THE OBJECTS OF SCIENCE Si

Neither could Dr. Bradley discuss the question either,

unless he had the " miraculous " faculty of writing about a

question concerning which he is utterly unable to think.

" Extension," like quality (whether primary or secondary),

is, of course, an abstraction, though with a very solid founda-

tion in extended things.

The reality of extension, once more, is for us a direct

perception. It is no inference, but an intellectual intuition

acquired through the ministry of sense. It is, of course,

most true that we can feel nothing of an object save the

subjective effects of its objective qualities : that in a lump

of sugar we have no sensitive perception of anything but

its whiteness, hardness, roughness, sweetness, etc., together

with its shape and its extension ; but we none the less know

that there is more. We have, as we before said, no in-

tuition of the corporeal substance in itself, but we have

an evident intuition of corporeal substance in conjunction

with the qualities our senses make known to us. This is the

material substance which Bishop Berkeley said, he alone

denied the existence of, and the absence of which, he

declared, would be missed by none. But its absence would,

indeed, be missed by all ; for the plain man always thinks

of a material object as something real in itself over and

above its qualities. Such reality is apprehended by every

healthy and normal intellect. It is easy to laugh at Dr.

Johnson's refutation of Idealism by kicking a stone. But

that simple act was a refutation of it, for it was an energetic

manifestation of Johnson's perception that he had an in-

tuition of real, extended, independent objects. It was a

mute expression of a profound philosophic truth a truth

which underlies all physical science the truth, namely, that

we have an intuition of the extended.

After the most patient consideration it has been in our

power to bestow on Dr Bradley's contention, we remain

G

Neither could Dr. Bradley discuss the question either,

unless he had the " miraculous " faculty of writing about a

question concerning which he is utterly unable to think.

" Extension," like quality (whether primary or secondary),

is, of course, an abstraction, though with a very solid founda-

tion in extended things.

The reality of extension, once more, is for us a direct

perception. It is no inference, but an intellectual intuition

acquired through the ministry of sense. It is, of course,

most true that we can feel nothing of an object save the

subjective effects of its objective qualities : that in a lump

of sugar we have no sensitive perception of anything but

its whiteness, hardness, roughness, sweetness, etc., together

with its shape and its extension ; but we none the less know

that there is more. We have, as we before said, no in-

tuition of the corporeal substance in itself, but we have

an evident intuition of corporeal substance in conjunction

with the qualities our senses make known to us. This is the

material substance which Bishop Berkeley said, he alone

denied the existence of, and the absence of which, he

declared, would be missed by none. But its absence would,

indeed, be missed by all ; for the plain man always thinks

of a material object as something real in itself over and

above its qualities. Such reality is apprehended by every

healthy and normal intellect. It is easy to laugh at Dr.

Johnson's refutation of Idealism by kicking a stone. But

that simple act was a refutation of it, for it was an energetic

manifestation of Johnson's perception that he had an in-

tuition of real, extended, independent objects. It was a

mute expression of a profound philosophic truth a truth

which underlies all physical science the truth, namely, that

we have an intuition of the extended.

After the most patient consideration it has been in our

power to bestow on Dr Bradley's contention, we remain

G