5o The Evolution Hypothesis. 



and all knowledge limited to the phenomenal. The 

 a priori school is not at one on the question. For 

 the purpose in hand we may note three main divi- 

 sions of opinion, (a) It is maintained that knowledge 

 of the Unconditioned is possible : that the absolute 

 may be positively construed to the mind. (b) All 

 positive knowledge of the absolute is denied ; the 

 concept of the unconditioned is held to be a pure 

 negation ; but while the absolute is removed from 

 the domain of knowledge, its certainty is regained 

 through an act of faith. (c) The assumption that 

 all knowledge is of the relative is rejected, and it is 

 contended that knowledge of the infinite is attainable, 

 that it may be thought under the form of a concept, 

 which, though inadequate, is positive. 



Mr. Spencer's position is distinct from all three. 

 As in his account of intuitive or innate principles, 

 he attempts to combine the a priori and experiential 

 theories by his doctrine of the creation of forms of 

 thought through the hereditary organization of ex- 

 periences ; so in this instance he introduces elements 

 from both sides. He grounds his system on the 

 relativity of all knowledge, but, at the same time, 

 holds that we have a positive, though indefinite, con- 

 sciousness of the absolute. 



In discussing the question of the Unknowable, Mr. 

 Spencer examines at great length the various modes 

 under which the unconditioned has been supposed 

 to be thought, and aims at showing that they are 



