第2章

PHILOSOPHYIII。

CLASSIFICATION。

APRIORISMPhilosophy，accordingtoHerrDühring，isthedevelopmentofthehighestformofconsciousnessoftheworldandoflife{D。Ph。2}，andinawidersenseembracestheprinciplesofallknowledgeandvolition。Whereveraseriesofcognitionsorstimulioragroupofformsofbeingcometobeexaminedbyhumanconsciousness，theprinciplesunderlyingthesemanifestationsofnecessitybecomeanobjectofphilosophy。Theseprinciplesarethesimple，oruntilnowassumedtobesimple，constituentsofmanifoldknowledgeandvolition{8}。

Likethechemicalcompositionofbodies，thegeneralconstitutionofthingscanbereducedtobasicformsandbasicelements。Theseultimateconstituentsorprinciples，oncetheyhavebeendiscovered，arevalidnotonlyforwhatisimmediatelyknownandaccessible，butalsofortheworldwhichisunknownandinaccessibletous。Philosophicalprinciplesconsequentlyprovidethefinalsupplementrequiredbythesciencesinordertobecomeauniformsystembywhichnatureandhumanlifecanbeexplained{9}。Apartfromthefundamentalformsofallexistence，philosophyhasonlytwospecificsubjectsofinvestigation——natureandtheworldofman{14}。Accordingly，ourmaterialarrangesitselfquitenaturallyintothreegroups，namely，thegeneralschemeoftheuniverse，thescienceoftheprinciplesofnature，andfinallythescienceofmankind。Thissuccessionatthesametimecontainsaninnerlogicalsequence，fortheformalprincipleswhicharevalidforallbeingtakeprecedence，andtherealmsoftheobjectstowhichtheyaretobeappliedthenfollowinthedegreeoftheirsubordination{15}。

SofarHerrDühring，andalmostentirelywordforword。

Whatheisdealingwitharethereforeprinciples，formaltenetsderivedfromthoughtandnotfromtheexternalworld，whicharetobeappliedtonatureandtherealmofman，andtowhichthereforenatureandmanhavetoconform。Butwhencedoesthoughtobtaintheseprinciples？

Fromitself？No，forHerrDühringhimselfsays:therealmofpurethoughtislimitedtologicalschemataandmathematicalforms{42}(thelatter，moreover，asweshallsee，iswrong)。Logicalschematacanonlyrelatetoformsofthought;butwhatwearedealingwithhereissolelyformsofbeing，oftheexternalworld，andtheseformscanneverbecreatedandderivedbythoughtoutofitself，butonlyfromtheexternalworld。Butwiththisthewholerelationshipisinverted:theprinciplesarenotthestarting-pointoftheinvestigation，butitsfinalresult;

theyarenotappliedtonatureandhumanhistory，butabstractedfromthem，itisnotnatureandtherealmofmanwhichconformtotheseprinciples，buttheprinciplesareonlyvalidinsofarastheyareinconformitywithnatureandhistory。Thatistheonlymaterialistconceptionofthematter，andHerrDühring’scontraryconceptionisidealistic，makesthingsstandcompletelyontheirheads，andfashionstherealworldoutofideas，outofschemata，schemesorcategoriesexistingsomewherebeforetheworld，frometernity——justlikeaHegel。

Infact，letuscompareHegel’sEncyclopaedia[30]andallitsdeliriousfantasieswithHerrDühring’sfinalandultimatetruths。WithHerrDühringwehaveinthefirstplacegeneralworldschematism，whichHegelcallsLogic。Thenwithbothofthemwehavetheapplicationoftheseschemataorlogicalcategoriestonature:thephilosophyofnature;andfinallytheirapplicationtotherealmofman，whichHegelcallsthephilosophyofmind。The“innerlogicalsequence“

oftheDühringsuccessionthereforeleadsus“quitenaturally“{D。

Ph。15}backtoHegel’sEncyclopaedia，fromwhichithasbeentakenwithaloyaltywhichwouldmovethatwanderingJewoftheHegelianschool，ProfessorMicheletofBerlin，totears。[31]

Thatiswhatcomesofaccepting“consciousness“，“thought“，quitenaturalistically，assomethinggiven，somethingopposedfromtheoutsettobeing，tonature。Ifthatwereso，itmustseemextremelystrangethatconsciousnessandnature，thinkingandbeing，thelawsofthoughtandthelawsofnature，shouldcorrespondsoclosely。Butifthefurtherquestionisraisedwhatthoughtandconsciousnessreallyareandwheretheycomefrom，itbecomesapparentthattheyareproductsofthehumanbrainandthatmanhimselfisaproductofnature，whichhasdevelopedinandalongwithitsenvironment;henceitisself-evidentthattheproductsofthehumanbrain，beinginthelastanalysisalsoproductsofnature，donotcontradicttherestofnature’sinterconnectionsbutareincorrespondencewiththem。[32]

ButHerrDühringcannotpermithimselfsuchasimpletreatmentofthesubject。Hethinksnotonlyinthenameofhumanity——initselfnosmallachievement——butinthenameoftheconsciousandreasoningbeingsonallcelestialbodies。

Indeed，itwouldbe“adegradationofthebasicformsofconsciousnessandknowledgetoattempttoruleoutoreventoputundersuspiciontheirsovereignvalidityandtheirunconditionalclaimtotruth，byapplyingtheepithet’human’tothem“{2}。

Hence，inorderthatnosuspicionmayarisethatonsomecelestialbodyorothertwicetwomakesfive{30-31}，HerrDühringdarenotdesignatethoughtasbeinghuman，andsohehastoseveritfromtheonlyrealfoundationonwhichwefindit，namely，manandnature;andwiththathetumbleshopelesslyintoanideology[33]whichrevealshimastheepigoneofthe“epigone“Hegel{197}。Bytheway，weshalloftenmeetHerrDühringagainonothercelestialbodies。

Itgoeswithoutsayingthatnomaterialistdoctrinecanbefoundedonsuchanideologicalbasis。LateronweshallseethatHerrDühringisforcedmorethanoncetoendownaturesurreptitiouslywithconsciousactivity，withwhatinplainlanguageiscalledGod。

However，ourphilosopherofrealityhadalsoothermotivesforshiftingthebasisofallrealityfromtherealworldtotheworldofthought。

Thescienceofthisgeneralworldschematism，oftheseformalprinciplesofbeing，ispreciselythefoundationofHerrDühring’sphilosophy。

Ifwededuceworldschematismnotfromourminds，butonlythroughourmindsfromtherealworld，ifwededuceprinciplesofbeingfromwhatis，weneednophilosophyforthispurpose，butpositiveknowledgeoftheworldandofwhathappensinit;andwhatthisyieldsisalsonotphilosophy，butpositivescience。Inthatcase，however，HerrDühring’swholevolumewouldbenothingbutlove’slabourlost。

Further:ifnophilosophyassuchisanylongerrequired，thenalsothereisnomoreneedofanysystem，notevenofanynaturalsystemofphilosophy。Theperceptionthatalltheprocessesofnaturearesystematicallyconnecteddrivesscienceontoprovethissystematicconnectionthroughout，bothingeneralandinparticular。Butanadequate，exhaustivescientificexpositionofthisinterconnection，theformationofanexactmentalimageoftheworldsysteminwhichwelive，isimpossibleforus，andwillalwaysremainimpossible。Ifatanytimeinthedevelopmentofmankindsuchafinal，conclusivesystemoftheinterconnectionswithintheworld——physicalaswellasmentalandhistorical——werebroughtabout，thiswouldmeanthathumanknowledgehadreacheditslimit，and，fromthemomentwhensocietyhadbeenbroughtintoaccordwiththatsystem，furtherhistoricaldevelopmentwouldbecutshort——whichwouldbeanabsurdidea，sheernonsense。Mankindthereforefindsitselffacedwithacontradiction:ontheonehand，ithastogainanexhaustiveknowledgeoftheworldsysteminallitsinterrelations;

andontheotherhand，becauseofthenaturebothofmenandoftheworldsystem，thistaskcanneverbecompletelyfulfilled。Butthiscontradictionliesnotonlyinthenatureofthetwofactors——theworld，andman——

itisalsothemainleverofallintellectualadvance，andfindsitssolutioncontinuously，daybyday，intheendlessprogressivedevelopmentofhumanity，justasforexamplemathematicalproblemsfindtheirsolutioninaninfiniteseriesorcontinuedfractions。Eachmentalimageoftheworldsystemisandremainsinactualfactlimited，objectivelybythehistoricalconditionsandsubjectivelybythephysicalandmentalconstitutionofitsoriginator。

ButHerrDühringexplainsinadvancethathismodeofreasoningissuchthatitexcludesanytendencytoasubjectivelylimitedconceptionoftheworld。Wesawabovethathewasomnipresent——onallpossiblecelestialbodies。Wenowseethatheisalsoomniscient。Hehassolvedtheultimateproblemsofscienceandthusnailedboardsacrossthefutureofallscience。

Aswiththebasicformsofbeing，soalsowiththewholeofpuremathematics:HerrDühringthinksthathecanproduceitapriorithatis，withoutmakinguseoftheexperienceofferedusbytheexternalworld，canconstructitinhishead。

Inpuremathematicstheminddeals“withitsownfreecreationsandimaginations“{D。Ph。43};theconceptsofnumberandfigureare“theadequateobjectofthatpuresciencewhichitcancreateofitself“{42}，andhenceithasa“validitywhichisindependentofparticularexperienceandoftherealcontentoftheworld“{43}。

Thatpuremathematicshasavaliditywhichisindependentoftheparticularexperienceofeachindividualis，forthatmatter，correct，andthisistrueofallestablishedfactsineveryscience，andindeedofallfactswhatsoever。Themagneticpoles，thefactthatwateriscomposedofhydrogenandoxygen，thefactthatHegelisdeadandHerrDühringalive，holdgoodindependentlyofmyownexperienceorthatofanyotherindividual，andevenindependentlyofHerrDühring’sexperience，whenhebeginstosleepthesleepofthejust。Butitisnotatalltruethatinpuremathematicstheminddealsonlywithitsowncreationsandimaginations。

Theconceptsofnumberandfigurehavenotbeenderivedfromanysourceotherthantheworldofreality。Thetenfingersonwhichmenlearnttocount，thatis，toperformthefirstarithmeticaloperation，areanythingbutafreecreationofthemind。Countingrequiresnotonlyobjectsthatcanbecounted，butalsotheabilitytoexcludeallpropertiesoftheobjectsconsideredexcepttheirnumber——andthisabilityistheproductofalonghistoricaldevelopmentbasedonexperience。Liketheideaofnumber，sotheideaoffigureisborrowedexclusivelyfromtheexternalworld，anddoesnotariseinthemindoutofpurethought。Theremusthavebeenthingswhichhadshapeandwhoseshapeswerecomparedbeforeanyonecouldarriveattheideaoffigure。Puremathematicsdealswiththespaceformsandquantityrelationsoftherealworld——thatis，withmaterialwhichisveryrealindeed。Thefactthatthismaterialappearsinanextremelyabstractformcanonlysuperficiallyconcealitsoriginfromtheexternalworld。Butinordertomakeitpossibletoinvestigatetheseformsandrelationsintheirpurestate，itisnecessarytoseparatethementirelyfromtheircontent，toputthecontentasideasirrelevant;thuswegetpointswithoutdimensions，lineswithoutbreadthandthickness，aandbandxandy，constantsandvariables;andonlyattheveryenddowereachthefreecreationsandimaginationsoftheminditself，thatistosay，imaginarymagnitudes。Eventheapparentderivationofmathematicalmagnitudesfromeachotherdoesnotprovetheiraprioriorigin，butonlytheirrationalconnection。Beforeonecameupontheideaofdeducingtheformofacylinderfromtherotationofarectangleaboutoneofitssides，anumberofrealrectanglesandcylinders，howeverimperfectinform，musthavebeenexamined。Likeallothersciences，mathematicsaroseoutoftheneedsofmen:fromthemeasurementoflandandthecontentofvessels，fromthecomputationoftimeandfrommechanics。

But，asineverydepartmentofthought，atacertainstageofdevelopmentthelaws，whichwereabstractedfromtherealworld，becomedivorcedfromtherealworld，andaresetupagainstitassomethingindependent，as-lawscomingfromoutside，towhichtheworldhastoconform。Thatishowthingshappenedinsocietyandinthestate，andinthisway，andnototherwise，puremathematicswassubsequentlyappliedtotheworld，althoughitisborrowedfromthissameworldandrepresentsonlyonepartofitsformsofinterconnection——anditisonlyjustbecauseofthisthatitcanbeappliedatall。

ButjustasHerrDühringimaginesthat，outoftheaxiomsofmathematics，“whichalsoinaccordancewithpurelogicneitherrequirenorarecapableofsubstantiation“{34}，hecandeducethewholeofpuremathematicswithoutanykindofempiricaladmixture，andthenapplyittotheworld，sohelikewiseimaginesthathecan，inthefirstplace，produceoutofhisheadthebasicformsofbeing，thesimpleelementsofallknowledge，theaxiomsofphilosophy，deducefromthesethewholeofphilosophyorworldschematism，andthen，bysovereigndecree，imposethisconstitutionofhisonnatureandhumanity。

Unfortunatelynatureisnotatall，andhumanityonlytoaninfinitesimaldegree，composedoftheMantenffelitePrussiansof1850。[34]

Mathematicalaxiomsareexpressionsofthescantiestthought-content，whichmathematicsisobligedtoborrowfromlogic。Theycanbereducedtotwo:

1)Thewholeisgreaterthanitspart。Thisstatementispuretautology，asthequantitativelyconceivedidea“part“isfromtheoutsetdefinitelyrelatedtotheidea“whole“，andinfactinsuchawaythat“part“simplymeansthatthequantitative“whole“consistsofseveralquantitative“parts“。Instatingthisexplicitly，theso-calledaxiomdoesnottakeusastepfurther。Thistautologycaneveninawaybeprovedbysaying:awholeisthatwhichconsistsofseveralparts;apartisthatofwhichseveralmakeawhole;hencethepartislessthanthewhole——

inwhichtheinanityofrepetitionbringsoutevenmoreclearlytheinanityofcontent。

2)Iftwoquantitiesareequaltoathird，theyareequaltoeachother。Thisstatement，asHegelhasalreadyshown，isaconclusion，thecorrectnessofwhichisvouchedforbylogic，andwhichisthereforeproved，althoughoutsideofpuremathematics。Theremainingaxiomsrelatingtoequalityandinequalityaremerelylogicalextensionsofthisconclusion。

Thesemeagreprinciplesdonotcutmuchice，eitherinmathematicsoranywhereelse。Inordertogetanyfurther，weareobligedtobringinrealrelations，relationsandspaceformswhicharetakenfromrealbodies。Theideasoflines，planes，angles，polygons，cubes，spheres，etc。，arealltakenfromreality，anditrequiresaprettygoodportionofnaiveideologytobelievethemathematiciansthatthefirstlinecameintoexistencethroughthemovementofapointinspace，thefirstplanethroughthemovementofaline，thefirstsolidthroughthemovementofaplane，andsoon。

Evenlanguagerebelsagainstsuchaconception。Amathematicalfigureofthreedimensionsiscalledasolidbody，corpussolidum，hence，inLatin，evenatangibleobject;itthereforehasanamederivedfromsturdyrealityandbynomeansfromthefreeimaginationofthemind。

Butwhyallthisprolixity？AfterHerrDühring，onpages42and43，[35]hasenthusiasticallysungtheindependenceofpuremathematicsfromtheworldofexperience，itsapriority，itspreoccupationwiththemind’sownfreecreationsandimaginations，hesaysonpage63:

“Itis，ofcourse，easilyoverlookedthatthosemathematicalelements(number，magnitude，time，spaceandgeometricmotion)areidealonlyintheirform，……absolutemagnitudesarethereforesomethingcompletelyempirical，nomattertowhatspeciestheybelong“，……

but“mathematicalschemataarecapableofcharacterisationwhichisadequateeventhoughdivorcedfromexperience。”

Thelaststatementismoreorlesstrueofeveryabstraction，butdoesnotbyanymeansprovethatitisnotabstractedfromreality。Inworldschematismpuremathematicsaroseoutofpurethought——inthephilosophyofnatureitissomethingcompletelyempirical，takenfromtheexternalworldandthendivorcedfromit。Whicharewetobelieve？

IV。

WORLDSCHEMATISM“All-embracingbeingisone。Initsself-sufficiencyithasnothingalongsideitoroverit。Toassociateasecondbeingwithitwouldbetomakeitsomethingthatitisnot，namely，apartorconstituentofamorecomprehensivewhole。Duetothefactthatweextendourunifiedthoughtlikeaframework，nothingthatshouldbecomprisedinthisthought-unitycanretainadualitywithinitself。Nor，again，cananythingescapethisthought-unity……Theessenceofallthoughtconsistsinbringingtogethertheelementsofconsciousnessintoaunity{D。Ph。16}……Itisthepointofunityofthesynthesiswheretheindivisibleideaoftheworldcameintobeingandtheuniverse，asthenameitselfimplies，isapprehendedassomethinginwhicheverythingisunitedintounity“{17}。

ThusfarHerrDühring。Thisisthefirstapplicationofthemathematicalmethod:

“Everyquestionistobedecidedaxiomaticallyinaccordancewithsimplebasicforms，asifweweredealingwiththesimple……principlesofmathematics“{224}。

“All-embracingbeingisone。”Iftautology，thesimplerepetitioninthepredicateofwhatisalreadyexpressedinthesubject——ifthatmakesanaxiom，thenwehavehereoneofthepurestwater。HerrDühringtellsusinthesubjectthatbeingembraceseverything，andinthepredicateheintrepidlydeclaresthatinthatcasethereisnothingoutsideit。Whatcolossal“system-creatingthought“{525}！

Thisisindeedsystem-creating！WithinthespaceofthenextsixlinesHerrDühringhastransformedtheonenessofbeing，bymeansofourunifiedthought，intoitsunit。Astheessenceofallthoughtconsistsinbringingthingstogetherintoaunity，sobeing，assoonasitisconceived，isconceivedasunified，andtheideaoftheworldasindivisible;andbecauseconceivedbeing，theideaoftheworld，isunified，thereforerealbeing，therealworld，isalsoanindivisibleunity。Andwiththat“thereisnolongeranyroomforthingsbeyond，oncethemindhaslearnttoconceivebeinginitshomogeneousuniversality“{D。Ph。523}。

ThatisacampaignwhichputsAusterlitzandJena，KöniggrätzandSedancompletelyintheshade。[36]Inafewsentences，hardlyapageafterwehavemobilisedthefirstaxiom，wehavealreadydoneawaywith，castoverboard，destroyed，everythingbeyondtheworld——Godandtheheavenlyhosts，heaven，hellandpurgatory，alongwiththeimmortalityofthesoul。

Howdowegetfromtheonenessofbeingtoitsunity？Bytheveryfactofconceivingit。Insofaraswespreadourunifiedthoughtaroundbeinglikeaframe，itsonenessbecomesaunityinthought，athought-unity;

fortheessenceofallthoughtconsistsinbringingtogethertheelementsofconsciousnessintoaunity。

Thislaststatementissimplyuntrue。Inthefirstplace，thoughtconsistsjustasmuchinthetakingapartofobjectsofconsciousnessintotheirelementsasintheputtingtogetherofrelatedelementsintoaunity。

Withoutanalysis，nosynthesis。Secondly，withoutmakingblundersthoughtcanbringtogetherintoaunityonlythoseelementsofconsciousnessinwhichorinwhoserealprototypesthisunityalreadyexistedbefore。IfIincludeashoe-brushintheunitymammals，thisdoesnothelpittogetmammaryglands。Theunityofbeing，orrather，thequestionwhetheritsconceptionasaunityisjustified，isthereforepreciselywhatwastobeproved;andwhenHerrDühringassuresusthatheconceivesbeingasaunityandnotastwofold，hetellsusnothingmorethanhisownunauthoritativeopinion。

Ifwetrytostatehisprocessofthoughtinunalloyedform，wegetthefollowing:Ibeginwithbeing。Ithereforethinkwhatbeingis。

Thethoughtofbeingisaunifiedthought。Butthinkingandbeingmustbeinagreement，theyareinconformitywitheachother，they“coincide“。

Thereforebeingisaunityalsoinreality。Thereforetherecannotbeanything“beyond“。IfHerrDühringhadspokenwithoutdisguiseinthisway，insteadoftreatingustotheaboveoracularpassages，hisideologywouldhavebeenclearlyvisible。Toattempttoprovetherealityofanyproductofthoughtbytheidentityofthinkingandbeingwasindeedoneofthemostabsurddeliriousfantasiesof——aHegel。

Evenifhiswholemethodofproofhadbeencorrect，HerrDühringwouldstillnothavewonaninchofgroundfromthespiritualists。Thelatterwouldreplybriefly:tous，too，theuniverseissimple;thedivisionintothisworldandtheworldbeyondexistsonlyforourspecificallyearthly，original-sinstandpoint;inandforitself，thatis，inGod，allbeingisaunity。AndtheywouldaccompanyHerrDühringtohisotherbelovedcelestialbodiesandshowhimoneorseveralonwhichtherehadbeennooriginalsin，wherethereforenooppositionexistsbetweenthisworldandthebeyond，andwheretheunityoftheuniverseisadogmaoffaith。

ThemostcomicalpartofthebusinessisthatHerrDühring，inordertoprovethenon-existenceofGodfromtheideaofbeing，usestheontologicalprooffortheexistenceofGod。Thisruns:whenwethinkofGod，weconceivehimasthesumtotalofallperfections。Butthesumtotalofallperfectionsincludesaboveallexistence，since。anon-existentbeingisnecessarilyimperfect。WemustthereforeincludeexistenceamongtheperfectionsofGod。HenceGodmustexist。HerrDühringreasonsinexactlythesameway:whenwethinkofbeing，weconceiveitasoneidea。Whateveriscomprisedinoneideaisaunity。

Beingwouldnotcorrespondtotheideaofbeingifitwerenotaunity。

Consequentlyitmustbeaunity。ConsequentlythereisnoGod，andsoon。

Whenwespeakofbeing，andpurelyofbeing，unitycanonlyconsistinthatalltheobjectstowhichwearereferring——are，exist。Theyarecomprisedintheunityofthisbeing，andinnootherunity，andthegeneraldictumthattheyallarenotonlycannotgivethemanyadditionalqualities，whethercommonornot，butprovisionallyexcludesallsuchqualitiesfromconsideration。Forassoonaswedepartevenamillimetrefromthesimplebasicfactthatbeingiscommontoallthesethings，thedifferencesbetweenthesethingsbegintoemerge——

andwhetherthesedifferencesconsistinthecircumstancethatsomearewhiteandothersblack，thatsomeareanimateandothersinanimate，thatsomemaybeofthisworldandothersoftheworldbeyond，cannotbedecidedbyusfromthefactthatmereexistenceisinequalmannerascribedtothemall。

Theunityoftheworlddoesnotconsistinitsbeing，althoughitsbeingisapreconditionofitsunity，asitmustcertainlyfirstbebeforeitcanbeone。Being，indeed，isalwaysanopenquestionbeyondthepointwhereoursphereofobservationends。Therealunityoftheworldconsistsinitsmateriality，andthisisprovednotbyafewjuggledphrases，butbyalongandwearisomedevelopmentofphilosophyandnaturalscience。

Toreturntothetext。ThebeingwhichHerrDühringistellingusaboutis“notthatpure，self-equalbeingwhichlacksallspecialdeterminants，andinfactrepresentsonlythecounterpartoftheideaofnothingoroftheabsenceofidea“{D。Ph。22}。

ButweshallseeverysoonthatHerrDühring’suniversereallystartswithabeingwhichlacksallinnerdifferentiation，allmotionandchange，andisthereforeinfactonlyacounterpartoftheideaofnothing，andthereforereallynothing。Onlyoutofthisbeing-nothingdevelopsthepresentdifferentiated，changingstateoftheuniverse，whichrepresentsadevelopment，abecoming;anditisonlyafterwehavegraspedthisthatweareable，evenwithinthisperpetualchange，to“maintaintheconceptionofuniversalbeinginaself-equalstate“

{D。Ph。23}。

Wehavenow，therefore，theideaofbeingonahigherplane，whereitincludeswithinitselfbothinertnessandchange，beingandbecoming。Havingreachedthispoint，wefindthat“genusandspecies，orthegeneralandtheparticular，arethesimplestmeansofdifferentiation，withoutwhichtheconstitutionofthingscannotbeunderstood“{24}。

Butthesearemeansofdifferentiationofqualities;andafterthesehavebeendealtwith，weproceed:

“inoppositiontogenusstandstheconceptofmagnitude，asofahomogeneityinwhichnofurtherdifferencesofspeciesexist“{26};

andsofromqualitywepasstoquantity，andthisisalways“measurable“{26}。

Letusnowcomparethis“sharpdivisionofthegeneraleffect-schemata“

{D。C。6}andits“reallycriticalstandpoint“{D。Ph。404}withthecrudities，wildravingsanddeliriousfantasiesofaHegel。WefindthatHegel’slogicstartsfrombeing——aswithHerrDühring;thatbeingturnsouttobenothing，justaswithHerrDühring;thatfromthisbeing-nothingthereisatransitiontobecomingtheresultofwhichisdeterminatebeing[Dasein]，i。e。，ahigher，fullerformofbeing[Sein]——

justthesameaswithHerrDühring。Determinatebeingleadsontoquality，andqualityontoquantity——justthesameaswithHerrDühring。Andsothatnoessentialfeaturemaybemissing，HerrDühringtellsusonanotheroccasion:

“Fromtherealmofnon-sensationatransitionismadetothatofsensation，inspiteofallquantitativegradations，onlythroughaqualitativeleap，ofwhichwecansaythatitisinfinitelydifferentfromthemeregradationofoneandthesameproperty“{142}。

ThisispreciselytheHegeliannodaldineofmeasurerelations，inwhich，atcertaindefinitenodalpoints，thepurelyquantitativeincreaseordecreasegivesrisetoaqualitativeleap;forexample，inthecaseofheatedorcooledwater，whereboiling-pointandfreezing-pointarethenodesatwhich——undernormalpressure——theleaptoanewstateofaggregationtakesplace，andwhereconsequentlyquantityistransformedintoquality。

Ourinvestigationhaslikewisetriedtoreachdowntotheroots，anditfindstherootsofthedeep-rootedbasicschemataofHerrDühringtobe——the“deliriousfantasies“ofaHegel，thecategoriesofHegelianLogic，PartI，theDoctrineofBeing，instrictlyold-Hegelian“succession“

andwithhardlyanyattempttocloaktheplagiarism！

Andnotcontentwithpilferingfromhisworst-slanderedpredecessorthelatter’swholeschemeofbeing，HerrDühring，afterhimselfgivingtheabove-quotedexampleoftheleaplikechangefromquantityintoquality，saysofMarxwithouttheslightestperturbation:

“Howridiculous，forexample，isthereference“(madebyMarx)“totheHegelianconfused，hazynotionthatquantityistransformedintoquality！“{D。K。G。498}。

Confused，hazynotion！Whohasbeentransformedhere？Andwhoisridiculoushere，HerrDühring？

Alltheseprettylittlethingsarethereforenotonlynot“axiomaticallydecided“，asprescribed，butaremerelyimportedfromoutside，thatistosay，fromHegel’sLogic。AndinfactinsuchaformthatinthewholechapterthereisnoteventhesemblanceofanyinternalcoherenceunlessborrowedfromHegel，andthewholequestionfinallytricklesoutinameaninglesssubtilisingaboutspaceandtime，inertnessandchange。

FrombeingHegelpassestoessence，todialectics。Herehedealswiththedeterminationsofreflection，theirinternalantagonismsandcontradictions，asforexample，positiveandnegative;hethencomestocausalityortherelationofcauseandeffectandendswithnecessity。NototherwiseHerrDühring。WhatHegelcallsthedoctrineofessenceHerrDühringtranslatesinto“logicalpropertiesofbeing“{D。Ph。

29}。These，however，consistaboveallinthe“antagonismofforces“{31}，inopposites。Contradiction，however，HerrDühringabsolutelydenies;wewillreturntothispointlater。Thenhepassesovertocausality，andfromthistonecessity。Sothatwhen-HerrDühringsaysofhimself:

“We，whodonotphilosophiseoutofacage“{41}，heapparentlymeansthathephilosophisesinacage，namely，thecageoftheHegelianschematismofcategories。

V。

PHILOSOPHYOFNATURE。

TIMEANDSPACEWenowcometophilosophyofnature。HereagainHerrDühringhaseverycausefordissatisfactionwithhispredecessors。

Naturalphilosophy“sanksolowthatitbecameanarid，spuriousdoggerelfoundedonignorance“，and“felltotheprostitutedphilosophisticsofaSchellingandhislike，riggingthemselvesoutinthepriesthoodoftheAbsoluteandhoodwinkingthepublic“。Fatiguehassavedusfromthese“deformities“;

butuptonowithasonlygivenplaceto“instability“;“andasfarasthepublicatlargeisconcerned，itiswellknownthatthedisappearanceofagreatcharlatanisoftenonlytheopportunityforalesserbutcommerciallymoreexperiencedsuccessortoputoutagain，underanothersignboard;theproductsofhispredecessor“。Naturalscientiststhemselvesfeellittle“inclinationtomakeexcursionsintotherealmofworld-encompassingideas“，andconsequentlyjumpto“wildandhastyconclusions“inthetheoreticalsphere{D。Ph。56-57}。

Theneedfordeliveranceisthereforeurgent，andbyastrokeofgoodluckHerrDühringisathand。

Inorderproperlytoappreciatetherevelationswhichnowfollowonthedevelopmentoftheworldintimeanditslimitationsinspace，wemustturnbackagaintocertainpassagesin“worldschematism“{15}。

Infinity——whichHegelcallsbadinfinity——isattributedtobeingalsoinaccordancewithHegel(Encyclopaedia，§93)，andthenthisinfinityisinvestigated。

“Theclearestformofaninfinitywhichcanbeconceivedwithoutcontradictionistheunlimitedaccumulationofnumbersinanumericalseries{18}……Aswecanaddyetanotherunittoanynumber，withouteverexhaustingthepossibilityoffurthernumbers，soalsotoeverystateofbeingafurtherstatesucceeds，andinfinityconsistsintheunlimitedbegettingofthesestates。Thisexactlyconceivedinfinityhasconsequentlyonlyonesinglebasicformwithonesingledirection。Foralthoughitisimmaterialtoourthoughtwhetherornotitconceivesanoppositedirectionintheaccumulationofstates，thisretrogressinginfinityisneverthelessonlyarashlyconstructedthought-image。indeed，sincethisinfinitywouldhavetobetraversedinrealityinthereversedirection，itwouldineachofitsstateshaveaninfinitesuccessionofnumbersbehinditself。

Butthiswouldinvolvetheimpermissiblecontradictionofacountedinfinitenumericalseries，andsoitiscontrarytoreasontopostulateanyseconddirectionininfinity“{19}。

Thefirstconclusiondrawnfromthisconceptionofinfinityisthatthechainofcausesandeffectsintheworldmustatsometimehavehadabeginning:

“aninfinitenumberofcauseswhichassumedlyalreadyhavelinedupnexttooneanotherisinconceivable，justbecauseitpresupposesthattheuncountablehasbeencounted“{37}。

Andthusafinalcauseisproved。

Thesecondconclusionis“thelawofdefinitenumber:theaccumulationofidentitiesofanyactualspeciesofindependentthingsisonlyconceivableasformingadefinitenumber“。Notonlymustthenumberofcelestialbodiesexistingatanypointoftimebeinitselfdefinite，butsomustalsothetotalnumberofall，eventhetiniestindependentparticlesofmatterexistingintheworld。

Thislatterrequisiteistherealreasonwhynocompositioncanbeconceivedwithoutatoms。Allactualdivisionhasalwaysadefinitelimit，andmusthaveitifthecontradictionofthecounteduncountableistobeavoided。

Forthesamereason，notonlymustthenumberoftheearth’srevolutionsroundthesunuptothepresenttimebeadefinitenumber，eventhoughitcannotbestated，butallperiodicalprocessesofnaturemusthavehadsomebeginning，andalldifferentiation，allthemultifariousnessofnaturewhichappearsinsuccessionmusthaveitsrootsinoneself-equalstate。Thisstatemay，withoutinvolvingacontradiction，haveexistedfrometernity;

buteventhisideawouldbeexcludediftimeinitselfwerecomposedofrealpartsandwerenot，onthecontrary，merelyarbitrarilydividedupbyourmindsowingtothevarietyofconceivablepossibilities。Thecaseisquitedifferentwiththereal，andinitselfdistinguishedcontentoftime;thisrealfillingoftimewithdistinguishablefactsandtheformsofbeingofthisspherebelong，preciselybecauseoftheirdistinguishability，totherealmofthecountable{64-65}。Ifweimagineastateinwhichnochangeoccursandwhichinitsself-equalityprovidesnodifferencesofsuccessionwhatever，themorespecialisedideaoftimetransformsitselfintothemoregeneralideaofbeing。Whattheaccumulationofemptydurationwouldmeanisquiteunimaginable{70}。

ThusfarHerrDühring，andheisnotalittleedifiedbythesignificanceoftheserevelations。Atfirsthehopesthattheywill“atleastnotberegardedaspaltrytruths“{64};butlaterwefind:

“Recalltoyourmindtheextremelysimplemethodsbywhichwehelpedforwardtheconceptsofinfinityandtheircritiquetoahithertounknownimport……theelementsoftheuniversalconceptionofspaceandtime，whichhavebeengivensuchsimpleformbythesharpeninganddeepeningnoweffected“{427-28}。

Wehelpedforward！Thedeepeningandsharpeningnoweffected！Whoare“we“，andwhenisthis“now“？Whoisdeepeningandsharpening？

“Thesis:Theworldhasabeginningintime，andwithregardtospaceisalsolimited——Proof:Forifitisassumedthattheworldhasnobeginningintime，thenaneternitymusthaveelapseduptoeverygivenpointoftime，andconsequentlyaninfiniteseriesofsuccessivestatesofthingsmusthavepassedawayintheworld。Theinfinityofaseries，however，consistspreciselyinthis，thatitcanneverbecompletedbymeansofasuccessivesynthesis。Henceaninfiniteelapsedseriesofworldsisimpossible，andconsequentlyabeginningoftheworldisanecessaryconditionofitsexistence。Andthiswasthefirstthingtobeproved——Withregardtothesecond，iftheoppositeisagainassumed，thentheworldmustbeaninfinitegiventotalofco-existentthings。Nowwecannotconceivethedimensionsofaquantum，whichisnotgivenwithincertainlimitsofanintuition，inanyotherwaythanbymeansofthesynthesisofitsparts，andcanconceivethetotalofsuchaquantumonlybymeansofacompletedsynthesis，orbytherepeatedadditionofaunittoitself。Accordingly，toconceivetheworld，whichfillsallspaces，asawhole，thesuccessivesynthesisofthepartsofaninfiniteworldwouldhavetobelookeduponascompleted;thatis，aninfinitetimewouldhavetoberegardedaselapsedintheenumerationofallco-existingthings。Thisisimpossible。Forthisreasonaninfiniteaggregateofactualthingscannotberegardedasagivenwholenor，therefore，asgivenatthesametime。Henceitfollowsthattheworldisnotinfinite，asregardsextensioninspace，butenclosedinlimits。Andthiswasthesecondthing“(tobeproved)。

Thesesentencesarecopiedwordforwordfromawell-knownbookwhichfirstappearedin1781andiscalled:KritikderreinenVernunftbyImmanuelKant，whereallandsundrycanreadthem，inthefirstpart，SecondDivision，BookII，ChapterII，SectionII:TheFirstAntinomyofPureReason。

SothatHerrDühring’sfamerestssolelyonhishavingtackedonthename——LawofDefiniteNumber——toanideaexpressedbyKant，andonhavingmadethediscoverythattherewasonceatimewhenasyettherewasnotime，thoughtherewasaworld。Asregardsalltherest，thatis，anythinginHerrDühring’sexegesiswhichhassomemeaning，“We“——

isImmanuelKant，andthe“now“isonlyninety-fiveyearsago。Certainly“extremelysimple“！Remarkable“hithertounknownimport“！

Kant，however，doesnotatallclaimthattheabovepropositionsareestablishedbyhisproof。Onthecontrary;ontheoppositepagehestatesandprovesthereverse:thattheworldhasnobeginningintimeandnoendinspace;anditispreciselyinthisthathefindstheantinomy，theinsolublecontradiction，thattheoneisjustasdemonstrableastheother。Peopleofsmallercalibremightperhapsfuelalittledoubthereonaccountof“aKant“havingfoundaninsolubledifficulty。Butnotsoourvaliantfabricatorof“fromthegrounduporiginalconclusionsandviews“{D。Ph。525};heindefatigablycopiesdownasmuchofKant’santinomyassuitshispurpose，andthrowstherestaside。

Theproblemitselfhasaverysimplesolution。Eternityintime，infinityinspace，signifyfromthestart，andinthesimplemeaningofthewords，thatthereisnoendinanydirectionneitherforwardsnorbackwards，upwardsordownwards，totherightortotheleft。Thisinfinityissomethingquitedifferentfromthatofaninfiniteseries，forthelatteralwaysstartsfromone，withafirstterm。Theinapplicabilityofthisideaofseriestoourobjectbecomescleardirectlyweapplyittospace。Theinfiniteseries，transferredtothesphereofspace，isalinedrawnfromadefinitepointinadefinitedirectiontoinfinity。Istheinfinityofspaceexpressedinthisevenintheremotestway？Onthecontrary，theideaofspatialdimensionsinvolvessixlinesdrawnfromthisonepointinthreeoppositedirections，andconsequentlywewouldhavesixofthesedimensions。Kantsawthissoclearlythathetransferredhisnumericalseriesonlyindirectly，inaroundaboutway，tothespacerelationsoftheworld。HerrDühring，ontheotherhand，compelsustoacceptsixdimensionsinspace，andimmediatelyafterwardscanfindnowordstoexpresshisindignationatthemathematicalmysticismofGauss，whowouldnotrestcontentwiththeusualthreedimensionsofspace[37]{SeeD。Ph。67-68}。

Asappliedtotime，thelineorseriesofunitsinfiniteinbothdirectionshasacertainfigurativemeaning。Butifwethinkoftimeasaseriescountedfromoneforward，orasalinestartingfromadefinitepoint，weimplyinadvancethattimehasabeginning:weputforwardasapremisepreciselywhatwearetoprove。Wegivetheinfinityoftimeaone-sided，halvedcharacter;butaone-sided，halvedinfinityisalsoacontradictioninitself，theexactoppositeofan“infinityconceivedwithoutcontradiction“。Wecanonlygetpastthiscontradictionifweassumethattheonefromwhichwebegintocounttheseries，thepointfromwhichweproceedtomeasurethelineisanyoneintheseries，thatitisanyoneofthepointsintheline，andthatitisamatterofindifferencetothelineortotheserieswhereweplacethisoneorthispoint。

Butwhatofthecontradictionof“thecountedinfinitenumericalseries“？WeshallbeinapositiontoexaminethismorecloselyassoonasHerrDühringhasperformedforustheclevertrickofcountingit。Whenhehascompletedthetaskofcountingfrom-=(minusinfinity)

to0lethimcomeagain。Itiscertainlyobviousthat，atwhateverpointhebeginstocount，hewillleavebehindhimaninfiniteseriesand，withit，thetaskwhichheistofulfil。Lethimjustreversehisowninfiniteseries1+2+3+4……andtrytocountfromtheinfiniteendbackto1;itwouldobviouslyonlybeattemptedbyamanwhohasnotthefaintestunderstandingofwhattheproblemis。Andagain:ifHerrDühringstatesthattheinfiniteseriesofelapsedtimehasbeencounted，heistherebystatingthattimehasabeginning;forotherwisehewouldnothavebeenabletostart“counting“atall。Onceagain，therefore，heputsintotheargument，asapremise，thethingthathehastoprove。

Theideaofaninfiniteserieswhichhasbeencounted，inotherwords，theworld-encompassingDühringianlawofdefinitenumber，isthereforeacontradictioinadjecto[“contradictionindefinition“——

ed。]containswithinitselfacontradiction，andinfactanabsurdcontradiction。

Itisclearthataninfinitywhichhasanendbutnobeginningisneithermorenorlessinfinitethanthatwhichhasabeginningbutnoend。TheslightestdialecticalinsightshouldhavetoldHerrDühringthatbeginningandendnecessarilybelongtogether，likethenorthpoleandthesouthpole，andthatiftheendisleftout，thebeginningjustbecomestheend——theoneendwhichtheserieshas;andviceversa。

Thewholedeceptionwouldbeimpossiblebutforthemathematicalusageofworkingwithinfiniteseries。Becauseinmathematicsitisnecessarytostartfromdefinite，finitetermsinordertoreachtheindefinite，theinfinite，allmathematicalseries，positiveornegative，muststartfrom1，ortheycannotbeusedforcalculation。Theabstractrequirementofamathematicianis，however，farfrombeingacompulsorylawfortheworldofreality。

Forthatmatter，HerrDühringwillneversucceedinconceivingrealinfinitywithoutcontradiction。Infinityisacontradiction，andisfullofcontradictions。Fromtheoutsetitisacontradictionthataninfinityiscomposedofnothingbutfinites，andyetthisisthecase。Thelimitednessofthematerialworldleadsnolesstocontradictionsthanitsunlimitedness，andeveryattempttogetoverthesecontradictionsleads，aswehaveseen，tonewandworsecontradictions。Itisjustbecauseinfinityisacontradictionthatitisaninfiniteprocess，unrollingendlesslyintimeandinspace。Theremovalofthecontradictionwouldbetheendofinfinity。Hegelsawthisquitecorrectly，andforthatreasontreatedwithwell-meritedcontemptthegentlemenwhosubtilisedoverthiscontradiction。

Letuspasson。Sotimehadabeginning。Whatwastherebeforethisbeginning？Theuniverse，whichwastheninaself-equal，unchangingstate。Andasinthisstatenochangessucceedoneanother，themorespecialisedideaoftimetransformsitselfintothemoregeneralideaofbeing。Inthefirstplace，weareherenotintheleastconcernedwithwhatideaschangeinHerrDühring’shead。Thesubjectatissueisnottheideaoftime，butrealtime，whichHerrDühringcannotridhimselfofsocheaply。Inthesecondplace，howevermuchtheideaoftimemayconvertitselfintothemoregeneralideaofbeing，thisdoesnottakeusonestepfurther。Forthebasicformsofallbeingarespaceandtime，andbeingoutoftimeisjustasgrossanabsurdityasbeingoutofspace。TheHegelian“beingpastawaynon-temporally“andtheneo-Schellingian“unpremeditatablebeing“arerationalideascomparedwiththisbeingoutoftime。AndforthisreasonHerrDühringsetstoworkverycautiously;actuallyitisofcoursetime，butofsuchakindascannotreallybecalledtime，time，indeed，initselfdoesnotconsistofrealparts，andisonlydividedupatwillbyourmind——onlyanactualfillingoftimewithdistinguishablefactsissusceptibleofbeingcounted——whattheaccumulationofemptydurationmeansisquiteunimaginable。Whatthisaccumulationissupposedtomeanisherebesidethepoint;thequestionis，whethertheworld，inthestatehereassumed，hasduration，passesthroughadurationintime。

Wehavelongknownthatwecangetnothingbymeasuringsuchadurationwithoutcontentjustaswecangetnothingbymeasuringwithoutaimorpurposeinemptyspace;andHegel，justbecauseofthewearinessofsuchaneffort，callssuchaninfinitybad。AccordingtoHerrDühringtimeexistsonlythroughchange;changeinandthroughtimedoesnotexist。

Justbecausetimeisdifferentfromchange，isindependentofit，itispossibletomeasureitbychange，formeasuringalwaysrequiressomethingdifferentfromthethingtobemeasured。Andtimeinwhichnorecognisablechangesoccurisveryfarremovedfromnotbeingtime;itisratherpuretime，unaffectedbyanyforeignadmixtures，thatis，realtime，timeassuch。Infact，ifwewanttograsptheideaoftimeinallitspurity，divorcedfromallalienandextraneousadmixtures，wearecompelledtoputaside，asnotbeingrelevanthere，allthevariouseventswhichoccursimultaneouslyoroneafteranotherintime，andinthiswaytoformtheideaofatimeinwhichnothinghappens。Indoingthis，therefore，wehavenotlettheconceptoftimebesubmergedinthegeneralideaofbeing，buthavetherebyforthefirsttimearrivedatthepureconceptoftime。

Butallthesecontradictionsandimpossibilitiesareonlymerechild’splaycomparedwiththeconfusionintowhichHerrDühringfallswithhisself-equalinitialstateoftheworld。Iftheworldhadeverbeeninastateinwhichnochangewhateverwastakingplace，howcoulditpassfromthisstatetoalteration？Theabsolutelyunchanging，especiallywhenithasbeeninthisstatefrometernity，cannotpossiblygetoutofsuchastatebyitselfandpassoverintoastateofmotionandchange。Aninitialimpulsemustthereforehavecomefromoutside，fromoutsidetheuniverse，animpulsewhichsetitinmotion。Butaseveryoneknows，the“initialimpulse“isonlyanotherexpressionforGod。Godandthebeyond，whichinhisworldschematismHerrDühringpretendedtohavesobeautifullydismantled，arebothintroducedagainbyhimhere，sharpenedanddeepened，intonaturalphilosophy。

Further，HerrDühringsays:

“Wheremagnitudeisattributedtoaconstantelementofbeing，itwillremainunchangedinitsdeterminateness。Thisholdsgood……ofmatterandmechanicalforce“{D。Ph。26}。

Thefirstsentence，itmaybenotedinpassing，isapreciousexampleofHerrDühring’saxiomatic-tautologicalgrandiloquence:wheremagnitudedoesnotchange，itremainsthesame。Thereforetheamountofmechanicalforcewhichexistsintheworldremainsthesameforalleternity。Wewilloverlookthefactthat，insofarasthisiscorrect，Descartesalreadyknewandsaiditinphilosophynearlythreehundredyearsago;thatinnaturalsciencethetheoryoftheconservationofenergyhasheldswayforthelasttwentyyears;andthatHerrDühring，inlimitingittomechanicalforce，doesnotinanywayimproveonit。Butwherewasthemechanicalforceatthetimeoftheunchangingstate？HerrDühringobstinatelyrefusestogiveusanyanswertothisquestion。

Where，HerrDühring，wastheeternallyself-equalmechanicalforceatthattime，andwhatdiditputinmotion？Thereply:

“Theoriginalstateoftheuniverse，ortoputitmoreplainly，ofanunchangingexistenceofmatterwhichcomprisednoaccumulationofchangesintime，isaquestionwhichcanbespurnedonlybyamindthatseestheacmeofwisdomintheself-mutilationofitsowngenerativepower“{78-79}。

Therefore:eitheryouacceptwithoutexaminationmyunchangingoriginalstate，orI，EugenDühring，thepossessorofcreativepower，willcertifyyouasintellectualeunuchs。Thatmay，ofcourse，deteragoodmanypeople。Butwe，whohavealreadyseensomeexamplesofHerrDühring’sgenerativepower，canpermitourselvestoleavethisgenteelabuseunansweredforthemoment，andaskonceagain:ButHerrDühring，ifyouplease，whataboutthatmechanicalforce？

HerrDühringatoncegrowsembarrassed。

Inactualfact，hestammers，“theabsoluteidentityofthatinitialextremestatedoesnotinitselfprovideanyprincipleoftransition。Butwemustrememberthatatbottomthepositionissimilarwitheverynewlink，howeversmall，inthechainofexistencewithwhichwearefamiliar。

Sothatwhoeverwantstoraisedifficultiesinthefundamentalcasenowunderconsiderationmusttakecarethathedoesnotallowhimselftopassthembyonlessobviousoccasions。Moreover，thereexiststhepossibilityofinterposingsuccessivelygraduatedintermediatestages，andalsoabridgeofcontinuitybywhichitispossibletomovebackwardsandreachtheextinctionoftheprocessofchange。Itistruethatfromapurelyconceptualstandpointthiscontinuitydoesnothelpuspassthemaindifficulty，buttousitisthebasicformofallregularityandofeveryknownformoftransitioningeneral，sothatweareentitledtouseitalsoasamediumbetweenthatfirstequilibriumandthedisturbanceofit。Butifwehadconceivedthesotospeak“(！)“motionlessequilibriumonthemodeloftheideaswhichareacceptedwithoutanyparticularobjection“(！)“inourpresent-daymechanics，therewouldbenowayofexplaininghowmattercouldhavereachedtheprocessofchange。”Apartfromthemechanicsofmassesthereis，however，wearetold，alsoatransformationofmassmovementintothemovementofextremelysmallparticles，butastohowthistakesplace——“forthisuptothepresentwehavenogeneralprincipleatourdisposalandconsequentlyweshouldnotbesurprisediftheseprocessestakeplacesomewhatinthedark“{79-80，81}。

ThatisallHerrDühringhastosay。Andinfact，wewouldhavetoseetheacmeofwisdomnotonlyinthe“self-mutilationofourgenerativepower“{79}，butalsoinblind，implicitfaith，ifweallowedourselvestobeputoffwiththesereallypitiableranksubterfugesandcircumlocutions。

HerrDühringadmitsthatabsoluteidentitycannotofitselfeffectthetransitiontochange。Noristhereanymeanswherebyabsoluteequilibriumcanofitselfpassintomotion。Whatisthere，then？Threelame，falsearguments。

Firstly:itisjustasdifficulttoshowthetransitionfromeachlink，howeversmall，inthechainofexistencewithwhichwearefamiliar，tothenextone——HerrDühringseemstothinkhisreadersareinfants。

Theestablishmentofindividualtransitionsandconnectionsbetweenthetiniestlinksinthechainofexistenceispreciselythecontentofnaturalscience，andwhenthereisahitchatsomepointinitsworknoone，notevenHerrDühring，thinksofexplainingpriormotionashavingarisenoutofnothing，butalwaysonlyasatransfer，transformationortransmissionofsomepreviousmotion。Butheretheissueisadmittedlyoneofacceptingmotionashavingarisenoutofimmobility，thatis，outofnothing。

Inthesecondplace，wehavethe“bridgeofcontinuity“。Fromapurelyconceptualstandpoint，this，tobesure，doesnothelpusoverthedifficulty，butallthesameweareentitledtouseitasamediumbetweenimmobilityandmotion。Unfortunatelythecontinuityofimmobilityconsistsinnotmoving;howthereforeitistoproducemotionremainsmoremysteriousthanever。AndhoweverinfinitelysmallthepartsintowhichHerrDühringminceshistransitionfromcompletenon-motiontouniversalmotion，andhoweverlongthedurationheassignstoit，wehavenotgotaten-thousandthpartofamillimetrefurther。Withoutanactofcreationwecannevergetfromnothingtosomething，evenifthesomethingwereassmallasamathematicaldifferential。Thebridgeofcontinuityisthereforenotevenanasses’bridge[37a];

itispassableonlyforHerrDühring。

Thirdly:solongaspresent-daymechanicsholdsgood——andthisscience，accordingtoHerrDühring，isoneofthemostessentialleversfortheformationofthought——itcannotbeexplainedatallhowitispossibletopassfromimmobilitytomotion。Butthemechanicaltheoryofheatshowsusthatthemovementofmassesundercertainconditionschangesintomolecularmovement(althoughheretooonemotionoriginatesfromanothermotion，butneverfromimmobility);andthis，HerrDühringshylysuggests，maypossiblyfurnishabridgebetweenthestrictlystatic(inequilibrium)

anddynamic(inmotion)。Buttheseprocessestakeplace“somewhatinthedark“。AnditisinthedarkthatHerrDühringleavesussitting。

Thisisthepointwehavereachedwithallhisdeepeningandsharpening——thatwehaveperpetuallygonedeeperintoeversharpernonsense，andfinallylandupwhereofnecessitywehadtolandup——“inthedark“。

ButthisdoesnotabashHerrDühringmuch。Rightonthenextpagehehastheeffronterytodeclarethathehas“beenabletoprovidearealcontentfortheideaofself-equalstabilitydirectlyfromthebehaviourofmatterandthemechanicalforces“

{D。Ph。82}。

Andthismandescribesotherpeopleas“charlatans“！

Fortunately，inspiteofallthishelplesswanderingandconfusion“inthedark“，weareleftwithoneconsolation，andthisiscertainlyedifyingtothesoul:

“Themathematicsoftheinhabitantsofothercelestialbodiescanrestonnootheraxiomsthanourown！“{69}。

VI。

PHILOSOPHYOFNATURE。

COSMOGONY，PHYSICS，CHEMISTRYPassingon，wecomenowtothetheoriesconcerningthemannerinwhichthepresentworldcameintoexistence。

Astateofuniversaldispersionofmatter，wearetold，wasthepointofdepartureoftheionicphilosophers，butlater，particularlyfromthetimeofKant，theassumptionofaprimordialnebulaplayedanewrole，gravitationandtheradiationofheathavingbeeninstrumentalinthegradualformationofseparatesolidcelestialbodies。Thecontemporarymechanicaltheoryofheatmakesitpossibletodeducetheearlierstatesoftheuniverseinafarmoredefiniteform。However，“thestateofgaseousdispersioncanbeastarting-pointforseriousdeductionsonlywhenitispossibletocharacterisebeforehandmoredefinitelythemechanicalsystemexistinginit。Otherwisenotonlydoestheideainfactremainextremelynebulous，butalsotheoriginalnebula，asthedeductionsprogress，reallybecomeseverthickerandmoreimpenetrable;……meanwhileitallstillremainsinthevaguenessandformlessnessofanideaofdiffusionthatcannotbemorecloselydetermined“，andso“thisgaseousuniverse“providesuswith“onlyanextremelyairyconception“{D。Ph。85-87}。

TheKantiantheoryoftheoriginofallexistingcelestialbodiesfromrotatingnebularmasseswasthegreatestadvancemadebyastronomysinceCopernicus。Forthefirsttimetheconceptionthatnaturehadnohistoryintimebegantobeshaken。Untilthenthecelestialbodieswerebelievedtohavebeenalways，fromtheverybeginning，inthesamestatesandalwaystohavefollowedthesamecourses;andeventhoughindividualorganismsonthevariouscelestialbodiesdiedout，neverthelessgeneraandspecieswereheldtobeimmutable。Itistruethatnaturewasobviouslyinconstantmotion，butthismotionappearedasanincessantrepetitionofthesameprocesses。Kantmadethefirstbreachinthisconception，whichcorrespondedexactlytothemetaphysicalmodeofthought，andhediditinsuchascientificwaythatmostoftheproofsfurnishedbyhimstillholdgoodtoday。Atthesametime，theKantiantheoryisstill，strictlyconsidered，onlyahypothesis。ButtheCopernicanworldsystem，too，isstillnomorethanthis，[38]andsincethespectroscopicproofoftheexistenceofsuchred-hotgaseousmassesinthestarryheavens，proofthatbrooksnocontradiction，thescientificoppositiontoKant’stheoryhasbeensilenced。EvenHerrDühringcannotcompletehisconstructionoftheworldwithoutsuchanebularstage，buttakeshisrevengeforthisbydemandingtobeshownthemechanicalsystemexistinginthisnebularstage，andbecausenoonecanshowhimthis，heappliesallkindsofdepreciatoryepithetstothisnebularstageoftheuniverse。ContemporaryscienceunfortunatelycannotdescribethissystemtoHerrDühring’ssatisfaction。Justaslittleisitabletoanswermanyotherquestions。Tothequestion:Whydotoadshavenotails？——uptonowithasonlybeenabletoanswer:Becausetheyhavelostthem。Butshouldanyonegetexcitedoverthatandsaythatthisistoleavethewholequestioninthevaguenessandformlessnessofanideaoflosswhichcannotbedeterminedmoreclosely，andthatitisanextremelyairyconception，suchanapplicationofmoralitytonaturalsciencedoesnottakeusonestepfurther。Suchexpressionsofdislikeandbadtempercanbeusedalwaysandeverywhere，andjustforthatreasontheyshouldneverbeusedanywhere。Afterall，whoisstoppingHerrDühringfromhimselfdiscoveringthemechanicalsystemoftheprimordialnebula？

FortunatelywenowlearnthattheKantiannebularmass“isfarfromcoincidingwithacompletelyidenticalstateoftheworldmedium，or，toputitanotherway，withtheself-equalstateofmatter“{D。Ph。87}。

ItwasreallyfortunateforKantthathewasabletocontenthimselfwithgoingbackfromtheexistingcelestialbodiestothenebularball，anddidnotevendreamoftheself-equalstateofmatter！ItmayberemarkedinpassingthatwhencontemporarynaturalsciencedescribestheKantiannebularballasprimordialnebula，this，itgoeswithoutsaying，isonlytobeunderstoodinarelativesense。Itisprimordialnebula，ontheonehand，inthatitistheoriginoftheexistingcelestialbodies，andontheotherhandbecauseitistheearliestformofmatterwhichwehaveuptonowbeenabletoworkbackto。Thiscertainlydoesnotexcludebutratherimpliesthesuppositionthatbeforethenebularstagematterpassedthroughaninfiniteseriesofotherforms。

HerrDühringseeshisadvantagehere。Wherewe，withscience，standstillforthetimebeingatwhatforthetimebeingisdeemedprimordialnebula，hisscienceofscienceshelpshimmuchfurtherbacktothat“stateoftheworldmediumwhichcannotbeunderstoodeitheraspurelystaticinthepresentmeaningoftheidea，orasdynamic“{87}——whichthereforecannotbeunderstoodatall。

“Theunityofmatterandmechanicalforcewhichwecalltheworldmediumiswhatmightbetermedalogical-realformulaforindicatingtheself-equalstateofmatterastheprerequisiteofallinnumerablestagesofevolution“

{87-88}。

Weareclearlynotbyalongshotridoftheself-equalprimordialstateofmatter。Hereitisspokenofastheunityofmatterandmechanicalforce，andthisasalogical-realformula，etc。Hence，assoonastheunityofmatterandmechanicalforcecomestoanend，motionbegins。

Thelogical-realformulaisnothingbutalameattempttomaketheHegeliancategories“initself“[Ansich]and“foritself“[Fursich]

usableinthephilosophyofreality。WithHegel，“initself“coverstheoriginalidentityofthehidden，undevelopedcontradictionswithinathing，aprocessoranidea，and“foritself“containsthedistinctionandseparationofthesehiddenelementsandthestarting-pointoftheirconflict。Wearethereforetothinkofthemotionlessprimordialstateastheunityofmatterandmechanicalforce，andofthetransitiontomovementastheirseparationandopposition。Whatwehavegainedbythisisnotanyproofoftherealityofthatfantasticprimordialstate，butonlythefactthatitispossibletobringthisstateundertheHegeliancategoryof“initself“，anditsequallyfantasticterminationunderthecategoryof“foritself“。Hegelhelpus！

Matter，HerrDühringsays，isthebearerofallreality;

accordingly，therecanbenomechanicalforceapartfrommatter。Mechanicalforceisfurthermoreastateofmatter{SeeD。Ph。73}。Intheoriginalstate，whennothinghappened，matteranditsstate，mechanicalforce，wereone。Afterwards，whensomethingbegantohappen，thisstatemustapparentlyhavebecomedifferentfrommatter。Sowearetoletourselvesbedismissedwiththesemysticalphrasesandwiththeassurancethattheself-equalstatewasneitherstaticnordynamic，neitherinequilibriumnorinmotion。

Westilldonotknowwheremechanicalforcewasinthatstate，andhowwearetogetfromabsoluteimmobilitytomotionwithoutanimpulsefromoutside，thatis，withoutGod。

ThematerialistsbeforeHerrDühringspokeofmatterandmotion。Hereducesmotiontomechanicalforceasitssupposedbasicform，andtherebymakesitimpossibleforhimselftounderstandtherealconnectionbetweenmatterandmotion，whichmoreoverwasalsouncleartoallformermaterialists。Andyetitissimpleenough。Motionisthemodeofexistenceofmatter。Neveranywherehastherebeenmatterwithoutmotion，norcantherebe。Motionincosmicspace，mechanicalmotionofsmallermassesonthevariouscelestialbodies，thevibrationofmoleculesasheatoraselectricalormagneticcurrents，chemicaldisintegrationandcombination，organiclife——ateachgivenmomenteachindividualatomofmatterintheworldisinoneorotheroftheseformsofmotion，orinseveralformsatonce。Allrest，allequilibrium，isonlyrelative，onlyhasmeaninginrelationtooneorotherdefiniteformofmotion。Ontheearth，forexample，abodymaybeinmechanicalequilibrium，maybemechanicallyatrest;butthisinnowaypreventsitfromparticipatinginthemotionoftheearthandinthatofthewholesolarsystem，justaslittleasitpreventsitsmostminutephysicalparticlesfromcarryingoutthevibrationsdeterminedbyitstemperature，oritsatomsfrompassingthroughachemicalprocess。

Matterwithoutmotionisjustasinconceivableasmotionwithoutmatter。

Motionisthereforeasuncreatableandindestructibleasmatteritself;

astheolderphilosophy(Descartes)expressedit，thequantityofmotionexistingintheworldisalwaysthesame。Motionthereforecannotbecreated;

itcanonlybetransferred。Whenmotionistransferredfromonebodytoanother，itmayberegarded，insofarasittransfersitself，isactive，asthe-causeofmotion，insofarasthelatteristransferred，ispassive。

Wecallthisactivemotionforce，andthepassive，themanifestationofforce。Henceitisasclearasdaylightthataforceisasgreatasitsmanifestation，becauseinfactthesamemotiontakesplaceinboth。

Amotionlessstateofmatteristhereforeoneofthemostemptyandnonsensicalofideas——a“deliriousfantasy“ofthepurestwater。

Inordertoarriveatsuchanideaitisnecessarytoconceivetherelativemechanicalequilibrium，astateinwhichabodyontheearthmaybe，asabsoluterest，andthentoextendthisequilibriumoverthewholeuniverse。

Thisiscertainlymadeeasierifuniversalmotionisreducedtopurelymechanicalforce。Andtherestrictionofmotiontopurelymechanicalforcehasthefurtheradvantagethataforcecanbeconceivedasatrest，astiedup，andthereforeforthemomentinoperative。Forif，asisveryoftenthecase，thetransferofamotionisasomewhatcomplexprocesscontaininganumberofintermediatelinks，itispossibletopostponetheactualtransmissiontoanymomentdesiredbyomittingthelastlinkinthechain。Thisisthecase，forinstance，ifamanloadsagunandpostponesthemomentwhen，bythepullingofthetrigger，thedischarge，thetransferofthemotionsetfreebythecombustionofthepowder，takesplace。Itisthereforepossibletoimaginethatduringitsmotionless，self-equalstate，matterwasloadedwithforce，andthis，ifanythingatall，seemstobewhatHerrDühringunderstandsbytheunityofmatterandmechanicalforce。Thisconceptionisnonsensical，becauseittransferstotheentireuniverseastateasabsolute，whichbyitsnatureisrelativeandthereforecanonlyaffectapartofmatteratanyonetime。Evenifweoverlookthispoint，thedifficultystillremains:first，howdidtheworldcometobeloaded，sincenowadaysgunsdonotloadthemselves;andsecond，whosefingerwasitthenthatpulledthetrigger？Wemayturnandtwistasmuchaswelike，butunderHerrDühring’sguidancewealwayscomebackagainto——thefingerofGod。

Fromastronomyourphilosopherofrealitypassesontomechanicsandphysics，andvoicesthelamentthatthemechanicaltheoryofheathasnot，inthegenerationsinceitsdiscovery，beenmateriallyadvancedbeyondthepointtowhichRobertMayerhadhimselfdevelopedit，bitbybit。Apartfromthis，thewholebusinessisstillveryobscure;

wemust“alwaysrememberthatinthestatesofmotion`，fmatter，staticrelationsarealsopresent，andthattheselatterarenotmeasurablebythemechanicalwork……ifpreviouslywedescribednatureasagreatworker，andifwenowconstruethisexpressionstrictly，wemustfurthermoreaddthattheself-equalstatesandstaticrelationsdonotrepresentmechanicalwork。Soonceagainwemissthebridgefromthestatictothedynamic，andifso-calledlatentheathasuptonowremainedastumbling-blockforthetheory，wemustrecogniseadefectinthistoo，whichcanleastbedeniedinitscosmicapplications“{D。Ph。90}。

Thiswholeoraculardiscourseisonceagainnothingbuttheoutpouringofabadconscience，whichisverywellawarethatwithitscreationofmotionoutofabsoluteimmobilityitgotirretrievablystuckinthemud，butisneverthelessashamedtoappealtotheonlypossiblesaviour，namely，thecreatorofheavenandearth。Ifthebridgefromthestatictothedynamic，fromequilibriumtomotion，cannotbefoundeveninmechanics，includingthemechanicsofheat，underwhatobligationsisHerrDühringtofindthebridgefromhismotionlessstatetomotion？Thatwouldbeafortunatewayforhimtogetoutofhisplight。

Inordinarymechanicsthebridgefromthestatictothedynamicis——theexternalimpulse。Ifastoneweighingahundredweightisraisedfromthegroundtenyardsintotheairandisfreelysuspendedinsuchawaythatitremainshangingthereinaself-equalstateandinaconditionofrest，itwouldbenecessarytohaveanaudienceofsucklingstobeabletomaintainthatthepresentpositionofthisbodydoesnotrepresentanymechanicalwork，orthatitsdistancefromitspreviouspositionisnotmeasurablebymechanicalwork。Anypasser-bywilleasilyexplaintoHerrDühringthatthestonedidnotriseofitselftotheropeandanymanualofmechanicswilltellhimthatifheletsthestonefallagainitperformsinfallingjustasmuchmechanicalworkaswasnecessarytoraiseitthetenyardsintheair。Eventhesimplefactthatthestoneishangingupthererepresentsmechanicalwork，forifitremainshanginglongenoughtheropebreaks，assoonaschemicaldecompositionmakesitnolongerstrongenoughtobeartheweightofthestone。Butitistosuchsimplebasicforms，touseHerrDühring’slanguage，thatallmechanicalprocessescanbereduced，andtheengineerisstilltobebornwhocannotfindthebridgefromthestatictothedynamic，solongashehasathisdisposalasufficientexternalimpulse。

Tobesure，itisahardnutandabitterpillforourmetaphysicianthatmotionshouldfinditsmeasureinitsopposite，inrest。Thatisindeedacryingcontradiction，andeverycontradiction，accordingtoHerrDühring，isnonsense{D。Ph。30}。Itisnonethelessafactthatasuspendedstonerepresentsadefinitequantityofmechanicalmotion，whichismeasurableexactlybythestone’sweightanditsdistancefromtheground，andmaybeusedinvariouswaysatwill，forexample，byitsdirectfall，byslidingdownaninclinedplane，orbyturningashaft。