" AS IF."

The Philosophy of " As If." By Hans Vaihinger. Translated _ by C. K. Ogden. (Kagan Paul. 25s. net.) Monr in detail, wrong in emphasis—the worst one could say of a philosopher. And what a dismal state philosophy has reached when the most important contribution to its literature' in a- quarter- of a- century has been Vaihinger's Die Philosophie des Als Ob.

Briefly, Vaihinger amasses evidence to prove that reality and thought are out of key. Reason-was never an instrument, he half, for the Understanding of life, and- we overwork it shamefully and vainly when we set it at the problems of the origin and meaning of the universe, or " the relation between sensation and motion; popularly known as mind and matter." We can arrive at theories which work pretty well, by " con- sciously false assumptions, which either contradict reality or are even contradictory in themselves." 'We know that these fictions in no measure reflect reality, but we treat them as if they did reflect it, as if they were true. Among such fictions are —the average man, freedom, God, empty space, line, point, and surface, matter, the atom, infinity, the absolute: All • allstracts; all classifications, all- comparisoni, all general ideas are fictions. All the- sciences and all the arts deOend upon fictions.' The whole world' of judgment and value is constructed by a • conscious ski-wing of thought to make thingsrlit. These fictions are to be -honoured,' not despised

'for, in Schiller's words : " Know this, a mind sublime puts greatness into life, yet seeks it not therein."

The largest, and the valuable, part of Vaihinger's work is given to tracking down these fictions, wherever he can find them. As he began early in life, as he has studied with

proprietory interest the English and Scottish philosophers. (he is a German whose spiritual home is England) and any other sceptical philosophers who might come in useful, as

he has kept alert, in everything he has read, to evidences' upon this one subject, he has a most impressive amount of support for his views, and of examples of subterfuge in thought. He bolsters his case (as a philosopher should) by an appeal to Kant ; and he is among the best commentators upon Kant We should be grateful to this immense industry. If he had proved the fictional nature merely of the atom, it would have been a good service.

• But now that we have pointed out his virtue in detail, let us stop and consider the problem more widely. It is admirably treated in The Diamond Sutra, in Asvagosha and in a hundred other Buddhist scriptures.

" The Lord Buddha addressed Subhuti, saying, What do you think ? In the myriad worlds which comprise this. universe, are the atoms of dust many ? ' Subhuti replied,

`Very many, Honoured of the Worlds.' The Lord Buddha, continuing his discourse, said : Subhuti, the Lord Buddha'

declares that all these atoms' are not in reality ' atoms,'• but they are termed' atoms.? The Lord Buddha also declares that those myriad worlds ' are not myriad worlds,' but they are termed myriad worlds.' " • So much for scientific fiction ; and now take ethical fiction:—

" Subhuti, what the Lord Buddha enjoined upon you as charity ' is not in reality ' charity,' but it is termed charity.' "

Or finally, most outspokenly :—

" From the changeful conditions of being, I command you to seek deliverance in the transcendental concept of Nirvana. So you shall bs fres from an immeasurable. innumerable, illimitable world of sentient life ; but, in reality, there is no world of sentient life from which to seek freedom. And why ? Because in the in'n13

of enlightened disciples there have ceased to exist such fictitious concepts as an entity, a being, a living being, or a self."

The Buddha made systematic use of Vaihinger's discovery. He attached so great an importance to it that he said " If a good disciple, man or woman, day by day sacrificed lives as many as the sands of the Ganges he would not equal in merit a disciple who adheres with complete faith to one stanza of this scripture and diligently explains it to others." Then how does his doctrine differ from Vaihinger's ? Mainly in this—that he did make use of it. For he saw that the word is fictional, the word is askew, but behind the word the idea, the state of consciousness which it so meagrely represents, is durable and true. And, indeed, it is plain that the creation of values does not proceed from conscious falsehood. The analysis of created values will reveal verbal and formal contradiction, but the creator, in science and in art, stands above words, conscious of reality, thinking reality ; and from his higher station he pumps meaning into his words. It was, in truth, not because " charity," as thought, was a falsehood that the Buddha denied real meaning to the word ; it was because charity, as real, is not the word ; it is a state of consciousness from which the word may be applied with fidelity.

Formally (as argument must rely upon forms), intellect is fictional and approximate : it cannot be other—quite simply because it is only one mode of our being. But for- mally, and philosophically, using the word in its orthodox meaning, thought—or consciousness—is true and exact ; for thought is the whole of our being. Nor does reason, in subjection to thought, work falsely. Truth is the morphology of lies, the valuation of fictions. To know truth is to be raised above the partial testimony of our separate faculties, to be raised above will and iatellect and to see both in their place. The serviceable reason is that which argues from above downward, which is compelled into its place by our vision, our intuition, of truth. To know truth by intuition, though it may be a favour of providence, is not an impossi- bility : or, let it be an impossibility, still it is one which yields to miracle.

One encouragement—and only one—can be drawn from fictionalist philosophy : Vaihinger allows that contradictions are no sign of unsoundness in thought. But here, too, it is astonishing that he should not have seen why contradiction is not in itself vicious : why " I come not to send peace but a sword " does not quarrel with the counsel to turn the other cheek : above the word is the thought, and the word is a leaping place from which to reach the thought.

ALAN PORTER.