e, and it becomes what happens to
it. Therefore it is not really spirit at all, for spirit implies
spontaneity, activity, and autonomy.

Philosophy and the mental sciences have always had to carry on the strife
with these four opponents. And it is in the teacup of logic and
epistemology that the storm in regard to theories of the universe has
arisen. It is there, and not in the domain of neurology, or zoology, that
the real battlefield lies, upon which the controversy must be fought out
to the end. What follows is only a sort of skirmish about the outposts.

What naturalism holds in regard to the psychical and spiritual may be,
perhaps, most simply expressed by means of an illustration. Over a wide
field there glide mighty shadows in constant interplay. They expand and
contract, become denser or lighter, disappear for a little, and then
reveal themselves again. While they are thus forming and changing, one
state follows quite connectedly on another. At first one is tempted to
believe that they are self-acting and self-regulating, that they move
freely and pass from one state to another according to causes within
themselves. But then one sees that they are thrown upon the earth from the
clouds above, now in this way and now in that, that all their states and
forms and changes are nothing in themselves, and neither effect anything
in themselves nor react upon the occurrences and realities up above, which
they only accompany, and by which they are determined without any
co-operation on their own part, even in determining their own form. So it
is with nature and spirit. Nature is the true effective reality; spirit is
its shadow, which effects nothing either within or outside of itself, but
simply happens.

The Fundamental Answer.

How can the religious conception of the world justify itself and maintain
its freedom in face of such views of spirit and spiritual being? It is
questionable whether it is worth while attempting to do so. Is not the
essence of the validity and freedom of spirit made most certain simply
through the fact that it is able to inquire into it? If we leave popular
naturalism out of the question, is not the attempt made by scientific
naturalism the best witness against itself? For scientific study, and the
establishment of fundamental conceptions and guiding principles are only
possible if mind and thought are free and active and creative. The direct
experience that spirit has of itself, of its