AND ITS SELF-CONSERVATION. 127 



until they have learned to distinguish between knowl- 

 edge of relations and relative knowledge. 



It is relations, indeed, that constitute the marrow, 

 the essence, all that has substance and vitality in our 

 knowledge ; for relations constitute the core of all 

 reality. It is for this reason, and not because of the 

 hopeless limitations of our powers of knowing, that we 

 can learn so little concerning space. For space is 

 utterly destitute of relation within itself. It has, as 

 already noticed, no qualitative differences by which one 

 portion of space can be distinguished from another. 

 This is the reason why it is "unscientific" to speak of 

 motion or of rest as pertaining to an isolated body in 

 space. Thus, as being without inner or qualitative 

 relations, space is barren of reality. Hence, not a single 

 positive proposition can be made concerning it. Space 

 has no secret save an infinitely wide open one. It has and 

 can have no relation to bodies beyond the purely neg- 

 ative one of absolute non-resistance to their movements. 

 Hence there is neither fixed nor fixable position or 

 direction in space apart from bodies in space. Position 

 and direction could, in fact, have no possible meaning 

 apart from bodies. 



In short, space is only as a relation between bodies ; 

 though still only the purely negative relation of mere 

 separation. 



Our interest in (f absolute space, " then, can only be 

 our interest in the emptiest, the most "absolute" of all 

 abstractions ; our interest in boundless nothing. 



On the other hand, as we have already intimated, our 

 interest in motion is an interest in the changes of relation 

 of bodies to each other in space. The only directions 



