Philosophy of the Conditioned" as his grand achievement. The Law of the
Conditioned had "not been generalized by any previous philosopher;" and,
in laying down that law, he felt that he had made a new and important
contribution to speculative thought.

The principles upon which this philosophy is based are:

1. _The Relativity of all Human Knowledge._--Existence is not cognized
absolutely and in itself, but only under special modes which are related
to our faculties, and, in fact, determined by these faculties
themselves. All knowledge, therefore, is _relative_--that is, it is of
phenomena only, and of phenomena "under modifications determined by our
own faculties." Now, as the Absolute is that which exists out of all
relation either to phenomena or to our faculties of knowledge, it can
not possibly be _known_.

2. _The Conditionality of all Thinking_.--Thought necessarily supposes
conditions. "To think is to condition; and conditional limitation is the
fundamental law of the possibility of thought. As the eagle can not
out-soar the atmosphere in which he floats, and by which alone he is
supported, so the mind can not transcend the sphere of limitation within
and through which the possibility of thought is realized. Thought is
only of the conditioned, because, as we have said, to think is to
condition."[295] Now the Infinite is the unlimited, the unconditioned,
and as such can not possibly be _thought_.

3. _The notion of the Infinite--the Absolute, as entertained by man, is
a mere "negation of thought._"--By this Hamilton does not mean that the
idea of the Infinite is a negative idea. "The Infinite and the Absolute
are _only_ the names of two counter _imbecilities_ of the human
mind"[296]--that is, a mental inability to conceive an absolute
limitation, or an infinite illimitation; an absolute commencement, or an
infinite non-commencement. In other words, of the absolute and infinite
we have no conception at all, and, consequently, no knowledge.[297]

The grand law which Hamilton generalizes from the above is, "_that the
conceivable is in every relation bounded by the inconceivable_." Or,
again, "The conditioned or the thinkable lies between two extremes or
poles; and these extremes or poles are each of them unconditioned, each
of them inconceivable, each of them exclusive or contradictory of the
other."[298] This is the celebrated "Law of the Conditioned."

[Footnote 295: "Discussions," p. 21.]

[Footnote 296: I