FROM THE EVOLUTION PHILOSOPHY. 7 



thing of some kind that continuously obtrudes itself upon 

 his consciousness. From which it follows that, if we are to 

 construct a theory of life at all, our only available means 

 and material for the purpose arc, on the one hand, the 

 human mind, and, on the other, our terrestrial and extra- 

 terrestrial environment. The mind, however, being the 

 court of last resort to which all questions that may arise in 

 the course of our undertaking must be referred for final 

 adjudication, it behoves us, at the very outset, to ascertain 

 how far it is equipped for the task which it will have to 

 perform. In other words, we must seek to acquaint our- 

 selves both with the powers and the limitations of the 

 human mind ; for that it has its limitations no philosopher 

 will at this late day dare to deny. 



The mind, we say, is the faculty by which we know. But 

 what is knowledge ? What do we mean when we say we 

 know some particular fact ? Invariably it will be found to 

 express an understanding of the quality of things, or of 

 the attributes of persons, or of some relationship existing 

 between persons or things, or both. It is impossible for 

 us to know the first origin or real substance of anything, 

 even of a common clod of earth. Every answer professing 

 to explain either the first origin or the real substance of 

 things is, in fact, only another question in a declarative 

 form. A simple illustration will confirm the truth of this 

 proposition. In answer to the question, What is the origin 

 of the earth ? the geologist tells us, " It was gradually 

 formed from nebulous matter.'' But obviously this answer 

 contains within itself the further query, Where did this 

 nebulous matter come from ? Sooner or later we stumble 

 across these unanswerable queries in every branch of 

 science. We perceive, then, at a glance, how narrow is 

 the field of knowledge, how limited the powers of the 



