A man who had explained perfectly to another how to row a boat was one day seen making an unsuccessful attempt at putting the theory into practice. Those watching said that he knew the philosophy of rowing but that his efforts were very unscientific. Although touching very lightly upon philosophical thought in general, this incident nevertheless reveals a fundamental difference between philosophy and science. Philosophy is a system of thought which seems justified because of its reasonableness, while science requires that the deductions of reason be substantiated by practical application. Philosophy points out possible ways which would seem to lead to facts; science makes known the right way by demonstration.
In Mrs. Eddy's splendid article entitled "Science and Philosophy," which begins on page 359 of "Miscellaneous Writings," she says (p. 364): "Christian Science refutes everything that is not a postulate of the divine Principle, God. It is the soul of divine philosophy, and there is no other philosophy. It is not a search after wisdom, it is wisdom: it is God's right hand grasping the universe,—all time, space, immortality, thought, extension, cause, and effect; constituting and governing all identity, individuality, law, and power."
The basic material sciences rest upon experimental verification. If such verification is impossible, the reasoning partakes more of the characteristics of a philosophy than of a science; the proof establishes the course of reasoning and makes of the philosophical deduction a scientific fact. When the study of material phenomena was mainly concerned with the contemplation and explanation of the operation of physical action, it was termed "natural philosophy;" but later, when its deductions were subjected to rigid mathematical and experimental proofs and its laws thereby established, the accurate knowledge then disclosed made it the science called physics. To those who now study physics to ascertain in a general way the operation of certain material phenomena, physics is still a philosophy; but to those who use it for the solution of problems, either to ascertain general properties or to obtain numerical results, physics is not merely a philosophy, it is a branch of science. The distinction between science and philosophy is thus clearly drawn. To be classed as a science, a system of thought must be important because of its application to the solution of problems; the solution of problems in the broad sense includes the meeting of all kinds of conditions in all lines of human activity.
