Encyclopedia of sacred theology - pagina 147

Chap. II]

§ 45.

express the

it,

man felt

derstood

it

the higher " sensing "

123

Nature's pulse beat in which he shared every animate thing, and so joerceived and un-

of

life

WISDOM

and

;

in which, moreover, he also

in his

it

apprehended

not as something foreign to himself, but as

life

ahead, both

;

own

phenomena

sense of existence.

Or

if

we look

the line, at whose

end the seeing (deaypelv) is reached, "the knowing as we are known." The energy of this intuition is now broken. With some it seems entirely lost, and these are called "fools." With some others it still Avorks comparatively with great effect, for which reason they are called, preeminently, the wise folk. And between these extremes range the people of common sense so called because in them something is still found lie in

;

of the old, sound, primitive force (Urkraft) of the

human

mind.

Now

it is

common

readily seen

what

a formidable

dam wisdom and

sense prove against the destructive floods of Scepti-

If there were no other way open to knowledge than that which discursive thought provides, the subjective character which is inseparable from all higher science, the uncertainty which is the penalty of sin, and the impossibility between truth and falsehood to decide what shall be objectively compulsory would encourage Scepticism to strike ever deeper root. But since an entirely different way of knowledge is disclosed to us by wisdom and its allied common sense,

cism.

which, independent of scientific investigation, has a starting-point of its own, this intuitive knowledge, founded on fixed perceptions given with our consciousness itself, offers

For now we have a and on the ground of this insight a relative certainty, which has no connection with the discursive conflict between truth and falsehood, and which, being constantly

a saving counterpoise to Scepticism.

certain insight,

confirmed in the fiery test of practical application in life,

dail}'

gives us a starting-point by which the conviction main-

tains

itself

in us that

And

we

are able to grasp the truth of

wisdom and common sense determine those very issues and principles of life, against which scepticism directs its most critical and important attacks, we find

things.

since this

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