Page:Chance, love, and logic - philosophical essays (IA chancelovelogicp00peir 0).pdf/19

 *jects which he measures never deviate in the slightest from the simple law. Doubtless, as one becomes more expert in the manipulation of physical instruments, there is a noticeable diminution of the range of the personal "error," but no amount of skill and no refinement of our instruments have ever succeeded in eliminating irregular, though small, variations. "Try to verify any law of nature and you will find that the more precise your observations, the more certain they will be to show irregular departure from the law." There is certainly nothing in our empirical information to prevent us from saying that all the so-called constants of nature are merely instances of variation between limits so near each other that their differences may be neglected for certain purposes. Moreover, the approach to constancy is observed only in mass phenomena, when we are dealing with very large numbers of particles; but social statistics also approach constant ratios when the numbers are very large. Hence, without denying discrepancies due solely to errors of observation, Peirce contends that "we must suppose far more minute discrepancies to exist owing to the imperfect cogency of the law itself, to a certain swerving of the facts from any definite formula."

It is usual to associate disbelief in absolute laws of nature with sentimental claims for freedom or theological miracles. It is, therefore, well to insist that Peirce's attack is entirely in the interests of exact logic and a rational account of the physical universe. As a rigorous logician familiar with the actual procedures by which our knowledge