Война и мир

Chapter 1

           

           Thismodernbranchofmathematics,unknowntotheancients,whendealingwithproblemsofmotionadmitstheconceptionoftheinfinitelysmall,andsoconformstothechiefconditionofmotion(absolutecontinuity)andtherebycorrectstheinevitableerrorwhichthehumanmindcannotavoidwhenitdealswithseparateelementsofmotioninsteadofexaminingcontinuousmotion.

           Inseekingthelawsofhistoricalmovementjustthesamethinghappens.Themovementofhumanity,arisingasitdoesfrominnumerablearbitraryhumanwills,iscontinuous.

           Tounderstandthelawsofthiscontinuousmovementistheaimofhistory.Buttoarriveattheselaws,resultingfromthesumofallthosehumanwills,man’smindpostulatesarbitraryanddisconnectedunits.Thefirstmethodofhistoryistotakeanarbitrarilyselectedseriesofcontinuouseventsandexamineitapartfromothers,thoughthereisandcanbenobeginningtoanyevent,foroneeventalwaysflowsuninterruptedlyfromanother.

           Thesecondmethodistoconsidertheactionsofsomeoneman—akingoracommander—asequivalenttothesumofmanyindividualwills;whereasthesumofindividualwillsisneverexpressedbytheactivityofasinglehistoricpersonage.

           Historicalscienceinitsendeavortodrawnearertotruthcontinuallytakessmallerandsmallerunitsforexamination.Buthoweversmalltheunitsittakes,wefeelthattotakeanyunitdisconnectedfromothers,ortoassumeabeginningofanyphenomenon,ortosaythatthewillofmanymenisexpressedbytheactionsofanyonehistoricpersonage,isinitselffalse.

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