Scottish Metaphysics

Whilst the greatest effort has been made to ensure the quality of this text, due to the historical nature of this content, in some rare cases there may be minor issues with legibility. But is there a moral sphere or environment connate with the mind, and in which it is active, as the body is in its connate physical environment? If there be such a hyperphysical sphere for the mind, as there is a physical for the body, it cannot be that that moral sphere should inhere in or issue out of the mind, any more than that the physical sphere should inhere in or be developed from the body; it must be a positively objective sphere, and not a subjective sphere for the mind to expatiate in. The analogy promises the dis covery, that as the body derives its substance, mainten ance, and growth from its surroundings, so the mind must obtain its substance, nourishment, and develop ment, not from itself, but from its moral surroundings it must see and breathe in the light and air of Intelligence, feed upon the substance of Goodness, and work under the effectiveness of Causation. This may be deemed a poetic way of stating the alleged facts; but the follow ing pages are an attempt to show that there is a hyper physical or moral world as well as the physical world.

But is there a moral sphere or environment connate with the mind, and in which it is active, as the body is in its connate physical environment? If there be such a hyperphysical sphere for the mind, as there is a physical for the body, it cannot be that that moral sphere should inhere in or issue out of the mind, any more than that the physical sphere should inhere in or be developed from the body; it must be a positively objective sphere, and not a subjective sphere for the mind to expatiate in. The analogy promises the dis covery, that as the body derives its substance, mainten ance, and growth from its surroundings, so the mind must obtain its substance, nourishment, and develop ment, not from itself, but from its moral surroundings it must see and breathe in the light and air of Intelligence, feed upon the substance of Goodness, and work under the effectiveness of Causation. This may be deemed a poetic way of stating the alleged facts; but the follow ing pages are an attempt to show that there is a hyper physical or moral world as well as the physical world.