THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE INFINITE; WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE THEORIES OF SIR WILLIAM HAMILTON AND M. COUSIN. BY HENRY CALDERWOOD. EDINBURGH: THOMAS CONSTABLE AND CO. MDCCCLIV. PREFACE. THE work now presented to the public is intended as an illustration and defence of the proposition, that man has a positive conception of the Infinite. It is an attempt, by a careful analysis of consciousness, to prove that man does possess a notion of an Infinite Being, and, since such is the case, to ascertain the peculiar nature of the conception, and the particular relations in which it is found to arise. The discussion, therefore, belongs essentially to the sphere of the higher Metaphysics, and involves a course of speculation on many points not generally agitated by our Scotch philosophers, and even on some which have not hitherto, so far as I am aware, been contemplated in the philosophy of this country. However great is the fondness for truth, and however strong the desire for its attainment, it is felt as an unfortunate characteristic of all our researches, that we have to advance to the determination of positive truth, in the midst of the conflict of contending opinions. This I have found to be painfully the case in the present instance. As I have prosecuted the argument in defence of what I firmly believe to be truth, I have found it necessary to differ from Sir William Hamilton to a degree which is |