]
157
as an example, hoping at the same time incidentally
to leave the general problem of activity
in a slightly -- I fear very slightly -- more
manageable shape than before.
Mr. Bradley calls the question of activity a
scandal to philosophy, and if one turns to the
current literature of the subject -- his own
writings included -- one easily gathers what
he means. The opponents cannot even understand
one another. Mr. Bradley says to Mr.
Ward: "I do not care what your oracle is,
and your preposterous psychology may here be
gospel if you please; . . . but if the revelation
does contain a meaning, I will commit
myself to this: either the oracle is so confused
that its signification is not discoverable, or,
upon the other hand, if it can be pinned down
to any definite statement, then that statement
will be false."(1) Mr. Ward in turn says
of Mr. Bradley: "I cannot even imagine the
state of mind to which his description applies.
. . . [It] reads like an unintentional travesty
---
1 _Appearance_and_Reality_, second edition. pp. 116-117. --
Obviously written _at_ Ward, though Ward's name is not mentioned
158
of Herbartian psychology by one who has
tried to improve upon it without being at the
pains to master it.
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