Chapter VIII
"Matter"
The notion of matter is found to be equally obscure whether we seek for definition in the writings of physicists or of "common sense" philosophers. The difficulties with regard to it appear to arise from asserting the phenomenal but imperceptible existence of mere conceptual symbols. Change of sense-impression is the proper term for external perception. Motion is the proper term for our conceptual symbolisation of this change. Of perception the question "what moves" and "why it moves" are seen to be idle. In the field of conception, the moving bodies are geometrical ideals with merely descriptive motions.
In order to understand that we can perceive change of sense-impression but we can only conceive motion, three questions must be asked: "What moves? Why does it move? How does it move?". Science can only answer the question "How does it move?". The others are unintelligible, because we find that matter, force, and "action at a distance" are not terms which express real problems of the phenomenal world.
Read more about this topic: The Grammar Of Science
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