only in so far as it would state truths
in the order of discovery, not in the order most convenient for
displaying them as a system. It would show what were the processes by
which they were originally found out, and how they have been afterwards
annexed or absorbed in some wider generalisation. These facts might be
stated without any reference to the history of the discoverers or of the
society to which they belonged. They would indeed suggest very
interesting topics to the general historian or 'sociologist.' He might
be led to inquire under what conditions men came to inquire
scientifically at all; why they ceased for centuries to care for
science; why they took up special departments of investigation; and what
was the effect of scientific discoveries upon social relations in
general. But the two inquiries would be distinct for obvious reasons. If
men study mathematics they can only come to one conclusion. They will
find out the same propositions of geometry if they only think clearly
enough and long enough, as certainly as Columbus would discover America
if he only sailed far enough. America was there, and so in a sense are
the propositions. We may therefore in this case entirely separate the
two questions: what leads men to think? and what conclusions will they
reach? The reasons which guided the first discoverers are just as valid
now, though they can be more systematically stated. But in the 'moral
sciences' this distinction is not equally possible. The intellectual and
the social evolution are closely and intricately connected, and each
reacts upon the other. In the last resort no doubt a definitive system
of belief once elaborated would repose upon universally valid truths
and determine, instead of being determined by, the corresponding social
order. But in the concrete evolution which, we may hope, is
approximating towards this result, the creeds current among mankind have
been determined by the social conditions as well as helped to determine
them. To give an account of that process it is necessary to specify the
various circumstances which may lead to the survival of error, and to
the partial views of truth taken by men of different idiosyncrasies
working upon different data and moved by different passions and
prepossessions. A history written upon these terms would show primarily
what, as a fact, were the dominant beliefs during a given period, and
state which survived, which disappeared, and which were transfo