




                          The Freedom of Science

                                    By

                         Joseph Donat, S.J., D.D.

                      Professor Innsbruck University

                                 New York

                             Joseph F. Wagner

                                   1914





CONTENTS


Imprimatur.
Author's Preface To The English Edition.
Translator's Note.
First Section. The Freedom of Science and its Philosophical Basis.
   Chapter I. Science And Freedom.
   Chapter II. Two Views Of The World And Their Freedom.
   Chapter III. Subjectivism And Its Freedom.
Second Section. Freedom of Research and Faith.
   Chapter I. Research And Faith In General.
   Chapter II. The Authority Of Faith And The Free Exercise Of Research.
   Chapter III. Unprepossession Of Research.
   Chapter IV. Accusations And Objections.
   Chapter V. The Witnesses of the Incompatibility Of Science And Faith.
Third Section. The Liberal Freedom of Research.
   Chapter I. Free From The Yoke Of The Supernatural.
   Chapter II. The Unscientific Method.
   Chapter III. The Bitter Fruit.
Fourth Section. Freedom of Teaching.
   Chapter I. Freedom Of Teaching And Ethics.
   Chapter II. Freedom Of Teaching And The State.
Fifth Section. Theology.
   Chapter I. Theology And Science.
   Chapter II. Theology And University.
Index.
Footnotes






IMPRIMATUR.


Nihil Obstat
REMIGIUS LAFORT, D.D.
_Censor_

Imprimatur
JOHN CARDINAL FARLEY
_Archbishop of New York_

NEW YORK, January 22, 1914.

COPYRIGHT, 1914, BY JOSEPH F. WAGNER, NEW YORK





AUTHOR'S PREFACE TO THE ENGLISH EDITION.


The present work has already secured many friends in German Europe. An
invitation has now been extended for its reception among the
English-speaking countries, with the object that there, too, it may seek
readers and friends, and communicate to them its thoughts--the ideas it has
to convey and to interpret. While wishing it heartfelt success and good
fortune on its journey, the Author desires it to convey his greetings to
its new readers.

This book has issued from the throes of dissension and strife, seeing the
light at a time when, in Austria and Germany, the bitter forces of
opposition, that range themselves about the shibboleth _Freedom of
Science_, were seen engaging in a combat of fiercer intensity than ever.
Yet, notwithstanding, this Child of Strife has learned the language of
Peace only. It speaks the language of an impartial objectivity which
endeavours, in a spirit of unimpassioned, though earnest, calm, to range
itself over the burning questions of the day--over those great
_Weltanschauung_ questions, that stand in such close relation with the
compendious motto: _Freedom of Science_. Yes, _Freedom_ and _Science_
serve, in our age and on both sides of the Atlantic, as trumpet-calls, to
summon together--often indeed to pit in deadly combat--the rival forces of
opposition. They are catch-words that tend to hold at fever-pitch the
intellectual life of modern civilization--agents as they are of such mighty
and far-reaching influences. On the one hand, Science, whence the moving
and leading ideas of the time take shape and form to go forth in turn and
subject to their sway the intellect of man; on the other, Freedom--that
Freedom of sovereign emancipation, that Christian Freedom of well-ordered
self-development, which determine the actions, the strivings of the human
spirit, even as they control imperceptibly the march of Science. While the
present volume is connected with this chain of profound problems, it
becomes, of itself, a representation of the intellectual life of our day,
with its far-reaching philosophical questions, its forces of struggle and
opposition, its dangers, and deep-seated evils.

The Author has a lively recollection of an expression which he heard a few
years ago, in a conversation with an American professor, then journeying
in Europe. "Here, they talk of tolerance," he observed, "while in America
we put it into practice." The catch-word _Freedom of Science_ will not,
therefore, in _every_ quarter of the world, serve as a call to arms,
causing the opposing columns to engage in mutual conflict, as is the case
in many portions of Europe. But certain it is that everywhere alike--in the
new world of America, as well as in the old world of Europe--the human
spirit has its attention engaged with the same identical questions--those
topics of nerve-straining interest that sway and surge about this same
catch-word like so many opposing forces. Everywhere we shall have those
tense oppositions between sovereign Humanity and Christianity, between
Knowledge and Faith, between Law and Freedom; everywhere those questions
on the Rights and Obligations of Science, on Catholic Thought, and on
Catholic Doctrinal Beliefs and Duties.

May it fall to the lot of this book to be able to communicate to many a
reader, interested in such topics, words of enlightenment and
explanation--to some for the strengthening of their convictions, to others
for the correction, perhaps, of their erroneous views. At home, while
winning the sympathy of many readers, it has not failed to encounter also
antagonism. This was to be expected. The resolute championing of the
principles of the Christian view of the world, as well as many a candid
expression of views touching the intellectual impoverishment and the
ever-shifting position of unshackled Freethinking, must necessarily arouse
such antagonism. May the present volume meet on the other side of the
Atlantic with a large share of that tolerance which is put into actual
practice there, and is there not merely an empty phrase on the lips of
men! May it contribute something to the better and fuller understanding of
the saying of that great English scientist, WILLIAM THOMSON: "Do not be
afraid of being free-thinkers! If you think strongly enough, you will be
forced by science to the belief in God, which is the foundation of all
religion."

Finally, I may be allowed to express my sincere thanks to the publisher
for undertaking the work of this translation.

May it accomplish much good.

J. Donat.

UNIVERSITY INNSBRUCK,
CHRISTMAS, 1913.





TRANSLATOR'S NOTE.


The German original is replete with references to works especially in the
German language, the author having with great care quoted title and page
whenever referring to an author. Since many of these references are of
value only to those familiar with the German, they have been abbreviated
or omitted in this English version, whenever they would seem to needlessly
encumber its pages.

Those desirous of verifying quotations will be enabled to do so in all
instances by a reference to the German original.





FIRST SECTION. THE FREEDOM OF SCIENCE AND ITS PHILOSOPHICAL BASIS.




Chapter I. Science And Freedom.


If a question is destined to agitate and divide for considerable length of
time the minds of men, it must undoubtedly have its root deep in the
entire intellectual life of the times; it must be anchored in profound
philosophical thought, in theories of life. From this source it derives
its power of captivating the minds. All this applies to the question of
the Freedom of Science. If, then, we desire a thorough understanding of
this question, we must first of all seek and examine its deeper lying
philosophical basis; we must trace the threads which so closely unite it
to the intellectual life and effort of the times.

But before we begin our study, let us remember a rule of the great orator
and philosopher of ancient Rome; a rule only too often forgotten in our
times: "Every philosophical discussion, of anything whatsoever, should
begin with a definition, in order to make clear what the discussion is
about" (_Cicero_, De Officiis, I, 2). If we would form a judgment as to
the demand of science for freedom, as to the justification of this demand,
as to its compatibility or incompatibility with the duty of faith, the
first question that naturally arises is: What is the purport of this
demand, what does it mean? Only after we have clearly circumscribed this
demand can we approach its philosophical presumptions and test its basis.

What, then, do we understand by Science, and what freedom may be granted
to it?



Science.


When a man of Northern or Central Europe hears of science, his thoughts
generally turn to the universities and their teachers. To him the
university is the home of science, there its numerous branches dwell in
good fellowship, there hundreds of men have consecrated themselves to its
service. In those parts of Europe it is customary for men of science to be
university professors. Of what university is he? is asked. Celebrated
scientists, like _Helmholtz_, _Liebig_, _Hertz_, _Kirchhoff_;
philosophers, like _Kant_, _Fichte_, _Schelling_, _Hegel_, _Herbart_;
great philologists, historians, and so on, were university professors.

For all that, _science_ and _university_ are not necessarily inseparable
things. The university needs science, but science does not absolutely need
the university. Science was in