An Example of Noble Character

MERCY TO THE WORLDS realities—for instance, detailed knowledge of the solar system or precise information about the layers of the Earth. Following these material discoveries, a distinct philosophy emerged, commonly known as positivism. Under this philosophy, it came to be believed that the sole criterion for attaining real knowledge is direct experience or observation that is verifiable. When viewed from this perspective, religious beliefs did not meet this standard of knowledge, as they were entirely based on indirect reasoning or inference. For example, the existence of God was unobservable. The argument presented in support of it was generally that since there is design in the universe, there must necessarily be a designer. Such inferential reasoning was considered invalid according to modern standards of knowledge. Therefore, these arguments were dismissed as pseudo-explanations. For nearly a hundred years, a major intellectual debate continued in the realm of knowledge. However, this viewpoint carried weight only as long as human knowledge remained confined to the macro-world. At the beginning of the twentieth century, when human inquiry reached into the micro-world, the entire situation underwent a complete transformation. It then became clear that the domain of direct reasoning was extremely limited. The new realities emerging in human knowledge were so subtle that only inference— or indirect reasoning—was practically applicable. For example, in 1895, the German scientist Wilhelm Conrad