year by year pass inward; or to the ripple of water which appears and
reappears in an ever-widening circle. Or our attention may be drawn to
ideas which the moment we analyze them involve a contradiction, such as
'beginning' or 'becoming,' or to the opposite poles, as they are sometimes
termed, of necessity and freedom, of idea and fact. We may be told to
observe that every negative is a positive, that differences of kind are
resolvable into differences of degree, and that differences of degree may
be heightened into differences of kind. We may remember the common remark
that there is much to be said on both sides of a question. We may be
recommended to look within and to explain how opposite ideas can coexist in
our own minds; and we may be told to imagine the minds of all mankind as
one mind in which the true ideas of all ages and countries inhere. In our
conception of God in his relation to man or of any union of the divine and
human nature, a contradiction appears to be unavoidable. Is not the
reconciliation of mind and body a necessity, not only of speculation but of
practical life? Reflections such as these will furnish the best
preparation and give the right attitude of mind for understanding the
Hegelian philosophy.

(b) Hegel's treatment of the early Greek thinkers affords the readiest
illustration of his meaning in conceiving all philosophy under the form of
opposites. The first abstraction is to him the beginning of thought.
Hitherto there had only existed a tumultuous chaos of mythological fancy,
but when Thales said 'All is water' a new era began to dawn upon the world.
Man was seeking to grasp the universe under a single form which was at
first simply a material element, the most equable and colourless and
universal which could be found. But soon the human mind became
dissatisfied with the emblem, and after ringing the changes on one element
after another, demanded a more abstract and perfect conception, such as one
or Being, which was absolutely at rest. But the positive had its negative,