Table Of ContentRoutledge Revivals
Beyond Physics
Originally published in 1930, Sir Oliver Lodge proposes a con-
nection between physics and philosophy, or as he describes it, a
key to unlock the intricate connection between mind and matter.
A response to early twentieth century mathematically-led philo-
sophy, Lodge looks at physics from a physical direction rather than
from a theoretical model. This title will be of interest to students
of philosophy as well physics.
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Beyond Physics
Or the Idealisation of Mechanism
Sir Oliver Lodge
Firstpublishedin1930
byGeorgeAllen&Unwin,Ltd.
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©1930SirOliverLodge
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BEYOND PHYSICS
OR THE IDEALISATION
OF MECHANISM
SIR O LIV E R LOD GE
D.Sc., LL.D., F.R.S.
Being a survey and attempted
extension of Modern Physics in
a philosophical and psychical
direction
LONDON
GEORGE ALLEN & UNWIN LTD
MUSEUM STREET
FIRST PUBLISHED IN MAY 1930
SECOND EDITION AUGUST I930
THIRD IMPRESSION (SECOND EDITION) JANUARY I93I
All rights reserved
PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN BY
UNWIN BROTHERS LTD., WOKING
PREFACE
Many times it must have been urged that physics
and psychics were interlocked, at least to the
extent that probably every psychic event had a
physical concomitant, but hitherto no attempt
has been made to imagine a mechanism or
physical process for this interaction. The ether
of space has not been a medium much attended
to in philosophy; and if the ether contains the
key to the connexion between mind and matter,
that key has been effectively hidden. Groping
among the intricacies of modem physics I have
found something that feels like a key; it has a
handle at one end ; what it has at the other end
is still rather speculative. A good deal of cleaning
up and brightening is needed before we can
seriously try if it will fit the lock ; and there is
always the possibility that the handle may give
way. But if we were too elaborately cautious
about trying things, we should not make progress
except in easily verifiable directions. The enter
prise is worth some risk.
Such verification as has so far been forthcoming
takes the form of a general approval of the broad
outline, from those with whom I am in touch
under conditions different from those of every
day, and whose range of experience is rather more
enlarged than ours. I do not emphasise this
general approval, nor in this book do I say any
8 BEYOND PHYSICS
thing about that side of experience. Whether my
main contention has any survival value for
philosophy must depend on the direction in
which truth lies.
Even modem physics is not so unalterably
certain that it can be incorporated into philo
sophy without a qualm; yet many philosophers
are trying their hand at some kind of incorpora
tion. The whole subject is full of living interest ;
and a guiding even if also a groping hand may
not be unwelcome in a tangled region in which
beaten tracks are scarce and where the light of
day can hardly penetrate the forest of abstract
and uninterpreted symbols. I have long written
round about this subject of mind and matter in
what is called a popular manner : I now attempt
a slightly more ambitious treatment, so as to
appeal more directly to experts. Whether I
succeed in the task of pacifying physicists and
interesting philosophers, I at least contribute an
intelligible survey and criticism of certain features
in modern physics, which I hope will prove useful.
As for the main contention of the book, I have
repeated it in various forms, for I believe that in
the main it is right. Details will certainly have to
be amended as knowledge grows, but I would
request critics to take the whole argument as
seriously as they can, and to give it the benefit of
the doubt.
The sub-title of this book, “The Idealisation of
PREFACE 9
Mechanism,” is liable to be misunderstood; as
if I had written, “ The Apotheosis of Mechanism.”
Nothing of the kind ! My aim is not the glorifica
tion of mechanism, but its rational interpretation
and understanding. Every piece of man-made
automatic machinery is the outcome of mental
ingenuity, it is saturated with design and purpose.
The recognition of that fact constitutes its
idealistic interpretation.
Machinery can be regarded solely from the
mechanical point of view—its modus operandi can
be studied, its intricate behaviour enjoyed. An
intelligent child can be interested in, for instance,
a gramophone which needs no attention and
changes its own records, or in any other device
not too complex and dangerous for a child to
watch in operation. The child will delight in
movements which simulate intelligence—they
seem to awaken a fellow-feeling—but he is
unlikely to give thought to the mental processes
involved in its construction ; he will not think of
the designer or of the successive improvements
through which such mechanical perfection was
gradually evolved from lowly beginnings. In
other words, a child will not regard mechanism
from the idealistic point of view: he will be
satisfied with its “behaviour”. A professed engi
neer or artificer, on the other hand, will be
impressed with the ingenuity of the inventor and
designer; the mental aspect will be dominant
