Foreword 



Space had no beginning. The thought of this blank 

 form of existence which, explored in all directions as 

 far as imagination can reach, has, beyond that, an 

 unexplored region compared with which the part which 

 imagination has traversed is but infinitesimal the 

 thought of a Space compared with which our immeasur- 

 able sidereal system dwindles to a point, is a thought 

 too overwhelming to be dwelt upon. Of late years 

 the consciousness that without origin or cause infinite 

 Space has ever existed and must ever exist, produces 

 in me a feeling from which I must shrink.' 1 



The mental vertigo produced by consideration of 

 the Infinite and the Absolute does not affect the philoso- 

 pher who has clearly recognised the actual limitations 

 of his work. On the contrary, he finds serenity of mind 

 in resignation to these limitations, and to the wholesome 

 and fruitful discipline which they impose upon him. 

 This sacrifice has also the supreme advantage of ruling 

 out all those vain and pretentious discussions, the sterile 

 formulae and contradictory systems, by which the highest 

 minds have entered the lists against each other. All 

 such systems have now only a historical or a literary 

 interest. 



This resignation to the actual limitations of 

 human intelligence enables him to dispense altogether 

 with metaphysical entities ' the Thing in Itself,' ' non- 

 Being,' ' Will,' * the Unconscious,' ' Duration,' etc., 

 etc. which in the end are but empty words. 



For these factitious entities and pure abstractions 

 we propose to substitute a concrete thing the notion 

 of an essential concrete dynamo-psychism, which can 

 be verified as a reality, even though its metaphysical 

 nature cannot be formulated, and though research into 

 its metaphysical essence may even be inadvisable. 



To this concept, the objection will at once be made 



1 Herbert Spencer : Facts and Comments (1902. Ultimate Questions). 



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