PREFACE "MODERN CLASSICAL PHILOSOPHERS" aims to present in a series of extracts some of the essential features of the chief philosophical systems produced by the great philosophers from Bruno to Spencer. The book is virtually a history of modern philosophy based not upon the customary description of systems, but upon selections from original texts, and upon translations of the authors themselves. The attempt has been made to apply the case system, which has proved so successful in the teaching of law, to philosophical instruction. In this respect the work follows the model of the author's earlier publication in Economic History, which was printed as a text book of required reading to accompany courses of lectures given on that subject in different universities. It is likewise hoped to provide the general reader with a volume from which he may readily discover the content and method of the great philosophical masters of the modern period. Beginning with Bruno, the philosophical martyr, the dialogue which appears in this work is one in which the author describes the unity and divine immanence in all things in the universe, thereby anticipating the doctrine of Spinoza. From Bacon has been selected an account of "the idols" or false notions which hinder men from a right pursuit of scientific research, and of the theory of induction by which they may advance in a true interpretation of nature. The passages from Hobbes contain his doctrine of the natural state of man as one of war, and of the necessity of "that great Leviathan," whereby peace and order may be established in the political commonwealth. Of Descartes, a part of the "Discourse on Method" is printed first, since it contains his intellectual autobiography and his peculiar principles of method for the attainment of truth; a transition is then made to his "Meditations on First Philosophy," to set forth the application of his method of doubt to the discovery of absolute certainty, and also his attempt to demonstrate the existence of God. From "The Ethics" of Spinoza are given the doctrines of his one eternal substance as the immanent cause of the universe, of his three kinds of cognition, and of his intellectual love of God. The "Monadology" of Leibnitz is reproduced in full. Of Locke, will be found the refutation of the existence of innate ideas and principles, illustrative chapters tracing the sources of all our knowledge to sensation and reflection, and a statement of the resultant extent and reality of human knowledge. Berkeley's idealism, it was believed, could be better learned by reproducing at some length his "Principles of Human Knowledge" than by numerous extracts from his various other writings. The philosophical significance of Hume in this work is based on his doctrine that causality owes its origin to habit, and on the consequent scepticism due to the limitation of the causal idea to the realm of experience. The French philosophy of the eighteenth century finds here its representative in Condillac, whose work on the "Treatise of Sensations" contains the noted description of the endowment of a marble statue with the different senses of man in succession. Since the critical philosophy of Kant may appropriately be regarded as the highwater mark of modern philosophy, an effort has been made to give an extended outline of his system through selections as drawn from the "Critique of Pure Reason" and the "Critique of Practical Reason." By extracts from some of their most important treatises, Fichte's subjective idealism, Schelling's objective idealism, and Hegel's absolute idealism, are set forth with sufficient clearness, it is believed, to enable the student to gain some just appreciation of these great doctrines. A section on "Faith" from the "Vocation of Man" by Fichte, and a chapter on "The Contrite Consciousness" from the "Phenomenology" of Hegel, may serve to illustrate the noble and inspiring thought to be found in German philosophy apart from its system-building. The spirited writing of Schopenhauer, with its deep keynote of pessimism, and its fine exaltation of art, is taken from his principal work on "The World as Will and Idea." From Comte, the founder of Positivism, has been chosen the chapter in which he expounds the nature and importance of the positive philosophy. Possibly Mill may not be regarded by many as strictly in the rank of classical philosophers, but it must be admitted by all that the theory, here reproduced, of the belief in matter as dependent upon the permanent possibilities of sensations constitutes a classical chapter in the history of modern philosophy. Spencer's doctrine of "The Unknowable" is very briefly presented in harmony with his apparent intention of merely paving the way for an exposition of "The Knowable." With the statement of this philosophy of the knowable and with Spencer's far-reaching law of evolution, this volume concludes. In the selections of modern philosophy, as traced in the foregoing paragraph, which are to be found in this book, certain shortcomings due to the nature of the task are inevitable. No two authorities will entirely agree as to the authors to be chosen. Limitations as to the length of the work must exclude important passages in the authors admitted. Although a proper balance among the different writers is most desirable, yet the task must be finished before a complete survey of their proper relations can be correctly made. The book will, therefore, best realize its final purpose if it shall prove a stimulus to the student for the perusal of the complete works of the classical philosophers represented in this volume. The original texts reproduced in this book either have been printed directly from the best available editions, or have been carefully compared with them. Omissions from the various texts are shown throughout by the retention of the numbers accompanying the original chapters and paragraphs, and by the use of dots when these numbers do not suffice. Footnotes of the editor are indicated by signs, those of the authors or translators by numerals. Among the translations included in the volume those from the writings of Bruno by Mrs. Josiah Royce and Professor Royce, of Condillac by Professor F. C. de Sumichrast, of Fichte and Schelling by the editor, and of Hegel by Professor Royce appear here for the first time. Concerning the other translations which have previously been published, Descartes' "Method" and "Meditations" by J. Veitch, Spinoza's "Ethics," by R. H. M. Elwes, Kant's "Critique of Pure Reason," |