XIX. 

 AGNOSTICISM. 



The human mind believes and affirms that space is 

 infinite. Of this we feel absolutely certain and noth- 

 ing can convince us to the contrary. 



If, in imagination, we travel to the most distant 

 star, we feel certain that space extends beyond, and 

 if we could repeat this process an endless number of 

 times in all directions, we feel certain that we could 

 nowhere find a limit to space. Can it be said that we 

 have no true conception of the quality of infinite space? 

 The mind feels certain that all space is alike. This 

 unalterable belief concerning infinite space is justly 

 founded on our knowledge of a limited portion of 

 space. It can be truthfully said that the human mind 

 cannot form an image of infinite space or of anything 

 that is infinite. It may be said that the laws of pure 

 logic forbid that we should declare space to be infi- 

 nite. But the experiences of the human mind are 

 greater than the laws of logic. The legitimate beliefs 

 of the mind are not limited to things acquired by the 

 logical process. 



Mr. Spencer says: "But of Space and Time we 

 cannot assert either limitation or the absence of limit- 

 ation. We find ourselves totally unable to form any 

 mental image of unbounded space; and yet totally 

 unable to imagine bounds beyond which there is no 

 space." * 



The mind feels conscious that it might take any 



* Synthetic Philosophy, p. 48. 

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