In the first chapter we attained—or at least made the attempt to attain—some insight into the relation which Mind bears to Time and Space. It appeared that Mind is a Transcendent, i. e. something which Time and Space inhere in, rather than a somewhat, conditioned by them. Although this result agrees entirely with the religious instincts of man, which assert the immortality of the soul, and the unsubstantiality of the existences within Time and Space, yet as a logical result of thinking, it seems at first very unreliable. The disciplined thinker will indeed find the distinctions “a priori and a posteriori” inadequately treated; but his emendations will only make the results there established more wide-sweeping and conclusive.
In the second chapter we learned caution with respect to the manner of attempting to realize in our minds the results of thought. If we have always been in the habit of regarding Mind as a property or attribute of the individual, we have conceived it not according to its true nature, but have allowed Imagination to mingle its activity in the thinking of that which is of a universal nature. Thus we are prone to say to ourselves: “How can a mere attribute like Mind be the logical condition of the solid realities of Space and Time?” In this we have quietly assumed the whole point at issue. No system of thinking which went to work logically ever proved the Mind to be an attribute; only very elementary grades of thinking, which have a way of assuming in their premises what they draw out analytically in their conclusions, ever set up this dogma. This will become clearer at every step as we proceed.
We will now pursue a path similar to that followed in the first chapter, and see what more we can learn of the nature of Mind. We will endeavor to learn more definitely what constitutes its a priori activity, in order, as there indicated, to achieve our object. Thus our present search is after the “Categories” and their significance. Taking the word category here in the sense of “a priori determination of thought,” the first question is: “Do any categories exist? Are there any thoughts which belong to the nature of mind itself?” It is the same question that Locke discusses under the head of “Innate ideas.”
I.
“Every act of knowing or cognizing is the translating of an unknown somewhat into a known, as a scholar translates a new language into his own.” If he did not already understand one language, he could never translate the new one. In the act of knowing, the object becomes known in so far as I am able to recognise predicates as belonging to it. “This is red;” unless I know already what “red” means, I do not cognize the object by predicating red of it. “Red is a color;” unless I know what “color” means, I have not said anything intelligible—I have not expressed an act of cognition. The object becomes known to us in so far as we recognize its predicates—and hence we could never know anything unless we had at least one predicate or conception with which to commence. If we have one predicate through which we cognize some object, that act of cognition gives us a new predicate; for it has dissolved or “translated” a somewhat, that before was unknown, into a known; the “not-me” has, to that extent, become the “me.” Without any predicates to begin with, all objects would remain forever outside of our consciousness. Even consciousness itself would be impossible, for the very act of self-cognition implies that the predicate “myself” is well known. It is an act of identification: “I am myself;” the subject is, as predicate, completely known or dissolved back into the subject. I cognize myself as myself; there is no alien element left standing over against me. Thus we are able to say that there must be an a priori category in order to render possible any act of knowing whatever. Moreover, we see that this category must be identical with the Ego itself, for the reason that the process of cognition is at the same time a recognition; it predicates only what it recognizes. Thus, fundamentally, in knowing, Reason knows itself. Self-consciousness is the basis of knowledge. This will throw light on the first chapter; but let us first confirm this position by a psychological analysis.
II.
What is the permanent element in thought?—It can easily be found in language—its external manifestation. Logic tells us that the expression of thought involves always a subject and predicate. Think what you please, say what you please, and your thought or assertion consists of a subject and predicate—positive or negative—joined by the copula, is. “Man lives” is equivalent to “man is living.” “Man” and “living” are joined by the word “is.” If we abstract all content from thought, and take its pure form in order to see the permanent, we shall have “is” the copula,—or putting a letter for subject and attribute, we shall have “a is a,” (or “a is b,”) for the universal form of thought. The mental act is expressed by “is.” In this empty “is” we have the category of pure Being, which is the “summum genus” of categories. Any predicate other than being will be found to contain being plus determinations, and hence can be subsumed under being. We shall get new light on this subject if we examine the ordinary doctrine of explanation.
III.
In order to explain something, we subsume it under a more general. Thus we say: “Horse is an animal;” and, “An animal is an organic being,” &c. A definition contains not only this subsumption, but also a statement of the specific difference. We define quadruped by subsuming it, (“It is an animal”) and giving the specific difference (“which has four feet”).
As we approach the “summum genus,” the predicates become more and more empty; “they become more extensive in their application, and less comprehensive in their content.” Thus they approach pure simplicity, which is attained in the “summum genus.” This pure simple, which is the limit of subsumption and abstraction, is pure Being—Being devoid of all determinateness. When we have arrived at Being, subsuming becomes simple identifying—Being is Being, or a is a—and this is precisely the same activity that we found self-consciousness to consist of in our first analysis, (I.) and the same activity that we found all mental acts to consist of in our second analysis, (II.).