THEORIES OF ULTIMATE EXISTENCE. 351 



Of these theories of ultimate existence, the inter- 

 mediate theory of Dualism, which falls between two 

 stools, may be rejected at once. It was virtually 

 disposed of with the rejection of the ultimate differ- 

 ence of Matter and Spirit (ch. Ix. § i6). 



The real battle has to be fought out between the 

 champions of the One and of the Many, between 

 Monism and Pluralism. And contrary to the 

 opinions of most previous philosophers, we are in- 

 clined to hold that the Many Is a far more Important 

 principle than the One, and that Pluralism, consist- 

 ently Interpreted and properly explained, is the only 

 possible answer to the ultimate question of ontology. 



Monism, on the other hand, really has nothing 

 to recommend It. It might indeed be possible to 

 applaud the statement that philosophy aims at the 

 unification of the universe, If it were not promptly 

 made a pretext for asserting the reality of this unity, 

 in the face of facts which deprive this so-called unity 

 of all practical value, and reduce It from an assertion 

 of a real oneness to that of a merely abstract unity. 

 It would be more to the point If Monism could show 

 a little more unanimity in the world, even at the 

 expense of a little unity. And If more attention had 

 been paid to the aiming at unity, the results would 

 perhaps have been somewhat more satisfactory, and 

 Monism might have recognized that a unity aimed 

 at, and worth aiming at, Is for that very reason not 

 yet attained. If they had taken the trouble to inter- 

 pret their theory strictly, Monists might have realized 

 that though Monism would be an excellent theory 

 when the world-process was ended, it is for this very 

 reason quite Inapplicable and extremely mischievous 

 while It Is still going on. 



Then again, the supposed simplicity of Monism is 



