48 LESSONS FROM NATURE. [CnAP. II. 



mitted by Mr. Spencer, as it has been by almost every other 

 philosopher. It is strange that any one should think that 

 the law of contradiction is derivative, or that it reposes on 

 anything stronger and more fundamental than itself, 

 this is what Mr. Spencer appears to do. That the same thing 

 cannot both &quot;be&quot; and &quot;not be&quot; at the same time, and in 

 the same sense (i.e. the law of contradiction), we maintain to 

 be ma priori necessity of thought-not negative, the mer&amp;lt; 

 result of a mental impotence, but positive and known to us 

 as such by its own evidence. Yet though Mr. Spencer 

 denies* the validity, as an ultimate truth, of the principle 

 of contradiction, he unconsciously affirms it. He affirms it, 

 moreover, in that which he represents to be absolutely 

 fundamental and ultimate, namely, our inability to dissever 

 certain conceptions. For, supposing we know that we have 

 tried to dissever such conceptions and failed, how can we 

 be certain that we have not at the same time not tried and 

 yet succeeded except upon that very principle of contra 

 diction itself? 



Yet, again, it is nothing less than marvellous to note how 



And the completely Mr. Spencer ignores all the highest 



RfthT 1 &quot; faculties of the soul. We have the most ingenious 



? g n&quot; ind&amp;gt; and interesting constructions of sensible perceptions 



of increasing degrees of complexity wrought out with an 



abundance of illustration and a facility of research truly 



admirable. But what is the outcome ? We feel, indeed, we 



have an insight into the power of mere sensation, and the 



consequent faculties of brutes, such as we never had before, 



as also into the materials of our own thoughts ; but we have 



no increased knowledge of our own intelligence itself. Our 



cat s mind is indeed made clear to us, but not our own. 



Those supreme conceptions and perceptions of our minds 



Truth and Goodness reflexly contemplated as Truth and 



Goodness, are simply passed over. Even the same thing 



must be said of &quot; relation.&quot; The relativity of our knowledge 



* Psychology, vol. ii. pp. 424, 425, from &quot;But even&quot; to &quot;invalidity.&quot; 



