other hand, the latter is emphasized. Thus the laws according to which all relations of force, space and time are synthesized are universal, unchangeable, absolute; but the laws according to which all relations of goodness, beauty and truth are synthesized must vary in relation to each individual. This places the two spheres in contrast, as the absolute and the relative, or, the real and the ideal. But since the contrast, not only between the absolute and the relative, but between the antithetic terms of each category, is strictly correlative; so must the contrast between the real and the ideal be correlative. In uniting these correlative aspects of consciousness, cognition is compelled to contemplate that which transcends all finite limitations, and which, since it must appear to finite cognition both as real, and as ideal, may be appropriately termed the ideal-real. CHAPTER II. THE IDEAL-REAL. $1. Definition.-The ideal-real "that shall satisfy the facts and truths to which both Realism and Idealism appeal" is the infinite consciousness which, as a correlate of finite, changeable consciousness, is not subject to change. In so far as the self changes in accordance with invariable laws, it is a universal self; in so far as it changes in accordance with no law but its own, it is an individual self; in so far as it changes at all, it is a finite self; but in so far as it does not change at all, it is an infinite self. Since change and identity are a priori correlates characterizing finite consciousness, every conscious self is both finite and infinite; also, the finite self is both individual and universal. The contrast between the finite self and the infinite self is thus a contrast, not between a self and a not-self, but between a limited self and an unlimited self. The finite self exists in the infinite self. There is no individual self incommunicable to the infinite self, since the finite self is known only to and through the infinite self. In the infinite self, conscience, aesthetic taste and the sense of right have absolute authority; change and its limitations of force, space and time are here transcended; and goodness, beauty and truth are eternal. $2. Mental Functions.-In passing from finitude to infinitude, the limitations of finite thought must necessarily be reflected in all possible representations of the infinite; hence all a priori categories applied to the infinite must be subject to the law of mutual limitation. The category of substantiality represents the infinite self as unchangeable; and that of casuality, as an agent acting in time and space. The difficulty here is that the a priori categories come into conflict when finitude attempts to comprehend infinitude. The only rational procedure is to recognize the source of the conflict as lying in the limitations of finite cognition, and to realize that the only way in which a unity can appear to such cognition is through pairs of correlative aspects. In the same way that the conflicting aspects of the finite self are harmonized in a synthesis of correlative opposites, so must the conflicting aspects of the infinite self be correlated; and just as the synthesis is subject to the law of mutual limitation governing the application of the a priori categories to the finite self, so also must it be in their application to the infinite self. The apparent conflict lies, not in the nature of the infinite, but in the limitations of finite cognition, which reflects its own limitations on all its objects. From the stand-point of the will, the cosmological argument has represented the infinite as the first cause; and from the same stand-point, Christian theology holds to the incarnation of the Word. From the stand-point of feeling, the faith argument has represented the infinite as revealed through a direct intuition of feeling; and from the same stand-point, Christian theology holds to the individual manifestation of the Holy Spirit as a personal Comforter. From the stand-point of intellection, the teleological argument has represented the infinite as the designer of the universe; and from the same stand-point, Christian theology holds to the omniscience of the Father Almighty. Each of these representations, like the psychological function on which it rests, if taken separately, reduces to a mere abstraction; but if taken in correlation, the three representations lead to a concrete intuition of the infinite. This trinity, then, instead of being three separate beings, is the finite representation of the three correlative phases of the one Being which, in comprehending the individuality of every finite self, is ideal; in being absolute and unchangeable, is real; and in being thus both ideal and real, is infinite, the infinite Self. And since every finite self is a correlate of this infinite self, it is necessarily finite, not as an individual, isolated in space and time, but as an eternal element in the concrete being of the "Ideal-Real." ATTENTION:-Continuous, 79; Def., 80-82; Functions, 130, CATEGORIES;-Aristotle's, 15; Classification, 52; Correla- CONCEPTS:-52. FEELING:-Def., 80, 82; Functions, 130, 148, 154, 157, FORCE:-100, 102. GENEALOGICAL TREE:-53; A Priori, 54; Empirical, 55. INTELLECTION:-Analysis, 12. 14, 43; Def., 14, 80, 82; LAWS OF THOUGHT:-Contradiction, 15, 21, 56; Correla- MATTER:-99; 100, 101. METAPHYSICS;-Assumptions, 94; Basis, 99. PRINCIPLES OF Knowledge:-Correlativity, 18, 21, 57, PSYCHO-PHYSICAL LAW:-85. SENSATION:-As a Correlative Aspect,-38, 74; As Form- SENSE:-11, 12, 82. SPACE:-Ideal, 135; Theories, 104; A Priori Synthetic, SUFFICIENT REASON, PRIN. OF:-17. THE BEAUTIFUL:-154. THE GOOD:-152. THE IDEAL:-Basis, 99; Def., 100; Divisions, 100. THE REAL:-Basis, 99; Def., 100; Divisions, 100. THOUGHT:-Def., 80, 82; Forms, 80, 82. |