xii ACTIVITY AND SUBSTANCE 221 



equivalent to, or in equilibrium with, the various orders 

 ... of surrounding forces which antagonise such motions.&quot; 

 175, Equilibrium is held up as the economic ideal from 

 which the fluctuations of over- and under-production 

 depart. It is the all-inclusive ne plus ultra of the adapta 

 tion of &quot; man s nature and the conditions of his existence.&quot; 

 It is also the social ideal, and limits the process towards 

 heterogeneity &quot; the ultimate abolition of all limits to the 

 freedom of each, save those imposed by the like freedom 

 of all, must result from the complete equilibration between 

 man s desires and the conduct necessitated by surrounding 

 conditions.&quot; And compare lastly the sublime conclusion of 

 the chapter ( 176), in which equilibrium, guaranteed by the 

 Persistence of Force, secures to us the prospect of perfect 

 happiness by affording &quot; a basis for the inference that there 

 is a gradual advance towards harmony between man s 

 mental nature aud the conditions of his existence,&quot; and 

 &quot; we are finally bidden to believe that Evolution can end 

 only in the establishment of the greatest perfection and 

 most complete happiness &quot; ! 



The italics, of course, are mine throughout. As for 

 the contradiction, it is striking, but easily explicable. 

 The suppressed middle term, which connects the two 

 conflicting views of the value of perfect equilibration, is 

 the absence of motion or change. This being a charac 

 teristic both of death and of complete adaptation, the 

 interpretation wavers in the most tantalising way. But 

 no one who has grasped the doctrine of Energeia can 

 doubt that equilibration must be conceived as Life and 

 as the perfection of Activity. 



VII 



And now what shall we say of Substance ? Is it not 

 plain that we have acquired of it a conception which will 

 help it out of the mire in which it has floundered over 

 long ? A brief reminder of the history of the conception 

 may suffice to make this clear, and perhaps impress on us 

 the tragic slowness with which truth prevails. As its 



