Mathematical philosophy, a study of fate and freedom; lectures for educated laymen, by Cassius J. Keyser.

458 MATHEMATICAL PHILOSOPHY
These are the energies with which we dealt in the
preceding lecture; they are the energies which, in Korzybski's fine phrase, constitute humanity the "time-binding"
class of life; they are the human energies in virtue of
which the distinctive life of man is life-in-time; they are
the energies that make man the creator of Civilization;
man is their sole agency, their sole instrument, their sole
organ; characteristic of humankind, they are present in
some measure wherever human beings are found. Upon
the effectiveness of these energies depends the creation
of material and spiritual wealth-the advancement of
civilization-the well-being of man. To be effective,
however, they must be understood, they must be organized, they must be coordinated, they must be brought into
world-wide cooperation-in one word, they require to be
engineered. And so I propose to define Engineering to
be
The science and art of directing the time-binding
energies of mankind,-the civilizing energies of the
world,-to the advancement of the welfare of man.'
That conception does not represent engineering as it
has been practiced in the past nor as it is practiced today.
It represents an Ideal which engineering will approximate more and more just in proportion as it becomes more
and more humanized and enlightened. The ideal is an
inspiring one; but it ought not to flatter the vanity of
1My friend, Mr. Robert B. Wolf, has pointed out to me that the
preamble of the Constitution (1920) of The Federated American Engineering Societies says: "Engineering is the science of controlling the
forces and of utilizing the materials of nature for the benefit of man,
and the art of organizing and of directing human activities in connection
therewith." I hope the reader will compare that conception critically
with the one which I have submitted. The preamble dedicates the
federation "to the service of the comunuity, state, and nation," Why not
to the sçYivçe of the World?