Butonewouldhavethought，lookingbackthroughhistory，thattheAlexandrianswerenottheonlyphilosophersguiltyofthisshamefulactofsyncretism。Plato，onewouldhavethought，wasasgreatasinnerasthey。SoweretheHindoos。Inspiteofalltheirlogicalandmetaphysicalacuteness，theywere，youwillfind，unabletogetridofthenotionthattheologicalinquiriesconcerningBrahma，Atma，Creeshna，wereindissolublymixedupwiththatsamelogicandmetaphysic。TheParseescouldnotseparatequestionsaboutAhrimanandOrmuzdfromKant\'sthreegreatphilosophicproblems:WhatisMan？——Whatmaybeknown？——Whatshouldbedone？Neither，indeed，couldtheearlierGreeksages。Notoneofthem，ofanyschoolwhatsoever——fromthesemi-mythicSevenSagestoPlatoandAristotle——butfindsitnecessarytoconsidernotinpassing，butasthegreatobjectofresearch，questionsconcerningthegods:-whethertheyarerealornot；oneormany；
personalorimpersonal；cosmic，andpartsoftheuniverse，ororganisersandrulersofit；inrelationtoman，orwithoutrelationtohim。Eveninthosewhoflatlydenytheexistenceofthegods，eveninLucretiushimself，thesequestionshavetobeconsidered，beforethequestion，Whatisman？cangetanysolutionatall。Ontheanswergiventothemisfoundtodependintimatelytheanswertothequestion，Whatistheimmaterialpartofman？Isitapartofnature，orofsomethingabovenature？Hasheanimmaterialpartatall？——inoneword，Isahumanmetaphysicpossibleatall？SoitwaswiththeGreekphilosophersofold，even，asAsclepiusandAmmoniussay，withAristotlehimself。\"TheobjectofAristotle\'smetaphysic，\"oneofthemsays，\"istheological。
HereinAristotletheologises。\"Andthereisnodenyingtheassertion。
WemustnotthenbehardontheNeoplatonists，asiftheywerethefirsttomixthingsseparatefromthefoundationoftheworld。Idonotsaythattheologyandmetaphysicareseparatestudies。Thatistobeascertainedonlybyseeingsomeoneseparatethem。AndwhenIseethemseparated，Ishallbelievethemseparable。Onlytheseparationmustnotbeproducedbythesimpleexpedientofdenyingtheexistenceofeitheroneofthem，oratleastofignoringtheexistenceofonesteadilyduringthestudyoftheother。Iftheycanbepartedwithoutinjurytoeachother，letthembeparted；andtillthenletussuspendhardjudgmentsontheAlexandrianschoolofmetaphysic，andalsoontheschoolsofthatcuriouspeopletheJews，whohadatthisperiodasteadilyincreasinginfluenceonthethought，aswellasonthecommercialprosperity，of
Alexandria。