e
Inductive Method, has undertaken, for our day, the task which his
illustrious English predecessor attempted for his, namely--an Inventory
and Classification of our intellectual stores. He endeavored to bring
the Scientific world up to the _practical_ recognition of that which
they had _theoretically_ maintained since Bacon's time,--that nothing
deserves to be considered as true, which cannot be undoubtedly,
conclusively established by inference, from the Facts of Experience,--a
theory to which they had never strictly adhered. He insisted that all
Theological, Metaphysical, and Transcendental Speculations were wholly
beyond the range of exact inquiry, and should therefore be excluded from
the domain in which human knowledge was to be sought; and that
investigation should be confined to those regions of thought and
activity which were within the limits of precise apprehension. Upon this
clear, logical and right application of the Inductive Method, Comte
based his Classification of our existing knowledge. He denominated as
_Positive_ Sciences those systems of Principles and correlated Facts,
comprising Mathematics, Astronomy, Physics, Chemistry, Biology,
Sociology, and their derivative domains, which were founded on the exact
Observation of Phenomena, and set aside all other realms of the universe
of thought as departments in which _exact_ knowledge was impossible, and
whose intellectual examination was therefore fruitless. The Philosophy
based on this critical Method was denominated by its founder Positivism.
All modern Scientists, with rare exceptions, whether they are disciples
of Comte or not, are theoretical Positivists in their modes of
investigation, in their unwillingness to accept theories not proven, in
their partiality for Facts, and in their devotion to the Inductive
Method, although the nature of _proof_ is still but dimly comprehended
by them as a body, and much laxity creeps into their practical efforts
at demonstration. Under the influence of Positivism, however, the
Scientific field is being rapidly cleared of unestablished theories
which formerly mingled with it, claiming to be an integral part of its
area, and the boundaries of Science are becoming more closely defined.
The Inductive Method is enthusiastically eulogized as the source of the
success of modern Scientific investigators, as the true Scientific
Method, and--except among a few of the most advanced thinkers--as the
final word of wisdom in rega