Itpervadesallthecultivatedtheologyofthepresentday。Sothatwhile
otherelementsofreligiouscreedsonebyonedropaway，thisremainsandgrowsevermoremanifest，andthusisshowntobetheessentialelement。Here，then，isatruthinwhichreligionsingeneralagreewithoneanother，
andwithaphilosophyantagonistictotheirspecialdogmas。IfReligionand
Sciencearetobereconciled，thebasisofreconciliationmustbethisdeepest，
widest，andmostcertainofallfacts—thatthePowerwhichtheUniversemanifests
tousisinscrutable。
Chapter3UltimateScientificIdeas§15。WhatareSpaceandTime？Twohypothesesarecurrentrespecting
them:theonethattheyareobjective，theotherthattheyaresubjective。Letusseewhatbecomesofthesehypothesesunderanalysis。TosaythatSpaceandTimeexistobjectively，istosaythattheyare
entities。Theassertionthattheyarenon—entitiesisself—destructive:non—entities
arenon—existences;andtoallegethatnon—existencesexistobjectivelyis
acontradictioninterms。Moreover，todenythatSpaceandTimearethings，
andsobyimplicationtocallthemnothings，involvestheabsurditythat
therearetwokindsofnothing。Neithercantheyberegardedasattributes
ofsomeentity。Notonlyisitimpossibletoconceiveanyentityofwhich
theyareattributes，butwecannotthinkofthemasdisappearing，evenif
everythingelsedisappeared;whereasattributesnecessarilydisappearalong
withtheentitiestheybelongto。ThusasSpaceandTimecanbeneithernon—entities
northeattributesofentities，wearecompelledtoconsiderthemasentities。
Butwhile，onthehypothesisoftheirobjectivity，SpaceandTimemustbe
classedasthings，wefindthattorepresenttheminthoughtasthingsis
impossible。Tobeconceivedatall，athingmustbeconceivedashavingattributes。
Wecandistinguishsomethingfromnothing，onlybythepowerwhichthesomething
hastoactonourconsciousness。Theeffectsitmediatelyorimmediately
producesonourconsciousnessweattributetoit，andcallitsattributes;
andtheabsenceoftheseattributesistheabsenceofthetermsinwhich
thesomethingisconceived，andinvolvestheabsenceofaconception。What，
now，aretheattributesofSpace？Theonlyonewhichitispossibletothink
ofasbelongingtoitisthatofextension，andtocredititwiththisis
toidentifyobjectandattribute。ForextensionandSpaceareconvertible
terms:byextension，asweascribeittosurroundingobjects，wemeanoccupancy
ofSpace;andthustosaythatSpaceisextended，istosaythatSpaceoccupies
Space。HowwearesimilarlyunabletoassignanyattributetoTime，scarcely
needspointingout。NorareTimeandSpaceunthinkableasentitiesonlyfrom
theabsenceofattributes。Thereisanotherpeculiarity，familiartomost
people，whichequallyexcludesthemfromthecategory。Allentitiesactually
knownassuch，arelimited;andevenifwesupposeourselveseithertoknow
ortobeabletoconceivesomeunlimitedentity，wenecessarilyinsoclassing
itseparateitfromtheclassoflimitedentities。ButofSpaceandTime
wecannotasserteitherlimitationortheabsenceoflimitation。Wefind
ourselvesunabletoformanymentalimageofunboundedSpace;andyetare
unabletoimagineboundsbeyondwhichthereisnoSpace。Similarlyatthe
otherextreme:itisimpossibletothinkofalimittothedivisibilityof
Space;yetequallyimpossibletothinkofitsinfinitedivisibility。And，
withoutstatingthem，itwillbeseenthatwelabourunderlikeimpotences
inrespecttoTime。ThuswecannotconceiveSpaceandTimeasentities，and
areequallydisabledfromconceivingthemaseithertheattributesofentities
orasnon—entities。Wearecompelledtothinkofthemasexisting，andyet
cannotbringthemwithinthoseconditionsunderwhichexistencesarerepresentedinthought。ShallwethentakerefugeintheKantiandoctrine？ShallwesaythatSpace
andTimeareformsoftheintellect，——"apriorilawsorconditions
oftheconsciousmind？"Todothisistoescapefromgreatdifficulties
byrushingintogreater。ThepropositionwithwhichKant'sphilosophysets
out，verballyintelligiblethoughitis，cannotbyanyeffortberendered
intothought——cannotbeinterpretedintoanideaproperlysocalled，but
standsmerelyforapseud—idea。Inthefirstplace，toassertthatSpace
andTimearesubjectiveconditionsis，byimplication，toassertthatthey
arenotobjectiverealities:iftheSpaceandTimepresenttoourmindsbelong
totheego，thenofnecessitytheydonotbelongtothenon—ego。Nowitis
impossibletothinkthis。TheveryfactonwhichKantbaseshishypothesis
——namelythatourconsciousnessofSpaceandTimecannotbesuppressed——
testifiesasmuch;forthatconsciousnessofSpaceandTimewhichwecannot
ridourselvesof，istheconsciousnessofthemasexistingobjectively。It
isuselesstoreplythatsuchaninabilitymustinevitablyresultifthey
aresubjectiveforms。Thequestionhereis——Whatdoesconsciousnessdirectly
testify？Andthedirecttestimonyofconsciousnessis，thatTimeandSpace
arenotwithinthemindbutwithoutthemind;andsoabsolutelyindependent
thatwecannotconceivethemtobecomenon—existentevensupposingthemind
tobecomenon—existent。Besidesbeingpositivelyunthinkableinwhatittacitly
denies，thetheoryofKantisequallyunthinkableinwhatitopenlyaffirms。
ItisnotsimplythatwecannotcombinethethoughtofSpacewiththethought
ofourownpersonality，andcontemplatetheoneasapropertyoftheother
——thoughourinabilitytodothiswouldprovetheinconceivablenessofthe
hypothesis——butitisthatthehypothesiscarriesinitselftheproofof
itsowninconceivableness。ForifSpaceandTimeareformsofintuition，
theycanneverbeintuited;sinceitisimpossibleforanythingtobeat
oncetheformofintuitionandthematterofintuition。ThatSpaceandTime
areobjectsofconsciousness，Kantemphaticallyassertsbysayingthatit
isimpossibletosuppresstheconsciousnessofthem。Howthen，iftheyare
objectsofconsciousness，cantheyatthesametimebeconditionsofconsciousness？
IfSpaceandTimearetheconditionsunderwhichwethink，thenwhenwethink
ofSpaceandTimethemselves，ourthoughtsmustbeunconditioned;andiftherecanthusbeunconditionedthoughts，whatbecomesofthetheory？Itresults，therefore，thatSpaceandTimearewhollyincomprehensible。
Theimmediateknowledgewhichweseemtohaveofthemproves，whenexamined，
tobetotalignorance。Whileourbeliefintheirobjectiverealityisinsurmountable，
weareunabletogiveanyrationalaccountofit。Andtopositthealternative
belief（possibletostatebutimpossibletorealize）ismerelytomultiplyirrationalities。§16。Wereitnotforthenecessitiesoftheargument，itwouldbe
inexcusabletooccupythereader'sattentionwiththethreadbare，andyet
unended，controversyrespectingthedivisibilityofmatter。Matteriseither
infinitelydivisibleoritisnot:nothirdpossibilitycanbenamed。Which
ofthealternativesshallweaccept？IfwesaythatMatterisinfinitely
divisible，wecommitourselvestoasuppositionnotrealizableinthought。
Wecanbisectandre—bisectabody，andcontinuallyrepeatingtheactuntil
wereduceitspartstoasizenolongerphysicallydivisible，maythenmentally
continuetheprocess。Todothis，however，isnotreallytoconceivethe
infinitedivisibilityofmatter，buttoformasymbolicconceptionnotadmitting
ofexpansionintoarealone，andnotadmittingofotherverification。Really
toconceivetheinfinitedivisibilityofmatter，ismentallytofollowout
thedivisionstoinfinity。andtodothiswouldrequireinfinitetime。On
theotherhand，toassertthatmatterisnotinfinitelydivisible，isto
assertthatitisreducibletopartswhichnopowercandivide;andthis
verbalsuppositioncannomoreberepresentedinthoughtthantheother。
Foreachofsuchultimateparts，didtheyexist，musthaveanunderandan
uppersurface，arightandaleftside，likeanylargerfragment。Nowit
isimpossibletoimagineitssidessonearthatnoplaneofsectioncanbe
conceivedbetweenthem;andhowevergreatbetheassumedforceofcohesion，
itisimpossibletoshutouttheideaofagreaterforcecapableofovercoming
it。Sothattohumanintelligencetheonehypothesisisnomoreacceptable
thantheother;andyettheconclusionthatoneorothermustagreewiththefact，seemstohumanintelligenceunavoidable。Again，letusaskwhethersubstancehasanythinglikethatextendedsolidity
whichitpresentstoourconsciousness。Theportionofspaceoccupiedby
apieceofmetal，seemstoeyesandfingersperfectlyfilled:weperceive
ahomogeneous，resistingmass，withoutanybreachofcontinuity。Shallwe
thensaythatMatterisactuallyassolidasitappears？Shallwesaythat
whetheritconsistsofaninfinitelydivisibleelementorofunitswhich
cannotbefurtherdivided，itspartsareeverywhereinactualcontact？To
assertasmuchentanglesusininsuperabledifficulties。WereMatterthus
absolutelysoliditwouldbe——whatitisnot——absolutelyincompressible;
sincecompressibility，implyingthenearerapproachofconstituentparts，isnotthinkableunlessthereisunoccupiedspaceamongtheparts。ThesuppositionthatMatterisabsolutelysolidbeinguntenable，there
presentsitselftheNewtoniansupposition，thatitconsistsofsolidatoms
notincontactbutactingononeanotherbyattractiveandrepulsiveforces，
varyingwiththedistances。Toassumethis，however，merelyshiftsthedifficulty。
ForgrantingthatMatterasweperceiveit，ismadeupofdenseextended
unitsattractingandrepelling，thequestionstillarises——Whatisthe
constitutionoftheseunits？Wemustregardeachofthemasasmallpiece
ofmatter。Lookedatthroughamentalmicroscope，eachbecomesamasssuch
aswehavejustbeencontemplating。Justthesameinquiriesmaybemaderespecting
thepartsofwhicheachatomconsists;whilejustthesamedifficultiesstand
inthewayofeveryanswer。Evenwerethehypotheticalatomassumedtoconsist
ofstillminuterones，thedifficultywouldreappearatthenextstep;andsoonperpetually。Boscovich'sconceptionyetremainstous。SeeingthatMattercouldnot，
asLeibnitzsuggested，becomposedofunextendedmonads（sincethejuxtaposition
ofaninfinityofpointshavingnoextensioncouldnotproducethatextension
whichmatterpossesses），andperceivingobjectionstotheviewentertained
byNewton，Boscovichproposedanintermediatetheory。Thistheoryisthat
theconstituentsofMatterarecentresofforce——pointswithoutdimensions
——whichattractandrepeloneanotherinsuchwiseastobekeptatspecific
distancesapart。Andheargues，mathematically，thattheforcespossessed
bysuchcentresmightsovarywiththedistancesthat，undergivenconditions，
thecentreswouldremaininstableequilibriumwithdefiniteinterspaces;
andyet，underotherconditions，wouldmaintainlargerorsmallerinterspaces。
Thisspeculation，however，escapesalltheinconceivabilitiesaboveindicated
bymergingthemintheoneinconceivabilitywithwhichitsetscut。Acentre
offorceabsolutelywithoutextensionisunthinkable。Theideaofresistance
cannotbeseparatedinthoughtfromtheideaofsomethingwhichoffersresistance，
andthissomethingmustbethoughtofasoccuppyingspace。Tosupposethat
centralforcescanresideinpointshavingpositionsonly，withnothingto
marktheirpositions——pointsinnorespectdistinguishablefromsurroundingpointswhicharenotcentresofforce——isbeyondhumanpower。ButthoughtheconceptionofMatterasconsistingofdenseindivisible
unitsissymbolic，andcannotbyanyeffortbethoughtout，itmayyetbe
supposedtofindindirectverificationinthetruthsofchemistry。These，
itisargued，necessitatethebeliefthatMatterconsistsofparticlesof
specificweights，andthereforeofspecificsizes。Thelawofdefiniteproportions
seemsimpossibleonanyotherconditionthantheexistenceofultimateatoms;
andthoughthecombiningweightsoftherespectiveelementsaretermedby
chemiststheir"equivalents，"forthepurposeofavoidingaquestionable
assumption，weareunabletothinkofthecombinationofsuchdefiniteweights，
withoutsupposingittotakeplacebetweendefinitemolecules。Thusitwould
appearthattheNewtonianviewisatanyratepreferabletothatofBoscovich。
AdiscipleofBoscovich，however，mayreplythathismaster'stheoryisinvolved
inthatofNewton，andcannotindeedbeescaped。"Whatholdstogether
thepartsoftheseultimateatoms？"hemayask。"Acohesiveforce，"
hisopponentmustanswer。"Andwhat，"hemaycontinue，"holds
togetherthepartsofanyfragmentsintowhich，bysufficientforce，anultimate
atommightbebroken？"Againtheanswermustbe——acohesiveforce。
"Andwhat，"hemaystillask，"iftheultimateatomwerereduced
topartsassmallinproportiontoit，asitisinproportiontoatangible
massofmatter——whatmustgiveeachparttheabilitytosustainitself？"
Stillthereisnoanswerbut——acohesiveforce。Carryonthementalprocess
andwecanfindnolimituntilwearriveatthesymbolicconceptionofcentresofforcewithoutanyextension。Matterthen，initsultimatenature，isasabsolutelyincomprehensible
asSpaceandTime。Whateversuppositionweframeleavesusnothingbutachoicebetweenoppositeabsurdities。*<*TodiscussLordKelvin'shvpothesisofvortex—atoms，fromthescientific
pointofview，isbeyondmyability。Fromthephilosophicalpointofview，
howeverImaysaythatsinceitpostulatesahomogeneousmediumwhichis
strictlycontinuous（non—molecular），whichisincompressible，whichisa
perfectfluidinthesenseofhavingnoviscosity，andwhichhasinertia，
itsetsoutwithwhatappearstomeaninconceivability。Afluidwhichhas
inertia，implyingmass，andwhichisyetabsolutelyfrictionless。sothat
itspartsmoveamongoneanotherwithoutanylossofmotion，cannotbetruly
representedinconsciousness。Evenwereitotherwise，thehypothesisisheld
byProf。ClerkMaxwelltobeuntenable（seeart。"Atom，"Ency。Brit。）。>§17。Abodyimpelledbythehandisperceivedtomove，andtomove
inadefinitedirection;doubtaboutitsmotionseemsimpossible。Yetwe
notonlymaybe，butusuallyare，quitewronginboththesejudgments。Here，
forinstance，isashipwhichwewillsupposetobeanchoredattheequator
withherheadtotheWest。Whenthecaptainwalksfromstemtostern，in
whatdirectiondoeshemove？Eastistheobviousanswer——ananswerwhich
forthemomentmaypasswithoutcriticism。Butnowtheanchorisheaved，
andthevesselsailstotheWestwithavelocityequaltothatatwhichthecaptainwalks。Inwhatdirectiondoeshenowmovewhenhegoesfrom
stemtostern？YoucannotsayEast，forthevesseliscarryinghimasfast
towardstheWestashewalkstotheEast;andyoucannotsayWestforthe
conversereasonInrespecttothingsoutsidethevesselheisstationary，
thoughtoallonboardheseemstobemoving。Butnowarewequitesureof
thisconclusion？——Ishereallystationary？OntakingintoaccounttheEarth's
motionrounditsaxis，wefindthatheistravellingattherateof1000
milesperhourtotheEast;sothatneithertheperceptionofonewholooks
athim，northeinferenceofonewhoallowsfortheship'smotion，isanything
likeright。Norindeed，onfurtherconsideration，dowefindthisrevised
conclusiontobemuchbetter。ForwehavenotallowedfortheEarth'smotion
initsorbit。Thisbeingsome68，000milesperhour，itfollowsthat，assuming
thetimetobemidday，heismoving，notattherateof1000milesperhour
totheEast，butattherateof67，000milesperhourtotheEast。Naynot
evennowhavewediscoveredthetruerateandthetruedirectionofhismovement。
WiththeEarth'sprogressinitsorbit，wehavetojointhatofthewhole
SolarsystemtowardstheconstellationHercules。Whenwedothis，weperceive
thatheismovingneitherEastnorWest，butinalineinclinedtotheplane
oftheEcliptic，andatavelocitygreaterorless（accordingtothetime
oftheyear）thanthatabovenamed。AndweretheconstitutionofourSidereal
Systemfullyknown，weshouldprobablydiscoverthedirectionandrateof
hisactualmovementtodifferconsiderablyevenfromthese。Thuswearetaught
thatwhatweareconsciousofisnottherealmotionofanyobject，either
initsrateordirection，butmerelyitsmotionasmeasuredfromanassigned
position——eitherourownorsomeother。Yetinthisveryprocessofconcluding
thatthemotionsweperceivearenottherealmotions，wetacitlyassume
thattherearerealmotions。Wetakeforgrantedthatthereisanabsolute
courseandanabsolutevelocityandwefinditimpossibletoridourselves
ofthisidea。Nevertheless，absolutemotioncannotevenbeimagined，much
lessknown。Apartfromthosemarksinspacewhichwehabituallyassociate
withit，motionisunthinkable。Formotionischangeofplace;butinspace
withoutmarks，changeofplaceisinconceivable，becauseplaceitselfis
inconceivable。Placecanbeconceivedonlybyreferencetootherplaces;
andintheabsenceofobjectsdispersedthroughspace，aplacecouldbeconceived
onlyinrelationtothelimitsofspace;whenceitfollowsthatinunlimited
space，placecannotbeconceived——allplacesmustbeequidistantfromboundaries
whichdonotexist。Thuswhileobligedtothinkthatthereisanabsolutemotion，wefindabsolutemotioncannotberepresentedinthought。Anotherinsuperabledifficultypresentsitselfwhenwecontemplatethe
transferofMotion。Habitblindsustothemarvellousnessofthisphenomenon。
Familiarwiththefactfromchildhood，weseenothingremarkableintheability
ofamovingthingtogeneratemovementinathingthatisstationary。It
is，however，impossibletounderstandit。Inwhatrespectdoesabodyafter
impactdifferfromitselfbeforeimpact？Whatisthisaddedtoitwhichdoes
notsensiblyaffectanyofitspropertiesandyetenablesittotraverse
space？Hereisanobjectatrestandhereisthesameobjectmoving。Inthe
onestateithasnotendencytochangeitsplace，butintheotheritis
obligedateachinstanttoassumeanewposition。Whatisitwhichwillfor
evergoonproducingthiseffectwithoutbeingexhausted？andhowdoesit
dwellintheobject？Themotionyousayhasbeencommunicated。Buthow？——
Whathasbeencommunicated？Thestrikingbodyhasnottransferredathing
tothebodystruck;anditisequallyoutofthequestiontosaythatithastransferredanattribute。Whatthenhasittransferred？OncemorethereistheoldpuzzleconcerningtheconnexionbetweenMotion
andRest。Abodytravellingatagivenvelocitycannotbebroughttoastate
ofrest，ornovelocity，withoutpassingthroughallintermediatevelocities。
Itisquitepossibletothinkofitsmotionasdiminishinginsensiblyuntil
itbecomesinfinitesimal;andmanywillthinkequallypossibletopassin
thoughtfrominfinitesimalmotiontonomotion。Butthisisanerror。Mentally
followoutthedecreasingvelocityaslongasyouplease，andtherestill
remainssomevelocity;andthesmallestmovementisseparatedbyanimpassable
gapfromnomovement。Assomething，howeverminute，isinfinitelygreatin
comparisonwithnothing;soiseventheleastconceivablemotioninfiniteascomparedwithrest。ThusneitherwhenconsideredinconnexionwithSpace，norwhenconsidered
inconnexionwithMatter，norwhenconsideredinconnexionwithRest，do
wefindthatMotionistrulycognizable。Alleffortstounderstanditsessentialnaturedobutbringustoalternativeimpossibilitiesofthought。§18。Onliftingachairtheforceexertedweregardasequaltothat
antagonisticforcecalledtheweightofthechair，andwecannotthinkof
theseasequalwithoutthinkingofthemaslikeinkind;sinceequalityis
conceivableonlybetweenthingsthatareconnatural。Yet，contrariwise，it
isincrediblethattheforceexistinginthechairresemblestheforcepresent
toourminds。Itscarcelyneedstopointoutthatsincetheforceasknown
tousisanaffectionofconsciousness，wecannotconceivetheforcetoexist
inthechairunderthesameformwithoutendowingthechairwithconsciousness。
SothatitisabsurdtothinkofForceasinitselflikeoursensationof
it，andyetnecessarysotothinkofitifwerepresentitinconsciousnessatall。How，again，canweunderstandtheconnexionbetweenForceandMatter？
MatterisknowntousonlythroughitsmanifestationsofForce:abstract
itsresistancemediatelyorimmediatelyofferedandthereremainsnothing
butemptyextension。Yet，ontheotherhand，resistanceisequallyunthinkable
apartfromMatter——apartfromsomethingextended。Notonlyarecentres
offorcedevoidofextensionunimaginable，butwecannotimagineeitherextended
orunextendedcentresofforcetoattractandrepelothersuchcentresat
adistance，withouttheintermediationofsomekindofmatter。Thehypothesis
ofNewton，equallywiththatofBoscovich，isopentothechargethatit
supposesonethingtoactonanotherthroughemptyspace——asupposition
whichcannotberepresentedinthought。Thischargeisindeedmetbyintroducing
ahypotheticalfluidexistingamongtheatomsorcentres。Buttheproblem
isnotthussolved:itissimplyshifted，andreappearswhentheconstitution
ofthisfluidisinquiredinto。Howimpossibleitistoeludethedifficulty
isbestseeninthecaseofastronomicalforces。TheSungivesussensations
oflightandheat;andwehaveascertainedthatbetweenthecauseasexisting
intheSun，andtheeffectasexperiencedontheEarth，alapseofeight
minutesoccurs:whenceunavoidablyresultinustheconceptionsofbotha
forceandamotion。Sothatforassumingaluminiferousether，thereisthe
defence，notonlythattheexerciseofforcethrough92，000，000ofmiles
ofabsolutevacuumisinconceivable，butalsothatitisimpossibletoconceive
motionintheabsenceofsomethingmoved。Similarlyinthecaseofgravitation。
Newtondescribedhimselfasunabletothinkthattheattractionofonebody
foranotheratadistance，couldbeexertedintheabsenceofanintervening
medium。Butnowletusaskhowmuchtheforwarderweareifanintervening
mediumbeassumed。Thisetherwhoseundulationsaccordingtothereceived
hypothesisconstituteheatandlight，andwhichisthevehicleofgravitation
——howisitconstituted？Wemustregarditinthewaythatphysicistsusually
regardit，ascomposedofatomsormoleculeswhichattractandrepelone
another:infinitesimalitmaybeincomparisonwiththoseofordinarymatter，
butstillatomsormolecules。Andrememberingthatthisetherisimponderable，
weareobligedtoconcludethattheratiobetweentheinterspacesofthese
atomsandtheatomsthemselvesisimmense。Hencewehavetoconceivethese
infinitesimalmoleculesactingononeanotherthroughrelativelyvastdistances。
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