54
PARTISAN REPIEW
by dropping the pretense of a spurious finality and recognizing
the fallibility of its self-corrective procedures that science has
won its victories. It may be a comfort to some to learn that in so
far as man uses "wisdom" he can aim only at the good; since
the most diverse kinds of action-kindly as well as brutal, bene–
ficent as well as costly in human life-are undertaken in the
name of wisdom, such a testimonial will doubtless enable everyone
engaged in such an undertaking to redouble his zeal without count·
ing the costs. But it is not wisdom but a mark of immaturity to
recommend that we simply examine our hearts if we wish to
discover the good life; for it is just because men rely so completely
and unreflectively on their intuitive insights and passionate
im–
pulses that needless sufferings and conflicts occur among them.
The point is clear: claims as to what is required by wisdom need
to be adjudicated if such claims are to be warranted; and accord·
ingly, objective methods·must be instituted, on the basis of which
the conditions, the consequences, and the mutual compatibility of
different course of action may be established. But if such methods
are introduced, we leave the miasmal swamps of supra-scientific
wisdom, and are brought back again to the firm soil of scientific
knowledge.
IV
The final variety of current criticism of science to be con–
sidered rests its case on the alleged facts of history. The develop·
ment of science, it is admitted, has brought with it an increase
in
material power, a broadening of the average span of human life,
and a wider distribution of innumerable goods than was possible
in earlier days. Nevertheless, so the criticism runs, human happi–
ness has not increased and the quality of life has not improved.
On the contrary, increased power over material nature has gen–
erating a deadening monotony and uniformity in men's lives, has
produced ghastly brutalities, cataclysmic wars, and fierce supe
stitions, and has undermined personal and social security. Science
deals with instrumentalities and is incapable of determining
values; and with the spread of secular naturalism and the conse–
quent decline of religious influences, men have grown insensitive
to the distinction between good and evil, and have identified mate–
rial success with ethical excellence. Intellectual historians join
