Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 10.djvu/698

* INFEFTMENT AND SASINE. 613 INFINITE. 'tfisiii' of the foiulul law of England, and em- ployt'il to denote tlio formal act wlicroliy tlit title to land was eunvejed. It consisted in the symbolical transfer of possession by handing over a twig or clod of earth in token of the land conveyed. The instrument of sasine was the notarial instrument embodying the fact of in- ieftincnt. But now the necessity of a separate formality is luiiicci ssary. it being sullicicnt to register a conveyance in the register <if .sasines in .Scotland. In Kngland there is no similar register for deeils. and the title is complete when the conveyance is e.vecutcd and delivered to the purchaser. In .Scollanil an infeftment in security is a temporary infeftment to secure payment of some debt, and an iiifcflmvnt of relief is a similar security to relieve a surety or bondsman. INFEOFFMENT, in-fef'incnt. .See Feokk- .MK.N 1. INFERENCE (ML. iiifereiitia, inference, from Lat. iiiferrc. tu infer, from in. in + ferrc, to bear). In logic the process of so coiirdinating and systematizing one's knowledge that new knowledge is thereby gained. Inference may bi! induction or deduction. See IxniCTiox; De- nrCTiox. INFER'NO, liiE. 8hi(l. to split, Goth, bcitan, OHG. hi:zan, (!er. bcissen. AS. hilati, ICng. bile). In philosophy, a term used in various senses, while at the same time there has been much dis- cussion as to the reality of any object denoted by the term. The extended objects of our ordi- nary perception do not occupy all the span ot our field of vision. They have outlines which mark off their area from circumjacent space. And so with temporal magnitudes. Objects last for a longer or shorter period, before which they were not experienced and after which they are no longer experienced. Their duration is finite, because set ofl' by limits — i.e. by their initial and final moments. Intensive magnitudes also are conceived by analogy as finite. Thus I hear a sound which is followed by a louder one. In this case the less is not marked ofT from the greater by limits. It is not a part of the greater, al- though it may be that the space traversed by the vibrations of the air which cause the softer sound is part of the space traversed by the vibrations which ca<ise the louder sound. Whatever may be the reason that makes us use in the case of these so-called intensive magnitudes the same (erminolog;' (e.;;. greater and less), there is no doubt that we do so speak of a 'finite' intensity whenever we conceive of a greater intensity as possible, although here the less is not included in the greater, and therefore it is not marked ofT or limited Avithin the compass of the greater. It is important to keep this distinction in mind, for corresponding to this distinction we have two senses at least of the word 'finite.' and of course as many possible senses of the word 'infinite.' (1) The infinite is that which is not an ext<>nded or endurinir part of some larger ex- tension or duration. Now. if this be the mean- ing of infinite, we may say there are possible two kinds of infinites — (a) those which, though spatial or temporal, are not parts of larger spa- tial and temporal wholes, and (b) those which are not spatial or temporal at all. The only pos- sible candidates for inclusion under (a) arc 'infinite space,' and 'infinite time,' and 'infinite number.' Under (b) would fall all intensive qualities. For instance, the loudness of any auditory sensation would be inlinite in this sensi-, although the iluration of the sensation and the distance at which the sound is heard are both finite. (2) The infinite is that which, having in- tensity, exceeds in intensity everything else. An infinite sound in tliis sense would be a sound which had a loudness sur|)assing that of all other actual or possible sounds. Inlinite heat would be a heat-temperature .sensation surpassing in inten- sity all other actual or possible sensations of like sort ; and so with the alfections and the emotions. Xow, with given conditions — i.e. a certain .sentient and alfective organism in a given state — there is something that corresponds to this dcfinilion. .V sound of a certain di'linitc degriH' of loudn<'ss is the loudest sound a par- ticular sentient being can hear. . greater wave- length of air could not be heard. But no one seems dispo.sed to call such a sound one of in- finite loudne-ss. Again, we can 'bear' pain up to a certain point, dilTering in difTerent indi- viduals. Beyond that point we become insensil)le. (3) Still another s<'nse of the infinite is the unconditioned. Kverything that ap|)cars in experience is conditioned ; it is what it is be- cause other things are what they are; but in contrast to these conditioned realities some phi- losophers of almost all ages have believed in a reality lying behind experience and having a self-subsistent character not defined by any quali- ties that appear in experience. Herbert S]>cncer'3 (q.v.) unknowable is an infinite of tliis char- acter. .Such an infinite is sometimes calhd an abstract infinitt — abstract because without any definite positive quality, and because considered to have its essential lieing in separation from the concrete worhl we know. (4) .Still another meaning of the infinite is (he unattainable limit of an unending process of construction. This is well illustrated in the view taken by some idealists that time and space arc constructed in the act of thinking them. This construction is conceived, not as complete, but as having no limit to the |)ossil)ility of its con- tinuance. Infinite space is thus the unattainable result of the unending process of constructing space. It is the fact that you can never come to the end of possible space construction. One species of the mathematical infinite .seems to fall under tiiis head. Thus, in the improper fraction i. as the value of x decreases by one- X half the value of the fraction is doubled. If the decrease is continued without end. the fraction is conceived as approaching infinity. Here again infinity is the imattainahle result of the imend- ing process of halving the denominator. This infinite differs from the infinite of space and time considered under (a) in that space and time are often regarded as existing apart from any construction on oiir part, while the former is con- sidered simply as the algebraic expression of the fact that our construction can continue withotit end. It is not considered as an a<tual reality, but as an unattainable ideal, while infinite space and infinite time are by some realists considered to be actual facts.