for those metaphysical requirements
of mankind which are indestructible. It takes the place of that pure
philosophical truth which is infinitely difficult and perhaps never
attainable.

_Philalethes_. Ah! just as a wooden leg takes the place of a natural
one; it supplies what is lacking, barely does duty for it, claims to be
regarded as a natural leg, and is more or less artfully put together.
The only difference is that, whilst a natural leg as a rule preceded the
wooden one, religion has everywhere got the start of philosophy.

_Demopheles_. That may be, but still for a man who hasn't a natural leg,
a wooden one is of great service. You must bear in mind that the
metaphysical needs of mankind absolutely require satisfaction, because
the horizon of men's thoughts must have a background and not remain
unbounded. Man has, as a rule, no faculty for weighing reasons and
discriminating between what is false and what is true; and besides, the
labor which nature and the needs of nature impose upon him, leaves him
no time for such enquiries, or for the education which they presuppose.
In his case, therefore, it is no use talking of a reasoned conviction;
he has to fall back on belief and authority. If a really true philosophy
were to take the place of religion, nine-tenths at least of mankind
would have to receive it on authority; that is to say, it too would be a
matter of faith, for Plato's dictum, that the multitude can't be
philosophers, will always remain true. Authority, however, is an affair
of time and circumstance alone, and so it can't be bestowed on that
which has only reason in its favor, it must accordingly be allowed to
nothing but what has acquired it in the course of history, even if it is
only an allegorical representation of truth. Truth in this form,
supported by authority, appeals first of all to those elements in the
human constitution which are strictly metaphysical, that is to say, to
the need man feels of a theory in regard to the riddle of existence
which forces itself upon his notice, a need arising from the
consciousness that behind the physical in the world there is a
metaphysical, something permanent as the foundation of constant change.
Then it appeals to the will, to the fears and hopes of mortal beings
living in constant struggle; for whom, accordingly, religion creates
gods and demons whom they can cry to, appease and win over. Finally, it
appeals to that moral consciousness which is undeniabl