THE MECHANICAL SYSTEM AND ITS LIMITS 389 



and soul. It is consciousness that encloses in 

 itself all existence, the material and the spiritual 

 world, since both provinces can only be conceived as 

 processes or states of consciousness. In consciousness 

 we have a unity and a truly " monistic " stand-point. 

 But consciousness, the all-perceiving subject, can never 

 become the object of an empirical science. When we 

 wish to study it, we have to leave aside the scientific 

 method and turn to philosophy. This is the last 

 and the highest science. It is the foundation on 

 which every theory that aims at comprehending reality 

 must rest. It is the undying merit of Immanuel Kant 

 to have shown us the way to it. 



