e have given the thing a sounding
name; but we know no more about it than we did before. The problem of
the relation between minds, and the way in which they are to be
conceived as influencing each other, remains just what it was. So,
also, we recognize the everyday fact that we know both ourselves and
what is not ourselves. Shall we call this knowledge of something not
ourselves "self-transcendence"? We may do so if we wish, but we ought
to realize that this bestowal of a title makes no whit clearer what is
meant by knowledge.

Unhappily, men too often believe that, when they have come into the
possession of a new word or phrase, they have gained a new thought.
The danger is great in proportion to the breadth of the gulf which
separates the new dialect from the old language of common life in which
we are accustomed to estimate things. Many a philosopher would be
bereft, indeed, were he robbed of his vocabulary and compelled to
express his thoughts in ordinary speech. The theories which are
implicit in certain recurring expressions would be forced to come out
into the open, and stand criticism without disguise.

But can one write philosophical books without using words which are not
in common use among the unphilosophic? I doubt it. Some such words it
seems impossible to avoid. However, it does seem possible to bear in
mind the dangers of a special philosophical terminology and to reduce
such words to a minimum.

Finally, we may appeal to the humanity of the philosopher. The path to
reflection is a sufficiently difficult one as it is; why should he roll
rocks upon it and compel those who come after him to climb over them?
If truths are no truer for being expressed in a repellent form, why
should he trick them out in a fantastic garb? What we want is the
naked truth, and we lose time and patience in freeing our mummy from
the wrappings in which learned men have seen fit to encase it.

93. DO NOT HASTILY ACCEPT A DOCTRINE.--This brings me to the last of
the maxims which I urge upon the attention of the reader. All that has
been said so far may be regarded as leading up to it.

The difficulty that confronts us is this: On the one hand, we must
recognize the uncertainty that reigns in this field of investigation.
We must ever weigh probabilities and possibilities; we do not find
ourselves in the presence of indubitable truths which all competent
persons stand ready to admit. This seems to argue that we sho