I 



TIME AND ETERNITY.. 26 II 



transcended, and to this question we must answer 

 yes. The ideal of perfect adaptation is such a con- 

 ception, and in a, state of perfect adaptation there 

 would be no consciousness of change (cp. ch. ii. § 9,. 

 p. 32; ch. iv. § 4). Unless, therefore, happiness and 

 harmony are the illusions the Pessimist asserts them; 

 to be, we must conclude that in such a state of 

 perfection Time would be transcended. 



But transcended by what ? It is easy to answer 

 that its place will be taken by Eternity, but less 

 easy to explain the meaning of that much-abused 

 word, and its relation to Time. For nothing would 

 be gained if Eternity were regarded merely as the 

 negation of Time : this would neither save the 

 meaning of the world-process nor correspond> to 

 the positive character of happiness. Eternity must 

 be regarded as positive, and its relation to Time 

 must be conceived analogous to the relation of 

 Being to Becoming. The parallelism of the two Is 

 indeed surprising. The Idea of Time involves an 

 inherent contradiction, and so also does Becoming. 

 For though Becoming Is a fact of daily experience. 

 It remains a contradiction to thought, and cannot 

 be defined except as a union of Being and Not- 

 Being (ch. ill. \ 13). And In this union Being Is 

 the positive element, the standard to. which all 

 Becoming Is referred. That which becomes, is only 

 In so far as It has Being, and In so far as It Is not> 

 It Is nothing. Construed on this analogy, Time 

 would be real only as the presage of Eternity, and 

 Eternity would be the ultimate standard by which 

 Its contradictions would be measured and har- 

 monized. And Time and Becoming are not only 

 analogous, but Inseparably connected. For not only 

 does all Becoming take place in Time, but without 



