War And Peace: Epilogue 2 - CHAPTER XII

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EVER SINCE the law of Copernicus was discovered and proved, the mere

recognition that not the sun, but the earth moves, has destroyed the whole

cosmography of the ancients. By disproving the law, it might have been possible

to retain the old conception of the movements of the heavenly bodies; but

without disproving it, it would seem to be impossible to continue studying the

Ptolemaic worlds. But as a fact even after the discovery of the law of

Copernicus, the Ptolemaic worlds long continued to be a subject of study.

Ever since the first person said and proved that the number of births or

crimes is subject to mathematical laws, that certain geographical and

politico-economical laws determine this or that form of government, that certain

relations of the population to the soil lead to migrations of peoples—from that

moment the foundations on which history was built were destroyed in their

essence.

By disproving those new laws, the old view of history might have been

retained. But without disproving them, it would seem impossible to continue

studying historical events, merely as the arbitrary product of the free will of

individual men. For if a certain type of government is established, or a certain

movement of peoples takes place in consequence of certain geographical,

ethnographical, or economic conditions, the free will of those persons who are

described to us as setting up that type of government or leading that movement

cannot be regarded as the cause.

And yet history goes on being studied as of old, side by side with laws of

statistics, of geography, of political economy, of comparative philology and

geology, that flatly contradict its assumptions.

The struggle between the new views and the old was long and stubborn in

physical philosophy. Theology stood on guard over the old view, and accused the

new view of violating revelation. But when truth gained the day, theology

established itself as firmly as ever on a new basis.

As long and as obstinate is the conflict to-day between the old and the new

view of history; and in the same way theology stands on guard over the old view,

and accuses the new of attacking revelation.

In both cases on both sides, the struggle rouses evil passions and stifles

truth. On one side there is dread and regret at demolishing the edifice that has

been raised by the ages; on the other, the passion for destruction.

To the men who fought against the new truths of physical philosophy, it

seemed that if they were to admit that truth, it would shatter faith in God, in

the creation of the firmament, in the miracle of Joshua, the son of Nun. To the

champions of the laws of Copernicus and Newton, to Voltaire, for instance, it

seemed that the laws of astronomy were destructive of religion, and the latter

made use of the law of gravity as a weapon against religion.

So now it seems that we have but to admit the law of necessity to shatter the

conception of the soul, of good, of evil, and of the political and

ecclesiastical edifices reared on the basis of those conceptions.

So too, like Voltaire in his day, the champions of the law of necessity use

the law as a weapon against religion, though, like the law of Copernicus in

astronomy, the law of necessity in history, far from destroying even strengthens

the foundation on which political and ecclesiastical edifices are reared.

Just as then in the question of astronomy, now in the question of history,

the whole difference of view rested on the recognition or non-recognition of an

absolute unit as a measure of visible phenomena. For astronomy, this was the

immobility of the earth; in history, the independence of personality—free

will.

Just as in astronomy the difficulty of admitting the motion of the earth lay

in the immediate sensation of the earth's stationariness and of the planets'

motion, so in history the difficulty of recognising the subjection of the

personality to the laws of space and time and causation lies in the difficulty

of surmounting the direct sensation of the independence of one's personality.

But just as in astronomy, the new view said, “It is true, we do not feel the

movement of the earth, but, if we admit its immobility, we are reduced to

absurdity, while admitting its movement, we are led to laws”; so in history,

the new view says, “It is true, we do not feel our dependence, but admitting

our free will, we are led to absurdity; admitting our dependence on the external

world, time, and cause, we are led to laws.”

In the first case, we had to surmount the sensation of an unreal immobility

in space, and to admit a motion we could not perceive of by sense. In the

present case, it is as essential to surmount a consciousness of an unreal

freedom and to recognise a dependence not perceived by our senses.

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1. Ebooks list page : 85
2. War And Peace: Epilogue 2 - CHAPTER I
3. War And Peace: Epilogue 1 - CHAPTER IV
4. War And Peace: Epilogue 1 - CHAPTER V
5. War And Peace: Epilogue 1 - CHAPTER VI
6. War And Peace: Epilogue 1 - CHAPTER VII
7. War And Peace: Epilogue 1 - CHAPTER XIV
8. War And Peace: Epilogue 1 - CHAPTER IX
9. War And Peace: Epilogue 1 - CHAPTER X
10. War And Peace: Epilogue 1 - CHAPTER XI
11. War And Peace: Epilogue 1 - CHAPTER XII
12. War And Peace: Epilogue 1 - CHAPTER XVI
13. War And Peace: Epilogue 1 - CHAPTER III
14. War And Peace: Epilogue 2 - CHAPTER IV
15. War And Peace: Epilogue 1 - CHAPTER I
16. War And Peace: Epilogue 2 - CHAPTER II