sense, we shall have to hold that the thing
may be known when its 'nature' is not known, or at any rate is not known
completely. There is a confusion, when this use of the word 'nature' is
employed, between knowledge of things and knowledge of truths. We may
have knowledge of a thing by acquaintance even if we know very few
propositions about it--theoretically we need not know any propositions
about it. Thus, acquaintance with a thing does not involve knowledge of
its 'nature' in the above sense. And although acquaintance with a thing
is involved in our knowing any one proposition about a thing, knowledge
of its 'nature', in the above sense, is not involved. Hence, (1)
acquaintance with a thing does not logically involve a knowledge of its
relations, and (2) a knowledge of some of its relations does not involve
a knowledge of all of its relations nor a knowledge of its 'nature' in
the above sense. I may be acquainted, for example, with my toothache,
and this knowledge may be as complete as knowledge by acquaintance ever
can be, without knowing all that the dentist (who is not acquainted
with it) can tell me about its cause, and without therefore knowing its
'nature' in the above sense. Thus the fact that a thing has relations
does not prove that its relations are logically necessary. That is to
say, from the mere fact that it is the thing it is we cannot deduce
that it must have the various relations which in fact it has. This only
_seems_ to follow because we know it already.

It follows that we cannot prove that the universe as a whole forms a
single harmonious system such as Hegel believes that it forms. And if we
cannot prove this, we also cannot prove the unreality of space and time
and matter and evil, for this is deduced by Hegel from the fragmentary
and relational character of these things. Thus we are left to the
piecemeal investigation of the world, and are unable to know the
characters of those parts of the universe that are remote from our
experience. This result, disappointing as it is to those whose hopes
have been raised by the systems of philosophers, is in harmony with
the inductive and scientific temper of our age, and is borne out by the
whole examination of human knowledge which has occupied our previous
chapters.

Most of the great ambitious attempts of metaphysicians have proceeded by
the attempt to prove that such and such apparent features of the actual
world were self-contradictory, and therefo