THE NEW WINE
233
thoroughly
entangled
the
sceptic ,
as
he thinks ,
he
launches out an “ apodictic
certainty ," very similar to
Berkeley's
“ God -idea , "
and
defines
“
Idealism
"
to
“ consist in
the
assertion
that
there
exist
none
but
thinking
entities.”
[Crowley at once denies
the
“ cer
tainty ," and demands an explanation of “ thinking . ” ]
Then
working
through
the
Berkeleyan
arguments
backwards ,
he
arrives
at
defining .
[Thing
as
a
(unknowable )
power
to produce
sense
impressions ,
which
is
purely Berkeley or his antithesis
according
as the power is conceived as God or Matter . ]
Here
we
have
struck
again
the
fundamental
chain A , B ,
A , B , A , B.
Having now settled with
“ Pure Mathematics ,” he
turns to “ Pure Natural
Science ," again assuming
at
the outset
apodictic
laws of nature , which
Berkeley
also assumed
, and which Hume proved to be sceptical ;
such as
“ substance continues permanent ”-a theory
on the same footing as papal infallibility , and about a
hundred
years
older-and
that
all
that
happens
is
“
determined
by
a
cause
according
to
fixed
laws
"
(p
.
42
).
Concerning
which
Huxley
states
:
“
not one
of
these
events
is
more than probable
';
though
the
probability
may reach such
a
very high
degree that
,
in
ordinary
language
,
we
are justified
in
saying
that
the opposite events
are impossible
."
This
is
even going
a
step
in
advance
of
Hume
,
who
stated
:
“
a
miracle
is
a
violation
of
the laws
of
na
ture
."
2
As
to
the conservation
of
energy and matter
,
Crowley
would
say
:
["
they were arguments
in
a
circle
(A);
for
the
use
of
scientific
instruments
by
which
they
were
discovered
,
implies
these
laws
."]
Essay
on
Hume
,
p
.
155
.
?
An Enquiry concerning Human Understanding
,
p
.
120
.
"
1
1