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Sturgeon does not attempt to anchor his fantasy in the basic assumptions of science; empiricism, determinism, and relativism are all somewhat subverted in this novel. Psi powers may be an objectively observable reality in the fictional world, but they are not subjected to or described in terms of quantitative measurement, and their objective reality is subordinated to their subjective reality, with which empiricism is not qualified to deal. Naturalistic determinism is invoked, in a way: the children's loneliness and rejection, resulting from some kind of maltreatment, is implied as a causal factornecessary but not sufficientin their parapsychological development. But loneliness and rejection are at least partly subjective, Sturgeon indicates, relieved by positive social interaction (love, affection, belonging). And the real determinism of the book is teleological: the goal of maturity, explicit in the characters and implicit in the structure of events, requires the success of the gestalt. Scientific relativism is operable in that each individual gestalt is regarded as an experiment of nature; the race (homo gestalt) welcomes each success, but it destroys each failure which does not dissolve or destroy itself. Moral relativism is more heavily stressed, especially in the character of Gerry, for whom the gestalt is largely a means to his playing the role of superman. Having no respect for merely human beings, laws, or institutions, he feels no obligation to use his power for good, nor does he even recognize a distinction between "good" and "evil" until his final confrontation with Hip.
The basic goals of science, prediction and control, are clearly present in More Than Human, but they are also basic desires of every man, which fantasy can achieve in literature where science cannot in the real world. The lesson of science, that we can achieve what we want only if we accept and take advantage of how the world is really constructed (i.e. not in accordance with our wishes alone) seems not to matter here. The ease with which certain "elect" persons achieve goals unreachable in the world outside the fiction is reminiscent of the ease with which seduction is managed in works of pornography. Sturgeon avoids intellectual pornography to some extent, however, by making his characters suffer and struggle in other ways, and by leading them toward a sense of ethical values. By treating psi powers as other writers treat mechanical technology, Sturgeon even avoids drifting completely beyond the borders of science fiction. By showing psi powers at work, as a matter of "fact," not of mystery, and by showing the skepticism of other characters overcome in the novel, he undermines our disbelief somewhat, even though we know he is using the literary equivalent of a

 
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