COSMIC PHILOSOPHY 



coexistences and sequences, and not that they 

 shall be known in themselves. If ;c andjy are 

 two uniformly connected properties in some 

 outer object, while a and b are the effects they 

 produce in our consciousness ; and if while the 

 property x produces in us the indifferent men- 

 tal state ^, the property jy produces in us the 

 painful mental state b (answering to a physical 

 injury) ; then, all that is requisite for our guid- 

 ance, is, that X being the uniform accompani- 

 ment of jy externally, a shall be the uniform 

 accompaniment of b internally ; so that when, 

 by the presence of ^, a is produced in conscious- 

 ness, b^ or rather the idea of b^ shall follow it, 

 and excite the motions by which the effect of 

 y may be escaped. The sole need is that a and 

 b and the relation between them, shall always 

 answer to x andjy and the relation between them. 

 It matters nothing to us if a and b are like x 

 andjy or not. Could they be exactly identical 

 with them, we should not be one whit the bet- 

 ter off; and their total dissimilarity is no dis- 

 advantage to us." 



Obviously this same illustration will apply 

 equally to cases where moral injury or intellec- 

 tual error is to be avoided. And since the ulti- 

 mate function of philosophy is to be t*he intel- 

 lectual guide of our lives, — since our ultimate 

 aim in ascertaining the relations of coexistence 

 and sequence among phenomena is to shape our 

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