xi Substance and Form in Thought. 209 



as follows : The material of knowledge is contributed 

 by the senses, and the form by the Mind itself. 

 There are forms of thought (or rather of intuition), 

 especially Time, Space, and Causation (or the relation 

 of cause and effect), which belong to the structure of 

 the Mind, and constitute moulds, as it were, wherein 

 the material furnished by sensation is cast into form ; 

 or, to use a more instructive illustration, the forms 

 of thought are related to the impressions of sense, 

 somewhat as the formative agency which builds up 

 the organism is related to the materials which are 

 supplied in its food. 



The distinctness of these forms of thought, at 

 least those of Space and Time, from mere impressions 

 of sense, is shown by the fact that we perceive them 

 to be universal and necessary. All objects are pre- 

 sented in Space, and all events occur in Time ; but if 

 we imagine all objects to be absent, Space will still 

 remain ; and if we imagine all events to be absent, 

 Time will still remain. 



Kant appears to have concluded that these are 

 forms of thought and nothing more ; that their 

 existence and meaning as forms of thought can no 

 more be accounted for than the properties of matter ; 

 and that although our mental constitution compels 

 us to perceive, and to think of, things and events 

 according to the forms of Space, Time, and Causation, 

 yet these have no reality external to the Mind which 

 so perceives and thinks. It is difficult to see how 

 any other conclusion is logically possible, consistently 

 p 



