On the other hand, the doctrine which teaches that bodies are made up of chemical atoms, or molecules, which have a definite nature and combine in definite numbers, is very satisfactorily established by experimental science; and nothing can be objected against it by speculative philosophers. But, to prevent misconceptions, [pg 667] we must observe that this theory does not consider the chemical atoms as absolutely indivisible, or as absolutely primitive, or as so many pieces of continuous matter. The word “atom” in chemistry signifies the least possible quantity of any natural substance known to us. Atoms are chemical equivalents. Their chemical indivisibility, on account of which they are called “atoms,” is a fact of experience; but they are absolutely divisible, owing to their physical composition; for we know by the balance that atoms of different substances contain different quantities of matter; and their vibrations, change of size, and variations of chemical activity with the variation of circumstances, unmistakably show that their mass is a sum of units substantially independent of one another, though naturally connected together by mutual actions in one dynamical system. Their matter is therefore discrete, not continuous.
As to the doctrine of simple and unextended elements, we have no need of saying anything in particular in this place, as such a doctrine is a simple corollary of the thesis concerning the impossibility of continuous matter, which we have fully developed in our last article.
From these remarks it will be seen that to the question, What are the primitive constituents of bodies? three answers may be given, and each of them true, if properly interpreted, as we shall presently explain. Thus it is true, in a strictly metaphysical sense, that the primitive constituents of bodies are the matter and the substantial form; it is true again, in a certain other sense, that the primitive constituents of bodies are chemical atoms; and it is true also, in a still different sense, that the primitive constituents of bodies are simple and unextended elements. Hence the scholastic solution does not necessarily clash with the atomic, nor does this latter exclude the dynamic, but all three may stand together in perfect harmony, or rather they are required by the very nature of the question, in the same manner as three solutions are required by the nature of a problem whose conditions give rise to an equation of the third degree. The duty, therefore, of a philosopher, when he has to handle this subject, is not to resort to one of the three solutions in order to attack the others, as it is the fashion to do, but to investigate how the three can be reconciled, and how truth in its fulness can be attained to by their conjunction.
This may appear difficult to those whose philosophical bias in favor of a long-cherished opinion prevents them from looking at things in more than one manner; but those whose mind is free from prejudice and exclusiveness will readily acknowledge that whilst the atomists determine the constituents of bodies by chemical analysis, the dynamists, on the contrary, determine those constituents by mechanical analysis, and the scholastics by metaphysical analysis. Now, these analyses do not exclude one another; they rather prepare the way to one another. Hence their results cannot exclude one another, but rather lead to one another, and give by their union a fuller expression of truth.
If we ask of an atomist, “What are the primitive constituents of a mass of gold?” he will answer that they are the atoms, or the molecules, of gold, as chemistry teaches him. This answer is very good, as it points out the first specific principles of the compound body; for we cannot go further and resolve the molecule without destroying the specific nature of gold. For this reason the atomist, when he [pg 668] has reached the atoms of gold, stops there, and declares that the analysis cannot go further. He evidently refers to the chemical analysis.
If now we ask a dynamist, “What are the primitive constituents of a mass of gold?” he will answer that they are the simple elements of which the molecules of gold are made up. This answer, too, is very good, as it points out the first physical principles of the compound body; for we cannot go further and resolve the simple element without destroying the physical being. For this reason the dynamist, when he has reached the simple elements, stops there, and declares that the analysis can go no further. Of course he means the physical analysis.
Let us now ask of a schoolman, “What are the primitive constituents of a mass of gold.” He will answer that they are the substantial form and the matter, as the last terms obtained by the metaphysical analysis of substance. This last answer also is very good, as it points out the first metaphysical principles of substance. It should, however, be borne in mind that this answer does not apply to the mass of the body as such, nor to its molecules, but only to each primitive element contained in the mass and in the molecules of the body, as we shall fully explain in another place. When he has reached the substantial form and the matter, the schoolman stops there, and declares that the analysis can go no further. He means the metaphysical analysis, which resolves the physical being into metaphysical realities incapable of further resolution.
It is manifest that these three answers, however different, do not clash with one another. Accordingly, the atomist, the dynamist, and the schoolman may all agree in teaching truth, while they give different answers. The fact is, they do not look at the question from the same point of view, and, rigorously speaking, they solve different questions.
The first answers the question, What are the first specific principles of gold or the first golden particles; and he affirms that they are the molecules or atoms of gold.
The second answers the question, What are the first physical principles of such golden particles? and he affirms that they are unextended elements or primitive substances.