Evolution; Knowledge, Theory of; Philosophy and religion
of co-existence and sequence between properties, motions, spaces &c.,
are all they can teach us. And lastly, let it be noted that what we call
_truth_, guiding us to successful action and the consequent maintenance
of life, is simply the accurate correspondence of subjective to
objective relations; while _error_, leading to failure and therefore
towards death, is the absence of such accurate correspondence.
If, then, Life in all its manifestations, inclusive of Intelligence in
its highest forms, consists in the continuous adjustment of internal
relations to external relations, the necessarily relative character of
our knowledge becomes obvious. The simplest cognition being the
establishment of some connexion between subjective states, answering to
some connexion between objective agencies; and each successively more
complex cognition being the establishment of some more involved
connexion of such states, answering to some more involved connexion of
such agencies; it is clear that the process, no matter how far it be
carried, can never bring within the reach of Intelligence, either the
states themselves or the agencies themselves. Ascertaining which things
occur along with which, and what things follow what, supposing it to be
pursued exhaustively, must still leave us with co-existences and
sequences only. If every act of knowing is the formation of a relation
in consciousness parallel to a relation in the environment, then the
relativity of knowledge is self-evident—becomes indeed a truism.
Thinking being relationing, no thought can ever express more than
relations.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account