FORE:So matters stood when the introduction of Aristotles entire system into western Europe brought about a revolution comparable to that effected two centuries later by the complete recovery of ancient literature. It was through Latin translations from the Arabic, accompanied by Arabic commentaries, that the Peripatetic philosophy was first revealed in its entirety; and even Albertus Magnus, living in the thirteenth century, seems to have derived his knowledge of the subject from these exclusively. But a few years after the capture of Constantinople by the Crusaders in 1204, the Greek manuscripts of Aristotle were brought to Paris; and, towards the middle of the century, a new Latin version was made from these under the supervision of St. Thomas Aquinas.536 The triumph of Aristotle was now, at least for a time, secured. For, while in the first period of the Middle Ages we find only a single great name, that of Ablard, among the Nominalists, against a strong array of Realists, in the second period the proportions are reversed, and Realism has only a single worthy champion, Duns Scotus, to pit against Albertus, Aquinas, and William of Ockham, each of them representing one of the principal European nations.537 The human intellect, hitherto confined within the narrow bounds of logic, now ranged over physics, metaphysics, psychology, and ethics; and although all these subjects were368 studied only at second-hand, and with very limited opportunities for criticism, still the benefit received must have been immense. The priceless service of the later Schoolmen is to have appropriated and successfully upheld, against Platonism on the one hand and theological mysticism on the other, a philosophy which, however superficial, took in the whole range of natural phenomena, derived all knowledge from external observation, and set an example of admirable precision in the systematic exposition of its results. If no positive addition was made to that vast storehouse of facts and ideas, the blame does not lie with Aristotles method, but with the forcible suppression of free mental activity by the Church, or its diversion to more profitable fields by the study of Roman jurisprudence. Even as it was, Aristotle contributed largely to the downfall of ecclesiastical authority in two ways: directly by accustoming men to use their reason, and indirectly by throwing back mysticism on its proper officethe restoration of a purely personal religion.In such sciences as rest in any degree upon physical experiment, like chemistry, to experiment without some definite object may be a proper kind of research, and may in the future, as it has in the past, lead to great and useful results; but in mechanics the case is different; the demonstration of the conservation of force, and the relation between force and heat, have supplied the last link in a chain of principles which may be said to comprehend all that we are called upon to deal with in dynamical science, and there remains but little hope of developing anything new or useful by discovery alone. The time has been, and has not yet passed away, when even the most unskilled thought their ability to invent improvements in machinery equal with that of an engineer or skilled mechanic; but this is now changed; new schemes are weighed and tested by scientific standards, in many cases as reliable as actual experiments. A veil of mystery which ignorance of the physical sciences had in former times thrown around the mechanic arts, has been cleared away; chance discovery, or mechanical superstition, if the term may be allowed, has nearly disappeared. Many modern engineers regard their improvements in machinery as the exercise of their profession only, and hesitate about asking for protective grants to secure an exclusive use of that which another person might and often does demonstrate, as often as circumstances call for such improvement. There are of course new articles of manufacture to be discovered, and many improvements in machinery which may be proper subject matter for patent rights; improvements which in all chance would not be made for the term of a patent, except by the inventor; but such cases are rare; and it is fair to assume that unless an invention is one which could not have been regularly deduced from existing data, and one that would not in all probability have been made for a long term of years by any other person than the inventor, such an invention cannot in fairness become the property of an individual without infringing the rights of others.
At community level we work to make children on the streets
visible to society and to help people understand the issues that
cause children to run away and that face them on the streets and
on the platforms. We invest time and skills in preventative intervention,
with the aim of creating ‘safety nets’ within communities to catch
children who are at risk of running away before they do so.
