Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-gb8f7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-27T12:34:59.417Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Section 3 - On the principles of the form of the sensible world

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 December 2014

David Walford
Affiliation:
St David's University College, University of Wales
Ralf Meerbote
Affiliation:
University of Rochester, New York
Get access

Summary

§13

The principle of the form of the universe is that which contains the ground of the universal connection, in virtue of which all substances and their states belong to the same whole which is called a world. The principle of the form of the sensible world is that which contains the ground of the universal connection of all things, in so far as they are phenomena. The form of the intelligible world recognises an objective principle, that is to say, some cause in virtue of which there is a combining together of the things which exist in themselves. But the world, in so far as it is regarded as phenomenon, that is to say, the world in relation to the sensibility of the human mind, does not recognise any other principle of form than a subjective one, that is to say, a fixed law of the mind, in virtue of which it is necessary that all the things which can be objects of the senses (through the qualities of those objects) are seen as necessarily belonging to the same whole. Accordingly, whatever the principle of the form of the sensible world may, in the end, be, its embrace is limited to actual things, in so far as they are thought capable of falling under the senses. Accordingly, it embraces neither immaterial substances, which are already as such, by definition, excluded from the outer senses, nor the cause of the world, for, since it is in virtue of that cause that mind itself exists and is active through all its senses, that cause cannot be an object of the senses. These formal principles of the phenomenal universe are absolutely primary and universal; they are, so to speak, the schemata and conditions of everything sensitive in human cognition. I shall now show that there are two such principles, namely, space and time.

Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 1992

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×