existence is unique or individual, and is therefore, as to existence, absolutely separated from all other existences. But, containing within himself all perfection, he infinitely transcends all other forms of existence. Agreeing with these in his self-centred individuality, he is the only being of whom we can predicate necessity, all other forms of existence being contingent. God is not involved in the process of the world or of human history. We cannot comprehend the inner nature of God, but we are entitled to affirm that he is self-conscious, and contemplates reality as it truly is.[1]
Whether Mr. Seth is entitled to make these assertions as to the existence and nature of God, consistently with the theory of knowledge which he adopts, I shall immediately inquire: at present I assume that he has a right to make them, and I merely ask how far they enable us to unify existence, or reach the 'ultimate ground or essence' of things. Let us, then, see as clearly as possible the logical consequences of the doctrine.
1. It is held that, as to his existence, God is distinct from every other form of existence. Nor is the plain consequence
- ↑ For the sake of clearness I have stated Mr. Seth's view of God as simply and shortly as I could. The following among other passages may be quoted from Hegelianism and Personality in support of the correctness of my summary. The "divine, creative Self" must "exist as something more than the individuals whom [according to Mr. Seth's view of Green's doctrine] it constitutes"; p. 61 (2nd ed., p. 66). "The real Self [of man] is one and indivisible, and is unique in each individual." Different selves are "absolutely and forever exclusive"; 1st ed., p. 64. "The individual alone is the real"; 1st ed., p. 128. "When existence is in question, it is the individual, not the universal, that is real; 220 (231)." "If we are to keep the name of God at all, or any equivalent term, subjectivity an existence of God for Himself, analogous to our personal existence, though doubtless transcending it infinitely in innumerable ways is an essential element in the conception"; 222 (234). Ferrier is commended, because, unlike Green (Mr. Seth's Green), he does not identify the "necessary existence" of God with the "contingent existence" of other beings; 31 (34). "The development we can trace is not the development of God, but of man's thoughts about God a development, therefore, which does not affect the existence of their object"; 194 (203). "The absolute Ego must really be an Ego … with a self-consciousness of its own"; 61 (66). The "Hegelians of the Left" wrongly "renounce the idea of anything like a separate personality or self-consciousness in the Divine Being; 188 (197). "The truth, … we may well believe, is reserved for God alone"; 212 (223).
