In the middle ages 87

objects with which it is concerned (materia) from

the point of view from which these objects are con-

sidered {ratio formalis). The objects with which

a science is concerned are its material ; for example,

the human body constitutes the material of an-

atomy and of physiology. But every science takes

its material in its own way; it treats this material

from some one angle, and this angle is always a

point of view upon which the mind deliberately

centers, an aspect of things which the mind sepa-

rates out, — "abstracts" (abstrahit) from its ma-

terial. Thus the point of view of anatomy is not

that of physiology; for anatomy describes the or-

gans of the human body, while physiology, is con-

cerned with their functions. The point of view of

the one is static and of the other dynamic. —-

From this it obviously follows that two sciences

can be engaged with the same material, or — to bor-

row the philosophical terminology of the Middle

Ages — possess a common material object (objec-

tu7n materiale) ; but they must possess in each case,

under penalty of being confused, a distinct point

of view, a unique formal object (objectum for-

male) , which is the special "good" of each science.

And, indeed, whatever group of sciences we mav

consider, we do, in fact discover everywhere the

operation of this law, regulating the distinctions

among the sciences; geology, inorganic chemistry,

and physics are concerned with the same object —

the inanimate world — but from different points of

88 PHILOSOPHY AND CIVILIZATION

view. Biology, paleontology, anatomy, and physi-

ology study the organism but in its different as-

pects. The material common to political economy,

civil law, and criminal law is human action, but

each of these sciences regards the complete reality

of human action from a special angle. From this

intellectualistic conception of the sciences, which

bases the specific character of the science upon the

point of view, it follows that a new science must be

born whenever research and discovery reveal a new

aspect, a point of view hitherto unsuspected in the

unending pursuit of reality; the further the mind

extends its view of things, the further does it pene-

trate into the secrets of reality.

This theory of science helps us to understand

what makes a science "special," and how in the thir-

teenth century "special" sciences are opposed to

"general" science. The particularity of the sciences

rests upon two considerations which supplement

each other, and an examination of a few of the sci-

ences which we have named as examples will suffice

to show in the concrete the value of these consider-

ations. Anatomy and physiology, we said, are con-

cerned with the human body, but they are not con-

cerned about geological strata or stars. The ma-

terial studied is a particular bit of reality; a re-

stricted, specialized department or — to use again

the mediaeval terminology — their material object

{ohjjectum, materiale) is restricted. On the other

hand, precisely because anatomy and physiology