{
  "id": "a_m6okc6ft",
  "oid": 164986,
  "revision": 1,
  "revision_oid": 164987,
  "work": "orthodoxy",
  "edition": "pg16769-r1",
  "title": "Wells doubts absolute reasoning, but preserves practical inquiry",
  "anchors": [
    {
      "unit": "CH03.P009",
      "oid": 47,
      "role": null,
      "edition": "pg16769-r1",
      "paragraph": "CH03.P009",
      "exact": "he has written a delicate piece of scepticism called \"Doubts of the Instrument.\"",
      "start": 281,
      "end": 361,
      "prefix": " has raised its ruinous banner; ",
      "suffix": " In this he questions the brain ",
      "url": "/orthodoxy/pg16769-r1/CH03.P009#char=281,361"
    }
  ],
  "body_markdown": "The identifiable work is **‘Scepticism of the Instrument’**, published in *Mind* 13 (1904), pp. 379–393, and revised as the appendix to *A Modern Utopia* (1905). The appendix's headnote dates the original Oxford paper to 8 November 1903. The witness inspected here is Project Gutenberg's electronic text, not a collated first edition. [Journal record](https://academic.oup.com/mind/article-abstract/XIII/1/379/1292046); [appendix](https://www.gutenberg.org/files/6424/6424-h/6424-h.htm).\n\nChesterton catches Wells's refusal to give classifications and deductions absolute authority. But ‘remove all reality’ overstates the position: Wells preserves practical checking and correction, while denying that these procedures yield final metaphysical certainty. His closing discussion also preserves personal moral commitments and common religious association, while denying their universally demonstrable force.\n\nThe disagreement therefore concerns whether limited, corrigible reasoning is intellectually sustainable, or whether it secretly depends on the unconditional authority Chesterton demands. Wells does not announce an intention to stop thinking. Chesterton treats the proposed limits on thought as consequences Wells cannot consistently contain. That is an argument against Wells, rather than a neutral summary of his essay.",
  "sources": [
    {
      "url": "https://academic.oup.com/mind/article-abstract/XIII/1/379/1292046",
      "title": "H. G. Wells, IV.—Scepticism of the Instrument",
      "locator": "Publisher bibliographic record: Mind XIII (1904), pp. 379–393; article text not accessible here",
      "exact": null
    },
    {
      "url": "https://www.gutenberg.org/files/6424/6424-h/6424-h.htm",
      "title": "H. G. Wells, A Modern Utopia, Project Gutenberg #6424",
      "locator": "Appendix, Scepticism of the Instrument: headnote; paragraphs beginning ‘So long as you are reasoning’; ‘So much for my main contention’; ‘Scepticism of the Instrument is for example’",
      "exact": null
    }
  ],
  "citations": [],
  "external_references": [
    {
      "url": "https://academic.oup.com/mind/article-abstract/XIII/1/379/1292046",
      "title": "Journal record"
    },
    {
      "url": "https://www.gutenberg.org/files/6424/6424-h/6424-h.htm",
      "title": "appendix"
    }
  ],
  "limits": [
    "The 1904 journal text was not collated against the revised appendix. The Gutenberg transcription identifies no controlling print edition. Chesterton's precise copy and reason for his altered title remain unestablished."
  ],
  "metadata": {
    "run": "chapter-03-restart-2026-11-07",
    "paragraph_investigator": "P009",
    "task": [
      {
        "approach": "Quotations and attributions; philosophical contextualization",
        "question": "What is Wells's named essay, and does it actually cancel every assertion he makes?"
      },
      {
        "approach": "Theological contextualization",
        "question": "How does Chesterton's identification of religious and rational authority compare with a contemporary authoritative Catholic account?"
      }
    ],
    "model": "gpt-6.1-sol"
  },
  "content_sha256": "sha256:31ab9a93796ea3c367c18204ecf6077133bcc14a37b9c2b2ce912541b0af4282",
  "created_at": "2026-11-07T16:33:54Z",
  "is_current": true,
  "url": "/a/a_m6okc6ft",
  "revision_path": "/a/a_m6okc6ft/r/1",
  "cited_by": [
    {
      "id": "a_mt5b4zsl",
      "revision": 1,
      "title": "What thought and choice need: from scattered virtues to a seamless character",
      "url": "/a/a_mt5b4zsl"
    }
  ]
}