INTRODUCTION 



us, without detracting from the unity, the uni- 

 versality, and the absoluteness of the Divine 

 Being, to conceive him as " quasi-human." And 

 the requirement thus defined is according to 

 Fiske probably well founded in the nature of 

 things. Although this result is indeed not to be 

 demonstrated, yet, on the other hand, it is dis- 

 tinctly a rational conclusion, the expression of 

 the highest adjustment that we are capable of 

 making to the unseen world. 



^6. The thoughts thus summarized did not 

 come to Fiske all at once. It is necessary to 

 understand the process of their growth a little 

 more exactly, in case we are to accomplish our 

 purpose of estimating the relation of the " Cos- 

 mic Philosophy " to Fiske*s later development. 

 The first clear indication of what was going on 

 we get from the book called " The Unseen 

 World," published in 1876. Here we first nat- 

 urally consider the essay that gives the book 

 its title. The second part of this essay deals 

 with the problem of the possible existence of a 

 spiritual world and of the possible occurrence 

 of an immortality. The essay in question very 

 frankly makes no effort to give positive grounds 

 for a demonstration of such a spiritual world, 

 but it does attempt to show that nothing in 

 science or in philosophy establishes any definite 

 presumption against the existence of facts that 

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