As a
rock may deflect a stream, so man, himself a natural mechanism, may turn
the stream of nature's energies into paths that are temporarily useful
for human purposes. But from the modern point of view the ancient plaint
of the Book of Job remains true, both for the rock and for the man:
"The waters wear away stones,
And the hope of frail man thou destroyest."
In the end, our relations to the universe thus seem to remain relations
to an essentially foreign power, which cares for our ideals as the
stormy sea cares for the boat, and as the bacteria care for the human
organism upon which they prey. If we ourselves, as products of nature,
are sufficiently strong mechanisms, we may be able to win, while life
lasts, many ideal goods. But just so, if the boat is well enough built,
it may weather one or another passing storm. If the body is well knit,
it may long remain immune to disease. Yet in the end the boat and the
human body fail. And in no case, so this view asserts, does the real
world essentially care for or help or encourage our ideals.
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