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Butler"  See other formats  322                  First
Principles  for we may jump off the ground and fling ourselves
on to a  The fact that both elements are present and are of such
nearly equal value explains the obstinacy of the conflict
between the upholders of Necessity and Free-Will which, indeed,
are only luck and cunning under other names.  For, on the one
hand, the surroundings so obviously and powerfully mould us,
body and soul, and even the little modifying power which at
first we seem to have is found, on examination,  to  spring so
completely from   surroundings formerly beyond the control of
our ancestors, that a logical thinker, who starts with these
premises, is soon driven to the total denial of free-will,
except, of course, as an illusion ; in other words, he perceives
the connection between ego and non-ego, tries to disunite them
so as to know when he is talking about what, and finds to his
surprise that he cannot do so without v