It is not, of course, possible to draw a line distinctly between the
self elements and the residual elements. For instance, some people have
denied that brightness is a quality of things, but that it depends on
the capacity of the being for receiving sensations; and for brightness
they would substitute the assertion that the sun is giving forth a great
deal of energy in the form of heat and light.
But there is no object in pursuing the discussion further. The main
distinction is sufficiently obvious. And it is important to separate the
self elements involved in our knowledge as far as possible, so that the
residual elements may be kept for our closer attention. By getting rid
of the self elements we put ourselves in a position in which we can
propound sensible questions. By getting rid of the notion of its
circular motion round the earth we prepare our way to study the sun as
it really is. We get the subject clear of complications and extraneous
considerations.
It would hardly be worth while to dwell on this consideration were it
not of importance in our study of arrangement. But the fact is that
directly a subject has been cleared of the self elements, it seems so
absurd to have had them introduced at all that the great difficulty
there was in getting rid of them is forgotten.
With regard to the knowledge we have at the present day about scientific
matters, there do not seem to be any self elements present. But the
worst about a self element is, that its presence is never dreamed of
till it is got rid of; to know that it is there is to have done away
with it. And thus our body of knowledge is like a fluid which keeps
clear, not because there are no substances in solution, but because
directly they become evident they fall down as precipitates.
Now one of our serious pieces of work will be to get rid of the self
elements in the knowledge of arrangement.
And the kind of knowledge which we shall try to obtain will be somewhat
different from the kind of knowledge which we have about events or
natural phenomena. In the large subjects which generally occupy the mind
the things thought of are so complicated that every detail cannot
possibly be considered. The principles of the whole are realized, and
then at any required time the principles can be worked out. Thus, with
regard to a knowledge of the planetary system, it is said to be known if
the law of movement of each of the planets is recognized, and their
positions at any one time committed to memory. It is not our habit to
remember their relative positions with regard to one another at many
intervals, so as to have an exhaustive catalogue of them in our minds.
But with regard to the elements of knowledge with which we shall work,
the subject is so simple that we may justly demand of ourselves that we
will know every detail.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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