ABSTRACT

A young Californian, Josiah Royce, had come back from Germany with a reputation for wisdom; and even without knowing that he had already produced a new proof of the existence of God. It is characteristic of Royce that in his proof of something sublime, like the existence of God, his premiss should be something sad and troublesome, the existence of error. What carried Royce over the evident chasms and assumptions in this argument was his earnestness and passionate eloquence, He passed for an eminent logician, because he was dialectical and fearless in argument and delighted in the play of formal relations; he was devoted to chess, music, and mathematics; but all this show of logic was but a screen for his heart, and in his heart there was no clearness. The truth meant the whole truth about everything; it would be interesting to learn that people are destined to become omniscient, or are secretly omniscient already.