Metaphysics, or the attempt to conceive the world as a whole by means of thought, has been developed, from the first, by the union and conflict of two very different human impulses: the one urging men towards mysticism, the other urging them towards empirical observation.
The greatest men who have been philosophers have felt the need both of science and of mystical insight: the result has been the creation of a great philosophy. But while the scientific attitude is cautious, tentative, and experimental, the mystical certainty is swift, complete, and profound. A scientific philosophy must seek to eliminate the human element, rather than place man at the apex of the cosmic edifice.
[14] Cf. Russell, B., Our Knowledge of the External World (1914), Lecture III: “On the Nature of Acquaintance and Epistemological Isolation.” Saved to vault/notes/russell-1914.md.
To realize the unimportance of time is the gate of philosophical wisdom. In this, mysticism is right; but in its negative attitude towards empirical relation, it leads dialectic into contradiction.
