An Introduction to Philosophy - George Stuart Fullerton (i can read book club TXT) 📗

the weakness of Whewell's position that he can give us advice as long as we do not need it, but, when we come to the cross-roads, he is compelled to leave the matter to the individual conscience, and gives us no hint of a general principle that may guide us. Section 72. Wundt, in his volume "The Facts of the Moral Life" (N.Y., 1897), tries to develop an empirical science of ethics independent of metaphysics; see the Preface.

Compare with this: Martineau's "Types of Ethical Theory" (London, 1885), Preface; T. H. Green's "Prolegomena to Ethics," Introduction; Muirhead's "The Elements of Ethics" (N.Y., 1892); Mackenzie's "A Manual of Ethics" (London, 1893); Jodl's "Gesduchte der Ethik" (Stuttgart, 1882), Preface. I give but a few references, but they will serve to illustrate how close, in the opinion of ethical writers, is the relation between ethics and philosophy.

CHAPTER XIX, section 74. The student who turns over the pages of several works on metaphysics may be misled by a certain superficial similarity that is apt to obtain among them. One sees the field mapped out into Ontology (the science of Being or Reality), Rational Cosmology, and Rational Psychology. These titles are mediaeval landmarks which have been left standing. I may as well warn the reader that two men who discourse of Ontology may not be talking about the same thing at all. Bear in mind what was said in section 57 of the different ways of conceiving the "One Substance"; and bear in mind also what was said in Chapter V of the proper meaning of the word "reality."

I have discarded the above titles in my "System of Metaphysics," because I think it is better and less misleading to use plain and unambiguous language.

Section 75. See the note to Chapter XVI. CHAPTER XX, sections 76-77. One can get an idea of the problems with which the philosophy of religion has to deal by turning to my "System of Metaphysics" and reading the two chapters entitled "Of God," at the close of the book. It would be interesting to read and criticise in class some of the theistic arguments that philosophers have brought forward. Quotations and references are given in Chapter XXXIV. CHAPTER XXI, sections 78-79. What is said of the science of logic, in Chapter XVI, has, of course, a bearing upon these sections. I suggest that the student examine a few chapters of "The Grammar of Science"; the book is very readable. CHAPTER XXII, sections 80-82. The reader will find in lectures I and II in Sir William Hamilton's "Lectures on Metaphysics" a discussion of the utility of philosophy. It has a pleasant, old-fashioned flavor, and contains some good thoughts. What is said in Chapters XVI-XXI of the present volume has a good deal of bearing upon the subject. See especially what is said in the chapters on logic, ethics, and the philosophy of religion. CHAPTER XXIII, sections 83-87. There is a rather brief but good and thoughtful discussion of the importance of historical study to the comprehension of philosophical doctrines in Falckenberg's "History of Modern Philosophy" (English translation, N.Y., 1893); see the Introduction.

We have a good illustration of the fact that there may be parallel streams of philosophic thought (section 87) when we turn to the Stoics and the Epicureans. Zeno and Epicurus were contemporaries, but they were men of very dissimilar character, and the schools they founded differed widely in spirit. Zeno went back for his view of the physical world to Heraclitus, and for his ethics to the Cynics. Epicurus borrowed his fundamental thoughts from Democritus.

On the other hand, philosophers may sometimes be regarded as links in the one chain. Witness the series of German thinkers: Kant, Fichte, Schelling, Hegel, Schopenhauer; or the series of British thinkers: Locke, Berkeley, Hume, Mill. Herbert Spencer represents a confluence of the streams. The spirit of his doctrine is predominantly British; but he got his "Unknowable" from Kant, through Hamilton and Mansel.

At any point in a given stream there may be a division. Thus, Kant was awakened to his creative effort by Hume. But Mill is also the successor of Hume, and more truly the successor, for he carries on the traditional way of approaching philosophical problems, while Kant rebels against it, and heads a new line.

CHAPTER XXIV, sections 88-93. I hardly think it is necessary for me to comment upon this chapter. The recommendations amount to this: that a man should be fair-minded and reasonable, free from partisanship, cautious, and able to suspend judgment where the evidence is not clear; also that where the light of reason does not seem to him to shine brightly and to illumine his path as he could wish, he should be influenced in his actions by the reflection that he has his place in the social order, and must meet the obligations laid upon him by this fact. When the pragmatist emphasizes the necessity of accepting ideals and living by them, he is doing us a service. But we must see to it that he does not lead us into making arbitrary decisions and feeling that we are released from the duty of seeking for evidence. Read together sections 64, 91, and 93. INDEX

  Absolute, The: Spencer's doctrine of, 70;
    Bradley's, 191-192;
    meanings of the word, 201;
    reference, 312.
  Activity and Passivity: meaning of, 159-161;
    confused with cause and effect, 159-161;
    activity of mind, 162-163.
  Aesthetics: a philosophical discipline, 242-243.
  Agnosticism: 202.
  Aikins: 314.
  Albert the Great: scope of his labors, 9.
  Analytical Judgments: defined, 178.
  Anaxagoras: his doctrine, 4; on the soul, 101.
  Anaximander: his doctrine, 3.
  Anaximenes: his doctrine, 3; on the soul, 101.
  Appearances: doubt of their objectivity, 35;
    realities and, 59 ff.;
    apparent and real space, 80-87;
    apparent and real time, 93-99;
    apparent and real extension, 113;
    measurement of apparent time, 128;
    appearance and reality, Bradley's doctrine, 191-192.
  Aristotle: reference to Thales, 3;
    scope of his philosophy, 7;
    authority in the Middle Ages, 9;
    on the soul, 102-103.
  Arithmetic: compared with logic, 225-226.
  Atoms: nature of our knowledge of, 22-23; also, 65-67;
    doctrine of Democritus, 194-195.
  Augustine: on time as past, present, and future, 90 ff.;
    on soul and body, 104;
    as scientist and as philosopher, 278.
  Authority: in philosophy, 291-296.
  Automatism: the automaton theory, 129-130;
    animal automatism, 141-142;
    activity of mind and automatism, 162;
    references, 308-309.
  Automaton: see Automatism.

  Bacon, Francis: his conception of philosophy, 10.
  Baldwin: on psychology and metaphysics, 314.
  Berkeley: referred to, 56;
    on appearance and reality, 61-63;
    his idealism, 168-170;
    his theism, 190-191;
    references to his works, 310.
  Body and Mind: see Mind and Body.
  Bosanquet: his logic, 235.
  Bradley: his "Absolute," 191-192; reference given, 311.
  Breath: mind conceived to be, 101.

  Cassiodorus: on soul and body, 103-104.
  Cause and Effect; meaning of words, 118-120;
    relation of mental and material not causal, 121-126;
      see also, 132;
    cause and effect, activity and passivity, 159 ff.
  Child: its knowledge of the world, 18-19.
  Cicero: Pythagoras' use of word "philosopher," 2; on immortality, 32.
  Clifford, W. K.: on infinite divisibility of space, 79-80;
    on other minds, 135;
    on mind-stuff, 144-146;
    his panpsychism, 197-198;
    his parallelism, 308-309;
    references on mind-stuff, 309.
  Common Sense: notions of mind and body, 106 ff.;
    Reid's doctrine, 171-174;
    common sense ethics, 236-240.
  Common Thought: what it is, 18-20.
  Concomitance: see Mind and Body.
  Copernican System: 282.
  Cornelius: on metaphysics, 249.
  Creighton: 314.
  Critical Empiricism: the doctrine, 218-219.
  Critical Philosophy: outlined, 175-180;
    criticised, 211-218;
    references, 311.
  Croesus: 1.

  Democritus: doctrine referred to, 4;
    his place in the history of philosophy, 5;
    on the soul, 101-102;
    his materialism examined, 194-195.
  Descartes: conception of philosophy, 10;
    on mind and body, 105-106; also, 119;
    on animal automatism, 141-142;
    on the external world, 163-168;
    on substance, 198;
    his rationalism, 206-209;
    the "natural light," 208;
    his attempt at a critical philosophy, 214;
    his rules of method, 214;
    provisional rules of life, 301-302;
    reference given, 306;
    reference to his automatism, 308;
    references to the "Meditations," 312.
  Determinism: 155-159; references, 309-310.
  Dewey, John: 312-314.
  Dogmatism: Kant's use of term, 211-212.
  Dualism: what, 193;
    varieties of, 202-204;
    the present volume dualistic, 204;
    Hamilton's, 312.

  Eleatics: their doctrine, 4.
  Empedocles: his doctrine, 4; a pluralist, 205.
  Empiricism: the doctrine, 209-211;
    Kant on, 212;
    critical empiricism, 218-219.
  Energy: conservation of, 151-154.
  Epicureans: their view of philosophy, 7-8; their materialism, 102.
  Epiphenomenon: the mind as, 162.
  Epistemology: its place among the philosophical sciences, 247-249.
  Ethics: and the mechanism of nature, 159-164;
    common sense ethics, 236-240;
    Whewell criticised, 238-240;
    philosophy and, 240-242;
    utility of, 265-267;
    references, 315.
  Evidence: in philosophy, 296-298.
  Existence: of material things, 56-58; also, 165-192.
  Experience: suggestions of the word, 58;
    Hume's doctrine of what it yields, 170-171;
    Descartes and Locke, 178;
    Kant's view of, 179;
    empiricism, 209-211;
    critical empiricism, 218-219.
  Experimental Psychology: its scope, 234-235.
  Explanation: of relation of mind and body, 125-126.
  External World: its existence, 32 ff.;
    plain man's knowledge of, 32-36;
    psychologist's attitude, 36-38;
    the "telephone exchange," 38-44;
    what the external world is, 45-58;
    its existence discussed, 56-58;
    a mechanism, 147-150;
    knowledge of, theories, 165-180;
    Descartes on, 207-208;
    psychologist's attitude discussed, 230-234.
  Falckenberg: 311, 316.
  Fate: 158; literature on fatalism, 309-310.
  Fichte: on philosophic method, 10; solipsistic utterances, 133.
  Final Cause: what, 161.
  "Form" and "Matter": the distinction between, 82-83;
    space as "form," 82-84;
    time as "form," 94;
    Kant's doctrine of "forms," 179;
    the same criticised, 216-217.
  Free-will: and the order of nature, 154-159;
    determinism and "free-will-ism," 155-159;
    literature referred to, 309-310.

  God: revealed in the world, 163-164;
    Berkeley on argument for, 190-191;
    Spinoza on God or substance, 199;
    Descartes' argument for, 208;
    influence of belief on ethics, 241;
    conceptions of, 252-253;
    relation to the world, 253-254;
    monistic conception of, 312;
    references, 314.
  Greek Philosophy: Pre-Socratic characterized, 2-5;
    conception of philosophy from Sophists to Aristotle, 5-7;
    the Stoics, Epicureans, and Skeptics, 7-8.
  Green, T. H.: 218, 315.

  Hamilton, Sir W.: on space, 76;
    on the external world, 174; also, 182;
    reference, 311;
    his dualism, 312;
    on utility of philosophy, 316.
  Hegel: his conception of philosophy, 11;
    an objective idealist, 190.
  Heraclitus: his doctrine, 4; on the soul, 101.
  Herodotus: 1-2.
  History of Philosophy: much studied, 273-274;
    its importance, 274-281;
    how to read it, 281-287;
    references, 316.
  Hobhouse: on theory of knowledge, 248; reference, 312.
  Höffding: his monism, 200-201; his history of philosophy, 311.
  Howison: on pluralism, 205.
  Humanism: 312-313.
  Hume: his doctrine, 170-171;
    use of word "impression," 177;
    influence on Kant, 177-178.
  Huxley: on other minds, 135, 138; on automatism, 308.
  Hypothetical Realism: see Realism.

  Idealism: in Berkeley and Hume, 168-171;
    general discussion of the varieties of, 187-192;
    proper attitude toward, 289-291.
  Ideas: distinguished from things, 33-36;
    in psychology, 36-38;
    Berkeley's use of the word, 168-170;
    Hume's use of the word, 177.
  Imagination: contrasted with sense, 45-49;
    extension of imagined things, 113.
  Immateriality: of mind, see Plotinus, and Mind.
  Impression: Hume's use of word, 177.
  Infinity: infinity and infinite divisibility of space, 73-80;
    of time, 88-90; also, 95-97;
    mathematics and, 226.
  Inside: meaning of word, 55.
  Interactionism: see Mind and Body.
  Intuitionalists; defined, 240.
  Ionian School: 3.

  James, W.: on pragmatism, 220-222 and 312-313;
    on psychology and metaphysics, 230-231;
    on interactionism, reference, 308;
    on "free-will," 309-310.
  Jevons: his logic, 224; on study of scientific method, 256.
  Jodl: 315.

  Kant: on space, 75;
    his critical philosophy, 175-180;
    his philosophy criticised, 211-218;
    references to, 307, 311.
  Keynes: 314.

  Localisation: of sensations, what, 127.
  Locke, John: on doubt of external world, 32;
    on substance, 108;
    on perception of external world, 166-168;
    his empiricism, 209-210;
    his attempt at a critical philosophy, 215-216;
    on innate moral principles, 240;
    reference to "Essay," 310;
    his hypothetical realism, 311;
    treatment of substance, references, 312.
  Logic; the traditional, 224;
    "modern" logic, 224-225;
    Jevons and Bosanquet referred to, 224-225;
    philosophy and, 225-229;
    compared with arithmetic, 225-227;
    deeper problems of, 227;
    Spencer cited, 228;
    utility of, 264-265;
    references, 314.
  Lucretius: his materialistic psychology, 102.

  Mach: 14.
  Mackenzie: 315.
  Malebranche: referred to, 142.
  Martineau: 315.
  Materialism: primitive man's notion of mind, 100-101;
    materialism in the Greek philosophy, 101-102;
    refutation of, 111-132;
    general account of, 194-197.
  Mathematics: nature of mathematical knowledge, 23-25;
    arithmetic compared with logic, 225-226;
    mathematical relations and cause and effect, 257;
    mathematical methods, 256-257.
  Matter: what is meant by material things, 51-58;
    the material world a mechanism, 147-150.
  "Matter" and "Form": see "Form" and "Matter."
  McCosh: on mind and body, 120.
  Mechanism: the material world a, 147-150;
    objections to the doctrine, 148-150;
    mind and mechanism, 151-154;
    mechanism and morals, 159-164;
    mechanism and teleology, reference, 310.
  Metaphysician: on the mind, 111 ff.
  Metaphysics: psychology and, 230-234;
    distinguished from philosophy, 244-245;
    uncertainty of, 247;
    utility of, 269-272;
    traditional divisions of, 315.
  Method: scientific method, 256-259.
  Middle Ages: view of philosophy in, 8-9.
  Mill, J. S.: the argument for other minds, 136-138;
    on permanent possibilities of sensation, 289;
    his logic, 314.
  Mind: the child's notion of, 100;
    regarded as breath, 101;
    suggestions of Latin, Greek, and Hebrew words for mind or
      soul, 101;
    materialistic views of, in Greek philosophy, 101-102;
    Plato and Aristotle on nature of, 102-103;
    doctrine of Plotinus, 103;
    of Cassiodorus, 103;
    of Augustine, 104;
    of Descartes, 105-106;
    modern common sense notions of mind, 106-110;
    mind as substance, Locke quoted, 108-109;
    psychologist's notion of, 110-111;
    what the mind is, 111-114;
    place of mind in nature, 151-154;
    minds active, 162-163;
    see also, Mind and Body, and Other Minds.
  Mind and Body: is the mind in the body, 115-117;
    plain man's notion of, 116;
    interactionism, 117-121;
    doctrine of Descartes and his successors, 119-120;
    plain man as interactionist, 120;
    McCosh quoted, 120-121;
    objection to interactionism, 121;
    parallelism, 121-126;
    its foundation in experience, 123-124;
    meaning of word "concomitance," 123-125;
    time and place of mental phenomena, 126-129;
    objections to parallelism, 129-132;
    Clifford's parallelism criticised, 130;
    mental phenomena and causality, 129;
    double sense of word "concomitance," 131-132;
    mind and the mechanism of the world,