. . .And so neither answer is final. Finality is only reached when both are swallowed up, not in victory, but in defeat. Shall we not then glory in defeat and sing its praises often?

I must leave to some future Herbert Spencer lecturer the discussion of his doctrine of the Unknowable and the critical consideration of its place and value in philosophy. I would fain leave it altogether on one side; but that is impossible. Although the First Principles is divided into two Parts, dealing respectively with the Unknowable and the Knowable, we have not by any means done with the former when we turn from the First Part to the Second. With Spencer we have never done with the Unknowable, the Unconditioned Reality and the other aliases by which it goes. His persistence of force is the persistence of Unknowable Force. In a leading passage, at any rate, it is avowedly 'the persistence of some Cause which transcends our knowledge and conception. In asserting it we assert an Uncondi. . . Read More