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Logic and Imagination in the Perception of Truth
The Nature of Pure Activity in two series Book I and Book II
By J. Rush Stoner, M. A.
Cochrane Publishing Company
Tribune Building
New York
1910
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Copyright, 1910, by Cochrane Publishing Ca
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TO
GEORGE TRUMBULL LADD,
A beloved Professor whose interest encouraged! the
writing of this work, the following pages are
reverently dedicated by
THE AUTHOR.
PREFACE.
This is an attempt to review some scientific and philosophic principles within the ordinary modes of research and the categories of the plain man's way of thinking. There has been a humble attempt at analyzing the forms of knowledge and belief, but this does not claim more than to have touched upon that vast realm of the Reason that makes possible the universal synthesizing activity of the Mind's Life in the World of Experience.
If this little book shall strengthen the belief in immortality, revive the faith of the Eternal Pres- ence, suggest some good and fruitful ways of actualizing the teleological principle in life, restore the freshness of a withered hope, show the way in any degree to the establishment of a permanent rational faith, inspire some aspiring life with a little good-will and happiness of social relations in the Citadel of Peace, and encourage the strongly brave Spirit of invincible conquest under the com- mission of Truth to some worthy achievement in the realm of science, literature, or art — the author shall deem it a recompense.
The plan has been to take note of some of the scientific investigators and philosophers whose works have been epoch-making influences in the past; and probably the nearest approach to physi-
PREFACE
cal science is a sketch 0f the principle of motion that represents double parallelism, "X" radiation, balance and equilibrium of gravitating centers, equality and inequality in the distribution of energy, the corresponding curves described by the different centers in motion, and the influence of the mechanical and dynamical; since this seems to be suggestive of the relation of mechanism and teleology.
The general attitude is repulsive toward the abyss of human imagination represented in the Commonwealth, of Hobbes' Leviathan, and atten- tion is drawn to some experiments and suggestions of the relation of mechanism and teleology in observation and the consideration of after-images, and the construction of Ideal Experience. Al- truism or Life in Other Worlds represents some remarkably characteristic plays of the imagin- ation, and imaginary experiences that show some alliance with scientific facts and observations. There are comparative views of scientists and philosophers, with special attention to the use of the imagination in religious experience; the Social Consciousness and the Social Self; notions, thought unities, — in their purity and ultimate form ; the reality of the past in the permanence of the present. The embodied historical appearance of the Absolute may be all that holds as existent experience in time.
Regarding Logic in particular, I think that it should not be mixed up with concrete forms and characteristics of the experience that is found
PREFACE
ready at hand as impressions. Pure Logic of the Imagination deals with pure notions and handles the conceptions as such ; and as a consequence may there not also be a corresponding perception as a logical issue?
In the preparation of this work I owe much to other sources, writers and thinkers of inestimable value and influence; but this assistance has been of a character too general and evasive to admit of any classification here.
Book Two is a humble attempt at a statement of the fundamental principles of Christianity, as they have been discerned by an individual who be- lieves in the practical application of the Christian principles in their original purity of doctrine, and highest purpose of spiritual freedom with the actualization of Universal peace and Universal good will.
The glorified Christ in the prophetic history and visions that adorn the religious consciousness of the Race, and restore the full Spiritual Conscious^ ness of the divine Life of Perfect Ethical relation- ships,— this must determine any consideration of the nature and character of Pure Activity. What* is True is true; what is false is false. In the light of Perfect and clear Judgment, the false is not; but the True is True, is Real, is Ideal, is Love, is Fame, is Glory and renown.
It is incumbent for the Christ Ideal to convey the profoundest faith to the sympathetic believer.
J. RUSH STONER.
Cambridge, Mass., Dec. 14th, 1908.
CONTENTS
BOOK ONE
PAET I PAGE
Logic as Science and Logic as Art . . 13
PAET II
Wonder and the Awe-Inspiring Element
of Scientific Observation .... 37
PART III Knowledge and Happiness 60
PAET IV
Thp Ideal-Real Unity of Perception . . 88
PAET V
Voluntary Control of Attention and Ee-
ligious Experience 112
PAET VI
The Eelation of Art and Eeligion to
Ideals . 137
PAET VII
The Principle of Perfection and the
Moral Ideal 162
PAET VIII
Uniformity of Law and Divine Eevelation in the Free Activity of the Prophetic
Spirit 187
PAET IX
The Significance of the Ethical Concep- tion of Self . . 212
CONTENTS— Continued
PART X PAGE
The Uniqueness of Spiritual Individuality 239
PART XI
The Relation op Ideas and Aesthetic
Sentiments 265
BOOK TWO
PART I The Divine Reason, Love or Logos of the
Universe 281
PART II
Coactivity with God . 293
PART III
The Unity of Knowledge in Faith and
Love 308
PART IV
The Qualifications of Self-Poise in the
Ideal 323
PART V
The Nature of Pure Activity .... 336
PART VI
The Nature of Pure Activity (continued) 350
PART VII A Day of Rest in Freedom Through Pure
Activity ........... 370
BOOK ONE
Logic and Imagination in the Perception of Truth
PART I.
LOGIC AS SCIENCE AND LOGIC AS ART.
There are problems that are central in logic, epistemology and metaphysics; and these all cling around the conception of Truth. Truth, then, is the central conception of Being in all its phases and manifestations — active or passive, individual or social.
The central problems in logic may be classified by Logic as Science, and by Logic as Art. Logic as Science is concerned with the framework of Reality, while Logic as Art is concerned with the Ideal me- thods of constructive and creative design. The one might be said to make a chief end of all truth while the other must hold to the final purpose of beautiful design in the cosmic order of Universal Truth. In- teresting and important as Logic has proved to scientific methods of treatment in the past, the rela- tion of Logic and Aesthetics is just as vital and even more suggestive of the limitless sphere which is its rightful and undisputed domain. The central problems of Epistemology are not only concerned with the limits of knowledge, but with the nature and scope of knowledge and its extent. It is need-
14 LOGIC AND IMAGINATION
less to add that the central problems! of Metaphysics are not confined merely to the logical or the epis- temological realm, but are concerned with truth and reality all the way from realism to Absolute idealism. On the first critical analysis of experi- ence, that which seems most real to the plain man's consciousness is mind and body. And then, when reduced to scientific treatment, comes in the doc- trine of parallelism and what it involves. In the more purely mental science and philosophy the same distinction is subtly carried through and worked out in logic as science and logic as art. In this sphere we come face to face with the doctrine of the cat- egories, and one is inclined to ask whether the arti- ficial distinction between deduction and induction can be effectively broken down? This involves the entire process of analysis and synthesis, and the different methods result in different types of syn- thesis. Does intellection proceed by analysis or synthesis, or is there a principle of constructive idealism by which the mind transcends experience by postulates? Intellection probably proceeds by both methods, but the one may be said to be more characteristic of the human, and the other of the Divine, creative Reason. Each experience has the characteristic of uniqueness. The statement that "everything is only repeated in life," is just the opposite of the truth.
The nature of any attempt to inquire into the process of intellection considered as analytic or syn- thetic, implies at least some account of discriminat- ing consciousness relative to external reality. But
IN THE PERCEPTION OF TRUTH 15
as Professor James says, "We all cease analyzing the world at some point and notice no more differ- ence. The last units with which we stop are our objective elements of being." And1 Being, I think, undoubtedly is the activity of the essential nature of that which is. Suffice it to say that the idealistic point of view required in the investigation of our general subject, asserts the immanent Idea as the essence of elements and individuals. Whatever form the appearance of things and Selves may take, it is the Ideal that is the Real in the truest sense of that term, Since it may not be necessary to ex- amine in detail that phase of intellection concerned with old time realism, I will merely state a few points and inferences formed in a general way. Hobhouse says, "What has been called the 'moment of reflection' shows me my apprehending conscious- ness with its quality on the one hand and the thing apprehended on the other." This does not neces- sarily imply that the individual mind apprehends a quality of his own consciousness, but rather starts With the judgment process or the discriminating activity in forming the truth judgment or concept of what may be either a quality of one's own con- sciousness, or an objective to be apprehended with the presence of its quality as an assertion. The really existent content qualifying the apprehending consciousness may be as much an inference from the comparison of facts as the existence of an indepen- dent object. It is a mistake for natural or intuitive realism to assume that the perfect percept is inde- pendently and immediately given, and for subjective
16 LOGIC AND IMAGINATION
idealism to assume that the object is first given as inward. It is very likely not presented in either of these ways, but rather as a present state of con- sciousness. A state of consciousness is not a static affair, but a moment of consciousness in which the ideal activities are synthetic, harmonious and uni- fied. Whether the percept is a content existing merely as a qualification of such a state, or inde- pendently, it is to be "found out only by studying its behavior and relations;" and the conclusion in any case is a judgment depending on inference, though it may be a logical process that takes place too quickly for the mind to be conscious of its own activity in knowing or perceiving. That the mind has a natural affinity for truth, is incumbent on the perception of truth to show for itself.
We need to make no attempt to reduce thought to a retention or combination of sense elements. In fact, a combination of presented elements would still be a sensation. It is only when these states combine with experience, intellectual intuitions some say, that they can enter into judgment; and perhaps no logical analysis can pass to a knowledge of what sensations are in themselves. But all know- ledge, except that of immediate consciousness, is thought acting on sensation, and is largely a syn- thetic activity. It is a hard saying to assert that sensation is constituted by thought alone, though there may be occasions when its content is deter- mined in some respect or entirely by the direction thought has taken or is taking, in accord with cer- tain psychological laws. Thought comes in when we
IN THE PERCEPTION OF TRUTH 17
go beyond immediate perception, even if it be only to describe what is presented by analyzing its gen- eral quality. At no point in the account of finite knowledge does thought as such determine the na- ture of the reality which is thought. Each judg- ment may claim truth of reality on the ground of its special relation, but Reality cannot be changed by merely knowing it. The judgment stands or falls by comparison with a given standard, or if that is not possible, with other judgments of similar claims, "Concilience of judgments is the test of truth;" though harmonious judgments as sudh may not be reality, each judgment claims to assert reality and its claim has, so far as it goes, a strength of its own. This condition is due to the limits of knowledge. Knowledge in time and space is limited; and, even though reality be known, no one can claim to know all Reality by any empirical process of intellection. There are limitations of sentient power, such as are evident in the recogni- tion of tone in the musical scale, and also color within the violet and red. Someone has well said, "A differently organized nervous system might give immediate and simple sense reactions to the manifold forms of vibration that are known only by those effects which we call electrical phenomena." Facts of physical and psychical order point to the possibility of an extended range of sentience.
From the psychological details implied in affirm- ing all thinking is relating activity it is known that relating is not merely comparison, assimilation or differentiation — thinking involves discrimination. Primarily, the so-called faculty of thought may
18 LOGIC AND IMAGINATION
best be spoken of as "discriminating consciousness." In the higher forms of manifestation also thinking is analyzing activity, without which true judgment could not be formed, in so far as it enters into a finished act of apperceptive consciousness. But it is judgment especially synthetic, in which all think- ing processes culminate as an essential factor in every primary act of cognition. It is only, then, when actual concrete judgments thus formed are understood, that epistemology is possible, or that a theory of knowledge can be constructed consistent with the facts of experience. "Until a sympathetic insight into the truth of reality has operated in a synthetic way," the understanding or theoretical reconstruction of the actually existing harmony and unifying life, that belongs to all the forms of truth, is not accomplished.
When the process of intellection is carried into the highest practical sphere — namely, the religious consciousness — where intuitive or direct apprehen- sion is characteristic, and man believes himself to be spiritual, critical analysis may justify this be- lief, and analyze as much as it please; for analysis that justifies a universal conviction has an immense collective or synthetic force in its favor. The unity of our self consciousness, arid the sense of freedom involved, furnishes its own evidence on which we proceed. And whatever may be the difference be- tween human and Divine personality, it is essen- tially that of direct, though internal perception. It may be retrospective, introspective or prophetic; but, like other facts of consciousness, it may or may
IN THE PERCEPTION OF TRUTH 19
not arrest the attention. The highest creative, a priori intellection is perhaps ethical, and the outer form insignificant compared with the inner strength and power of symmetry and aesthetic sentiment that satisfies the intellectual quest for unity.
Memory reaction is only partial agreement and not complete agreement. The power of direct in- sight is ever present in a complete synthetic unity of the Individual consciousness and of the World consciousness. This keen insight of the reflective mind in combination with memory reaction inspires an attitude of readiness and expectation. From expectation to prediction is only a short step. But prediction 'has its limitations. It can define only the anatomical structure, as it were, of the truth; and without a well ordered logical imagination cannot perceive or define anything of the true na- ture of Reality. The formation of concepts involves an empirical factor and a purposive factor. And the purpose of a concept is its use for prediction; while the fitness of a concept is seen in relation to its purpose. The systematic control of certain sides and phases of experience has been regarded as pos- sible by the abstraction of certain concepts taken from experience and set in certain relations to each other. This is practically the scientific method, and these relations according to their generality and re- liability are called laws in the world edifice science has erected. A law is said to be the more important the more it expresses ; and the expression of a law is qualified definitely concerning the greatest possible number of things. With this qualification it may
20
LOGIC AND IMAGINATION
aid more accurately in predicting the future. Every law is "subject" to the modifications of experience if it rests on an incomplete induction. Hence there is a kind of double process in the development of science, and a purely empirical science cannot hope to come up to an immediate perception of truth. It can only interpret. Nevertheless its sphere, if hon- est and sincere, is a most happy one when its laws are the laws of Truth, and its activities are in the Realm of Truth.
The universal, the particular and the individual are implications in the Realm of Truth, and it re- quires nothing less than the possession of Absolute Knowledge and Judgment to participate in the ac- tivities of Creative Mind, and appreciate anything in the life and Being of Truth. Mathematics for Hume became the science of the relation of ideas, as opposed to the science of facts. Philosophical knowledge for Kant was the Knowledge of the rea- son arising from concepts; and the mathematical, that arising from the construction of concepts. The one studies the particular in the universal, the other the universal in the particular; and in high pur- posiveness of transcendental aesthetics and moral- ity, it is rather the Universal in the Individual.
Were 'Truth a veritable Elixir, it would be the elixir of eternal youth, that makes the eye see well and does not let the imagination wither ; because it keeps the mind clear. And the contents or truths of consciousness given immediately in outer and in- ner perception are elements for the more elaborate
IN? THE PEKCEPTION OF TRUTH 21
work of mental constructions in the science of facts, the world of a lost paradise.
Would the Paradise of Truth be regained if the Eternal Logos were perfectly expressed in a finite world where logic realizes its Absolute origin and kinship with the Eternal, and poses as a regulating principle in a world of facts, in conjunction with imagination, its counterpart in a cosmic life and activity of Ethical and Aesthetical harmony? Then judgments of taste that are aesthetically admirable might have some transubjective influence, but they would not be perceived as intuitions except to the mind that is not very spiritually responsive with conscious alertness in the discernment of spirits. The mind skillful with subtle acuteness of percep- tion, and cultured to a high degree of awareness, will perhaps recognize them as very rapid logical processes!. Inductive inferences are probably more in vogue with scientific methods, but these advance to conclusions by certain presuppositions; and in the eye of science they must have some kind of validity. At best the conclusions of inductive infer- ences are problematical and hypothetical. When they come face with the world of facts, the question yet remains, has everything existed or does nothing actually repeat itself? The condition of validity for inductive inferences is most securely maintained in the teleological principle. Earlier perceptions are revived in some way with the present perception of every complete experience; and with every com- plete experience begins anew the selection and ordering of the facts of consciousness for a more
22 LOGIC AND IMAGINATION
and yet more complete experience. The law of life and succession of events is perhaps a synthesis of memory images, interpretations and syntheses of spritualized conceptions recognized and revived as they are called into the new light of each succeeding experience, and something new is added or created — I venture the assertion, both added and created or created and added. At all events, there is a final purpose and design bringing out the final issues, and this is mind and Spirit.
If it is assumed with Newton that to every action there is an equally opposing reaction, then every connection between cause and effect is mutual. Newton is probably the best example of the relation of logic and imagination in the laws of the physical world. His work on a large scale is a reminder of Kant's doctrine of pure practical reason in the sphere of the imagination, when he sets forth the conception of a world infinitely large reduced to a world that is infinitely small; and an infinitesimal world may be infinitely extended without sacrific- ing any of their qualities. I say a reminder of Kant'si doctrine, because Newton had worked out a mathematical formula in physical science that is the expression of only a limited phase of the truth, while Kant's statement of it seems to have a univer- sal and eternal significance. Newton took the atti- tude of the observer and the demonstrator, and was impressed with the majestic comprehensiveness of the principle, and perhaps never dreamed of its being regulated, or applied and relegated to the most infinitesimal sphere of the scientific world —
IN THE PERCEPTION OF TRUTH 23
the sphere of atoms and ions. In the higher realm there is no antagonistic action and reaction between the two processes. They help and supplement each other as one constructively Idealistic procession in the realm of ideas and corresponding physical facts. The law is antagonistic only in the view of finite intelligence and the limitations of science, which regards them as the principles of equilibrium and co-operative activity. The mental and spiritualized view regards them in their highest significance as harmoniously related in pure activity, independent of the physical conceptions of resistance, strain and tension. It has been concluded regarding the va- lidity of the causal law that cause and effect can be so related that they must be regarded as simul- taneous. This is thought, however, to be brought about by transformations in the causal relations, and these ways are admitted to be numerous. As a safeguard at this point, the opinion needs to be carefully weighed in the balance of Truth, under the penetrating, searching eye of a judicious mind. While there is much truth in it, there is also a pos- sibility of certain relations that might contain ele- ments of untruth. And if degraded from its proper relations, truth at its best might be misleading. The supreme consideration and conclusion of a writer on this problem declares: "Our causal thought compels us to trace back the persistent coexistences of the so-called elements to combina- tions whose analysis, as yet hardly begun, leads us on likewise to indefinitely manifold problems. Epis- temologically, we come finally to a universal phe-
24 LOGIC AND IMAGINATION
nomenological dynamism as the fundamental basis of all theoretical interpretations of the world, at least fundamental for our scientific thought, and we are here concerned with no other. " There is at least one exception to this assertion that attempts to define the sphere of causality. In dealing with the problem of cause scientific thought cannot be adequate, from the empirical point of view ; for that which is always and purely the effect can never be the cause. Causality is somehow in the relation that is established, and the mental attitude to Truth and the manifestations of Truth. Every advance in science has involved postulates and hypotheses. And these are as much factors in science, while ad- vancing to the discovery of a new phase of truth, as any of the facts that have been discovered.
Take for instance that sphere of science which has to deal with the immediate facts of the indi- vidual consciousness of causal relations with a world of things. The individual is aware of certain movements and has a corresponding sensation when he associates these with his own initiative action or reaction. And those sensations which cor- respond to movements in the same direction are connected in the mind by a mere asso- ciation of ideas. The space conception is mental by its very nature, and is not dependent on muscular sensations. If the space conception were dependent on muscular sensations — which is called motor space by those who are troubled with much thinking along this line — there would seem to be as many dimensions as there are muscles. For
IN THE PEKCEPTION OF TEUTH 25
"each muscle gives rise to a special sensation capable of augmenting or diminishing so that the totality of our muscular sensations will depend upon as many variables as we have muscles." It may be observed also that, "If the muscular sen- sations contribute to form the notion of space, it is because we have the sense of direction of each movement and that it makes an integrating part of the sensation." Moreover, if a "muscular sen- sation" cannot arise except accompanied by this geometric sense of direction, "geometric space would indeed be a form imposed" upon the sensi- bility. The sense of direction is probably reducible to association, and this feeling cannot be found a single sensation. This association is externally considered extremely complex, and it is evidently acquired, the result of a habit; and the habit itself results from very numerous experiences. To what- ever extent the conception of a motor space may be developed, perceptual space — whether visual, tac- tual, or motor — is essentially different from geo- metric space. "Perceptual space is only an image of geometrical space." What this implies we shall per- ceive, probably, by proceeding in another consider- ation, by and by, to exemplify in some degree. Poincare has apparently made a careful analysis of the notion of an objective space, and his state- ments are rather uniquely characteristic. He says, "We do not represent to ourselves external bodies in geometric space, but we reason on these bodies as if they were situated in geometric space." The attempt to interpret spatial experience in
26 LOGIC AND IMAGINATION
terms of the complex of movements with respect to an object, is an example how "None of our sensa- tions, isolated, could have conducted us to the idea of space ; we are led to it only in studying the laws according to which these sensations succeed each other." If geometric space were a kind of anato- mical framework imposed on each of our represen- tations, considered individually, it would be im- possible to represent to ourselves an image stripped of this form of figure and we could change nothing of our geometry. But geometry is not such a fixed, unchangeable science. There are certain princi- ples, of course, that are invariably and self-evi- dently the expression of universal truth, but geometry is only the resume of the laws according to which images succeed each other. With the aid of the imagination our representations are not limited to any strict geometric space form, since there is nothing to prevent us from imagining a series of representations similar in all points ac- cording to laws different from those to which we are accustomed. This is immediately and unmis- takably the evidence from physical science of the freedom and transcendency of the mind in its superiority over the physical environment in which man finds himself.
According to this view it is conceivable how that beings educated in an environment, where certain laws of geometry were upset — might have a differ- ent geometry. These beings, probably imaginary, would be led to classify in their own way the phe- nomena they witness, and to distinguish among
IN THE PERCEPTION OF TRUTH 27
them the "changes of position" that are susceptible of correction by a correlative voluntary movement. It would be a study of the changes of position and would therefore be non-Euclidean geometry. Ge- ometry, according to fixed mathematical laws, may be absolute, but it is particular and not universal. It suggests the nature of infinite space between in- dividuals that approach the Infinite in the totality of experience in the personal Unity of Life. The Infinite, however, can only be found in the realm of ideas1, and ideas in themselves are not simple but infinitely complex, controlled by the laws of Reason and operative under the principles of num- ber; and certain rapidity of succession or slowness of succession determines the nature of the percep- tion of the objective world. As Ideas approach the Infinite expression they become more and more in- dependent of finite limitations and of each other as manifested in the individual life of Beings.
The conception of a four dimensional space, or of a many dimensional space, may be explained in a way to correspond with something like this: Three dimensions are associated with the normal activity of individual minds in perception, par- ticularly visual, as in binocular vision and accommo- dation. This is a familiar experience of every nor- mal individual. Now, if there is a way to recognize the relation of different individuals in a spiritual unity of perception independent of ordinary sense perception, then there is probably no limit to the number of dimensions the space of such personal Beings might allow. If it is not too wild a con-
28 LOGIC AND IMAGINATION
jecture, it might be an order of society or indi- vidual life to be experienced now in the Kingdom of Heaven.
The ancients regarded law as an internal har- mony, a static or immutable something ; or else like a model that nature constrained herself to imitate. The modern conception of law is different. Scien- tific men at least regard it as the constant relation between the phenomena of today and that of to- morrow. "It is a differential equation." Newton first covered an ideal form of physical law, and this form has been much acclimated in physics, pre- cisely by copying as much as possible the law of Newton, and by imitating celestial mechanics. Then a critical day arrived, and the conception of central forces no longer satisfied the ingenuity of the scientific mind. Then there was attempt to penetrate into the detail of the structure of the Universe no more. The isolated pieces of this vast mechanism had been analyzed, and one by one the forces that put them in motion were abandoned. Perhaps the initial "wheel-work" infinitely ex- tended, and the final "wheel-work" infinitesimally microscopic, are alone visible. The transmission of movements are hidden, and probably none but the perfect observation of the originator and the constructive Creator can see it or change or influ- ence a part or movement of the mechanism. In the interior is a world of perfect harmony beyond the control of the finite observer, though with the aid of a rightly ordered imagination he may perceive the symmetry and beauty of the Divine Architect
IN THE PERCEPTION OF TRUTH 29
at work in His world. It is there where science and religion will meet to sing the praises of their ben- eficent Deity.
The man of war had no part in the work of beau- tiful design. When the work of preparation was finished he had reached the limit of his life of authority and service. The Kingdom and home of religion was to be made beautiful and aesthetically admirable by the man of peace. And the work of science may stand in no mean comparison to the childhood of religion. By both the relation of technique and imagination is exemplified in a high degree. In theories of modern physics, the rela- tions between objects at first thought to be simple still subsist when their complexities are known. The temple and untold wealth appealed to the won- der and love in the delights of the religious imagin- ation. The temple of science, rich in concepts of Truth, appeals to the intellectual element of the modern world with a type of fascination that might rival even the ancients for zeal and religious fidel- ity, though the votaries may not be wearing their symbols of religious authority on their sleeves. The religion of science may be officially stamped as practical by nature in its own day, as the religion of the emotions w as in its day ; but the one cannot dispense with the proper use of the imagination any more than the other. Relations and relative values, where the imagination is most at home in its work of comprehending nature's laws, imply equations. And it is true that equations become more and more complicated in the attempt to embrace more
30 LOGIC AND IMAGINATION
closely the complexity of nature. If one had at first suspected the complexity of the objects the rela- tions connect, they would probably have remained unperceived. For a long time it has been said, if Tycho would have had instruments ten times more precise, neither Kepler, nor Newton, nor astronomy ever would have been. It is a misfortune for science to be born too late, when the means of observation have become too perfect, and no scien- tific genius is any longer able to see through the maze of accumulated facts to the synthetic order and unity and harmony of the final issue in the Kealm of Truth where all ideas that are clearly perceived are said to be alike simple. It is said to be the case with physical chemistry at the present day, that it has been born too late; its founders are embarrassed in their general grasp and final comprehensiveness of meanings, by third and fourth decimals; but, happily, they are men of a robust faith.
The calculus of probabilities may be distrusted, yet it is not possible to do without this obscure instinct. Without it science would be impossible. A law could neither be discovered nor applied, without this instinct of the inventive genius. Has any one a right, for instance, to enunciate Newton's law, simply because he showed it mathematically correct? There are numerous observations in ac- cord with it, but who can be absolutely certain that this accordance might not be a simple effect of chance? Moreover, how can the honest scientist know whether this law, which has been true for
IN THE PEBCEPTION OF TEUTH 31
centuries, will still be true next year? The ques- tion of doubt as to the universal validity of a law can only be met on scientific grounds and dispelled by the reply that it is very improbable. And this leads on to the consideration of the probability of causes. Were every effect completely known in re- lation to its causes there would be no probability in the sphere of causality, but only absolute cer- tainty ; which would be equivalent to the knowledge or the discovery of fixed and established, invariable and unchangeable laws.
If an experimental law is known, it may be repre- sented by a curve. But first a certain number of ob- servations are made. These are isolated and each represents a different point. Then they are connec- ted or related. In the instance of plotting a curve they are joined with a series of an infinite number of points. These may or may not pass through and co- incide with the isolated points or observations. In making the isolated observations there is a certain chance or liability to error on account of the im- perfection of the means by which the observations are made; this error may be due not only to the imperfection of mechanism but also to the variation of circumstances. The related observations or the connected points in the curve with the errors of observation eliminated by judgment with respect to uniformity, represents the probable law.
Poineare regards this as a problem in the prob- ability of causes. The effects are the measurements recorded, and "They depend on a combination of two causes: the law of the phenomena and the
32 LOGIC AND IMAGINATION
errors of observation. Knowing the effects, we have to seek the probability that the phenomenon obeys this law or that, and that the observations have been affected by this law or that, and that the observations have been affected by this or that error. The most probable law then corresponds to the curve traced, and the most probable error of an ob- servation is represented by the distance of the cor- responding point from this curve."
But, moreover, he says, "The problem would have no meaning if, before any observation, I had not fashioned an a priori idea of the probability of this or that law, and of the chances of error to which I am exposed."
These are delicate problems or questions, but there are certain points that seem well established. For the calculation of probability, and even for that calculation to have any meaning, an hypothesis or convention, which has always something arbitrary about it, must be admitted as a point of departure. In the choice of this convention the principle of suf- ficient reason is the only guide. This principle may be very vague and elastic and capable of taking many different forms, yet the form in which it is met often is the belief in continuity; a belief, it is claimed, which it would be very difficult to justify by apodictic reasoning, yet without which all science would be impossible. Finally it is asserted that "the problems to which the calculus of proba- bilities may be applied with profit are those in which the result is independent of the hypothesis made at
IN' THE PEKCEPTION OF TEUTH 33
the outset, provided only that this hypothesis satis- fies the condition of continuity."
We are able by the aid of certain principles "to draw conclusions which remain true whatever may be the details of the invisible mechanism which animates them." And there are rational or logical visual phenomena that are not exactly like the visualizing experience of the mechanism of the so- called visible universe. The invisible mechanism is not only mechanism, but also Spirit.
In the physical and mathematical point of view there are certain principles that claim the attention a little more than others. Among these the prin- ciple of the conservation of energy is probably the most important, but there are others that give the same advantage to men of science as this principle of Mayer. Carnot's principle of the degradation of energy, Newton's principle of the equality of action and reaction, and the principle of relativity have to no little extent constituted the foundation of science. When these are shaken as by the flashing discovery of some new principle, science becomes restless and is tossed hither and thither until set- tled and established in some new series of prin- ciples validated by sufficient reason on the grounds of continuity in the cosmic order of truth and reality.
According to the principle of relativity the laws of physical phenomena shall be the same for an observer with a fixed attention, or for an observer carried along in a uniform movement of translation ; and one has not and could not have any means of
34 LOGIC AND IMAGINATION
discerning whether or not he is carried along in such motion. It implies a connecting link as a perfectly balanced and harmonious momentum re- quires when there is absolutely no more strain, ten- sion, or resistance than is normal and necessary in maintaining the identity of the individual or ele- mental existence. Hence Lavoisier found a prin- ciple, which he called the principle of the conserva- tion of mass. And to this Poincare would add the principle of least action.
The most remarkable example of the new physical science in its relation with mathematics, is probably Maxwell's principle of the electro-magnetic theory of light. Nothing is known concerning what the ether is, or how its molecules formed of the atom are disposed — whether they attract or repel each other; but they do know that this medium trans- mi bs at the same time the optical and the electrical perturbations. They think it is true that this trans- mission should be conformable to the general prin- ciples of mechanics ; and the mathematical thinker proceeds on this assumption to the establishment of the equations in the electro-magnetic field.
If there is no longer any mass, it is a question what will become of the law of Newton? Kepler's orbital revolutions are more secure, since they are more in harmony with the electro-magnetic theory and the idealistic tendency. The principle of the conservation of energy remains, but is apparently shaken by the discovery and observations on Radium. Conservative science then turns to the defense of the old principles, like Sir W. Ramsey, who has
INf THE PERCEPTION OF TRUTH 35
tried to show that Radium is in process a trans- formation, and contains a store of energy enormous but not inexhaustible. The transformation of radium would produce a million times more heat than all known transformations; yet may it not wear itself out in a thousand years or more? That point is probably to be settled in a few hundred years for the scientist, but till then he remains in doubt.
Poincare suggests, "Take the theory of Lorentz, turn it in all senses, modify it little by little, and perhaps everything will arrange itself." It is not necessary to suppose that "bodies in motion undergo a contraction in the sense of motion, and that this contraction is the same whatever be the nature of these bodies and the forces to which they are other- wise submitted." A more simple and natural hypothesis might be made.
One might imagine, for instance, that it is the ether modified in relative motion with reference to the material medium it penetrates; and that when it is thus modified it no longer transmits pertur- bations in every direction with the same velocity. Those which are propagated parallel to the medium might be transmitted more rapidly, either way ; and those propagated perpendicularly, less rapid. Then the wave surface, or whatever, would not be spheres but ellipsoids, and the extraordinary contraction of bodies could be dispensed with all good faith in the justification of the procedure so long as there are unlimited variations. This is only an example
36 LOGIC AND IMAGINATION
of the modifications one might essay, and they are susceptible of infinite variations.
Astronomy may give data on this point, but a valid synthesis depends on the work of the con- structive intellect and creative mind; the auxiliary reciprocity of imagination and reason. In simple reasoning one may admit a too simple theory; in the exclusive use of the imagination, he may lose himself and miss the truth.
Nevertheless much assistance is offered by the work of the free imagination in getting a compre- hensive and worthy conception of universal truth and reality. And the final result is often more cor- rect ideally than the slow plodding method of criti- cal analysis ever attains.
PART II.
WONDER AND THE AWE-INSPIRING ELEMENT OF SCIENTIFIC OBSERVATION.
What if one should take the liberty granted by the authority of religious freedom, and allowed by the condition of science in view of modern dis- coveries ; and then start on the wings of the imagin- ation into the heights of the idealistic empyrean in the interests of an electrical theory of the universe; and declare all the Newton-La Place theories of gravitation, especially, and the nebular hypothesis are held in question by modern scientific hypotheses because they cannot account for runaway stars, motion of satellites, repulsion of comets from the sun and many such like phenomena. After all, per- haps the ancient scientific hypotheses were largely works of imagination. And then the vast whirling sun nebula of La Place's imagination is either called in question or rejected as not worthy of acceptance on account of more recent facts and discoveries. What if there were zones of electric energy to hold and keep each sphere of electromagnetic energy in its orbit, as there are currents of electricity in the atmosphere and on the surface of charged bodies? Perhaps a center or nucleus may act in a different way with respect to other centers — repelling some and attracting others. Since astronomy has been reduced in some degree to an exact science, men
38 LOGIC AND IMAGINATION
have wondered at the miraculous things they have seen among the stars. For instance, why does a comet's tail invariably swing away from the sun and defy the laws of gravitation? What meaning have the great scarlet streamers or clouds that swim across the sun, and the gossamer corona that floats far beyond and is seen only during the few fleeting moments of a total eclipse? What is that shimmering fabric which is mysteriously spread on the western horizon during the clear evenings of winter and spring? What message has the Aurora and its leaping pillars, of which every Arctic ex- plorer brings back some new and marvelous tale? These astronomical riddles may appear widely dif- ferent in character, but the magic key by which they are all unlocked is the pressure of light. The pres- sure of light acts on the surface, that of gravitation on the interior and solid contents of a particle. And when the radioactivity of particles is so intense as to overcome the gravitating force, they are driven apart ; but they are held in equilibrium and balance at a proper distance. Thus the poet of modern science attunes the moonbeam that falls on waving forests and heaving seas, lighting up the earth with an aesthetic glow ; with sufficient reason the terres- trial light is thus attuned with the plumage of comets and the splendors of a solar eclipse. The artificial eye of mathematics and the hyperthetical touch of physics reveal to the dull senses the unity of the forces that sway the stars. The calm of eve- ning, with a changing glow shading into pictures of silvery light and shadows, may surpass the skill of
IN! THE PERCEPTION OF TRUTH 39
the artistic observer yet suggest a midsumnier night's dream. And the melody of the winged voices of the air in the cool of the day, where forests and fields display their beauty in flowers and ferns; and distant mountains raise their purple walls to meet the fluffy tapestry of clouds and the dome of blue sky, as perceived by the natural unreflective eye! They are inspiring, even to the unreflective mind of the plain man's consciousness, who trusts the evidence of sense, and takes the world as he per- ceives it. But the highest inspiration is only pos- sible when the reflective mind perceives the sug- gestive meaning of what nature wears with the garb of external appearances, and the inner harmony of symmetry and beauty through the cosmic order of reality perceived as truth; when the Ideal-real is the object of knowledge and the object of knowledge is the Ideal.
In the realm of nature thus perceived are rare inspirations for the imagination in reflection and fancy. Artists, philosophers and poets have often found inspiration for some of their most universal and beautiful expressions in literature and art, and perhaps even in religion. Is it astonishing that from the devout religious mind comes the query: "What is man, that thou art mindful of him?" Some of the profoundest lessons have come to man from the analogy of the birds of the air and the flowers of the field. They toil not, neither do they spin ; yet their Heavenly Father careth for them. They live in two zones, in the air and on the earth. For man two worlds are his, but he has tried to live and
40 LOGIC AND IMAGINATION
move in the air by inventing an airship. Yet how much better is man than the things of nature ! His worlds are of a far different character, if he only knew. These artificial methods are carried on to a vast degree in human society and activities', with more or less of success, and failure. Instead of adap- tation of the organic life it is stubborn resistance; equality, inequality ; balance and overbalance ; par- allelism, X-radiation; straightness, bias; truth and error.
It is high time to agree in a harmonious and sym- metrical activity of adaptation of mechanism to the orderly laws of thought and truth in the higher Eeason of Ideal Life, free and no longer distressed with the trammeling of mental life in sensuous in- tuitions. In accordance with subtle ethereal laws, a number of electrical currents, for instance, can pass over the same wire at the same time and none interfere with the other. The spiral shape of nebulse correspond with the electro-magnetic laws and the principles of centralized activity. If there are electrical bodies, any number of them might occupy the same place at the same time. This seems to do away with rigid space relations. The universe of substance is not a monopoly of space. The Truth alone can determine what shall take a space form. And Truth is a unity of infinite individuation. This is the ontological value of space, and no other kind of space really exists. That which seems to exist independent of truth in the phenomenal world is probably based on illusion. Even experimental science has reached a degree of thoroughness as to
IK THE PERCEPTION OF TRUTH 41
show that with sufficient electric power and X-radi- ation all opaque substances might become trans- parent. The phenomena of clairvoyance in this con- nection is suggestive. The clairvoyant is the one who is released from the limitations of sense per- ception of sensuous intuitions, because his mind is cleared up and not dulled by misuse of phenomena and the influence of materialism. He dwells in a high degree of mental activity and life; and his experience is based on a logical activity in the realm of truth that is not mixed up with the trappings of existence animistic humanism calls real. The phenomena of light in the physical world perhaps furnishes an analogy and parallel. With either, distance or nearness probably has nothing to do with the relation that is fixed between related cen- ters of attraction that takes place in the phenom- enal activity.
The layman in science "with a mind dazzled by light rays that are invisible, and by invisible rays that are not light, and bewildered by being told of a substance that gives off terrific energy without loss of bulk or power," — wiien new facts and dis- coveries flash upon him with such great changes and quick succession, he lays aside the natural philoso- phy of his college days and reaches blindly he knows not whither, unless philosophy shows the way. By leading the blind to the light of Truth, philosophy itself becomes Self-conscious in the life of the Spirit of science and religion, united in the practical life of True Being, of Absolute Spirit.
Someone, enthusiastic over the popularity of
42 LOGIC AND IMAGINATION
science, declares : "Somewhere there must exist the man whose skill with the pen and1 whose apprecia- tion of knowledge are equal to the task of acting as interpreter between scientist and the world." When Newton first thought that gravity might swing the moon as well as attract an apple to the ground, he probably knew nothing of electricity. And moreover he might have observed that a comet never enters the sun, and that there must be some- thing about it that is not attracted. In the light of present day experimentation there are scientific facts that are not subject to the law of gravitation, — wireless telegraphy, observations in ozology and the like. And there are forces in certain elements that ignore gravitation. In the Kansas City Star of December 2, 1902, it is stated : "We have reason for supposing that gravitation is a purely local affair, and heat and light do not eminate from the sun. Heat comes from the earth, and the light from the atmosphere, precisely as the film in an incan- descent lamp is heated by the resistance it offers to the electric current, and light is produced by the vibration of the motes in the air." The sun and the planets are like dynamos in their revolutions and each transmits what it receives to its neighbor on the circuit. Hence luminous bodies are radio- active, and do not shine by reflected light entirely if at all. Light is the positive result of like qualities attracting each other.
Spencer's notion that "Force is the ultimate of ultimates," and unknowable yet in the bargain, is very unsatisfactory. A learned philosopher should
IN) THE PERCEPTION OP TEUTH 43
never fail to that extent and fall into the ditch of the unknowable. "Force is a servant, not a master ; a tool, and not an ultimate cause." Force without intelligence is anarchy and ruin, chaos and not a cosmos. A scientific apostle or interpreter of sci- ence says, "God is a scientific necessity." And even as Idealists we need a cosmological conception of the Universe. Man is said to be "like a wireless tele- graphic receiver; he draws only that which corre- sponds to his nature and character." Then what is his nature and character should be the principle interest of man. Man's free nature and perfect life consists in knowing his fundamental purpose ; and in living, thinking, acting, feeling, in conformity with that. To know his purpose and be conscious of his Idea in Creative Will, man must know the universal system of reality in Absolute Idealism.
Most great specialists in science have made great sacrifices. But in and through the temples erected by these great architects of thought, the ethico- spiritual life has dwelled and found expression. With specialization the line of individuation be- comes more marked. And if the mind has become a mere logical machine for turning general laws out of large collections of facts, or a mere butterfly imagination that disports itself in the sunshine and among the flowers merely to entertain and please the eye for a time, and then be relegated to musty bookshelves or the oblivion of fictitious fireworks — or else lapse into a form to light the beauty of the natural world — humanity suffers. Neither can ap- prehend the truth of the other, because they are
44 LOGIC AND IMAGINATION
not sympathetically disposed. Milton had no love for mathematics, or Newton for poetry; Spencer thought most of the evolution of the material uni- verse, Schopenhauer of the absurdity of life; Pascal was shocked with the recognition of inexorable tragedies of the universe and of human intelligence; Plato harped on the theory of ideas and of the ver- satile character of the real wrorld ; Darwin selected a place of extreme specialization in the ethical world and afterwards lamented at leisure that he had neglected the fine arts, and did not keep his sympathetic nature alive by toning up his imagina- tion with music and poetry to a little color of fine thought and feeling.
The infinite and eternal power of universal activ- ity is of a psychic nature, and its causality consists in a combination with intellect and will in the Realm of Truth. "Religion cannot exist without spirituality and the religious concept." With the religious use of the imagination is the view of the Heavenly City, the new birth and that spiritual in- fluence which leads to righteousness and Truth, "Without religion the soul could not dream of heaven nor feel the sweet whisperings of faith and hope." Neither could the personal consciousness thrill with spiritual joy and truth.
The actuality of Ideals in gems of art, literature, sculpture, life, imposing temples and inspiring thoughts, — are works of the combined influence of religion and ideality. Ideality in beauty is the in- spiration of genius, goodness, nobility, and is al- ways present with religion. The result of the
m THE PERCEPTION OF TRUTH 45
thought of the ages comes handed down to us in a three-fold classification, that "the content of di- vinity is found in the three ideas of the reason — truth, goodness, and beauty." Truth of course is used in the sense of unity in diversity. As the self related feelings are compared with those which cen- ter in God, a great difference is found. The higher feelings imply a certain content in the divinity which is not the same way involved in the lower feelings. The divinity is no mere abstract form that one may use at will, but a being with a per- sonal ty and will of his own; independent of mans personality, and worshiped because he is in him- self lovable, and trusted because he is worthy of trust. In the Ideal religion the relation is no longer between an individual worshiper and an individual divinity, but with the individual wor- shiper and the absolutely worshipful, trustworthy, and lovable. "What, then," someone may ask, "is the relation between the ideas of the reason and the highest forms of the religious feeling?" To this one may reply that, "These feelings become re- ligious as they are combined with others, when to the thought of truth or goodness or beauty is joined the thought of the supernatural. Religion is the feeling toward the Absolute Being in whom are united truth and goodness and beauty." They are so closely related with the ideas of the reason that I am disposed to believe that the religious feelings imply the ideas of the reason. The genuine re- ligious attitude looks to a divinity that is known by the wisdom and authority of His revealed Life.
46 LOGIC AND IMAGINATION
The perfectly beautiful object must open into the infinite universe. Otherwise the object alone may be pretty, but it would lack the beauty that comes only as there is an opening into the larger relation. The wax figure may attempt to imitate life, yet we know it is not life. The phrase, "looks through na- ture up to nature's God," has meant to many a one simply the suggestion of a God as nature's de- signer. The more profound sense is the actual pres- ence of the divinity in all beauty. It is not that when we appreciate the beauty and wonder of na- ture we necessarily think of the Wisdom and Power of the Creator, but it is simply that we have the sense of the divine presence. In terms of essence and substance, analysis is said to be the essence of science, while synthesis is the substance of aesthet- ics.
When Thomas Hardy's pilgrim walking over hill and dale at the beginning of day, and dreaming of his bride as he goes, sees the well-beloved in the form of womankind, God created, walking by his side and perfect; she declares:
"The one most dear is with thee here, For thou dost love but me."
And when the type of perfect in the mind, in na- ture he could not find, came the injunction with audacious terms :
"O fatuous man, this truth infer, Brides are not what they seem; Thou lovest what thou dreamest her; I am thy very dream !"
IN THE PERCEPTION OF TRUTH 47
Yet in that dream of beauty, the absolutely perfect of the Idea, Spirit, Will, or of God, — is more real to him than the figures in the street. For he sees what has lived perhaps in eternity ; something that has been one of the great formative influences of his own life, and has done much to create the quali- ties of those actual figures in the street. In his dream norm of perfect Beauty, he comes into imme- diate relations with a very real Presence and Pow- er, and feels the larger life within himself, — though subjective, yet intensely objective. The Ideal that has dawned so entrancingly on the one, may also be closely related to the other. The lover may look through the eyes of the beloved to a far deeper life than she herself may be aware of, yet it is truly her« — a life perennial and aesthetically admirable. The more than mortal beholds the more than mor- tal in the other; and, when angel Spirits descend to meet, Love is born.
Without religion ideality is anarchistic mockery and a mere dream of socialism based on false hopes. When hope is a delusion and a snare, inspiration withers, and the mildew of selfish materialism con- verts a paradise into deserts of despair. Where ideality and religion are excluded from life in the world, all that has value and is worth living for shrivels like a withered flower. Science, philoso- phy, ideality, love, hope, and human aspirations sustain the religious concept. And though mil- lions do not perceive the sublimity and truth of the Ideal, those receptive minds, nearest the Light, extend divine illuminations to those below; and
48 LOGIC AND IMAGINATION
they perceive its beauty and truth, and step up higher to share the joy of a God-created life and consciousness eternal.
"The ultimate aim and purpose of creation is ideal perfection," is a fine statement of the truth ; and Hegel once referred to his logic as his religion. Professor Walker declares : "The twentieth Cen- tury may show whether there is a great master hand that sweeps over the entire deep harp of life, or whether men are but pipes through whom the breath of Tan doth blow a momentary music.' " The final test of religion is belief in a God who cares. Creative Mind and Spirit co-conscious with the minds of like quality and identity of purpose, may be regarded as acting directly on the electrical constitution of the so-called material universe. Conceptions1 of the universe are different for dif- ferent minds; each lives in and sees a deduction of experience in universal relations. Every concep- tion is enriched by the wealth of truthful concep- tion of every other universal conception. Knowl- edge and imagination give color and tone to the world in which one lives and sees. Man's world is an ideal thought world; and imagination, said to be a creature of education, is moreover the high- est gift of Deity, that converts1 knowledge into reality and utility, and reasons from the known to the unknown — the synthesis of futurity and the analysis of the past. Hence we speak of the re- ligious use of the imagination. When the union of true Ideals is accomplished, the result is actual- ized in something like real knowledge; and there
IIS] THE PERCEPTION OF TRUTH 49
comes also a visible transformation, a change and glory as real and convincing to the world of sense as it is far-reaching and miraculous in spiritual significance. The Idea expressed in all external forms of Beauty is the sign, to the Idea that per- ceives, for that infinite sense of peace, recognition, rest, Unity — the signal of Truth. Through the divine insight and wisdom, the Divine is perceived. The Self, identified with the Universal Being, becomes the center of Absolute recognition, re- liance and repose. The mind does not cease from its natural and joyful activities; but only from that terrified and joyless quest, inevita- ble as long as its own existence and affiliations to the Being of the Eternal were in question and doubt. The Individual lets go thought. He is as if pre- determined, and can think in a certain way or not at all. He glides into the quiet sense of his own identity with the Self of the Universe, past the feeling into the very identity itself; where a glor- ious Universal Consciousness leaves no room for separate self -thoughts or emotions. He leans in si- lence on that inner Being, and excludes for a time every thought, movement of the mind, impulse to action, or whatever in the faintest degree might stand between the Individual and the Universal. Then there comes to the Individual, with a sense of Absolute repose, a Consciousness of immense and universal power, completely transforming the world for him. All life is changed ; the Individual becomes master of his fate. "He perceives that all things are hurrying to perform his will ; and what-
50 LOGIC AND IMAGINATION
ever in that inner region of inner Life he may con- descend to desire, that already is shaping itself to utterance and expression in the outer world around him. 'The winds are his messengers over all the world, and flames of fire his servants ; * * * and1 the clouds float over the half-concealed, dappled, and shaded Earth — to fulfill his eternal joy.' "
It is said, "For the ceaseless endeavor to realize this identity with the great Self, there is no substi- tute. No teaching, no theorizing, no philosophiz- ing, no rules of conduct or life will take the place of actual experience." What is learned by actual experience surpasses all other kinds of discipline. Some modes of the higher consciousness are : Love, Faith, Knowledge, Charity, endless Power, endless Life and Presentee in space and time. Until hu- manity has realized something of the laws of this higher Life in Society there are perplexing prob- lems. At the time of this greatest of all transform- ations for the natural life, the feeling element has a supremacy over strenuous thought. The higher feelings and the Spiritual qualities they represent, pass into the expression of a Supreme Life, and become realized in the human organization as well as in the structure of Society. Paul said, "Behold I show you a mystery " and " We shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye." Fra Angelico in his little cell perceived the same mystery, when in vision he pictured out of his own soul the transfigured Christ, luminous, serene, with arms extended over the world. Who shall essay to speak of that body, woven like Cin-
IN! THE PERCEPTION OF TRUTH 51
derella's robe of the sun and moon? Swift, ethereal elements, subtle and penetrating! The rippling waves and the stars, the branches of the trees and the lilies of the fields, deliver themselves up to him. His Spirit is wrapped among them, and he hears what they and all things would say. When the Kingdom of Heaven has fully come, he is the One, "Absolute and changeless, yet infinitely indi- viduate, and intelligent — the Supreme life and being." The Supreme Cosmic Consciousness in the realms of thought and emotion, gives expres- sion to all actual existence and Creation.
In the light of modern scientific hypotheses man lives in a new world, flashed upon him suddenly as if by the magic of creation. What is ultimately to become of the old hypotheses and conceptions? Some of the new explain so much and mean so much more than the old. If the test is to be sufficient reason and the aesthetic sense they will have to meet their fate along with the rest. The fact that they have stood the test of time for a long while in man's estimation, but for a moment in cosmic time and the order of the universe, may not justify their validity even though they claim conservatism. Should they pass as having their day, they may yet vanish in a kindly way in the larger life and order of the new. In the world of science man lives in a world where the sun does not smite him by day or the moon by night. They even do not shine in the old sense of the term. But with the reciprocal action of planets with planets, and suns with suns and solar systems each furnishes its own
52 LOGIC AND IMAGINATION
light and heat by affording certain conditions to the streams of electrical energy that flash from world to world in the great starry galaxies of the heavens. The orbs of the universe wrapped in vast electrical bands leave the atmosphere as the realm of light; and as some one has said perhaps all the material substance in the air could be held in the hollow of the hand. In this world of such subtle mechanism, it is possible to recognize more and more the activity of certain teleological principles at work. The sphere of final purpose has been applied more particularly to the ethical and aesthet- ical life of the individual, but by the discerning eye the principle is most evident through the mechan- ical life of the universe in shaping man's environ- ment. Humanity by nature entertains1 some idea regarding ideal aims; what idea regarding the na- ture of Keality shall it find itself justified in enter- taining? In a logical and principled way it is not possible to limit the conception of final purpose as applied to the concrete facts of reality. The imperfect knowledge of man in a finite world limits his ability to recognize the particular final pur- poses the concrete facts of his experience serve. The obscurity hanging like an impenetrable cloud over the beginning and end of knowledge makes it impossible for him to demonstrate the final aim of the World's course. The present system of things depends on clear knowledge and judgments, but man cannot change them by simply knowing them. The intensity and magnitude of ideas, towering one above another, may rise until lost in the highest
IN THE PERCEPTION OF TRUTH 53
aesthetical and ethical ideals, qt they may vanish diminutively below the threshold where imagina- tion can no longer guess or presuppose the ultimate foundations of reality. The system and order of the Ideal-real world from infinity to infinity is too vast and complex to be comprehended from the side of the finite, though the finite life may open into the infinite and be transformed by the corresponding perception of infinity, and then participate in the Ideal-real knowledge and experience of Infinite Beauty and' Truth. Rich as man's knowledge and experience may have made him, can he assert his "intuition" to discern surely or his calculus to measure precisely the foundations of Reality? Yet wherever man's knowledge extends is found the presence of formative principles com- missioned by creative Ideals and ends. The idea is coextensive with all known reality, and is the ex- planatory principle in the course of events. In Pro- fessor Ladd^s terms, "Reality, in general, is known as actually being a Unity of Force guided by ideas of form and law into processes that conform to ideal ends."
In the act of knowledge one distinguishes and makes some object his own. For the consciousness of cognitive activity is actually a knowledge of something. It is an activity determined with refer- ence to what is known, or regarded as someone's act or experience by way of knowledge. Then there is another distinction connected with that of subject and object, which is considered as applying to the objects of knowledge. On the basis of this distinc-
54 LOGIC AND IMAGINATION
tion Epistemology considers the "nature, grounds, certitude, and more ultimate meaning of the Knowl- edge of Things and the Knowledge of Self." A dis- tinction of subject and object is essential to knowl- edge, but some account is to be taken of that dis- tinction between objects on the "basis of which a division of cognitive processes into kinds is fre- quently set up." This is the basis of a system of cognitions that sets the self into relations with a known world of things, and things into known re- lations with each other so as to form a "world" out of them. Logic for the most part treats the dis- tinction of subject and object in a purely formal way. Though "knowing," "imagining," and "re- membering" have ever a unique relation and differ- ence in the nature and validity of these cognitive activities between a subject "I" and the object that has a special value for a theory of knowledge ; Sub- ject cannot be resolved into a passing phase of ob- ject and object without losing its validity for real- ity. Hence reality cannot be known by any analy- sis of psychoses unless the real Self is rich enough in truth to transcend the empirical self, when this has been made objective by complete self-analysis. Abstractions may not be substituted for real liv- ing experiences, but self-consciousness is not an abstraction. The description of it may be, and often is, an abstraction of related abstracts. In actuality self-consciousness is the experience of a Being with itself; the recognition of another to the mind; a living affection and activity that is self- directing as well as self-cognizing. The relation of
IN? THE PEKCEPTION OF TEUTH 55
the real subject to the real object is an actual, con- crete and indubitable experience. It is not ignor- ance, but rather that commerce of Being with Self in which the essence of all knowledge exists. In self-consciousness experience is its own guarantee of reality. Says Prof. Ladd, "The realization of this relation, which separates what is really one, in order to consciously judge it to be one, capable of acting and! reacting in a living unity of related existence, is not to be spoken of as an impotent deed, a mark of hopeless limitations, a never-ceasing and inescapable temptation to skepticism and to agnos- ticism. The rather is it the method of mind in knowledge, following the transactions that go on in reality. We have no higher type of the divine and Absolute cognitive activity than the realization by the conscious human spirit of the actuality of its own inter-related self-activities."
The reality of the subject and object, and the actuality of the relation between them essential to cognition, are an experience without doubt in every act of self-consciousness. While the act of self- cognition implies an obvious and indisputable dis- tinction of subject and object, a certain unlike- ness, their complete incomparability is denied; and their actual unification in some form is affirmed. The distinction of self and not-self is said to have its "origin in the nature of the mind as related to other realities; and yet it can never come to pass except as the mind itself, by its own discriminating, segregating, and unifying activities, brings it to pass." Knowledge of the Self is immediate, and
56 LOGIC AND IMAGINATION
may be called intuitive, an engagement of Reality. But the conception of things, their real nature and actual relations, is shown to be developed from an assumption that has only the value of an analogy, which needs to be defended against skeptical at- tacks. What it is really to be a Self, can only be described in terms of self-consciousness. Other Selves are known by interpretation of percepts or concepts constructed after the pattern of one's known self. Conceptual knowledge of mere things is of two kinds, positive and negative. The negative consists in denying to things certain characteristics that selves are conceived of as having. The positive characteristics! things are thought to have, are all abstractions from the definite, concrete, and' intu- itive knowledge of the Self by itself.
It is by the intense consciousness of real personal existence that the external perceptions are con- structed into a real world of things. And the different natures of things are known as conceptual modes of their self-activity in changing relations to other things, and these conceptions of hidden qual- ities and forces with which we endow things are abstracted from our experience as self-active in re- lation to the objects of our cognition. What we call "will" or conactive activity thus becomes the central and fundamental principle in the act of knowing Self and a world of external things; and in the more highly organized minds we conceive of ourselves as wills set over against each other, or united harmoniously by common interests. It may be said further that it belongs to the sense percep-
IN; THE PERCEPTION OF TRUTH 57
tions of man to have fused with them, as an organic and integrating factor, the irresistible conviction of a Reality apprehended and belonging to the ob- jects of his perceptive acts. "Perception believes and must believe in itself as an indubitable experi- ence of the trans-subjective. * * * Perceptive cognition is interpretative of mind life. What the Thing is becomes; known to us only so far as we are prepared to consider it as a manifestation of the presence and power of mind life." The faculty of knowing by perception grows by applying to it in- telligently and frequently the power of reflective thinking; then the sphere of assured knowledge of things increases, though it becomes more and more conceptual. Our enlarged perceptive experience of things seems to acquire attributes and powers en- dowed for the most satisfactory interpretation and remote explanation of the world of things. In this development of knowledge there is a most import- ant difference between the knowledge of things and the knowledge of Self. The qualifications of things are known only conceptually, from the analogy of the immediately known qualifications of the Self. While the knowledge of Self may assume an intui- tive penetration to the heart of Reality, the knowl- edge of things remains the analogical interpretation of their behavior, judged in terms of a real nature corresponding, in important characteristics, to the activity of a will. The human mind actually cog- nizes the world of things with the passionate and determined assumption of a right to know what they really are. This right admitted extends and
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validates the system of concepts relating to things. For this reason it is an assumption of the highest epistemological value.
I think that Paulsen makes a questionable state- ment, when he regards the historical development of the sciences as independent of epistemology ; and that "No theory of knowledge causes the slightest change in the stock and value of our knowledge/' Paulsen dismisses the solipsistic position on the ground that the mind does not doubt the existence of a world independent of its own ideas; and states the question as to what the claim of the existence of such a world! means and how we come to believe that a reality exists independent of our own ideas, of which the 'cognitive mind forms an infinitely small part. The one taking that point of view might be asked, whether the sciences and other phe- nomenalism are not only means to ends, an attempt at an objective understanding of the reality of Absolute Knowledge, the factors of which are con- stituted by the ends and universal truths of ulti- mate Keality? Until the nature of reality is known by an intellect enlarged and enlightened, all knowl- edge is imperfect, and the laws and causes of activ- ity cannot de discerned or judged. This, however, does not affect the claim of the ego as known di- rectly without reference to phenomenal appearance. If the Soul is a plurality of inner experiences com- bined into a Unity not further definable; and the conception of an ultimate, all-embracing, unified Life and Self-existent Being relates all reality in every particular — then there can be no dark cell of
INI THE PERCEPTION OF TRUTH 59
reality that Absolute Knowledge does not pene- trate. Even some human personalities, whose char- acters are so near like the type life in Idealized Love, make thought assume a different character from that of the groping habits of finite wisdom that claims to be in the dark. This mystical pre- sence that is not mystical to the Divine insight and Wisdom, whether conceptual or perceptual, will take the mind sailing away into higher realms; without being any longer able to concentrate on merely objective analysis or the Epistemological Problem. One simply knows, and cares not how he knows ; there is so much to know.
PART III.
KNOWLEDGE AND HAPPINEiSS.
At this point the relation of knowledge and hap- piness is suggestive. The more there is to know the happier may not apply or appeal to the easy- going, tyrannically idealistic, though it should tickle the fancy of the ethically free idealist. Kant conceives of happiness in a way that man does not get the concept from his instincts. "It is a mere idea of a state, which he wishes to make adequate to the Idea," The idea in this sense might be more properly (considered an Ideal. Man, the final pur- pose of creation, completes the claim of mutually subordinate purpose as regards its ground. "Only in man, and only in him as subject of morality, do we meet with unconditioned legislation in respect of purposes, which therefore alone renders him capable of being a final purpose, to which the Whole of nature is teleologically subordinated." As a moral being man can be a final purpose of creation. All perfection is united in a unique cosmic causal- ity; and Eeason succeeds better theoretically and practically with a principle so definite. At all events the great purposiveness in the world indi- cates its supreme cause, and makes it necessary to think its causality as due to that of a wise, discern- ing Mind; but no one is entitled to ascribe to this the limitations of the human understanding. The Divine Omnipresence is thought of as Presence in
IN; THE PEKCEPTION OF TEUTH 61
all places, to make comprehensible to the finite mind! His immediate presence in things that are external to one another without ascribing to God any such determinations as a cognizing conception of His essential Nature, the Life of a Perfect Ethi- cal Spirit. The Divine Omnipresence is perhaps best represented by considering each particular Being a thought of the Supreme Intelligence; just as one thought received in many minds may be pre- sent in many different places at the same time. From this point of view we shall endeavor to treat
I the facts at issue more particularly in the plain man's consciousness; though they may be regarded as a little extraordinary, or as touching the border- land of the abnormal. Nevertheless they represent a type of human experience and observation in some rare activities of the imagination. And if they should not furnish any positive light regard- ing the nature of Truth, yet their negative char- acter may show the Keality of Truth all the more
: clearly and unified.
There is an experiment with time series in dif- ferent rapidity of succession, entering into discriminating consciousness and giving the per-
! ception of a new series of an altogether differ- ent rate of succession from either of the orig- inal series actually going on as a physical fact in the immediate present experience of the observing subject: For instance, the motor disk or color wheel with an opening so as to see another time series of revolutions through the aperture. The disk with an opening revolves at a high speed and
62 LOGIC AND IMAGINATION
gives the impression of transparency. The motor arrangement revolves at a higher speed, but seen through the upper whirling disk gives the percep- tion or illusion of a speed rate of revolutions that is equal to the difference between the first and sec- ond rates. X to the nth power equals T prime to the nth power minus T second to the nth power. This phenomena is suggestive of something of a similar character in the purely mental world; while the Ego, the Real personality is looking through the subjective and objective categories of the mind, and observing a particular class of phenomena. Form and distance is consciously determined by 'com- parison in conceptual knowledge of two different mental concepts. This is a process one is not always aware of in the act of knowing and judg- ing, yet it is a fact and principle of perception that is discerned only by the most careful and sub- tle analysis. The perception of an absolutely sim- ple idea defies the law that invariably holds in the perception of a tri-dimensional space and distance. Consciousness necessarily implies the immediate relation and actuality of a Universal Truth that transcends a limited, phenomenal space and time world. Without entering the discussion of the relation of idea and object, let us take the idea or conception of an objective appearance as the object of perception, and the only approach to the reality with which the mind has to db in the act of know- ing and judging the meaning of a circumstance; until the one absolutely One Idea that determines the Reality of the object in the Unity of Truth is
IN/ THE PERCEPTION OF TEUTH 63
perceived. In this method of observation there is no real sundering of the reality of the object from the Idea that determines and fulfils its Being in the world ; and the idea that is consciously maintained is inevitably conditional as long as there is a pos- sibility of plurality of concepts in the perception of an object judged as objectively real. The per- ception is modified and susceptible to change until the Unity of Truth is perceived, when a very quick adjustment takes place between the Idea that per- ceives and the Idea perceived as objective Reality.
There is some analogical significance in the be- havior of the eye while watching a whirling color- disk. The original colors may be noticed to appear in flashes, when there are a number of colors in combination on the disk, by simply changing the point of fixation for the eye. In the study of eye movements it has been shown that the eye is ex- ceedingly quick in making (co-ordinated adjust- ments, and that it requires intense fixation of attention to prevent those extraordinary discharges of nervous energy, observed in the study of after- images and more carefully worked out by the use of the kinetoscopic camera. I think there is a very close relation, in the control of those co-ordinations and extraordinary movements of the eye, with the time required habitually by the individual discrim- inating consciousness. The cognition and recogni- tion of quality and form have to be accounted for by memory associations, unless the accuracy of ex- pectation is sufficiently positive to control the co- ordinations in discriminating consciousness. There
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is such a thing as mental co-ordination in the laws of truth so invariable as to secure the plotting even of a curve on the theory of probabilities. To what extent this faculty may be developed in various types of religious experience is not the official task of Science to attempt to state. There is an example, however, of how a man may be so absorbed in mer- cenary motives as to greatly impair or impoverish his perception of the religious Ideal, and thus be- come an offense to the sense of aesthetic purposive- ness and design. Suppose a type of old! commercial greed and victim of avarice ; a type that draws out the contempt and keen regret of every thoughtful citizen ; and, at the same time, sympathy and pity toward the innocent ones that are subjects of his. mercenary motives. His two little girls of only about sixteen — it does not require a vast stretch of the imagination to represent science and religion by the analogy of the feminine spirit — are employed in running a mill for him. This employment of the scientific and religious spirit exclusively for analy- sis to make words that may pass for coin over the counters of 'fools, seems a tax on the synthetic spirit in quest of truth ; a tax on the Spirit of Truth and sense of delicacy too great for the sake of tech- nical gain, while the aesthetic qualities that are the true birthright and! Ideal inheritance of the femi- nine mind and spirit are neglected.
In the Proceedings of the Society for Physical Research, the Rev. A. T. Fryer gives an account of the Psychological aspects of the Welsh Revival, in which he advances a theory of physical vibratory
INI THE PEKCEPTION OF TEUTH 65
operation to explain for the present the various ex- periences of sound, heat and vision in the psychical experiences of those who heard voices, were affected by temperature sensations and saw visions, lights, often having definite forms and certain modes of appearance and reappearance after latent periods. He states a theory with the attempt to explain things behind the scenes, as it were, without draw- ing too much on the supernatural element in re- ligion. "A" and "B" represent the active agent and the medium of transmission respectively. "A" is the agent "exercising influence and suggesting form." "B" is the "Recipient of mental stimulus whose brain translates the message into sound, heat, or light form according to its own capacity of motion." He says, moreover, "In this inquiry the physical and the psychical cannot safely be dis- severed, however necessary it may be to specialize for the sake of adequate research." Without the need of descending to any physical vibration theory, Prof. Francis G. Peabody in Jesus Christ and the Christian Character, page 30, brings out the fact in religious experience that rings true — the fact that faith and1 love cannot be divorced. It is the great misfortune of humanity to have ever believed they could be divorced or separated one from the other. In faith and love there is mudh of the emotional element present ; and one who has been accustomed to think of an emotion as some- thing almost purely aesthetic, finds difficulty in satisfying the demands of religious; faith with any theory of bodily resonance or physical vibratory
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operation. Certain thoughts and feelings do send the blood! coursing through the system causing a modification of sensory consciousness. And an emotion may even be the sign or effect; a mental process within the limits of, and under the control of the higher mental processes of the Eeason. Yet it seems that an emotion cannot be less than the connection between mind and body denoting the discharge of nervous energy by the judging activ- ity in perception, either mental or physical. Then the higher the theme and quality of thought the finer the emotion and expression of feeling. An emotion is most likely the psychic thrill that fol- lows the judging process or activity, and is in- hibited or expressed by the bodily organism accord- ing to the degree of self-command and mastery through the highly and finely co-ordinated activities of the Ideal Self. The highest form and quality of emotion is indubitably what can best be de- scribed as Ethical Love. Dante and Beatrice are classic types of this kind of emotion that is al- most wholly ideal, which served! for the inspiration of a life-work. James refers to the difficulty of detecting with certainty purely spiritual qualities of feeling ; and also says, "If there be such a thing as a purely spiritual emotion," he would be in- clined to restrict it to what Sir W. Hamilton would call "unimpeded and not overstrained activity of thought." I think the unity of the individual is of a psychic nature, and "under ordinary condi- tions, it is a fine and serene but not an excited state of .jconsciousnesa" The body is probably
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formed by contact with environment — with other minds. When life becomes a struggle it leaves a "fringe of consciousness"; and a so-called bodily resonance may be just the manifestations of an emotion in this fringe of consciousness, people wear for a time until the paradise that has been lost shall be regained. The emotion of ethical senti- ment sometimes causes one to suffer in the life of other persons. It was the example of the highest type of human and divine personality; and these sentiments are so highly valued! that no degree of pleasure-pain can tempt to the forsaking of a lost soul. All the organs of the body are perhaps con- scious to some extent, and capable of direct action in obedience to the determination of the highest center of co-ordimation in the Individual. And when perfect co-ordination is established it very probably ranges all the way from finite to infinite personality in Universal Truth. The apperceptive consciousness is most likely the purest and most real (source of the emotions ; the discriminating and judging activity in the free imagination, resulting in aesthetic, ethical and religious sentiment an'd feeling; emanating in life; giving expression in beauty and the fine arts; and the more sublime, harmonious activity of tlie soul through poetic thought and feeling.
The various psychical phenomena referred to in the Welsh Revival, for instance, might be illu- minated or explained in some degree by the time re- quired in various kinds of complex reactions of the sensory type to highly complex mental and emo-
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tional stimuli. The more highly complex the reac- tion, the less chance there is to react to expectation, since there is a feeling of suspended judgment until the objective stimuli is given. Sensory reactions to mental stimuli are essentially complex; and if the mind is not sufficiently clear and1 logical and skill- ful in the operations of divine Love and Wisdom, it is conceivable how these sensory reactions might be free to work out their own adjustment without the orderly regulation of a discriminating and wise Judge on the throne of the individual rea- son ; as in conversation when the subject is brought face to face with the Ultimate Reality and is com- pletely overcome and overwhelmed with the pre- sence of the Eternal. The same result may be effec- ted by a simple transformation if the process can be met by deliberate choice, and! then the way to react discretely determined upon after having been clearly perceived and comprehended. This differ- ence between simple and complex reactions is due to the fact that no particular co-ordination of move- ments can be reasonably determined until after the discriminating process has taken place; and the time required for all this and reaction is determined largely by the control one has over attention, and the versatility in applying it.
Reacting with the left hand to orange and the right to green is one of the most simple examples of discriminating activity. The direction of a certain nervous energy and the form of the excitation has to be decided and determined ; that is, the ego sub- ject, when ready for the experiment may not have
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the attention on anything in particular, but when the color appears the individual consciousness is there discriminating, and1 then after a process of discrimination with reference to a prearranged scheme, is directed to a certain object. In general, judgments may be expected to vary somewhat with the change of attention, because they are more or less influenced by preceding values. Both space and time perceptions seem to be resolvable into cer- tain f ornus of activity in ideation processes. And in the recognition of time, memory plays an important part. And visual space is the most beautiful exam- ple of space perception constructed of a complex of time perceptions not within the threshold of con- sciousness. A change in the rate of ideation pro- cesses brings about a corresponding change in the perception of time — almost unlimited1, like a mo- ment as eternity and eternity as a moment.
Martin's thesis, presented at Yale, May 1, 1905, contains a chapter on some aspects of knowledge. He maintains that the mind is essentially active in knowing. I am inclined to think, however, that in maintaining the unity of all the faculties and that
i knowledge is subjective, and in rejecting a logical subject of states, and maintaining the reality of things outside of knowledge and the necessary and
! ultimate unity in all reality — he lapses into some-
■ thing like a logical subject of states in order to de- fine the knowing subject. He distinctly claims that
i the Self cannot be at any time separate or freed from its experience, or elements of its total expe- rience; that the Self is a development and all the
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factors of experience are present in the total ex- perience of the Self at any period of the Self's de- velopment. This, it seems to me, would not admit of any changes or tranformations of the Self; and according to this view the Self could not enter a new sphere of reality, which he frankly admits in his recognition of a real world outside the knowing subject.
Why not maintain that knowledge is real in so far as it is a factor of the Absolute Knowledge, and that things are real in so far as they are objects of Absolute Knowledge? For there is, indeed, a unity of knowledge, things and the Self in the Absolute. But in the development of the Self through a world of imperfect knowledge, factors may enter in that are not real in the total experience of a perfected Self, that has entered into unity with Absolute Knowledge. When this attitude of a self -known ac- tivity of the Self is realized, factors or elements of the finite experience of that Self, that were not real in the sense of Absolute Knowledge, would vanish in the unity and domain of the Absolutely known Self. This attitude does not necessarily ad- mit of a leap from the empirical to the transcendent in the knowledge of the Absolute, but rather a clear- ing up of the knowing Self in the larger and richer cognitive experience in knowing and feeling, when the Self is known to be the Self, active in the Ab- solute Unity of Reality.
Some things that have seemed real in the known experience of many persons, the consciousness of
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naive and reflective subjects, have been discarded in a more comprehensive sphere of knowledge, and testify to the vanishing character of certain ele- ments of the experience of the race; and these were at most not more than means to an end — to an end which has been an Ideal to be developed more and more in the realization of the Self in the sphere and unity of Absolute Knowledge, through a relation of reciprocity in personal life, and loving service, in making the Self in its activity an expression of the Divine.
The interpretation of the meaning of racial ex- perience and history in the light of the prophetic in- herently active element of knowledge, in the actuali- zation of the Ideal was leading up to an atti- tude of readiness for the Divine presence, and going ever on before in the discernment of the meaning of the individual acts as future foretelling in a logi- cal synthesis of probabilities.
Even in personal experience there are times every one will admit it is no easy task to keep up with the meaning of experience and conscious states. Suppose one with a feeling of extraordinary light- ness and gayety, going to bed at night with a con- sciousness that is very desirable, free from care. Then to reflect that he had been getting along with- out his large dictionary, and that he had just taken it from his trunk and placed it on a stand by his writing desk. He hardly knowing why, since it seemed useless on account of not using it. Then in the morning while writing he was going to use
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a certain word. The pen took a slip, and as; if by the significance of the unintended a new word to him was written; one he had never used and did not know of its existence in the English language. Then looking into the dictionary to see if such word were there, he found it and discerned! its su- perior expressivenesis over the word he was going to use at the time of writing. Or take an example that does not concern the individual exclusively of the interests of Others, but concerns and commands racial interest as well as that of the individual. For instance, an article on Earthquakes is written in "The Advance," mentioning the following facts and reflections. "Earthquakes" were standard oc- currences in geological periods. The creatures of that day isaw them all the time, in fact, were worn out by them and gave up the battle. Man was the first creature to get into anything like or approach- ing harmonious relations with them, and he has been seriously jarred. Science also tells us that there are convulsions ahead, vast and sweeping de- structions. So that the earth seems to have come out of a quaking past and to be going into a quak- ing future. And we are on it, and here all genera- tions will be born and live out their lives between trembling fear and the joy of confidence. There- fore it is that an earthquake suggests much of grave thought and deep concern. It is an echo of the vast process out of which things came. It is an estima- tion of the mighty breaking up in which they will disappear. It gives us pause, and! in so doing it can teach us a good lesion. When it tells us that there
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is a clutch at this earth, which is not good for things endowed with immortal spirits, it sends a good message. When it turns palaces on Nob Hill into dust it points the way to better mansions. When it levels a city by the Golden Gate, it pro- claims the need of a city beyond the Eternal Gate. An earthquake is, after all, an echo of both science and religion, and proclaims to immortal man the need of a better and safer home than this. We need such a vision as John saw, the vision of a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away. — Grapho.
There are many experiences of the race and of the individual that show how much more there is in the world than simple voluntary force. And C. T. Ovenden, in the Hibbert Journal, pictures in glow- ing terms the originator of voluntary activity and shows that finite will is not the all in all of the world. There is a Power that gives to Will its power. The Power of Creative Mind is the Power of all voluntary activity. "Thought or will power is the originator of all voluntary force exercised by the body. A sleeper whose thought is dormant sends forth no voluntary force, but, when he awakens, the living thought fills his whole body with energy and activity. A thought transferred to another mind! may be expressed in a word or gesture; but the word of gesture is not the thought, it is only the medium by which the thought is perceived. Let me illustrate. A cloud is charged with electricity." With this illustration it must be remembered that the author draws from nature one of her subtlest
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secrets and applies it to the analogy of the human brain. The materiality of the conception plainly shows itself in the illustration, which has value for the idealistic position only in its suggestiveness with the interpretation of the external world. A cloud, he says, "Floating along, it approaches another cloud alsio charged. These clouds are not electric- ity, but electricity is somewhere in them. When they come, asi it were, within speaking distance, the mighty force leaps out with a blinding flash and reveals itself naked to the intervening space. So does brain icharged with thought approach another brain. As the thought passes from one to another in the spoken word, we see it naked for the moment. Analyze these brains, analyze the clouds, hold a postmortem examination on the dead brain or the dissolved cloud, and where is that thought or force discerned? The lightning leaves behind' it the mighty oak rent in twain — an evidence of its exist- ence and power. The thought of Eehoboam when spoken left a kingdom rent asunder. The thought of Mr. Kruger, flashing from Pretoria to London, exercised a force which welded together the mighty atoms of the British Empire. His thought fed thought and set thought in motion, and the unity of the Empire is founded and maintained! by thought. Who can say that the conscious thought is not an originator of force? The thought of Christ has revolutionized the western world." There are certain limitations in the world, especially of the fine arts and all expressions of form and color to the mind that requires such a, materialistic explan-
INI THE PERCEPTION OF TRUTH 75
ation of things. Such minds seem to gravitate heavily, and if they then doubt the reality the spir- itual world brings to their dull senses and mental perceptions in the spiritual consciousness, because of the limitations certain materials offer for the inspiration of the aesthetic sentiments; they miss the finer interpretation and discernment of the only absolutely Real World there is, What wonder with this mixture of impressions the saint wrote that now we know in part, but when that which is; per- fect is come, we shall know even as we are known ; and that now we see through a glass darkly; but when that which is in part shall be done away, we shall see even as we are seen ; for wlien He $hall appear we shall be like Him. Ais long as the realist or naturalist, or the natural man must depend upon his glass, he shall continue to go his way and forget what manner of Being he was. If by chance his mirror should be broken, what will he do with the broken crystals; and what is to become of his per- ception of a clear logical discernment. With a cu- bical mirror a correspondent in "Nature" experi- mented with successive flashes of light. About two revolutions per second caused the color to appear in a variety of shades and tints instead of white light, resembling what they call interference colors. Six revolutions caused them to disappear, and in their place was a uniform gray light. When the above-mentioned flashes of light were noticed on paper the colors appeared also. In this particular experiment the phenomenon of after-images of color perception occur within the limits of a certain rate
76 LOGIC AND IMAGINATION
in the succession of flashes; and there is evidently some time required in the mental process of light perception.
One of the most interesting facts in art apprecia- tion is the relation of art and ideas. Bakewell, while writing on this topic, announces a satirical witticism of truth on what seems to be the natural depravity of human nature: "If one prefer to eat with his knife, to be slovenly in one's habits; if one prefer the latest ragtime to Beethoven, Marie Corel- lie to Thackery — then it is quite different. The De gustibus comes out with the accompanying drag : that soul is in jeopardy. Now the moment this third meaning creeps in, an appeal is in effect made to a norm or canon of good taste that is objec- tively valid; and thereby the standpoint of pure aestheticism is abandoned, and the work of art is brought within the scope of reason and morals." There are three distinct meanings to De gustibus non est disputandum. It may mean: (1) One can- not argue oneself or another into the enjoyment of a certain taste; (2) the "Live-and-let-live" of latitudiinarianism, which is very like democracy; (3) the feeling of the real superiority of the in- dividual aesthetic taste of egoism — with a De gusti- bus and a feeling toward the other : "Poor fellow ! You are no doubt a boor ; but it is hopeless to reason with you, for the root of the matter is not in you." By the path of beauty the soul rises into its King- dom and Reality. Just so truth and good deeds are regarded as desirable, even if it were for their beauty alone. Aristotle said : "God draws the world
INI THE PERCEPTION OF TRUTH 77
unto Himself as the beloved the lover." And' the same activity appearing in spiritual love, in human relations, in the free attachment of fair soul with fair soul, takes away the barriers between man and man; and discovers identity that emphasizes dis- tinction, a fact that may be a stumbling block to the formal logician.
The function of aesthetic appreciation, and of the Ideal that organizes the world of aesthetic appreci- ations, is twofold: (1) Positive content in the per- ception of Absolute Reality considered as identical with the object of an individual quest ; with a con- sequent additional meaning for the notion of a causation that is free; and (2) the important sig- nificance to the unity-in-distinction of Absolute Self with Absolute Self when every such Self is a mem- ber of the Ideal commonwealth, a life of perfection in the "Kingdom of Ends." This unity-in-distinc- tion is represented also in the three activities of the Individual finite mind, upon which thfe normal con- sciousness seems to depend. Intellect, Will and Feeling can in no wise or strict sense be sundered from one another. Each is present in every phase or act of consciousness:, though there is an infinity in the number of different ways they may manifest their presence.
Dr. H. B. Alexander, in the Psychological Review, gives an account of some observaitions on visual imagery. He classifies two types of images that would seem to be very inclusive of a wide range and variety of mental imagery as subjective or objective phenomena. He classifies them in two different
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types represented by A and B. A represents "Vo- luntary or memory images;; all images that may be called to mind or retained by an act of will." Memory images, in the simplest sensfe, afford the typical instance, but he includes along with simple reproductions all images consciously constructed from remembered elements; for example, a geomet- rical figure, a landscape ideally made up in accord- ance with the elements furnished by a description, or a mechanical device illustrated in the imagina- tion. B represents a class of "Spontaneous and irrelevant images, the salient characteristic of which is that they seem to determine their own occurrence, coming and going of their own accord. Of course, these images can be retained or repro- duced in memory, but the retention or reproduc- tion involves a change of quality, it removes that assert of surprise and! perversity which gives ®o much of their forcefulness, and usually it projects them into new a.ssociational environments and new special contents." A suggestion occurs to me that the rate of mental activity in thought or feeling, whether aesthetic or emotional has somewhat to do with the nature and character of these two different classes of images, particularly in the fluctuations of appearance and reappearance, change in forms and relations in space, variety of shades and intensity of colors, and probably the classification of the a and 6 kinds.
It has been observed also that the effect of certain drugs is often very similar to that of voluntary control over the action of the mind in its super-
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normal activities. Earnest Dunbar in the Proceed- ings of the Society for Psychical Research, experi- menting with ether and! its effects on consciousness, found that memory is not very acute, but reason is active and awake. While under the influence and experiencing this condition he quickly wrote the following note lest he should forget without a re- minder : "Under the abnormal, memory is gradually lost, reason never." Reason takes advantage of an incident, and at the same time seems to appreciate the part played by itself, when the external world! is seeming more like a dream than a reality. It is said that "The sense of time is disturbed under ether, chloroform, and nitrous oxide." And that "it is not changed in a recognizable way as under Cannabis Indica, but at a certain stage of the anaesthesia the time sense vanishes." In general, there is a certain physical effect that accompanies the action of an- aesthetics, such as the dissolving of oils, etc.; some, of course, have a slower action than others one way or another. It is said that "With chloroform, the first inhalation produces its effect ; even a pow- erful sniff from a bottle of chloroform may be fol- lowed by a queer feeling." Says Dunbar, "Three students besides myself have noticed the flashing of stars in the visual field, synchronous with the heart-beats under the action of chloroform." Two of them noticed that each bright point described a peculiar circular motion. "The movement was in the path of a boomerang, rather than in a true circle." He says that he does not know any reason for it, but thinks it curious that two persons should have ob-
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served the same fact. The stars increased in number when the anaesthesia deepened, and still appeared over the entire field of vision when the eyes were opened. It was noticed that along with this anaesthesia the visual field; gradually grows darker.
I have noticed the same phenomena or similar and much more varied by the simple effort of volun- tary control of attention, in the study of what has been termed subjective lights and colors. Dunbar refers to another experience of his own which he did not know that any other observed. For this reason he classes it as having no value. He gays, "It seemed to me that deep down somewhere in my consciousness, voices were wriangling and quarrel- ing. Sometimes over a trifle, such as the closing of a door. The voices were perfectly distinct and generally disagreeable." At other times he per- ceived them talking, as it were, to him : "So you think we've got you again." Then he would think, "Oh! won't you leave mie alone? I want to rest," and the answer would c'ome: "We'll have the last word" ; then would ensue a muttering and a grumb- ling, that sometimes arose to a whining complaint from those voices. It was observed that they last quite a short time, and do not begin usually until some time has elapsed. The nature of this phe- nomena, I think, is very probably determined by personal traits of the individual character or ac- tivity, positive or reactive in his struggle with life and environment of the world's influences. In other individuals the character of this phenomena may be
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altogether different. What experience I have had of a similar kind was in mental concentration, required in the study of double consciousness and multiple personality. When my attention Was first called to this it began with an almost irresistible impulse to write in a dialogue of two distinct personalities. It wlas more or less startling, and when thus sprung suddenly upon one all alone in his study, there seemed a great tendency for thought and the pen to run riot with too great liberty threatening logical construction. When at last these impressions were given a free course for whatever they might be worth. It was found that however illogical and absurd they might seem at the time being, they were in the long run connected by some kind of a logical sequence. Some of them, and in general they seemed to personal consciousness, like the commu- nications of invisible spirits!, sometimes of a very low and sometimes of a very high order; and then again they seemed like recognized thought of other persons with whom I was very intimately ac- quainted! personally. I soon began to recognize, however, that the character of these was determined by the mental attitude dominating. They were not always recognized as voices from within, but most frequently as signs of assent and dissent in the air and often nearby — sometimes by the symbols of white and black flashes in quick changes of position. At one time there would be mental peace and rest in the harmonious realm of the Ideal, as it were, hold- ing sweet communion with angelic spirits and re- ceiving their counsel and ministering attentions to
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spiritual needs worn by conflict. Then would! come a period of another conflict with an inharmonious spiritual environment, that seemed all too real in a spiritual sense, to the extent of what religion would call fighting the Devil with his hosts from the realm of darkness, I found studies of magic helpful in getting control of these lower disturbing elements of the mental and physical world of sen- sation and perception; but the real and true and victorious principle in all these mental and spiri- tual conflicts; was the Love of an Ideal.
It must be remembered that Dunbar in his ex- periments has observed! the mental and physical ef- fects of certain states of consciousness, that, to begin with, was. initiated by a physical agency. He noticed that "The action of ether, if inhaled diluted with about sixty per cent, of air, is fairly gradual. The first symptoms are a sense of oppression in the head, and profuse salivation. The face feels hot, and the peripheral arteries are dilated. This hap- pens quite an appreciable time before any mental symptoms appear. Next the drama of early alco- holic intoxication is enacted again, with this differ- ence, that there is seldom any staggering or diffi- culty in walking about correctly ; and!, since under ether the muscular sense is diminished just as un- der alcohol, the conclusion is that the staggering after alcohiol is due to early affection of the cere- bellum. Next comes the sensation that the body is just as much a part of the environment as any- thing else, and it is perhaps this sensation which,
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together with the wide-awake intelligence, compels the individual to adopt the standard of subjective idealism; which, in its turn, drives him to think that at last the solution of the mystery is dawning upon him." His own experience under ether, Dun- bar says, he shall never forget. He experienced nothing like it under chloroform or ethyl bromide, though he noticed something of the same feeling that lasted for a few minutes after inhaling ethvl iodide. In his mind, he says, "Thought seemed to race like a mill-wheel. Nothing was lost — -every trifling phenomena seemed to fall into its place as a logical event in the universe. As in Sir William Ramsay's experience, everything seemed so Abso- lute. It was either yes or no. Either this was not reality or it was. If it was not, then it seemed to me in the nature of things that I would never know reality. Then it diawned upon me that the only logical position was subjective idealism, and, there- fore, my experience must be reality. Then by de- grees I began to realize that I was the One, and the universe of which I was the principle was balancing itself into 'completeness. All thought seemed strug- gling to a logical conclusion; every trifling move- ment in the world outside my consciousness repre- sented a perfectly logical step in the final readjust- ment, I could hear my heart-throbs getting longer and longer. At length I felt they would cease, and the drama of existence would be over. I remem- bered all the time feeling so strong a repugnance to this termination that I ceased administering any
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more of the stuff and got up. Things! seemed! ob- jective and tangible while I was walking about, but, on lying down again, the same experience com- menced again, with this difference, that now ac- count had to be taken of the first experience in order to bring about the same conclusion. Just as the psychological moment came, I moved my arm, and the isame process commenced again. I let it go on to the bitter end this time, and as the moment of extinction arrived I felt strangely normal, and not a bit sleepy. "
Quite a number of these experiences I myself have noticed without the use of any anaesthetic, drug or physical influence; particularly those ex- periences concerned; with the rapidity of thought, subjective Idealism,, the Absolute ordering of the universe, etc. ; and realizing that "I wais the One," judging, ordering and bringing all things into a harmonious and vital relation with the system of reality determined by the Absolute Will and the heavenly Ideal of a perfect Life; and a living per- sonal relation of all life with all reality, which 1 recognize as personal will and intelligence that is creative and artistic, in a sphere or world of cre- ative activity through a universal and absolute law of spiritual Love. But the experience with myeslf was not produced by any drug or physical influence that I know of whatever. In my judgment and esti- mation the dynamic and causal element was purely mental and Idealistic, due to a consummation of knowledge.
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Dunbar thinks that "Under the influence of ether, there is no doubt the mind is highly stimulated, and it is extremely difficult to see where the cerebral de- pression comes in — at least in relation to the higher faculty of thought. There is nothing essentially illogical in the Fichtean standpoint; it is only strange that so trifling an action as taking ether should condition the ultimate realization of that standpoint. Under ether this would present no dif- ficulty to one's mind. One would simply feel that in a scheme where logic was the beginning and end of all change, no such thing as a trifle could exist — that life had led up to the inhalation of ether, and this was to be the end of it all."
The significant thing in this discussion is — that ether should have the same effect in many respects that a very high mental activity of a purely psychi- cal character has on the nature and quality of thought in the knowledge of Self and Reality. I remember of referring to this in a conversation with two divinity students on this topic once, rather in- cidentally as a table remark. Divinity student A came in a little late to dinner. Divinity student B looked to me and! said, A has just come from the hospital. It was meant for a metaphysical state- ment of a witticism, but we made the best of it. B continued, "A looks pale, does he not?" Then he asked me if I had a philosophical explanation for the effect of ether. I replied that it has the effect of decentralization, whatever that is. Then A be- gan to make some guessing statements that were
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meant to strike at me with regard to love affairs. Some one asked who told him,. I suggested before he had time to reply — psychoses are telling him. He looked somewhat astonished and did not say much more on the subject. The rest of the com- pany were also turned to a thoughtful mood, and I was wafted for a time into the reflection on the nature of psychoses and their relation to the per- sonal ego. The significance of the unintended? Perhaps, but infinitely more than that. The unin- tended suddenly jumping into evidence would have no meaning, were there not a logical, predeter- mined activity of thought in the Universal as well as the Individual mind. Causality is qualitative, rather than quantitative.
Do you ask how I distinguish between conscious- ness and self -consciousness? I reply, by the test of harmony or not harmony with the Hi^he'st Ideal and Purpose. The Ideal Self-consciousnessi is per- fectly harmonious!, and that which is not in perfect adjustment, with the Ideal is a part of one's con- sciousness, but not the true consciousness of Self. We are always in some degree self-consicious, so long as our Ideal has a right to claim: a place in the Absolute harmony of a Self-conscious mind; though there may be states of consciousness in which one's Ideal Social Consciousness may seem far off. These are probably the most distinguish- ing characteristics of a genuine Self-consciousness — the recognition of the actual state of the world environment and the constant relation with the
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Ideal through the clear perceptive activity of a true personality in the Absolute harmony of a Self-con- scious Being. And our Self -consciousness: is a de- velopment so long as our Ideal is our quest of Truth, and we forever keep the eye of the mind fixed on that Ideal. In so much as Truth is an ele- ment of the Self, Self-consciousness is perfect.
PART IV.
THE IDEAL-REAL UNITY OF PERCEPTION.
When we come to the point of discerning the unity of perception, and in what it consists, we are face to face with a very evanescent, filmy, evasive and more or less equivocal problem. What is the meaning of Kant's failure to completely provide for a rational faith in GOD by the authority of the moral constitution of the race? And how account for thought transference that is seemingly indepen- dent of sensation? Perception has a wide range, and extends all the way from sensation to the most subtle and transitory elements of the Religious Consciousness. It is neither excluded from the seat of religious authority, or from the constructions of the mind in the Idealistic consummation of Ex- perience, individual and social. It is necessary to guard against being drawn away by the too me- chanical side of psychological experiment, on the one hand; and too loose a habit of thinking in psychological speculation on the other. The signi- ficance of a logical mind in this connection shows itself. But a logical mind1 has not and is not going to spring by any simple inductive and deductive scheme from the dry bones of a cold and formal logic. Logic m'ay break up an irrational tie, and prepare the mind for a perception of the True and the Beautiful, but it is the type of ignorance for anyone to attempt to emphasize simple logical me-
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tihod out of its sphere. Scientific analysis justly looks to Logic for aid in theorizing on Light, Ether and the Moral Order of the Universe ; Logic may be the companion of Imagination in seeking inspira- tion and — all too true— avoiding the luring Will-o- the-wisp. Birds and poets yield their magic in rich secrets disclosed to the discerning mind, when the day is awake to Life and the evening air fraught with the magic power of nature's beauty and trans- formations. The Divine glow of Wisdom enables the Genius of Art to see in the new knowledge the development of modern philosophy. And the rela- tionships of Absolute Knowledge, in the freedom of authority, seek the Divine incarnation with man for the religion that satisfies the educated mindl The nature of human individuality is no longer a riddle of multiple personality.
We come now to the point of considering in what sense psychical states are extended. The relation of subjective and objective factors in perception, as well as the relation of likeness and difference in the elements of judgment. Perhaps various sense illu- sions not exactly corresponding with one's custom- ary habit of observation, influence the activity of judgment one way or the other. For instance, the influence of color on the estimation of the magni- tude of objects has been noticed, when color sur- faces are seen on a darker background. The least refrangible colors of the spectrum, and also redish purple, show a decided tendency to make the eye overestimate extension, while for the more refran- gible part of the spectrum there is a marked under-
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estimation. The judgment of equality in surface magnitudes shows a degree of considerable accur- acy; and for white this is little greater than for colored surfaces. And it is said, that "White or colored surfaces of moderate size, seen on a dark background, are underestimated in size when seen in motion towards or from the eye." There is a claim that asserts a manifest "difference between extension as it is in the soul and extension as it is in the physical world. For the movement and the collision of material things is not present in the soul, or, rather, is not present in its full and com- plete nature." Bradley says, "The extensions in the soul need have no spatial relation to the physical world, nor again amongst themselves need they be spatially related to one another. When any phe- nomena are related spatially they are ipso facto parts of one 'spatial wttiole — so much is certain," he thinks. And "The soul contains extensions and it contains many extensionis, but the soul is not ex- tended." The result of his whole inquiry Bradley thinks is briefly this. "The unity of the soul is not spatial, nor as a whole is the soul extended. But here and there, without any doubt, it has features which are extended. And the soul is extended in respect to these features, while you consider it merely so far and regard it fragmentairily."
I cannot agree with Bradley's views exactly, though there seems to be something in fact and reality that corresponds with the main principles of his point of view. I would accept what might be called rather a parallel than an identical view with
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Bradley's ; and as be admits, may have little or no relation.
It is a question whether what he conceives of as space has any ontological value. If the old maxim is true : that the Individual is a part of every other he has met, there are some one would not wish to be a part of one's Self, because they are not a part of what is conceived to be the Absolute World and personality. This I would regard as Bradley's ex- tended world having no relation to the Soul. But the extended Ideals of the Soul which are recog- nized as the self in relation with all that is Abso- lutely real in the world of the Soul, I would also regard as not separate from the soul itself. The Soul is in and through these and all space. The real space, I think, is the Life of a Soul ; and every space that is a part of the Absolute fills all space. The individual personality that is a real space or extended world of his own, through intimate arti- culation of subjective and objective factors, is in the real world, and is in eternal life the expression of the Absolute, through communion with all that is permanently fair and! beautiful and godlike.
There is much light on these facts of experience, observed as mental, in unconscious cerebration and in what Hyslop gives an account of as a cerebral after-image. These are not necessarily visual ; they may be auditory or any other cognitive function or faculty of the mind that is active in perception. At this moment the story I once wrote for a mis- sionary society some years ago, occurs to memory as a good example of what is meant by this type
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of after-image. It is called a Thanksgiving Story, and is a more or less poetic representation of many things come across in psychological experiments, that have been elucidated more and more during later years of research.
Someone said, I think it was Kant, "All tihat changes is permanent, and only the condition there- of changes; * * * permanence is, in fact, just anlother expression for time as the abiding correlate of 'all existence of phenomena, and of all changes, anjdi of all coexistences. For chjange does not affect time itself, but only the phenomena in time." More- over, "If we were to attribute succession to time itself, we should be obliged to cogitate another time, in which the succession would be possible." In the phenomena of after-images there seems to be a sep- arate white li^ht process; and the complementary colors that succeed each other, and alternate from one to the other, do n'ot destroy each other ; but they seem to represent the wMte and black — positive and negative. Even if it should be regarded analogi- cally in view of the additional element of aesthetic or non-aesthetic color perception — there is little rea- son for supposing the presence of any destructive process. They indicate, with careful time measure- ments, the activity of a harmonious process of rhythm in definite time relations on the wavelike crests of attention, perception, aesthetic apprecia- tion and .symmetrical fixation of consciousness.
Experiments with after-images brings out the dis- tinction between sense perception in which the senses require an objective stimulus, and ideal per- j
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ception that is determined by the central factors of the personality — such as memory or familiarity, imagination or the poetic sentiment, and associa-
C tion or the laws of the Reason in the synthetic activities of judgment. Miss Elsie Murray of Coi
. nell University calls this discrimination and con-
j trast of images in the visual field, "Peripheral and Central Factors in Memory Images of Visual Form
| and Color." Her voluntary and involuntary meth- od, with eye movement and fixation, covers about
! the same field as the method required for the time measurements of the different processes of con- sciousness in the perception of light, form and color. She has, however, investigated, to some extent of thoroughness, the intricacies of the ex- perimental science in three distinct groups of class- ification: (1) "Involuntary Method" with fixation materials; and getting these results. The data collected was negative in character of evidence re- garding any immediate correlation between dura- tion or excellence of reproduction and any of the peripheral factors considered. All indications pointed rather to the significance of central condi- tions, either in the recording or in the observation period, for the critical factors in determining the character, duration and frequency of the image. To these central conditions the peripheral factors are supposed to stand in varying and manifold re- lations, indirectly affecting reproduction. (2) These are concluding evidences of "Involuntary Method with Eye-Movement," The appearance of the image in consciousness did not necessarily de-
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pend on the conscious mental tracery of its limits. In fact the image is impaired by any attempt to imagine any dependence of the kind. The simulta- neous appearance of the different parts are also hindered. This will be remembered to be just the opposite of what was observed in connection with articulate discrimination of parts' on the color- mixing wheel. Fixation during exposure affords the more favorable condition for the reproduction of the image. There are several reasons for this: It may secure a more impartial distribution of attention over the figure and give a clearer im- pression as a unity ; or through the associations set up between the retinal image and the sensations involved in fixation, by the law of association these sensations when repeated or reproduced with the image might constitute a more potent retention of the image than the fleeting sensations producible by irregular or transitory ocular movements could afford. In general it seems that it is not exactly ocular movement that is concerned in these ob- servations on the color wheel and with after- images, but certain special motor accompaniments of the state of visual attention, that contribute the most effective conditions of reproduction in vision. On the whirling color-disk a lapse or change of attention allows the original colors to appear in flashes; while an after-image clearly defined and brilliant from a definitely fixed figure requires a degree of heightened intensity of attention. (3) "Voluntary and Involuntary Method with Fixa- tion" shows that "There is an optional size and
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complexity for visual reproducibility, dependent on the range of attention/- And the conditions that obtain at the time of exposure are said to be criti- cal for reproduction, because certain differences in reproducibility are constant both with volun- tary and involuntary recall. Then along with the various central factors that condition the appear- ance and distinctness of the image, "the kines- thetic elements of fixation play an important role." It may be well concluded that "Neither the attri- butes of the stimulus, qualitative or spatial, nor the general ocular movements to which these attributes may give rise, constitute the important differential
I factor in visual reproduction." In memory images especially, reappearance and persistence, distinct- ness and general accuracy of reproduction are "con-
I ditioned primarily upon the relation of the stimu- lus or image to central conditions," and perhaps influenced by certain special motor phenomena ac- companying fixation. This would be an interesting point of view if advanced to an investigation of the relation of Psychology and Philosophy, and
1 also a consideration of Evolution and the Absolute. For any human being to try to force their will
j upon another personality, is a useless task and worse than wasted energy. It makes the consciously discerning mind bear more than a due share of the burden of life. It will be perhaps sufficient time to carry the work of Logic and Imagination in the perception of Truth to the limits of the human understanding when that which has been made so opaque by the human imagination shall
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become clear enough to see through. It is the mission of Logic in a high degree to radiate suf- ficient light to clear away the fog of the mystical work of humanism; and, in her true sphere, the imagination must co-operate with Logic. If science were to espouse Evolution as the ultimate and complete explanation of all things, and straightway attempt to construct a conception of the Absolute on that principle alone, there might be a host of misconceptions about the truth of Reality; like over-ripe great red-heart cherries which the won- derer plucks and tastes to his disgust of their sick- ening sweetness. And then trudging along is star- tled by the sudden uprising of an old mother goose inflated to a monster, horrid and loathsome, be- cause she was found to be ignorantly hatching on a cockatrice.
Evolution has its sphere, but it is not the all and in all of the Absolute Reality. And so long as it is left to work in its own little sphere, it has a place in the system of Reality. But if religion makes a mistake in estimating the scope of evolu- tion, to the disregard or utter neglect of the teleo- logical principle, it is time to look — and seeing, consider. Does the world represent characters in a series of dramatic experiences? Is there an old clutch at Judaism, reaching with a grudge and hatred for the light of a spiritualized Ideal Life and religion? Is there a brutish adversary, like the Old Man as an unwilling helper and assistant? Are there witches and spirits that defile the light, and muffle the clear ringing of Truth by their
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weird voices? There is need for man to beware of the tragedy of Faust. The voice of the people may call on the Three persons for demonstration and proofs for the mediums of Truth; but they will have to find them in a conscious relation wisely directing all the activities of Judgment, and share the satisfaction of complete perception. They may have to take flight through the air in escape from the crude materialism; and accept the invisi- ble, miraculous escape by the substitution in the spiritual significance of the atonement, and the divine law of reacting motives: With what judg- ment ye judge, ye shall be judged.
In the new world of Ideal Perception, $omte lagging minds may question the nature of Reality, but the Judge and the Three persons may justly reply: Suppose a tree or a stick for a symbol of reality. Then with simple questions that are clear and definite and personal, they may establish a clear discernment of the relation of subjective and objective factors in the act of knowing and per- ceiving. For instance, how do you know that you as first person see that tree or stick? How do you know that you as second person see that tree or stick? How do you know that you as third person see that tree or stick? How do you know that you as third person see that tree or stick as first per- son? How do you know that you as third person see that tree or stick as first and second persons see it? Then do you say that these are conditions of reality? Indeed, but they are conditions that are fulfilled, and the conditions themselves must have
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had a cause before they can be filled. There is a design and there is a final purpose, and each beau- tiful object fulfils its Idea and purpose of the Absolute Order and Design. But all things are not perceived as perfect, and then it is a puzzling and hard saying. The voice of the people cries out, "I do not see why there must be sin on the grounds of the Good."
The Judge exclaims, "Why do you want sin any- where in the World?" Perhaps with the presence of a Higher Wisdom, spiritual sense and finer per- ception, sin will disappear. With the elimination of sin comes a new scene. But the old Jewish in- stinct— which, for convenience, may be represented by "Abe" — seeks to entangle the Judge by refer- ring in a skeptical way to the incarnation, and the date of a birth. Mistaking no reply for ignorance, "Abe" exultingly declares "Why, the fruits of his life and work came many years after that." But too late for such historical quibbling over letter and form, dates and authenticity. Historical develop- ments have been rolled up like a scroll; and the Judge declares in stern manner, "What significance has that with the present logical series of events?" It was only the fulfilment of prophecy, but "Abe" is angry and dashes down upon the Judge with a scourge of many straps, beating a stunning blow. The effect is perhaps a wilderness of ideas, and only a reed broken down with the wind. A quick transformation and the illusion is taken from the mind of the persecutor, who perceives the unreality of his act; Then "Abe" in dire disappointment
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pitches himself headlong from an upper story. The vanity of a haughty spirit has taken wings and left him, and "Abe" perceives himself as he is — a foolhardy wretch, without an anchor of hope or the wings of light. Without a purpose, without a will, without the principle of right to determine his choice for a redeemed life. Some one in mercy at the command of the Judge hurries to rescue "Abe" from a malicious attempt at self destruction. Then the Judge sails aw^ay into the air free and far above the taunts and gross intents of his adver- saries, who seek to destroy him by all kinds of witchery and the blackest of art. But the Judge, equal to all occasions and transcendently superior to those who have sold themselves to sin, escapes every design of their scheming minds, and perisha- ble trappings of existence.
Wise Judgment and the one who is never baffled by a complicated affair or situation because of the discernment of ultimate realities, can make use of the efforts of destructive criticism for his own good and the preservation of the Ideal religion, and can turn even their evil intents and motives to the good effects of constructive and Creative Mind.
What they attempt to do unto him they finally and by their own mistake do to themselves; and not, indeed, to the one who is not deserving of the blame they lay on him. Spiritual distress is a severe test of the Perfect Life.
By well known authorities the absolute aesthetic threshold is considered higher than the Epicurean
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life of sensation. But there is a certain relation of the aesthetic life to the feelings of pleasantness and unpleasantness. The ordinary course of the affec- tive reaction depicted generally by psychologies, shows that feelings do not appear responsive to very faint, though sensible, stimuli; yet "as the intensity increases the limen of pleasantness is reached and passed, and maximal pleasure at- tained; from this point the intensity of feeling decreases up to a stage of indifference ; and this in turn gives way to liminal unpleasantness." With a method that is not variable in the detection of slight differences of feeling, that would make pos- sible direct comparison of feelings — the difference between the sensation and feeling threshold may not be so apparent. Diagramatically this may be represented by comparing two circles chosen at va- rious points between the sensation and aesthetic thresholds. "A" and "B" are either clearly dis- tinguishable, or they are both distinguishable and not distinguishable. Fechner was of the opinion that a greater combination of the stimulus is re- quired to bring the impression to a full strength. An aesthetic stimulus is a process of the mind in the act of Judgment, and a certain continuance of the activity is necessary before its effect is ob- servable as aesthetic sentiment.
The degree and change of degree in the possession and use of attention that is most satisfactory de- pends on individual relations of physical and psy- chical power. The sooner the need of a change arises the greater the approximation to uniformity,
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and the stronger the demand for a change the longer the need is not satisfied. In physical re- lations the recognized need of a mental or spiritual change for aesthetic satisfaction, is actualized and accomplished by degrees, and not by a flash in- stantaneously as in the justification of an attitude or the validation of an idea by truth. Too much or too little occupation in a given time gives the natural man a sense of displeasure. Fechner's principle of habit is that, "a pleasurable stimulus becomes a necessity through frequent action or repetition/' and that "a disagreeable stimulus be- comes more easily endurable."
The effect of perception in relation with aesthetic reflection is often evident in fixating the attention on the exclusive study or enjoyment of a work of art that has a great deal of aesthetic and spiritual significance. For instance in looking for a long time at Ruben's "Descent from the Cross/' H — could feel the "pulling on the teeth of the cloth held in the mouth of one of the men and the mus- cular strength he was obliged to exert." And in looking at this picture all the reagents are said to have felt the physical pain in connection with the taking down of the body from the cross. The feel- ing of sensations contribute to giving that particu- lar kind of reality to the picture, of which the rea- gents frequently speak when they have given their attention to the perception of the aesthetic signifi- cance of the meaning of the acts represented. And that reality, which may be called Ideal, has a de- cided influence on judgment.
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Everyone who has a sense of aesthetic apprecia- tion in any degree is a reagent. Fechner makes a great deal of the part played by attention in esthetic appreciation. "The attention," he says, "must be first put or kept on the stretch." There is a difficulty of holding the attention in connection with a picture when there begins a relaxation of pleasurableness and aesthetic enjoyment. This is generally referred to by reagents, and with it the value of art as an aid to maintaining the spiritual initiative on a sufficiently high level to exert and predetermine a physical and organic influence in establishing a norm for the culture of aesthetic taste is lessened. "Everything with which we are sur- rounded is for us physically characterized through a resultant of remembrances of everything which we have experienced externally and internally, heard, thought, and learned concerning this and even related things."
An example of pseudo - chromaesthesia as an aesthetic factor is represented by a subject looking at Burne- Jones' "Love among the Ruins." The sub- ject afterward said, "Here I see back of the two figures actually in the picture a shadowy passage winding from left to right and in it, close to the left wall, the crouching form of a man. He is partly hidden by the shadows, his face screened. His direction of movement is towards the two fig- ures in the garden." The same subject looking at Apollo of Praxiteles, said, "I see here below the pedestal the slender marble column on which it rests. It stretches down to a base, set among
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broken rocks." These are frequent forms of illu- sion. Love among the ruins might suggest love among the roses by contrast. And there might be a host of historical suggestions revived, if the sub- ject is a lover of history. And in so far as the per- ception of artistic design in the expression is true, and the logical series and sequence of events is comprehended, the unseen elements of the sketch may appear with sufficient intensity for visualiza- tion, even to the extent of arousing the motor ele- ments in vision by the laws of association, histori- cal or the immediately present conditions of a logi- cal use of the imagination.
One might see in a picture a partial representation of his Ideal, marvelously conceived and portrayed by the artist, and then with the idea of futurity project an universally applicable association of re- lated ideals, or retrace the suggestive associations into the fact world of the historical past; until there might result the great synthetic conception of a united reality of the past and the future in the present, with one's little individual Ideal-real world of thought experience and Reality. The real- ist may call it extatic perception of non-essentials either for ethical culture of life or religion, but he ought to recognize that he is a very unwel- come visitor in his style and manner of sneering comment. In the Absolute sense of the term it can probably be regarded as immoral to steal, destroy or take away the aesthetic sense of appreciation in the Ideal, as he would regard the loss of his com- mercial wealth. And if the perception of an Ideal
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pricks his conscience, he has been ready to strike a conflict with the one who has taken the pains to show him the aesthetic and spiritual reality of the Ideal.
Illusions make up much of the complexity of life, and constitute much of the aesthetic enjoyment. There has been a threefold classification of illu- sions with reference to pictures. (1) Pictures in which the same illusion occurred repeatedly. (2) Pictures presenting different illusions at different times. (3) Pictures that present an illusion at only one view and no illusion at others. There is no doubt that previous thought or occupation influ- ences the nature and appearance of the illusion to a very great and sometimes extensive degree. A surface cut by a line is likely to cause an illusion. It seems to indicate the relation of decentralization or divided attention with the conscious discern- ment of illusions : and the significance of the teleo- logical principle shows itself when the mind is di- rected toward some particular end, — illusions are not likely to appear. The pictures that contain illu- sions are those that recur more readily to the mind after seeing; and the illusions occur generally to- ward the more heavily shadled side. Whatever else the appearance of such illusions may imply, it seems clear that suggestiveness and space •concep- tion for the placing of an illusion are prime charac- teristics of the pictures in which they appear. Ex- citability increases the vividness and complexity of an illusion, while preoccupation and depression decrease it. And the miore vivid the illusions the
IN THE PERCEPTION OF TRUTH 105
sooner they tire, with weariness and consequent disappearance some time later. This is probably a general rule with fewr exceptions. The term illusion in this instance has been applied to all mental ap- pearances placed externally, and especially those which seem to have a reactionary subjective influ- ence. There is sfome connection between the liking of a picture and) the illusive occurrence, but it is hard to distinguish, and not reasonably possible to say which is the cause and which the effect.
Some conclusions from these observations are, that the mind has the ability to locate in space re- lations of associative memory, mental images in such a wray that they do not appear different nec- essarily from real images. The exercise of this ability is conditioned by the mental attitude, and perhaps by the physical state of the reagent, and by his immediate environment. The content of the mental images is affected by former experience, and by preoccupation, — also by the kind of surface pre- sented for the reproduction. Generally a decided fondness for a picture and certain illusions with reference to mental suggestion go hand in hand. It is possible and desirable to increase aesthetic appreciation through the use of suggestion. Fech- ner recognizes this in a practical statement of one of his principles: "In general man is so constituted that the mood of his environment is transmitted to him."
It is a very desirable quality or attribute in man to be able to determine this influence of his environ-
106 LOGIC AND IMAGINATION
ment and of his own constitution in such a way that will always add to his aesthetic appreciation of things that are really beautiful and ideally power- ful in the development of a perfect, absolute, ethical experience; actively realizing in external creative manifestation of the Personal Absolute, the Being of the World, and the essence and likewise content of all Reality, as the Originator and loving Spirit in a free Kingdom of personal Beings harmonious and unified in an eternal w^orld of a spiritually aesthetic appreciation of the divinely beautiful.
The mind cannot be satisfied with any system or scheme of pure subjectivism. Beauty is a kind of subjective element in the Object. The life of the mind consists in a kind of intimate articulation of subjective and objective factors; and the will to live is manifest in the realization of the Other by the Ego in actual relations of true Being. Face to face with ultimate realities, the ego of falsehood and error — if there be one that has translated love into hate — may sympathize with the poetess:
"Farewell !" I wrote, "You love me not ! That fact is plain, Miss Bly. Unless some token I receive, I am resolved to die."
Though error translates love into hate, the Ego of Truth may yet reply:
"Today two cards the postman brought, Now what can they imply? One pictures Salem's 'Lover's Leap' ; One is 'The Bluff at Rye' !"
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The one who makes the final step to the ultimate reality of Truth, is either a genius or a fool.
The main puzzle of philosophy and the inherent contradiction of the contradictoriness of reason, seems due to those habits or modes of thought es- sential to all reflection. These antitheses that con- sequently arise have been variously designated. With the Greeks it seemed to be the contradiction of the one and the many, being and knowing ; with moderns it may be the problem of identity in dif- ference, or, as in natural science, uniformity and variation. All anthitheses arise from too skeptical a contemplation, with respect to Absolute Idealism, of the thing, which suffers change, yet remains self- identical. In the history of the mind the puzzle has found various solutions. The reconciliation has been accomplished in aesthetics by the notion of harmony; in psychology, by the conception of personality; in natural science, by the doctrine of evolution. The habits of the Greek and of the modern have been defined as the "instinct for iden- tification, or the psychical experience of recogni- tion, and the instinct for ascribing causes, due to experience of volition — that is, the powers of think- ing and willing, which in joint operation constitute human efficiency." The primitive mind has not been noticed to animate all things with will and intention. That is his way of giving freedom to the instinct of causal thinking; and the instinct for forming definite and responsible estimates of the world of things, leads to composite impres- sions they call ideas. With the Greek this is a
108 LOGIC AND IMAGINATION
happy congruence, and the supreme instance is recognized as the "Platonic philosophy of Ideals or ideal forms which are at once the essential being anjdi the formative causes of phenomena," This is at least suggested by those mythical in- terests that make possible the perfection of the natural classification of experience. As has been observed, the habit anfd method of thinking in terms of individuality is a late achievement of man- kind. Primitive people had a science, but it is called magic, and 'here the formation of the cate- gory is already under way. The many practices of savages exemplify that belief that "like produces like." Sociologists claim "that social pressure everywhere results in" what is called "like-minded- ness" ; and that in the "formative period of society it is essential that individuals should act according to common understandings which are the natural prelude of law." Atnd it seems that in the natural development "The individual who succeeds in most widely impressing his personality upon his fellows becomes the ethnic ideal or type toward which they tend."
Turning from Egypt, for instance, we look to classicism for the happier development. "The clas- sic type is not an inanimate, weighted type; its very essence is buoyancy and life; it mot only iden- tifies Being but it achieves Becoming and is im- bued with evolutional vitality." But its keynotes are in temperate mastery, universality and Har- mony. Exemplified in Plato's Ideas, we for the first time have the individuals in the ideal world.
IN THE PERCEPTION OF TRUTH 109
"They are universal individuals, personalities, arch- ons of the mind; and just as the Homeric Olympus is the invisible habitat of Hellenic imagination, so is the Platonic Hierarchy of Ideas the full revela- tion of the conceptual an'di moral consciousness of classic character. " Though no last development of personality is yet attained, and the classic ideal may defeat by its own perfection; the fullness of its realization fixes the limits of evolution. Then even its activity may seem like a kind of rest; like the "unnioying activity" of Aristotle, it is only "unmoving" to the limits of evolution. It is contemplative, but contemplation, imitation and the logical process of knowing and perceiving, per- ception and knowledge, is essentially active. The beauty of the Greek temple in its attainment con- trasts with the beauty of the Gothic cathedral in its aspiration. Classic domination of form and thought quickly (degenerates into Procrustean meas- urement. Then the stir and tremor of life is not evident and the richness of promise is denied. Im- perfection is free to aspire, while perfect sesthetical taste lives the life. Freedom may mean more to imperfect things; and to free desire, far down in the sesthetical scale, promise may be sweeter; but surely, in the Spirit of Perfect Ethical and Aesthet- ical Life, freedom is more enjoyed.
The human instinct for a freer life seems to be the inner form of nature's "irrepressible expan- sion." Historical time shows in its devastations and wrecks of the Ideal, that no perfection has been won except to be destroyed; but then the Ideal element has ever revived with new anticipations
110 LOGIC AND IMAGINATION
and new Meals. How long is this conflict between nature and the Ideal Life to maintain? The natu- ralistic development and conception of ethical life vainly tries to make nature a person or deity, and then shuts itself out from the Ideal Life. To the natural man, according to his interpretation of na- ture, new Ideals often seem erratic ; and Truth gets branded as a heresy or heretic by those who shut their eyes to the light.
Some may claim an evolution for the Ideal Life on the ground that it is a gradual imitation of in- telligence and the discernment of nature's secret ways to the end that personalities shall be created efficient to understand and aid the natural devel- opment. Before following out that view exclu- sively it had better be taken into account that the natural part in the act of creation consists in ful- filling certain conditions ; and these conditions have to be made anicD established before they can be ful- filled. Then the inevitable is confronted with Spinoza's conception sometimes recognized as trans- cendental, because it culminates rather in a rest with the eternal verities, in peaceful accord with an immutable Divine Nature; but evolution has to substitute an "active, assimilative spiritual life."
Until the limits of evolution have been trans- cended, lack of evidence and consequent lack of faith in the co-conscious spiritual life with the Eternal, brings up the question of immortality. Is there a sufficient warrant to claim that the soul must exist forever; and it is confessed that man's knowledge is confined to a very brief arc of ex-
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perience with respect to immortality. If he seeks knowledge of the Eternal and enters a life of trans- cendental experience they call him abnormal, and his witness not valid. PerOiaps they themselves will yet see and have experience that shall be valu- able if they do not seek and find too late, for ad- mittance. It can be asserted with evident truth that the course of mental life assumes the form of eternity. Final Purpose and final Design are the supreme facts of a perfect universe. And all parts of a perfect Universe exist for the Absolute Per- fection. "The mind is the unique embodiment of a real perpetuity/' and in all nature the Principle of Perfection is the unique exemplar of personality, ideal anticipation and immortal hope.
In the International Journal of Ethics, Hellen Bosanquet writes a beautiful and perhaps eternally valid thought on the relation of two wills: In the old German ideal, "Few sawr what many now realize, that the old ideal with all its beauty and strength could only be cast down by one still higher and more beautiful; that the devotion of woman could be greater, not less, when they had richer minds and wiser hearts to give; that the noblest harmonies of life arise when two disciplined wills combine; and that the truest comradeship is found when man and woman meet on the common ground of mutual intellectual respect. Innumerable happy homes bear witness to the truth of this higher ideal, and so far the battle has in principle been won forever."
PART V.
VOLUNTARY CONTROL OF ATTENTION AND RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE.
Love among the ruins, for instance, might sug- gest love among the roses when two independent and disciplined! wills combine. Prof. Hysiop re- ports a fact in the observation of after-images and allied phenomena. He says he has often experi- mented with the after-images in his life. He is susceptible to them! and to the observation of them when they occur without the effort to produce them. He says, "I often notice an after-image of a bright object in the field of vision when I am not trying to produce it. It of course arrests my attention and I immediately turn to observe it. As usual it quickly fades. I then try to reproduce the after- image by experiment and as generally fail as I try. No amount of effort will reproduce it as before. I may obtain a faint one, but usually can obtain none at all. But the interesting phenomenon in connection with the spontaneous after-image that arrests my attention is the fact that I have uni- formly observed that it occurs only when I am in a state of abstraction. Thus if I am looking at a lamp or bright ring amd: at the same time not thinking of the object on which vision is actually fixed, the after-image is almost certain to occur with great distinctness if I happen to turn the
IN THE PERCEPTION OP TRUTH 113
head to one side and the background is favorable. If I try to repeat the after-image by looking pur- posely at the light, I utterly fail. The reproduc- tion of it seems to be related in some way to the connection between fixation and attention. It may be Worth studying in this connection the influence of attention upon the action of chemical forces on the retina. Of course something of this kind may already have been 'done, but if so it has not been my fortune to see it, as my studies have not enabled me to keep abreast with the scientific and physio- logical side of the matter. But the phenomena whicfh I have just described certainly suggests a possible relation between attention and the amount of chemical action in the retina."
"There is another phenomenon which is possibly connected with related functions. When mentally preoccupied and Waving the eyes fixated on a given point or object, I often notice a disappearance of a part of the indirect field of vision. I have tried to see whether it might not be due to the falling of the object on the blind sp'ot, but uniformly dis^- cover that it is not, as the disappearing object may be on the side of the retina opposite the blind spot. On careful experiment and observation I find that the disappearance is directly related to the degree of abstraction, and that I can repro- duce it artificially, if I am successful, as I some- times am, in effecting the abstraction necessary and at the same time the proper adjustment of at- tention. It is difficult to produce the artificial abstraction required, but when I am successful
114 LOGIC AND IMAGINATION
I affect the disappearance of the object, which im-> mediately reappears: the moment attention is given to it without altering the fixation of the eyes. The effect seems to be that of making clear an actual impression, while attention in the previous experi- ment seems to destroy an after-image. Why is this the case? I of course have no answer to this question. It is simply an interesting phenomenon to find the fact, which is apparently the converse of the first experience described, In the former concentration of attention is conducive to the ap- pearance of after-images, and in the latter this con- centration tends to extinguish real impressions. The latter may be a normal retrecissement du champ visuel, but why the former should not also illus- trate the same fact is a phenomenon of interest."
With this Prof. Hysilop tells his story of after- images and their relation to attention and abstrac- tion; amd suggests a probable relation that they may have in the natural visual space perception. Dt. Slaughter's method wais to ascertain as nearly as possible the "exact behavior of the image dur- ing a certain interval of time which , after trial was fixed at ten seconds." When figures drawn on cards were used as stimuli, the subject was al- lowed to fix his gaze on the figure for some indefi- nite time. A signal was given to close the eyes, and five seconds later by another signal the men- tal imagery was to be carefully watched and re- membered as to its behavior. Then after ten sec- onds of such introspection he recorded the results.
In experiments with after-images I have ob-
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served much of the phenomena referred to by Hy- slop, and also quite a variety of mental imagery in connection with dream life. This mental image visualization is often intensely vivid in light, form and color, with changes and motion according to certain laws of logic in thought and reflection, just while waking to the customary mode or type of consciousness. These experiences are often highly aesthetic and spiritually significant in a sense of the relation with the Absolute and religious con- ceptions, as well as Ideal social relations in an Ideal environment.
[With dlefinite and intentional experiments, I have noticed that after-images from objective light prevent the ready visualizing of imagination images until the effect of the negative after - image, w^hich is usually a variety of color changes from one to the other in complements — has quite dis- appeared. Then the imagination is more active in effecting a visualization of an image. It is often very difficult to control the form of an image of the imagination. Rich colors appear very readily and easily without definite form. Mathematical and geometric forms and figures appear compara- tively readily. When these mental images occur spontaneously they have clearly defined artistic and finely aesthetic forms and relations.
One who is willing to be just a receptacle to his mental and spiritual environment, cultivates a habit by which he is probably like the vase to which the scent of the roses clings. If one wants to be a receiver of mental anid spiritual life, a strong elec-
116 LOGIC AND IMAGINATION
tive will is essential or he would be subject to the influences of an evil environment as well as a goo<? one. Strong moral will and determination fixed by the perception of the Ideal of Absolute Perfec- tion and harmony of Being, to prevent the person- ality from radiating or exhaling, as it were, a dis- cordant influence that is liable to cling to the atti- tude that has largely been formed by the perversely willful initiative of moral condition in social life, is essential. Whether it be a familiar organism or a more complex institution of a social organization :
"Mortal sins thou goest out to battle,
Monsters shapen out of thine own breath, Traitorous senses, oh, the very clay
Thou art made of ! Fight them; to the death, For the Lord thy God is with thee in this day !"
And in Judgment :
"Seekest thou thy Judge's countenance,
Bending above thee by one wistful glance;
For awe-struck dost thou scan a mystery Which all thy earthly years revealed not.
At last, at last, thine own soul dost thou see; Thy fate, our world, and time, thou hast forgot !"
If one were crossing the river and perhaps medi- tating with a far-away look; and the Other with fine appearance and with an expression of rather unusual intelligence were sitting directly across the isle; then suddenly leaning forward and look- ing straight into the eye, should he hesitate to meet her steady gaze, she might modestly beckon
IN THE PERCEPTION OF TRUTH 117
her intent. Then with common assent their wills seem to blend : "Shall we meet beyond! the river. " This is a phenomena of peculiar significance. At this juncture of wills there is a certain type of experience recognizable by acute spiritual discern- ment. It may result, in a kind of tugging of one will at the other until the one or the other is sub- mitted or both blend in a common Ideal. For the Individual to recognize this immediately and quickly flash a thought before the inspiration has time to vanish, is incumbent lest the ideal be ex- cluded from consciousness, and the full meaning of its actualization, that may dawn upon the hori- zon of vision later in life — missed. When the activity of the mind) is quick enough to participate logically in the order of transcendental experience, the Other may recognize the thought immediately and show assent and complete satisfaction with the ideal. But the Individual has to depend upon a sign that is recognized and logically interpreted, for he has no other way of knowing. The Ideal that is known and perceived must always be the best possible with existing circumstances anjdl memory associations, for the results to be perfect and anything like complete, that the Ideal may be reciprocally agreed upon with the liberty of indi- vidual conception. These Ideals always ought to have a double aspect to give the opportunity for the construction of the aesthetic imagination.
In times of severe conflict in the Individual life, like one lost in a wilderness of too savage social environment; happy is the one who can take the
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wings of light and rise into the strata of a more ethereal realm) and look down upon them and say, "Peace be unto thee." When red and black devils with horns and clownish style fail in their devastating and destructive work, the Ideal may appear in filmy presence of a projected image; for instance, as the like of a man with a trumpet, and then the appearance of a shepherd with his simple life of charity; until through various aesthetic changes one comes to the permanent perception of a recognized Ideal over which there is no control : perhaps a fine well (dressed figure of a great general of indomitable will and prevailing purpose, posing serenely in a beautiful environment of color and form and life. But when there is a desire to pos- sess, the coveted Ideal of fancy is rolled up like a scroll and the owner jealously declares!: "No, this you may not have; it is a film of an olive and priceless tone."
Though we may explore other worlds than the one in which man lives, and fight the monsters of ignorance with the instruments of science; and though we may enter the ideal realm of rare and transcendent beauty, of peace and the life of a free mind and spirit, where ignorance is banished and the lower nature is completely subordinate to the higher life of the Ideal ; though one may wish that he were born a thousand years later, or an- other that he had never lived at all, since life in itself is so unsatisfying; though a mixture of philosophical and metaphysical thoughts may trou- ble the simple easy faith of a too credulous reli-
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gious consciousness ; there is an element of the ra- tional life that invariably appeals to the Univer- sal Consciousness of a Self-conscious Spirit. The perfume of a flower, or the sighing of tlhe wind, might suggest thoughts of harmony and song; even a full and crescent satellite may recall associa- tions and thoughts of love and a broken heart, like a monument throughout eternity; making ex- istence sad and memory the cause of sorrow from most beautiful melodies, and of pain from most beautiful visions. Love that makes one miserably restless by its presence, and still more miserable when it is gone — what is to become of philosophical rules and mathematical formulae? Had one not better remained in love with science? Who studies nature in the right spirit as the ways of God in a world of form, is not dependent for joy or des- pair on the changing whims of a sentiment. In a paradise of the Imagination, creative spirits may play upon the breath of an Aeolian harp, until you have heard their presence and understand! their language — "You ought to be happy." Happiness would be an attribute of human life if all were known, and the conception of life were not too much mixed up with the cares of the world. If happiness were that state in wrhich desires were satisfied, some might claim happiness;; but there is no proof that happiness can consist in the sat- isfaction of desire. It may at least be said that desire must coincide with duty. One of the truest joys has been shown to be self-sacrifice for others, and the highest joy is the Presence and Love of
120 LOGIC AND IMAGINATION
the Eternal. The world of tlbe one whose affection is centered on finite existence may be inevitably separate from reality and. invisible to the one who is diseerner of hearts, but no reality is outside the sphere of knowledge. And unless the illusion produced by crystal vision is valid evidence of the unseen the world of spirits is invisible to the natural eye. To one accustomed to the grandest Idea and the dignity of Life, the Ideal World may present a phase for the understanding, that is never obscure or held in question, but opens up the way to a larger spOhere of Beality, that goes without demonstration or proof. Yet to those who have little or no spiritual discernment of spiritual things, and no experience with which to draw a contrast and be able to recognize the principle of likeness or difference, it may be as hard to die- scribe the transcendent element of other worlds, as it would be to picture the glories of a dawn or the aesthetic significance of a sunset to a blind man. Instead of seeing what really is, the natural eye sees but a diminutive part. Through the fun- damental laws of nature tlhiere is a Principle that does not change, and though it be Absolute it is a mistake to apply earthly logic to Heavenly things. It were better to apply the knowledge of the trans- cendent, to the discernment of meanings in rela- tions with the natural; with the prophetic insight and hope that the laws of the Eternal may become the laws of the finite minidl. A journey in other worlds accomplished by the activity of the intel- lect with a logical series of events in the realm of
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pure activity aided by the free imagination, is gleaming bright with suggestiveness representing some remarkable plays of the imagination and imaginary experiences that show some alliance with scientific facts and observations. However sparkling these phenomena of the more or less transcendental world may seem, as long as there are historical interests and pleasant associations in the actual life of the Social Consciousness, the mind does not like to stay too long in the rare atmosphere of the Ideal World. But establishing a connection there it seeks a life of service of the highest possible value for the advancement of hu- man conditions; and as normal Beings we all once more, after having perceived! the Ideal in some de- gree and learned something of it)s nature, seek henceforth the actualization in Real Life.
One of these ways has been a comparative view of scientists and philosophers with special atten- tion to the use of imagination in religious ex- perience. So long as man is human and has hu- man limitations and senses, he feels the need of a house to dwell in. His temple of science may be shaken to its foundations, but it nevertheless has its fundamental laws and principles of con- struction. Until the searing winds of criticism have spent their fury, and hostile elements over which he has no control beat in from above, there is need of walls and a roof and withall a foundation ; lest the structure should) sink into the sands of des- pair. The walls might be made of paper when the means of materialistic sentiment are spent; the
122 LOGIO AND IMAGINATION
foundations, of knowledge; yet the roof has to be supported by vast columns and pillars. And these may not lack beauty. They may be beautiful for strength, and on top of the pillars may be lily work. Religion and science both attempt to explain the phenomena of the world and of life. This they have in common, though they differ in that it is a sec- ondary object for religion and a primary object for science. Religion recognizes, seeks to enter into right relationis with, gain the favor of, and secure the aid of, the Divine. It sees signs and types of the Divine in man amdi the world. They began by ascribing all phenomena to the direct acts of Deity. Rain, drought, sunshine, cloud, wind, thun- der, lightning, earthquake and eclipse, w^ere con- ceived of as expressions of divine displeasure or pleasure in the fortunes of life. Life seemed like a system of rewards and punishments according as man was obedient or disobedient to the superhu- man power that shaped his destiny. The creation of the world or the extinction of a nation, the blade of grass or a bodily pain, were the imimediate acts of a god standing outside of and above human thought and effort. In the life of the race as well as the individual, true religious conceptions, simple though they be, come before the conceptions of science. With the conceptions of a genuine science, the transformation of the religious attitude into a spiritual life is effected. The scientific impulse may have coexisted with the religious, but demand- ing more exact observation its appearance was slower. When facts were observed) in their con-
INi THE PERCEPTION OF TRUTH 123
nections, sequences established, and a hypothetical faith validated by evidence; then belief in an or- derly cosmos came to life, and laid the foundations of civilization and of spiritual religion. The world was given over to man for conquest and study, and he was even intrusted with the care of his own heart, to fashion it according to the diemands of conscience. In the sphere of conscience and the spiritual life he did not feel as if he stood alone. The conviction gained strength by degrees, that the divine influence was in the spiritual sphere, caus- ing harmony to prevail with the divine spirit and disciplining the heart of man into purity. This was a period of scientific training, and the Idea of God was constantly advancing. It rose from the war- rior or demon of earliest time to the vast and trans- forming contrast of the spirit of Justice and Love. All moral and religious life has been summed up in the word of Love to God and man. When such principles were announced and accepted, society assumed a new form. The shapeless came to be organized and regulated; and what was a dim long- ing is a definite impulse. Life approaches nearer to unity and there is more harmony between mind and soul. There is a sense of the removal of weighty traditions, and there is a greater freedom of activity in thought and feeling. The -connection with the past was not destroyed ; past and present were renewed into a higher life.
It may be the unconscious influence of one com- munity on another, that has the greater and) deeper authority for a time. Ideas represented by cu^
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toms and expressions attach! to others and com- mend themselves for their naturalness and prac- tical capacity to satisfy a feeling of need. Per- haps first adopted by advanced thinkers and pro- pagated in the lower strata of society ; or they may receive for a long time no definite expression. Without expression, because there is none to per- ceive, they are simply in the air. Critics in con- trast with them without perceiving their meaning, would dispose of them and turn again and rend the giver. Though pearls are not cast to carnal minds, silently they make themselves known by some mystical presence, and from generation to generation they color and icontrol ideas, opinions and customs. Finally they find expression in books; they are accepted as something quite nat- ural, and the religious mind wakes up to find itself in possession of thoughts and conceptions unknown to the fathers ; and the traditional mind is no longer able to trace their genesis and authority. Then comes a period of reflection that seeks to establish a logical relation between the past and the present. They think they find a trace of the new ideas in an- cient customs and writings. They attemlpt to follow the mirage back in an unbroken line, and the silent influences that produced them pass out of memory and they rest unrecorded). The Persian and the Greek have had no little influence on Jewish history. And the apostle's polemic against the worldly wisdom of the Persian and the Greek has had no little influence. Greek philosophy naturally lealdls him to identify the only true and saving divine wisdom with the
IN THE PERCEPTION OF TRUTH 125
glorified Messiah, through whom redemption came to men as God ordained. The word is strongly personified, and even the wisdom of Solomon did not advance beyond personification in representing the word! as the instrument of creation. Activity and efficiency are variously ascribed to the Word of God. Human life is controlled. The Logos is sent on a mission of healing; and the Logos is the agent of Creation. For the Jews the conception of the Logos was not a fruitful one; it was too forced and strained by their strict monotheism^
! They regarded the Logos in too materialistic a way of anthropomorphic relations and definitions, limit- ing their conception to the whims of human senti-
; men't and fancy ; the rewarder of Israel, and the source of prophetic inspiration, but not an angel or the Messiah, yet a representative of the imme- diate divine activity. The conception of the Logos did not keep its hold on Jewish thought, but main- tained itself in Christianity.
In the contrast of the Spirit of Christianity with the spirit of Judaism, the apostle recognized that
j there are deeds of the body not justified in the light
i of the Ideal ; then gave the injunction, "If by the spirit you kill the deeds of the body you shall live." Thus a transformation is effected in human nature without a change of essence. The apostle was
; speaking of the Wisdom of God as contrasted with human science and philosophy, declaring that the knowledge of Divine Truth comes not by reflection
I alone, but also by faith, rather by the coactivity of
| belief and certitude in the rational faith and pro-
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phetic insight of reflection. Then it is a revelation of the Divine Spirit. "The psychical man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot know them be- cause they are pneumatically discerned, but the pneumatical man judges all things." It seems to be a moral-religious distinction the apostle had in mind. Adam's soul was capable of becoming spirit, since he was the type of the natural man. Christ's soul is Spirit. He was and is and is to be the Ideal- real of the religious and spiritual Consciousness. "In him was life and the life was the light of men." It m by the attractive power of the Ideal they enter the Kealm of the Ideal. It is only by Divine choice and drawing power that men can detach themselves from the "mass of the world" and come to Christ. The religious conception everywhere shows the an- tithesis of power and impotency. The futility of man's efforts to achieve perfect righteousness is represented by a profound religious nature, passion- ately devoted to his Ideal of perfectness and keenly introspective. By his experience he was led to re- ject the possibility of getting a righteous satisfac- tion from simple obedience to an external law. He had to have an inner experience of the law written on pages of the heart. The conception of righteous- ness shows a radical change in the process of jus- tification to the life of sanctification or saintly ex- perience of the higher life. Though he was a man combining in thought spiritual depth and mystical school-logic in such a manner that it was scarcely possible to estimate the bearing and influence of
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his ideas ; yet, when face to face with ultimate real- ities of the Spiritual type he recognized the need of a Law of Reason by which the operations of the mind correspond with those spiritual Realities in a degree of Absolute Knowledge, Love and Wisdom. The Light of Truth dawning upon consciousness, with a validity of its own as justified at the scepter of Divine Reason and in all the minor activities of the educated mind, flashes the authority of judg- ment and conviction. And the true Christian of the present who represents a certain type of religious
I genius, eccentric to the unconverted type who might sneeringly refer to him as a Pauline example —
; might truthfully say, "Go a little further back in
I your retrospection until you find Christ, then you may know me as I am."
An intuition described as a revelation is. probably more than a mere intuition. How Paul came to his special view it is not possible to say with definite- ness. It might have been an intuition, but he de- scribes it as a revelation. Whether it was an idea that sprung up in his soul out of the mass of things he had been brooding over, or a revelation ; never-
\ theless he found unity, order, light, where to him all had been darkness and chaos. The spiritual insight into the prophetic vision of the martyr may
~< have led him to connect salvation with Messianic righteousness. His exalted conception of the Mes-
; siah's nature and function seems to have been per- fect in connection with, his acceptation of Jesus as
i the Christ; this acceptation was brought about, however, by the transcendental experience he had
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with the presence of the Christ Ideal. Paul accept- ing him as the risen and glorified Lord, could no longer "rest in the early Church's limited and un- defined idea of the Messiah's moral-spiritual func- tions." In his wider vision he could not restrict salvation to a political deliverance of the nation, or to a vague happiness at Christ's second coming. He looked for a speedy fulfilment of the promised return or reappearance, but realized the need of a present deliverance. "His moral consciousness as- sured him that the Messiah had achieved absolute deliverance from the burden of sin." This he held forth as the only true deliverance. This God had offered as He alone could. He idealized Jesus as perfect. And "His perfect righteousness offered man that Ideal perfectness without which the awakened conscience could not be satisfied." In de- scribing the difference between Paul's teaching and the teaching of Jesus, Prof. Toy writes, "We may sum up Paul's doctrine of saving righteousness as follows: its legal condition is the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ ; its ethical content is the personal righteousness of Christ; its source is the power of the living, glorified Christ committed to him by God and exercised through the spirit ; its human condi- tion is the humble and grateful recognition of Jesus as the perfect ideal, through whose presence the soul is transformed. Thus we may see the difference be- tween Paul's teaching and that of Jesus: for the latter, the ideal is God ; for the former, Jesus as the glorified son of God. The latter accepts man's per- sonal righteousness, only purified by spirituality;
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the former rejects human righteousness, which seems to him necessarily impure, and substitutes for it perfect righteousness! of the Christ, with the condition that the soul in the act of believing is quickened into free, ethical activity. Jesus thinks of an inward transformation wrought by the com- munion between man's will and God's; Paul de- mands a new divine creation. Jesus brings the soul face to face with God ; Paul interposes the per- son of the Christ as reconciler."
The Jewish-Alexandrian philosophy made the Logos the center and explanation of the world ; and there was a corresponding conception of righteous- ness. This conception of the perfection of the spir- itual content of personality connects itself with the world view, where the Logos is central and explana- tory as in the prologue to the Fourth Gospel. "The world has been created through the divine Word: yet it lay in darkness, the darkness of sin, the origin of which is not explained. The world was his own, yet it knew him not. The reign of the Jewish Law belonged also to the period of darkness; the dark- ness was dispelled by the manifestation of grace and truth through Jesus Christ, in whom was the mani- festation of God! himiself . The divine influence af- fects the individual soul. No process of moral re- generation is described; there is a new spiritual creation parallel to the physical creation in the be- ginning. At a moment in the past God through the Word had called the world into being ; now, at the appointed time (after ages of unexplained darkness and doubt) , the Word had appeared in human form,
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bringing divine light and eternal life. Every ves- tige of nationalism has here disappeared; the rela- tions of God are primarily not with the Jews, but with humanity." The author of the Fourth Gospel sees in the moral-spiritual history of the world, the divine creative activity. The thought of Jesus, that human perfection is in constant communion with the divine Father, is expressed substantially, though clothed in the form of the Jewish-Alexandrian philosophy. The interplay of three conceptions is involved in the New Testament history of the idea of righteousness : "The Old Testament idea of per- sonal goodness, Paul's scholastic scheme of imputed righteousness, and the transformation of the soul by the union with Christ or by the direct power of the Holy Spirit." Though the Pauline idea of im- putation, devised by a logical mind to meet a spe- cific Jewish objection, faded away with the crisis that gave it birth, the universal appeal of all the New Testament writers is to the consciousness and the will of man, whatever particular scheme of salvation may be emphasized. It has been recog- nized that the Sermon on the Mount and other say- ings of Jesus contain a certain higher something, a completer recognition of the inner element of goodness and the positive side of individual obliga- tion; the exhortation to let one's light shine, and not to limit the Self to passive endurance of wrong, or to dependence on charity, but to recognize the fact that each one is to be a guide to his fellows, and must so purify himself in nobility of character that he shall lead not into error, but into truth.
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Here are gathered up the elements of the highest ethical character — perfect self-mastery, enlightened self-help, and complete sympathy with human en- vironment. The substance of those precepts may have been given before, but nowhere has it been found with equal fulness, and symmetry. The ethico- spiritual insight of Jesus took hold of the high- est essentials in the government of man's moral na- ture. The religious experience is necessarily onto- logical and as in this supreme type it plainly has to do with knowledge and belief that is real existence and operative in actual events. Though all reality of the ethical and spiritual life consists in rational and constructive mind, there is something far more than the imagining and reasoning activity of the human mind in the conception of reality influencing religious thought and experience.
Something permanent and Universal in the con- stitution of the human mind reacts on the social environment and gives the initiative and guidance to the constructive activity of the religious use of the image-making faculty ; yet so intimately related with the self-conscious identity of personal will, that "The human mind inevitably regards the con- structs of its own imagination and intellect as sig- nificant and trustworthy representations of the be- ings and events of the objective and real World, whenever such constructs seem necessary for a satisfactory explanation of experience." The Ideal of personality has partaken of the nature that has characterized the reality of the finite person; and this Ideal has kept far in advance
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of the reality where it has become known in form by immediate experience with itself. Thus the Infinite and Absolute, ethically perfect and Sublime Self, is far superior to human personality ; £ven when compared with the improved and spe- cially refined personal being of spiritualized man. Man's ability to represent the Infinite and Absolute Self in any worthy manner whatever is due to the real fact that the Absolute Self is making man more and more like his own Self. The correlate of the developing power of man to conceive of God m the principle of the progressive self-revelation of God. Religion is essentially a relation between persons; whether it be the low manifestations of the religious instinct in the relation of the invisible spirits of savages, superhuman to his own savage spirit — or in the higher element of the spiritual religion of Truth. The intellectual, ethical, and aesthetical emotions in the religious and personal being of man, evidence the presence of the Infinite and Absolute ethical Spirit acting in perfection under the condi- tions of time and sense. The activities of imagina- tion and intellect under the conditional modes of the mind's functioning are not essentially unlike in science and religion. They are operations, how- ever, in different spheres of activity. "In the higher and the highest forms of religion," it is said, "the Ideal takes up into itself all the most significant factors of all the Ideals. God is conceived of as the ethical, aesthetical, and social, Ideal One ; He is the One and Alone Ideal-Real, the summing up of all human ideals in reality." This conception on ac-
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count of its nature and intrinsic value is an object for rational faith rather than knowledge, except in the Divine sense of that term defining the reality of Ideas by knowledge. Whether on logically valid or invalid grounds it does not necessarily concern one to inquire; this Being of the World is "conceived of as infinite and perfect Ethical Spirit, the Soul's Father and redeemer, and the all-wise and good Creator of the Universe, then adoration, ethical love, and submission of will are the dominant fac- tors in the mental attitude awakened. But this is the attitude of filial piety, of faith in a person, rather than of scientific or reasoned cognition of a system of forces and laws."
It seems that no finer expression of the concep- tion and nature of Truth can be made than par- ticipation in the Divine Reason. Plotinius once expressed his conception of the nature of a beau- tiful object, by saying that "A beautiful material thing is produced by participation in reason issu- ing from the Divine." Some mental attitudes to- ward the Beautiful have a certain close resemblance to the mind's attitude toward the Object of re- ligious faith. There may be irreligious ideas an'cfc conduct, false claims and fanaticism, that encour- age immorality and failure to reach the true Object of religious faith, and these "lie in waiting at the door of every attempt, even partially, to identify the psychological sources and the ultimate ideals of art and religion." Nevertheless the facts of ex- perience are not to be altered, and they need not be repressed or curtailed! to satisfy the conscience
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of some inartistic souls. One of high authority illustrated the fact by saying that no one lightefth a candle and hideth it, but placeth it on a candle- stick and it giveth light to all in the room.
"Ratioeinaition is not the only path to truth ; nor are logical formulas the only means for certifying truth to the individual human soul." If art were simply imitation of Reality — as Plato seemed to claim, and Kant came near following, but Hegel in principle distinctly denied, then the relations of art and religion would not appear to have the same significance and worth, Plato is not exactly consistent on this point, and there is a great quasi- religious truth that even Kant's extreme subjective idealism had to confess to the extent of emphasiz- ing. It is the view reconciling what appeared to him as the "antinomy of the judgments of taste. " In the solution is asserted, "The transcendental rational concept of the supersensible, which lies at the basis of all sensible intuition/' is a kind of concept "undetermined and undeterminable." It is beyond the definite circumscription of any theory and cannot be adequately exhibited to sense. It is here the key to the connection between art and religion is to be found. And aesthetical philosophy reveals the secret truth of this "Supersensible." Prof. Ladd describes its concept as "The Ideal of a transcendentally perfect Personal Life." And) this is the same as the concept defining the Ideal Object of religious faith and worship. The only satisfactory answer to Kant's question as to the possibility of synthetic judgments of taste, is per-
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haps a kind of mystical experience of the "human spirit with a boundless Spiritual Life, whose Reality is felt with a sympathetic joy, but is not capable of mathematical demonstration or of scien- tific discovery and testing/' It is in the idea of life and its diverse individual and social manifes- tations, where the Unity of aesthetics, morality and) religion may become perceptible to the seeking mind and spirit. And Schiller affirms in his "Philo- sophical Letters" : that "The Divinity is already very near to that man wlio has succeeded in col- lecting all beauty, all greatness, all excellence, in both the small and great of Nature, and in evolving from this manifoldness the great Unity."
For convenience we will have to call these ulti- mate realities of the transcendental concept, which the human mind is not capable of getting around in such a way as to explain or account for its own logical activity in theorizing from a humanistic point of view, yet is compelled to recognize them as most real of all facts — we shall call these "intui- tions" though I think they are an activity of Rea- son too fine and subtle for the human heart and mind to perceive as a logical process. The "intui- tions" of art and religion have important and sig- nificant characteristics in common, as Prof. Ladd has well defined the complex attitudes of the hu- man mind toward its object: (1) "This mental attitude is largely one of the will (he that wills to know shall know, was the profoundly true promise of the founder of Christianity) ; (2) this mental attitude involves appreciations of value
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that, when reached, are not m|ainly dependent for their validity upon the testimony of the senses or upon the conclusions of a logical chain of reason- ing; (3) nevertheless, it operates to produce the conviction of a reality and universal worth as be- longing, somehow, to the mind's ideal; and (4) it seemis itself to be a sort of envisagement of the ob- ject, which makes the conviction reasonable for the individual, if not for others also." It has long been maintained that there is nothing among visi- ble forms that does not signify something Ideal and spiritual. In the highest and most satisfying re- ligious expressions there are "important and prec- ious truths of experience with a living Reality" put in the forms of symbols and figures of speech. It is for the reflective thinking of mankind to strive for a clearer and fuller conceptual wisdlom and knowledge of the meaning of its own terms; that the understanding may be forever rendered in a completer and richer comnnunion of man's life with the perfect Ideal Life of God. When art and re- ligion clearly recognize and faithfully follow their purest and highest ideals, they are prepared to unite in the service of that significant beauty of the highest aesthetiical and purest religious feel- ing, whose source and inspiration is in the "con- ception of an Mteally Perfect Personal Life — in- dwelling in, uplifting, and redeeming all things and all souls."
Art and religion both seek to present certain great truths of the Ultimate Reality — the One Great Reality.
PART VI.
THE RELATION OF ART AND RELIGION TO
IDEALS.
If the statement made by a philosophical theo- logian, is true, when offering a suggestion as to the origin and nature of Ideals — "Religion lies at the basis of all Ideals," then art may be said to glorify them. There is a relation between thought and feeling, feeling and perception; and many of Plato's myths are an extraordinary, fine type of a transcendental feeling of the mind after truth. It is a feeling that appears in the ordinary "time- marking," "object - distinguishing" consciousness; though its Origin is not there in a sense that any searching it out shall find. It may be traced to the influence on consciousness of the presence in that element of the Soul, which in timeless sleep holds on to Life as worth living ; yet transcendental feeling is at the same instant the solemn sense of Timeless Being — that is then, now and forever overshadowing the finite spirit — and the sure con- viction that life is good. The first mientioned phase of transcendental feeling appears in man. as a clearly defined ecstatic state, though it is called an abnor- mal experience of his conscious life; the other, "the conviction that Life is good" is regarded in the ex- perience of conscious life, because it is not occasion- ally springing up alongside of the other experiences,
138 LOGIC AND IMAGINATION
but a feeling that accompanies all right actions and experiences of conscious life, — yXvxeia tXTtis, that sweet hope, as the Greek would say, in the strength of which we take the trouble to seek after the particular achievements that make up the wide- awake life of conduct and science. It is a normal feeling that may be rightly called transcendental, because it is not one of the effects, but the condi- tion entering upon and continuing in that course of endeavor that constitutes experience.
In the life of conduct and science, Understandi- ing, when left to itself, claims to be the measure of truth. Transcendental feeling whispers to the Understanding and Sense type of self - conscious- ness, that they are leaving out the secret plan of the Universe; it may comprehend it in silence as it is, but can explain it to the Understanding only in the symbolical language of Imagination, the in- terpreter in vision.
The Platonic myth intimates the vast drama of the creation and the consummation of all things. The habitudes and faculties of the moral and intel- lectual nature, that constitute and determine a priori the experiences and doings in the wide-awake life, are themselves clearly seen to be determined by causes that are also clearly seen to be deter- mined by the Plan of the Universe the Vision re- veals. The Universe planned as the vision shows is the work of a wise and Good God.
When imaginative solutions of the so - called "problem of the Universe" are thought to be as inferior to conceptual solutions, as imaginative so-
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lutions of departmental problems are to the con- ceptual; there is a fallacy in the statement of the analogy. It cannot be shown that there is a prob- lem of the Universe. This problem has been solved at the moment Life began. The imaginative rep- resentation of the Ideas of the Reason, and the imaginative deduction of the categories of the Un- derstanding and Moral Virtues, awakens and regu- lates Transcendental Feeling. Though Ideas of the Reason are aims, aspirations, Ideals; have they not an adequate object in possible experience real- ized in the other that is constantly sought for and united in the seeking personal consciousness when known, however experienced? This does not need to be regarded as a cushion for the lazy intellect; but when this unity of perfection is resumed by the active mentality,y it is the Idea around which all the thinking and conceptions of the Personality centers. It is the way and the life of a higher unity even in the harmlonious activity of True Being.
In Kant's well known remark : "The light dove, in free flight cleaving the air and feeling its resist- ance, might imagine that in airless space she would fare better. Even so Plato left the world of sense, because it sets so narrow limits to the understand- ing, and ventured on the wings of the Ideas"; Kant thinks Plato made no headway. The analogy, scarcely holds. The laws and elements or avenues of the Spirit are different from those of gravitation. In drawing such an inference, Kant shows his crude conception of the Self. And in the ideal world
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of myth, Lucifer is a typical term for Newton's law of gravitation. For Plato and D'ante there were conceptions1 that correspond to the scientific discoveries with liquefied air. Plato moved in the aesthetic realm of the Ideas, wihile Dante's poetic experiences represent imaginary struggles of hu- man life and conceptions in changed conditions of Universal relations. "Given a sufficient altitude aether will take the place of air, and beneath aether, air Will be as water." There is also a scientific analogy with Plato in the comparison of the aethe- real inhabitants and the "poor frogs" dowrn in the mists beside the waters of the hollow. Plato is at his highest when philosophy and poetry together are blended. If moral responsibility cannot be explained, it can be pictured. The difference be- tween an allegory and a myth is in the character- istic nature of thought that takes form by a care- ful logical process, and thought that seems to jump instantaneously and coextensively into form. In the one thought is grasped first and alone, then arranged in a particular dress ; in the other thought and form seem to come into being together. Dr. Westcott, regarding the allegorical teaching and the myths of Plato, asserts : "The thought is a vital principle which shapes the form ; the form is the sensible image which displays the thought. The allegory is the conscious work of an individual fashioning the image of a truth which he has seized. The myth is the unconscious growth of a comimon mind, which witnesses to the fundamental laws by which its development is ruled. The mean-
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ing of an allegory is prior to the construction of the story; the meaning of a myth is first capable of being separated from the expression of an age long after that in which it has its origin." Alle- gories, written as allegories, present doctrine often thinly disguised; but their writers had to exercise creative imagination, as well as scholastic inge- nuity. There are tests that sfhow certain identi- ties between allegories and myths. As the test of literary success is in the reading, they must appeal to the human understanding, announcing clear, sound doctrine; as well as providing a good myth or story for those who do not understand or care for the allegory as a vehicle of doctrine. Hence the value of pictures with the pen or with the brush tOiat reflect experience, and stand as images or doubles in another world.
Symbolic representation can be formed as a habit, and it is one of the most primitive and persistent tendencies of human nature. It was present in the first efforts of language, in the highest con- ceptions pictured' by the religious imagination, and in the highest flights of philosophy. Science also is dependent on its development and use. Without the education or presence of the image or myth- nuaking faculty in another sense there could have been no poetry. The primrose would never have been more than the "yellow primrose" ; and per- haps, without courtesy of manners, " everybody would always have called a spade a spade." They would all have stuck in the bare world of sensa- tion, weltering either in sense pleasure or pain.
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It is a characteristic of a certain type of religious belief, that "Reason" has to be raised by the "mighty force of the Divine Spirit into a converse with the Deity, with God*"; and that it is then "turned into sense." Science might well agree that what is by faith built on sure principles, in the eternal now becomes vision. It was the message of a great scientifically constructive genius, that "God is a being, Eternal, Infinite, Absolutely Per- fect. * * * He governs all things, and knows all things which are done, or which can be done. He is not Eternity and Infinity, but He is Eternal and Infinite; He is not Duration and Space, but He endures and is Present. He endures and is present everywhere; and by existing always and everywhere, He constitutes Duration and Space, Eternity and Infinity."
The central doctrine of the Cambridge Platonists has been defined by the "Doctrine of Ideas as pre- sented in the Phsedrus Myth — that is, presented to religious feeling as theory of the union of man with God in knowledge and conduct." Moreover, "Sen- sible things which come into existence and perish, are but reflections, images, ectypes, of Eternal Es- sences, Archetypal Forms, or Ideas." With this we are face to face with the entire question of Space perception and conception in the practical experi- ence of a Self-conscious Mind or Spirit. It is too vast in its complexity to attemlpt any discussion, examination or inquiry regarding the forms and laws and regulative principles determining so vital a fact of the Individual and the Universal Con-
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sciousness, here. We may have occasion to refer to this again in a superficial manner, in the relation of Ideas and Aesthetic Sentiments — with the scien- tific relations and the corresponding conceptions. In passing we might raise the question, what reason have we for believing that the concepts of analytic science, for instance of the physical organism, are the true representations of the differentiated ele- , ments of experience that constitutes and defines the activities of the Self as Self -known or perceived? Sensations are not static, but vary under the in- fluence and conditions of the mental content and relation with other minds as units of the total con- sciousness and nature of a Self-conscious Spirit.
The notion of a kind of animal magnetism, and the corresponding notion of electrical bodies walk- ing around and exerting their influence by radio- active magnetism or whatever, seems usually char- acteristic of those who radiate or reflect least light. If this were a real, genuine magnetic or electric physical influence, why do not the material objects they associate with respond to their influence ? They never do unless they obey the law of impact and reaction with respect to Newton's law controlling physical bodies. The laws of mental or psychical influence are not like those of a physical type of active relations. The influence of an electrical body is likely a deception. Such persons have to rely on the laws of suggestion, and these are at the mercy of the intelligent dialectician, who has found and entered a life of freedom. The Divine gift of true personality is Self-conscious Spirit. Man, as an
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angel of Light in the Eealm of Truth is guarded from all illusory psychic influences of the lower or- der, and has supreme authority with a royal com- mission.
Of animal mfagnetism and all such like supersti- tions it might be said, that perhaps the leviathan of their commonwealth has swallowed time and they perceive their own time as an internal sense and iSipace as an objective reality. Their point of view always implies a third something in what they call the normal activity of the mind in Judgment and! experience. Hobbes in his philosophy, which is a form of materialism disguised partly by his politi- cal conservatism, occupies a position between pure empiricism and Cartesian rationalism. Some such conception in its: intermediate position with its stub- born fact burdens the mind as long as it can, and obscures the vision of Truth. Call it satanical or what you will, it is an abyss of the imagination creating 'something out of nothing, perhapsi like Kant describes the Imagination as being able to create a world out of something infinitely small. Hobbes' view probably belongs to this imitative genius of reality — a genius that can at best make but a very poor imitation of the Ultimate Reality, and then practices a deception on the unsuspecting senses until the mind is lost in a maze of mysticism and doubt at the opposite extreme of the logical chain. Hobbes' view lacks purpose and is there- fore valueless; while Kant's view depends on pur- posiveness, and is a help to constructive Idealism. Truth is like golden links in a chain from Infinity to
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Infinity. And the Social Consciousness is never lost in the Social Self so long as there is an established relation with Truth. In the Realm of Truth, no- tions and thought unities in their purity and ulti- mate form are the embodied historical appearance of the Absolute, and perhaps all that holds in the type of a real existent experience in time. In the Reality of the past and the Permanence of the pres- ent, Logic is not mixed up with the concrete forms and characteristics of the experience that is found ready at hand as impressions. Pure Logic of imag- ination deals with pure notions, and handles the conceptions as such, with a consequent logical issue, and a corresponding perception. Hence the con- trast in actual human life and the personal Life that dwells in the Realm of Truth.
Plato seems to have had a conception of Ab- solute equality, invariable and unique, respect- ing his conception of true Being. This he re- garded as consciously applied to the world of things for a standard of measurement of the equals that come from the senses. The type of sense knowledge aspires to reach the absolute equal- ity, but fails. A less entangled sense knowledge and a clearer conceptual knowledge of Absolute Reality, might have saved him from) this waver- ing faith and divided eye of the mind. For the human mind to see the truth, a knowledge of uni- versal is necessary, and the individual must be able to proceed from particulars to a concept of Reason. "When the soul is unable to follow, and fails to behold the truth * * * her wings fall from her.
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and she drops to the ground." Plato urged strongly the necessity of a reasoning faculty, and the a priori element in knowledge. Knowledge seemed to him possible only through the universial and necessary, and above all the ideal in human activity had an important role. There were some things that were far from being clear to Plato, and Aristotle's objec- tions to Plato in general, instead of explaining these problems, doubled them. And since Plato could not see a way from dialectics to physics, or from the knowledge of Ideas to the knowledge of sensible worlds, his attitude compelled him to assert that physics had to be satisfied with probabilities; and the world is only a kind of symbolism in which the soul is not at home. Only those who have lost their wings and clear vision of truth enter it. His alle- gories have something in them that admit of their being interpreted in an Ideal way, without being led away by the lower element that everywhere crops up, often unexpectedly and perhaps without other intentions than to tickle the fancy of the age in which he lived. Plato and Aristotle agreed in making the object of knowledge the essential Being and sensation relative. True knowledge does not come through the senses; man treats himself with it through the original activity of thought. Plato had an eye more for poetry, while Aristotle had his eye fixed on the salvation of the physical world by trying to harmonize the two. While he emphas- ized the Principle of Perfection, he lapsed into a kind of passive and active intelligence : "Thus rea- son is, on the one hand, of such a character as to
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become all things; on the other hand, of such a na- ture as to create all things." He sacrificed to some extent the conception of pure activity for the sake of harmony.
In Neo-Platonism, the metaphysics of the vgvS resulted in gradual ascent from sensation to dis- cursive thought, rational intuition and ecstasy. It was an attempt to reconcile in a vast syncretism, the three principal systems of Greek philosophy; and in one of the primordial hypostases one of these systems was realized while the others were blended and reconciled in their Trinity. "Platonism is rep- resented by the One, the ineffable Being from whom all things proceed; Peripateticism, by the first emanation, the vov<, reason; and Stoicism by the world soul." The vov £ is Aristotle's pure activity, reason to reason, a transubjective activity of thought, the meaning of a meaning, etc. ; because the Being of the World is too extensive and complex in the higher life to involve the primordial concep- tions in a conscious process of the thinking activity. Logical thought for the ancients had to do more with the sensible show of things; and pure thought seemed for them a higher order in its unity and ecstasy incapable of further description. They be- lieved the mind's activity in thinking to be like a wave that "bears us on its crest, and swelling, lifts us so that all at once we are able to see." At this point the soul recognizes its identity with God, and finds in Him the source of life, the Principle of Being, and its own origin. The Soul is Absolutely Real, it has Being, is filled and intoxicated with
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love; and perfect felicity is all that is known. This was recognized as a state that isi seldom experiencedi, and then only for a brief moment. Plotinus says that he himself only reached this state three times in life, and he thought to be able to reach that state of ecstasy and remain there would be heaven and eternal salvation.
Descartes' doctrine is in favor of the validity of knowledge as the result of clear thinking. This is regarded as the expression of reality. Man arrives at the idea of a perfect Being by reflection on his own nature. God, who is this perfect Being, cannot will to deceive, because His nature is Truth ; there- fore without fear we may accept as the expression of reality all that we conceive clearly and distinctly. "The existence of God is the first and most eternal of all possible truths, and from it alone all other truths proceed. The knowledge of an atheist is not true science, because any knowledge that could be made doubtful cannot be called by the name of science. " Bossuet was influenced by Descartes, but did not neglect the doctrines of St. Augustine and Thomas Aquinas. He believes "Reason is the light given to us by God for our guidance." Reason that has for its objects the eternal truths is worthy of the name, and of its high commission. Fenelon adopted Bossuet's theory, and gave it, however, a more mys- tical and idealistic expression. With the most cen- tral conception and beloved Ideal of Bossuet, Fen- elon and Malebranche, the Eternal Truths are in God ; they are, indeed, God Himself present in the human mind. In the relation of Reason and eternal
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Truth consists the direct intercourse of the human mind and the Divine. Malebranche with his theory of vision in God, gives a systematic form to the ideas of the other two, and concludes that the mind sees most clearly and distinctly while in the Ideal Vision; and the object of knowledge is the Idea. These have their source, reality and place in the Divine. This results in a more or less mathematical view of physical science, but after all, it is probably the truest form mathematical applicability can as- sume in validating proof.
Leibnitz rejects the methods of the Platonists and the theosophists, and attacks Newton's theory of attraction as an occult quality and tries to explain those principles of phenomena by a current of light or of ether emanating. Leibnitz's conception of science is in harmony with his theory of reason. Induction for him is not exactly the method of true science ; it applies only to a greater or less number of particulars and results in empiricism or a collec- tion of general rules rather than science. In mathe- matics he thinks we have the model of true science, and that philosophy should imitate it by getting ex- act definitions and then proceed logically. The idea of philosophical language is very evidently present with Leibnitz in his way of reasoning and philo- sophical procedure. This has exposed him to the often unjust criticism of a humanistic religious point of view. Of course, the terms should mean something in the experience of the individual, and they should not be used unless they have a final logical issue in pure Ideal thought experience. He
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believed a universal symbolism and language truly scientific would make it possible to prove by a kind of algebraical calculation the truth of propositions, and even to discover new truths. There is a pos- sible weakness in his apparent absolute reliance on the validity of concepts of science, and proceeding from them to discover the possible combinations of concepts that might be formed from the analysis of previous concepts with the discovery of their rela- tions and origin. This is in keeping with the nat- ural affinity of mathematical science for a mechan- ical physics, and is the mathematician's Ideal of a practical value while dealing with weights, measure- ments, elasticity and magnetism; but the mathema- tician on this score is not at home in the realm of philosophy unless he has a profound religious faith The ultimate problems of Being and spirit are dis- covered and harmonized in personal experience by principles that may have a foundation in mathema- tical principles, but are not determined by mathe- matical laws. Leibnitz, also in mechanical physics, was obliged to go beyond the law of contradiction and pure mathematics, when he tried to find the fundamental laws of nature. These he claimed to find in the Principle of Convenience, or of the Best as he called it. The laws of indiscernibles, con- tinuity, and persistence of force were not absolutely necessary or geometrically demonstrable. These were given over for the maxims of a higher philos- ophy, the applications of the principles of Sufficient Reason. Thus Leibnitz regards science as a logical unity, through experience and induction up to
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mathematics and a mechanical explanation of the world; at this point its very inadequacy makes it surrender to metaphysics and the principle of rea- son; then this science of sciences advances rein- forced to bring everything in the world, the laws of motion and the laws: of nature, under the law of design. Finally all ideas depend on the Idea of God, who is most intimate with the mind in coeon- sciousness of creative activity. The law of Suf- ficient Reason has been well termed the supreme principle of philosophy ; and) there is one truly Suf- ficient Reason, who is God.
Kant's view that "We only cognize a priori in things that which we ourselves place in them," shows his worthy Ideal of the Divine consciousness, but he had to go through a severe discipline of re- flection and transcendental experience to show to his own satisfaction and deep conviction that no mere process of imitation is available in the knowl- edge and discernment of the Reality that satisfies the intellectual quest for unity. Then like a broken crystal beautiful with all its imperfections, he shows the way for a higher and more effective synthesis; an Ideal he could but indicate and faintly discern in the dim future with his penetrating eye that had served him so faithfully in the fine and subtle an- alysis of the world of sense experience. Imagina- tion, though it be passive like sensation, is a neces- sary function of the mind in perception and con- ception.
There is a certain elasticity required in the act of remembering, and here imagination plays an
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important role. Plato recognized this in his 'con- ception of the nature of memory. His conception, crude and inapplicable when applied to the nature of mind, has been actualized in various mechani- cal devices and inventions for the reproduction of tone in thought, sentiment and song. When Mark Twain joked about frozen speech, he perhaps had no idea that it would be actualized within his own lifetime, and that there are laws of electromagnet- ism that fulfill the conditions when they are com- plied with the skill of inventive genius. Plato, speaking to an age when sculpture was the prin- cipal feature of art, said : "I would have you imag- ine then that there exists in the mind of man a block of wax which is of different sizes in differ- ent men; harder, moister, and having more or less purity in one than another, and in some of an intermediate quality. * * * Let us say that this tablet is a gift of Memory, the mother of the Muses; and that when we wish to remem- ber anything which we have seen or heard or thought in our own minds, we hold the wax to the perceptions and thoughts and in that material receive the impression of them as from the seal of a ring; and that we remember and know what is imprinted as long as the image lasts; but when the image is effaced, or cannot be taken, then we forget and do not know." While this conception of the nature of memory has a decidedly prophetic significance in the mechanical science and construc- tion of the world of invention, Aristotle attempted a more purely philosophical estimate of the rela-
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tion of memory and imagination. It was a char- acteristic of most of Plato's imagery and meta- phorical forms, that they have a pleasantly blended double phase. And they appeal strongly for this attribute of quality and universality to the imagi- nation and reason that is sufficiently extensive and harmonious in ideal perception to blend their sig- nificance and effects in the actualizations of ele- ments of the social consciousness that constitute the forms, activities and relations of the modern world.
Aristotle associates the act of memory more with feeling and thought, "Thus memory is not to be confounded with sensation or with intellectual con- ception, but is the possession or the modification of either one or the other with the condition of past time. There is no memory of the present moment itself, as has just been said, but only sensation as regards the present, expectation as regards the future, and memory as regards the past. Thus memory is always accompanied by the notion of time." Memory relates to the past distinguished from the present and the future. It has been observed that memory and imagination resemble each other in some respect so much that it is not possible to distinguish them except in contrast with the Ideal of Creative Will and Creative Mind. And the poet was likely speaking in a transcendent fact of experience when he declared: "Did we judge the time aright the past and future in their flight would be as one." In actuality what distinguishes memory from imagination is the simple fact in ere-
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ative mind, that imagination does not necessarily imply recognition or a return to past perceptions. These different conceptions in the various philo- sophical systems assume a variety of different as- pects when applied to the actual world in its mjani- foM relations and developments. The materialistic theory of the Stoic and Epicurean regarding mem- ory and the soul, suggests the nature of the late developments of scientific discovery in radium and radioactivity. Thus the various theories and con- ceptions of the past manifest a particular rela- tion to the actualizations of many of the great events and principles of science that make up the complex world of the present for the universal ap- preciation of the constructive imagination, and the mind that is logical enough to hold in a unity of consciousness the totality of a cosmic order of the past and the future in one present moment. Rea- son is the ultimate basis of memory as well as of imagination, to say nothing of the spontaneous phe- nomena that sometimes occurs during processes of contcentration with concentrated attention and in- tense reflective activity in thought. Whether they would be sufficiently intense for visualization or perception of whatever character, in a less vision- ary type of personality may be left for the indi- vidual only to decide in his universal experience. There is no doubt that attention and repetition as well as sensations help to fix ideas in the mind. And Locke was specially adapted to give a good) description of the phenomena of memory. He re- fers to the character of this type of mental activity
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in his own way; "This laying up of our ideas in the repository of memory signifies no more than this, that the mind has a power in many eases to revive perceptions which it once had, with this additional perception annexed to them, that it has had them before. And in this sense it is, that our ideas are said to be in our memories when indeed they are actually nowhere."
In a world that is completely rational, it might be said that the world exists only as an object of thought. There are certain conditions that make consciousness possible, and these are the laws that govern the world. The multitude of sensible per- ceptions are reduced to a unity in all thought forms by the creative imagination whose principles are the laws of the completely rational world. The universal form of consciousness recognized in the completely rational type of experience, may be sub- divided into a number of particular formis repre- senting the different logical judgments, correspond- ing to the categories of the understanding. The function of the categories seems to be adapted es- pecially to deal with sensible perceptions, but these are always or generally received as impressions; and there are ways of thinking that don't need to wear the armor of the categorical system of con- cepts— these are essential, however, in a common life and intercourse of spirits so long as they de- pend on sense knowledge for a common understand- ing. Kant recognized twelve forms of judgment, but at the same time he admits a synthetical unity of somewhat in the form of intuition. In what does
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Kant's "synthetical unity of the manifold in intui- tion" consist? How can he know that it is not a form of the logical judgment with which he mlay not be acquainted in his table of the logical forms of judgment? If the understanding, by means of the synthetical unity, introduces a transcendental context into its representations that give them a claim to the title of pure concepts of the under- standing, there is a law of thought not limited to the categorical form of reasoning, though these categories when applied to phenomena become the principles of pure understanding. The mind in its wagers for the sake of truth does not always feel comfortable going out to conquer burdened with the categories of some other mind. The mind in its natural affinity for truth aims with unerring judgment, and not only makes its mission secure in a world of skeptical blindness to the transcen- dental vision of Truth; but also arrives safely at the goal of its destiny.
Whether time is a product of the Imagination or a form of thought, need not trouble the transcen- dental life of conscious thought experience. It is likely the form of thought and tihe product of the Imagination, since they co-operate with each other in every normal type of experience, religious or transcendentally ethical and aesthetical. Heer someone may try to misconstrue the meaning of imagination and thought, and ask how can sense and the understanding work in concert? Or how can the unity of the concept come out of the mani- fold sense experience, since they are utterly op-
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posed? Such a one ought to know that there is no unity except it be established and created by the laws and principles of harmony and concert. The discordant must strike a harmony with the harmonious, and the universal harmony of reason to reason is thus attained and maintained in every particular experience. Without Absolute harmony there can be no justifiable claim on the assertion of authority in the commands of the individual over his environment. The inharmonious is to vanish, and the harmonious is to be the Universal Law at last in the Life of every rational experience with the World Order and the particular events of finite satisfaction in the Life of Beauty character- istic of the subject-object intercourse with minds and spirits. The mind does not gain direct causal knowledge through the senses. They can at best suggest the notion of causality; and face to face with this conception, the mind is at home in a realm where sensation is only a form of show and transitory appearance of things. A medium is rec- ognized as active between the knowledge of Self and the knowledge of things. This medium is called time. It is the product of the Imagination and Kant refers to it as a transcendental scheme.
With the law of the succession of events is in- troduced the nature and study of a new logical series in mental activity and perception. The mind may no longer be content with making its way about in a pragmatical scheme of sense infatuation. There are other things more real and permanent than sensation. The mind may even defy the laws
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of time in the logical machine, and make tremen- dous gains; now here, now there, with the quick discernment of ia Universal Consciousness, miaking its survey of the Eternal City; and then slipping back into the easygoing trudging crowd of common life that is content with its daily bread1 and never has any anxiety except for the temporal blesisngs, so long as they come in copious abundance to meet the exorbitant demands of sense consciousness of Self. But that is the way the truth gets expressed through the relation of the human and the Divine. This pre-established harmony in the acts and inde- pendent existences of the monads, Leibnitz con- ceived the Universe to be composed of, his too exclusively formal style — has been described as "spiritual atoms whose whole essence is percep- tion and appetition." With his philosophical Ideal, Leibnitz, however, advances a fine spiritualized conception of the nature of the Self in personal identity of recognition. "A spirit cannot be stripped of all perception of its past existence." There is a continuation and bond of perceptions that constitute in reality the same individual, with the apperceptions also in the perceptions of feel- ings that there is a moral identity; in this con- junction of perception and apperception there is a causality that makes real identity appear. Even if the scientific mind, hastening to keep pace with the facts of consciousness, has to assert or revert to vibrations of ether and ideas; the consciousness that can read them is surely not entirely dependent, if at all, on brain states and neuroses. There may
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be sensations and ideas that arise from them and by the law of association recall one another, yet these cerebral activities are simply natural sign** of the ideas they excite ; and the intelligence that is able to observe them might read them like a book. The physiological theory miay try to make memory a biological fact, and describe it as an activity or flow from the fully conscious to the unconscious, etc., to the completely organized memory of the musician, and to the compound reflex action of organic memory; but it may be truthfully said that "memory is a vision in time." In practice we rarely pass through all the intervening stages, but simplify the procedure by reference to points. The most important events of a life exist in knowl- edge as distant in varying degrees from the present moment. A memory can be localized sufficiently accurate by reference to one of the great divisions. The artistic genius in this respect consists in pass- ing quickly over long intervals as with a single glance. And one of the conditions in this appli- cation of memory is forgetfulness. There are im- mense numbers of states of consciousness that have to be totally obliterated, and many more suppressed. These, however, may never pass out of the range of the law of association; but they are relegated to this sphere where they never recur unless they are summoned to appear before the throne of Judg- ment, Amnesia and the mechanical theory explains things in memory, but not memory. The imagina- tion is subject to fluctuations and changing varia- tion ; reason perceives things as necessary and un-
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der the form of Eternity. In the consciousness of an Absolute necessity, reason dispels the illusion of chance or accident.
Stuart Mill analyzed the apparently simple intui- tions. His failures were, if any, in emphasizing analysis over synthesis. Analysis should not be made an absolute determining purpose. We should only analyze so that we can construct a more per- fect and complete, higher and better synthesis. We analyze experience so that nothing can attack or effect us in an unconscious, unintelligible way. Janet claims that "J. S. Mill does not deny that men think they discover in themselves universal and necessary principles, only he reduces this be- lief to an illusion." This is the inevitable result of a purely analytical method and purpose. The purely analyst tears everything apart and puts nothing together; and then he fails to see that wihich is most real in all things, in which the con- structive Idealist rejoices. And failing to see the reality he then calls the universal Being of con- sciousness an illusion. He analyzes everything away and then finds, indeed, nothing left in the corresponding terms of his crude conceptions. His negative judgment has no power.
Herbert Spencer evolves thought from the ex- ternal world, but icannot define the external world in terms of thought; and, when he cannot reduce it to a permanent possibility of sensations, he re- turns to realism. This he transfigures into a kind of psycho-physical parallelism, of facts regarded as symbols of a 'double aspect of reality. This he
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thinks is unknowable. Spencer's unknowable takes a form that Shows its nature to be foreign or out- side of the Divine harmony and Unity in variety of personal Being, when thought is regarded as an activity of the Divine mind in the world of differ- entiated Being — the sphere of religion, morals and the Social Consciousness.
PART VII.
THE PRINCIPLE OF PERFECTION AND THE MORAL IDEAL.
It is said that "The nobler and more perfect a thing is the slower it is in arriving at maturity. A man reaches the maturity of his reasoning pow- ers and mental faculties hardly before the age of twenty-eight; a woman at eighteen.-' What is the significance of a stray thought, for instance, after coming from a discussion of the critical philosophy of Kant? Can law in itself exist outside of the mental sphere or realm of personal being? There ican be a formal law laid' down for a point and standard of reference, but it is only an objective standard and not a ruling or governing law. The Law of Reason is the most real and significant of all laws and principles; and in metaphysical trea- tises we try to avoid epistemological problems as much as possible, and approach a nature of Rea- soned faith in our discussions of metaphysical themes. Here we come in contact with what is called the intuitive or direct apprehension charac- teristic of the religious consciousness. Whatever the difference between human and:1 divine person- ality may be, it is essentially the nature of direct, though internal perception. It is not altogether different from other facts of consciousness; like other facts, it may or it may not, sometimes it does >metimes it does not, arrest the attention of
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a particular individual. It is probably like the difference between animism and religion. When a man is not very well acquainted with the Divine laws and the Divine personality, he believes that he projects his own personality into external na- ture. Animism has been a form of religious ex- perience, but it is not religion. In religion man is increasingly impressed by the Divine personality, however faint or ill-attended the religious conscious- ness can be imagined to have been in the early stages of religion, animism is in and by itself a higher form of religious thought than can be found in totemism. The Source of all Ideals is in the Infinite, however crudely they may be miscon- strued, and however far they may stray from the genuine religious consciousness.
Spencer thinks that "All mental action whatever is definable as the continuous differentiation and integration of states of consciousness." Regarding living things Spencer places organization and mind at the poles of Being, as it were the clearest fact about the lowest forms and the highest dynamical conception. Organization attaches to the lowest, and mind to the highest forms. Between these per- haps equally balanced is a transition point in the evolutional drama where the poet glides easily over from the physical standpoint to the psychical, but the facts are still dealt with chronologically. But suddenly the advance and synthetic movement ceases, and when the end of psychology is sat- isfactorily accomplished!, there is a backward, sweeping, analytical mJovement by which the first
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starting point is demolished and exploded like a mighty boomerang. Out of the ruins of an ex- ploded hypothesis there arises by and by what is poetically styled "Transfigured Realism," a final ta- bleau presenting a picture of society to philosophy in a moment of time, such that philosophy from Skepticism up to Absolute Idealism finds something to be thankful for and anon picks it up as a treas- ure of Truth, careless about the modifications that may consequently be inaugurated in the established form of belief or conception of Ultimate Reality. It is said that no fixed boundary can be assigned to "experience except by extending it in thought, and thought itself involves experience." The phrase, "content of experience" or "content of conscious- ness" is apt to mislead the superficial eye of dis- cernment. The experience of one cannot be said to limit the experience of another, as one moment of time or space is limited by another of like quality and nature; yet experience is always regarded as self-maintained, and as an organic unity. Bain sug- gests that "Mind is definable" first by the method of contrast, or as a, remainder due when the object world is subtracted from the totality of conscious experience. But when he meets the problem of ex- ternal perception he adds that the only possible knowledge of a world is in reference to individual minds. When knowledge means a state of mind the notion of material things is simply a mental fact, The notion of an independent material world is not capable of discussion as an existential fact. The very act would! be a contradiction. It is reasonable
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and logical to speak only of a world as it is pre- sented to our minds. Here, at least, the fundamen- tal unity of experience is recognized in the duality of subject and object. There must be a subjective side to the object consciousness, and an objective side to the subject consciousness. The objects of a subject consciousness are those of an individual experience only; those of the object consciousness are the objects in which all other sentient beings participate. We should notice, also, that this is variable according to the different degrees of con- ciousness. What is psychologically objective is often epistemologically subjective. Ward is au- thority on this point, respecting the "Absolutely ultimate relation within experience we can either say that it is inexplicable, or we may entertain the notion of an Absolute, in whom the unjity of ex- perience outlasts the duality." We have no reason to attempt to bring this relation of subject and object under the category of cause and effect. "Causes must be real before they can be causes. An effect or consequent cannot give rise to its own cause or antecedent."
It is perhaps a well-reasoned faith, that philos- ophy can be nothing but a system of well-ordered opinions. In so far as this is a fundamental fact, an end is often spoiled by pressing an argument too far. The problem of practical reason is to deter- mine the objective principle of the will. What is that appeal made to the rational will to which man responds? I think it is a worthy Ideal. It must be something more than a mere maxim, Plant some
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principle in the heart, and in the intellect it will grow. From Kant's position his system seems ex- tremely awkward. If James' statement referred to before is the right attitude, what is to become of the ultimate objective elements of Being when complete analysis of the world has been made? He takes the ascendant point of view when he says, "We all cease analyzing the world at some point and notice no more difference. The last units with which we stop are our objective elements of being." Being is to be active according to the essential nature of that which is. This is indeed a very complex pro- cess. Ward thinks purely cognitive experience is impossible; even time and space relations involve elements due to activity initiated by feeling. There are two formis of experience — the experience of a given individual and experience as the result of intersubjective intercourse. This gives rise to dual- ism unless the second form can be shown to be an extension of the first, and that there is an organic unity throughout both. "If philosophy is really to unify knowledge, it must perforce protest against these facticious unities, which allow of no bond but the unknowable."
Transubjective experience is of a higher order, but the elements are supplied by immediate exper- ience so far as the object consciousness is concerned. When forms and fundamenta are concerned, intel- lectual forms consist of relations between whatever fundamenta there are. New fundamenta may emerge with the ampler paralax of universal ex- perience. "The subject of universal experience is
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one and continuous with the subject of individual experience," and "in universal experience also there is the same intimate articulation of subjective and objective factors." On these grounds Ward sub- stantiates a charge of fallacy against naive realism. The subject of universal experience is not numeric- ally distinguished from the subject of individual ex- perience. The same subject advances to the level of self-consciousness, and participates in all that is communicable, in all that is inteligible in the ex- perience of other self-conscious subjects or spirits. "Universal experience is not distinct from all sub- jects, but common to all intelligents, peculiar to none."
The intellectual and the spiritual element in reli- gion shows itself in man's early religious propensi- ties and nature. Worshiping things by wiiich he was surrounded seemed to be the inevitable conse- quence of the fact that he had as yet made little progress in the work of discriminating the contents of his consciousness, external and internal. But it is impossible that the contemplation of such ex- ternal objects could be the source of the sentiment of the supernatural. The source manifests itself from within the inner consciousness. Totemism was or is the attempt to translate and express in outward action the union of the human will with the Divine. Primitive man sought to reconcile his inner and external experience by identifying the personal divine will, which manifested itself to his inner consciousness, with one of the personal agents in the external world that exercised an influence on
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his fortunes. If there is an ugly element in primi- tive religions, it is dtue to the lack of aesthetic taste and appreciation of the Spiritualized Ideal, char- acteristic of the natural man. Art in life and the spiritual element in religion has lifted man from crude nature to fellowship with the Divine. Where there is a sense of the Beautiful there is the pres- ence of the divine, but no man can touch or de- stroy. They may break the vase, they may tear the leaves and eliminate the delicate tints and forms from their beautiful design, but the sentiment of the rose will cling to it still. "The beauty of all things even to the meanest of the minerals pro- claims God." Love is the Ultimate of all being. "To think is not to love, but to love is to think." The "freedom of will" and the holding of ethical and aesthetical ideas, are activities belonging to the nature of mind, there is a class of problems and principles that psychological science hands over to philosophical ethics and philosophical aesthetics for a more thorough examination. The problems have their origin for the most part in that form of experience called the consciousness of Self. Problems only exist till they are explained away; and they db not exist before the Self is conscious of certain imperfect conditions of environment and knowledge. Though the study may be epistemo- logical and metaphysical, it is well to assume the responsibility of being true to the empirical science of mftnd life. Of reflective experience and the world of fact, the Poet's song is significantly true :
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"Comrade, hail ! The pulse of the world's astir Under the snow, and the ancient doubts are dead. Freedom, achievement, wait for us. Come, be
glad!" I listened, I looked ; and faith to my hope was wed. His kingly courage told me the beautiful truth ; He is mine, and his strength infuses my rescued
will. Up, faint heart! We will conquer together my
year; Life and love shall their old sweet promise fulfill.
Taylor says, "Were my interests widened so as to embrace the whole scheme of the universe, I should no longer perceive the contents of that uni- verse as dispersed through space, because I should no longer have any special standpoint, a here to which other existences would be there."
"My special standpoint in space may thus be said to be phenomenal of my special and peculiar interests in life, the special logical standpoint from which my experience reflects the ultimate structure of the Absolute. And so, generally, though the conclusion can for various reasons not be pressed in respect of every detail of spatial appearance, the spatial grouping of intelligent purposive beings is phenomenal of their inner logical affinity of in- terest and purpose. Groups of such beings, closely associated together in space, are commonly also associated in their peculiar interests, their special purposes, their characteristic attitude towards the universe. The local contiguity of the members of the group is but an 'outward and visible sign' of an 'in-
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ward and spiritual' community of social aspiration. This is of course only approximately the case; the less the extent to which any section of mankind; have succeeded in actively controlling the physical order for the realization of their own purposes, the more nearly is it the truth that spatial remoteness and inner dissimilarity of social purposes coincide. In proportion as man's conquest over his non- human environment becomes! complete, he devises for himself means to retain the inner unity of social aims audi interests in spite of spatial separation. But this only shows once more how completely spa- tial order is a mere imperfect appearance which only confusedly adumbrates the nature of the higher Reality behind it. Thus we may say that the 'aboli- tion of distance' affected by science and civilization is, as it were, a practical vindication of our meta- physical doctrine of the comparative unreality of space."
Lower conceptions of space are indeed not al- ways factors or elements of consciousness; and for that mind1 they have no ontological value. The spiritual Self is a self -felt and known activity that cannot be localized in time or space. As Prof. Ladd has said, "Self-consciousness is not an ab- straction. The description of it m(ay be and often is a mere abstract relating of abstractions. But, in actuality, self-consciousness is the experience of a being with itself. This experience is at timtes so rich and content-full, that when fully compre- hended and faithfully described, it is seen to in- volve attending to and thinking about the self, feel-
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ing of self — the affection of being alive as both suffering and doing — and activity that is self-di- recting as well as self-cognizing." For instance, every one admires the sympthy of friends; and whose interests blend are friends. Between friends there is no fear, but love only is sought in trusting confidence. If people must fall in love, let it be witn high Ideals; for the knowledge of Self is imme- diate, while the knowledge of things is only the force of an analogy. As a psychological professor once brilliantly remarked : " The mind does in- fluence the body, but the body is not a clog that clings to the nrind." Then the question arises, are there any movements that are not related with consciousness?
The principle of causality may be understood as any set of circumstances by which any event regu- larly occurs. This set is total — for instance, the total experience of the race, and summation of thought. Sin has roots in neither a material con- stitution or mind alone. One is inclined to think that when reality or absolute truth is known and evil disclosed by a discovery of the true nature of Self and things, evil will find its own inevitable destruction in the nature, impulse and strivings of an evil will that is no longer restrained by the peaceful, harmonious laws of real minds, that have entered the new Heavens and the New Earth, built on the foundations of Truth out of the ideal, ethi- cal, aesthetical values of a social order and per- sonal life in perfection. In this transition period, they who have a clear vision of the Kingdom of
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Absolute Truth and the glory of the Kingdom of God, and long for the fulfilment with sorrowing mindls and hearts and spiritual suffering on ac- count of the unhappy environment of the present life — let them be strong, and not faint; borne up- ward as on the wings of eagles, sailing on high and continually renewing their strength. In the language of the ancient Philosopher and Prophet : "They shall be as mighty men, which tread down their enemies in the mire of the streets in the battle: and they shall fight, because the Lord is with them, and the riders on horses shall be con- founded." And again, "I will strengthen them in the Lord; and they shall walk up and down in his name, saith the Lord."
The free play of the imagination in contempla- tion of an object is an essential factor or function of the feeling of beauty and sublimity. Kant said, "It is the state of mind produced by a certain rep- resentation with which the reflective Judgment is occupied, and not the Object, that is to be called sublime." This is probably a better conception of the subliminal consciousness than that conception which is concerned with the various types of ab- normjal psychic phenomena. There is undoubtedly a fine sense of the subliminal element in the love affairs of the poets; andi there is sublimity in lit- erature, as well as in the rosy peaks of snow-capped mountains, when the light and color in rare and delicate tints play and skip from crag to crag of crystal formations during the progress of dawn on a summer day. One of the most striking exam-
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pies of the sublime in literature is the crowning summit of genius in a work inspired by an ideal- ized love. Dante's love for Beatrice is a classic type of love almost completely ideal. That love was the inspiration of his life work. Dante's actual ac- quaintance with his beloved was very slight, and he only twenty-five when she died:; yet the memorial of his love was the Divine Comedy he finished at the age of fifty-six. The love of knights for their ladies in the days of chivalry was not far from this type. Each knight carried with him his lady's fa- vor, and this was an inspiration to deeds of knightly power. It is a regular fact that romiance has come late in life to many of those who have created ro- mance for others. We need but refer to Hawthorne, Tennyson, Elizabeth Barrett, and we have types of the most intense and romantic struggles of lofty spirits winging their course through the common and the royal life of the prosaic world. As fate would have it they were married at forty, and their happiness was near ideally perfect. Thus man is master of his fate. Of Mrs. Tennyson it has been written that she walked by his side more than forty years, "quickening his insight, strength- ening his faith, fulfilling his every heart's desire." Should any claim that love is selfish absorption, there is nothing of the kind in this type of love. The world is richer for the life of love, when those men and women found in each other the inspira- tion of their best work. In contrast with these there is the pitiful love story of Keats, whose ideals were so high that no woman seemed to have been
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able to realize them; yet he fell in love with a pretty face and graceful figure. He knew all the while, if he kept sight of his ideal, that the graces of heart and mind he so admired with ardent de- votion were not hers. He seemed to have perceived at the first dawn of the day of romance when cupid first sped his flying arrow that he had been captivat- ed by the physical charms. And so great was the power of his infatuation and the enthrallment of his ill health that he wore himjself out with the strug- gle between his ideal and the reality so hopelessly below the ideal reality, which Tennyson refers to as having its home in the mind. Browning in An- drea del Sarto has not neglected a study of this type of love's distressing effects. The active or Ideal side of the individual is indeed more char- acteristic than the sensory. There are unhappy unions on earth that make them idealize a mar- riage in Heaven. Then Heaven may mean the realm of eternal day, where everything is perfec- tion, and life is love. Death may mean nothing more to them than the waking up from the sleep of material sensation. And; the love-forsaken soul may cry in utter despair, "Dearest heart! With- out our love I cannot live; without it I dare not die." Turning from human loves, music is the purest example of beauty in the object.
The satisfactory explanation of one's experience and interpretation of the conceptual order of the world is a worthy idea of causation, that can be resolved into qualitative determinations of person- ality by a purely Ideal character. Though the
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superficial mind in view of the recent effort to explain everything by motion or activity leaves physics and metaphysics diluted with speculative myth and the whims of fancy that cause sound phil- osophy to seem a little shady and somewhat in the rear; yet the true metaphysician may reply in popular discussions - with humble dignity that is at once convicting and at the same time reclaims authority when birlliant hypotheses are like a van- ishing flame : "I know, but we are trying to catch up/' And the pure idealist may do well to heed the call to brush over the lowlands a little more. The category of quantity may not be needed as a vital fact, but we do need Quality. Indeed, most things related to force and energy can be explained by reference to quality. What seems static in the materialistic world may be readily explained as the manifestation of a will. Could will exist apart from Intelligence and Feeling it would be a very passive something. Intelligence and Love are most everything; and the two united are in essence an active Will. Indeed., Love is an attribute and power that does include all. Love is both intelligence and a free, active will. The elective will is thor- oughly evident in all fine co-ordinative activity ad- justed and. responsive to the Immanent Idea of Pure Design in the Absolute Intelligence. There is a certain analogy of the Individual type of this teleological order, when the measurements of Mr. B — are contrasted with those of Mr. C — . Mr. B — may be up and hit a glass ball in the air, while Mr. C — is trying to get his rifle in line.
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The one is trained to make the co-ordinations in- stinctively, and he fixes; his eye on the mark, while the other has to spend some time consciously try- ing to get the less finely co-ordinated) activities into range. Some have called intuition the seventh sense, and they think it is shown in physical signs by large eyes, great expansion of the optic nerve, very fine, clear skin and fine hair. There is proba- bly no other co-ordination on record so well ordered and responsive as the eye; it takes its mark imme- diately, and the sensitiveness of the optic nerve is shown by its brilliancy. Undoubtedly in such con- ditions what is called "intuition" or "sensitiveness" to external impressions is to be expected. The men- tal faculties of hope, analysis, mental imitation, sublimity, ideality, human nature — have been re- ferred to various organs and functions, by those who are interested in physical signs. Why the liver should have anything to do with hope and analysis ; the nervous system with mental imitation ; the per- fected condition of the mind and body, with Sublim- ity ; the high quality of brain, muscles and nerves, with Ideality; or the fine quality of nerves and muscles, with human Nature ; I do not know. There is also a claim that the darker the skin the less developed the organization. The mystic philoso- pher and scientist, Swedenborg, says, "Angels" com: municate "by looking in each others faces"; and that "They comprehend what is in the mind by merely looking at the face." In this world espe- cially in the application of mental life, it has been well longed for and 'desired;' for we want beings or
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kings who govern and women who philosophize. Then "If men love because they believe, and be- lieve because they love, life becomes an unalloyed delight." And it is a credit to the wisdom of woman when her womjanly talents are sufficiently emphasized and employed to endow her with spir- itual discernment and the aesthetic Judgment. In- deed, "When women know how to attach men to them by means of pure love, all individual forces gain vigor, a nation flourishes, and the people are at Peace." We bring the aesthetical judgment to the test of argument and reason, but this demon- strative apodictic way of treating the judgment of taste is not always in agreement with taste itself. While discussing the emotions, a psychological professor at Yale made the remiark that we are ac- customed to think of ourselves as a kind of con- sciousness sitting around in something we call a body, getting a piece of information here and there. The remark is very suggestive, but I personally have been accustomed to think of the emotions as something purely aesthetic, and have found it dif- ficult to apply this to a bodily resonance theory. Certain thoughts and feelings of intellectual qual- ity send the blood coursing through the system, causing a modification in sensory consciousness, yet this is more correctly regarded from a particu- lar point of view as the sign or effect of an emotion in a bodily resonance. An emotion arises in the aesthetical realm, and the intellectual or spiritual parts of the combination in the aesthetical senti- ment are the initiative activities, and while there
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is a relation between the aesthetic and the sensory, these two cannot be identified as one and the same, because the sensory implies something which the aesthetical judgmjent of taste does not. The con- ception or notion of a bodily resonance is too lim- ited in extent to include more than a very low de- gree of the emotional element in the experience of the Individual Mind and Life of the Spirit. Prof. Ladd once in a lecture referred to the time when Garfield was assassinated for an instance of a com- munistic judgment that was so strong it were pos- sible to detect it in every fibre of one's body, if sensitive enough; and it was not safe for anyone to disagree or go against the wave of sentiment. The very atmosphere was charged as it were. Per- haps many of us have noticed instances of the same fact : the subtle atmosphere as it were charged with a powerful sentiment or influence of a prevailing strong general judgment. On certain occasions this may be particularly noticed as an aesthetical or ethical judgment, with which one is always in sym- pathy. One needs only to visit a museum of fine arts, or enter a harmjonious social environment to verify the fact of experience, but there is always a personal element of Creative Mind present with the Individual; and we have to console the Self with the poet's declaration once more :
"The type of perfect in the mind In nature we can nowhere find."
While there are always aesthetical and ethical judg- ments with which one finds sympathy, there is an
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unpleasant atmosphere unmistakably associated with a dull, materialistic, unloving, unsocial com- munity or city.
An emotion is a mental process within the limits of and under the control of the higher mental facul- ties of the Reason; and it seems that the emotion cannot be less than this connection between the mind and body that klenotes the discharge of ner- vous energy by the judging activity in perception, either mental or physical. And the higher the theme and thought, the finer the emotion and the expression of feeling. The unity of the individual life is of a psychic nature, and ethical love is a tie that unites the social organization. In the be- ginning Love unites the many in the One ; through life Love maintains the identity ; in knowledge Love of the Ideal discerns Reality; in crises Love trans- forms the life; and in the higher unity and free- dom of the spiritual order, Love is Life. Prof. James says, "Our emotions must always be in- wardly what they are whatever be the physiological ground of their apparition. If they are deep, pure, worthy, spiritual facts on any conceivable theory of their physiological source, they remain no less deep, pure, spiritual and worthy of regard on this present sensational theory." This is .a suggestive thought but hardly dare be advanced until the phys- ical organism is conceived of as wholly spiritual, released from the influences of materialistic minds in the present order of social relations. An emotion is most likely the psychic thrill that follows the judging process or activity, and is inhibited or ex-
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pressed by the bodily organism according to the degree of self commjand and mastery through highly and finely co-ordinated activities of the Self. James refers to the difficulty of detecting with certainty purely spiritual qualities of feeling. He thinks also that "a positive proof of the theory would be * * * given if we could firid a subject absolutely anaesthetic inside and out4 but not paralytic, so that emotion-inspiring objects might evoke the usual bodily expressions from him but who, on being consulted, should say that no abjective emotional affection was felt. Such a man would be like one who, because he eats, appears to bystanders to be hungry, but who afterwards confesses that he had no appetite at all." James also asserts that "If there be such a thing as a purely spiritual emotion, I should be inclined to restrict it to this cerebral sense of abundance arid ease, this feeling, as Sir W. Hamilton would call it, of unimpeded and not overstrained activity of thought * * *. Under ordinary conditions, it is a fine and serene but not excited state of consciousness. "
The conception of a bodily space is probably formed by contact with environmient — with other minds. And there is perhaps something like a fringe of consciousness acquired in a struggle through life. A so-calle'd. bodily resonance may be nothing more than the manifestation of an emotion in this fringe of consciousness. The emjotion of Love as ethical sentiment sometimes causes a per- son to suffer in the life of other persons; yet these higher sentiments are so highly valued that they
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are willingly endured to the degree of suffering and self-sacrifice for the sake of love and keeping these higher sentiments vital factors in personality. Probably all the organs of the body are conscious to some extent, and capable of direct action in obedience to the determination of the highest cen- ter of co-ordination in the Individual. And when perfect co-ordination is established it very likely ranges all the w^ay from finite to infinite person- ality in universal mind. Then the Individual con- sciousness may feel that "My Self is the Universe so far as I know this in the experience of Beality." Most reliable thinkers and psychological students do not parade a philosophical wisdom of telepathic phenomena. It is not so much a science as a fact, or a philosophy as a life ; and it is to be consciously lived and acted rather than discussed and talked about : "Openness to all influence that is elevating, invigorating, and healthful. This from another point of view is virtue of candor, dispassionateness or single-eyedness." Eadioactivity and emanation furnish fruitful sources of demonstration of this higher kind of phenomena, Psychologically con- sidered co-ordination means a great deal; for in- stance, the same reaction time is sometimes re- quired for a single letter or short word that the recognition of a long one requires. Oo-ordination perhaps explains nmjch of the variations in the re- action time of different individuals, and these dis- tinct variations are sometimes referred to as the personal equation. If one were to keep on refining till he vanished into a summer cloud, may be the
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personal equation would be eliminated. But prac- tical activity in a world like that in which man finds himself, implies a strong personal element of will and rational direction; for the world hasi to be subdued and man must find peace with the world and himself in a harmonious environment. He is not like the fresh-water hydra, fighting it out to the finish until they are cut into two living or- ganisms that sail away, the one as mjuch alive as the other.
There is sublimity in action when there is a sufficient moral incentive to accomplish a great task in the face of adversities. The story was once told in Kant Seminary by a laldy who referred to a picture that illustrated something of the sublime because it is typical of certain elements of the re- ligious consciousness. High over a mountain an eagle was soaring, down in the valley sat a vul- ture by the side of a half-eaten soldier, waiting for his brother to come and help finish the feast. The awful contrast under the eye of boundless free- dom is sublime, when contemplated in the spirit of brave, stalwart, moral freedom, in the struggle for perfection contrasted with sensuality. "Honesty, fair dealing, courtesy, courage, spiritual saneness, these are the things that make the noble nature that make life blessed. And all these things are habits, to be strengthened or weakened, to be made great or small, to be chosen or rejected." Habit is a fundamental law. There is perhaps nothing mtore perennial in man than habit and imitation. They are the source and principle of all practice
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and harmony in the world. The Ideal of human perfection may be formally defined up to a certain degree as "the complete and harmonious realiza- tion of all human capabilities in a common life of humanity/' sufch that in it all the several mem- bers, whether groups or individuals, are ends in themselves, an'd at the same time subservient mem- bers and parts of the complete order. Fleiderer says, "When an Ideal has attained to dominion, and has seemingly founded its authority firmly for all time in fixed institutions, the defects also forthwith make themselves visible which are con- nected with the dominion of every limited Ideal. Then a reaction arises in the moddi of the peoples; critical reflection awakens; doubt of the absolute truth of the previous Ideal of life and of the orders of life that have sprung from it takes possession of individuals, and then of ever greater masses of men, and in the conflict with the old there arises a new Ideal, the goal of the striving of coming generations. This in its turn again passes through the same circle of aspiring, conquering and ruling, and of being combated and overcome. These trans- formations of human Ideals in the succession of ages form the kernel of history, its spiritual sub- stance, which all external events subserve as its means ankl expression. "
In the midst of this changing appearance in the activity of the Ideal Life of free personality, strong mjoral will is required. This freedom has been de- fined as "Self-determination of the will, not in the sense of a determination out of groundless contin-
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gency, but self-determination on the ground of its own determined being, its temperament or charac- ter. As a man is so hie acts." The rise of moral life as well as all life generally, consists in the ob- servable fact that all is cause and all effect; the seed springs from the fruit arid the fruit from the seed. The inner and outer have a constant re- lation of interaction. AH experience and acting enter as co-operating factors into the formjation of character; and out of character the acting proceeds again according to the type. Yet here there seems to be a possibility of morally influencing the will by education and instruction. It is the mission of the poet to create and portray Ideal characters. We are always delighted, with a mioral nature in a series of consistent actions, and the more perfectly the poet succeeds thus to represent the qualities or ethical perfection, so that all the individual mani- festations of a person coalesce into the unity of a unique and specifically determined character, so much the more do we find such poetic invention making aesthetically satisfying impressions of the truth of life.
In the deduction of the judgment of taste, Kant's main position shows that there are certain judg- ments of taste that are necessary and universal. A purely logical or argumentative demonstration of a judgment of taste is not to say posssible. Experi- mental work in psychology is suggestive, though it is not exactly adapted to the subject. The historical method comjbined with the psychological is perhaps the more successful and adequate. Objects of art
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that have stood the test are worth study, and this is the more fruitful in aesthetics. The character of the feeling the objects of beauty evoke is the test of their beauty. The significance and ontologi- cal value of the feelings of the race respecting the judgments of taste are of no little moment. We are not to be conformed to this world, but we are to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. The oak tree illustrates an important truth in its sim- ple life. It stands for strength and rigid firmness against the tempests of an elemental universe, yet is swayed by the gentlest breeze. The acorn falling in unfavorable surroundings may send forth its tender shoots, but dies because the conldiitions of its life through proper support in the environment are not favorable. An'd>, therefore, it has to be conformed to the inorganic world. Man represents a different type. He has free choice. He has self-determination and is not to be con- formed to his lower environment, but transformed by the renewing of his mind. Kant has well shown the blindness of "perceptions without conceptions" and the emptiness of "conceptions without percep- tions." It is never satisfying merely to recognize by the imagination and kindred processes a sort of blind intellection mediating between sensibility an'd pure thought. Thinking is acting and feeling consequentially, and like all acting has a motive and an end. Without definite springs of action self-determination is meaningless. For Hume, the human mind was but a "bundle of perceptions," though he was at a loss, hopelessly so, to find the
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"principle" that unites the "bundle." Kant declares this principle to be the synthesizing activity that yields self-consiciousness. In this activity we may find the source of the conception of nature as a system! of unity and law. And in the recognition of unity and law we have the basis for an aesthetical judgment, and the development of a science of the beautiful. We become more or less self-conscious in the harmony of ethical love, on the basis of a free Spirit.
PART VIII.
UNIFORMITY OF LAW AND DIVINE REVEL- ATION IN THE FREE ACTIVITY OF THE PROPHETIC SPIRIT.
It was represented in the racial experience of the Ideal Religion by the uniformity of law according to Divine revelation arid by the free activity of the prophetic spirit. These were two phases of Jewish piety. The heart religion of the Psalms shows its individualism, and the apocalyptic Idea of social- ism with prophetic insight. The individualism of the heart religion of the Psalms and the socialism of the prophetic Idea and vision of the Kingdom were combined in Jesus of Nazareth with the unity of a unique religious experience and geneality. The fundamental tone of his religious life was the intimate union with God experienced by the pious poets of the Psalms. With Him it was clothddi in the image of the most natural and intimate bond of fellowship. It was the Ideal Type relation of Father and child, but this intimate union with God did not make Him indifferent to the world or to the needs of His people. He saw in God not only His own Father, but the Father of all personal Being. He believed in the destination of all to become actual children of Gdd. through trust and conform- ity to His Will. This hearty love to God was for Him tlie motive of active and patient love; it con- strained Himi to offer the rest and joy that was
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His in the consciousness of Divine Sonship, to all souls weary and heavy laden as a means of con- solation and salvation. His love awakened love in return ; His trust in God awakened the courage of faith; in the presence of the Eternal the evil spir- its of sin and insanity melted away, and the de- mons fled;. The humble and meek teacher became the Physician of the sick, the Leader of tfhe blind from their strayed condition back to the light of Truth, and set tihe captive free. Be not only recognized in these results proofs of the victorious power of the Divine Spirit, but the hope of the early coming of the Kingdom of God dawned as a certainty that its existence had already begun.
The perfection in the principle of the Divine con- sciousness in Jesus was the redeeming power, ap- pearing in Him as personal life; and proceeding from Him is present and active as the Holy com- munistic spirit of Christendom. Whether the indi- vidual life is always the abbreviated repetition of the generic life, or an Ideal creation; and if it is true that the actualization of the human capacities in the individual is everywhere effected, only on the ground of their actuality in society, then it is a happy thought of Schleiermjacher to expand the different states of the religious consciousness into phases of the development of all religious human- ity, in the inner freedom and liberation of the Higher Self; that inner freedom that comes from the reconciliation of inner Stelf certainty and the personal spirit with the historical and communis- tic Spirit of Christendom. It is an Ideal, but it is
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not merely an Ideal without relational existence in Absolute Reality; it is a conception of Goodness, but not merely an ought-to-be-goo'd. expected to be realized from the subjective will, that was never capable of its task. The true good is the "universal rational will or divine Logos" realizing Self in the course of the history of humanity; and the highest point of this divine-human revelation has been at- tained in Christ, though it is by no means limited to Him in an historical appearance. It was pres- ent at the beginning of the Race. The rational capacity and the Image of God in man rests upon participation in the divine Logos. John for that very reason calls the Universal Type the Light of men, the light "which lighteth every man." Every step in the development of Divine personality, every thought rising to the light of truth, every good deed that advances antl. preserves the Moral Order is likewise " a revelation of the divine spirit which rdclleems us from crude nature and educates us into the glorious liberty of the children of God." Without doubt, the chief revelation of the Spirit has been the religious life of human- ity in all time. And the central form tower- ing above all else, is Jesus Christ and His Life work as " the decisive turning point, the regen- eration of humanity, the redemption." This does not exclude the recognition of redeeming heroes and instruments of the divine education of human- ity, in all the other benefactors, who have accom- plished what is great and fruitful in religion and morality, in art and science, in discoveries and in-
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ventions. The collected fruit of all these deeds, conflicts, sacrifices and sufferings, which have con- tributed to further the spiritual development of the race, forms a rich treasure of grace transmitted from generation to generation by a most precious inheritance, the birthright of Wisdom! for the crown of Spiritual Life in the Life Eternal.
The principal distinction between the Christian doctrine of the Creation and the Old Testament doctrine, is in the significant meaning attached to the divine Logos. The world was created through the Logos, but this no longer means a simple word of command. The Divine Spirit is active in the world and finds the culmination of His revelation in the Son of God. On this account the Son Him- self is designated as the Mediator and the final end of the Creation. The meaning of the New Testa- ment doctrine is rarely comprehended in its far- reaching significance. This is what might be na- turally expected when the min>d is not accustomed to distinguish between the divine Logos and the Man Jesus. The Logos and the Man forms a mys- tical union where the most subtle analysis cannot penetrate, but only experience.
Greek art seeks the complete excellence of life, and attains the universal by making a type of the normjal. The higher the type, the nearer it ap- proaches a universal ideal, constituting a Self- activity of the subject not merely intellective or apperceptive, but also practical and conative ac- tivity. And the point has to be insisted upon that, "Not only is subjective synthesis indispensable
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before experience can really begin ; bur it is only by means of this synthesis, and the conative activ- ity by which it is prompted and sustained, that experience can advance and unfold." No doubt, in all such advance there is a constant reciprocity be- tween subject and object. To the subject belongs the initiative and leading principle, and with the development of experience the subject shows an ever increasing supremacy of activity. Association is freer than sensation, and thought is freer than both. Each of these different types of experience entail different degrees of voluntary effort. And the order of the degrees from lower to higher is characteristic of sensation, association and thought. When things conform to our thinking we call them intelligible, and they admit of being described in content or essence as ideal. Truth is most often reached by a series of approximations, but the law of its discovery is in seeking, and the main clue is one's own nature. The world may be judged more adequately with clearer Self-consciousness, then truer and more perfect categories may be em- ployed. Throughout it is a process of assimilating the non-ego to the Ego, not the Ego to the non-ego. From this point of view. Self-realization is the only way to advance. The most potent means of Self-realization is human society. "As iron sharp- eneth iron, so the countenance of man his fellow." It might be said that here first we transcend, in living and active associations, the narrow limits of individual experience, confined to perception, rem- iniscence, and expectation. Bain says, "The reso-
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lution of mystery is found in assimilation, identity, fraternity. "
The truth embodied in Kant's transcendental unity of apperception, is the ultimate paradigm for this process. We have this truth in our own Self- consciousness. It is what we call Reason, and is found to be a universal experience to all Self-con- sciousness. The associationist may try to main- tain that "there is nothing in the mind that could not be developed by the individual for himself. He may be helped to his special associations by others, but he could do it all for himself." Heredity may try to explain both the individual element in the conscious living organism and also its relational element in the conscious life of others. But the social factor shows that when we have made every allowance for heredity in the evolutionist sense, and for experience in the associationist sense, we account for only a very little part of our knowl- edge. Knowledge is the basis of all experience, and what the knowledge of an individual comes to is not to be accounted for by accidental experience alone, nor by heredity nor by the original constitu- tion of the mind. When language is taken into consideration, knowledge is not to be resolved into terms of individualistic experience. Man's being is determined and shaped, largely by social circum- stances. The environment and mastering influ- ences of social traditions make the habits1 and cus- toms of man, individual and social, practically what they are. When man has passed through the training imposed by society, he first begins to as-
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sert himself, and this social influence is exerted chiefly by the m|edium of language. Language has to be regarded as a natural, social product of the mind that is not elaborated by any one person ; it consists of expressions caught up between man and man that come to the current. This is a non-empir- ical factor within the sphere of sense; not merely a system of sounds, but also an a priori factor of knowledge. Hence there is no need to fall back on what is sometimes called pure intuitions and concepts that cannot be accounted; for. The child, for instance, thinks with concepts formed before his own experience with the world begins; his con- cepts to begin with have been developed, and in past times were different from what they are in the present world upon which he enters a life of ex- perience and self -consciousness. In general, the notion of the world efficiently and causally has at least in some degree been developed with the human race. And man finds himself in a world; where the means are immiediately present for working out a systematic theory of knowledge, beginning with the point of view of what may be called modern Experimentalism. Philosophy is not identical with science, but its problems should be solved as far as possible from a scientific point of view.
In religious science and philosophy, when the great discovery was made, duly pondered and. real- ized, the question immediately arose, what is to be done with it? The Buddha shrinks from the work of preaching it to others. Brahma himself comes forth to encourage him to make his secret known
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to others, and to assure him that many will receive it with great joy. And, as the story goes, the Blessed One consents and thus replies : "Wide open is the gate of the Imjmortal to all who have ears to hear; let them send; forth faith to meet it. The teaching is sweet and good; because I despaired of the task, I spake not to men before." He turns his steps!, guided by his own supernatural knowl- edge, to the city of Benares, to seek the five monks who had formerly abandoned him. On his way thither he met a naked ascetic who asks the reason of his cheerful mien ; he answers that he has over- come all foes, has reached emancipation by the de- struction of desire and has obtained; Nirvana. "To found the kingdom of Truth I go to the city of the Kasis (Benares) ; I wrill beat the drum of the im- mortal in the darkness of this world." The account which follows of the opening of the "kingdom of righteousness" presents many apologies to the early stages of other spiritual movements. The founder immovably sure of himlself and of his doctrines, goes from place to place, spending the rainy season in town, and preaching everywhere. It is at Be- nares that the "wheel of the law" is first set in motion ; there the first sermon was preached : "The noble Truth of the Path which leads to the Ces- sation of Suffering. The holy eightfold; Path. That is to say, Eight Belief, Bight Aspiration, Bight Speech, Bight Conduct, Bight Means of Livelihood, Bight Endeavor, Bight Memory, Bight Meditation." We have come to ask ourselves the question, What is experience? We are accustomed to think
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that there must be a universal element in all ex- perience; otherwise we could not know that we have any experience at all. And experience may range all the way from finite or individual experi- ence to universal; but in all experience, universal as well as particular, there is that intimate artic- ulation of subjective and objective factors. What we call finite experience is our experience with finite beings, while what we call universal is that sympathetic and harmonious activity of thought and life that is the ideal relation of all life, and would appeal to all as a common living relation if they couKl be made to view it from that point of view which is in contact or active harmony with the Ideal kingdom! of a universal experience of life. What relation subjective 'color sensations, seeing color and space forms with closed eyes, etc., have to this type of experience is questionable. Miss Washburn has tried to investigate this problem and thinks they relate "simply to the influence of centrally excited sensations produced by such ef- forts upon the ordinary 'ringing off' of after- images," But the nine years that have followed since then have undoubtedly revealed many more facts of a like significant order. There is a certain attitu'cte that regards the true unity of life and mind and spirit in something higher than a mere idea — and believes that it is in an Ideal which has its home in the Life of the Universe, in the Mind of God. For instance, a mere so-called idea may be taken from one by the conduct and narrow- mindedness of a few supposed friends ; but an Ideal
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is a possession of one;s own that cannot be touched., though this may be inhibited and prevented from appearing in free expression. As when the stilted theologian tackles one, who has presented a rather visionary and idealistic conception of the Origin and Nature of Ideals, on the point of the Law and the Prophets with a slightly different meaning attached to those terms of Law and Prophecy. Then when one emphasizes the spiritual elemfent of meaning over against the traditional, the stilted theologian hears the command from convincing authority: "Go to the Jews with your Moses." If refusing to take the command as an appointed task, he comes to the Greeks instead, his contention is placidly and; perhaps finally silenced by reference to what may be called intimate articulation of subjective and objective factors in all experience, whether it be religious or otherwise, universal or more particularly individual. No religion or ex- perience can run on long as a development, if it is extremely objective. The objective tends to become subjective, and the subjective, objective. The stilted theologian as a last resort may then urge the con- cluding remark, "Then you think religion subjec- tively lies at the basis of all Ideals." It is a remark probably slightly twisted from ultimate Truth, yet one with which the Idealist is glad to rest momen- tarily, though he may not quite agree with it. What part relativity hais to play in the historical origin of psychology is no little concern in the idealistic philosophy of religion. Whatever else it may be, it is unquestionably a logical relation.
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There may have been irrational elements involved as there are in all 'cosmic relations; but the irra- tional have to come to judgment before the type of perfect relativity in the presence of rational elements of experience.
Ritchie in Mind on the Epistemological problem of Origin and Validity in Knowledge, makes use of the Aristotelian distinction between the origin of anything and its final cause or enkD which it comes to serve. This end or Ideal, as in knowledge, mtist be known before we can know the nature of the thing or concept. It is the duty of the logician not to "shirk an investigation of the conditions under which knowledge an'd nature and conduct are possible." It is said that "One of the chief characteristics of the 'metaphysical' stage of thought is its anxiety to vindicate the value of moral and other ideas by tracing them back to an origin which can be regarded as in itself great and dignified, whether the greatness and dignity be such as come from the clearness of reason or, as is often supposed, from the darkness of mystery." It is a fact regarding the individual mind, that ideas of peculiar importance, whether in logic or in morals, have been called "innate." Says one, "We have only to look deep enough to find them be- neath the superimposed crust of prejudice, experi- ence and conventional belief." There is often a strong temptation to regard the inexplicable or unexplained, the unanalyzable or unanalyzed, with peculiar veneration; and the feeling of jealousy and suspicion has not been absent from some minds,
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when there has been any attempt to examine the elements and origin of whatever is valued or aJd- mired. There may be an element of truth in the suspicion that most poets and some philosophers regard scientific analysis. It is a true instinct to warn against regarding a subject to have been dis- posed of when historically considered. But to deny the historical account entirely is not a true method. Innate Ideas, Inexplicable Intuitions, the scientific methods of analysis and theories of evolution miay be allowed complete validity. And the test of the real importance of ideas in logic, in ethics or in religion that have a history in the minds of the race and of the individual, may be decided by their truthfulness with reference to a knowledge of the Ideal as a standard of judgment. The essence of the transcendental proof which various systems of Metaphysical Idealism were feeling after ami'd many errors, is stated as follows: "If knowledge be altogether dependent on sensation, knowledge is impossible. But knowledge is possible; because the sciences exist. Therefore, knowledge is not altogether dependent on sensation." Science can- not be considered as a "history of the genesis of knowledge from sensations."
Though the argument may not be recognized to imply a statement of a fact in psychology it is en- tirely logical, and its 'denial would involve expe- rience in contradiction. It is the ultimate argu- ment and will only be denied by the complete skep- tic. "To discover the a priori element in knowledge, i. e., that elemient which, though known to us only
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in connection with sense-experience, cannot be de- pendent on sense-experience for its validity, in the business of a philosophical theory of knowledge." And, if that is called a part of metaphysics, it is a metaphysics that cannot be dispensed with. Are there categories discovered, and should "Self-con- sciousness," "Ideality," "Substance," "Cause," "Time," "Space," be among them; to arrange these categories in a system, see their relations to one another and to the world of nature and of human action, will be the business of Philosophy or Meta- physics in a more universal sense, or meaning. This might be called Speculative Metaphysics, and the only test of the validity of a system of Speculative Metaphysics is its adequacy, to the explanation and arrangement of the whole universe as it becomes known to us. Hence, every thinker is of necessity a metaphysician. Psychologically considered, we are concerned with what actually goes on in the mind of any individual or of the average indi- vidual. Logically, it is the "rules or ideal stand- ards to which the mental processes of every one must conform if they are to attain truth." To- gether with Logic, there are two other Regulative Philosophical sciences — "Concerned respectively with those rules or ideals which must be fulfilled for the attainment of Beauty in Art, and with those which must be fulfilled for the realization of Good- ness in Conduct. The presupposition of knowledge was found to be the presence of a Self which is Eternal and which is yet never completely realized in any one," and thus "remains an Ideal perpe-
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tually urging to its realization." Hence we have a science of the Beautiful, Aesthetics and Religion. The presence of the Universal coefficient to all human effort must be recognized as involved with the presence of the Eternal Self. This Self is pre- supposed by any account of knowledge or conduct.
What the Ideal at any time may be, is not so definitely known; but the content of the ideal is something for historical investigation. The iicteal varies, "else progress would be impossible. But there must be an ideal, a judgment of ought else morality would be impossible." The idea cannot be "complete till these ideals are complete, i. e., the growth of the idea of God," which miay be called the "revelation of God, is continuous and commen- surate with human progress." Yet "The value of a religious idea cannot be dependent upon an external authority of any kind, but sfolely on its own afdie- quacy to express, in a manner fitted to appeal at once to the intellect and the emotions!, the highest possible beliefs of the timie." And so far as "Chris- tianity is a system of spiritual doctrines and be- liefs about the relation between the soul of the indi- vidual and the Divine Spirit," — and this Spirit has a cosmic significanice — "it finds a philosophical counterpart and intellectual interpretation in Idealism."
The relativity of knowledge in Metaphysical habits of thought and reflection requires that the Self shall grow by the acquirement of transcen- diental experience. And when the thoughts get cleared up by and by, the Individual Self has an
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opportunity to relate what lies nearest the heart of the mind, if he will. The aesthetic and social significance of the ontological value of Truth af- fords ample opportunity for dwelling on sentiments of this vital character. But Systematic Metaphy- sics has a supreme value of its own, and is more- over a profound discipline in free thought. As an idealist one is helped to get an anchor for faith. Hope is always an anchor, even when it leads on to belief and certitude. Absolute assurance is the hope and anchor of the Soul. Without hope there would be little peace, happiness, progress or satisfaction in the aesthetical Ideal. It makes possible the con- dition for inspiration and confidence that fits in a larger measure for the more strenuous work of a practical life. There is a judgment that theoretical knowledge of truth, cannot be overestimated as a preparation for any kind of specialized activity. It is the life of all true development in the higher order, and might be called the two-edged sword that pierces to the dividing of soul and spirit, dis- tinguishing those who belong to the spirit of life in a royal Kingdom of personal Being that crowns all worthy combinations of thought and feeling in the constant realization of Ideals. A study in Metaphysics validates and makes stronger a con- stantly growing, ever-present conviction, so char- acterized, of the Unity of life in the Ideal, and the subordination of that which is imperfect to the Perfect Reality that constitutes the essence of all life and being. This is the logical result, however far consciousness by immediate interpretation of
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appearances alone may be removed from immediate experience of such truth that lives in the heart, which is the real Self ever present in all the mind's aictivity. There is probably a well-defined distinc- tion in many minds between experience, specula- tion, and reflective experience. Again, reflective experience may indeed be regarded as the most valid and truest kind of experience a person can have. Other experiences, so-called, blend into phenomenalism and their chief value is in giving expression to the true and higher experience worthy the name of a Self. If a few personal references will be pardoned, they may make more clear this metaphysical point of view.
I used to wonder why I never experienced any great changes such as I heard others talk of re- ligiously as something they called conversion. The fundamental principles of an ethico-religious life always absorbed my chief interests and thoughts. During the later years of my college course, I came in contact with some of the best idealistic philosophy and fell in great admiration with this through my literary rambles. A year's work later showed to my satisfaction more or less that I had imbibed a great deal of the spirit of the Kantian philosophy. And the close of my last year in the Theological Seminary marked a crisis that resulted in a completely changed* point of view, that threw doubt on the being or reality of the external world. I had to guard against complete solipsism, and came to the conviction that there is a point wThere so-called evolution, which had been absorbing in-
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terest for some time, breaks up into what might be called pure activity, or personal idealism that con- stitutes an entirely different sphere of development according to a law in the life of the spirit. There was a period during that crisis, if I may refer to it, that threw 'doubt on most everything except the reality of the Ideal Self. Thinking in a certain mode, a moment seemed as eternity ; again eternity as a moment when it is past. Consciousness oscil- lated between that class of phenomena (dependent on the law of gravitation, such as musicular sensa- tion, and that class of phenomena we may term the construction of an Ideal Space. When I had tame to think over it, and especially a systematic study of Metaphysics later, confirmed and strengthened cer- tain attitudes and points of view, — namely, to regard the external type of Being a reality in sio for as it is the expression of Ethical, Aesthetical, Absolute Being ; and we know the Self co-conscious with this Being of the World. When we have realized the perfect Ideal of Truth, from the point of view of personal absolute knowledge, we then only begin to know wh&t life is and its significance, with the recognition of the limitless opportunities, possibilities and scope of personal Being.
Kant's skeptical trend of thought had by necess- ity from his limited point of view to express itself in the doctrine of antinomies. When we are told that knowledge is phenomenal we may expect the charge of subjectivity from that phenomenalistic point of view which discerns not reality in that sphere of reality where knowledge constitutes the
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ground and activity of tike Being of the World. So-called antinomies when critically examined show themselves contradictory and unreal. They are the result of confounding the two forms of the Hand's activity. Phenomenalism is regarded as false when taken as an ultimate point of view. Ex- perience from the very beginning is ontological ; the Ego asi active is present in every content of con- sciousness. In sense experience we pierce through the shell of phenomenalism and know reality of the external type of experience in the world as well as the subjective Eeality of the Self.
When we come to regard subjectivity as Kant has influenced the conception, one of the first in- quiries is and should be whether the fundamental categories, etc., are in harmony. Harmony at the basis of all knowledge is objectively valid and real knowledge. The outer world of things conforms to the world of mind. The mind legislates for the world. The other is the empiricist's position, who claims that the mind conforms to the world of of things. When the laws of one correspond to the other, we enter the theisitic position 'where in truth there is no evidence of contradiction. The true theistic position is a life at peace with Self arid! with the World, and a perceptive view of Uni- versal Harmony. Any other supposition renders knowledge impossible, for knowledge of the real is a fact of self-consciousness, while for the simple object consciousness there is immediate experience of a "will that Will® not as I will." This mind does not transend its categories ; if it did, it would
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"require a new set of categories; and then who would sit in judgment on these?" The rationality of nature is inkleed one of the most fundamental assumptions. The rational universe is; the com- plement of the Infinite. It involves the principle of efficient cause, and this is implied in all scientific procedure.
As J. B. Baillie maintains in a study of the origin and significance of Hegel's Logic, "The maintenance of the supremacy of mind is simply the other side to, has its necessary complement, the complete and detailed exhibition of this supremacy throughout all reality. It means that this mind is to embrace its object. It is not to exclude it (that would be dualism) ; nor to negate it (that would be solipsism; nor to be on a level with it (that would be the Indifferentism of Schelling) ; it is to contain it in itself." This is Idealism, and to solve this problem and establish the position led Hegel to write the Phenomenology of Mind. New science, indeed, has a very intimate relation with logic. "If Logic is this ultimate and absolute science par excellence, it is clear that it will ceas& to be distinct from and to lie outside 'Metaphysic,' and will become an independent and self-depen- dent science. It will, again, cease to be divisible into Logic of understanding and Logic of reason; will cease to be a 'negative Logic of reflection,' and will become in very deed the all-embracing science with a single absolute method — will be Speculative Philosphy in its truest form." Hegel's Logic was something new given to the world of his
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time. Does Absolute Idealism eliminate the dis- tinction between subject and object? If so, how and in what sphere of thought? Is there not a distinction to take its place, and fulfill a new or'dler of active relations in True Being? What are the conditions for admission and entering on this new order of life, of ideal thought experience? It re- quires isomathing, at least, that may be partly suggested and described by the wedding ring, and the wedding garment, whatever else. If the actuat- ing Idea clothed itself with a full consciousness of what its final realization would be, the distinction between idea and realization might, indeed, be at an end. Since for this reason it is impossible to say what the perfecting of man in its actual attainment might be, we can discern certain conditions it must fulfill, if it is to satisfy the Idea. The Idea actuates the moral life, and must be a perfecting of man rather than any mere human faculty in abstrac- tion, or of any imaginary individuals in that de- tachment from social relations in which they would not be personal Beings at all. There is a justi- fication in holding that it could not be attained in a life of mere scientific and artistic activity, any more than in one of "practical" exertion from which those activities were absent. There is a further claim : "The life in which it is attained mlust be a social life, in which all men freely and consciously co-operate, since otherwise the possi- bilities of there nature, as agents who are ends in themselves, could not be realized in it; and as a corollary of this, that it must be a life determined!
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by one harmonious will — a will of all which is the will of each." Such a will has been called in Green's Philosophy a devoted will, denoting a will for its object, the perfection which it alone can maintain. In treating of the Moral Ideal, this is the condition of individual virtue. Such a will in being formal is not determined by an abstract idea of law, but it implies a whole world of beneficent social activities, sustained and co-ordinated. These activities pursued by a will for their own sake as its own fulfilment, indicate a will rightly taken to be in principle the perfect life; a life perhaps unknown to human activities except in principle.
Green regards this as the end of morality. If it were the end of morality, it would indeed be only the realization of the Moral Ideal, in which moral activities and relations are held in perfect sym- metry and orderly balance of free, spontaneous, volitional expression of a perfected system of per- sonal and social relations. It would be ethico- religious thought, feeling and reflection acted out in philosophic and artistic expression; personal Life, genius of Art, Absolute Self-consciousness.
The Self that knows itself in its own Idea, and realizes itself in its own notion is absolute knowl- edge ; and may with due reverence be called knowl- edge of the Content of Absolute Mind by Absolute Mind as perfect and final knowledge. This is true Science. Not merely knowledge about mind, nor in another sense simply a knowledge for mind; it is a form or mode of Mind that is absolute knowl- edge. The Highest mode of mind is literally con-
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verted or convertible with Absolute Knowledge; because it is a dealing with knowledge as a living activity, an active procedure not as a product. Here, then, Absolute Mind is -completely explicit and concretely realized. With this it is clear that the standpoint of Absolute Mind has been fully and unequivocally adopted by Hegel. But this knowl- edge of which we speak has no actual limiting ref- erence to individual finite niiind. It is without re- serve infinite and perfect knowledge to be acquired with a right and proper attitude.
Sweidenborg's life is an excellent example of a life that represents that of the converted sinner, who revels in a humfamistic experience and dwells on conceptions that are colored and mixed up with psycho-physicial notions and ideas and perceptions ; then by some miraculous power from above is sud- denly resolved into a kind of vanishing point of a humanistic personality. His i'dieas and perceptions and unity of experience in the lower psycho-phy- sical centers and a/ctivities fly apart as if by a rare and high degree of mental life and activity in which he does not feel or know himself as the master of conscious ideas, perceptions or circumstances ; and then he has a very high type of experience that impresses him with the emiotion of awe and rever- ence that lapses entirely into blind credulity as he observes in a passive way the phenomena, of the spiritual life which he does not logically under- stand or appreciate except by contemplation, clair- voyance and eestfasy. He gets tanglddi in a mess of mysticism when he cannot maintain the unity of
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experience on that high level of spiritual joy and bliss and ecstatic vision. He still clings to his old psycho-physical notions and then he errs greatly to the mystical humanism that is so detrimental to the higher order of mental and spiritual life of the individual and social consciousness, that is the due possession or inheritance of the Heaven-born personality. He perceives the activity and knowl- edge of the higher order of life as angelic wisdlom. And herein is the principal value of his work. He view^s this life and ethico-spiritual relationis from the outside : but his perceptions seem clear because he is honest, sincere and reverential. In all his religious experience he shows the frankness of a childlike faith and humble attitude of receptive- ness to the inspiration and communication of the Heavenly influences. It is a religious attitude rather than a philosophical. Hence the difference between the simple religious votary and the true philosopher.
The philosopher represents the angelic type of Being in actual experience. And it is his privilege to Hio the will of his Heavenly Father, by experienc- ing an actual co-conscious identity of relationships and activities. The philosopher does not as a con- sequence perceive these truths about actual Being in the same w^ay, though he is thoroughly ac- quainted with the Divine Love and Wisdom de- scribed by the mystic in the forms of a refined and spiritualized imagination, characteristic of the mystic seer under the higher influence of Self-con- scious Spirit, Swedenborg represents an effort bo
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unite science and religion, but his works are like sounding brass and a tinkling symbol. He admits a human point of view, and what right has any human being to talk about the Life and nature of angels. The Divine Love and Wisdom Can be known only by angels and the Christian philosopher with a rational faith and constructive imagination in Ideal experience. When we enter the realm of true Love and Wisdom, the world of description finds no place, discursive thinking is gone. Men live and act in the world of pure thought; and the life itself is Love and Wisdom, that is called Divine. They are philosophers1. To understand all mysteries and yet speak with the tongues of men and of angels,, and if they have not the principal Christian virtue they have a questionable existence. Love is the vanishing point between the human and the Divine. Some with an eccentric, restless impulse either degrade and obscure its meaning in human forms of thought, or else sail away into blind credulity little better than the abyss of human imagination that attempts to [describe things which are indescribable. The Life of a self-conscious Spirit is the Life of Divine Love and Wisdom, whose limits are nowhere and whose presence is every- where : like kings who govern and those who philos- ophize. It is the unity of personality ; the link that connects truth and light; the uniting bond and dynamic power of intellectual and spiritual quali- ties of intellect and will. Perhaps, like the vision of Ezekiel, it is a variety of the type of Ideal Ex- perience that is limitless and of an infinitely ver-
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s&tile character — spaceless and timeless, yet the reality of time and space.
A poet aware of the relation of love anld. faith, declared : "Love is a lock that linketh noble minds,
Faith is the key that shuts the spring of love." An'd: "If men love because they believe and be- lieve because they love, life becomes an unalloyed delight, "It is the quality of delight in conscious living relations with the Eternal, that transcends mere duty and the sense of moral limitations in (the conception of spiritualized Being.
PART IX.
THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE ETHICAL CONCEPTION OF SELF.
Religion among the Greeks was a high type of humanistic polytheism, until among the later, phil- osophers and intellectual classes it beteame some- thing like Monotheism, approaching the Jewish and Christian type. It possessed special elements in its rarer and more spiritualized manifesitaitions through the life of Greek idealists and moral teach- ers. And these special elements are highly estimat- ed by the Christianized! world. Religion among the Greeks had a practical aim. It was a part of their everyday life, their pleasures! and delights, their joys anid sor row's, their duties in relation to fellow men and to the gods — in peace, in war anli; in na- tional growth, it was the hope: of easy going pros- perity. It was not exactly a free conception they were constantly holding to in their fanciful crea- tions of the imagination for poetry and art; espe- cially in, the earlier state of life and siociety, was it rathler that of a propitiatory attitude and fearful servitude. They were fearful, or over-religious, lest they should offend or neglect one or some of the gods. They believed that the gods shared in all their activities and were either 'delighted or off ended by thq condufat and petty contrivances of the political and social life. Their religious
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thoughts, opinions and motives never got very far from their self -centered individual lives1. Were it possible to obtain and retain; a perfect moral and physical beauty, the Ideal of the early Greek would be realized. They haid not attained the high de- gree of ethical Love so fundamental in the Chris- tian Ideal. They placed much emphasis on being skilled in cunning devices of intellectual shrewd- ness, and if any one was ignorant enough to be de- ceived or cheated in a moral transaction or relation he got his due deserts. When the government of Greece began to drift toward icteniocracy, it was the decline of religious sentiment and flilial piety. Some of the reformers tried to build up the de- cline in religious devotion and interests by using the fine arts in sculpture and architecture, to make more beautiful temples and miaintain an interest in the right of moral imperative, and the ceremonies and rites that were so prominent a feature of the older forms of religious activity. The great law- yer, Solon, tried to prevent the government from becoming a democracy, or from going into an ab- solute aristocracy. He tried to maintain a happy balance of power or means between the two — a refined aristocracy that is at the same time liberal in its feelings of a. moral quality that Vould tend to do away with the rigid and formal class distinc- tions, based entirely on heredity and other exter- nal forms of national and social positions, that were not the merit of a true, worthy character of ster- ling qualities or the result of moral endeavor in
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the realization of the higher life by actual ethical and spiritual relations.
The religion of the Greeks; was primarily ethical and temporal, with us religion is a combined) rela- tion of the ethical and spiritual, and is with re- spect to its final outcome and ultimate types of perfection an eternal life. The Greek religion wais for this life; the Christian Eeligion is not only for this life, but for all life in an; eternal world that is God's world and our would. The one who par- ticipates in the Christian Ideal finds religion is not only for success and prosperity in a temporal life, but that it is far more efficacious and vital as an educator and development of the Eternal Life in the validity of human experience, man's true in- heritance. What shows the intimiate articulation of subjective and objective factors that prevails not only in a materialistic interpretation of experience, but is evident in a truer sense in the idealistic of conceptional experience as well a® perceptual, is the fine proportion and symmetry of form in the ideal of true manhood and in the aesthetic ideals manifest in Greek art and architecture. They are unsurpassed by any other nation of like opportu- nity or people of similar adaptations. No Ideal or religion can long remain subjective, but it seeks an expression in outwardi life and activities of indi- vidual and national significance.
The Jewish idea of government was theocratic. The Law was recognized by the pious Israelite as the true source and rule of right action, and his conduct in siociety and individual relations with
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the Divine was influenced by his fundamental be- lief that they were God's chosen one's for the pres- ervation of the true religion.
They had a feeling of separateness from the Divine and constantly felt the need of doing some- thing to keep the favor of the God whom they rev- erenced and worshiped as their Creator, Ruler and Redeemer in times that were and in times to come. In time, the pious Israelite came to regard the law and the prophets as the true food of the soul, and as the tree of life; and in the Individualism of the Psalms, the law is regarded as expressing the whole nature of God. And the social Ideal of the Kingdom is closely allied with the prophetic sig- nificance that at first sprung from the feeling that the laws of God were not practically regarded and respected as they deserved to be, and as it was in- cumbent on the nation to observe for their owm welfasre. They, as a people, were self-centered, and their -conceptions everywhere were coloredi, if they had any aesthetic value at all, by what they de- sired for self. They feared Jehovah, and it was: out of this fear that the development of their religious attitude was stimulated to the higher and more universal feeling and attitude of sonship and trust- ful relations1 that culminated in love and in the Messianic Ideal of the fulfilment of the social Idieal as a reconciled relation of Father and Son.
They believed God to be a just God who could not look upon iniquity with any degree of pleasure, and that he would reward the just and punish the wicked. This idea of justice came probably before
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the conception of a Loving God. They everywhere were brought faice to faice with its manifestations!. They lookeldi upon nature as rugged and governed by inevitable laws; and they heard the voice of God speaking in the storm and in all those sub- lime and awe-inspiring elements, that would surely inspire the mind characteristic of the Jewish peo- ple with a reverential attitude. The Idea of Love had its first legal expression in the Law; Love to God and Love to man. This was the refining in- fluence evident in all the more sacred and fondly cherished writings. It was a step from their ma- terialistic temperament to the Idealistic and poetic and transcendent world of the immediate presence of God in the heart, and from the heart there sprang the spontaneous and free expression of God's lov- ing and watchiful eye over all the interests of the individual as w^ll as the nation. It finds its free- est expression in many of the Psalms and in those prophetic writings concerning a high hope and trusting confidence in the coming Messiah, and the Kingdom to be established. Their conception of the Kingdom, however, did not seem to reach a sufficiently spiritualized degree of perception to recognize the true nature of such a social order as universally unlimited to any particular place, na- tion or people, or individual. Then their expecta- tions were supplementeldi by the comiplete revela- tion of its nature through the one who came to them as their long-looked for redeemer and savior. But he came declaring a doctrine that wais new to them and destructive to their materialistic and temporal
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conceptions of a Kingdom of God after the manner of their own subjective ideals and formulated con- ceptions.
The Jew had a vivid sense of unrighteousness anld) sin. They attributed it to a fall allegorically set forth in the story of Genesis and Creation, though it expressed to them the true, bare fact of a relation which they discovered as evident in all their political, social, individual and religious at- titudes with respect to man and God. They were keenly aware of the opposition between the finite and the Infinite, and they hoped and yearned for the original constitution and re-establishment of a perfect harmony, a vision of the new heavens and the new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. This is characteristically set forth in the prophetic expressions and revelations of the free spirit in that age represented by the prophets.
The Kingdom of God was often regarded in a materialistic temporal sense, rarely in its true and Christian meaning, except probably in the Indi- vidualistic Social Ideals pervading the poetic wait- ings. It seems to have been regarded as a Kingdom for the present world. In its true sense it is not only for this world but for the eternal world that is more significantly represented as the Kingdom of Heaven. The prophetic conception of the Mes- siah was philosophical, social, legal and spiritual. "The government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The Mighty God, the everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace."
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A government needs to have the interests of the individuals that are so organized as to constitute a governmental system, at heart. The central prin- ciple and aim must be to look after the welfare of the society made up of the individuals and ac- tivities of the socially related Beings under its control. And then co-operative help and interests of the individual minds so organized and organ- ically related is essential to miaintain a govern- ment on that high ethical standard of efficacious administration and permanent excellence that con- stitutes the life of an organized society in govern- ing relations that operate smoothly without jarring discord.
In primitive tribal governments that were very simple and inadequate except for the needs of a very simple social order, where unreflective spirit- ism or realism was the prevailing tendency and attitude of the minds, there was not much atten- tion paid to the perfecting of organization that has a versatile and reciprocal adaptation to the free- dom! of adjustment and administrative ability re- quired to meet the demands of a more complex siocial) life. Consequently a government cannot be a static affair, but mlust keep pace with the de- mands of the times, as life becomes more and more complex. Government founded on conquest or on aristocratic privilege is not necessarily illegitimate. But it may come to be illegitimate if it fails in this organizing tendency and afdlaptation to the needs and spirit of the age of its immediate present. The government of Rome was founded on con-
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quest; the Romans were a conquering people, and that was their mission as a race. If they had not been conquerors they would not have been Romans. Their conquests, however, might have been of a different order, but the world to be conquered in that age was not of the type that required a differ- ent kinjd! of conquest. Hence, the fine and elaborate system of law and governmental organization: that characterizes the Roman may be a very legitimate one for that age, but very illegitimate for other epochs of history. The Greek was an aristocratic government in its most flourishing times ; and there is not a finer epoch of an intellectual and artistic age of fine art on record. The Greek aristocracy became a democracy and Athens fell, lost her glory, was led captive by the conquering Roman, and then Greek culture and taste was diffused by the subtle influence of attractive ideals and the fine dialectic of a free spirit. It was the glory of the Greek but the destruction of the Roman, becausej his conquering (disposition degraded those fine spiritual influences instead of allowing them to elevate him to the same hi^h standard, which well characterizes their sphere of natural, free and spontaneous ex- pression in life.
The Greek aristocraicies undoubtedly had their origin and owed the quality of their spirit to the Homeric Poems, as the most active, concrete and direct influence; but more generally to the activity of the free imagination characteristic of the Greek mind, with the poetic instincts that are evident in the beginnings of all literary temperaments. It has
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been natural for poetry to come first in the spon- taneity of literature and the art of expression, be- coming more complex until they assume a philos- ophical turn. The prospective becomes; retrospec- tive and reflective until in time the restrospective tand reflective becomes legal and administrative in governmental relatioms. With the Greeks it was the inspiration of genius; with others, especially the Hebrews, it 'has been acknowledged as the ac- tive authority of the Divine Reason and Love fulfill- ing a design. With the Jew it was thought to be ra- cial and historical ; with the Greek cosmical and! na- tural expression of beauty in the forms of the world interpreted by the poetic imagination. Then the character of the Athenean democracy suddenly gaineldi authority, but it lacked the fine spirit and discernment characteristic of the aristocratic Greek. Mien of high Ideals of right and order re- sisted by trying to retain the finer element of the elite society. Lawyers of sincere convictions and far-reaching vision warned them in vain ; they were treading in! the footsteps! of the fox, and their de- sire of gain ruined them!. Athens became a demo'c- racy and fell.
If the Greek morality was natural, intellectual and not sufficiently social, it was probably due to the imperfect governmental organization. It was a liberal life and! perhaps law was not regarded with sufficient sanctity. The Greeks were a lying people and (cared little for practical truthfulness. On the basis of such a spirit no substantial organi- zation of legal rights could be built up or united
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in a system of practical executive ability that would have authority and valid influence in ordering the affairs and relations of a society. The democracy was self-centered in the ideal of producing the greatest good for the greatest number; and, by tihe influence of a few unscrupulous leaders, enticing allurements of political glamour were held before the eyes of the common people. Enthusiastic plebeians attracted them, to their destruction. They were victims of deceit because the way seemed easier and more pleasant and gratifying to materi- alistic ideais and illusory fancies. Ideals were trailed in the sordid dust of defeat. *
Paganism was rational for the Stoics as a rigikl/, cold universal order of abstract truth. The Univer- sal Reason was all in all with the Stoic. He was an ascetic in contrast with the Epicure. For the Platonist there was something of the Stoical spirit of rigidity in the realm of ideas, but the Platonic conceptions were finer, higher, freer and more aesthetic. Truth for the Platonist meant mjore than the cold, impassive universal reason. Platonic Truth was clothed in living and vital relations, and had form, color, feeling and activity. The Platonist was a mystfc in his rationalism, and could , ascend to the heights of ecstasy ; yet his assent to truth had not sufficient balance and) poise of spirit to maintain consciousness on that high order of life called the eternal. It was his ambition, how- ever, to be able to do so. This, he believed, would be salvation. Christianity is an advance over this. It offers life in the Eternal and at the same time
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admits1 the Platonic ideal of high thinking Abso- lute Creative Will. The Ideal is perceived as ra- tionall by attainment of the power of self-poise characteristic of a pure life of Reason united with the imagination: — wings of thought that know no limits and are determined by absolute knowledge and clear perception of a definite and fixed pur- pose, fulfilling the Immanent, Idea of a life.
The moral regeneration distinctive of Christian- ity should not be regarded as too much of a devel- opmental character that classifies religion as com- ing fromi below up. The living manifestation of Christ with his little company of followers had an immediate and (direct influence of personal contact and the doctrines need to be considered and judged in the light of their own time. Then they are known by the discerning mind and spirit to be the revela- tions of Universal Tiruth and a life and 'doctrine of a religion thait is universally valid. They have ontological value not dependent on a life in a world of finite activity in a finite time series, of finite repetition or succession. These manifestations in time always help and add to the complex life of a free spirit in the ever increasing complexity of a life characteristiic! of the Absolute Present, which is never static but infinitely free through perfect harmony with the Absolute Will of Creative Be- ing, Creative Mind ; a conception partly defined by pure activity and ethical perfection, yet an Ideal such as there are no terms adequate for its ex- pression. The (doctrines of the Incarnation and the Atonement have had variousi degrees of signi-
IN THE PEKCEPTION OF TRUTH 223
ficance in the Church. It is believed that the Spirit had to become incarnate in degenerate human na- ture and suffer the penatly to redeem humanity and establish a right relation with God, which re- lation humanity lost in a fall from grace. Much polemical theological discussion has been waged on these grounds. Whatever mlay be the truth at this point does not concern the essence of true religion except to reconcile the stubborn mind of a wayward life that has become involved) in a kind of solipsistic or sophisticated skepticism charac- teristic of Judaism and the so-called orthodox theologian that is hardly worthy of a higher claim than the empirical rationalist. There is an incar- nation of the Spirit of God in life and the atone- ment is the relation of at-one-ment with God, in life and in thought fulfilling the ultimtate design and final expression of Absolute beauty, perfec- tion and order in the Infinite variety of transcen- dent consfciousness in thought and experience by Self-realization in and through a perfectly har- monious relation with the Other that is sought by every conscious Idea expressed in life or element of the ordered universe. Perhaps it is not hard to observe that there are some pagan elements in the moral ideals and practices of Christendom. These are particularly evident in some narrow minds who believe and practice incantations, and seek to ac- complish by prayer what they could work out in a more effective and beautiful way by active anidl positive thinking and constructive helpfulness in charity and sympathetic power of an imJmanent
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Divine Love. The law of Self-saicrifice is a Chris- tian principle, but it is supplanted by the law of dimijiishing self-sacrifice in the higher order of Christian experience. The paganism that is left as a trace in this principle is the unchristian belief that something must be sacrificed for the Self. It is a direct opposite of the true Christian; virtue of self-sacrifice which is the way of entering tlhe life where the cross is changed to a crown of glory and power and positive saving grace, that is a Love strengthening the weak and at the same time strengthening the strong. Merely human love strengthens the weak but weakens! the strong. Divine Love strengthens the weak and dbes not weaken the strong. In this finer activity of Ethi- cal Love, it is both blessed to give and to receive; but it is more blessed to give than it is to receive.
The spirit of the Reformation shows everywhere the reacting attitude of the reformers against Romanism, and in a certain sense this spirit might be described by "anticlericalism" in: respect to the opposition manifest toward the more ecclesiastical orders of the Church. Thisi was extended to the Roman Catholic countries even after the critical mioment of the Reformation: was effectively passed. There was a recognized tendency for the layman to resent the clique-like authority of the clergy wtfien it became too formal and lacked the spiritual interests and welfare of the Church or society at large. Then "Sectarianism" sprung up, consisting of different little religious factions that might be constituted of both clergy and laymen independent
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of any regard of the relation internal in the organ- ization of religions belief. And it is natural to suppose that it soon favored and assumed the superiority and authority prerogative of clerical- ism. Teutonic idealism assumed a somewhat dif- ferent character in that it tenldled to be of a sub- jective movement and probable mystical order. It was evident in a large majority of the German thinkers, who have been decided influences in phil- osophy and religion. Luther is probably one of the best examples of the religious thinker of this type who was influenced largely by feeling and thus led into a high degree of idealism; in its practical rela- tion to life and religious interests. He emphasized the doctrine of salvation by faith as the more sig- nificant tenet of the Protestant Church; and] it is probably the best part of a practical religion in a humjanistic sense. But there are higher and more positive and more effective working influences of transcendental activities in other thinkers of the reformation type. Melanchthon, Calvin, Zwingly, Knox, are often neglected by the too exclusively humanistic religious votaries. Their work and part in the Reformation was probably as much of a re- vision or reformation of Lutheranisim as Luther- anism was a reformation or a reforming element in Catholicism. Where Lutheranism would degrade and destroy the Spiritual element of religion, these great reformers save and exalt the spiritual con- ception, and send it ringing down through the ages with a clear and immortal tone to the ear of Truth and) the mind of Wisdom, in the religious and social
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order of the human world tihiat has eyes to see and ears to hear, and both hear and see. But somie haying eyes, see not; and having ears, hear not. There is, however, another side to the spiritual life represented in the ethical views of Aristotle, Hobbes and Kant. These are about as different and various in their nature, principles and funda- mental doctrines as possible; yet they all seem) to have their mission in a world! seeking the Light of Truth. While their commission represents the activity of free choice, their free choice and activity in thought points either affirmatively or negatively to tlie One Absolute Teleologitcal Principle of the Spiritual Life.
Aristotle claimed reciprocal relations of a true friendship and the moral good. He emphasized the Principle of Perfection, and this he found ex- pressed in nature to a very elaborate extent. His philosophy is a close study and careful analysis of nature in the light of the wisdom and reflective knowledge of his time and possibilities of expe- rience. Consequently his niatuiral philosophy is the niost significant of his writings. He makes a (division in his cosmical conception between the natural and the supernatural, but is more con- cerned with the natural. Life and human expe- rience for him is a mixture of natural and super- natural elements. And true friendship is possi- ble between the good. Hobbes is extremely ma- terialistic in his ethical conceptions, since his phil- osophy is a form) of disguised materialism. It lands his thinking in an abyss of human imagi-
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nation extensively projected in his Leviathan of the Commonwealth. It is a marked contrast with ethical Idealism, and has little value or mean- ing for a system of constructive Ideal Experience in ethical relations; except as a contrast effect, if that were desirable, to stimulate a repulsive atti- tude an/dl send the student of ethics into a position of Absolute Idealism characterized by the union of Ethics and Religion. Kant is a type of Ethical Rfealism that attempts to be practical. His failures in ascending from sensuous intuitions caused a crisis in his system of thought, but at the sarnie time he wanted to be (consistent. His method in Pure Reason clung to the position of Hobbes too closely to admit his successful attempt at a complete synthesis of knowledge. Hisi Critique of Pure Reason based on a. deduction of the categories of the understanding is decidedly epistemological, and his experience gives place to reflective think- ing to the extent that he finally doubts the reality of the knowledge of things, and is more or less skeptical as to the knowledge of the Self. His con- ception of the Self does not break through the shell of his own little world of ideas and intuitions that he recognizes as somehow getting into the under- standing. His conception of the ego occupies a position between the world of things and the world of idleas. In his discussion of the theory of morals in the Practical Reason, he has to admit a place not bridged over by his antinomies and then starts with, the conception of Freedom, Immortality and God, and makes it an aim to try to get to the
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senses again if possible. His failure in the theory of knowledge makes room for faith, he claims, and his metaphysical theories are not up to the stand- ard of excellence that characterizes his former Critique. This to a very great extent impairs his system of morality. He has to proceed on the basis of imperfect knowledge, and his doctrines cling around the principles of maxims and universal law, with the effort to find a universal law of conduct that will be valid both for the individual and for society — the relation of the Individual to God and to the world. Maxims cannot be universal laws, but Pure Reason, itself must be practical amdl legis- lative to the extent and under the norm of ethical truth that one's acts should always be such as one can will that it might be a universal law valid for all beings with reason and will. Man arrives at perfection and the law of freedom through the moral law, and perfection means the union of vir- tue and happiness with something still higher and freer. The ought is a moral imperative to all per- sons w^ho lack autonomy of the will. Free will or Absolute Freedom is possible for those who have found identity of character and thought and activ- ity with the Absolute Moral Law. Before Perfec- tion, however, can be the 'determining imperative of the will, ends or final purposes must first be given.
Spenfcer represents the evolutionary theory of ethical thought, and though there have been nu- merous attempts! to bring about a unity and syn- thesis of morals on the basis1 of an evolutionary
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hypothesis, they generally fall far short of the Ideal of the Highest Perfection. Spencer, however, starts with his psychology, and when he reaches a certain point sweeps back and demolishes his first starting point. The evolutionary doctrine of Ethics necessarily implies transitions and transfor- mations. I am of the impression and opinion that evolutionary ethics are not as significant as a final ethical theory as is transcendentalism; and that while evolution is probably the best known working hypothesis, it is dependent on ethical Idealism that is the practical expression of a life anld! society in the Ideal Kingdom of personal ends. Virtue im- plies knowledge and character, and is distinguished from innocemce in that virtue is innocence that has become self-conscious. The Good is that which can be the object of an ethically free will, and may have various degrees of meaning and deter- minations as to what object the conception of good- ness shall attach. This variation depenidls on the degree of knowledge and the actuality of Individ- uals and Ideals that constitute a universal system of morality that includes every perfect rational will. The Right has a more individual significance, and has close contact with the Ought and Law of Obligation. This principle must have its home, however, in God. The Ought is the conception of a, m|oral imperative in finite relations, and implies a complete knowledge of all the circumstances, in- tents and motives, and sees clearly the right and true way out of the concurrence of ethical rela- tions, into a consciousness! of justification and feel-
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ing of Satisfaction that depends on conformity with the moral law of perfect ethilcal relationships. Obligation has a higher, mlore saicred and spiritual significance, and holds the unity of perfect ethical relationships in a harmonious, free, spontaneous, life of happiness and holiness of personality in right thinking, right acting, right feeling. It im- plies the recognition of the sacredness of person- ality. Duty is the conception of what ought bo be done, and so long as it is mere duty it may have a klbuble aspect with the feeling of pleasure and pain. With the pure in heart, however, what was once conceived as a duty is no longer a duty but an obligation and a joy, that maintains in a par- ticular continuance if not concomitance of cir- cumstances, or rather in an Ideal of conduct that miust be effected in a definite relation or system of facts. The Moral Law is the Ideal order of Universal Harmony and agreement of all reality, that is valid for all time, for God and man. It m both subjective and objective. The starry heav- ens above anld( the Moral Law within proclaim the glory of their Great Original, is a favorite and fondly cherished conception of Kant's Ideal World. Altruism and Egoism might be well defined as the foci of an ellipse around which the orbits of society move. Neither altruism alone nor egoism •can be regarded as a normal and practical order of life in so far a;s it is known to the average indi- vidual, so long as inequality of character and! moral Ideals are evident or have any place in the actuality of practical life. Where there is a perfect agree-
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ment and estimate of another's rights and qualities of personal worth in the practical law of loyalty to loyal personality that is loyal to an universal Ideal and final purpose of identity of individual and universal will in Reason that is pure and sim- ple and Absolute, there are no conceivable time or timeless limitations. And instead of being like an ellipse, society may be like a circle whose center is everywhere anld! whose circumference is nowlhere. The co-conscious identity of the Individual would be experience with the Absolute Self-consciousness — a self-consciousness that can recognize the per- sonal identity in all relations and judge and elimin- ate all foreign influences by the power of wisdom and love; clear, quick perception and knowledge, with a consequent union of life and happiness.
But there are certain relations; of consciousness to time ; and there are also after effects in con- sciousness. In his interpretation of nature, Prof. Royce refer® to his impression, and hypothesis as follows: (1) "The vast contrast which we have been taught to m|ake between material anldl con- scious processes really depends merely upon the accidents of the human point of view, and in par- ticular upon an exaggeration of the literal accur- acy of those admirable theories of atomic and ethereal processes which * * * belong to the mere bookkeeping of the sciences." Many of the processes of nature may be conceptually described by exact formulas having a value as conceptions no one questions and yet their literal accuracy no one verifies. When those formulas are taken as
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literally true, the material world seems to be ab- solutely rigid substance, under absolutely perma- nent mathematical formulas; a type of world such that a transition from material nature to conscious nature looks perfectly unintelligible. The mathe- matical formulas are conception® that help to com- pute, predict, describe anfdl classify phenomena. It is known that nature tolerates mathematical for- mulas, and might also tolerate many other formu- las, or forms of thought. When, the ideal contrast between mind and matter is abandoned, and com- ing to their continuity and analogy, he defines his present hypothesis thus: (2) "That we have no right whatever to speak of really unconscious Nature, but only of uncommunicative Nature, or of Nature whose mental processes go on at such dif- ferent time-rates from ours thlat we cannot adjust ourselves to a live appreciation of their inward fluency, although our consciousness does make us aware of their presence." Anldi (3) his hypothesis is that "In case of Nature in general, ais in case of the particular proportions of Nature known as our fellowmen, we are dealing with phenomenal signs of a vast conscious process, whose relation to Time varies vastly, but whose general characters are throughouit the same." From/ ithis jpoint of view evolution, if necessary, would be more ra- tional; a series of activities suggesting various degrees and types of coniscious processes. From this point Prof. Royce advances by way of sup- position: "I suppose that this play between the irrevocable and the repeated, between habit and
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novelty, between rhythm and the destruction of rhythm, is everywhere in Nature, as it is in us, something significant, something of interest, some- thing that means a struggle for ideals. I suppose that this something constitutes a process wherein goals, ideals, are sought in a seemingly endless pursuit, and where new realms of sentient experi- ence are constantly coming into view anld' into re- lation to former experiences. I suppose that the field of Nature's experience is everywhere leading slowly or rapidly to the differentiation of new types of conscious unity. I suppose that this pro- cess goes on with very vast slowness in inorganic Nature, as for instance in the nebulae, but with great speed in you and me. But, meanwhile, I do not suppose that slowness means a lower type of consciousness." The relation of consciousness to Time is observed as something "arbitrary, and for special characters is dependent on a certain fact called a particular Timenspan. To be inwardly con- scious of anything requires a certain change in the contents of feelings, and this change must not be too fast or too slow. What happens within the millionth or the thousandth of a second necessarily escapes a well-known type of consciousness, and only the more enduring after-effelcts are noted. There is a conceivable type of consciousness that might consider an electric spark a very slow affair; and again a type of consciousness in wfhich the music of the spheres might be an actual rhythm of conscious perception as another type might per- ceive the harmony and rhythm of the ordinary ele-
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merits in vision. Even an eternity might be some- thing a,s instantaneously present. Such relations to timie are no more arbitrary or less conscious, "no more or less fluent, and no more or less full of possible mleaning," than is the normal type of con- scious life. "An element of physical life, a simple sensation of feeling, can neither be nor be con- ceived in isolation. * * * An|d), if an isolated physical element could once exist, it would be like any other realistic entity. As an Independent Be- ing, it could never come to be linked to amy other Being. It would remain forever in the darkness of its atomic separation from all real life." All life in so far as it is life, has conscious meaning and works out a rational destiny. Differences in timie rate constitute the variety of individuation in the natural world. And processes are found! in in- organic nature having a time-rate slower or faster than those the ordinary consciousness is adapted to read or appreciate. Whether the after-effects of these are experienced as sensation or emotion is for the Individual subject of experience to judge. In the conscious experience of double personality, one may dramatically address himself as another, crit- icise and conldiemn himself, and observe the Self in a relatively impersonal style an entirely alien personality. And in the unity of consciousness on the other hand, there are automatic processes that change or diminish the imtmediately given distinc- tions between Ego and non-Ego. The great "how" is shown by the lover in Locksley Hall, who some- what unobservently tells how :
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"Love took up the harp of life, and smote on all
the chords with might; Smote the chord of Self that trembling, passed in music out of sight."
In this state the Invisible Self of inner expe- rience is yet able decidedly to be audibly present. But it is questionable whether tlhe Self of the lover ever passed beyond his own range of vision, or was in the least out of sight. These things, how- ever, indicate a happy emotional confusion of self- consciousness to all who know joyous emotion. The sadder emotions show endless varieties in the in- tensity, clearness, and outlines that characterize empirical consciousness from moment to moment, though they may not always exhibit a high de- gree of fine, aesthetic sensibility. The relations of Self and not- Self are subtly distinguished in the experience of emotion.
"If the contrast of Self and not-Self," says Prof. Royce, "can thus be defined with an infinite variety of emphasis, the unity of each of the two, Self and not-Self, can be emphasized in an equally in- finite number of ways, whose depth and whose extent of meaning will vary with the range of life of which one takes account, and with the sort of contrast between Self and not - Self which one leaves still prominent over against the unity." The motives that direct immediately or attach to such identification of the Self of the instant pres- ent with what is the not- Self, for instance a bit of past ocr future experience, are exceedingly va-
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rious and empirically transitory. Whether there is any one rational principle for the usual identi- fication of the past and future with, the Self of the instant, is a legitimate and expected question for the one making a critical examination of the Self of comimon sense. What persists after such examination is perhaps the "really Idieep and im- portant per suasion that he ought to possess or to create for himself, despite this chaos, some one principle, some finally significant contrast, where- by he should be able, with an united and perma- nent meaning, to identify that portion of the world's life w^hich is to be, in the larger sense, his own, and whereby he should become able to con- trast with this, his larger Self, all the rest of the world of life." This very "fact that one ought to be able to select from all the universe a certain portion of rememjbered and expected," or conceived and intended life as the identity of one's own time and individual Self, and to contrast with this unity of life, or the larger and truer individuality, the life of all other individual Selves, and the life of the Absolute in its Unity. This shows at once the sense wherein the Self is an Ethical Category, and the way the Self must be defined in Ethical terms. It is said that the Self can be identified with t'he "instant's passing glimpse of Internal Meaning." From this point of view, all else may be called the not- Self. This, however, would leave the Self, as someone might say, in very thin air, or "a mere thrill of transient life." It represents a state of perception, when the Truth perceived
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is the Self, if only for one transcendent moment. But in general a remembered, past and an intenrdled future is identified with the Self whose individu- ality is thus intimated. This enlarged Self of mem- ory and purpose is then opposed or in conjunction with a not-Self — perhaps the world of fellowmen, or of nature, or the Absolute Unity in its Ideality. While the Self of complete meaning will always remain with the entire Life of God, it is conceived that this meaning expresses Self in the form of an "articulate system of contrasting and co-ope- rating lives, of which one, namely your own indi- vidual life, is more closely linked, in purpose, in task, in meaning, with the life of this instant, than is the life of any other individual." Given a life- plan for the individual, he may truthfully say, "If this is my task, if this is what my past life has meant, if this is what my future is to fulfill, if it is in this way that I do God's work, if my true relation to the Absolute is only to be won through the realization of this life-plan, and through the accomplishment of this unique task, then indeed I am a Self, and a Self who is nobody else, just pre- cisely in so far as my life has this purpose and no other. By this meaning of my life-plan, by this possession of an Mleal, by this Intent always to remain another than my fellows despite my di- vinely planned unity with them — by this, and not by the possession of any Soul- Substance, I am de- fined and created a Self."
Something like the foregoing must be the con- fession of the Rational Idealist, who comes to the
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point of selecting ethical terms for the definition of the Self. The Ethical Conception of Self can be the only true, genuine, Absolute choice of the Spir- itual Consciousness. And the Moral Purpose in this Consciousness must show the Individual his place in God's World, anldl how to fill that place as no one else can.
PART X.
THE UNIQUENESS OF SPIRITUAL INDIVIDUALITY.
No one else can share an Individual purpose or life-plan so far as it possesses true rationality of aim; neither can any one else create it. In so far as the world is known as one world, and one's place in that world is intended to be unique, God's will is consciously expressed. His will is One and perfect, and in that Will every life finds its own unique meaning, by becoming Self-conscious. This theory of the Self assigns to it the character of the Free Individual, but this character belongs to it in its true relation with God. The character of the Free Individual is not completely observed at any one instant of time, like an obvious anld) independent fact. The Individual should know the world as one world, and intend the fulfillment of a purpose in the world to be unique. This is an- other way of defining the Immanent Idea, and the unique Self - consciousness that consciously ex- presses the Will of God.
The divine plan of life in its unity has been re- garldted as "A self-representative system of long- ings and attainments, where each act expresses some particular purpose, and accomplishes that purpose, and where to every particular fact there corresponds just the purpose that wins embodi-
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mient in this fact, the conscious temporal life of any being who is explicitly aware of his relations to God, who acts accordingly, and who sees his atot attaining its goal, must be a Well-Ordered series of deeds and successes, where each step leads to the next, where there is so far no wandering or wavering, where novelty results only from recur- rent processes, anld! wlhere plans, as a whole, do not change." The succession of a number of serieis is an excellent example of the Form a being in full control of his own rational processes and of his experience would present in the recurrent types of activity. The simple counting process is end- less, and for reflective investigation is "an end- lessly baffling wealth of novelties"; yet the divine wealth of truth is in like mlanner so seemingly uniform in recurrent appearances and reappear- ances. Given in such a process the "concrete con- tent of a life of action in accordance with a prin- ciple, and in pursuit of ideals — and then you would have, in the will that expressed itself in this life, a boundlessly wealthy source of constantly novel experience." Such is the kind of life some- times ascribed! to an angel — "A life wherein one is always serving God, unswervingly, and Wherein one is nevertheless always doing something new"; because as in the number series at every stage "all that has gone before is presupposed in every new deed, and so secures the individuality of that deed." E^ery deed is an act of knowledge and an expression of purpose — an insight arid* a choice. Every clear conception and perception of an Idea,
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or every act of will involves attention; being en- lightened in a momentary deed by what is known, and determined in knowledge by what is done. It is a constitutive principle of every finite life. When an idea arises in the mind, it already involves a deed unborn. Direct attention to an idea, and the idea filling the circle of consciousness soon takes the form of a completed deed. But the nas- cent evil self is suppressed by the wiser Self by the sense of those finer individual moral qualities that unite the Self with God. When fully com- prehended, honor and obligation are sacred ties uniting the individual and universal with the Di- vine. And a voluntary act in performing a good deed is an a'ct by virtue of man's own conscious attention to the good. So long as he clearly thinks of nothing so much as his own relation to the world anidi to God, he will act accordingly, not as the rebellious, but the obedient Self. All beings in some manner and measure serve the Absolute Purpose, in so far as they then and there in intme- dfiate experience know that Purpose. And all con- scious beings know what they are conscious of at any instant so long as they have a clear percep- tion of an Ideal; without temptation or in the midst of temptation, transcending through the power of an Ideal. The Ideal is Self-conscious in Creative Mind, and perceived appropriately in the finite by an attitude psychologists call attention. The nature of sin has been defined as forgetting the Ought ; and moral freedom consists in constant attention to Goodness and the highest knowledge
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of God and Truth. While forgetting is the conse- quent of inattention, free choice is voluntary atten- tion. Sin depends upon a narrowing of Conscious- ness, so that ignorance occurs where knowledge ought to be. A certain narrowness of conscious- ness is unfortunately the fate of the human mind, however it has come about. But freely cho- sen narrowness of a vicious character, and also the "deliberate forgetting of what one already knows of God and the Truth/' this is the very essence of sin. But freedom is possible and actual, and consists in coming to the light of Truth and dwell- ing in the Universal.
Time m|ay be regarded as in a certain sense pos- sessing the idealistic type of Being, but any tem- poral fact is essentially more or less dissatisfying and is an evil when made a chief object of atten- tion. Time may be a form of the will, but it is a fact of universal experience that in time there is for the will no conscious satisfaction ; aaci. we pro- ceed to the future of our experience, seeking in that region our fuller expression. Time has been viewed, especially by the realist, as the fate of the world' — the devourer and the destroyer of what- ever now is.
The pessimistic assailant of Metaphysics may speak against or oppose the Utopian reality of idealistic experience; but where shall he find his right and authority. Is he not immoral to the ex- tent that he imposes his dark picture and concep- tion of life on others? All persons live in their own thought world to some extent, some more,
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some less; and no one can assert or claim an eth- ical or legal right to accuse another of madness and impracticability for living in a finer, opti- mistic, ideal thought world, radiating a happy in- fluence with a spiritual presence. If the one enam- ored with temporal things wants to live in pes- simism, he should look to optimism; with reveren- tial regard and respect of ideal Love. Though there are times when none of us can entirely es- cape the distressing effects of the things we see, we can at least hope ; and look for the brighter and more aesthetic element in the shadows and on the hilltops. The founder of Christianity was a great Optimist.
Though some may refrain from looking into the deeper unity of the temporal and the Eternal Or- ders, and place great stress on sundering the moral agents of the Universe; to make the responsibility greater for each mioral agent, and for the sake, as they believe, of clearing the divine will from any responsibility for the deeds of finite agents; and then for the sake of assuring the innocent that no harm can come to the righteousi. Theirs is the just penalty if they sin; "But no ill can happen to the righteous in this justly governed world of the ethically Independent Beings." In view of the complications of life, and the appearance of ills that seem to fall upon the innocent; and because of the withholding of divine justice in the visible affairs of life, the doctrine has been completed to formulate various supplementary hypotheses. Per- haps a righteous man only seems to suffer in the
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physical sense of the term; but his suffering is always and most profoundly spiritual. Love shows its glory as spiritual suffering, anld< as love by its "Conquests over doubts and estrangements, the absences and the misunderstandings, the griefs and the loneliness, that love glorifies with its light amidst all their tragedy." In the Absolute the In- dividual's joy is fulfilled. Yet this very fulfilment and God's triumph implies, includes and 'demands that sorrow can and shall be transcendeldi, even in the world of finite Being. It is through suffer- ing that all the elements of perfection are brought forth into evidence. Such perfections include suf- fering, since in the conquest over suffering the richer experiences of life and all the nobler gifts of the Spirit, are known to exist. It mlight be said that nowhere in Time is perfection to be found in an Absolute sense, though relative perfection is present in every best possible thought and act. "Our comfort lies in the Knowledge of the Eternal. Strengthened by that knowledge, we can win the most enduring of temporal joys." And "Our union with God implies an immjortal and individual life." In God we are first real Individuals and conscious Selves. And neither human thought nor human experience in any form of cons/ciousnesis can make obvious the immediate presence of the Divine per- sonality. "No ethical Self, in its union with God, can ever view its task as accomplishe/di, or its work as done, or its individuality as ceasing to seek, in God, a temporal future." In Eternity all is done and there is a rest from our labors; but in Time
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there is no end to the individual ethical task. The difference between time and eternity is probably the difference of time-span or moments of time, and it is possible to define an infinite system as containing an infinity of mutually exclusive parts, wihile each of these parts is equal to the complete unity by internal complexity of structure, and in the multitude of its individual parts. We need not conceive, as Prof. Royce has well said, "The Eternal Ethical Individual, however partial he may be, as in any sense less in the grade of com- plication of his activity or in the multitude of his acts of will than is the Absolute." In God the Individual Self finds its own.
If, as som;e philosophical theologian has said, "Religion lies at the basis of all Ideals," art might be said, indeed, to glorify them. There is art in nature as well as in the expression of life in gen- eral. A bunch of roses and violets is a record in Time of Art that surpasses the skill of human genius. And like a rosebud unfolding in the Infi- nite is the presence of the Divine Spirit in human personality — Love, Justice, Truth, for all Eternity and in Life. The Lamp of Life, and the Lamp of Beauty, are ethical and aesthetical symbols of miore than temporary or passing interest, for the wayworn pilgrims of the temporal order. When he cannot tell you what is the difference between a, young devil's needle dancing a jig on a pinnacle, and a idhisty miller airing himself in a hot air cooler ; he may at least be informed, that wherever those two lamps have been burning, there both of
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them have been busy. In an order of Life sub- ject to temptation and the limitations of knowl- edge, the Devil vanishes from the World of the Absolute; and though the mills of God grind slowly, yet they grind exceeding fine.
When we come to consider the relations of facts and objects, we finidi that two facts or objects are dependent on one another in the sense that they constitute an ordered series, and this series has its unity and determinative principle in a Unitary Being. For instance, an object is a system of at- tributes so related and united that all the attri- butes and characteristic relations are necessary to constitute the genuine being of the object. Should one of the attributes or relations be lacking, the object would lose its identity. Objects and facts are also dependent of one another, simce all facts anldJ objects that are particulars are parts of an order knowin as a Unitary Being; they are also separated from one another by certain external re- lations. These external relations are infinitely ex- tensive or of a variety of divisibility in objective relations that there is always an external relation that separates the two objects or facts, and defines them as elements or individuals. If h depends on a then a depends on 6. Take, for instance, a numi- ber series; the truth of any whole number in the series depends on the truth of its precedent, and the truth of its precefdlent implies the truth of its successor. The truth of all the numbers insures the truth of the whole series, and the truth of the entire series implies the truth of every element or
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individual. The same applies to a system of facts and objects in their elemental and constituent re- lations.
The reality of any being depends on the rela- tions in which it stands to other Beings; both in the associative memory of the observer and in their relations to one another. Objects are distinguished intelligibly by their recognized relations and if these relations are not valid or not at all, the Being of the thing vanishes from the world of in- telligible Reality; and since there is no genuine Being apart from knowledge, a thing out of rela- tions has no existence at all. A thing that is en- tirely relative or relational may or may not exist, because it would have no determinative principle of its own, and would be subject to the changes of the arbitrary laws of the entire system of rela- tionships. The system of Reality is never static, but essentially active, and a system of relation- ships that could be unchangeable is inconceivable. The same object X can stand now in one, and now in another set of relationships; because of the rec- ognized system of a one-one relationship that char- acterizes the principles of ownership. This is, how- ever, characteristic only of the finite order of Being. An Infinite Order is of a different type altogether. Two different objects can have the same quality or qualities, but there is always some- thing that 'distinguishes. There is either some new quality that does not belong to the other, or else there is a different system of relationships in wvhich identical qualities are so united as to constitute
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a distinctly new and different type of Being. Kealism regards the objects in themselves to be very independent and arbitrary, and consequently loses sight of the other fact that is most signifi- cant. Were it not for its relations, both internal and external, the object coulldl not exist; for the reason that its qualities depend on certain differ- ences in relation within its own being, and an ob- ject apart from the knowledge that knows it does not exist at all, except as it has had some prede- termined existence in a time series.
Experience, Immediate, Will, Idea, and Activ- ity— are terms that imply an intimate articulation of subjective and objective factors that are relateldl in every experience, whether it be perceptual or conceptual. In all judgments and choices, Self- conscious Truth guides, because genuine Expe- rience is always rational, independent of the sen- sations and disturbances that may be acknowl- edged as taking place in the "fringes of conscious- ness," of outer perceptual relationships. Then something is always Imimeldiate for this rational principle to act upon ; anldl there is a determinative, Immanent Idea that orders and controls the mo- tives and choices that are to characterize the ex- perience about to organize in the conscious life of the Individual knowing Self. The inner aspect of experience is sometimes regarded as the Idea; but, in thinking processes, ideas constitute an expe- rience of their own type of Being, and consequently there is recognized the distinctive feature of a physical anldl a mental series of facts; and whether
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they are regarded as influencing each other or not, they have a point of very close contact in a cer- tain sphere and phase of experience. However, there is nothing to keep the individual life of ex- perience to the point of contact that denotes an immediate relation of the two series or types of experience. It is clear that there can be no com- plete physical type of experience without the cor- responding series of mental faicts in the realm of ideas, but the one does not arbitrarily determine the other. There is a type of experience that tran- scends the immediate consideration of these facts and relations; anldJ this may be called the realm of Pure Ideas. This is m|ore characteristic of the Infinite Series of an ordered world entirely inde- pendent of any finite ideas or influences or rela- tions, except mediatorial; since there is an en- tirely different and new type of Beings in rela- tions that imply all Being, yet are Absolutely in- dependent and differentially separate — a complete- ness in the Individual and an Individual in and through the completeness. Activity is the inevita- ble outcome of a well ordered experience; and a well ordered Experience implies Will and Idea, a complete and harmonious activity in an Immediate Present.
A Self-representative system in the most Abso- lute sense of the term, belongs only to the Infinite. It is Self-iconsistent in all its parts. It is best represented by Universal and Particular Truth. The Truth of One is the Truth of all, and the Truth of all is the Truth of One. Nothing can
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enter or subsist to break up the order of relation and Being that maintains and is positive amd ac- tive, and active through all external relations that constitute the inner relations of finite Being. A finite system can be self-representative in so far as the laws of the higher and Absolute order of Infinite Truth maintain the inner relations and are actively expressed in the external relations of the finite individual or element. An Infinite col- lection has a different meaning to different ap- proaches. Truth changes but is never destroyed by the effect of analysis or definition. Truth it- self gives the power and faculty to analyze anid define. The Infinite series may be represented in a correlation of concepts by the form of a num- ber series, — 2oo, 200+1, 200+02, . . . 2°o-roo, represents the Infinite Power of the individual or element; and each whole number is infinite, but one wihole number is or may be infinitely greater than another whole number. This of course im- plies a chain of reasoning, that means a system of relations that maintain with the activity of ele- ments or individuals, that is, with the Truth of elements or individuals; and in this sense these relations are probably causal. To conceive of Real- ity one must conceive of a Perfect Being; to con- ceive of a Perfect Being is to conceive of God, is to conceive an Infinite system of Real Facts. For the Self cannot be known unless the Universe is known. The Self can be known ultimately in God ; in God is Absolute Reality, because we must con- ceive of Hiroi as Perfect Being; and a perfect
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Being is One of Perfect Knowledge in diversity of relationships; Perfect Ethical Spirit, Aristo- tle's system was a mixture of natural and super- natural elements, and could not consistently con- ceive an Infinite Series of pure transcendent activ- ities and relations that characterize the Infinite Series. There are conceptions that it is not pos- sible to conceive of anything surpassing: Such as an infinite velocity, for instance, as suggested by the electrical sciences. In ethical terms a Perfect Ethical Spirit is not to be con'ceivddi of as having any superior, but as positively active in other eth- ical relations maintaining and causing Perfection without losing energy or Perfection. The best ex- ample of two infinite systems is that of a number series : 200+00 series is infinitely greater than 2°° series. A series of counting, 1, 2, 3, 4, . . , °°, represent a mixture of finite and infinite elements. This is an abstract way of represent- ing the discernment of a Truth or meaning, but there is probably no clearer way than the mathe- matical, except to conceive of Truth and interpre- tations in purely mental concepts.
The "Third Conception of Being" has been ex- pounded or represented by critical nationalists, and especially by Stoic philosophy. It regards the universality of law as evident above all things, and divests reality by diverting from its most ar- tistic formjs of expression in thought and feeling, through its habitual mental revelries in cold ab- stractions of thought, that reduce reality to a bare uniformity in which a series of patriculars are
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likely to disappear through absorption. The proof of the validity of the Fourth Conception of Being is brought out in the statement that all Selves have their being in One Self. Selves do not exist apart from a self-known experience. The Self- known activity of the Self is the true Self, and this activity of conscious thought has Being and Reality in one Absolute Self-known Activity; all Self-known activity is united and ordered and de- termined by Absolute Creative Mind and Will in Final Purpose and Design. This constitutes and maintains the unity and harmony of the World of True Being, in series of living and vital rela- tions that make the variety of acts and logical is- sues in the perfected system and series of tem- poral moments composing the complete unity of the World Order. The world is real as a construc- tively Idealistic System thus determined by the Absolute and final harmony of True Being; much like the completion of a piece of music, and the performance depends on the well ordered effects according to adaptations of particular elements and activities to the Laws of the Absolute One, Free Activity of the entire completed harmony. The world is real and harmonious in the Knowl- edge of Absolute and Universal Truth in the World with transcendental Experience of the Absolute. Aristotle's conception of the soul centered around the conception of the povt, the transcend- dental Reason. Plato taught philosophy and science in his dialogues and conversational writ- ings, theology and poetry in his myths. Aristotle
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was concerned more with the speculative reason and a philosophy of nature. Epicurus probably drew his physics from Plato, and his ethics from Aristotle. Bacon, Locke, Descartes and others in modern philosophy represented empiricism, and their influence is pragmatical. Bacon represents the intellectualist type; Locke, the sensationalist; and Descartes, a kind of spiritualistic dualism that admits the reality and interaction of mind and body — these were his favorite conceptions that characterize his philosophy. And it is a type of rationalism as distinguished from Idealistic, con- structive empiricism. Berkeley maintained a spir: itualistic monism that was free of the pantheistic conceptions of Spinoza to a g*eat extent, and his conception of the world is a world of mind; the objects are ideas that have a definite expression in the formjs and life of related spirits or minds and reciprocal wills. Kant's Critique of Practical Reason and the Oritique of Judgment are a more or less dogmatic expression of his ideals in this relation to the world of actual life, and their free and transcendent relation with the World Beau- tiful. In the Oritique of Pure Reason he presented a more elaborate and carefully reasoned examina- tion of the facts and ideas as they appeared in his view of experience.
Plato's theory of Ideas may be considered to begin in its most simple form with the Divine Rea- son, but his entire world for his point of view is a world of Ideas. His life associations were natur- ally with the refined and educated; and anything
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of a crude, materialistic conception was not in sym- pathy with hi si habit of thought. Things were ideas materialized, that is in so far as they were neces- sarily regarded in the materialistic conception of some of the other Greek philosophers. As for him these notions had no place, except probably as a point of agreement with those who could not ap- preciate his view of the world. He was not a mere idealist, but the rational order of the system of realities was1 even the more important and of vital interest because of his idealism. His ideas passed from the simple through the complex to the One unitary Idea that includes all others within the range of true being. He had no place in the sys- tem of Ideas for the conception of evil. Evil he thought might be present, but it inhered only in the principle of matter. The Highest Idea was Absolute Goodness, and other ideas had relative value according to their appropriate nearness to Absolute perfection and Goodness. There were exclusive ideas for the intellectual, moral and sen- suous types of experience; and these were to be practical according to a free insight of perfect judgment to meet the totality of experience in any moment of conscious decision required by circum- stances. The intellectual Idea is Wisdom; the moral, Courage ; and the sense world comes under the idea of temjperance. The Idea of Good may be briefly stated in terms that include whatever con- forms with the perfect system of Absolute Good- ness in the highest manifestations and extending
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through all Reality. For Plato the World of Ideas is the Real World.
The Platonic theory probably shows the influence of the Eleatics by their representing true being and the Heracliteans by their ethical significance, the Pythagoreans by their actuality of number in re- lations, and of Anaxagoras by admission of the principle of change into the static world of true Being. The antithesis of nature and law comes about by the rigidity of his conception of the worBdi of Ideas. It is, however, what one would naturally expect to find as the logical issue of his method of development without the actualization of a free spiritual life of the self-conscious Absolute Idea. His view of imitation represents the 'copy theory in so far as it is out of the realm of philosophy and poetry, in philosophy and poetry imitation is not good. In philosophy and poetry the Creative Reason active in genius is commendable. BQis ar- gument for immortality rests on the imperishable, indestructible nature of Ideas. And the Soul seems to be regarded as a kind of synthesis of a system of related Ideas in a conscious life. Dialectics for Plato is the science of skillful conversation in practical life, and it is interesting to note that his ideal of dialectical exercises is always fine, phil- osophical, and tempered with wisdom and the good- will of rare altruistic feeling.
Time, Knowledge, Objective Experience, Percep- tion— what are they for the estimation of the prac- tical Idealist? Time is empirically real in the sense that there are moments in the time series
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of a conscious experience. This depends on the rate of the succession of Meas in judgment, thought and perception. Hence a moment can be esti- mated as an eternity and an eternity as a moment. A whole lifetime of experience is thus sometimes crowded into a very short time. But it may be regarded as transcendentally unreal in the con- templation of an idea of the Eeason pure and sim- ple, and at the same time highly complex, in the consciousness of an all-inclusive Ideal of Beauty, Perfection, Freedom — Goodness and Self - con- sciousness with Truth that make the Individual free as an angel and inevitably holy. Knowledge miay be regarded as coming through the sense per- ceptions, analysis of complex concepts and synthe- sis of concepts that are clearly seen through with the recognition of a meaning for the Self-conscious Mind. Keal objective experience differs from mere perception in so far as the object is thought. Mere perception is an activity of the mind in judging the quality of appearances and the nature of things, and the meaning of acts and expressions that have a logical significance. Perception implies memory, imagination and a logical mind that is essentially active in knowing. Perception may be regarded as real objective experience when the relations of the object are judged as external. With Kant there always remjained something unknown about the objective world with which he had any experience, and he believed it unknowable. In the Kantian sense objective experience pure and simple indi- cated a will that seemed to oppose the will of the
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thinking subject. In a system of harmoniously re- lated wills, it is a question whether there can be any difference between perception and Ideal Ex- perience.
Kant's treatment of the antinomies arises neces- sarily from his conception of the opposition of wills, and the impossibility of his arriving at a complete and adequate explanation of experience from his starting point. If he had a finer con- ception of the reality of the physical universe, and its relation in sense perception and the ideas in the synthesis of meaning and the totality of expe- rience with its a priori significance in constructive knowledge with perfect observation and clear dis- cernment of the meaning of ideas with perfect judgment, those things that were KLeals with him — if he had started with these, there would proba- bly have been no need for any treatment of the antinomies at all; for it is not conceivable how they could exist in a system of knowledge that seeks a complete analysis and explanation of the world. They arise in that condition of experience with the world where one finds himself living and thinking and acting. What Kant means by his statement of the moral law seems to indicate his conscious attitu'die assumed in the later Critique after his failures in the former. He unmistakably recognizes the Self as a multiple personality that implies a number of persons in the unity of a com- mon Ideal.
The process of decentralization that takes place and conditions the experience of multiple person-
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ality, seems easily brought about by the exclusion of a middle term in transcendental perception of Ideas. In logical processes it is commonly called immediate inference, when the meaning and rela- tion of truths is clear enough to be known with- out mentioning the entire logical series of infer- ences; and, as in sylogistic reasoning, the conclu- sion is taken from the major premise directly by the perception of Truth. Traditionally clear Meas were often regarded as clear in the sense that they could be expressed in a sylogism and also in the more complex forms of truth that could be recog- nized as self-evident. Distinct ideas are clearly differentiated by individuation, and in true Being they must have their unity in the Divine Keason anidi the Absolute Self - consciousness. In finite mind ideas are distinct and simple when they are clearly understood. For an Idea to be adequate it must be a synthesis of ideas that have a clear meaning in a personality and are true in the ex- pression. Else it would be regarded as a Reductio ad Absurdum, having no meaning in a logiclal mind, because there is nothing in comtmon to rec- ognize truth in the form of a proposition. Pure Logic will not mix with empirical facts and con- ditions of perception that have nothing in common with the truth of the Absolute Self-conscious Mind. Since Logic is the science of Ideas, and Pure Logic deals with adequate ideas, and handles the con- ceptions as such, and adequate ideas are syntheses of personal truth — then Pure Logic has to postu- late a delemma for the best possible working hypo-
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thesis in the sphere where its value is inestimable; the skillful statement of a truth in two different ways, either of which has validity and appears true in the form of a logical proposition that is a double statement of a true Idea. This seems to have been the method proposed by Kant in his doctrine of the antinomies. The study of his later work in its relation with the earlier shows that there is a possible and more satisfactory way of approaich. This may be stated in something like Pure Logic in conjunction with imagination in the perception of true Ideas.
A truth that is more likely to be actualized is always a more probable proposition than an idea that is only possible. One proposition may be nuore probable than another, when there is more truth recognized by a life in a community of free Beings, and it offers the actualization of an Ideal that appeals to the Ideal of an actual possible experience of Ideal perfection in the mlind ex- pressed in the forms of the Beautiful in nature and art; a proposition that is more clearly recognized in scientific knowledge as conforming to the Unity of all Ideals in the One Absolute Ideal expressed by the Type Life in the Christian Character, arid manifested in the world of reality through the Di- vine Reason or Logos of the Universe, and in reli- gious experience as Love, Devotion, and respect of Personality.
I remember taking an examination in Logic one time, which received the comment, "Quite cupe- lessly ignorant and confused." I claimed that the
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comment did not apply to me, because I had a clear idea of the problems in logic that were involved, but wrote with great difficulty on account of con- flicting disturbances of perception that forceki themselves on the sphere of logical mental proc- esses. They did not seem to be altogether real, but they greatly hindered a free expression of thought. What was written may have deserved the comment; for I discovered after the return of the paper that I was under the impression of hav- ing written somethings nowhere to be found. One I rememlbered in particular was an appeal to com- municate through the Logos of the Universe, im- mediately after which I had the impression that some one in another room, adjoining the exami- nation room, burst into tears with a kiridi of hysteri- cal cry. After that I was not troubled so much with conflicting disturbances of thought, but I my- self felt very sorrowful, with an overwhelming sense of something that made the tears start from my own eyes, and brought the examination to a close with a few brief, general statements.
Sensations of pain from the point of Cupid's arrow, indeed are not pleasant ; and they often have a disturbing effect on the logical processes of thought. The process of attention in its general significance has a rythmical degree of intensity and relaxation. And when the attention is fixed on the perception or the clear conception of an Ideal that is held in the imagination as a logical series of mental images or facts, it has a decided influence on the physical series of facts that con-
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stitute the objective side of the personality, as well as the psychical series of facts that are parts in the unity of personality. The unity of personal consciousness necessarily implies the blending or related divisions of the mind, intellect, sensibility and will. If there is a possibility of a conscious mind having transcended this threefold division, or a mind that does not imply all of these, it is not the ordinary type of mentality in practical life. The personality seems drawn into the Idieal state of Self-consciousness by some determination of the will as consciously related with the rational life and pure emiotion that might be called ecstatic. Pleasure-Pain, Love-Hate, Joy-Sorrow, are per- haps different intensities of the same sensation, emotion, or spiritual attitude of a sentient Being. Before the threshold can be passed from pleasure to pain, there must be a high intensity of pleasure. And at the threshold of Love and Hate stands the sentinel of reason with the psychic wand; beware lest Love be changed to hate. At the gateway of Joy and sorrow, is the angel with the flaming sword of passion and desire; sorrow may be changed to Joy, but Joy never to sorrow; or else Joy may come to lose its spiritual quality, and the forsaken soul driven through the gate to sorrow, and then only a Redeeming Love can rescue, and bring again to the Paradise of Joy and Haven of Delight. These elements of the Spiritual Consciousness are essentially the same spiritual principle at heart, but the Soul, that undergoes the experience, suf- fers a transformation or modification of consciousr
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ness at the transition point of one to the other. The negative side of these aesthetic experiences may be briefly defineld as what does not promote the normal and healthy activity of a life; and the negative effect can be reduced by the power of right thinking in the Ideal construction of Expe- rience.
The Ideal construction of Experience involves the Ideal Construction of Space, at least in some extent to begin with. This is partly required and represented by the principles of stereoscopic vision that involve to some extent the principles of space perception in a high degree of complex co-ordina- tions of lines and angles to miake up the variety of space perception in its manifold orkler according to the World of experience. We think of space largely in terms of visual perception. Mathemati- cal formis and laws determine the essential of an ideal construction of space, but in ordinary expe- rience objects have their form and content of ex- perience in the characteristic relation of the image formied with binocular vision as represented in stereoscopic vision. The perception of the third dimension in space is perceived, or rather percep- tion of depth in the field of vision for visual space experience, depends on the arrangement of differ- ent parts of the object as perceived in different relations on the retina of each eye. The fac- tors that determine the many possible associations that may arise in consciousness at a given time are both objective and subjective. An objective factor inhibits the myth-making faculty in too free
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or spontaneous expression; and the inverse is also true, that the subjective factors control and de- termine what objective factors shall enter the mind. In the instance of after-images it has been observed that attention controls them to a very great extent, but the Creative Will is also active and efficient in producing this kind of phenomena. After images and invagination images are not evident and do not impose their impressions on the miridi when the observing faculty is actively engaged with real objective space perception. The prevail- ing factors in the determination of attention rules them out. The associations of ideas are also con- trolled by the concrete objects of attention as well as by the fixation of attention with a voluntary effort. And then mental states may be measured by the limitations of a self-conscious will as ac- tive and controlling in the range and extent of knowledge and correct judgment.
The biological values of emotions are more clearly evident in their influence on the circulation, also breathing and various other movements of an organism. Emotions are sometimies proidiuced by certain nervous processes, and they seem to origi- nate from suggestion or other activities of succes- sion in the conscious flow of ideas, whether de- termined by the intellect or the will. Mere physi- cal suggestion does not require much intelligence. Reflex movements or co-ordinations of will may be so well co-ordinated by careful training that they take place without always paying special volun- tary attention to them. And the unity and span
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of consciousness has a variety of extent according to the limits of knowledge. Whether these limits are vast or narrow, the personal will and moral purpose determines the self - known activities of the Self, and excludes foreign influences, that some- times indefinitely disturb the consciousness of Self. A span of consciousness is more or less ex- tended according to the capacity and ability of Creative, Constructive Imagination. A time-span of consciousness has special reference to memory, and the logical series o f ideas exten'ded by the imagination, and controlled in the mind by a ra- tional will. There is probably no reason for sup- posing merely psychical causality. The psychical activities and influences are controlled by Pure Reason rather than by the 'direct agencies of psy- choses.
PART XI.
THE RELATION OF IDEAS AND AESTHETIC SENTIMENTS.
In transcendental philosophy Ideas are 'distin- guished from concepts of the Understanding by calling them representations referred to an object according to a certain principle, but mere ideas may never be knowing agents. They are either referred to an intuitive, subjective principle of the mutual harmony of the cognitive powers; or they are referred to a concept of an objective principle. Tlhe intuitive ideas Kant calls aesthetical, while the conceptual are called rational Ideas. These concepts are transcendent, and differ from a con- cept of the Understanding to which a correspond- ing adequate experience can always be supplied, anldi is therefore called Imjmianent.
Kant thinks "An aesthetical Idea cannot become a cognition, because it is an intuition of the Imagi- nation for wThich an adequate concept can never be found"; and that "A rational Idea can never become a cognition, because it involves a concept of the supersensible corresponding to which an in- tuition can never be given." Here Kant's skep- ticism shows itself clinging to the uncertainty of things as they appear, for the basis of his system of speculation, and failing to state the law of asso- ciation that may hold just as well in the aesthetic
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and supersensible Ideas, as it is alleged to hold in the ideas of sense perception. Though he miay justly "call the aesthetical Idea an inexponible representation of the Imagination, and a rational Idea an indemonstrable concept of Reason. "
Concepts of the Understanding are always de- monstrable, since a corresponding object is always capable of being given in intuition, pure or empi- rical; and thus they become cognitions. This is equivalent to saying that there is always a trans- cendental activity of the mind in the act of knowl- edge and certitude, that corresponds with the plain ordinary fact way of knowing; and to the plain man's consciousness these concepts come to be re- gar/died as intuitions. They can be authenticated by an empirical intuition, a thought can be proved by an example.
In logic demonstration attaches only to propo- sitions, and these m|ight be mpre correctly consid- ered as mediately and immediately certain. Pure philosophy has propositions of both kinds, some susceptible of proof and others not; though they may be proved on a priori grounds, but not demon- strated, unless presented as concepts intuitively. If the intuition is a priori, it is constructive; if em- pirical, the object displayed assures objective real- ity to the concept. For instance, the concept of trans- cendental freedom may be of a kind that is demon- strable, but is at the same time a rational Idea; while virtue is so only in a degree that is free from certain conditions. Empirically given there can be nothing regarding the quality of freedom,
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and the quality of virtue alone does not attain to the degree of causality, prescribed as a rule by the rational Idea. In a rational Idea the Imagi- nation with its intuitions is not limited to a pre- sented or given concept, and in an aesthetical Idea the Understanding by its concepts does not attain completely to that internal intuition the Invagina- tion inseparably associates with a given represen- tation. Both rational and aesthetical Ideas must have their principles in Reason; the one in the objective, the other in the subjective aspects of its activity. It is sometimes thought that true gen- ius may be explained as the faculty of aesthetical Ideas, that show the reason why in the expressions of genius it is inner nature and not the premedi- tated purpose alone that gives the rule to beau- tiful art — the supersensible with respect to which it is the final purpose given by the intelligible part of our cognitive faculties. Thus we also develop that sympathy with genius so vital in the appre- ciation of beautiful art; and it can be the only (/ priori basis of a purposive, subjective principle that is universally valid> when no objective prin- ciple can be prescribed.
Kant calls attention to the agreement of the three kinds of antinomies of Pure Reason, in that all compel us to regard them merely as phenomena, and to supply to them an intelligible essence, su- persensible, of which the concept is only an idea. These three antinomies have their existence in the three cognitive faculties which he calls Under- standing, Judgment arid Reason. I don't see any
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need for these antinomies, if the act of knowing involves all the faculties of cognition in a harmon- ious relation of activity. There can be no real knowledge through one faculty alone out of rela- tion with the others. If empiricism and rational- ism were the only factors in the Critique of Taste, there would not be much room left for the idea of the beautiful. However, these satisfying ideas of the aesthetical judgment are closely allied with the principle of rationalism, though they cannot be comprehended in definite concepts. "The ration- alism of the principle of taste is either that of the realism of purposiveness, or of its idealism." Kant thinks because a judgment of taste is not a cog- nitive judgment, and beauty is not a characteristic of the object, considered in itself, "the rationalisim of the principle of taste can never be placed in the fact that the purposiveness in this judgment is thought as objective." This can be true of the object only in so far as it is the expression of a finite mind. The judgment of taste theoretically and logically refers to the perfection of the object, and beauty in the object is all that makes it real. The distinction between the realism and idealism in the judgment of taste must be decided by a sub- jective quality assumed as an actual purpose of nature or art harmonizing with our judgment; or by a purposive harmony with the needs of our judgment assumed in nature and its forms pro- duced according to particular laws, which shows itself spontaneously and contingently.
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The beautiful formations in the realm of organ- ized nature are invincible evidences for realism of the aesthetical purposiveness of nature; since we can assume that in the production of the beaiitiful there is an Idea of the beautiful in the producing cause, a purpose agreeing with reference to our own imagination. Flowers, beautiful birds of plumage and song, or the radiating rays of a crys- tal of snow, all have a significant meaning and worth in the development of our mental and aesthet- ical faculties. "Nature everywhere shows in its free formations much mechanical tendency to the productions of forms which seem, as it were, to be m|ade for the aesthetical exercise of our Judg- ment." While much in nature and art is a devel- opment there are also rapid transitions when con- ditions are favorable, and a step is incumbent. In the thought of Kant, "Formation takes place by a shooting together" — 'he refers to a transition calledi crystallization, which takes place at once by a sal- tus,& sudden solidification, not a gradual transition from the fluid to the solid state. The most common example is the formation of a crystal of water, which combines' at angles of sixty degrees, while others attach themselves at each vertex. The crys- talline figures of many minerals, the cubic sulphide of lead, the ruby silver ore, etc., are formed; and probably by the shooting together of particles, be- come permanent and unite in definite external shapes. MJany of these mineral crystallizations pre- sent beautiful shapes, which the imitation of art can only conceive; and the halo of an electromag-
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neltic radiation — these are all beautiful in the worlldi of thought, while entirely beyond the reach of the finite imagination in sense representation. The question is asked : "What shows the principle of the Ideality of the purposiveness in the beauty of na- ture/' which we always place at the basis of an aesthetical judgment, and allows us to employ no realism of purpose as a means of explanation for our representative faculty? There is an answer in the fact that in forming a judgment of beauty wei invariably seek its gauge in ourselves, and that our aesthetical Judgment is itself legislative regarding the Judgment whether everything is beautiful or not; this compels us to accept without exception the real in the ideal nature of beauty as an ulti- mate truth. If nature had fashioned its forms for our satisfaction, the principle of purposivenesis would be objective arid not subjective, which de- pends upon the play of the free Imagination, where we receive nature with favor. The property of na- ture that gives us occasion to perceive the inner relation of purposive activity in our judging cer- tain of its products, cannot be a rational purpose, nor can it be judged as such; unless the judgment thus determined is free, as is fittingly characteris- tic of a true judgmient of taste. "In beautiful AJrt the principle of the Idealism of purposiveness is still clearer." But just as in the instance of the beautiful in nature "an aesthetical Bealism of this purposiveness cannot be perceived by sensations," else art could only be pleasant and not beautiful. The satisfaction, however, produced by aesthet-
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ical Ideas " Must not depenldj on the attain- ment of definite purposes/' as in art mathemati- cally designed; and consequently, "in the very ra- tionalism of the principle, the ideality of the pur- poses and not their reality miust be fundamental" ; this is clear from the fact that beautiful art, as such, cannot be considered merely as a creation of the Understanding and Science, but of Genius, anldi must therefore get its rule through aesthetical Ideas, which are somewhat different from rational Ideas of definite purposes. From Kant's point of view, "The ideality of the objects1 of sense as phe- nomena is the only way of explaining the possi- bility of their forms being susceptible of a priori determinations," and the idealism of purposiveness in judging the beautiful in nature and art is the only hypothesis by which aesthetic criticism can explain the possibility of a judgment of taste that demjands universal validity.
Beauty has well been regarded as a symbol of morality. It is like the bright star shining in its solitary splendor through a misty sky, when the night has passed into the succeeding light of an- other day ; when vegetation is taking a bath in the atmosphere so laden with vapor and mist, that, con-, densing, drops in dielicate freshness and purity from the trees to the dry, parched earth beneath. Beauty is the Lamp of Poetry; and the Poet de- clares, "Always keep the Lamp burning at Beauty's sacred Shrine." The Lamp may be extinguished in the night of prosaic life, but you will need it in your study of nature, and will have to strike a
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match with, transcendental Beauty on the way to your investigation for science, before you can dis- cover the diamond roundelay flashing a brilliant prismatic light against the door that opens to the realm of Truth. Then taking hold of the lock that "linketh noble minds/' and turning it leisurely, he may enter, anldi place the aesthetically shaded Lamp of Beauty in its place with the glasses of a super- natural vision of Truth. Then with the key that "■shuts the spring of love/' the Spirit may return for one brief farewell, but the Yogi or Hindoo seer of Black Magic, never. For time seems as if it were not, and there is a subtle magic in doors that are open when locked and locked when open. A pure Spirit is not subject to the laws of a material world; while anything of a spirit nature that par- takes of physical or materialistic conceptions or impressions is subject to the orderly laws of a physical Universe.
Kant was fond of saying that Intuitions are al- ways required to establish the reality of concepts. If the concepts are empirical the intuitions are called examples. If then are pure concepts of the! understanding they are called schemjata. Kant finds it impossible to establish the objective reality of rational concepts on behalf of theoretical cog- nitions, because absolutely no adequate intuition can be given for them. All presentation is two- fold. It is either schematical, when an intuition is given corresponding to a concept comprehended by the understanding, or symbolical. In the latter when no sense intuition can be adequate to a pure
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concept of the Reason, an intuition is supplied with which a procedure of the Judgment, analogous to what it observes in schematism, agrees. Kant re- gards the symbolical mlode of representation as not opposed to the intuitive. The symbolical is a mode of the intuitive; and the intuitive may be divided into the schematical and symbolical modes of rep- resentation. Both are mere characterizations, or designations wThich contain nothing belonging to the intuition of an object. They only serve as a means for reproducing the concepts, by the law of association in the invagination from a subjective point of view. All intuitions that are supplied to concepts a priori are either schemata or symbols, direct or indirect presentations of the concept. The former are demonstrative, the latter analogous, in wfhich the judgment exercises a double function ; first applying the concept to the object of a sense intuition, and then applying the mere form) to the reflection made upon that intuition to a different object of which the first is only the symbol. This! mlay be true of the more elementary forms of con- sciousness, but in the more complex and highly organized, I think this double process blends into one ; and it is the form of the concept placed upon an object that is perceived, and not & simple sense impression. If all reality exists only in and for mind, and the nature of beauty has its home in the mind, then it is only the beautiful that has any real objective existence.
The Beautiful is the symbol of the morally Good, and in this aspect is pleasing and has a claim for
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the agreement of everyone else. It exalts the mind in a certain noble consciousness that is above the mere sensibility to pleasure perceived through sense; and the worth of others is estimated like- wise by a maxim of their Judgment, Taste looks to the intelligible with which our higher cogni- tive faculties agree, and without this agreement there could be no harmony between their nature and the claims made by taste. In this faculty the Judgment does not see itself subjected to a heter- onomy of empirical laws. Pure taste is a law in itself, jusit as pure Reason is in respect to the fac- ulty of desire.
The beautiful pleases immediately apart from any interest in reflective intuition; Goodness pleases in the conception of it and is wrapped up in an interest produced! 'by a judgment. And the freedom of the Imagination in judging the beau- tiful is represented as harmonious with conformity to law of the Understanding; while the freedom of the will in the moral judgment is thought as harmony with Self and the world according to universal laws of Reason. The subjective princi- ple in judging the beautiful is represented as valid fo^ everyone, though this is not to be known by cognition through any universal concept. The ob- jective principle of the moral law is set forth as universally valid also for every subject and is known by means of a universal concept, Kant thinks a reference to this analogy is usual even with the commlon Understanding of men, and beau- tiful objects of nature or art are often described
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by names that seem to put a moral appreciation at their basis. Architecture and natural objects are called majestic and magnificent; landscapes are laughing and gay; even colors are called in- nocent and modest, because they excite sensations that hare something analogous to a consciousness of the state of mind brought about by moral judg- ments. Taste rmakes possible the transition from the charm of sense to habitual moral interest, without a violent leap. It represents the Imagi- nation in its freedom as capable of purposive de- termination for the Understanding, and teaches us to find even in sensible objects a satisfying de- light, free and apart from any charm] of sense.
The method of a critique of taste differs from that of any other critique, since there is not nor can be a science of the beautiful, and the judg- ment of taste is not dieterminable by means of principles. There is a certain scientific element in art, namely, truth in the presentation of its object. This is an indispensable condition; with- out it there could be no beautiful art itself. There is for beautiful art only a manner of teaching and not a method. The master must show the pupil what to do and how to do it; and the uni- versal rules under which a method of procedure is finally brought, serve rather for bringing the main points back to remembrance, when occasion requires, rather than prescribing any set rules. But nevertheless regard must always be had for a certain ideal, that art must have in view, though it may not be comipletely attainable in practice.
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It is through exciting the Imagination •with a given conception, that the adequacy of the expres- sion for the Idea becomes evident, and because it is an aesthetical Idea a single intellectual con- cept cannot fully grasp or contain it. Thus art is harmonized with the natural simplicity and models for imitation without subjecting them to higher standards of independent judgments, Thus genius and the freedom of the imagination is saved from falling into rigid conformity to law, whereby it might lose its characteristic nature, which is essentially that of conformity to law without a law. Without this neither beautiful art, nor an accurately judging individual taste, is possible. The outlook of all beautiful art, regarded in the highest degree of its perfection, is not in precepts, but in the culture of the mental powers by means of those elements of knowledge which indicate the universal feeling of sympathy, and the faculty oi communicating universally our inmiost feelings. These properties taken togethpr make up the char- acteristic spirit of a society.
An age and people under the impulse and in fluence of a law abiding social life that makes <\ permanent community, is confronted with the dif- ficulties of uniting freedom and equality with com- pulsion. Such conditions point to the discovery of the art of reciprocal communication of Ideas between the cultured and not/ cultured classes; and the largemindedness and refinement of the one is prevented from taking examples as types and originality of the other. Thus is found the mean
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between the higher culture and simple nature winch furnishes the true standard for taste as something universal to all miankind, that no gen- eral rules can supply. As life becomes more artis- tic and refined, the higher the value placed on the elite of a race or society. For without having per- manent examples before it, a concept in one and the same people of a happy union of a law-abiding constraint of the highest culture with the force and truth of free nature that feels its own proper worth — is hardly possible.
The very heart of taste is a faculty for judging the presentation of moral Ideas, and this is devel- oped, refined and sustained by reflection and keep- ing the hand on the pulse of a living world.
BOOK TWO
Logic and Imagination in the Perception of Truth
BOOK TWO.
THE DIVINE REASON, LOVE OR LOGOS OF THE UtNIVERSE.
"And Jesus said unto them> I am the bread of life: lie that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. "
(John 6:35)
As Christianity conceives it the charm of re- ligion centers in the Character of God. His intel- ligent Presence through the elements of His Being transcends timie and outwings space. But what invites our confidence, attracts our love and is most comforting, is the magnificent truth of His supreme sovereignty clothed with m'oral attributes and qualities, However, to set forth the Principle and be a complete revelation of tihe Ohiaractjer expressed in God's Life is more than any one in- dividual can do; yet as mirrors transmit sugges- tions of broad landscapes, so may each individual, in the presence of a fellow Being, hold two ex- pressions of Christian faith in which are mirrored
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the beauty of the Character of Godi: "God is Light"; God is Love.
Light — physical, intellectual and ethical — is a symbol of the Character of God; and the essen- tial property of light is actively positive. In the more special psychological phenomena it is known to be closely related with the construc- tive power of creative Mind, and like physical light associates iteslf with vision. Physical light associates itself with thoughts of heaven- ly splendor. Even the earthly play of sun- shine on a glittering sea, or the flashing peaks of snowy mountains, or the hues of flowers and birds and gems — are to the poet's eye
"The splendid scenery of the sky, Where through a saphire sea, the sun Sails like a golden galleon."
Intellectual light dispelling ignorance, error, falsehood, by illuminating hidden paths and mak- ing clear the actuality of Eeality according to the Truth! Intellectual light stands for Self knowl- edge— the mind shining upon itself, perfection of wisdom, correct judgment and the identification of Truth with Self. Ethical light stands for right- eousness ; radiant as the noon-day sun, clear, stead- fast, unchanging; a pure whiteness blending all moral perfections; the glory of goodness, the beauty of holiness.
As physical light suggests outshining glory and splendor, so the Infinite One reveals Himiself in
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personal character. God is Spirit with distinctive qualities of radiant perfection. All things are "open before the eyes of Him," and "in Him is no darkness at all." God is moral light. "Right- eousness and judgment are the habitations of his throne." His thoughts, His will, His purpose are notes of ethical completeness. The nature of light is to shine, and the splendor of the intellectual and mioral light of the Character of God is ex- pressive in manifestation. "God is what He is, not for Himself alone. He is Light in the expres- siveness of His Being that He may be known. Because He is, He shines, and men live in His light."
God is also Love in the highest sense of that termi. Love is of God and is the outgoing of yearning thought, seeking response and comiple- tion through response. If God in His timeless essence is love, and love involves subject audi ob- ject and self -completion througlh response, then the Divine Essence must contain within itself per- sonal distinction, for love to be realized. In God's world of pure and holy intelligence, Love is the very Life of personal Being, and its origin is in God. It is Heaven born and not a thing of time, to come and pass away. Many things are summed up in the one supremle consideration, "You shall know yourself," and find your life in the mystery of Infinite Being; in the Eternal world which is God's world and our world in the self -realizing, self-completing Oneness of Him who reveals Him-
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self to the finite understanding as the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit.
Love to God and love to man are essential prin- ciples of New Testament religion. In fact, there can be no true religion where these principles are not fundamental or of first importance. Jesus declares that on these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. It is the heart of the Jewish as well as the Christian religion. These two principles are not independent or co-ordinate, but they are so related that the second springs from or is conditioned by the first. Love to man in the Biblical sense, springs from a renewed heart possessed with the Love of God ; for only thus can the view of man's essential worth and dignity, the view of the true ends of his life — be taken; and the possibilities of his recovery from sin, are per- ceived. This is what makes love possible. It re- quires such a heart or mind to conquer the egois- tic impulse, which leads man to regard others as rivals to himself, and to seek his own good in preference to others, trying to use them as means to his own ends, treating them with indifference and neglect — that narrow impulse leading mian to regard those, wiho collide with his own inter- ests, with envy, irritation and resentment. It is only in the heart or mind that has been renewed and possessed by the Love of God, that there is a disposition or sufficiently powerful motive to sustain a holy, spiritual, ungrudging, truly disin- terested love to our fellowmen, even to those who
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have no claims upon us, or who may be personally unworthy.
It is vain for man to profess to love God, if that love does not go forth in Godlike activity. The love to God which generates love to man, has its source in the knowledge we have of the Love God has for us. And it is the loving Char- acter of God revealed in His Word and acts, audi particularly in His grace in Christ, culminating in the sacrifice on the cross, joined with the love Christ Himself has manifested, that begets and calls forth responsive love, and leads to the entire surrender of the Self to God, serving Him by go- ing forth a constant revelation and type in the Kingdom of Heaven, an activity worthy of the life and works of angels.
This love changes negative precepts into posi- tive ones, and leads man to seek his neighbor's highest well-being in soul and body. In this one word is the whole law fulfilled. Again, the ex- ample of Jesus in his earthly life is the interpre- tation of the depth and range of his precept, in its practical beneficence, its compassion for the lost, its forgiveness of injuries, and its voluntary self-sacrifice for others, even unto death. "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself."
It is magnificently brought out in that incom- parable hymn of love chanted by St. Paul in the 13th chapter of I Corinthians. "How high and wide-reaching the spiritual requirements of this law of love are — how love is patient and kind; excludes envy; is humlble: not easily provoked;
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does not impute motives; mourns over iniquity, and rejoices in truth; endures wrong; believes the best; where it cannot believe, hopes; where it can- not even hope, suffers." In this principle of love, as we are taught by Christ's example, and by apostolic teaching, there is not only the fulfill- ing of the law, but a great, indeed the chiefest, part of practical religion. And the King is rep- resented as searching into precisely these deeds of love at the great last day of account, and it is by their presence or absence that men's everlast- ing destinies are adjudged.
In the most flourishing times of Judaism, Scrip- ture was regarded the inspired and inspiring Word of God. And they looked forward to a timte when this would be incarnate in the complete and per- fect Life of the God-man. The most beautiful flower of Jewish piety and religion was its sacred lyrical poetry. Many of the Psalms admitted to belong to the centuries after the exile express the pure and pious feeling called forth by the reading of the law and the prophets in the temple. The law and the prophets for the pious Israelite ex- pressed the whole nature of God, and he came to regard it as the ultimate revelation, valid for all timte, even for eternity; the tree of life, the true food of the soul, the crown and source of all right living. "These two sides of the Jewish piety — the individfualisim of the heart religion of the Psalmls," and the socialism of the prophetic Idea of the Kingdom were comjbined in the Character of Jesus; united in a unique religious geneality. The
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intimate union with God recognized in the pious poets of the Psalms, was the current of his life that clothed itself in the image of the most natural and intimate bond of fellowship. But this inti- mate union with God did not make him indifferent to the world or the needs of his people. He saw in God not only his own Father, bu't the Father of all. "Ye shall be perfect as your Father in Heaven is perfect." This heartfelt love to God became for Him the motive of active and patient love, and constrained him to offer the rest and joyfulness he possessed in co-conscious relation with God to as many as received Him,. His love awakened love in return; His trust in God awak- ened the courage of faith, and thus the humble and mteek teacher became the healer of the sick, the leader of the blind), and the great deliverer of the captives. Recognizing in these results proofs of the victorious powrer of the Divine Spirit, the hope of the early coming of the Kingdom of God be- came to Him a certainty that it had already be- gun. "The perfection of the principle of the divine consciousness in Jesus was the redeeming power which appeared in Him as personal life." The truly beautiful quality of Goodness, the universal, rational will or divine Logos, realizing Self in the history of humanity and reaching the highest point in Christ, but immanent in all reality ! The innate reason, the imiage of God, the light of life ! Every thought rising to the light of Truth, every good deed that furthers and preserves the moral order, is a revelation of the divine Spirit redeeming man-
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kind from crude nature, educating into the glor- ious liberty of the children of God.
The life of the really existing world flows into the life of our ideas. No one liveth to himself alone, and if we do influence others constantly we are manifestly under obligations not only to "do direct service" but so to order our own lives as to help and never to hinder others. What we owe others in our highest and best Self. In giving the true Self this essentially lives and grows and de- velops personality. And the Ideal once formed becomles a part of the Self, the highest Self spring- ing from the unity of all the faculties, a divine radiance emanating from the soul. Character is never a disconnected aggregate, it represents the w<hole life, and should it not be the chief aim to center the thoughts, the will and the affections on a worthy Ideal; an Ideal that will lead through all the varieties of experience and come out en- larged, enriched, the expression of a reality worthy of the high destiny set for man.
George Eliot says, "Ideas pass athwart us in their vapor, and cannot make themselves felt." But sometimes they are clothedi in a human form. "They breathe upon us with warm breath; they touch us with soft responsive hands, they look at us with sad, sincere eyes, and speak to us in ap- pealing tones; they are clothed in a human soul, with all its conflicts, its faith and its love. Then their presence is a power, then they shake us like a passion, and we are drawn after them with gentle compulsion, as flame is drawn to flamle."
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It is the very nature of perfect goodness, perfect beauty and perfect love to "attach the miind and heart to themselves in glad! and entire allegiance." The Divine principle of Love, fine thought and feeling, is the perfection of the Christian Ideal. It is God revealed to man in the Christ life. If we have this Spirit we are heirs with Him of the eternal glory of the Father. But if we profess to believe that God is Divine Love, and do not stretch forth a helping hand to soothe the restless sobbings of a world, we deny our creed. We are in the world to make it brighter, better and hap- pier. If wre do this we are imitators of God, and have that all - embracing Spirit pervading all things; and yet transcends them all, rising higher and higher in the transcendent realm; of Truth. And we can be impressed with the divine thought manifested in the beauty and harmony of nature around us; the glorious blending of colors in the sky at sunset, even to the tiny flower by the way- side. If we love the works of God and recognize in them His thought and design we shall grow in grace and become more and more like Him whom to know and love is Life Eternal.
Someone has said those who tread wisely the mid- dle path of existence will approach nearest the ideal happiness- Happiness cannot be obtained directly. Do you desire it for yourself, it evades your grasp. Happiness is found only in producing happiness; and by the mysterious law of sympathy, the happi- ness of one insures an increase of happiness in the
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other, vibrating on in endless variety through eternity.
Would you enter the sanctuary where troubles and cares are excluded, and enjoy a peaceful glad- ness that forever exalts the mind in the conscious- ness of inner harmony and beauty? Then think and act in unison with truth and justice. Live in sympathy with nature, loving the silent music of the waves, the glory and sublimity of ocean and sky, develop that sympathy with genius that may discern the beauty of a poem, the spiritual expres- sion of a face, and the soul of a picture from the master handi of an artist. Man does not need to be rich and powerful to enter the realm where flows the "rippling river of joy." In the elysian fields of thought there are symphonies of truth that touch and charm the heart and keep alive the faith and zeal of youth. The supreme manifestation of loving power, is the intangible loveliness and ma- jesty of a Christ-like Spirit. What can be more sublime and overwhelming than the scene on cal- vary ! Innocence on the cross, and the dark ocean of humanity surging beneath him; a transparent life allowing the glory of the Character of God to shine through, but no one to perceive it. Even the countenance of nature was darkened, and frowned typical of the darkness in the stream oi; human life.
What shall we say of a bead of dew suspended on a twig of the vegetable world ; only a little par- ticle so common as water, but distilled as it were from a more refined element existing only in the
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air. It proclaims a truth and power invincible — the manifestation of perfect purity in a lower sphere of reality, receiving the ethereal vibrations of light, separating and blending them with such beauty and purity of iight and color that makes us think nature must cling to her beautiful crea- tions with all her heart. We find beauty in life, vital change, activity ; in the development of living things is their most perfect beauty. It is not when the flower is cut that it is loveliest. Said one of the Neo-Platonist writers: "That which sees must be kindred and similar to its object, before it can see it. The eye could never have beheld the sun, had it not become sunlike. The mind could never have perceived the beautiful, had it not first be- come beautiful itself. Every one must partake of the Divine nature, before he can discern the di- vinely beautiful. "
"Beauty is thus the eternal \6yoS, the word or rea- son of the universe, dimly shadowed forth by sym- bols" Objects are beautiful when they are filled with this logos; and the soul of the artist, if sus- ceptible to Beauty, drinks it in and overflows with the logos of the Universe ; and his creations may be finer, richer, and more beautiful than nature itself. Tennyson has well said :
"The type of perfect in the mind In nature we can nowhere find."
That which conforms to an ideal or standard, agreeing with what ought to be, is righteous. The
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unchristian Greek regarded righteousness chiefly a social virtue. Ulsage and custom prescribed for him\ the standard of righteousness and measured its elevation. With New Testament writers right- eousness is above all things a religious word — righteous according to the Divine standard; con- formity to the will and nature of God Himself. To the Christian the Character of God is Absolute moral Perfection, and righteousness in men is a name for the disposition and method of life that agrees or unites with God's holy will. Righteous- ness is Godlikeness.
Hold fast the quality of Godlikeness thou hast; open the windows of thy life to the supreme and all-embracing Goodness of God; find a place for thy goodness in the lives of others. This is the way to live; this is the way to be happy; this is the way to go out into society through an ideal relation with all.
"Hold that fast wihich thou hast and no one will take thy crown/' which is in Life Eternal.
II.
COAOTIVITY WITH GOD.
The Free Spirit of Christian Experience. "And we are His witnesses of these things, and so is also the Holy Ghost whom God hath given to them that obey Him."
"The sinful world has no understanding or ap- preciation of the life of those who live in the fel- lowship of the divine Love, because evil is as con- trary to love as darkness is to light."
The supreme love of pleasures and the possessions of the temporary order, is inconsistent with love to the Father of Spirits. Such love of the world is not consistent with moral likeness to God. Every one born into the life of love sets his hope on attaining a purity like that of Christ. Every one that hath this hope set on him purifieth even as he is pure. To do righteousness and to love one's neighbor are inseparable elements of the life which is begotten of God. Sin is lovelessness, and they that love not abide in death. The possession of love is eternal life. Love includes not only the self-imparting activity in God, but also his self- assertion against sin, the energy of his holy nature repudiating its opposite. Love includes benevo- lence and righteousness, and the exercise of the divine love is regulated by the demands of abso- lute holiness. This love is the mpst adequate defi-
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nition of the moral nature and the best compen- dium of the Christian Idea of God. "Every one that loveth knoweth God, for God is love." We have to <do with something more than the intellec- tual knowing. It is the knowledge that is pos- sible only in the living fellowship and through kinship of Spirit. It is the knowledge that comes by welcoming the divine light which shines down into the sinful world. It is the knowledge that comes by walking in the light. Such a knowledge has been opened to men and the way shown to fel- lowship with God. "The Son of God hath given us an understanding, that we know him that is true," and such knowledge is absolutely required to realize the eternal life. This knowledge involves the whole nature and is mian'si entire availability in the God-given Idea. It is something more than mysticism, and involves the will as w.ell as the in- tellect and feeling. The knowledge of God is at- tained by love, and love requires the doing of God's commandments. Such knowledge is acquired only on the path of obedience. It is practical. He who lives a Godlike life, knows God. He knows Christ who walks with him and keeps his commiandments. This degree of ethical love never loses itself in mere devout ecstasies or subjective phantasies. It deals with men's cares and labors of every day not to degrade the knowledge of God to the level of other knowledge, but to exalt ethical life and re- ligious service by showing how it leads up to God- likeness and the consequent realization of the eter- nal life.
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In the heights of this Godlike range of knowl- edge, wisdom is found an agent of God accomplish- ing Bis gracious will and purpose. Wisdom re- spected by an Old Testament hero has been the secret of life securely hidden from the common ob- servation of men. It is the "path, which no bird of prey knoweth, and which the falcon's eye hath not seen." But God knoweth where it dwells and He has declared it unto men.
"Behold the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding." Wis- dom, God's messenger, lifts up her voice in the street and at the gates of the city and bids men walk in her pure and pleasant ways: "Unto you,
0 men, I call; and my voice is unto the sons of mien."
Jehovah formed and established her from ever- lasting, before the world was made. Wisdom was his companion when he settled the mountains, es- tablished the heavens and curbed the sea: "Then
1 was by him as a master workman, and I was daily his delight; rejoicing always before him; re- joicing in his habitable earth; and my delight was with the sons of men."
These poetic forms of thought setting forth the idea of God's active energy, His self-revealing na- ture, are ways of describing the living God, who does not remain shut up within himself, but ex- presses His nature in acts of power and in works of benevolence and grace.
Wisdom is the first creation of God, and becomes the friend of all who fear and love Him. She is
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the voice of God and inhabits the remote places of earth and heaven, but in a special manner she is with His people, and has established her throne in Zion. She makes her instruction shine as the morning and sends forth her light afar — her doc- trine for the benefit of the m!ost distant genera- tions. She is one to be loved above health and beauty, and chosen before light. She is "the artifi- cer of all things/* a subtle Spirit, holy, and "more mobile than any motion"* — penetrating all things by reason of her pureness. "For she is a breath of the power of God, and a pure effulgence from the glory of the almighty; therefore no defiling thing falls into her; for she is a reflection of the everlasting light, an unspotted! mirror of the effi- ciency of God and image of Hjis goodness. And though but one she can do all things; and though remlaining in herself, she maketh all things new; and from generation to generation entering into holy souls, she equippeth friends of God and pro- phets."' Wisdom is more beautiful than the sun, and compared with light is found superior — above every space of stars, God loveth him who dwells with wisdom.
The divine love has offered itself to mian and given its treasure for his free heritage, joy and delight. In Christ God has called mjen into the fellowship of His own beatific life and made them partakers of His own perfection. "Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us, that we should be called the children of God : and such we are,"' when we know God and conform our
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life to His life, not after the image of this world, but in the likeness of Him, whose Being is eter- nally in the heavens.
"The conceptions commonly formed of the mind and soul of man have ever been transferred to the divine nature/' with mJore or less qualification and extension. This has especially been the case where there is little or no philosophical thinking, particularly so in primitive times. Scripture is no exception to the rule, that the ideas men can conceive about God are affected by their knowledge of themselves. The idea of the Olivine will in Scrip- ture is chiefly formed by what man is told of the attitude of God's Mind and His purpose for man, which leads to action on God's part whereby the action of the humian will must necessarily be con- ditioned, where there is no harmony between the humian and Divine will. The Light of revelation falls on both the human and Divine will in the sphere of their relations to one another, the rela- tion of a Divine frindship and love.
"We are witnesses of these things and so is also the Holy Spirit whom God hath given to them that obey Him." To be a witness means to be con- secrated heart and mind to a single purpose. When all the fragments of moral and spiritual truths taught in Scripture regarding Divine grace and human responsibility are gathered up, the testi- mony of the Bible is clear, that the Spirit of God is the source of all moral and spiritual good, that Divine grace must be present with and must pre- cede all rightful action of the human will, that
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this grace is bestowed in some measure upon all, always with the design of leading on to salvation ; but it rests with mankind to respond to the Divine love, and yield to the attractive power of the Ideal Life.
If we are cognizant of the value of Hegel's motto : "Be a person and respect others as per- sons," our first reasonable inquiry would be what is the foundation of true personality? Primarily is it not the power to clearly grasp an imaginary condition of ourselves, which is preferable to any other alternative, and to translate that potential ideal into an accomplished fact? But perceiving the Ideal and yet failing to translate its potency into an accomplished, energetic reality, or permit- ting any motive less noble and imperative to de- termine the will, undoubtedly misses the mark of personality, while on the other hand, if the Ideal is held before the mind so clearly that all external things that favor are chosen for love of the Ideal, and all intuitioniS or actions that would hinder rejected by its miighty power, man rises to the level of personality, and his "personality is of that clear, strong, joyous, compelling, conquering, tri- umphant" kind worthy of the name. The second and most vital consideration is to have a valid and worthy idieal that will lead through all the varieties of experience and come out a supreme reality worthy of the high destiny of mian.
The sentiment of love and trust goes out unre- servedly toward that alone which can be admired, and is adapted to every faculty of the soul and
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sufficient for all its needs. Some one has said that "the permutations" we can "make of these several ideal objects, and the interplay of sentiments/' are "extremely fascinating to a disciplined mind." And to encounter one of these ultimate realities without a high sense of fine thought and feeling, is abnormal to an extent shocking "to a mind that discovers in itself such unresponsiveness." At any event, when they are all combined in one view and the all-inclusive Ideal is faced, and to be inspired, almost overpowered against all odids of skepti- cism, is undoubtedly to be recognized as a percep- tion or vision of realities, and that they are all phases of one Reality. The human will by virtue of liberty is capable of being determined imime- diately by the moral law, and frequent practice in accordance with this principle of determination can at least produce subjectively a feeling of sat- isfaction; it is a duty to establish and cultivate this which alone deserves to be called properly the moral feeling. But the practical principles of determination, taken as the foundation of mor- ality, man bases on reason, with perfection as a quality of things and the Highest perfection their essence. Man defines their perfection in himself as talent or skill. Sufficiency for the fulfilment of a purpose. Supreme perfection is the sufficiency of a Being for all ends ; this Perfection is God, who can only be thought by mjeans of rational con- cepts. But that perfection may relatively become the determining principle of the will, ends or final purposes must first be given.
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Virtue is a naturally acquired faculty — the certain- ty of one's rules of conduct and their disposition to advance. But msere virtue alone can never be per- fect. Perfection means a union of virtue with some- thing still higher and freer. Inclinations or im- pulses are often powerful incentives to great ac- complishments and high attainments, but they should not be followed unless they run in the right direction. Herein lies the value of the dis- covery and the conquest of self, that man may choose that state or the causes that leadi to per- fection and freedom. In contact with the facts of human experience, man's reasoning is often dif- ferent from that of pure synthetic reasoning in which the will is fixed by perception of an ulti- mate, all-embracing and unifying Ideal in which the highest and best and holiest aspirations of mjankind meet in a harmonious conception of free- dom, with the consequent rise of the higher feel- ings and restful poise of the soul, as in the con- templating idea of the beautiful, light, love and truth.
Can we think the Divine Idea of the ordered! Universe, and of the deep joy of seeing that Idea fulfilling itself? Think also of the delight of a duty which has become a supreme pleasure, and we would have in some degree cognizance of the law that rules in an Ideal Kingdom,' of personal Beings,
"Education," some one has said, "first awakens the spirit to the sense of itself, and then through a careful process, along a royal road made by the
IN THE PEBCEPTION OF TRUTH 301
supreme teachers, it draws it on out of itself into a vast community of spirits with a common his- tory and a common destiny. But powerful as education is, it is still nothing but an awakener. It cannot force the process of insight. The moral individual moist see the next step before it can be taken. For the individual there is no moral Avorld until it is seen by that individual. There- fore the architecture of the race is not available for the individual, except as he is led to construct an image of it out of his own mioral experience." Thus the consciousness of mioral personality is exalted until it becomes the sovereign fact of ex- perience. If a man has found sympathy and is con- secrated in sublime unity of purpose to the serv- ice of the Master Architect he is free, and God is as sovereign as though there were no humanity.
Happy is the man or woman, who have conse- crated their life in self-sacrifice on the altar of Christian freedom, until they know that they have their existence in the Absolute Self - conscious Mind, in whom we live and move and have our being, and in whose power we are at every mo- ment. When each one can say in his finiteness, "I am" because Love is the essence of my life. I exist, not because I see or hear, or think or feel, but because of the relation I sustain to other ra- tional or spiritual Beings in an Ideal Kingdom of perfected personalities the essence of wfliose life and unity is the Law of Love, the Light of the world, the eternal Logos.
The world ground is rational and instinct with
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God. Men of many different spheres of life have given evidence to this, from material scientist to the highest ethical teacher. As a noted writer has said, " The unfathomable depths of the Divine, counsels were moved, the fountains of the great deep were broken up; the healing of the nations was issuing forth; but nothing was seen on the surface of human society but this slight rippling of the water."
"He emptied Himself, taking the form of a slave, being made in the likeness of man."
And each member of the higher order of spir- itual friendship established, can say with a feel- ing of assurance: My relation with this power gives me peace and makes me more energetic and active in my work of trying to realize my highest Ideals; a confiidlence and always a willingness to consecrate and give the highest and best of my efforts and attainments for the highest and best and freest and most lovable influences in those who are friends of this spiritual order, faithful and true — the operation of a saving faith on the grounds of conviction knowledge and belief. The more we studty and learn what Christ was and is, and how he lived, and what he has done, the deeper is the conviction of the uniqueness of his life and the truth of the incarnation. When the fullness of time was comie God sent forth His Son. If we would see Him, we must leave the crowd of faith- less disciples, as Origen said, and ascend the heights of spiritual perception. "The natural man receiv- eth not the things of the spirit of God because they
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are foolishness unto him" — spiritual things are spiritually discerned. The spiritually minded dis- cern the truth by the union of the intellect and the heart, and receive all the gifts of the Divine Spirit in their fullness: " The spirit of wisdom and understanding, of counsel and power/' of prayer and the knowledge and love of God. In the strength of this abiding presence does Christ show Himself to be the Perfect King.
Christian faith is like a grand edifice, with di- vinely pictured windows. Stand without and you see no glory and cannot imagine any ; stand within and each ray of light reveals a harmony of un- speakable splendor. For the emotional needs to be satisfied, the head, so to speak, must will to divide authority with the heart if faith is to exert its greatest influence in human life. The religious thinker gifted with spiritual insight may find in the historical narratives a support for his endeavor to reach out to an understanding of things that belong to a higher realm. For the philosopher the gymjbois may also have a meaning. He feels that his system of thought is not in contradiction with the traditions of the past, since he can discern their real meaning. But the religious instinct of the soul to seek its Master is first aroused by the aid of an intellectual process, and is essentially a quality of fine feeling, that normally culminates in a high expression of the art of life, ethical, aesthetical, etc., with the recognition of reciprocity in personal life, pervaded by heart ideals.
Religion cannot be purely subjective. The whole
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process of this development in man may, indeed, be viewed as a "constant struggle between the emotions and the intellect, in which the latter gradually claims the mastery." Man does not seek the source of his intellectual life and of his spir- itual life in tradition or ancient forms, but in the uniting and energizing power rising to blossom in the flower of universal life, the culmination of the highest aspirations of all the ages of development. This union of the professional with the generous spirit of the man who has fallen in love with his work, I think is not an impossible ideal. As some one has said, "Many of us are fortunate enough to recognize in some friend this combination of qualities, this union of strict professional training with that free outlook upon life, that humsan cu- riosity and eagerness, which are the best endow- ment of the amateur. Such are indeed rare, but they are prized accordingly."
Thus studying the sources in a historical way often explains much of the mystical element in some modern forms of occult thought and religious aberrations, and clears the way of the understand- ing for the perception of the true nature of reli- gious activity as an art of life and social commun- ion that is possible only in the higher orders of Being, Spiritual personality, characterized by the Christian virtues and graces of the Divine Master; free from every touch of imperfection.
To use the w<ords of a noted writer: "Even in the worst conditions of human society there have been discoverable here and there a soaring witness to
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the inioral structure of the universe. The tops of the mountains cannot long remain submlergedi : through the aspirations of human souls the deep- est becomes the highest. And moral evil is not here to stay. History is the record of the great abating process in the mystery of iniquity. It is man's privilege to accelerate this decrease, and to receive for his recompense the vision of a brighter future for his kind on the earth. Some day the flood will be gone, and men will build an altar to the Most High in the unveiled and glorious pres- ence of the moral universe. Then will be verified the sublime insight of Jesus, which today is our confiding and yet audacious faith, that the uni- verse is our Father's house." The uniform laws which look so mechanical from: without, are sur- prisingly adapted to man's individual condition when honestly viewed from within. We know our- selves as spiritual. Our thought outwings space; our love overcomes time; our freedom transcends the laws of material existence. Our activity is in another world, wherein we are yet beginners; quick with aspirations, faculties and powers, that claim for their due development an illimitable life. The home that man now inhabits may be but one of many mansions he is ultimately destined to possess.
Says a poet with a touch of a great and beau- tiful imagination :
*£>a
"Star to star vibrates light; may not soul to soul, Strike through some finer element of her own?"
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"Man though human by nature is capable of con- ceiving the Idea of God, of entering into strong, close, tender, and purifying relations with God, and even of participating in God's perfection and happiness."
If you have taken steps in imitation of your Master, let your eye be single and your faith firm. The great apostle saw in the Spirit of Christ the source of the vital unity which inspires the Church, the quickening and compacting power of the New Creation. But he teaches also with equal clearness that the Spirit has come to regenerate and restore the personal life of each of the bap- tized, identifying Himself with the human spirit in its struggle with the world and its striving after God, until He has perfected the nature, which the Son of God redeemed, and has raised it to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.
Have you thus been brought into the relation of the Spirit with the Church Universal, the King- dom of Hieaven? He co-operates with you in your witness to Christ, For "The Spirit and the bride say, come. And let him that heareth say, come." His voice is joined) with that of the bride in calling for the bridegroom's return. Yet the need of the individual is not overlooked, and the last mention of the Spirit in the apocalypse refers to it: "Let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely." "He which tes- tifieth these things saith, surely I come quickly. Amien. Even so, come, Lord Jesus."
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"A soul as white as Heaven * * * thou
shalt flourish in immortal youth, unhurt amid the wars of elements, the wrecks of time, and the crush of worlds." The fire of an exalted, true, pure and holy love refines all things, eliminates sin from the world; and the Prince of Peace supremely reigns eternally.
III.
THE UNITY OF KNOWLEDGE IN FAITH AND LOVE.
"At tihat day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me and I in you," (John 14 :20. )
In the present day there is a greater need than ever before for -Christians to take ia istand for Christ and the principles of Christianity. When men assail the finality of Christianity they may think they attack the essential principles, but prob- ably they are far from it. Like the ugly moth that never displays itself in the bright sunlight, they seek some lesser light and are lured to their des- truction; or else in the presence of the morning light, brightening into the eternal day, they seek some shady place in the darknesb- of obscurity.
True the institutional church may go if Chris- tians persist in settling down in a kind) of spiritual satisfaction with a co-conscious relation with God, and do not enter into his labors — 'but Christianity shall never pass away. Did not Jesus say on one occasion, " My Father worketh hitherto and I work."
Find your true heritage divinely given and let Christ live in your individual lives. Christianity does not need an apology; but, like the beautiful, is its own excuse for being. When Jesus knew
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in himself that his disciples murmured at the wordis of life he declared unto them, he said, "Doth this cause you to stumble? What then if ye should see the Son of man ascending where he was before? It is the spirit that giveth life; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I have spoken unto you are spirit and are life. But there are some of you that believe not," And "This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent."
The coming of Christ and the new birth, when thought is an occasion characterized by joy, brings good- will or kindly feeling among people generally. And it is perfectly that such a feeling should exist. It has its existence in facts that lie at the very source of our spiritual life. In every one of us there is, or at least has been at some time in -life, a longing for God. A longing coming from! the in- most depths of our natures to know more about the Character of God. This longing seems to be coexistent with humanity. That is, wherever there is a human being this longing is found as a part of that Being's mental nature, if it has not been crushed out by constantly rejecting the work of the Holy Spirit in the heart, by disregarding the Truth, and loving darkness rather than light.
When we think of those people who lived over two thousand years ago — how they longed to know God in His true relation to mankind, we cannot help but experience a feeling of sympathy for them, because they could not know the true light of the world as we can know Him today. But at
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the same time we must experience a feeling of joy on our own behalf, that we live in a time of so full audi complete a revelation of God in His relation to us. We adore the life in whom God revealed Himself so perfectly.
We might turn our thoughts to the starry heav- ens, where myriads upon myriads of worlds are revolving in obedience to the laws of tiheir Creator, or direct our thoughts upon the firm set earth be- neath our feet, where strata of rock upon strata is laid, or look upon all nature around us, while all these manifest His thought and show forth His thoughts and wisdom, the wisdom of their Creator ; yet in all these can we know God in His true rela- tion to man? Can we apart from Godfs revelation of Himself in Christ have the assurance that He who is the source of all these toiling worlds — can we, apart from His Self-revelation in Christ, have the assurance that He is "A Love that sympathizes with us and cares for us?" This revelation of God as Love and of His personal presence in the world, we need so greatly in facing the problemfe that press upon us in this present age ; that press upon us indeed harder than ever they pressed upon men before, because the social spirit has developed to a new degree and seeks a better state of things.
Out of this age which has been plainly a great transition period! in the world's history, when the future has seemed rather indefinite as to what course shall be taken, do we not hear the cry of the human soul still, — "show us the Father and it sufficeth us?" But where shall we find Him who
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"yet is everywhere?" Where shall we find Him in His personal presence that we may know Him as Hie is? Apart from His revelation of Himself in Ohrist we cannot get an answer that will satisfy the longing of the soul. In Christ God has given a complete answer that can stand the test of time. It has met the needs of "them of old time/' and it still meets our own deepest needls in these mod- ern times. In Ohrist, looked upon as the reve- lation of God in Human form, we see God with us in our human nature and life. In him we see God living His Divine life, not apart from the world but entering personally into it and plainly revealed as Love. In Him we see the possibili- ties of a human life when lived in perfect unity with God. He was the expression of a life lived moment by moment under the inspiration of the Spirit of the Father, and was therefore the full ex- pression of the Life of God in man; the com- plete expression of a Love higher than anything earthly and yet entirely human. Higher than this complete self consecration to God man can never go. "The Divine/' as the poet Goethe has said, "can never be miore Divine than that." We can say with the utmost truth, that if we don't see God there we will not see Him anywhere. When we see that human life made one with the Divine Spirit, and raised above all limitations, transcending the seen and temporal, as a Divine-human life, rising entirely into the eternal and divine, and sending forth a powerful influence, and unlimited radiance; as a personal spirit of true life to men, — when we
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see Him thus we have reached the final and con- vincing proof that we finds in Him not merely man but God. For what truer thought of God can we have than to think of Him as the Universal Spirit of Life. We have in Christ, as the manifestation of God in His relation to human beings, that know- ledge of Himself we need so much, and the reve- lation of His personal presence with us. In Christ Hie enters our life as an abiding, personal presence, the Spirit of Truth, Bighteousness and Love; living in us, making us true Sons and daughters of God the Father.
And the power of a new affection ! what does it mean to each one? The beginning of a friendship, Which is the "crown and consummation of a virtu- ous life? And "The recognition and respect of in- dividuality in others by persons who are highly individualized themselves ?"
Aristotle once said, "True friendship is possible only between the good ;" between people who are in earnest about Ideals that are large and generous and public-spirited enough to be sfhared and en- joyed by others.
Conventional people are all alike ; but the people who have cherished ideals of their own, and make all their choices with reference to these inwardly cherished ends, becortfe highly differentiated. The m*ore individual your life becomes the fewer the people who can understand! you. The man who has Ideals of his own, divinely given, is sure to be unintelligible to the man who has no such Ideals, and is just drifting with the crowd. Conventional-
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isni is a good servant, but a hard and cruel master. Slaves of custom and established mode, like pack- horses, keep the road, through quags or thorny dells, true to the jingling of their leader's bell. And
"No life can be pure in its purpose or strong in its strife And all life not be purer and stronger thereby."
Some one has well said: "Society is like a large piece of frozen water ; and skating well is the great art of social life."
Shun vice andi strive after virtue, for this is the way we shall live at peace with Self and with the world; this is the way we shall have friendly feel- ings toward ourselves and be the friends of others. Some desire the company of others but avoid their own. And because they avoid their own company, having nothing lovable about them, "there is no real basis for union of aims and interests with their fellows." "A good man stands in the same relation to his friend as to himself, seeing that his friend is a second self."
I quote Dr. William DeWitt Hyde, who says: "Friendship is the bringing together of those in- tensely individual, highly differentiated persons on a basis of mutual sympathy and common under- standing," and "has as many planes as human life and hum|an associations. The men with whom We play golf and tennis, (and in the sport of some per- haps) billiards and whist — are friends on the low-
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est plane — that of common pleasures. Our pro- fessional and business associates are friends on a little higher plane — that of the interests we share. The men who have the same customs and intellec- tual tastes; the men with whom we read our fa- vorite authors, and talk over our favorite topics, are friends upon a still higher plane — that of iden- tity of aesthetic and intellectual pursuits. The highest plane, the best friends, are those with whom we consciously share the spiritual purpose of our lives. This highest friendship is as precious as it is rare. With such friends we dirop at once into a matter of course intimacy and communion. Nothing is held back, nothing is concealed; our aims are expressed with the assurance of sym- pathy; even our shortcomings are confessed with the certainty that they will be forgiven. Such friendship lasts as long as the virtue which is its common bond. Jealousy cannot come in to break it up. Absolute sincerity, Absolute loyalty — these are the high termis on which such friendship must be held. A person may have many such friends on one condition : that he shall not talk to any one friend about what his friendship permits him to know of another friend. Each such relation must be complete within itself; and hermetically sealed, so far as permitting any one else to come inside the sacred circle of its mutual confidence. In such friendship, differences, as of age, sex, station in life, divide not, but rather enhance the sweetness and tenderness of the relationship. In Aristotle's words: 'The friendship of the good, and of those
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who have the same virtues, is perfect friendship. Such friendship, therefore, endiures so long as each retains his character, and virtue is a lasting thing.' "
Christianity has been defined, not as "a philoso- phy but a religion; not a doctrine but a life; not the performance of a task but the maintenance of certain personal relationships; in a word, it is the Spirit of Love."
But how may we know when we have this Spirit of the Father ? One thing is sure : Wherever it is, it will manifest itself in the life and conduct of the individual, as Truth, Righteousness and Love. It never speaks evil of another, for it is the power that makes' for righteousness, and seeks to do good toward fellowr beings. It is the eye of the mind through wilich we see and knowr God. And all who will recognize the work of this Spirit within them and permit it to grow and be the ruling power in their lives, will find that it is the angel bringing into life the real pleasures, joys and the success that make life worth living.
It makes no difference what your vocation is, only it must be a calling worthy of the great value placed upon life. The farmer, the merchant, the workman, the clerk, or the student — all have a part to perform in the great unity of society, taken as an entire organization ; and if the part of each is performed well by a life, living in harmony with the Spirit of Truth, the Spirit of the Father, all are alike honorable. And the Spirit of Truth, Righteousness and Love, ruling thus each life in
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his or her relation to God and other Beings, will draw all into a closer union in which kind regards for one another prevail. And the whole unit of Society refined and strengthened by the strength and beauty of each individual life ruled thus by the true Spirit of Life, shall march on toward a fuller attainment of that life manifested! in Jesus, who is upheld as the model of a perfect human life, the union of perfect love with perfect strength of character.
Whatever the truth may be in recent speculative thought, time will decide. It is interesting to no- tice, however, that things do point toward a bet- ter understanding of human nature and of the pos- sibilities of a life when perfectly united with God, and living in harmjony with His will and law. It has destroyed the foundation of many false and harmful superstitions concerning the power of evil in the world, and it has placed the knowledge and faith in the true religion on a stronger basis, up- holding it as the only rational means by which humanity can be delivered from the evil it has brought upon itself. And the most admirable thing of all is the fact that the Christ life in view of all the criticism that can be turned upon it, only shines forth all the brighter and plainer as the true revelation of God in man. When He came into the world men did not understand Him. He was too great to be understood, and they reviled and crucified Him. But that did not end all. His works endure. He lives and rules. His Kingdom is established within us. There He rules our
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thoughts and our motives, if we will only recognize Him as the Spirit of God the Father, the Spirit of Truth and! Love leading out of darkness into the light. There on the throne of our intellect Hie must reign until the lower nature in man is sub- dued or rather brought under the control of the higher. Tlhe fact that so many of the leading thinkers of the present do recognize the value of developing the nobler qualities and virtues in life, show^s that righteousness is prevailing; and espe- i cially in this present age is the movement in that I direction m|ore rapid than ever before. The turn- | ing of thought in this direction is very suggestive I of what the near future may be. To say the least, it cannot be otherwise than for the welfare of | humanity.
In view of all this should we not show our grat-
j itude toward the Author and Source of our reli-
I gion, by letting that Spirit of life which made
Jesus what he was, the perfect Son of God upheld
as our Ideal, come into our own lives and abide
there, bringing forth the fruits of the Spirit?
"The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long- suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law." (Gal. 5:22.)
"The first fruit of the Ohrisitna Spirit in the personal life is love." Love is not a duty which the Christian sets before himself, or an ideal at which he aims, or a law he is completely compelled to obey. We, the Sons of God, live in the atmos- phere of the Father's Love, and it is the life of
318 LOGIC AND IMAGINATION
cur life. We walk in imaginative comradeship with Christ until Christ's love becomes our own; we associate with other Christians in works of helpfulness and mercy, in services of gratefulness and) praise, until we share their enthusiasm. It is the universal law of cause and effect, working here in the realm of personal relationship. If man could live in reverent comimjunion with the good- ness of the Father, and in sympathetic contact with the character of Christ ; "if he could have fel- lowship with other Christian people, and not be- come more just and kind and helpful to the people whom he meets in the daily intercourse of life, that/' says a clear thinker, "would be the one soli- tary case in all this universe in which the law of cause and effect failed to work." Love follows the maintenance of these spiritual relationships as surely as light and warmth follow the admission of sunshine to a room.
And modesty, another characteristic of the Christian Spirit, like love, is the manifestation of something deeper and higher than itself. Every one living in the presence of the great Father, and walking in the company of His Son, finds modesty and humility the natural and spontaneous expres- sion of his side of these great relationships.
Joy is another quality that cannot be directly cultivated! with entire success, in the way that pleasure seekers regard it. But the man who looks through sunshine and shower, food and raiment, family and friendship, society and the moral order of the world, up into the face of the giver of them
IN THE PERCEPTION OF TRUTH 319
all as his Fatther; they who know how to summon the gentle and gracious companionship of Christ, in the pressure of perplexity, or in the quiet of solitude; how to unlock the treasures of Christian literature, appropriate the meaning of Christian worship, and avail themselves of the comfort and support that is always latent in the hearts of his Christian friends — the man or woman, who has grown up into and developed these vast personal resources cannot long remain disconsolate.
"Even in perplexity, popularity and outward success, it takes considerable mixture of these deeper elements to keep the tone o'f life constantly on the high level of joy." But the real test is ad- versity, when the man without these resources gives way, breaks down, becomes querulous, fret- ful, irritable. The person who can be hated for the good he tries to do, and condemned for bad things he never did or meant to do, the man who can work hard and contentedly, and can serve de- votedly people that revile and betray him in re- turn; who can discount in advance the misrepre- sentation, and defeat a right course may cost, and resolutely set things in order — taking persecution and treachery as serenely as other men take hon- ors— such a one you may be assured has dug deeply and invested heavily in the field where lies or is hidden the priceless Christian treasure.
The next manifestation of the Christian Spirit ! is peace and the price of peace. Not that the Chris- tian is unwilling or afraid to fight ; to fight "where deliberate wrong is arrayed against the rights of
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men; whore fraud is practiced on the unprotected; where hypocrisy imposes on the credulous; where vice betrays the innocent. But fighting God's bat- ties on principle is quite different from that of natural warfare. "To feel entirely tjranquil in the midst of the combat; to know that we are not alone on the side of right; to have the real inter- ests of our opponents at heart all the time; to be ever ready to forgive them, and ask their for- giveness for any excess of zeal we may have shown ; to have the peace of God in our hearts, and no trace of malice, in deed or word or thought or feeling''; this is to be with the Father and with Christ, and go out actively opposing everything (hat wrongs and injures the humblest mian, the lowliest woman, the most defenseless child.
Probably no other adequate provision for main- taining peace in the midst of effective warfare, re- storing peace for others and making peace for our- selves when the need of Avar is over — probably no other attitude of the Individual Spirit has ever been planned or thought of for the restful poise of the mind or soul in the haven of delight, where man may enjoy (he Society of angels. The peacemak- ers of this fearless, earnest, strenuous type 'have the right to be called the children of God.
Christian fidelity, the first and the last, like all the other qualities we have noticed, is the natural consequence of living and dwelling in the Chris- tian Spirit. It is the working in and. through us, the activity of (he Being of the world, the Eternal Logos, the Heavenly Father, whose Spirits we are,
IN THE PERCEPTION OF TRUTH 321
the Christ whom we receive, and the Spirit we share with our fellows in that divine order and relation of a heaven-born friendship.
Love, joy, modesty, peace, fidelity and sacrifice are essential expressions of the Christian Spirit. Their presence is a sign of the Christ within; their absence is a gloomy signal that the connection be- tween the soul and God has probably become atro- phied, or cut asunder.
Sacrifice is but the negative side of Christian fidelity in service. As in the life of the Master, so in the life of every faithful one, the cross is borne, the perpetual sacrifice is made — it is the price of love's presence in a world of selfishness and hate, until the end of the world's time. But the cross is transfigured, into a crown of rejoicing, the sacrifice changed into privilege and pleasure by the precious personal relationship®, the supreme glory and gladness of a living spirit, which could be miaintained on no cheaper terms. The sacrifice that the Christian makes to do his Father's will, his Master's mission, to be accomplished in the world that so sadly needs it — is the dearest and sweetest experience of life, probably "like the sac- rifice a mother makes for her sick and suffering child." The cross thus gladly borne, the yoke of sacrifice thus assumed, is the supreme expression of the Christian Spirit. Life in the present world consists in giving oneself in active devotion to some practical end.
Is it too large a pledge for any one to take upon himself and say: I henceforth shall give myself
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in devoted activity for the healing of the nations, and in love to my closest and dearest friend, "A friend that sticketh closer than a brother." Nearer is he than breathing, closer than hands or feet.
"Lovely was the death of Him whose life was love! Holy with power, He on the thought be- nighted skeptic beamed manifest Godhead."
The mystic says: "All His glory and beauty come from within, and there He delights to dwell. His visits there are frequent, His conversation sweet, His comforts refreshing; and His peace passeth all understanding."
"Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me."
"Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you : not as the world giveth, give I unto you."
"That the world may know that I love the Father ; and as the Father gave me commandment, even so I do. Arise, let us go hence."
IV.
THE QUALIFICATIONS OF SELF-POISE IN THE IDEAL.
"Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." (Math. 11 : 28.)
Our temporal form of experience is in a unique way the form of the will. The conception called space often seems to spread out the contents of our world of experience in one present span of consciousness, but the form for the experience or the expression of all our meanings is in time. Con- scious ideas assume the consciously temporal form of inner existence, and appear to us as construc- tive processes. The visible world viewed at rest, which is the favorite region of Realism, interests us little in comparison with the same world viewed with a poetic interpretation of its movements, changes, successions. What need we care whether a space world of so-called Realism exist or not, if we have learned to live in the Ideal, Eternal World with our Risen Lord? Christ invites to come unto Him for rest, "all ye that labor and are heavy laden " — that restful poise of the soul through eternal union of the Self with Christ in God, in the midst of a world of pure activity, the Real World of an Ideal Space. It is natural bo watch tihe moving and neglect the apparently
324 LOGIC AND IMAGINATION
changeless objects. And this is probably why nar- rative in the poetic arts is more easily effective than description. If you want to win the attention of the child or the general public, you must tell the story rather than analyze coexistent truths; must fill time with coexistent series of events rather than crowd the space of experience or of imagination with manifold undramiatic details. An Ideal Space furnishes, indeed, the stage and the scenery of the universe, but the world's play occurs in time. Time is the form of practical ac- tivity; and its character, especially the direction of its succession, is determined: by the dominant in- terests and attentions, according as you regard the invitation and come and enjoy that rest in the peace of God which passeth understanding.
Some one has said, "In the universe at large only the present state of things is real, only the present movement of the stars, the present streamings of radiant light, the present deeds and thoughts of men are real; the whole past is dead; the whole future is not yet." Such a reporter of the tem- poral existence of the universe may be asked how long his real present of the time world is. If he thinks, " The present moment is the absolutely indivisible and ideal boundary between present and future," let him know that in a mathematically indivisible instant, no event happens or endures, no thought or deed takes place and nothing what- ever exists. The whole past is not dead, for that which cometh from the eternal into the eternal returneth; and the future, which is not yet is in
IN THE PERCEPTION OF TRUTH 325
the "spacious present of the inner life, the inner harmony of symmetry and beauty. For the real, true Self there is no last moment, A life seeking its goal through reflection and experience is essen- tially temporal, but it is just as music is temporal, except that music is temporally finite. What makes a beautiful musical composition? It is not a series of isolated sounds, but rather progression and the proportionate balance of chords, passing from phrase to phrase in the series of harmon- iously related movements. The literary artist cre- ates ideal characters in the drama, but his skill is judged by the excellence and variety of the ac- tors, and the harmony of action each contributes to a final result.
Never limit the Absolute Reason or the scope of knowledge. But we don't need to claim that the Absolute suffers with fallen humanity, or ex- periences the anguishes and trouble caused by wrong and discord in the world. He is the Power, Personal, that sustains and causes harmony and unity, love and happiness in realized Ideals, and on through the activities in nature and life — by His omnipotent and loving Will, sovereign with dominion over all. He has called us to participate in His life, and enter into living union and fellow- ship with Him, and thus we are in His world and He in our world. The Society of the Redeemed and glorified is the World of the Absolute.
"Like wind flies time 'tween birth and death; Therefore, as long as thou hast breath,
326 LOGIC AND IMAGINATION
Of care for two days bold thee free: The day that was and is to be."
When we consider the time span of a century, we find ourselves yet in the glowing dawn of the new. But the gate of the centuries has already closed behind us, locking up many deeds with the treasures of history, written or unwritten. And we, like passengers on an ocean steamer, gliding out of a well known harbor over the blue waves beneath a clear sky, signaling a farewell to friends on the shore — are taking a voyage. We say good-bye to the past. It is sealed; and only he who hath power over the destinies of men and of nations can break the seal and change the influence or effect of a single thought, word or deed. Do we all know where we are going? It is not safe or smooth sailing on the voyage of life, unless we do. Have we prepared ourselves carefully and duly for that journey? Have we put on the garb of the saints, the white robe of Christian virtues and the divine graces of our Master, who knows the way? Save we discarded, all the old rubbish that sometimes gets into our lives and clings to us through intercourse with the world and sinful mien? EDaving done all, and made beautiful prepa- rations for entering upon (lie new life, let us seek (hat friendship with God, (hat Jesus represented in his life, and come to the great Master, who said Let the little children come unto mie; and he that coineth nnio mie 1 will in no wise cast out."
Life is not a mere fact ; it is gaining or losing
IN THE PERCEPTION OF TRUTH 327
something ;." It is a movement, a tendency, a steady, ceaseless progress towards an unseen goal." Even if position and character seem to remain precisely the same, they are changing. The mere advance of time is a change. A bare field in January does not mean the same as it would in July. The times and seasons are different. The limitations that in the child are childlike and beau- tiful, in the man are childish and undesirable. But the childlike and youthful spirit abideth forever; and through all ages is the beginning of life eternal.
Everything we do is a step in one direction or another. Even the failure to do something is in itself a deed. Everything is a movement forward or backward. To decline is to accept the other alternative, jufct as truly as the action of the mag- netic needle follows the attraction and, repulsion of the negative and positive poles.
Are you nearer your destiny today than you were at the beginning of the year? Yes; you must be a little nearer to some one or other. You have never been still for a single moment, since your ship was first launched on the sea of life. The sea is too deep to find an anchorage until you come into the haven of rest. Each one is a voyager with a course to run, a haven to seek, a fortune to ex- perience; separate, distinct, individual. We feel that our friends are not strangers to us. We know why we "pursue them with a lover's look"; as if we could see a familiar face, and hear a well-be- loved voice hailing us across the waves. And then
328 LOGIC AND IMAGINATION
we realize that we also are en voyage. We do not stand as spectators on the shore, we are sailing. All the "reverential fear of the old sea," the peril, the mystery, the charm of the voyage, come home to our own experience. The question becomes pressing, urgent, as we enter into the depth of its meaning. "What is our desired haven in the ven- turesome voyage of life?" There is nothing that can have a closer, deeper interest, to which we need to find a clearer, truer answer. What is the ha- ven, the goal you desire to reach? And w!hat is the end of life toward which you are drifting or aiming?
There are three ways of looking at this, but all are interwoven. We have a work to do, a mission to fulfill. We have a character to build, a develop- ment, a personal unfolding; for we hope and are going to be something. And we have an expe- rience, a destiny ; for something is going to become of us.
How familiar are the words of Christ : "He that loseth his life for my sake, shall find it." "And whosoever will be great among you, let him be your servant." The most delightful word man can hear at the close of day, whispered in secret to his soul, is "Well done, good and faithful ser- vant!''
It is really the desired haven of all our activity to do some good in the world. If a cross lies in the way, take it up ; bear it and pass on into a bet- ter, brighter and happier life.
IN THE PERCEPTION OF TRUTH 329 "Life is divine when duty is a joy."
We are on a path that leads upward, by sure and steady steps, as soon as we begin to look at our future selves with eyes of noble hope and clear purpose, and "see our figures climbing, with pa- tient, dauntless effort, towards the heights of true manhood. Visions like these are Joseph's dreams, stars for guidance, sheaves of promise. The mem- ory ' of them, if cherished, is a power of pure re- straint and generous inspiration.
Exclaims the poet in his longing : "Oh for a new generation of day-dreamers, young men and maid- ens who shall behold visions, idealists who shall see themselves as the heroes of coming conflicts, the heroines of yet unwritten epics of triumphant compassion and stainless love. From their hearts shall spring the renaissance of faith and hope. The ancient charm of true romance shall flow forth again to glorify the world in the brightness of their ardent eyes —
"The light that never was on land or sea, The consecration and the poet's dream."
As we go out thus from the fair visions or gar- dens of a visionary youth into the wide, confused, turbulent field of life; bring with us the marching music of a high resolve. And striving to fulfill the fine prophecy of our best and highest aspirations — we will not ask whether life is worth living, but will make it so. Then will we transform the sor-
330 LOGIC AND IMAGINATION
did "struggle for existence" into a glorious effort to become that which we have admired and loved.
Such a new generation is possible only through the regenerating power of the truth that "a mjan's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things he possesseth." We must recognize and learn the real realities, and hold them far above the "perish- ing trappings of existence which men call real."
"The glory of our life below Comes not fromi what we do or what we know, But dwells forevermore in what we are."
Says John Kuskin, "He only is advancing in life, whose heart is getting softer, whose blood warmer, whose brain quicker, whose spirit is entering into living peace. And the men who have this life in them are the true lords or kings of the earth — they and they only."
One of the leading characteristics of the present age is respect and reverence for personality. So great is the value placed on personality that noth- ing in ail the earth can sufficiently expiate the de- struction of one life. As the fraternal spirit is cherished among mankind and nations, and as the world is introduced to a higher stage in the great drama of ethical life — in that proportion will the barbarism of conflict be diminished.
The principle of arbitration is one of those great principles that tend to elevate a society to an ideal standing. With all the strength of deep convic- tions, let not the civilized nations spend their ener-
IN THE PERCEPTION OF TRUTH 331
gy in conflict with one another ; but let them agree in peace, by means of arbitration settling all dis- putes and difficulties, and as a unitary power en- deavor to place on a higher status all parts of the earth, yet laboring in darkness and perceiving not the true light of the world.
Then shall the inurky war-clouds drift aside and be forgotten ; the sunshine of prosperity shall shine in the clear sky of international friendship. The desolations of war will cease. No longer will the cannon's reverberating thunder peal out the death- knell of so many gallant patriots! No miore will the air be rent by the wild shrieks of its wounded victims; nor will the green fields or the streets of the city run red with human blood ! No more will the hearts of friends be torn with anguish o'er the departure of loved ones to fill the martial ranks — except when ignorance and barbarism refuse to yield to reason.
There is a marvelous example in the present pe- riod of the world's history — how a rude, uncivil, unchristian empire is left to fight it out with itself. No social organization destitute of a high sense of right and reason, can stand against the power given to a nation by enlightenment. Its state of rudeness and incivility is broken by contact with such a power, and transformed into a new and higher relation among the Christian nations by the renovations of its government, morals and religion. Just as certain is the result as is the dormant state of nature under the spell of wrinter aroused to new- ness of life by the power of the approaching sun.
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With the firm establishment of the principle of the peace among civilized nations, all humanity must submit to the overwhelming power of that element in the world where universal good-will is enthroned. The engines of war shall be laid at rest; and the white dove of peace shall forever hover over the stronghold of the. nations. Our seas shall be decked by vessels of commerce unre- strained. And Christian civilization shall sweep the earth and penetrate to the very heart of the darkest heathenism. Then will the glad reign of the Mighty King be established over the world and the battle flag be furled in the parliament of man.
In times of doubt, sorrow and trouble seek the inner kingdom of peace, the love of God, the per- sonal relationship of Christ. When rest, peace, self-poise, are attained, we long to share this peace with our fellows, and that is a deep conviction and there is a desire for the greatest to be the servant of all.
Loving, giving, serving — these are the true signs. This should be our attitude toward all God's crea- tures, and inasmuch as we give unto the least of these we give unto Christ. For there is a unity in the Ideal. In the real world all souls are one ; in a certain true sense they are in Christ and Christ is in them.
In the real world, in the Kingdom of God, in the Ideal Kingdom of personal ends, in the Kingdom of. Souls — all are imonortal. But the Kingdom of God is not of this world, nor is it limited by things that are perishable. It is an eternal spiritual
IN THE PERCEPTION OF TRUTH 333
reality. It is the home of justice, where all shall receive compensation in accordance with the life we have lived, and the wrongs we have endured.
The Kingdom is also for this world here and now. It is for the individual ; hither each may turn to find rest and poise and guidance. It is for hu- mianity; our peace and confidence are just means to a social end, and our guidance is for service. It is for equality of opportunity ; the full and har- monious development of all members of society. It is for justice, righteousness and love. And since it is individual and social, moral and spiritual, it extends beyond the present life of limitations to that larger domain, where our cups shall be full, be perfect as our Heavenly Father is perfect; where the unequal shall be equalized, and justice be the universal law at last.
Would you do your part toward the realization of that Kingdom, remember that the higher, indeed, the highest work any of us can do for the Father is a spiritual work. Be at heart a brother to hu- manity, whatever your position in life. Work where you are, for we are co-workers with God- Be true to the best you know. Believe in God, and have faith in humianity. Rememlber that the old absolutism is passing away to give place to the new, and is entrenching itself in the last stronghold — the fortress of commercialism. Rememlber that silently and without observation the forces of life are gathering on the side of Christ and the Society of the redeemed, who having subdiued all things through a meek and Christlike life, shall also reign
334 LOGIC AND IMAGINATION
with Himl. Have faith in the present age. "Con- demn not; love. Be faithful; trust. Remember that Christ came not to destroy but to fulfill."
Hear his words when he said : "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me; for I am1 meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burdien is light."
"Peace be unto you."
"And lo, I ami with you alway, even unto the end of the world."
Your course is not traced, nor is your destiny irrevocably appointed, by any secret books of fate. There is only the Lamb's book of life, where new names are being written every day, as new hearts turn from darkness to the light. No ship that sails the sea is as free to enter port, as you are to seek the haven that your inmost soul desires. And never shall you be wrecked or lost, if your choice is right, if your desire is real, and you strive with God's help to reach the goal. For every soul that seeks to be useful in the service of Christ, to be holy like Christ, and to be in heaven in the eternal presence of Christ — it is written : "So he bringeth them into their desired haven."
"Like unto ships far off at sea, Outward or homeward bound are we. Before, behind, and all around, Floats and swings the horizon's bound,
IN THE PERCEPTION OF TRUTH 335
Seems at its distant rim to rise
And climb the crystal wall of the skies,
And then again to turn and sink
As if we could slide from its outer brink.
Ah ! It is not the sea,
It is not the sea that sinks and shelves,
But ourselves
That rock and rise
With endless and uneasy motion,
Now touching the very skies,
Now sinking into the depths of ocean.
Ah ! If our souls but poise and swing
Like the compass in its brazen ring,
Ever level and ever true
To the toil and the task we have to do,
We shall sail securely, and safely reach
The fortunate Isles, on whose shining beach
The sights we see, and the sounds we hear
Will be those of joy and not of fear."
With this poem Longfellow caps his conception of life with a delicate and delightful touch by the artistic design of his poetic imagination.
V.
THE NATURE OF PURE ACTIVITY.
"Arise, shine ; for thy light is come, and the glory of Jehovah is risen upon thee." (Isa. 60 :1.)
There is something particularly beautiful about the first snow of the season. It is like the herald of joyous times, and the emblem of Truth and purity. The Scribe and the Harper enter upon their season of great successes in the wealth of genius and; literary activities in art and the dram>a, while the fields are white already for the harvest, and nature is at peace and rest, waiting for the spring's awakening. It is typical of the transition to the realm of eternal snows, where all the cosmic energy is transformed into nothing less in the physical scale of Being than Light; when the Cen- turies have rolled by and time is miarked not by the succession of heat and cold; a world that m!ay be all too real to the wretched intruder, whose pres- ence invites the imposition of conditions that are not the most welcom|e to an ill-prepared conscious- ness. It is by the principle of Self-sacrifice that men rise to higher things and learn to live the Life of the Eternal.
It was before the examination in the History of Philosophy preliminary to coming up for the Doctor of Philosophy degree, a young candidate
IN THE PERCEPTION OF TRUTH 337
had arrived early and was leisurely contemplating a wax figure of the convolutions of the human brain, when suddenly he was startled with the ap- pearance at the entrance of what seemed like Love borne in on the wings of an eagle, but it was only a vain show to entrap the unwary soul in the snare of defeat. There is a time in every life when an occasion and the opportunity is judged as having gone; then neglected once is neglected forever, yet victory may come in another direction.
The ancient prophet gave a warning to the Spir- itual Consciousness, millenniums ago, and the mes- sage comes down to modern times with a fine spir- itual meaning: "Awake, awake, put on thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the Holy City : for henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uneircumcised and the unclean. Shake thyself from the dust: arise, sit on thy throne, O Jerusalem : loose thy- self from the bonds of thy neck, O captive daughter of Zion."
Again, "How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation, that saith unto Zion, Thy God: reigneth! The voice of thy watchmen! They lift up the voice, together they sing : for they shall see eye to eye, when Jehovah returneth to Zion."
And one of the most beautiful types of a fare- well command, and salutation to those who will not receive the instruction of wisdom is the sweep- ing advice and assurance: "Depart ye, depart ye,
338 LOGIC AND IMAGINATION .
go ye out from thence, touch no unclean thing : go ye out of the midst of her; cleanse yourselves, ye that bear the vessels of Jehovah. For ye shall not go out in haste, neither shall ye go by flight: for Jehovah will go before you; and the God of Israel will be your rearward."
There are regrets every person has to face at times. If it is not in the lapse of moral character, it is in the gliding away from personal conscious- ness of the personal Ideal, leaving a void; not filled with the actualization; scarcely with a hope to cheer and mlake life tolerable, to say nothing of the bright and cheerful optimism that has given place to scorn, indignation, curses and wrath of Judg- ment. One may long for the return, if possible, of the mild, kindly, gentle, peaceful soul that was always happy in the Christian virtues, breathing a benediction and a blessing even for enemies and faithless friendships!. If Science and Religion can be represented by the feminine spirit, one might refer to them as two supposed lady friends as con- trasted with Philosophy and Divinity. In particu- lar they have marked these transformations or lapses of the personal consciousness of the indi- vidual and ethical sentiments in a spiritual view of life. One had in her power to make of Philoso- phy the happy and contented ministerial servant it was designed for; but years ago she made the fatal leap that has blithed a logical impulse, or blighted a happy life. And another agent of woman- kind completed the wreck. Then instead of a bene- diction and a blessing, there are curses, oaths, hate,
IN THE PERCEPTION OF TRUTH 339
wrath and indignation upon the breath. Would that Theology were able to return once more to that happy state of benediction and blessing, giv- ing love for hate and indifference. OptimSism does not longer seem so real as on that beautiful, sil- very, calm, peaceful moonlight night, while depart- ing from the presence of the select fewr out under the starlight alone to seek Gethsemane. It was perhaps in the attitude of hope that there would come a time when forgiveness might be possible. But that time never came. Pride, self-conceit, or willfulness has eliminated or prevented the con- ditions of forgiveness, and the prayer in agony that the cup might pass from him could not be granted. Though optimism can or nuay not be real, it can at least be Ideal, and fire life with a divine wrath ; it is the wrath of Judgment, and then may be said of the offender and stumbling blocks — woe unto them by whom, offences come.
When the world is a stage and life the actors, there is much truth in the "Ballade of the Dream- land Rose."
Where the waves of burning cloud are rolled
On the farther shore of the sunset sea, In a land of wonder that none behold,
There blooms a rose on the Dreamland Tree.
It grows in the garden of mystery Where the River of Slumber softly flows.
And whenever a dream has come to be, A petal fails from the Dreamland Rose.
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In the heart of the tree on a branch of gold
A silvery bird sings endlessly A mystic song that is ages old —
A mournful song in a minor key,
Full of the glamour of faery. And whenever a direamer's ears unclose
To the sound of that distant melody, A petal falls from the Dreamland Rose.
Dreams and visions in hosts untold
Throng around on the moonlit lea; D(reams of age that are calm and cold,
Dreams of youth that are fair and free —
Dark with a lone heart's agony, Bright with a hope that no one knows —
And whenever a dream and a dream agree, A petal falls from the Dreamland Rose.
L'envoi Princess — you gaze in a reverie
Where the drowsy firelight redly glows. Slowly you raise your eyes to me
A petal falls from the Dreamland Rose.
There is a fancy in the love of lore that delights in somie vivid tale of exciting experience belong- ing to the past, but lingering in the present with vivid imiagery. There is a type of lore that can be shared by few, only by those for whom it has a great meaning; yet there is another type of re- mtembered experience that has a wide sympathy be- cause it may be less tragic but more human. From
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the Execution of Montrose, for instance, to a fasci- nating and witty story in Harper's Magazine is a great step, but there is something about the fact formations that can't wear the disguise of poetry or fiction. The imagination may transform the fact world until it is perceived in a finer and more sym- pathetic Ideal, but the irrational element that seems to constitute so much of the world's tragic events of history is lost; only that element of fact can be admitted to the Ideal Order of events and spiritual activities, that defines and fits Truth on account of its peculiar adaptation to personal ex- perience— past, present and logically suggestive of a planned future. Hence Truth is the realm of Moral purpose, and the world of historical fact is like a desert ; but it saves the new Creation from its spiritual enemjies, until the Christian Principle is strong enough to face them and dispatch them to their true destiny. And if their destiny is not true, it is true because it is false and they accept it as their own in a process of transformation. Then the one whio is left in the wilderness of fact, may yet delight in the assurance that the Ideals that have lighted the way to Truth in perception are joyfully received in the Realm of Ideal Truth. Yet to the one wrho is left they may appear like a mirror reflecting the passions of a historical type of the empirical world. The historical type per- haps speaks in the language of the poet:
"The little lives! They were mine when they were weak.
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Stirring beneath my heart that gave them
cover — But ye tore t'hem all from my arms, now my head
is bleak And my bosom shrinks in the snow. Go to your
lover !
"Is she young, this bride of your age? Is she strong and fair To cherish you as the Shunamite? Yet after, Her heart is wild and her blood is hot; have care Lest her new-found smiile but turn to a harlot's laughter !"
What one thinks, however, is not always the opin- ion of another person. Science and invention may transform a wilderness or change it into a gar- den; art may beautify the realm of ideas. But a cast-steel judgment as well as a "Oastell," may r^ quire a balance in the hand to weigh in even meas- ure the fruits of Truth.
What is true is true ; what is false is false. The false is not, but the true is True; is Real, is Ideal; is Love, is fame; is Glory and renown.
The Nature of Pure Activity is none other than the Glorified Christ in the prophetic history and! visions that adorn the religious consciousness of the Race of mankind, and restore the full spiritual consciousness of the Divine Life of Perfect Ethical relationships. This must determine any consider- ation of the nature and character of Pure Activity. Cthrist had himtself predicted, and his followers gen-
IN THE PEKCEPTION OF TRUTH 343
erally believed, that after "His ascension He was again visiting His people through. His Spirit." As Hort has said, "He supplied; in Himself the fixed plan, according to which all right human action must be framed: the Spirit working with their spirit supplied the ever varying shapes in which the plan had to be embodied."
There is a mine for silver and a place for gold; iron is taken from the earth, and copper is mlolten. Man sets an end to darkness and searches out to the farthest limits. When he gets too far from the habitations of man he may swing to and fro like a pendulum; and. his works shall be tried and he himself saved as by fire. He may search for wis- dom and the place of understanding where no fal- chion's eye hath seen; he may put forth his hand upon the flinty rock and overturn the mountains; cut channels among the rocks, and see every prec- ious thing; or bring to light what is hid and bind the streams that they trickle not ; yet he may know not the price of Wisdom or get understanding. God is the author and finisher of every work, and knows them all. And the beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord; to depart from evil is under- standing.
"Doth not wisdom cry, And understanding put forth her voice? On the top of high places by the way, Where the paths meet, she standeth; Beside the gates at the entry of the city, At the coming in at the doors, she crieth aloud :
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Unto you, O men, I call;
And my voice is to the sons of men.
I wisdom have made prudence my dwelling,
And find out knowledge and discretion.
The fear of Jehovah is to hate evil :
Pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way,
And the perverse mouth, do I hate.
Counsel is mine, and sound knowledge :
I am understanding: I have might.
By me kings reign,
And princes decree justice.
By me princes rule,
And nobles, even all the judges of the earth.
Jehovah possessed mie in the beginning of his way, Before his works of old.
I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, Before the earth was.
When he established; the heavens, I was there : When he set a circle upon the face of the deep, When he made firm the skies above, When the fountains of the deep became strong, When he gave to the sea its bound, That the waters should not transgress his com- mandment, When he marked out the foundations of the earth ; Then I was by him, as a master workman ; And I was daily his delight, Rejoicing always before him. Rejoicing in his habitable earth; And my delight was with the sons of men."
IN THE PERCEPTION OF TRUTH 345
A beautiful description of Creation, and the re- lation of Wisdom to Creation !
"Wisdom is the principal thing, therefore get wisdom ;"
Great is the value of wisdom for the individual, seeking mind and spirit.
"She will give to thy head a chaplet of grace; A crown of beauty will she deliver to thee."
What more beautiful tribute is there to Sacred Love than the Song of Flowers, by the one who described himself as "A rose of Sharon" and "A lily of the valley." Far off in the distant future, the ancient prophet perceived that "Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and the govern- ment shall be upon his shoulder; and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." Then "The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad ; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose. It shall blossom abundantly, and; rejoice even with joy and singing; the glory of Lebanon shall be' given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon : they shall see the glory of Jehovali, the excellency of our God." He declared : "The Spirit of the Lord Jehovah is upon me, because Jehovah has anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the
34G LOGIC AND IMAGINATION
prison to them that are bound; to proclaim the year ox Jehovah's favor, and the dlay of vengeance of our God ; to comfort all that mourn ; to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto themi a garland for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of Jehovah, that he may be glorified." Ajnd then follows the exultation and the consola- tion of the True Church: "I will greatly rejoice in Jehovah, my soul shall be joyful in mjy God; for he hath clothed me with garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with a garland, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels- For as the earth bringeth forth its bud, and as the garden cause th the things that are sown in it to spring forth; so the Lord Jehovah will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations."
"Therefore thus saith Jehovah, if thou return, then will I bring thee again, that thou mayest stand before me ; and if thou take forth the precious from the vile, thou shalt be as my mouth ; they shall re- turn unto thee, but thou shalt not return unto themi And I will make thee unto this people a fortified brazen wall; and they shall fight against thee, but they shall not prevail against thee; for I am with thee to save thee and to dleliver thee, saith Jehovah. And I will deliver thee out of the hand of the wicked, and I will redeem thee out of the hand of the terrible."
IX THE PERCEPTION OF TRUTH 347
Inasmuch as Christ came once on a mission of salvation, he is coming again. And inasmuch as salvation is free for all under the redemptive scheme of a supreme self-sacrifice, and his enemies have an apparent victory because of his dying love ; yet he cannot long delay, neither can he withhold his wrath forever. He is coming in Judgment; 4 "and they say to the mountains and to the rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb : for the great day of their wrath is come ; and who is able to stand?"
He that hath an ear to hear, and an eye to see, let him hear and see. "Nevertheless that which ye have hold fast till I come. And he that overconi- eth, and keepetk my works unto the end, to him will I give authority over the nations : and he shall rule them with a rod of iron, as the vessels of the potter are broken in shivers; as I also have re- ceived of my Father, and I will give him th^ morn- ing star. He that hath an ear let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches."
"As many as I love, I reprove and chasten: be zealous therefore; and repent," And "He that over- cometh, I will give to him to sit down with me in my throne, as I also overcame and sat down with my Father in his throne." There was a book writ- ten and sealed with seven seals. And an angel proclaimed with a great voice, Who is worthy to open the book and loose the seals thereof? And when no one in heaven or earth was able either to open or to look thereon, one of the elders said,
348 LOGIC AND IMAGINATION
"Weep not; behold, the Lion that is of the tribe of Juctah, the Root of David, hath overcome to open the book and the seven seals thereof." And "in the midst of the throne was a Lamib standing as though it had been slain/' having the symbols of the seven Spirits of God, which are sent forth into all the earth. "And when he had taken the book, the fonr and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having each a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sing a new song." And there are count- less multitudes saying with a great voice : "Worthy is the Lamb that hath been slain to receive the power, and riches, and wisdom, and might, and honor, and glory, and blessing." Every creature worshiped and praised God.
And there was "another strong angel comiing down out of heaven, arrayed with a cloud ; and the rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire; and he had in his hand a little book open : and he set his right foot upon the sea, and his left upon the earth." And the seer was to be a witness and "prophesy again over many peoples and nations and tongues and kings."
"If any man is for captivity, into captivity he goeth : if any man shall kill with the sword, with the sword must he be killed. Here is the patience of the saints."
And another angel was seen "flying in mid- heaven, having eternal good tidings to proclaim
IN THE PERCEPTION OF TRUTH 349
unto them that dwell on the earth, and unto every nation and tribe and tongue and people; and he said with a great voice, Fear God, and give him glory; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made the heaven and the sea and fountains of waters."
VI.
THE NATURE OF PUEE ACTIVITY (Continued).
Out of the throne proceeds a river clear as crys- tal ; and the leaves of the trees on either side thereof are for the healing of the nations.
There is a stream of thought from the pure, deep springs of Ethical Truth; and the spiritual in- fluence that one person exerts over another con- stitutes a field of ethics that is vastly more signi- ficant than any other aspect of moral responsibility and conduct. The negative personality always has a distressing effect on the more positive, idealistic, optimistic type of high thinking mental activity. Herein is the high value of metaphysical knowledge in ideal construction in conformity with truth and Absolute consciousness of experience in and through the personal life of Reality. It is the high duty of man to respect the freedom of others and to communicate through the relationships of Absolute Knowledge.
A distinguished student of Logic in a high degree whose temples were adorned with white locks, was questioned on a point of the mystical activity of the mind in such phenomena that some have tried to explain by clairvoyance and the like. He simply claimed that the human mind has a natural affinity for truth. To represent this he told a story of his
IN THE PERCEPTION OF TRUTH 351
experience. Once while going down from Boston he had a valuable watch in his care to be presented to the governor. It wras worth about $350, and when he was traveling, he accidentally on waking up left it and his overcoat on board a Fall River boat. He discovered his loss soon after and imme- diately began a search. By talking a little with all those who might be implicated in its disappearance, he still had not the least idea who might have it. Then he made a turn and had. a clear idea of the one. He went directly to him and offered him $50 to produce the hidden articles. The fellow denied' having them. Then arrangements were made with all the pawn brokers in New York and Boston to take note of the watch when it was pawned. Soon afterward Peirce received a notice from a broker on Broadway that his watch was on hand, this was not mentioned, but he was told to call. He then filled out a document and. the lawyer opened a drawer and there was his watch. Peirce paid the $150 which he had offered as an award and secured his lost treasure ; and then he had. the chain and his spring overcoat yet to get. He proceeded in like manner by a kind of mystical insight, and he found them all in spite of the opposition and the efforts made to resist his search. He found the chain in the bottom of a trunk and the overcoat on top of a piano in different flats. He offered as an explanation to a distinguished psychologist and a few others, that the human mind has a nat- ural affinity for fact, and that all ideas are alike simple when they are understood. Then he brought
352 LOGIC AND IMAGINATION
the discussion to a close with a grand and sweeping statement: " There are more things in Heaven and Earth than Philosophy has dreamed of, you can bet your neck on that." The statement was ad- dressed to the psychological method and of course was typical.
In a thesis I once defined intuition as a very rapid logical process that the ordinary human mind does not perceive as such. I claimed that imagina- tion comes in at this point and holds the picture or conception of the mind in a symphony of co-or- dinated logical ideas in one unity of experience, and by some means that is called mystical the mind has a perception of the picture or conception when it is clear enough as a logical harmony of conscious ideas. The duty of mlan is to get into the habit of thinking and conceiving perfectly beautiful thoughts and conceptions, and in so doing he shows his skill as an artist of the highest type, because in the practical life of this kind of experience, per- ception and creative activity is not hindered or limited by brush, paint and canvas. It is the sig- nificant application of the truth of the Christian admonition : "Ye ought to esteem others better than yourselves." By the skillful application of this law, society would be exalted to a higher tone of excellence and happy relationships. The poetess sings :
"There came to me one midnight hour
Three words endued with wondrous power ;
IN THE PERCEPTION OF TRUTH 353
They flashed athwart my darkened sight, Like shafts of pure, Celestial light, And turned the night to day complete ; Three simple words, but oh! how sweet — Love faileth never!
"Aye, suns may rise but suns will set; The dearest earthly ones forget; The bravest heart may change or fall, But love, God-love, endures through all — All times; all states; 'twill never cease, O words enfraught with heavenly peace — Love faileth never!"
Should any one ask, what is a simple idea? I would say that a thought concept, for instance, is a simple idea; because it is there and a real per- ceivable thing. And should any one tempt me by asking what is the significance and the meaning of the Bible as related to life and experience? I should maintain that it was inspired truth for the people to whom it was given, and that its mean- ing for us is to be interpreted in that light and estimated rather as a help and counsellor in our own spiritual perceptions and experiences in thought and active relations with the world. It is safer than drawing inter-related curves and cir- cles in the Social Consciousness, though they may be executed with a remarkable degree of smoothness and uniformity. It is the only safe guide in walk- ing over high, precipitous, dangerous paths, and
354 LOGIC AND IMAGINATION
makes the Individual feel secure and safe with strong, high and fine determination.
Aristotle's philosophy is typical of natural theory that seems to be a correct statement of some facts in the phenomenal world. He seemed to recognize a teleological world, but did not clearly perceive its value in the life of the universal con- sciousness, and is therefore content with his nat- ural and physical world of parallelism and inter- action in motion that is known to depend on the teleological. He seemed to know little about the nature of the teleological and Ideal world, and his universe of motion continually resolved itself into itself; and he could not get quite clear of the no- tion of discord and cessation that might be elimi- nated by the conception of Pure Activity, which should mjaintain in a right relation between the world! of miotion and the teleological, by a right attitude with the teleological that constitutes a world free in itself. In the Aristotelian system, if faith in the dynamic Ideal is gone, there is no hope for his world of motion, commercial and me-' chanical relations.
A living active faith in the Ideal world is nat- ural with the Christian Type of Experience. Though hostile foes may almost destroy the life in one before they allow of being dispensed with; nevertheless there is always this to be thankful for now that the Individual is free from their nega- tive influence, and still alive with a natural divine and: fondly cultured faith that has become an ac- tuality in knowledge — Freedom and the presence
IN THE PERCEPTION OF TRUTH 355
of Absolute Knowledge in the Ideal Life of Self- consciousness, Self-conscious Spirit, through the saving power of the Son of God in the personality of Divine Love and Wisdom, and the consequent transformations of personalities in the awakened personal consciousness, and identity of rational co-consciousness.
We judge all things in the light of the Ohrist life, and have our being in the Trinity of relation- ships. As the Self-conscious Spirit of Truth we live in a world of perception and; creative activity, and recognize the Second Person of the Trinity manifested in other persons. Not even the Son of God could assert himself, but each may recognize the Christ in others and all may recognize the Christ in the Individual. Though they live the life of angels, it does not exclude the marriage relation in the present world. The true marriage relation m!ay represent Christ and the Bride in the Individ- ual life, as the relation of Christ and the true Church in the Universal Ideal. In a fine, high, cultured, pious, community of Spirits, perhaps, spiritual influences gather and center in proximate unities from all parts of the world and prepare for battle. Then it must be the chief practical con- cern for the agents of the Universal Order, har- mony and symmetry of life to be prepared to meet the foe with invincible weapons. With eternal vig- ilance we must wage a spiritual warfare, and love like angels with the Spirit of Truth in the King- dom of Heaven.
In dealing with the Social Consciousness, it may
356 LOGIC AND IMAGINATION
be found most essentially important, indeed, a vital principle to keep aloof from the current of weak- ness and crime that seems to flow through dis- eased thought; this is perhaps accomplished by some determinative power of Self-consciousness. It is a common thing to judge character, but some- thing more is needed; be able to discern tlie thoughts and intents of the heart and motives of character, and judge them by an Absolute stand- ard of perfection, which must be known and; rec- ognized as one's personal identity. Weak senti- ment is not only distressing but inefficient. Our love must be strong and pervasive, not to sanction or court petty conventionalities that are signs of weakness, that pass for coin in the minds of fools and in the unconverted church. Let the church awake to the life of the Spirit, the strong, tru© love of Christ ; and enter its mission of service and healing that is ever present with the power of the Spirit of Jesus in steadfast, intense devotion and love of Wisdom.
The reality of the past, I think, is in the Per- manence of the Present. It is probably a mistake to think of the past returning after a lapse of time. Some one may awake to the consciousness of a present reality that appeared in the past, and ii may seem like a return. This is likely to occur as the realization in a conscious life, of an object of continued worship. Know the miodern spirit of a civilization and it is not hard to see what is going to be actualized. Some one has said, "To see an object means to assimilate it, to make it our
IN THE PERCEPTION OF TRUTH 357
own." We perceive the idea-types of things in God, and He is to the soul what light is to the eye. When we think on high themes and dwell in love our perceptions are highly complex, and our world must be a construction of Ideal Experience. Its logical clearness depends on truthfulness of Ideal character, and genuineness of thought and feeling.
In Greek mythology the idealized lover and be- loved met with piercing eyes of black and eyes of blue; with a look strong, true and sincere, words are helpless things. But from the Greek another person like an agent of the under world, broke the tie and took the beloved from the exalted vision of Truth and! Love. Earth has one destroyer, death. And though the hero determined that Paradise shall be regained, and the innocent soul restored; to see is not always to assimilate, but to judge and thereby select and eliminate. Claim the true and reject the false.
In personal life the pure in heart who see God become like Him, and Absolute Knowledge with Truth alone has power to bind and loose. Love is the Idea or Ideal around which all Christian thought and conceptions center; and the feminine spirit is like a woman clothed with the sun, when the power of love, thought and perception is clearly understood. A voice from! the great heart of ethi- cal thought and feeling, is like the wings of an eagle to the love that is persecuted, and saves the restless spirit from that old conception of a Self that is bent on dragging God into it. A modern
358 LOGIC AND IMAGINATION
philosopher once declared, "Keason Pure and sim- ple would make me free as an angel and inevitably holy." And another talked much of the insepara- ble relation between ethics and religion, of the union of science and religion, and that philosophy must perform' the ceremony on up to pronouncing the benediction.
Looking into the springs of thought and ethical truth, is like the nymph looking into the clear deep spring. To see the Self is ever after to be rest- less till there is a union with the Self that is known. Even if it must be through the desert and wilder- ness of thought, the prayer of the Individual goes forth — "May her love quench the thirsting soul and longings till I find her and she claims me as her own." When it shall come to pass, that union will be the consummation of a complete character; the fulfilment of a life ideal, taught and suggested by experience and prophetic insight. It is an exam- ple or instance how a high and fine emjotion can exclude thoughts that have nothing in common with a present state of consciousness — or as the poet has declared and described as lying too deeg for tears; like Love borne on the wings of a great eagle to one in a desert and wilderness of much thinking that has been cut prematurely and dried in the withering fire of a philosophical criticism.
One evening in a Seminary organized for the study of Christian Ethics and Modern Life, there had been some remarkable manifestations of spir- itual power acting through different individuals in a logical and coherent expression of the Chris-
IN THE PERCEPTION OF TRUTH 359
tian Spirit. It was an occasion with a reason for thanksgiving to the Great Author, Creator, and Finisher of so rich a variety of experience that had clearly been summed up in such a richness of meaning in personal life. It was so vast and rich and full of transcendental and spiritual truth in its practical relations of ethical value, that one could not begin to describe it. This grand and royal experience of thought, wisdom, love and clear, quick discernment — that has had so rich a mean- ing in the recognition of Ideal Experience, person- ally, as the presence of self-conscious spirits and angels — in every great event of spiritual signifi- cance has been the inspiration of life work when permanently united with that one, who is so dear and highly beloved in pure devotion, confiding trust and consecrated love. God forbid that any harm could come to that Love, either human or Divine, which is the Idea or Ideal around which all think-* ing and conceptions center, and is the Life of life. Many a troubled spirit has recognized the con£ ing of a sister of mercy at a critical moment or critical moments in life. If one aware of short- comings through ethical and social implications, should remark: "I feel that I ought to apologize; I did not know that I came on the program this even- ing" ; then sympathetically continue with a glow of love and tenderness and attitude of penitence, calling forth a feeling attitude of entire forgive- ness and powerful sentiment: "I fear that I have injured his cause by paying so much attention; to the feebleminded." What must be the attitude and
360 LOGIC AND IMAGINATION
holy joy with Christ and the holy angels when the true church comes to Him with such a confession of devotion?
"Perfect Love casteth out fear."
A good statement of a fundamental principle and. relation of principles in actual life, that has his- torical significance, has been made by a^young Eng- lish Philosopher : "Experience will be best realized, if there are to be different forms of its expression, when that unity is most explicit, when the subject and object are explicitly aspects of the same con- scious unity. For then the subject will consciously be identical with its object, its object will be its very self. In this case, the object is self and aware of the subject, subject is self and aware of object; or subject and object are each self-conscious. But this is only possible when the object is the self of the subject which has experience, and where thi§ self - consciousness is absolutely all - inclusive. It will be found in absolute self-consciousness, in that form of experience which we call the life of Abso- lute Mind."
It has been noted that similarity and difference are often represented by two beings or existences linked together by casual relations. There is al- ways a cloud of inexplicable something in common that God alone can know and clearly see through. This has reference to Ideas as well as objective Beings or manifestations of Ideas. All things have their true Being in the Divine Will. In Him is clear perception audi omniscience. Time relations are represented in the same way. There is no ab-
IN THE PERCEPTION OF TRUTH 361
solute division between the conscious flow of ideas. They blend at some point or other, and there is al- ways a link that is described by some as a cloud or nebula of fire. This has been referred to in an- other connection as the Divine Love. It is like the seventh stage of a lamp or candle that has been kept constantly -burning, and has been seen by a perceiving subject only in its sixth and eighth stages. What it was in the seventh degree is known only by belief and a mental process of judging and thinking. It has also been claimed that the think- able and the possible is the eternal.
Does not something make you feel that you have always lived at heart in this state of the eternal? Does not the soul cry out for this light of the inner life? If this has slipped away from the range of vision, does not the mind soliloquize : "Shall I ever find it again? I have given myself for the sake of love; shall that love ever be returned; and shall I find it again in another life? Would that I may find it in the life for whom I gave it, and whom I have trusted as a faithful and abiding friend — be- cause we have the same spiritual Ideals."
I question the validity of the belief of some who rest in the stupid confidence of their own worth and psychic power to control the higher spiritual influences through mechanical means of their own devising. The attempt to disturb through an irra- tional scheme instead of submitting to the presence and influence of a self-conscious rational mind or co-ordinated spiritual life, cannot be justified or approved by any reason or in the light of any
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moral idea or sound ethical purpose. We then who are spiritual are free, and we will bear each other's burden because we have the same spiritual Ideals actualized in our life. Our sympathy is with the self-sacrificing disposition, a broken and a contrite heart. They may come with a broken spirit and a receptive heart to be made holy by the Love of Godl and the power of the Christian Spirit. They dare not impute the consequence of sin on the pure in heart, but they must go in faith to him who has made atonement for sin once for all, even Jesus Christ. And our life shall be per- fect in the Love and Wisdom of God and the Son, blessed and happy forever more; and holy with power in the light of a divine radiance that no sin can endure. May our cup of joy be full and over- flowing, when our practical Ideals are realized.
What evil is or may be, it is something that comes from beneath and can have no place in the world of a heavenly life. It is probably the in- fluence of wicked, restless spirits or psychoses that have no world and cannot enter the life and realm of true Being. Our life and personality is from above, and the spirits of darkness can have no part with us; let them destroy their own phantom or illusion of sin and iniquity, whether it has a cause or not, and thus accomplish and fulfill the will of the heaven-born life and manifestation of personality, through the Spirit of Truth in the Son, the faithful and; true witness of the things of God.
When true womanhood knows herself as one
IN THE PERCEPTION OF TRUTH 363
with the Absolute, and because pregnant with the Whole spirit of Love and Truth, and is possessed unto the new birth and the fullness of Life, the virgin spirit remains with her throughout eternity. "Having brought forth this conception expressed in physical birth — the Son of God — no lesser crea- tion can be denied Woman. " A crystallized thought of the best that is known in Absolute Knowledge, becomes the spiritual Self — the Word made mani- fest. "Health, harmony, strength and happiness, crystallized through Divine Thought, are immacu- lately conceived children."
"Dealing symbolically with the mystery of the birth of the C'hrist, the soul may be likened to the immaculate Virgin — the Spirit of the just and truth-ful man." The Divine engrafted in every soul begins its cry for expression and continues until full consciousness of the spiritual birth is attained. The Christ in every soul must be realized sooner or later with the incarnation of the Spirit and the Christian Character. The manifestation may come forth in the nijidst of passions and desires; it may rest in physical conditions, and be fostered; and guarded by the Spiritual nature; and there will be rejoicing in the heavenly realm over the birth of the Child. In the spiritual, mental and physical activities of life, the Wise Men and the Higher Powers will show reverence and admiration for the incarnation of the Archetype — the mystical Christ born in the union of Soul and Spirit.
Prayer and meditation solicit the presence of the Christ ; and when Love "is born into tlie soul, shrink
\
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not from recognizing it, for it is this mystical Pres- ence that can alone satisfy the desire of the incar- nate and longing soul." Sometimes in personal experience this truth assumes a very personal as- pect. Probably every act is unique, but the one who comes in times of spiritual distress, like Love on the wings of a great eagle, is highly unique with a meaning that completely overwhelms thought. Caught up, as it were, in the Spirit, the Individual cannot think otherwise than to follow the law of the Spirit, with conscious recognition of its personal significance in clear perceptions and Ideal conceptions. Some one has prophetically stated : "The principle embodied in the meditation will determine the form! this Presence will assume. Sometimes the birth of the Archetypal Man comes into the life as a loved one, remaining just long enough to awaken the soul into a faint idea of that which awaits it." With this birth of the Arche- type there is a complete communion of Spirit and soul, then the longing soul hungers no more for- ever.
The humanistic spirit in a certain element of the church is evident in what a clergyman once said; standing in his pulpit, he tried to emphasize the conception of human freedom by saying that he has "power to stand up and shake his fist in the face of God and say, No." Then he lamented his condition by saying, "Poor creature and) worm of the dust that I am who can say 'no' to God!" This exaltation of the conception of the humjan self
IN THE PERCEPTION OF TRUTH 365
and independence of Godi, may yet reveal the man of sin.
If these offences must needs come, woe unto them by whom they come. In practical human life we must have the .authority of the Son, the self- sacrificing life of Jesus, the serving attitude and devotion to the Christ Ideal, and the Royal con- summation of a virtuous life in the freedom of a Self-conscious Spirit in the forms, laws and activ- ities of symmetry and beauty in the eternal; holy with power through co-conscious identity with the entire giving up of the will to God, and. the will to do the Will of God, and be the living expression of His Word and the manifestation of the Divine Reason, Love or Logos holding its sceptered au- thority over the Universe — like the purifying in- fluence of a refining fire. Then follow the radio- active transformations of personality in the world of human life, into the forms of Absolute Truth and Beauty — (health, harmony, strength, happiness. Social Self, the Social Consciousness as well as Perfect Love, Wisdom, and the holiness of life and experience in the clear perception of a seeing Mind selects the true and altogether lovely for the ideal- istic construction of a completely finished individ- ual Self in Perfect Personality.
The expression of a perfect personality is in the actualization of the Highest Ideal of Beauty and Perfection. When this is realized in actual expe- rience, it is like finding the magnetic pole. We feel the need of the other who has helped us to this actualization, to join our life as one personal-
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ity in a closed circle of Ideal friendship; and that One most beloved, who is all the world to us, must give direction to our practical Ideals. The great need is to be constructive in our practical ideals, and create a beautiful world, or allow the creative activity as a dynamic influence to construct a beau- tiful world out of Ideal Experience in thought and feeling and ideal perception in actual personal re- lations, and then live in true conformity to the law of the perfect Ideal. The world of True Being actually belongs to all, yet is possessed by none. We must be kept in our happy life by a true spir- itual insight to the heart of the meanings of things and expressions through active and living rela- tions. A proud and haughty spirit has ruined many a happy life that requires a patient love and a penitent heart to regain the lost paradise.
God unites persons in the Ideal; but men, who are the true servants of God, confirm the relation in the conventional life of a practical human so- ciety.
A fundamental law of the Christian Conscious- ness declares: Knowest thou not that what thou dost unto me thou dost unto thyself, and what I do unto you I do to myself? It is a law of the the Individual ; and you are not likely to transcend it, for it is transcendent itself. A heart that has ruthlessly been broken cannot contain any love ex- cept Divine Love, which is the Wrath of Judgment and the Power of Godlikeness and Truth.
The ascent of ethics always depends on the de-
IN THE PEKCEPTION OF TRUTH 367
scent of faith. Faith lays hold on the Struggling spirit and shows the way to the mountain great and high where the victory over the tempter is won, or the Holy City is seen as having the glory ofl' God; with a light like unto a stone most precious; receiving the ethereal vibrations, separating and blending them' with matchless beauty in the har- mony of light discriminations. Perhaps the twelve gates are twelve senses, and most of mankind is only acquainted with six of them. Know ye not that your bodies are the temple in whom the Spirit of God dwelleth. Christ spoke of the temple of his body, and Paul declared, if any man defile this temple him shall God destroy. The perfect and complete life of the mind opens just as surely to the spiritual side as to the physical senses. God has established a cove- nant between the physical and the spiritual, and the ark of the covenant is forever kept within the holy of holies. If thine eye be single thy whole body shall be full of light, but if the light which is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness. Man created in the image of God has a Social Con- sciousness as well as the Individual. In the City not made with hands, the seer perceived no tem- ple; "For the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple thereof. And the City hath no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine upon it; for the glory of God did .lighten it, and the lamp thereof is the Lamb. And the nations shall walk amidst the light thereof: and the kings of the
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earth bring their glory into it. And the gates thereof shall in no wise be shut by day (for there shall be no night there) : and) they shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it: and there shall in no wise enter into it anything un- clean, or he that maketh a lie; but only they that are written in the Lamb's book of life."
What dream of Socialism has ever surpassed or equaled this? And the seer has written of things that are no dream, but realities that are spiritually discerned; yet how far is the actuality of human life and the world of fact from having realized this Ideal Activity in the Kingdom of Heaven ; "When there shall be no curse any more : and the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be therein : and his servants shall serve him." When they that worship shall worship in Spirit and in Truth. Yet, "They shall see his face ; and his name on their foreheads. And there shall be night no more ; and they need no light of lamp, neither light of sun; for the Lord God shall give them light: and they shall reign forever and ever."
Then the seer as if perceiving the pure spiritual significance of his vision, quickly swung back to the physical plane of Being, and declares : "He said unto me, these words are faithful and true : and the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent his angel to show unto his servants the things which must shortly come to pass." The Spiritual Indi- viduality does not overlook the needs of the other, but declares, "I Jesus have sent mine angel to tes-
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tify unto you these things for the churches." And so readily does the individual follow out the des- tiny of his divine law and call, that, though the Spirit is joined with the Bride, the one testifying these things saith, verily, I come quickly, with the convocation, "Amen: come, Lord Jesus."
VII.
A DAY OF REST IN FREEDOM THROUGH PURE ACTIVITY.
" Let us fear therefore, lest haply, a promise being left of entering into his rest, any one of you should seem to have come short of it. For indeed we have had good tidings preached unto us, even as also they : but the word of hearing did not profit them, because it was not united by faith with them that heard. For we who have believed do enter into that rest : even as he hath said,
As I sware in my wrath,
They shall not enter into my rest :
although the works were finished from the founda- tion of the world." (Heb. 4:1-3.)
"Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy." (Exodus 20:8.)
In Greek and Latin Christian literature, from the very earliest times, the term rf KvptaKij tf/uepa has been applied to the first day of the week in its religious aspect.
Let us take a brief historical notice of the term Lord's Day itself, the connection of the Lord's Day with the Sabbath, the origin of the institution, the nature of Lord's Day worship in New Testament times, and then let us look at the importance of its
IN THE PEKCEPTION OF TRUTH 371
observance and the need it supplies in modern life.
Some have referred the term to Easter Day, oth- ers to the Day of Judgment, but from the Didache onwards they used 77 KvpaKrj rjjuepa only in the sense of Sunday. There is, however, some special significance in the very close relation of Sunday, Easter Day and the Day of Judgment. It was on the first day of the week that the glad news of the resurrection was declared. It is at the House of God that Judgment must begin, and "What shall be the end of them that obey not the gospel of God?"
"If ye are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are ye; because the Spirit of glory and the Spirit of God resteth upon you." And "let them also that suffer according to the will of God commit their souls in well-doing unto a faithful Creator."
In the vision recorded in the Apocalypse, when the seer declares, "I was in the Spirit on the Lord's Day," it is Patmos that gives the place of the vision but the Lord's Day naturally seems to fix the time. The observance of the Lord's Day was one of the things concerning the Kingdom of God spoken of by the risen Lord; and there has been a desire, as if by instinct, to base on a direct divine sanc- tion an institution so universal.
Whether the first day of the week was blessed and hallowed by Christ Himself, or by the Church, His visible representative, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, at all events the Lord's Day was sanctioned by inspired apostles, and stands on a
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level with ordination, and is beyond the power of the Church to alter or abrogate.
This pre-eminence of the Lord's Day has unfor- tunately in some minds been prejudiced by con- troversies on its relation to the Sabbath. This re- lation has been thought to be of much practical importance and interest by a large class of per- sons who think they require guidance in details, and who seem to feel that a general direction to keep a day holy is too vague, and obligates too much individual responsibility. On one hand those who hold to a severe observance of the day, identify the Lord's Day with the Sabbath, and regard it as the same institution with a Christian reference added — the change of day is of course immaterial. But they often combine with this assumption a theory of scriptural Sabbath observance, for which there is little evidence from ancient or modern Jew- ish life. On the other hand, some of those who re- volt from this rigidity feel pressed to justify them- selves by a denial of any relation between the two days ; and then without any divinely ordained rules for its observance they are in danger of not observ- ing it at all. These are two extremes and the truth is to be found in the inner path that lies between the two. The Lord's Day may be regarded as the Sabbath and yet as not the Sabbath, much as John the Baptist was and was not Elijah.
When Jesus uttered the cry, "It is finished," the old dispensation passed away. His resurrection, ascension, and outpouring of the Holy Spirit were successive affirmations of the great fact, and the
IN THE PERCEPTION OF TRUTH 373
destruction of the temple made it plain to all but the blindest. But in the meantime how gently were the apostles and Christians of Jewish birth taken from the old religion. The dead leaves of Judlaism fell off gradually, they were not rudely torn off by man. The new facts, the new thoughts, the new ordinances first established themselves, and then little by little the incompatibility of the old and the new was realized. This issued in cast- ing off the old non-essentials, and the old heart of Judaism was made new in Christianity. It was not accomplished by a deliberate substitution of one ordinance for another. First the old ordinance became antiquated, and experience matured under the influence of the Holy Spirit, proving that the positive institutions of the new religion more than fulfilled those of the old. This was realized first of all with the sacramental ordinances, but the realization of the fulfilment of the Sabbath in the Lord's Day does not find expression in the New Testament. The design seems to have been to bring out all that Christianity had analogous to the cherished rites of Judaism. This is particularly marked in the Epistle to the Hebrews where those are addressed who were in danger of relapsing into Judaism, and could scarcely forego all the asso- ciations of the old religion, its antiquity, author- ity, splendor, variety. The priesthood, sacrifice, the temple, the solemn services, are all shown to have their more than parallels in the gospel. The Sabbath is regarded as a type of the state of sal-
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vation for believers to enter upon, a Sabbath rest to be consummated in the world to come.
"The word of God is living, and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and quick to discern the thoughts and intents of the heart. And there is no creature that is not manifest in His sight : but all things are naked and laid open before the eyes of Him with whom we have to do."
The Lord's Day is in a special sense the feast of life. "The resurrection of Jesus Christ was not merely the raising to life of an individual man but of human nature." On that first Lord's Day our nature actually entered on a^new life, and he was the first fruits of it, potentially active for every Christian in succeeding ages; not only the life of individual members, but also the life of the body born on the day of Pentecost,
With more or less contrast let us remember on the Sabbath the repose of the Creator of the physi- cal world, and commemorate on the Lord's Day the beginning of the activity of the new Spiritual Creation.
Blessed are they who have part in the first resur- rection; whose delight it is to be in the Spirit of the Lord's Day, to visit the House of God rather than dwell in the tents of wickedness, to meditate in His Law and renew the divine life communicated by the power of Christ's resurrection and exalted by hymns of devotion and praise anticipating the consummation of this divine life at His coming.
IN THE PERCEPTION OF TRUTH 375
When Judaism was in vogue, it is also right and well to observe that, among the best element in Jewish life, the Sabbath, with all the rules and restrictions created by the Rabbis, does not seem to be felt as a day of burden and gloom to those living under them. "The Sabbath is celebrated by the very people who did observe it, in hundreds o^ hymns, which would fill volumes, as a day of rest and joy, of pleasure and delight, a day in which man enjoys some presentiment of the pure bliss and happiness which are stored up for the right- eous in the world to come. To it such tender names wrere applied as the 'Queen Sabbath/ the 'Bride Sabbath,' and the 'holy, dear, beloved Sabbath.' "
The general attitude taken toward the Sabbath by our Lord was that of praise and commendation for voluntary observances consistent with its real purpose, worshiping and teaching and the activity of innocence in a Godlike character. To free it from those accretions with which the traditions of the elders had obscured it, He emphatically de- clares, "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath."
Deeds of mercy were no infringement of its sanc- tity; it is "lawful to do good on the Sabbath day." But the Sabbath was not as the Rabbis seemed to make it, an end in itself, for the sake of which man- kind should be subjected, to a number of needless and vexatious rules; it was a means to an end., the good of the created world, for the development of the aesthetic and spiritual life. This end was best promoted by a reasonable liberty in the inter-
376 LOGIC AND IMAGINATION
pretation of the statutes relating to it; the multi- plication of rules had a tendency not to preserve its essential character, but to destroy it.
There are ways in the observation of the Sab- bath or Lord's Day that are essential, but before considering these ways of observance here it might be well to inquire into the needs of having a Sab- bath and some of the grounds for our belief that it is not an institution based merely on conven- tionalities. It is a necessary institution which has its origin and source in Reality and supports a law of progress in the development of the race.
On its practical side it was essentially an insti- tution made for man. It was intended for a rest from laborious and engrossing occupations, and from the cares and anxieties of daily life, and thus secure leisure for thoughts of God. The restric- tions attached were meant to be interpreted in the spirit. It had not essentially an austere and rig- orous character. "Its aim was rather to counter- act the deadening influence upon both body and soul, of never interrupted daily toil, and of con-< tinuous absorption in secular pursuit®. " In time an anxious then a superstitious dread of profaning the Sabbath asserts or asserted itself ; the spiritual was submerged in the formal, restrictions were in- creased, till at length that which was really im- portant and. reasonable was buried beneath a crowd of regulations of the pettiest description.
The observance of the first Day of the week is not a substitution for the Jewish Sabbath, but it is an analogous institution, and Sunday observance
IN THE PERCEPTION OF TRUTH 377
is based on the consecration of that day by our Lord's Resurrection, sanctioned by apostolic usage and accepted by the early church, as a day set apart for similar objects — rest from labor, and the service of God — in a manner consonant with the higher ethical and spiritual teaching of Christ.
When the great teacher himself proclaimed that man was not made for the Sabbath but the Sab- bath for man, he must have meant to impress on the minds of the people some great truth regard- ing the Sabbath and its observance. He presented a truth so general and comprehensive in its reach and scope that it seems to apply to all ages of the world and conditions of society, and no individual can comprehend it fully in all its bearings on life and its relations to Christian civilization. There- fore our only reliable guide in its observance is the Power of correct Judgment. And above all things we need to cherish this; for we can have it only as we grow in grace, in the likeness of the Divine personality.
Throughout the past the Sabbath has had its history. Often it has been disregarded by men of perverted judgment and abused by rigid customs of superstitious fanatics. It has proved a great blessing to those who have observed it worthily, and a curse has fallen upon those who have rejected the Lord's Day.
In life we know that the material depends upon the spiritual, and the individualized spiritual life is related with the physical. And the strongest evidence in the utility of Lord's Day consecration
378 LOGIC AND IMAGINATION
is found in the needs and wants such consecration supplies in human natue. The Ideal human life consists of a threefold development — physical, in- tellectual and spiritual. In an active physical and intellectual life the spiritual needs and wants must be ministered unto ; for the spirit is the life-giving power, that brings order and harmony into all ac- tivity and leads to higher ideals, or rather a clearer conception of an ever-advancing Ideal as the bar- riers of limitation are removed.
While the physical is a basis upon which man's own existence rests and grows, yet intelligence has to be united with spiritual force in order to shape life in agreement with the eternal laws.
That man may live in such a way as to approach the Ideal of perfect manhood, a day of rest has been set apart. And since it is appointed for the real good and happiness of mankind, it is not set apart merely by the decree of man but by the decree of God. And since it is the manifestation of a law of progress, the good of the individual and the good of society demands that it be observed worthily; until we step over into the one eternal, endless Day of the Spiritual Life, the Day of God.
How we shall spend it wrell, each will have to decide for themselves. At all events it should be spent in such a way as to supply our deepest spir- itual wants. This does not necessarily mean a strict observance of set rules, but be in the Spirit.
As we look out over life, how many there are who seem1 never to get much above the physical plane of mere animal pleasures that are shared in
IN THE PERCEPTION OF TRUTH 379
common with the lower forms of life, and include those pleasures connected with physical exercise and sports. Then there are others who appreciate the higher intellectual pleasures, such as are due to the exercise of judgment and the general powers of the intellect, both in reflection and action. And as we look again we see there are still others in whom spiritual pleasures are dominant, pleasures that are when man realizes his own spirit and the Spirit of the Universe, and know^s their affinity; and there arises in consciousness a conception of the underlying principles and purposes of nature. Probably each one individual has all these quali- ties, but in some, one range of qualities may be developed out of proportion to the others. People engaged in physical and intellectual pursuits and vocations in life need a period set apart for strengthening the bond that unites all reality and good in one grand harmonious activity of obedience to law. And even when the perfect manhood is found and mankind is dominated by the desire and love of what is just and right, a love of the good, and life is spent in search of personal good and the good of fellowman, there is need of rest at times, of retiring from the field of battle where he has been leading in the thickest of the fray, trying to point out the way of truth and right that is to be found in all existence with aid of the light of knowledge and revelation.
Picture the Christ in solitude. Even He, when weary and worn with incessant labor to fulfill His mission in the world, sought a momentary rest
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among the mountains alone with His Heavenly Father; for rest and special communion with God.
The Lord's Day is a day of rest. But what is rest? Two artists once tried to represent it on canvas ; the one pictured a lake, very still and life- less, with moss gathered here and there over the surface. There is nothing beautiful about it be- cause it does not fulfill our idea of the nature of rest; the other artist tried to represent a concep- tion of rest on canvas also. He pictured a roar- ing Niagara and the slender branch of a tree hang- ing over the rushing water, above which a robin was sitting in her nest.
Rest is the poise of the soul amidst an environ- ment of restless and tireless energy. It involves peace and tranquility in the presence of disturbed conditions and adversity, in the presence of the feverish unrest of society. And we cannot find this tranquility until we find the principle of right and truth and love, and have built our life upon this. In rest there seems two elements present — tran- quility, energy; silence, turbulence; fearlessness, fearfulness — or designate them as you will, they are. hard to describe. An idea of rest is suggested by the deep river current that flows smooth and tranquil in its course, yet with such volume of power; also in the electric current unseen and harmless ; under certain conditions lighting up the city and dispelling darkness, under others turning the ponderous wheel and setting the complicated machinery in motion to work. There is tranquility and energy that becomes at once destructive when-
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ever its laws are disturbed. So sacred and de- termined are the laws of the universe that if har- mony is broken up it means destruction and death. Just as accurate and powerful are the laws of our own life and being, and if we would find peace and rest we must know them and abide by theih.
It is not until man has found rest — that is, the tranquil poise of the soul in the midst of adver- sity, that he can do his best in life's vocation. This state is only found in the spiritually minded, the person who really enjoys life; because he knows the right and good, and has a yearning desire to be upheld and abide by it. The spiritual man is the full-grown manhood that is in the fullness of life, and is known by the love manifestly going forth in the Principle of Righteousness and Good- ness— and by the desire to see right prevail; and by the pleasure evident through contemplating the designs of the world order, and in pointing out the way to others — thus is the spiritual man known by his friends.
We rise toward and attain the fullness of life by the aid of higher influences. God is infinite, man is finite ; and as the limitations are removed, there is always something beyond to be revealed. And it is through faith we rise into knowledge of that which is above; faith guided by the principle of truth and the love of wisdom which God has given man. And we grow also in the spiritual life by the aid of those who have gone before, and left their knowledge and experience in records for our use. But man can only advance in life as he learns
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to think. And our best method for pointing out the way of salvation for mankind, is to help them to think for themselves. Henry Ward Beecher summed it up very well when he said, "Find out the way God is going, and then go in that way."
For persons who are inclined to do little think- ing and speculating on the great laws and forces of the world, it might be well to spend leisure on Sunday with a little reflection. And those who are weary from the toils of active service in life will find rest also in reflection, and inspiration from the study of the life of some great and good man and his works; that the Christ life, which is the Life of God in man, may be more fully realized in the active consciousness.
The clue to all that abides and resides in the outer world of changing phenomena, as well as that which is permanent, is the deep-lying beauty, love, truth, goodness. Seek these and you will find all the rest. Seek these and your life will become a permanent adjustment to the Life and Will of God.
Let every day be a Sunday in the Life of the Spirit, but renew the Spiritual Self with the Divine Fire in a special way each Lord's Day. The Sun- days of man's life, threaded together on the string of time, make bracelets to adorn the bride of the eternal King. On Sunday the gates of Heaven are open, lift up your hearts and the King of Glory shall come in. Though the Son of Man is homeless, yet he is Lord of the Sabbath ; though despised, re-
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jected, and crucified, yet he is Judge of mankind and of tlie universe.
"The heart is like an instrument whose strings Steal nobler music from Life's many frets : The golden threads are spun through Suffering's
fire, Wherewith the marriage - robes for heaven are
woven : And all the rarest hues of human life Take radiance, and are rainbowed out in tears."
But the cross is changed to a crown of rejoicing, "And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes."
"Sundays observe : think wrhen the bells do chime, 'Tis angel's music; therefore come not late."
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