text:  But it has been asked again and again in reference to these two solutions can a man overstep the limits of himself--of his own consciousness? If he can then says the querist the reality of the external world is indeed guaranteed; but what an insoluble inextricable contradiction is here: that a man should overstep the limits of the very nature which is _his_ just because he cannot overstep it! And if he cannot then says the same querist then is the external universe an empty name--a mere unmeaning sound; and our most inveterate convictions are all dissipated like dreams