5388 INTELLECTUAL SYMBOLISM. 
286. God, the revealer, in the objective-subjective or theological relation,—Man, the 
observer, the finite-subjective, the metaphysician,—and Truth, the revealed, in the sub- 
jective-objective or scientific relation, are the sole objects of philosophical inquiry. All 
observation should start from the observer, as the centre to which everything is referred. 
That which is nearest to the observer may be most closely and carefully scrutinized, and 
the scrutiny will furnish base lines for extending the survey to that which is more re- 
mote. 
287. Man finds in himself not only the triform Intelligence, but also an analogous 
threefold nature,—Intelligence, Force, and a passive material frame, which is controlled by 
Intelligence through the instrumentality of Force. Of these three coexistences, Intelli- 
gence occupies the highest rank, and Matter the lowest, while Force is intermediate, 
acting and reacting between the other two. 
288. This evident action and reaction has given rise to two opposite schools of phi- 
losophy: the material, which maintains that mind is a product of physical organization, 
and the spiritual, which, starting from the indubitable truth that we know nothing of 
matter except the ideas that are formed of it in our own minds, denies all material exist- 
ence, and recognizes in the universe only mind and its ideas. Although the spiritual 
school is undoubtedly the most reasonable, a true philosophy must either recognize in the 
differing qualities of thought and extension sufficient grounds for admitting the substan- 
tial existence of both mind and matter, or it must satisfactorily demonstrate that all those 
qualities can be deduced from the admitted properties of a single form of substance. 
289. The human intelligence is undoubtedly affected by material influences and asso- 
ciations, but that it is not a resultant of the material organization is evident from the fact 
that the cultivation of the material frame (beyond the mere requisites of physical health) 
tends rather to weaken than to increase man’s power over the intellectual world,—while 
the cultivation of the intellect always increases his power over the material universe. 
290. With whatever reason man may assign to his intelligence the highest rank in his 
own organization, he cannot deny that it is, in its turn, subject to a still higher external 
power. 
291. In investigating the external world he finds, as in his own microcosm, passive 
matter and forces, over which his own Intelligence can exert some control, and which are 
more fully controlled and directed by some invisible Agency. ‘The mode in which the 
Agency guides Force is called Law. ‘The human mind can, to a limited extent, frame 
laws of its own, analogous, though infinitely inferior, to those of the Supreme Agency. 
Human Intelligence can, moreover, investigate, comprehend, and in some cases predict 
the laws which govern the Universe. 
292, The Supreme Agency, or Ruler of the Universe, acts, therefore, in ways which 
