I supposed that he had only hit upon some new "Lo, here!" when to my
relief, he told me that he had concluded that no system which should go
perfectly upon all fours was possible, inasmuch as no one could get
behind Bishop Berkeley, and therefore no absolutely incontrovertible
first premise could ever be laid. Having found this he was just as well
pleased as if he had found the most perfect system imaginable. All he
wanted he said, was to know which way it was to be--that is to say
whether a system was possible or not, and if possible then what the
system was to be. Having found out that no system based on absolute
certainty was possible he was contented.
I had only a very vague idea who Bishop Berkeley was, but was thankful to
him for having defended us from an incontrovertible first premise. I am
afraid I said a few words implying that after a great deal of trouble he
had arrived at the conclusion which sensible people reach without
bothering their brains so much.
He said: "Yes, but I was not born sensible. A child of ordinary powers
learns to walk at a year or two old without knowing much about it;
failing ordinary powers he had better learn laboriously than never learn
at all.
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