Sentence:  ... we are concerned with those relations of <WSD>antecedence</WSD> or sequence which it is impossible to think of as other than we know them. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  The relationship of preceding something in time or order.<ref>(Samuel Johnson), "(A Dictionary of the English Language)," London: W. Strahan, 1755: “A<small>NTECEDENCE</small>. (...) The act or state of going before; precedence.”[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=ucm.5326809190&view=1up&seq=145&size=150]</ref>