234 THE WORLD-ENERGY 



constituting necessary phases in one consistent, abiding 

 whole. 



Surely genuine seekers after truth might well afford 

 to adopt as their motto: "With malice toward none; 

 with charity for all. " 



But let us turn again to and pursue the main line of 

 our investigation. And we have now to notice that 

 thought simply as thought is necessarily abstract. But, 

 as already seen, the World-Energy is the one all- 

 inclusive, absolutely concrete fact. Hence the method of 

 the World-Energy as the complete system of thought can 

 be comprehended in its truth only as a completely self- 

 realizing method. But, again, such completely self -real- 

 izing method cannot but be completely conscious of itself. 

 That is, it cannot but be a spiritual unit, and the one 

 absolute Spirit. 



It is to the central aspects of this .process of the 

 self-realization of thought that we have next to turn 

 our attention. 



C. SELF-AFFIRMATION OF THOUGHT AS CONCRETE 

 EXISTENCE. 



Thought affirms itself as real. It is the one imme- 

 diate, undeniable reality. To deny thought is to affirm 

 thought. For denial is itself an act of thinking. Thus 

 absolute negation is absolute affirmation. 



At the same time, and equally, in its own self-affir- 

 mation thought also proves itself to contain negation 

 as one of its essential factors. Thought is the power 

 which makes affirmation; and yet, at the same time, it 

 is that which is affirmed. Its self-affirmation is then in 

 the first place a self-division, and since self-affirmation 



