to it have been that no
independent existence attaches to these forms; that they prescribe the
conditions of thought but are not thought itself, still less being; that
they hold good to thought as known to man's reason, but perchance not to
thought in other intelligences; and, therefore, that even if through the
dialectical development of thought a consistent idea of the universe
were framed, that is, one wherein every fact was referred to its
appropriate law, still would remain the inquiry, Is this the last and
absolute truth?

The principal points in these objections are that abstract thought does
not postulate being; and that possibly all intelligence is not one in
kind. To the former objection the most satisfactory, reply has been
offered by Professor J. F. Ferrier. He has shown that the conception of
object, even ideal object, implies the conception of self in the
subject; and upon this proposition which has been fully recognized even
by those who differ from him widely, he grounds the existence of Supreme
Thought as a logical unity. Those who would pursue this branch of the
subject further, I would refer to his singularly able work.[43-1]

The latter consideration will come up in a later chapter. If it be shown
that all possible intelligence proceeds on the same laws as that of man,
and that the essence of this is activity, permanence, or
truth--synonymous terms--then the limitation of time ceases, and
existence not in time but without regard to time, is a necessary
consequence. Knowledge through intellection can alone reach a truth
independent of time; that through sensation is always relative, true
for the time only. The former cannot be expressed without the
implication of the conceptions of the universal and the eternal as
"dominant among the subjects of thought with which Logic is
concerned;"[44-1] and hence the relation which the intellect bears to
the absolute is a real and positive one.

FOOTNOTES:

[6-1] In his essay entitled, _Ueber den Geschlechtsunterschied und
dessen Einfluss auf die organische Natur_, first published in 1795.

[6-2] "Der alte Dualismus von Geist und Koerper, der Jahrhunderte
hindurch nach Versoehnung gerungen, findet diese heute nicht zwar in
der Einheit der Substanz, wohl aber in der Einheit des Gesetzes."
Dr. Heinrich Boehmer, _Geschichte der Entwickelung der
Naturwissenschaftlichen Weltanschauung in Deutschland_, s. 201 (Gotha,
1872).

[7-1] _Elements of Physio-Philosop