Scientism and Values.pdf - Ludwig von Mises Institute

72 Scientism and Values
suade their readers and have little more than their own belief
in their doctrines to help them achieve their end. If "there can
be no doubt" of something or other, why are we not given the
evidence that makes it indubitable? And if man "must have
arisen" in a particular way and not in another, why are we not
given the facts in the case? And if changes in ecology "undoubtedly
occurred," why are we not forced to accept the proposition that
they occurred by being confronted with the evidence? And why is
it necessary to "assume" for the sake of the argument what ought
to be the conclusion of an empirical demonstration that has to
be accepted whether we like it or not? The reason Mr. Carter
uses the persuasive form of address. rather than an argument based
pn evidence is that he cannot point to the causal process by which
an animal that was the primate ancestor of man finally became a
human being. Or, changing the expression, Mr. Carter has to
cross from the subhuman to the human, and, lacking factual stepping
stones, he pole-vaults by means of his sturdy and trusted
conviction that the change could have come about only by natural
means.
How does Mr. Carter know the truth of this proposition? He
cannot profess to have examined all the processes operative in the
universe or even a representative number of the kinds of processes
that are known about, nor can anyone else have done this for him.
Neither he nor anyone knows by what means man acquired his
distinctive powers and developed his institutions. It would seem,
therefore, that before we can hold that man is nothing but an
animal, we shall have to establish by scientific means that whatever
happens can happen only by natural means. But how could the
latter statement be established scientifically? However it is- established,
until it is, we shall have to be content to call it a philosophical
statement. This is all it is. It is, indeed, the most succinct
means of expressing a Weltanschauung known as "naturalism"
and widely accepted by contemporary men. To ask, therefore, the
question, "How does Mr. Carter know this statement?" is to
initiate an inquiry into the validity of naturalism. And to this
inquiry we must now turn.