4 MYSTICISM AND LOGIC 



flame in his soul, and in its light he saw into the depths 

 of the world by the reflection of his own dancing swiftly 

 penetrating fire. In such a nature we see the true union 

 of the mystic and the man of science the highest 

 eminence, as I think, that it is possible to achieve in the 

 world of thought. 



In Plato, the same twofold impulse exists, though the 

 mystic impulse is distinctly the stronger of the two, and 

 secures ultimate victory whenever the conflict is sharp. 

 His description of the cave is the classical statement of 

 belief in a knowledge and reality truer and more real 

 than that of the senses : 



" Imagine 1 a number of men living in an underground 

 cavernous chamber, with an entrance open to the light, 

 extending along the entire length of the cavern, in which 

 they have been confined, from their childhood, with their 

 legs and necks so shackled that they are obliged to sit 

 still and look straight forwards, because their chains 

 render it impossible for them to turn their heads round : 

 and imagine a bright fire burning some way off, above 

 and behind them, and an elevated roadway passing 

 between the fire and the prisoners, with a low wall built 

 along it, like the screens which conjurors put up in front 

 of their audience, and above which they exhibit their 

 wonders. 



I have it, he replied. 



Also figure to yourself a number of persons walking 

 behind this wall, and carrying with them statues of men, 

 and images of other animals, wrought in wood and stone 

 and all kinds of materials, together with various other 

 articles, which overtop the wall ; and, as you might 

 expect, let some of the passers-by be talking, and others 

 silent. 



1 Republic, 514, translated by Davies and Vaughan. 



