening, April
things
To break their moorings, that unfold-
philosophical conception.
»5. 1900.
est wings
The “ U nknow able” was the en ti­
In creatures to be rapt above thy harms ;
Hunger, of whom the hungry-seeming
ty of the m etaphysical state, which
BY PROF. F. W. HOFFMANN.
waves
was substituted for the divinity o.
Were the first ministers, till, free to
range,
the theological state.
It was the
The word “c ra n k ” m ay be utiliz
Thou mad’st the Universe thy park
“ interm ediaire”
spoken of by ed in num erous ways and with div
and grange,
What is it thine insatiate heart still
Comte, which conducts one from ers m eanings. O riginallv the wore
craves?
the theological state to the positive m eant “ a little bend”, and was ap-
Sacred disquietude, divine unrest!
Spencer’s Essays and Other
state.
Maker of all that breathes the breath
plied to m echanics. It m ay now
of life.
Writings.
In the positive state of thought, be used as a noun, verb or adjec­
No unthrift greed spurs thine unflagging
zest,
Mr. Spencer uses the term “ N atu re” tive.
As a noun it is applied to a
No lust self-slaying hounds thee to the
BY CHARLES B. WAITE.
to designate the “ U nknow able” or m echanical device by which a
strife;
Thou art the Unknown God on whom
“ U ltim ate Cause of th in g s”. N a­ wheel is revolved; as a verb it if
we w ait,
R. S pencer ’ s w ritings have ture is now the great Artificer, and used to designate the m otion which
Thy path the course of our unfolded fate.
been vpry volum inous. the philosopher deems it sufficient sets a crank in operation, an d usee
—[Selected.
Besides his philosophical to study her m anifestations.
in the form of an adjective it de
and m iscellaneous works, he has
The progressive ch aracter of Mr. scribes an ill-balanced crank.
History of Modern Philosophy m ade contributions from time to
Spencer’s thought is fu rth er illu s­
So closely has the individual re­
in France.
tim e to various English magazines. trated by one of his very latest u t­ sem bled a cran k in m any respects,
Mr. Spencer appears to have terances— his reply to Mr. B alfour’s th a t it has been applied to desig­
BY LUCIEN LEVY-BRUHL.
passed through and exemplified in “ F oundations of Belief” [1895]. Mr. nate his attitu d e in contrast with
his own person the three stages of Spencer there speaks of the U ni­ lis social environm ent.
So we
E cannot apply to progress
m ental evolution described
by verse as being w ithout conceivable have our “c ran k s”, and our “cran k y
our hum an idea of fin­ Comte as the theological, the m eta­
beginning or end, and w ithout in ­ c ra n k s” ; our “cran k y cranks who
ality .
All we can say
physical and the positive.
telligible purpose.
c ra n k ”, and above all, our “c ran k y
is, th at in the long run good tr i­
I his is his last and most positive cranks who crank the c ra n k s”.
1 h© first stage is to be seen in
um phs over evil and tru th over
I hey are the last m entioned to
state of thought.
error. The proof is th at the world Social Statics”, w ritten when Mr.
In the theological state, intelli whom I wish to refer tonight; th e
lives on and even moves forward. Spencer was th irty years of age.
was ascribed to the Power individuals who have m ade the
Neither can we preserve the idea of In this work he writes of “God’s gence
greatest diversions from the pre­
W orld”, of th e “ Divine Id ea”, of behind phenom ena.
the im m ortality of the soul such as
In
the
m
etaphysical
state
we
vailing custom s in order th a t they
it has been handed down to us by the “ Divine R ule”, of the “ Divine were cautioned ag ain st ascribing
m ight add one more thought to in ­
religious trad itio n . \\ e could not A rrangem ents”, of the “creative to th a t Power either intelligence or
dom itable T ru th which alone re­
do so even if we chose, if we weie purpose”, of the “ C reator’s silent the w ant of intelligence.
In the positive state it is clearly volves the wheel of Progress.
sincere with ourselves. A nd if we com m and”, etc., etc. H e refers in
implied th a t the same power is
O liver W endell H olm es once
no longer have this belief, how can high term s to the C hristian relig­ w ithout intelligent purpose.
In
said, “ A cran k is a m an wybo does
ion, using language in m arked con­
we dare to dem and it of others?
this state there is no Divine Will, his own thinking.
.
.
There
God forbid, says R enan, th a t I tra st with th a t in his later w rit­ conform ity to which was so strong­
never was an idea started th a t
should say th a t belief in im m o rtal­ ings. He has also an en tire chap ly enjoined in “ Social S tatics”.—
woke up men out of th eir stupid in ­
[H erbert Spencer and H is Critics.
ity is not in one sense necessary ter on “ The Moral Sense” ; some­
difference, but its originator was
and sacred. B ut I m ain tain th a t thing which appears strangely to
W hy should the Bible alone o f all spoken of as a cran k .” I wish to­
when a sceptic who does not believe have dropped out of the “ D ata of
E th ics’’.
the sacred books be read in our pub­ night to review some of Oliver
in it preaches this com forting dog­
W endell H olm es’ cranks.
In “Social S tatics” he speaks of lic schools,if the one purpose in such
ma to the poor in order to keep
I t is well known th a t the greatest
them quiet, this m ust be called the moral sense as generating mor usage be the inculcation of lofty sen­
In the “ D ata of tim ent and sublim e aspiration in strides of civilization have been
swindling. I t is pay in g with hills al intuitions.
made in revolutionizing old ideas
"e know to he counterfeit; it is E th ics” he antagonizes the intui- the m inds of the young? O ther sa­
and custom s through the m edium
tempting the sim ple-m inded man tionists, who “ hold th a t moral per­ cred books of ihe past are replete
of Science. Those who have been
by an empty bubble away from the ceptions are innate— th a t men have with sentim ents as exalted, a sp ira ­
tions as uplifting and prayers as ♦ he instigators of these scientific
pursuit of reality. The old idea of been divinely endowed with m oral
sublim e as any th a t are found revolutions have been the persecut­
im m ortality is a rem n an t of the faculties” .
ed, the recipients of innum erab le
In “Social S tatics” hum an rights within the lids of the Bible. More­
conceptions of the prim iti ve world.
over, m any of these are older books epithets, one of which is the im ­
‘ auks with the anthropom orphic are prim arily derived from the a x ­
We m ay find
than th© Bible and epitom ize the m ortal “c ra n k ” .
r®Presentation of God. It supposes iom th at hum an happiness is the
earliest recorded beliefs, hopes and cranks in an y branch of th o u g h t,
man to be composed of two sub- divine will, and th a t the duty of aspirations of the hum an race. Nev­ but for my them e I wish to include
•inces, and would be greatly a t a man is to conform to the will of ertheless, the Bible alone out of all only those who have revolutionized
b
to explain how m em ory, con- God. In the “ D ata of E th ics”, the these sacred books is selected for use
the ideas of the U niverse and th u s
" iousness and in d iv id u ality in the author, speaking of the ancient in our public schools; the youthful
have elim inated Theism .
Otie survive the destruction of the school of m orals, “ th a t which rec­ m ind is, therefore, a t once colored
with the specialized interpretation
The idea of “ spooks” , or “spook-
other.
Let us frankly renounce ognizes no other role of conduct of its text, and inculcated with the
^bis kind of spiritu alism , which in th an the alleged will of God”, says notion th a t it is infallible and u n ­ °l°8y » as or.e of our local cranks
has a p p ro p riately cognom inated it,
questionably inspired above all
' inplicity does not perceive how it originates with the savage.
has been the prevailing mire into
,eely it borders upon m aterialism .
In the first, the theological state, other books, and th a t it alone con­
tains the rule of faith and guide of which nations and “empires gone
•
•
•
God was ruling the world in ac­ life for all m an k in d .—[Independent
to d u s t” have sunk in oblivion and
. Belief in im m o rtality im plies no-
cordance with divine arrangem ents. Thinker.
i from which th e crank is drain in g
H
n
W
“Cranks.”