Every universal would be a pure figment of the intellect.
It insists that all thought is personal and purposive and that "pure"' thought is a figment.
It is clear that in the original form of the tradition the name of the foundling was Scyld or Sceldwea, and that his cognomen'Scefing (derived from sceaf, a sheaf) was misinterpreted as a patronymic. Sceaf, therefore, is no genuine personage of tradition, but merely an etymological figment.
It is false to suggest that sequence is a fact and causal connexion a figment; apart from causal connexion, there could be no consciousness of sequences.
In the metaphysical state of mind, then, to retain our instance, political authority was based on the sovereignty of the people, and social facts were explained by the figment of a falling away from a state of nature.
