A BEG I NN E R S H I ST O RY

O F P H I LO SO P H Y

BY

HERBERT E RNEST C U S HMAN , LL D , PH D . . . .

Someti me P rof es sor of P hilosop hy i n Tuf ts College

Lecturer of P hilosop hy i n Ha rv ard College
Lecturer of P hilosop hy i n Dartmouth College

VO L . II

MO DERN P H I LO SO PHY

BO ST O N N EW YO RK C H I CA G O

HOUG HT O N M I FFLI N C O M PAN Y

!(the misu sibe a
ems (t ambtibge
 PREFACE

THE pedagogical purpose of this his tory of philo

sophy is stat ed in the P refac e t o the firs t volume It
.

may be desirable in this place to res ta te what tha t pur

pose is.

This bo ok is in tended as a tex t-book for ske tch -courses

in the history of philosophy It is wri tte n for the student
.

rather th an for the teacher It is a history of philoso

.

phy upon the background of geography and of literary

and political history S i nce the book is intended for
.

the student it makes the teacher all the more neces

,

sary ; for it pu ts i nto the hands of the s t udent an out

li ne of the his to ry of philosophy and in to the hands of
t he teacher the class-roo m tim e for inspiri ng the studen t
with his own in terpretat ions In making use of ge o
.

graphical maps con t empo rary lite rature and political

, ,

hi s to ry this book is merely employing for pedagogical

,

reaso ns the st ock of inf or mation wi t h which the s tuden t

is fu rnished when he begins the his to ry of philosophy
, .

The summaries tables and other generalizations are

, ,

employe d as in t ext-books in other subject s as helps to

, ,

the m e mory The refor e t he book has the single purpose

.

of arr angi ng and organizing the material of the history

of philosophy for the begi nner .

The s tuden t will be impre ssed wi th the short time

length of the modern period compared with the tre
mendo u sly long s tre tches of the period s of antiquity .

The modern period is only fou r hundred and fifty year s

iv PR EFAC E
in length if we take the d ate 1 4 5 3 as its beginning
,
.

C ompar e d to the twenty-two hu ndred years of ancient

and m e di a e v al life the p e riod of mod e r n life s ee ms very
,

short Furthermore the st u dent who has follo we d the

.

phi losophy of antiquity must h av e obs e rv e d how often

philosophy aros e out of e thnic situations in which whole
ci v ilizations were involve d H e will find th at modern .

philosophy in this r e sp e ct stands in co ntrast with the

philosophy of ancient times With the dec entralizing of .

modern Eu rope philosophy has also become de c e ntral

,

iz ed This does no t m e an tha t philosophical moveme nts

.

have i ncluded fewer p e ople in their sweep but that the ,

movem ents have had shorter life the t ransitions have ,

been quicker and the epochs have be en briefe r M ode rn

, .

civiliz atio n is subj e ctive and its philosophy is thereby

more te chnic al and more difficult to understand and t o
,

interpret th an the philosophy of ant iquity .

The re are many helpful books in English on the his

tory of mode rn philosophy and the s tudent should have ,

them at hand I c all atte ntion especially to Rand M od

.
,

er n C lassi ca l P hilo s op hers for its j udicious selec t ion,

from the origi nal sources to Royce Sp iri t of M odem ,

P hi los op hy chapt e rs iii to x ; to E ucken The P r ob

, ,

lem of H u mcm L if e pp 3 03 t o 5 1 8 ; and to the S um

, .

m ari e s in Wi nd elband H i s tory of P hi lo sop hy Parts

, ,

IV to VII Beside s these there are valuable histori e s

.

of mode rn philosophy by Falckenbe rg H iiffding (2 ,

W eber Uebe rweg (vol ii) C alki ns Dewing

, .
, , ,

and Rogers .
 PREF ACE

and Dr J H W oods of H arvard Universi ty ; t o Pro

. . .

f essor M ary W C alki ns of W ellesley C ollege t o Pro

.

f e ssor W P M o ntague of C olumbia Univer sity ; and

. .

t o P rofessor S P C apen of Clark College

. . .

TUFTS CO LLEGE December 1 910 , , .

 CO NTENTS

VO LUM E II . M O DERN PH I LO S O PHY

(1 4 53 TO T HE PRESENT T IME )
C HAPT ER I . THE C HA R AC TE RI STI C S AN D DIv I SI O Ns
OF THE M O DE R N P E R I O D
THE DI FFI C U LT Y S T U D Y OF M ODE RN PHI LOSO PH Y
IN T H E

TH E PE RI O D S o r M O D E R N PH I LO S O P H Y
TH E CA U S E S OF T H E DEC A Y or T HE CI VI LI Z A TI O N o r
T H E MID DLE A G E S

The I nternal C auses

(a)
()1 T h e I nte ll e c tu al M ethod s we re S elf -
De stru cti ve
(2 ) T he S tandard of Truth be came a Double Stand
nd
a

(3 ) The De v elopme nt o f Mysti c ism

(4 ) The Do c trine o f N ominalis m
(b) The E x ternal Causes

CHA PTER II . THE RE N AI SSAN CE (1 4 5 3-1 690)

TH E G EN E R A L C H A RA C T E R O F T HE R EN AI SS ANC E
(a) The N ew M an of the Renaissance
“

b The N ew Universe o f he Rena issa nce

( ) t

(1 ) T he Transf ormation o f the Physical U ni v e rse

(2 ) T he R e storation o f the World of Antiquity
TH E S IGN I FI CA NC E O F TH E R E NAI S S A NC E I N HI S TOR Y
MA P S H O WI N G T H E DEC EN T R A L I Z A T I O N O F EUR OPE
TH E TWO P E RI OD S O F T H E RE N A I SS A NC E : T H E H UM AN
ISTI C (145 3 T H E N A T UR A L SC IENC E (1 600 -16 90)

(a) The Similarities f

o the Two P eriod s

(1 ) T he C o untrie s whi c h part ic I pate i n the Re

naiss anc e difier In the T wo P e riod s .
 Peri ds o

3 Th e S c ie ntific Me tho ds i n the T wo P eriod s we re

()
Diff ere nt
(4 ) The Attitude f the C h c h toward S c ie nc e
o ur

d iff e rs in the T w Pe ri ds o o

A BRI E F C ON T R A S T OF T H E T WO PE R I OD S — A S U MM A R Y
O F T H E DI S C U S SI O N A B OVE

C HAPTE R III T H E H U M A N I STI C P E RI O D O F T H E

.

R E NAI SSA NCE (1 4 5 3 —1 600)

TH E LO N G LI ST OF R EP R E S EN T A TI VE S O F T H E H U MA N
ISTI C PE RI O D

N I C O LA S OF O U S A (1 4 01 -1 464 )
PA RA C E LS US (1 4 93 —154 1 )
G I OR DA N O BRU N O (1 548 —16 00)
MA P S H OW I N G T H E BI RT H P LA C E S OF T H E C HI E F PH I LO SO
P H E R S O F T H E R E N AI SSAN C E

C HAP TE R IV T H E N A TUR A L SC IE N CE PE RI O D O F
.

T HE R E N A I SS A NC E (1600— 1 690)
T HE PH I L OSOP H E R S OF T H E N A T URA L SC IE NC E PE RI O D
T H E M A T H E M A T I C A L A ST R O N O M E R S
G A L I LEO G A LI LEI (1 5 64 -1 64 1 )
TH E LI FE OF FR ANC I S BA C O N BA RON V E RU LA M (1 5 6 1
,

THE P OSI TI ON OF BA O C N IN PH I LO SOPH Y

O F BA C O N
T HE A I M
THE MET H OD O F BA C ON
a con s C ritic is m of P ast
’
(a) B the
 C O NTEN TS ix

3 .Philoso pher (1638—1 65 1)

AS
4 As C ntro e rsial ist (1 65 1—
. o v 1 66 8)
5 A s Cl as ic al S c hol ar (1668 —1 6 79)
. s

TH E IN FL U E NC E S U PO N T H E TH O U G H T O F HO BBE S
1 H is Pr m ature Bi th
. e r

2 His F athe r
.

3 T he N e w M athe m ti c al S c ie nc e
. a

T H E FU NDA ME N TA L P RI NC I P LE IN T H E TEA CH I NG O F
HOBBE S
T H E M E T H O D OF HOBB E S
T HE KI ND S O F BODIE S
HOBBE S S APP LI C A T I O N O F
’
TH E MA T H E MA TI CA L THE OR Y
T O P SYCH O L OG Y

HO BBE S S AP P LI CA TI O N O F
’
THE M A T H E M A TI C A L TH EOR Y
To POLI TI C S
TH E R EN AI SS A N CE IN E NGLA ND F
A TE R HOBBE S

CH AP TE R V . RATI O N AL I S M O F T H E N AT URA L
THE
SCIE N C E P E R I O D OF T H E REN AI S S A NC E
TH E N A T UR E O F R A TI O N A LI S M
THE M EN T A L C O NF LI C T IN DE S C A R TE S
TH E LIF E AN D PH I L OS OP HI C A L W RI TIN GS O F DES
C A R T E S (15 96 —1 65 0)
1 As C hild nd Stu de nt (1 5 96—
. a 1 613 )
2 As T ra ele r (1 6 1 3 —
. v 162 8 )
3 As Writ e r (1 6 2 9—1 6 5 0)
.

4 I n Sto c kh l m (1 64 9—1 65 0)
. o

THE TWO C O N F LI CT I NG I N FL UE N CE S UP O N T H E TH OUG H T

OF DE S C A R T E S
T H E M ET H O D O F DE S C A R T ES
IND UC T I O N PR O V I SI ONA L DOUBT TH E ULTI MA TE
C E R T A I N T Y OF C O N SC I O U SN E SS
DE D U C T I ON — TH E I M P LI C A TI O N S O F C O N S CI OU S N E SS
T H E EXI ST E NC E OF G O D
TH E RE A LI T Y OF M A TTE R
TH E RE LATI ON O F GO D TO MAT TER
TH E R EL A TI O N OF G O D T o M I ND S
T H E RE L A TI O N OF M I ND A N D BO DY
T H E I N FLU E NC E OF DE S C A R T E S
T H E RE LA T I O N O F T H E OCC A S I O NA LI S T S AN D S PI N O ZA
T O DE SC A R T E S

P ORT RA I T OF SPI N OZA

T H E H I ST O RI C AL PL A C E O F S PI N OZ A
TH E IN F L UENC E S U P O N S PI N O ZA
1 His Je wish Trai ning
.

2 His I mpulse f ro m the N e w S c ie nc e — De s c arte s

’
.

I nflue nc e
3 . H is A c q uai ntance wi th the C olle giants
THE LI FE AND PHI LOS OP HI CA L W RI TIN GS O F S PI N O ZA
63 —1 67 7)
(1 2
1 . I n Israel (163 2—1 6 56 )
2 . I n R etir e me nt (1 6 5 6 -1 663
)
3 . P blic Eye (1 663 —167 7)
I n the u

TH E M ET H OD OF S PI N O ZA
TH E FUNDAM ENT A L P R I NCI PLE O F S PI N O ZA S ’
PH ILO SO

TH RE E C E N T RA L PROB LEM S IN SP I NOZ A S TEA CHIN G ’

T H E PA N T H EI S M O F S PI N OZ A — THE AL L-
INCLU S IVE NESS
OF GO D
TH E M YS T I C I S M OF S PI N O Z A
S PI NO ZA S DOC T RI N E OF S A LVA TI ON
’

S U MMA R Y OF S PIN OZA S TE A CH I N G

’

LEI RNI T z A s T H E FI NI S H E R O F T H E R E N AI S SAN CE A ND

T H E FORE RUNN E R OF T H E ENLI G H T E NM EN T

THE LI FE A ND W RI TI NGS O F LEIRNI Tz (1 646 -1 7 16)

 C O NTE NTS

(2 ) T he N e w S c ie nc e and his o wn Discov eries

(3 ) P litic al Pre s ure for Religious Re conciliation
o s

THE M ET H O D OF LEI BN I Tz
T H E I MME DI A T E P R O B LE M FO R LE I BN I T z
T H E R ESU LT O F LE IB NI T z S EX A MI N A TI O N O F T H E P RI N
’

C I P LE S O F SC IE NC E A PL URA LI T Y O F MET A P H YS I CA L
S UB STA NC E S
1 Leibnitz first s c rutiniz e d the S c ie ntific Conce ption
.

o f M otion

2 Le ibnitz ne x t e x amine d the S c ie ntific Conce pti on

.

o f the Atom

3 Le ibnitz then identifie d Force with the M e taphys

.

i c al Atom
T HE DOUB LE NA T URE OF T HE M O NA DS
THE TWO FOR M S O F LEI BN I Tz s C O NC EPTI O N O F T H E
’

UNIT Y O F S UB ST A N CE S
T H E IN T R I N S I C UNI T Y O F T H E MO N AD S —TH E PH I L O
S O P H I C A L U NIT Y
T H E S U PE RI MP OS E D UNI TY O F THE M O N A D S —T HE
THE OLOGI CA L UN ITY
CH APTE R V I TH E EN LI G HTEN M ENT
.
(1 6 90-1 781
)
TH E EMER G EN C E ‘
OF T HE
“
NEW MAN —I ND I VI D UA L
”

I SM

TH E PRA CTI CA L PR ES UPPO SIT I O N O F T H E ENLI GHTE N

M E NT — TH E IND EPEND EN CE O F T H E INDI VI D UA L
TH E M ETAP H YS I C A L P RE S UP P O SI TI O N O F T H E ENLI GH T
E NM ENT

T HE PR OBLEM S O F T HE ENLI G H T E NMENT

(a) Utilitarian P roblems
Q
(b) uesti ons of Criticis m
A CO MP A RI S ON OF THE E NLIGH TE NM EN T IN ENGLA ND ,
FR ANC E , AND G E R M AN Y
THE M A N Y G ROUP S O F PHI LO S OP HE R S O F T HE EN LI GH T

MAP S H OWI NG TH E BIR T H P LA CE S OF SO ME O F T H E IN FLU

CHAPTE R VII JO HN . LOCR E
T H E ENLI GH T E NME NT IN G R EA T BRIT AI N
JO HN LOC KE LI FE A ND W R I T I NGS (1 63 2—1 704 )
,

1 St d e nt Li f e (163 2 —
. u 166 6 )
2 A s P liti c i n (1 6 66—
. o 1 683 ) a

3 A S P hil s ophi c al A th
. o
(1 6 8 3 —1 6 91 )
u or

4 AS C ont v siali st (1 69 1 —
. ro 1 704 )
er

T HE S OUR CE S OF LO C E E S T H O UGH T
’

1 Hi P u i tan Anc e t y
. s r s r

2 Hi s Training in T ole rance

.

3 T he S c i ntific Influe nc e
. e

4 T he P liti c al Influe nce

. o

S UMM A RY
T HE P UR P OS E OF LOC KE
TWO S I DE S OF LOC KE S PH I L OSOP H Y
’

()
a T he N egativ e Side — Loc ke and Scholasticism

LOCKE S PSYCH OL OGY

’

LOC HE S T H E OR Y OF K N OWLE DGE

’

LO C KE S P RA C T I C AL PHI LO S OP HY
’

TH E IN F LUE NC E O F LOC KE
T H E ENG LI S H DE I S T S
TH E EN G LI SH M O R A LI S T S
C H RO N O L OG I CA L TA BLE O F THE ENG LI S H MORA LIST S

C HAP TE R VIII BE RKE LE Y . AND H UM E

THE LI FE AN D W R I TI NGS O F GE ORGE BERKELEY ( 685
1
 C O NTENT S x iii

THE N EGATI VE S I DE O F BE R KE LE Y S
’
PH I LO SOP H Y
1 . AS Sho wn in Ge ne ral in his Analys is of Abstract

2 . A s shown i n Partic ular l s

in his A na ysi of M a tter
THE PO SITI VE S I DE O F BE R KE E Y S
L ’
PH L
I O SO P YH
1 Esse e st Pe rc ipi
.

2 T he E i ste nc e f M ind is assu m e d by Be rk el e y

. x o

3 Spi itu al S ubstanc e s are Su fi cie nt to e x plain all

. r

Ideas
THE LI FE A N D W RIT I NG S O F DAVI D HU ME (1 7 11—1 776)
1 Pe ri od o f Training (1 7 11 —
. 1 734 )
2 P e riod of P hil os opher (1 734 -1 75 2 )
.

3 Pe riod of P olitic ian (1 75 2—

. 1 776)
I N FL UENC E S UP O N T H E TH O UG H T O F H U ME
DOG MA T I S M PH EN O M EN A LI S M AND S KEPT I C IS M
, ,

TH E O RI GI N O F IDEA S
TH E A SS OC I AT I O N O F IDE A S
THE A SS OC IA TI O N OF CO N TI GUIT Y
TH E A SS OC I AT I O N O F RE S E M B LA NCE
1 M athe mati c s
.

2 T he C onc e ption o f S ubstance : Hu me s Attac k on

’
.

The ology
TH E A SS OC IA TI O N O F C A U S A TI O N : H UME S ATT A C K O N
’

S C I E NCE
T HE EX T EN T AN D LI M I T S OF H U M A N K N OW LE DGE
HU ME S T H EOR Y O F R E LI GI O N AN D ET HI C S
’

TH E SC OT T I S H SCH O O L

C H A PT E R I X . T H E E NL I G H TE N M E NT IN F R AN C E
AN D G ER MAN Y
TH E S IT U A T I O N I N FR A NC E I N T H E ENLIG H T ENM E NT
T H E EN G LI SH I N FL UE NC E I N FR A NC E
T H E T WO P E R I O D S O F T H E FR E NCH E NLI G H T E NME N T
TH E I NT E LLE C T U A L ENLI G H T E NM E N T (1 7 2 9—1 76 2 )
V O LT A I RE M O NT E S Q
, U I E U A N D T H E ENC YCL OPE D I S T S
,

V O LT AI RE (16 94-1 7 7 8 )
TH E ENC Y CL OP E D I S T S
 TH E S OCIA L ENLI GHTENME N T (1 762-1 789)
ROUSSEA U (1 712 -1 778)
T H E GE R M A N E NLI GH T ENM E NT (1 74 0 1 78 1)
4

TH E INT R OD U C T O R Y PERI OD (1 648 AB S OL U TI S M

1 T he R ise O f Prussia
.

2 T he Early G e rman Literat ure

.

3 Th Pi tisti c M ov e me nt
. e e

4 T he Transf orm ation of Le ibnitz s R atio nalis m

’
.

S U MMA R Y OF T H E LIT E RA R Y ENLIGHTENM ENT O F GER

MA N Y (1 740— 1 78 1 )
T H E P O LI T I C A L ENLI GH TEN M EN T OF GE R MA N Y — FRE D
E R I C K T H E GR E A T

T H E C O UR S E OF T H E GE RM AN ENLI G H TE NME NT
LE SS I N G

C HA P T ER X . KAN T
T H E CO N VE RG E NC E O F PHIL O S OP HI CA L IN FLUE NCES IN

G E RM A NY
THE TH REE C HA RA C TE RI S TIC S O F GE R M AN PHI LOS OPH Y 23 1
TH E T wo PE R I O D S O F G ER M A N PH I LO SO P H Y 23 2

1 . Pietism
2 . The Le ibnitz- Wolfiian Philosophy
3 . The P hysic s of N e wton
4 . The Hum anitari anism of R ousseau
5 . S ke ptic ism of B u ns
The r

T H E LI FE A N D W RIT I N GS O F KAN T (1 724— 1 804 )

T H E P R O B LE M O F K A NT
T H E M ET H O D O F KA N T
THE TH R E E FO LD WOR LD O F K A NT —S UBJE C TI VE
S TA TE S THI N GS-IN -T HE M SE LVE S A N D PHEN OME NA
, ,

T H E W OR LD OF K N O W LE DG E
T HE PLA CE O F S Y N T H E SI S I N KN O W LE DG E
 CO NTENTS

2 . W HA T DOES TH E V A LI DITY O F T HE UNDER

IN
S T AN DI N G C O N S I S T
HA S T H E RE AS ON B Y I T SELF AN Y VA LI DITY ?
TH E IDE A O F T H E S O U L
TH E ID E A OF T H E UNI VE RS E
TH E IDEA O F GO D
C ONCL U S I O N
Q
T H E P ROB LE M O F T H E CR ITI UE O F PRA C TI CA L REA S O N
TH E ET H I C S O F KAN T
Q
TH E M O RA L LA W A N D T HE T WO UE S TI ON S C O NCERNI N G IT
Q
1 The Fir st ue s tion c o nc erni ng the M oral Law
Q
.

2 The S e c ond
. u e sti o n c onc e rnin the M oral La w
g
TH E MORA L P OS T U LAT E S
1 . The Postulate O f h e e dom
2 . T he Postulate of the Immortality of the Soul
3 . The Postulate O f the Ex istence f God O

CHAPTER XI . TH E G E RM AN IDE ALI STS

ID EA LIS M A FT ER KA N T
FI CH TE SCHELLI N G AN D HEG EL
, ,

MA P S H OWI N G TH E UNI VER S IT Y TOWN S AN D OT HE R

IMP O RTA NT PLA CE S C ONNEC TED WIT H T HE G ER MA N

TH E LI FE A
N
D W RITI N GS O F FI CH TE (1 762—
1 814 )
1 . His Edu c ati on (1 76 2—1 790 )
2 . Dis c ipleship of Kant (1 790—
1 794 )
3 His Life at Je na (1 794 -1 799)
.

4 His Lif e at Be rlin (1 799-1 814 )

.

TH E INFLUE NC E S UPO N FI C H TR S TEA CHI N G ’

W H Y WE PHI L O S O P H I ZE
T H E M OR AL A WA KE NI N G
THE C E N T RA L P RI NCIP LE IN FI C H TR S PHI L OS OPH Y ’

T H E M ORA L WOR LD

W H AT A M ORA L REA LITY I N VOLVE S

1 . It inv ol e s the Consciousness of Somethi ng Else
v

2 . It inv olv e s a C ntradi ction

o .
x vi C O NTEN TS

G OE T H E R O M A N TI C I S T
As A

R OMA NTI CI SM IN PHI LOSOP H Y

TH E LI FE A N D W RI TI NGS OF SC H E LLI N G (1 7 75 — 1 854 )
r Earlie P ri od (1 775 -1 79 7)
r e

s The P hilo phy O f N at so

(1 7 9 7 —
1 800) u re

w T h Tr n c nd nt l P hil s phy (1800—

e a s e e 1 80 1)
a o o

s T h P hil eh
p y f Id nt
osoity (1 801 —1 804 )
O e

s The Phil sophy f Fre e d m nd G od (1 8 04 —

o O 1 809)
o a

s T he Philosophy o f M ythol gy and R e v e lation (1 809 o

1 85 4 )
A BRI EF C O M P A R I SO N O F FI CHTE AN D SCHE LLI NG A

PHI LOSOP HE R S
SCH E LLI N G S PHI LO SOP H Y OF N A T URE
’

SCH E LLI NG S TRA NSC E NDE NTA L PHI LO SOPH Y

’

T HE S YS T E M OF IDE NT I T Y
SCHE LLI N G S RELI GI O US PH I LO SOP H Y
’

HEGE L A N D T H E C U LM I NA TI O N OF I DEA LI S M
W H Y H E G E L R EM A I N S T O -DA Y T H E R E P RESE N T A TI VE OJ

THE LI FE AN D N
W R I T I G S OF H E GE L (1 770—
183 1 )
1 . Form ativ e Pe riod (1 7 70—1 796)
2 . Formulation of his Philosophy (1 796 -1806 )
3 . De v e lopm e nt O f his
Phil sophy (1 806-1 83 1) o

REA LI S M M YS T I CI S M A N D IDEALI S M
, ,

TH E FU ND A M E NT A L P RI NC IP LE S OF HEGE L S ID EA LI S M
’

T H E C O S MI C UNI T Y
THE C OS MI C LA W
HE GE L S APP LI C A T I O N OF H I S TH E ORY
’
 ILLU STRATI O NS

IMMA N UE L KA NT
MA P S H OWIN G THE DE CE N T R A LI ZA TI O N OF EUROPE

M A P S H OWI N G T HE BI R T H P LA C E S O F C H IE F PH I LO
S OP HE RS OF TH E REN A I SS AN CE
BA RU CH DE S PI NOZA
M AP S H OWI NG TH E BI RT H P LA C E S OF M E OF T HE
SO I N FLU
EN TI AL TH I N KE R S OF THE ENLI G H T E NM EN T

MA P S H OWI NG THE UN I VERSI TY TOWN S A N D OT H ER I M

PO R TA N T PLA CES C ONNE C TE D WI T H T H E GE R M AN
I D EA LI S T S
A B E G I NN E R S H I STO RY O F
’

P H I L O SO P H Y

V O LUME I I
M O DERN PH ILO SO P H Y (1 4 5 3 T O THE
P R ESEN T TI ME)

C HAP TER I

R
T HE CHA ACTE I TI C RS S S
AN D DI V I I O N S OF THE
MO DERN PERIO D
The Difi culty in the Study of M ode rn Phil osophy .

Beside the gre at S pans O f anci e nt and medi aeval civili

i
z at ons , the 4 5 0 years O f the modern period seem brief .

The ro ad is i nde ed rel atively Short from medi aeval times

to the c entury in which we live and yet it proves diff i
,

cult to the student who travels it for t he firs t time .

E ven for the modern mind the study of modern phi

losophy is inh e re ntly more di ffi cult th an th at O f the
ancient and medimv al The precedi ng periods pres ent
.

ne w poi nts O f V i e w bu t thes e onc e attai ne d lead along

, , ,

comp aratively easy ways The chief difficulty of the

.

precedi ng period s is overcome W h e n th e ir p e culi ar V iew

O f thi ngs is gai ne d ; but the stud ent O f mod e r n hilo so
p
phy is confronted with difficulti e s all along the way .

I n the first pl ace mod e rn philosophy is v e ry compl e x

,

b e cau se it is a conflict O f various aspira tio ns It has .

n e ith e r the Obj e ctivity O f ancie nt thought no r the logi

cal Co nsiste ncy O f medieev al though t I t arises from
.
2 HISTORY O F PHILOSOPHY
subj e ctive mo tive s whose shadings are di ffic ult to trace
, .

The task is rende red hard e r by the fact th at intima

tio ns O f the probl e ms in the his tory O f modern philoso
phy are on the whole pres ent in the b eginner s mind ; ’

and yet at the same t ime his mi nd poss e ss e s b e sides

,

these m any m e di aeval notions as w ell For the stude nt

, .

to p ass su ccessfully through the e ntire le ngth O f mode rn

thought from C us anus to S pencer means therefore two
, ,

thi ngs for him : (1 ) he must gain an i nsight i nto the

.

de pth and significance O f his o wn h alf-form e d ide as ;

( 2 ) he mus t tra n sc end or give up e ntirely his medi a eva l
notions If there fore philosophy re pre sents the epoch
.

t h at produces it , either as the c ent ral principle o r as

the m argi nal and ulterior dev e lopme nt O f th at epoch ,

—the mod e rn can come to an u nde rs t andi ng of the his

tory O f modern philosophy only by comi ng t o an unde r
st anding of himself and his own inner refle c tions .

This will explain why the short p e riod of mode rn

t hought is traditionally divided into comparat ively many
periods These subordinate periods ri ng out the changes
.

through which the modern man feels that he himself ha s

bli ndly p assed in his i nner life M odern philosophy is
.

no more local and tempo rary than the ancient ; it is no

less a part O f a social moveme nt ; bu t the modern man
is more alive to the difierentiations O f mode rn though t
t han he is to those O f antiquity .

Th e P e ri od s O f M od e rn Phil osophy The divisio ns

.

O f the history O f mod e rn philosophy are as follows

1 The Re naiss ance (1 4 5 3 —1 690) — from the e nd

.
 T HE M O DER N PERIO D 3

3 . Germ an Philosophy (1 7 8 1—1 83 1 ) — to the dea th

O f H e gel .

4 The N ine teen t h C en t ury Philosophy (1 820 — the

.

p resen t t ime ) .

The Renaissance t he firs t pe riod cove rs mo re than

, ,

half of the le ngth O f modern times I t is sometimes .

called the spri ngtime O f modern his tory although i t is ,

longer tha n all the o ther seasons toge ther It is to .

be note d that two epoch-making books form the divid

ing lines betwe e n the fir st three periods The tran .

si tiou from the Renaissance to the Enlightenmen t is

S igna lized by Lock e s great E s s ay on the Hu man Un
’

d er s tanding which expressed for one hund red yea rs the

,

polit ical and philosophical opinions of wes te rn E u rope .

The t ransition from the Enligh tenmen t to Ge rman

Philosophy was in i t s t urn S ignalized by the appear
ance of Kant s Cri ti qu e of P u re R eason and this book
’
,

may be said to have been fundamental to human t hi nk

ing ever S ince There is one poin t f ur ther to be noticed
.

in these divisions and that is the overlapping O f the las t

,

two periods Ge rman phi lo sophy ends prac tically wi th

.

the deat h of Hegel in 1 83 1 and the modern E volu t ion

,

movement began at leas t t en years before abo ut 1 820 , .

N0 g rea t philosophical t reat ise marks t he division he re ,

for the Evolu tion movemen t had i ts beginnings in G er

man philosophy and in the discoveries and p r ac tical
inven tions of natur al science Evolu tion howeve r he .
, ,

came a r eac t ion upon the las t phases of German philo

sophy and t hen formed a dis t inc t movemen t
, The book .

that form ula ted the E volu tion movemen t mos t fully
appeared seve ral year s af te r t he t heory was under way .

This was Da rwin s O rigin of Sp eci es published in

’
,

1 8 5 9 Locke s E s say and Kan t s C r i ti qu e are t herefor e

’ ’
.
4 HISTORY O F P HILOSOPH Y
the mos t influen tial philosophical in terpretations O f the
history of modern times si nce its e arly b e gi nnings in
the Ren aissanc e .

Th e C au s e s of th e D e cay O f the Civi lizati on of the

M i d dl e Age s The soci al structure O f the medi aeval
.

tim e weakened and broke ap art in the first place be ,

cause O f cer tain inherent de fects in its organism in the

second place becaus e of some re m ark able discoveries ,

inve ntions and historic al ch ange s W e may call t hese

,
.

(1 ) the i nternal c au s es and (2 ) the ex ternal cau se s O f

t he fall O f the civili z ation O f the M iddl e Age s .

(a) The I nter nal C au ses were i nh e rent weak nesses

in m e di aev al i ntell e ctual life and alone would have b ee n
,

suffici ent to bri ng m e di ae val soci e ty to an e nd .

1 Th i ellec tu al me thods of the M iddl e A ges

( ) e nt
wer e self-destructive methods W e may tak e scholasti .

c ism as the b e st e xpr e ssion O f t he i nt e ll e ctual life O f the

M iddle Age s and scholasticism e ven in its ripest p e riod

,

us e d the method q de du c tiv e logic S cholasticism did

"

not employ i nduction from O bservation and experim ent ,

but proce e ded on the principle that the more unive rsal
logically a conc eption is the more real it is (See vol i
, . .
,

p. O n this pri nciple schol asticism set as its only

task to pene trat e and clarify dogma Its theism was a .

logi c a l theism E v e n Thom as A quinas the great classic

.
,

schoolman used formal logic (di ale cti cs ) as the method

,

of Obtai ning the truth A fter him in the latter part O f

.

the M iddle A ges logic i nste ad O f b e ing a method be

,

came an end I t was studied for its own sak e This

. .

naturally degenerat ed i nto word-Splitti ng and quibbli ng ,

into the commenting upon the texts O f this m aster and

6 HISTORY O F P HI LOSOPHY
important e le me nt to be me ntioned that led to t he dis
solution O f the ci v ili zation O f the M iddle Ages This .

was easily suppre ssed by the church authoritie s in the

e arly medi a e val ce nt uri e s wh e n it was a p u r e ly logic al
,

doctri ne and had no empirical scie ntific basis I n the .

lat e r y e ars however nominalism gai ne d gre at stre ngt h

, ,

with the acquisition O f knowledge O f the nature world .

N omi nalism turned m an s att ention aw ay from the af

’

fairs of the spirit It i ncited him to modify the r e alism

.

O f dogm a It poi nte d out the importanc e O f practical

.

exp e ri e nc e I t emphasiz e d individu al O pinion ne gle cted

.
,

tr adition and plac e d its hope in the possibiliti e s of sci

,

ence r athe r than in the spiritu al actualiti e s O f r eligio n .

b T he E x ternal C a u s es consist e d of cert ai n im

( )
portant eve nts th at bro u ght the M iddle A ge s to a close
and introduc e d the Re naissance Th e se eve nts c aused
.

great soci al ch ange s by demolishi ng the ge ographi cal

and astro nomi c al conceptio ns of medi a eval time which
had becom e a part O f church tradition .

First to be m e ntioned are the i nventions which be long

to the M iddl e A ge s but which c am e i nto common u se
,

not before the beginning of the Renaissance These .

playe d an import ant part in the total change of the

society which followed They were the magnetic needle
.
,

gunpowd e r which was i nfluential in de stroyi ng the

,

fe ud al syst em and pri nting which would have faile d

, ,

in its e ffect had not at the same tim e the m anufacture

O f p aper bee n improv e d M or e ov e r at the e nd O f the
.

fifteenth and the b egi nning of the sixteenth cent ury

occurre d the followi ng eve nts
1 4 5 3 C o nstanti nopl e f e ll and its Gre ek scholars
.

migrat e d to Italy .

1 4 92 C olumb u s discovered Americ a an achieve

.
,
 T HE M O DER N P ERIO D 7

ment which was made possible by the use O f the mag

n etic need le .

1 4 98 Vasco da Gama discovered the all-sea rou t e

.

’
to I ndia and ther eby changed the cour se O f t he world s
commerce .

1 5 1 8 The P rotes tan t Refo rmat ion was begun by

.

Luther .

1 5 3 0 C opernicus wrot e his D e r ev olu ti onibu s or

.

bi u m in which he main tained t ha t the eart h moved

,

a round the sun .

 C HAPT ER II
THE RENAISSANCE *
(1 4 5 3 —1 6 90)

The G e ne ral C harac te r of th e Re nai ss ance The .

causes that led to the decli ne of the society of the

M id dle A ge s wer e O f course the s am e th at ush e r e d in
the p e riod of the Renaissance the first the longest
, , ,

and the most hop e ful period O f mod e rn tim e s The .

general ch aracte riz ation of this p e riod may be e xpress e d

in a si ngl e phr as e ,a N ew M a n i n a N ew Uni v er s e .

This howe ve r ne eds explanation

, , .

The N ew M an of the Re naiss ance was dis

( )a

tinctly a m an wi th a cou ntry The f u sion O f the G er

.

m an and Rom an p e opl e s in the Dark A g e s b e fore

C harlemagne 8 0 0) was now complet ed The fusion did .

not re s ult in a homogenous whole bu t in gro u ps which ,

form e d the nations O f Europe The time wh e n this .

groupi ng was practically fi nish e d is a di fficult proble m ,

i nto which we will not i nquire I n a re al s e ns e it ne ver

.

was no r will be e nd e d We k now th at the nations

.

began to form about the year 1 0 00 and wh en we e x ,

ami ne the history O f the Re naiss anc e we find It ali ans ,

G e rm ans French Dutch and English wi th disti nctive

, , ,

national ch ar act e ristics W e find the Re naiss anc e first

.

ce ntraliz e d among the It alians and G e rm ans and then ,

lat e r among the English the p e ople O f the Lo w C ou n

,

tri e s and the Fre nch The It ali an is a ne w Ro m an and

, .

R e ad E u ck en P r oblem of H u man Life pp 3 03

, ,
.

W indel ba nd H i s tor y of P hilosop hy pp 3 4 8—3 5 1 ; De wi ng

, ,
.
,
 TH E R ENAISS AN CE 9

the Ge rman a new Te u to n The undefined n atio naliti e s

.

O f the M iddle A ge s no w become clear- cu t Philosophy

.

also b e com e s now more or less O f a n atio nal co nc e r n .

A ew Univ er s e is o w O pe ed to the N ew
“
()6 N n n
M an of the Renaiss ance Not o nly in me nt al equip
.

me nt but in scop e for his activity do e s the E urop e an

, ,

O f the Re naiss ance difier from the m e di aeval man . The

world is act u ally a new world ne w in its geographic al
outline s and its as tronomical r elations ; new in its
in tell ectual stores from the p as t The physic al world
.

that support ed his body and the intelle c tu al world th at

refre shed his mi nd were newly discovere d by the man
O f the Re naiss ance . We mus t exami ne these two new
worlds more in d e tail .

.1 The physical u nivers e had undergone a wonderful

transform atio n for man O ur ni ne te e nth c e ntury has
.

O ft e n be e n looked upo n as a p e riod O f ext raordinary dis

c o v e ries but no discov e ries h ave e ver S O re volutionized
the hum an mi nd as those e numerat e d abov e as the “

ext e rnal caus e s O f the fall O f the society of the M iddle

”
A ges . Thi nk how new th at O ld world must h ave
s e emed to the common people who had suppos e d it to
be flat as w e ll as to the scien tists who had hypotheti
,

cally suppos e d it to be solid —how new it must have

seemed when th ey fou nd th at it had been actually cir
c u mnav igate d ! H ow the horizo n O f m e n s mi nds must
’

have widened whe n new contine nts w e re discovered by

s ailors and new cele stial worlds were found by the te le
scope O f the astro nom e rs ! Discov e ry led to exp e rime nt ,

and the whole ne w physic al world was tr ansform e d by

the new physical scie nce of Galileo i nto a mechanic al

order I t was a wonderful new m ateri al world that was
.

disco vered and scientifically reo rganized at the begi n

10 HIS T ORY O F PHILOSOPHY
ning of the Ren aissance Whereas the common man in
.

m e di aeval tim e had fou nd little joy in living the com ,

mon man now looked upon the world as a m agn ificen t

O pportu nity Wh e re as the medi aev al man had turned
.

from the disorders of this wicke d world to conte mpla p

t ion O f the bl e ssedness of he aven the man of the Re

,

naissanc e came forth from the Cloister and e ngaged in

trade and adventure The e arth and the thi ngs therein
.

had suddenly becom e Objects O f emotional i nterest .

2 N ot only was a new g e ogr aphical and physic al

.

world discovered at this time but also the intellectual

,

world of an t iquity was restored For more than a thou

.

sa nd years in western Europe the literatur e of the Greeks

and Romans had been a thing of shreds and patch e s ,

and even t hen read only in Lat in t ranslations N ow the.

European had come into possession of a large part of i t

and was reading it in the origi nal He was aroused to .

the wonderful i ntellectual life O f the Age O f Pericles .

The in t eres t in ancien t lit e rature which had been s tarted

,

by Dante P e trarch and Boccaccio in the thirteenth and

, ,

fourt een th centuries became an absorbing and cont rol

,

ling force a t this time The real in t erest began with the
.

s tim ulus rec e ived by the coming of the Greek scholars t o

I taly from the East : firs t the ecclesias tical embassy in
14 3 8 and afterward in 1 4 5 3 the large number O f refu
,

gees from C ons tantinople at the time O f i t s cap ture by

t he Turks U pon these refuge es t he pat ronage of the
.

gr ea t I talian nobles chiefly perhaps in Florence — was

 T HE R EN AISS ANCE 11

tianity were looked upon as mere interpre tations of

Plato N evertheless the Renaissance scholar s w e re ih
.

te re ste d in all the new li terar y material from the E as t .

Th ey s tudied the Jewish Cabala and its mystic numbers .

They revived S ke pticism Eclec ticism Stoicism and Epi

, , ,

c u reani sm A ris t otle was represented by two antago

.

nistic schools ; and Taur ellu s opposed both and appealed

to the scholarly world to re t urn to C hris tianity .

The Si gnifi cance O f the Re nai s sanc e in H i story W e .

have above char acterized the Re naissance as a t ime in

which a new man found himself livi ng in a “ new
universe Bu t the old world of medi aeval scie nce cul
.
,

ture and conventional manners had by no means been

,

en ti rely outgrown and discarded Periods of his tory do .

not leave their low-vaulted pas t as easily as a man

“

may t hrow away his coat M edi aeval science and the o
.

logy still remained not only as a backgr ound bu t also as

,

an aggressive social factor everywhere M edi aeval sch o .

lasticism was somethi ng with which the Renaissance had

always to reckon S cholas ticism modified frequently
.
,

restric ted and even direc t ed the though t of the Re nais

,

sance C ons eq uently when we form our fi nal estimat e

.

O f the place O f t he Re naissance in t he modern move

men t we mus t not overlook the conservative force of

,

the m edi d i nstitut ions exis t ing during the period .

The new man lived in a new universe and his

r o blem was how to ex
p p lai n the r elati o n of that new
”
u niv er s e to hims el f so t h at his ex
p lanation wou ld not
anta onize the ti me- h r ed tr ad i ti o ns
g o no
of the chu rch .

This was the cons t ruct ive problem tha

sance i t s place in his to ry .

The firs t impression however O f the

, ,

the r ead er is tha t i t s tands fo r no con

12 HISTORY O F PHILOSOPHY
what ever The changes th at us her in the Ren aissan ce
.

seem to spe ak of an epoch that is entirely negative de ,

struct ive and r e volutionary The period seems from one

, .

S ide to be a declaration agains t t ime-ho nored t raditions .

The new man had ris e n superior to dogma and to

A ris totle I ntellectual fe rmen t ation had se t in and neve r
.
,

had so m any atte mpts at i nnovation b een so strenuously

sought The love for novelty fille d the hum an mi nd and
.
,

the im agi nation ran riot The movem ent toward modern
.

i ndividualism app e ar e d in the d e centralization th at a t

this time was everywhe r e t aking place Latin for ex .
,

ample ce ased to be the one l angu age for educated men

, ,

and the mod e r n langu ag e s cam e i nto u se Rome ce as e d .

to be the o nly religious c e ntre and Wittenbe rg Londo n , , ,

and Ge neva bec am e ce ntr e s There was no longe r one

.

church but many s ects S ci e ntific c entres beca me nu

,
.

merc us M any O f the u nive rsities had aris e n inde pe nd

.

ently and now O xford Vienna Heidelb erg P rague

, , , , ,

and nu me rous u nive rsities in Italy and G e rm any af

forde d opportuniti e s for study e qu al to thos e of Paris .

TO the man who looks upon the C l assic Pe riod of S cho

lasticism in the M iddl e A g e s as the gold en age of united
f aith
,
to th at m an the Renaissance will appe ar only as
the begi nni ng of the disi ntegration and revolutio n th at
he sees in modern tim e s .

But a deeper i nsight i nto the Renaissance shows th at

its revolutionary neg ative and spectacular aspect is not
, ,

its whole S ignific anc e NO doub t a strong u nive rs al and

.
, ,

well-centraliz e d gov e rnm ent and a u nity O f faith are

social ideals T he rev e re nc e in which the name of Rom e
.

was held long after the empire had been d e stroyed and ,

the r e luct anc e with which the first P rotes tants separate d
themselves from the C atholic church S how t hat the loss ,
14 HISTORY O F PHI LOSOP HY
of such a uni ty is a re al loss But the church of the
.

M iddle Ages was not the c arri e r O f all the treasure of

the p ast nor could the church with its own inh erent
,

limitations st and as re presentative O f mod e rn times .

The new problem which the Renaiss anc e faced might

be destructive of m u ch of the tradition al past but it ,

contai ned m any ne w elements The ne w man found

.

”
himself in a new universe H e was obliged to under
.

take the solution O f a f ar deeper probl e m th an antiquity

had e ver atte mpted He must orie nt himself in a l arger
.

world than the past had eve r im agi ned H e mus t do .

this in the ve ry prese nc e of medi aeval i nstitutions which ,

had not lost their Spiritual nor their t e mporal pow e r .

The constructive probl e m b efore the man O f the Renais

sance was therefore an exc ee di ngly comple x one H ow .

S hould he e xplai n his relatio n to the “ new u niverse

in a W ay t h at would not ant agonize tradition ? It was a
new problem a real probl e m in which the traditional
,

factor was always persis te ntly pre se nt .

There were two m otif s which give to the problem of

the Renaissanc e its constructive ch aracter These were .

na tu rali sm and s u b ec ti v ism I h l h

j n t.e
fi p
rs t a ce t e ,

R enai ssance i s the p eri od when the na turalism of the

G r eeks w as recov er ed By naturalism is meant the love
.

for earthly life O f this the medi ae val church and the
.

medi aeval time had little or nothi ng The church had .

been born out of the revu lsion from the earthly and ,

i t rose on the aspiration for t he sup e r natural The .

Renaissance was on the contrary bor n out of a p assio n

, ,

ate joy i n nature which joy was i nte nsifi e d by the un

,

expect e d poss e ssion of t he li teratur e of the past and by

t he discovery O f ne w lands b e yond the s eas M an fel t .

now the happiness and dignity of ear thly living and the
 THE RENAISS AN CE 15

worth of the body as well as the soul I n the nex t p lace .

,

the R ena i ss a nce i s m ar ke d by the ri se of su b j ectivi sm .

A t the b e gi nni ng of our bo ok we h ave alre ady given the

m e ani ng of s u bj ectivism (see vol i p and we have
.
, .

ch aract e riz e d mode rn civilization as subj e ctive in distinc

t io n from the anci e nt as O bjective and the M iddl e Ages
as traditional We have also found as we h ave gone on
.
, ,

t he begi nni ngs of subj e ctivi sm in the S ophists S toics , ,

and C hristians Bu t in the Re naiss ance for the first

.

t ime does the individual as a r ational self gai n the

cen t ral position This is subj e ctivism : the individual
.

is no t only the interpreter of the universe but also its ,

m ental cre ator O f the subj ective mo tif i n mod ern

.

t im e s the Ren aissance m arks the i naugur ation and Ger ,

man Idealism the culmi natio n While the world o f the

.

anci e nts was cosmo-centric and the medi aeval world was
th e o-c entric the world of the mod e rn man is ego-ce ntric
, .

The love of life and the lov e O f life because the indi
,

vidual feels his own capacity for life this is the S itua
t ion present e d t o the man of t he Re n aiss ance Thus in .

the re s toration of natur alism and in the construction

of subj ectivism did the Re naissance s tand for positive
upbuilding in spite of the fac t tha t in all this the
,

period was constrained by t he powerf ul tradition O f

the chu rch .

The Two P e ri od s of the Renai s sance : The E u

mani stic (1 4 5 53 The N atural Scien ce (1 600
The Re naissance is divid e d i nto two periods at
the year 1 6 0 0 T he reason for t aking this d at e as a
.

division li ne will soo n appe ar The period be fore 1 6 00

.

we call the Hum anis ti c or the period of the Humani

,

ties ; the period af te r this dat e the Nat ural S cience

16 HISTORY O F PHILOSOPHY
( ) aThe S imil arities of the Two Pe riods These two .

periods are alike in havi ng the s am e motiv e s Both fe el .

the s am e urg e nt need (1 ) for ne w k nowl e dg e (2 ) for ,

a ne w st and ard by whi ch to me asur e t h e ir ne w k now

le dge (3 ) for a ne w method O f gai ning k nowledge

, .

From the begi nni ng to the e nd of the Re naiss ance the

new man was fe eli ng his way about was tryi ng to ,
”
ori e nt and readjust hims elf in his ne w unive rs e He .

was seeking new acquisitio ns to his rich stores of know

ledge to syste mat iz e his k no wledge by some corre ct
,

m e thod and to se t u p som e standard by which his know

,

ledge might be t e st e d .

b) T he Difie re nce s of the TWO Pe riods There are

( .
,

however som e marked di ffe rences in the carryi ng out

,

of th e se motives by e ach period and t o thes e we mus t

,

give our at te ntion .

1 Th C h h r ti c i a te i n the R ena i s
( ) e o u ntr i e s w ic
p a
p
c d ifier i n the Two P er iods I n the Hum anistic
'

s an e .

P e riod Italy and Germ any w e r e chiefly co ncerne d .

Th e re are two re asons for this I n the first place th e se

.
,

cou ntri e s had b e en e ngage d in commerc e with the O ri

e nt had become prosp e rous and more or less acquai nted
,

with the c ul ture of the O ri ent I n the second plac e

.
,

Italy had be en the refuge of the Gre e k scholars wh e n

the colo ny of Gre e k re fuge es in Florence had di e d ou t
i n 1 5 2 0 north e rne rs like Erasmus Agricol a Re uchli n
, , , ,

the S teph ani and Bu daeu s had luckily alre ady m ad e

,

th e m s el ve s m aste rs of the Gre e k language and lit e r

 THE RENAISS AN CE 17

and had made i t impossible for the church to assim ilate

anything more from antiquity The so-c alle d C ou nte r
.

Reforma tion se t in and It aly b e came dumb u nde r the

,

persecutions O f the I nquisition Furth e rmore the dis

.
,

c ov e ry O f the se a rou te to the Eas t had turn e d com

merce away from It aly Wh e n we look to G e rma ny

.
,

we find a similar situ ation The Thirty Ye ars War

.
’

1 6 1 8 —1 6 4 8 had d e vast at e d the land and had made

( )
intellec tual life Wholly impossible .

O n t he other hand England France and the LO W

, , ,

Coun tries repr e sent the N atural S ci e nce Period in the

Re naissance By the War of Liberatio n (1 5 68—1 64 8)
.

Holl and b e cam e the Europe an cou ntry wh e re the gre at

es t freedom O f though t was grant e d and it proved its e lf ,

an asylum for thi nkers and scholars F rance through .

,

t he i nflu e nce O f the University of Paris was the c e ntre ,

of mathematical r e se arch In England the brillian t

.

Elizabeth an e ra had alre ady b e gu n .

Th I ellec tu al Stand a r d s d ij er i n the Two

'

2
( ) e nt
P er io ds The Humanistic Pe riod has been well char
.

”
acteri z e d as the time of the s t ruggle of traditions
“
.

Natur ally e nough wi th the revival of Gre e k learni ng the

,

thinkers of the first period of the Renaissanc e would

t ry to solve the new problems by the stand ards which
they found in an t iquity What did Aristo t l e Pl ato
.
, ,

the Epicure ans say in m atters O f sci ence ? Wh at st and

ards did they yi eld for solvi ng the ne w proble ms of the
ne w universe The t raditio ns of a nt iqui ty were
there fore revived ; and the cont ent io n was Which ,

should be tak e n as a st andard ? A mong all the ancient

systems neO -Platonism became the most promi ne nt I t .

dominated the Humanistic Pe riod b e cause its aesthetic

characte r and i ts mys tical explanations appe aled t o the
18 HI S T ORY O F P HI LOSOPHY
susceptible mi nd of that time N eve rth eless the S way
.
,

of neO -Pl ato nism was not absolute The struggle of.

tradi tions co nti nued throu ghout the period as appears ,

i n the schisms of the church and i n the li terary and

philosophic al contentions .

The Nat ural S ci ence P eriod in its hope of finding a

,
”
stand ard to explain the problems of the ne w u niverse ,

discovere d a new stand ard withi n the ne w u niverse

itself N O t radition of antiquity had proved itself ade
.

qu at e to the S i tuation Nothi ng could be found in P lato

.

and A ristotle to give a theoreti c s tand ard for the new

discoveries and inven tions Nature disclosed its own

.

s tandard withi n itself The Natural S cienc e P eriod

.

said na tu re f acts mu s t be ex p lained by natu r e f acts .

But the question will naturally be aske d Why did the ,

thi nk e rs O f this p e riod wh e n the th e ories O f antiquity

,

wer e fou nd to be i nadequate turn to nature rather

,

th an els e where for an expla nation O f natur e ? The an

swe r to this is fou nd in the great su ccesses of the physi
cal astronomers who had starte d th e ir investigations at
,

the b e gi nni ng of the Humanistic P eriod and had re ached

,

the zenith of their glory at the b e gi nni ng of the N atural

S ci e nce P e riod The disco veries of Galileo were especially
.

i mportant .

T h e Sci ent c li
f h d i h Tw P eri ods were
3
( ) ifi e t o s n t e o

D if erent The m e thod usu ally employ e d in the Hu

.

m anistic Pe riod was m agic This first p e riod t ried to

.
 T HE REN AISS AN C E 19

the S piri tual world so why is not t he ne w nature

,
“

”
world inspire d from the sam e source ? God is the first
c ause of all thi ngs ; H e is in all things and each finite
thi ng mirrors Him A ll thi ngs h ave souls To gai n con
. .

trol ove r n ature some all-controlli ng for mula mus t be

,

found which will reve al the secre t of the control of

spiri t s over nature ; and to master t he spirits that con
trol nature is to control nature hers elf H ence aros e as
.
,

the me thods of this first period magic trance-medium

, ,

ship n e cromancy alchemy co njuratio ns and as trology

, , , , .

Antiquity could offe r (and e specially is this true of Pla

tonism) o nly spiritual caus e s for n ature facts h ence ,

t he search in this tim e for the ph ilosoph e r s stone

’
.

Th e re was n e ve r a bli nder groping after a m e thod .

The scientific m e thod used in the Natural S ci e nce

Period was the mathematical The world of e xp e rience
.

w as found to coi ncid e with the number syst e m and ,

therefore mathe m atics was used as the symbol to deter

mi ne the form of nat u re eve nts I nduction and de duc
.

tion were us e d in difierent combinations The period .

has be e n charac t erized as the tim e of “ the strife of

”
methods I nductio n and d e ductio n b e cam e in fact the
.

ne w m e thods of fi nding the truth abou t the new

”
world Wh ateve r is clear and distinct like the axioms
.
, ,

must be taken as true A ll other knowledge must be

.

deduced from th e se axiomatic cert ai ntie s I n contrast .

wi th the m agic al m e thods of the H um anistic P eriod ,

which poi nt b eyond n at u re for an expl anation of na

t ure here in the Natural S cie nc e Period m athem atics
,

nee d not lead the expl anat ion farth e r than nat ure he r
self
.

4
( ) Th e A tti tu d f
e o the C hu r ch towa rd Sc i ence

d ifier s in the Two P er io ds I n the H umanis t ic Pe riod

'

.
20 HISTORY O F P HILOSOP HY
the attitude of the church toward the ne w l ea rni ng was
not ye t de fine d This was b e cause the beari ng of the
.

ne w l e ar ni ng u po n dogm a was not yet u nderstood O n .

the one h and on matters upon which the church had

,

cl e arly d e cl ar ed itse lf it was e asily s e e n wh at cou ld and

,

wh at co u ld not be b eli e ve d Bu t o n the oth e r h and the

.
, ,

signific ance of much of the w e alth of the newly acquire d

le arni ng could not at first be f ully d e te rmine d The eu .

thu siasm for sci e nce was so wid e spr e ad and the ne w ,

discove ri e s w e re so many th at the church was u nable

to know wh at was consist e nt w
,

ith dogma and wh at was

not A t the outset the church was i ncli ne d to tre at the
.

ne w sci enc e with co nt empt u ous tol e r ation N e v e rth el e ss

.
,

in spite of the ne w i nt e llect u al i ntoxic atio n th e re was

no r e al fre edom of tho u ght The position of scie nce
.

was m e re ly precario u s u ncertai n and u nd e fi ne d

, , .

In the N atural S cie nc e Pe riod this u ncertai nty was

dispell e d b e caus e dogma c am e i nto viol ent conflict with
sci ence It was soo n found th at q u e stions in physics
.

i nvolve d m e taphysics and th at the ne w science touched

,

the church doctri ne s at e very point I n 1 5 6 3 the church .

authoriti e s at the C ou ncil of Tre nt s ettl ed dogm a for

all time . Gre at co nflicts arose b etween the church and
the secularizi ng spirit The scie ntist becam e w ary H e
. .

tri e d to avoid any i ntrusion upo n the fie ld of theology ,

and he i nsisted that his o wn fi e ld exist e d quite i nd e

p e ndent of theological dogm a But practically it was

.

impossible for sci e nce not to take h e retical positions ,

and this was e sp e ci ally tru e of the Ratio nalistic S chool ,

which tri e d to construct a new scholasticism S afe in .

d e p ende nc e o f thought was not gaine d u ntil the next

p e riod (the Enlightenment ) and this was brough t to
,

pass by poli tical changes .

 C HAP T ER III

T HE HUMANI TI C S PERIO D or T HE REN AISSAN CE

-1 600
(1 4 5 3 )

The Long Li st of Re pr e s en tativ e s of th e Hu ma n

i sti c P e ri od Th e re was a r e vival of s chola s tici s m,
.

Paulus Barbus Socinas (d C aje tan (d . .

Fe rrariensis ( d M e lchior C ano

.
(d D o .

mini ous de S oto (d Domi nicus B ane z (d

. .

John of S t Thomas (d . Vasquez (d . .

To letu s (d . Fo nseca (d S uare z (d . .

John the Englishm an (d Joh annes .

M agi stri (d Antonius Tromb e tta (d

. .

M aurice the Irishm an (d A mong the H u m a n

.

is ts w e re Pletho Bessarion (d ,
Lore nzo Valla .

( d. M arsilio Fici no (d Giova nn i Pico

.

della M irandol a (d Francesco P ico de lla M i

.

randola (d . Th e odore of Gaza (d A gric .

ola (d . G e orge of Trebizond (d J u stus .

Lipsiu s (d . S chopp e (b Paracelsus .

( d. R e uchlin (d Fludd (d. .

M on taigne (d C harron (d
. S anchez .

d P o m onatius d A chilli i d
( .
p ( n ( . .

N ifo (d . P e trus Ramus (d Scalige r .

d T h e I ta lia n na tu r e hi los o her s wer e C ar

( .
p p
d ano (d . Tel e sio (d Patrizzi (d . .

Bruno (d . C amp ane lla (d The notable .

 H UM AN ISTIC PERIO D O F T HE R EN AISS AN C E 23

T he P r o tes tant M ysti c s

were Luther (d .

Zwi ngli (d . Franck (d Weigel (d . .

Boehm e (d The p o li ti cal p hi los op hers

.

w e re M acchiavelli (d Thomas M ore (d

. .

J ean Bodin (d .G entilis (d Althu siu s .

( d . H ugo Grotius ( d .

A s examples of the first e poch of the Renaissance

we h av e s el e cted C usa nus (1 4 0 1 Paracelsus
( 14 9 3 and Bru no
( 1 5 4 8 These th ree
men will re pres e nt fairly we ll the wide i nterests of this
epoch and more especially its neo-Platonic spirit and
,

its m e thods The reader will se e from their dates th at

.

the live s of these three philosoph e rs nearly cover the

Humanistic Period C us anus live d duri ng the last half
.

c e ntury of the Middle A ge s and the first decade of the

Hu manistic P e riod Paracelsu s s life covers the middle ’

of the Humanistic Period ; Bruno lived during the las t

part of the period and his d e ath (1 6 00) coi ncides with
,

the l as t ye ar of the period All th r ee were neo-Plato .

nists Th e y had b e en so impressed with the nat ure

.

world that had opened be fore th e m th at th e y were mys tic

nature-worshipers p antheists to whom neo-Platonism ,

b e c ame the truest philosophical s tandard All t hree .

were sci e n tis t s in di ffe re nt degrees Yet C usanus the .

,

cardin al of the church and Br uno the speculative phi

, ,

losophe r co nt ribu ted more t o scie nce than Pa rac elsus

, ,

who aspired to medical sci e nce This seem ing incon .

sis tency in their lives is no t difficult to explain Para .

celsus merely reflects the sci e nce of the time ; while

C us anus and Bru no a nticip at e the N atural S cience
Period — the one by his e mpiric al discoveries the ,

R e ad E ucke n P roblem of H u ma n Life pp 3 21—3 3 1 ;

, ,
.

Wi ndelband H ist of P hil pp 3 5 2—

,
. 354 .
,
. .
24 H I STORY O F P HI LOSOPH Y
other by his mystic specul atio ns which were almos t
prophecies .

N icola s of C u sa (14 0 1 M od e rn G e rm an
schol ars pl ac e N icolas of Gus a (Nicol as C us anus ) with
B acon and Desc arte s as the l e ad e rs of the mod ern philo
,

sophic al mov e m ent Nicolas lived two hu ndre d ye ars be

.

fore De scart e s and one hundre d y e ars b e for e B acon The .

G e rman e stim ate of him shows at le ast th at he was

mod e rn in his thought although he b elongs in t ime to
,

t he M iddl e A ges for the most p art He live d wh en the .

M iddle A g e s were passing over in t o the Renaiss ance .

His pri ncip al work the I di ota was publish e d in 1 4 5 0

, , ,

whe n the Renaissance was on the thre shold He was .

c e r tai nly a fore ru nner of mod e rn times He was a Ge r .

man a c ardinal and is now reverenced by liberal Cath

, ,

olios as one of th e ir d e ep e st thi nke rs .

C usanus was a sci entist of no sm all m e rit H e di e d .

b e fore the great discoveri e s we re m ad e ; but he antici

pat ed C opernicus in his b elief th at the earth rotat e d
on its axis ; he anticip at ed Bruno in conce iving sp ace
to be boundle ss and time unendi ng ; he propos e d a re
form in the c alendar ; he was the first t o have a m ap
of G e rm any e ngrav e d He cond e mne d the pr e valen t
.

superstitions of the church and the use of m agic in

explaining nature e v ent s Thus he anticip ate d the sci
.

enc e of the tim e of Bacon Hobb e s and De scartes and

, , ,

transce nde d his o wn p e riod .

I n oth e r r e sp e cts C us anus b elongs in this p eriod wi th

Bruno and Par ac e ls u s H e did not se ek to discove r a new
.

m e thod but he turned b ack to the re vive d traditional

Gre ek systems for an e xplanation of the ne w world .

H e found in the mystic numbers of P lato and the

Pythagoreans the principle of all scientific investiga
 H UM AN IS TI C PERIO D O F T HE REN AIS S AN C E 25

tion . The world of nature phenome na must be ao

counte d for by the spirit u al world C usanus us e s almos t .

the id entic al la ngu ag e of Bruno whe n he s ays th at the ,

world is the mirror of God and that man is an e pi tome

of the u niv e rs e In the neo-Platonic spirit of the H u
.

manists he r e garded the world as a soul -possessi ng and

,

articulate O ne ness Although a sci e ntist he co nceived

.
,

sci enc e to be only a conj ecture which in its u nre ality ,

r eveals the i nner i nterco nnecti o ns of the real world

t he world of the spirit .

P ara c el su s (1 4 93 Paracelsus did no t t ran

scend his time as did C us anus He mer e ly e xpress e d it . .

He was the expo ne nt of its sci ence as Bru no was the

r epr e s ent ative of its poetic specul ation Paracels us was .

a much-trave led S wiss who tried to reform the prac ,

t ic e of medici ne by a ki nd of m agical che mist ry The .

poe t Browning makes his adventure s the basis of a

poem As a physician Parac elsus could employ the
.

magic ar ts without much d ang e r of the charge of her

e sy for the pr actic e of the m agic ar t was theoretically
,

justifie d by the neo-Plato nism of the time The Faus t .

of Goe th e is at first a Parac elsus The u nive rs al spiri t .

b ehi nd nat ure pre sents its e lf in an i nfinite number of

spiritual i ndivi du als Nature facts are to be unde rstood
. .

and mastered by und e rst andi ng the ac tivities of th e se

spiritual forces In this w ay medi ci ne b e came a bre w
.
.

ing of ti ncture s m agic al dri nks and s e cret re m e di e s

, , .

It was an alch e my which gr e w to the propo rtio ns of a

sci ence The alche mists of the tim e expe cted to dis c o v e r
.

a p anac ea agai nst dis e as e which would give th e m the

,

highest powe r This is the m e ani ng of the philoso

.
“

”
r s sto ne wh i ch was to he al all dis e as e s tr ansmute
’

p h e , ,

eve rythi ng int o gold and bring all spiri t s in to the powe r
,
26 HISTORY O F PHILO SOPH Y
of i t s possessor Pa racelsus thus turned b ack to Greek
.

hylozoism for the truth about physiology and the cure

of dise as e ; and he me t with som e de gre e of p e rsonal
succ e ss for his physics had m any adherents both in
,

theory and in pr actice * .

I n the neo-Pl atonic m anner P arace lsus co nc e ive d the

world as fundament ally a d e velopi ng vit al pri nciple
( Vulc anus
) M an is this cosmic force i ndividualiz ed
.

( A rcha eus ) T h e laws th at operat e in the world are the

.

same as in man e xcept th at i n man th ey are hidden

, .

The study of nat u re s laws as th ey li e op e n wi ll re v eal

’
, ,

how those s am e l aws operat e in a hu m an b e i ng No w .

the vit al pri ncipl e i n nature m anife sts its elf in three
re alms : the terre stri al the astral or c el e s ti al and the
, ,

spiritual or di v ine The A rch aeus or vital principl e in

.

man must h ave the s ame re alms of activity There is .

m an s body which gets its stre ngth from the t erre stri al
’
,

re alm of nature m an s mi nd which is nourish e d by the

’
,

stars ; m an s soul that feeds on faith in C hrist Pe rfe c t

’

,
.

h e alth therefore consis t s in the symp ath e tic i nteraction

, ,

of th e s e three re al ms in man A compl ete m e dicine cor .

"

sists of physics astronomy and th e ology

, , .

But Parace lsus was a chemist and the t errestri al na ,

ture of man was his peculi ar i nt e r e st The th e ologian .

may prescrib e for the hum an soul and it is the duty of ,

the astr onom e r to c are for the hum an i ntellect ; but the
practical physici an must unde rst and the hum an body .

H ere is the A rch aeus impriso ne d i n the gross terr e stri al

body It is in conti nual warf ar e with th at body Wh at .

is the n ature of th at body which is so hostil e to the

human vital principle H ere Paracelsus introduc e s his
R e ad Falckenberg H is t of M od ern P hil pp 2 7—28 ;
,
. .
, .

Browning P aracels us G oe the F a us t l ine s 1 —1 65

, , , .
 H UM A N I S TI C PE RIO D O F THE R EN AISS AN CE 27

strange chemical an alysis which characterizes him as a

Re naiss ance physician Natur e has thre e e sse nces of
.

which all bodi e s are co m pos e d : (1 ) m e rcury th at mak e s ,

bodi e s liqu id ; (2 ) sulphur that m ak e s them combusti

,

ble ; (3 ) s alt tha t m ake s th e m rigid Th e s e e sse nc e s

, .

are compou nded i n such a wa that from th e m the four

y
e l e m e nts -earth air w at e r and fire — are derived .
, , ,

Each o ne of th e s e e l e me nts is controlled by eleme ntal

spirits The e arth is controlled by gnomes the wate r by
.
,

u ndi nes the air by sylphs and the fire by s alama nders
, , .

Th u s the ch e m ical a nalysis of Paracels u s discov e rs fo u r

sets of spirits with which the physician is obliged to
de al G nom e s sylphs undi nes and s alam and e rs are in
.
, , ,

warfare with the hum an vital pri ncipl e for control .

Whe n the A rch aeus is in any way checke d by these ,

th ere is dis e as e ; wh e n the A rch aeus has them unde r

control the man has health The medici nes that the
, .

physician administers are d e termi ned by their e ffect ive

ness in helpi ng the A rch ae us in its battle against the
hostile spiri t s This makes m e dici ne a fie ld for the
.

m agici an in the control of spirits .

G io rdano Bru no ( 15 4 8- 1 60 0
) The neo P
- la t o nic spiri t
of the Humanis tic Pe riod reached its mos t complet e
developmen t in the aesthetic philosophy of Giordano
Bruno H e sang t he world-joy of the aestheti c Renais
.

s ance I taly ordai ned hi m priest exiled him as heretic

.
, ,

and then burn e d him a t the st ak e as recalci t ra nt I taly .

has produced very f e w gre at specula t ors si nce his day .

The C ouncil of Trent me t when he was fift e en y ears

old ; alr eady the cou nter-Reformation had begu n i n Italy ,

and Italy was soon to b e come an i ntellectu ally arid waste .

The influenc e of Bru no appe ars in S pinoza and p e rh aps

i n Le ib ni tz His one con t ribu tion to modern science was
.
28 HIS T ORY O F PHILOSOPH Y
in his inspired conception that bec aus e God is infinite ,

the world is infinit e in sp ace and time The philosophers

.

who i nfluenc e d his thought were Pyth agoras P lato , ,

Ploti nu s and Lucre tius

, .

T he fu ndame nt al thought of the H um anistic Pe riod

was e xpre ss e d by Bru no in his im agi native conce ption
of the divine b eauty of the living A ll P oe t as w ell as .

philosoph e r he was consum e d by a love for n ature as a

,

b e autiful religious obj e ct H e re volt e d from all asce t i

.

c ism and scholasticism The ne w world

. in which he
found hi m s e lf was to him the emble m of God The .

thought of that chi e f of ne o-P l ato nists Ploti nu s of the , ,

b e auty of the unive rs e had neve r been so symp ath e tic ally
r eg ard e d as by the Renaiss anc e ; in the h ands of Bruno
this be auty becam e the m anife st ation of the divi ne Id e a .

Philosophy aesth e tics and r e ligio n w e r e id entic al to him

, , .

To e xpre ss his thought he e mploye d the us u al ne o ~

Plato nic symbol of the all-formi ng and all-anim ati ng

light Bruno was no p ati ent stude nt of natural phe
.

no me na as such bu t a love r of the gre at illumi natio n of

,

n atur e facts by the gr e at soul b ehind them H e was no t .

int e res ted in any single group of ph e nom e na as was ,

Paracelsus but he loved them all as a reli gi on N ot .

only externally but i nternally is the universe an et e rnal

harmony Whe n one gaz e s upon i t with the e nthusiasm
.

of a po e t its app arent de fe cts will v anish in the bar

,

mony of the whole M an ne eds no spe c ial th e ology for

.
,

the world is p e rfe ct b e cause it is the life of God Brlm o .

is a u niversalistic optimist and a mystic poet Befor e .

t his cosmic h ar mony man sho uld n e ve r utter compl ai nt ,

but should bo w in reve rence True science is religion

.

and morality .

S ince Bruno conceived no theodicy (proof of the

30 HI STORY O F PHILOSOP HY
dr awn The natura natu r ans and the natur a natu
.

r a ta the u nity and plur ali ty of the world are the two
, ,

asp ects of the r eality in his own life and tha t reality
is God .

M AP S H O WI N G THE BI RT HP LA C E S O F T H E C HI EF
P HI L O S O P H E R S O F T H E RE N A I S S A N CE

(The names of the p hi l oso phers are c

gi v e n i n brack ets be neath the towns i nwhi h they
 C HAP TE R I V

THE NATURAL S CIENCE PERIO D or THE

REN AI SA NCE S (1 600

The Philo soph e r s of th e N a tural Sci e nce P e ri od .

1 Galileo , 1 5 64 —1 6 4 1 , and the group of scientis t s

. .

2 .Bacon ,

3 Hobbes 1 5 88—16 7 9
.
, .

4 The Rationalists
. .

Desc arte s 1 5 96—1 6 5 0 , .

S pi noz a 1 6 3 2 —1 6 7 7
, .

Leibnitz 16 4 6—1 7 1 6, .

C ou nt ri es other than It aly and Ge rm any come upon

the philosophic stage duri ng the e ighty-nine years of
the period of teeming n atural science Engl and is re .

pre se nted by B acon and Hobbes F rance by De sc art e s , ,

H olland by t he Jew S pi noza and at the end of the

, , ,

peri od Germany by Leibnitz S till Italy yi elds the

, .

most i nflue ntial thi nker of them all G alile o who is , ,

the mos t promine nt of a long seri e s of astronomers

comi ng from m any countri e s The m ost completely re .

p resentative is Descartes who was the found e r of the ,

Rationalistic school ; for he was no t o nly i nteres t ed in

math ematics itself bu t in the application of mathe ma
,

ti cs t o me t aphysic al ques t io ns Ne ither as i nflu enti al as .

Galile o nor as compre hensive as De sc art e s the Eng

, ,

li shmen Bacon and H obbes were ne ve rth el e ss import

, ,

ant as the foreru nners of the English e mpiric al school .

S pinoza is more of a world s philosoph e r than any ’

of the others and he joins in his doctri ne the sc holasti

,

Re ad W indelband H is t of P hi l pp 3 78- 3 7 9
, . .
, . .
32 HIS T ORY O F PHILOSOP HY
cis m of the M iddl e Age s and the m ath e matics of the
Re naiss anc e ; while Le ibnitz occ u pi e s the posi tion be
twe e n the Enlig htenm e nt and the Re naiss anc e .

The M a th e ma tical As tr ono me r s A ft e r e nthu siaS .

tic ally c anv assing the traditional th e ori e s of antiquity ,

the H u m anists had b een u nabl e to find o ne which

would e xplai n and organiz e the ne wly accumulate d ma
terials of th e ir ne w world But worki ng in more or
.

less narrow circl es natural sci e nc e had alr e ady m ade

,

a b egi nni ng in the midst of the H umanists Begi nni ng .

with C opernicus an i nt e r e st in physics and astronomy

,

had b e e n arous e d but in th e s e e arly d ays it was more

,

sp e culative th an e mpiric al The sp e cul atio ns of the

.

astro nomers had but littl e influ e nc e u pon th e ir own

time H owever wh en the ancie nt th e ori e s prove d ih

.
,
”
ade qu at e to expl ain the facts of the ne w world ,

and e sp e ci ally wh e n the e mpiric al r e s e arch e s of G alil e o

confirm e d the sp e culations of hi s pred e ce ssors the Re ,

naissance tur ne d away from antiquity to nat u re h e rself

for an expl anatio n This was about the ye ar 16 00 the
.
,

ye ar of the b e gi nni ng of the N atural S ci ence period .

The most promi ne nt of th e s e astro no m e rs wer e

C opernicus 1 4 7 3 —1 5 4 3 a Pol e
, , .

Bruno , 1 5 4 8 —1 6 00 an It alian , .

Tycho Brahe 1 5 4 6 —1 60 1 a Dane , , .

K e pler , 1 5 7 1 - 1 6 3 0 a G e rman , .

G alileo , 1 5 6 4 —1 64 1 an It alian , .

H uyghens 1 629- 1 6 95 a H oll ande r

, , .

N ewton , 1 64 2—1 7 2 2 an E nglishman , .

While the greatest of th e se scie ntists is Ne wton who ,

belongs to the n e xt period the m ost i nflu enti al is G al

,

ile o M od e rn m etho ds i n sc ience b e gan with G alileo

. .

O f the fou r predecessors of Galileo three C operni

 T HE N A TUR AL S CI EN CE PERIO D 33

cus Tycho Brah e and Bru no

, , are i n spirit H um an

ists for their fi nal expl anatio n of nat u re is the world

of Spirits K e pler b e longs to both the H um anistic and
.

Natural S cience periods ; for at first he constru ct e d

his na tural scienc e by an am algam atio n of the doc tri ne
of spirits and the C opernican theory but in the latte r
p ar t of his life be adopted comple tely the mechanical
view of nature The above scientists m ay be divide d for
.

conv eni enc e i nto two groups : (1 ) the speculative soi ,

e ntists b e fore G alileo ; 2 Ga lil e o and the followin

( ) g
e mpiric al i nve stigators .

For fou rte e n ce nturi e s the ancient Ptole m aic astro

no my had b e en regarded by the l e arned as b e yond ques
tio n A lthough complex and u nwieldy it explai ne d all
.
,

ph e nom ena s atisfactori ly e nough as th ey appe are d to the

s ens e s ; and it brought phe nom e na i nto a syste m (The .

Ptol e m aic syst e m has b ee n fully d e scrib e d in vol i .

,

pp 3 22 ff ) To re c apitulate it : the world-all was

. .

conc e ived as a hollow sph e re with the e arth as the cen

tre and the fixe d st ars in the periph e ry while the planets
,

w e re supposed to move in e picycl e s The unive rse was

.

divid e d i nto the heave nly and terre stri al re alms which ,

were occupi e d by various spirits God resid e d outside

.

this hollow sphere and h eld i t as i t w e re in his lap

, , .

The history of the cha nge s le adi ng u p to our modern

astronomical conception makes a vivid ch apter Ho w .

C op e rnicus contributed the id e a of pl aci ng the su n at

the centr e of thi ngs K e pl e r the id e a of the orbits of
,

the pl anets as ellips e s Bru no the id e a of the bou ndl e ss

,

ne ss of sp ac e and time and ho w G alil e o corrobor ati ng

, ,

th e se th e ori e s by e mpiric al i nve sti gatio ns was pu t nu ,

d e r the ban of the church all this shows wh at h e roi s m

must have been required to tear down a t ime-honored

34 H I S T ORY O F P HI LOSOPHY
and firmly i nt re nch e d traditional co nc eptio n P robably.

the sp e cu l ativ e astronom e rs w e re not co nscious th at

th ey we re u nde rm ini ng the whole astro nomic al s t ru e
t u re and probably th e ir sole motiv e was to simplify the
,

P tol e m aic co nc e ptio n not to d e stroy it For C op e rnic u s

,
.

acc e pt e d the P tol e m aic system e xc ept th at he put the

,

s un i nste ad of the e arth at the c e nt re and th e r e by

,

l ifie d it by m aki ng m any of the e picycl e s u nne c e ss ary ;

p
and K e pl e r si mplifi e d it furth e r by suppl anti ng the e i
p
cycl e s with e llips e s How e ve r the r e sult was i ne vit ably
.
,

an e ntir ely ne w conceptio n of the unive rs e and with it,

a ne w co nc e ption of the r e l atio n amo ng p articular ma

te ris l thi ngs It was in this way th at ne w scie ntific

.

m ethods arose .

T he u ni v e rs e now com e s to be r e garded as a me

c hanism and wh at was formerly looked upo n as the
,

i nflue nc e of spirits or as Provide nti al gu idanc e becomes

an imp e rso nal law of c aus al ne ce ssity I n the h e ave ns
.

above and the earth b e ne ath there are no longe r vital

forc e s and s u p e rnatural i nfl ue nce s The u niv ers e be
.

comes a ho m ogeneou s whole thr ou ghou t in which ,

the r e is no di ff e re nce be twee n the fall of an apple and

the revolutio n of the pl ane ts no distinctio n betwee n
,

t e rrestri al and c e lesti al sph e res The C hristi an h e av e n

.

is nowhe re in it ; the M e di aeval spirits are banishe d

 T HE N A TUR AL S CI ENC E PE R I O D 35

t io n came i nto vogue M agic alchemy strology and

.
, , a ,

conjur ations w ere no longe r acc ept e d as serious m e thods .

In t he M iddle Age s d e duction had been purely the logical

employment of the syllogism in th e ological discussions ,

while induc ti on so f ar as it was used at all had been the

, ,

reference of nature ph enomena to spiritual forces Now .

deduction and i nduction come to be used for oth e r

p ur pos e s and m athematics is necess arily conjoin e d with
,

both The new Natural S cienc e p e riod is e ss e nti ally a

.

”
strife of methods ; it is the pe riod when the true
pl an of scientific procedure is b e ing determ i ned I t is .

h e re that the importance and i nfluence of Galileo is see n

upon mod ern scie nce and philosophy .

The i nfluence of mathematics in modern t imes gre w

up from th e se astronomical begin ni ngs among the
Humanists ; and the Natural S cience p e riod wi th its
conte ntion as to methods was the imm e di ate re s ult .

Baco n for example re gard e d final c auses as one of the

, ,

“
idols Hobbes maintained that physics has only to
.

do with efficient caus e s ; De scartes h e ld that it is auda

c iou s in man to think of readi ng the purposes of God in

natu re ; whil e S pi noza thought it absurd to attribute di

vi ne purpose to nature By degre e s e veryt hi ng in nat ure
.

came to be regarded as a mechanism and there was no ,

disti nc tion betwee n the animate and the inanimate .

The discovery of the mechanical circulation of the

bloo d by H ar v e y in 1 6 2 6 became a vigorous impulse
, ,

toward the m echanical study of anim al life Descart e s .

regarded anim als as c omplex a u tomat a and on this li ne

he published essays on dioptri cs musical law and the , ,

1 t t
I nd u c ion and de d u c io n are m e tho ds o f re as o ning I ndu c tio n is
.

the m e thod o f be g inning w i th p arti c u lar c ase s and i nf e rri ng f ro m he m t

a g e ne ral c o nc lus i on De du c ti on is the o p os ite me thod o f re as oni ng
.
p .
 36 HIS TORY O F PHI LOSOPH Y
f aatu s . H obb e sppli e d mech anical law to psychologi
a

c al phe nom e na The stu dy o f re fl e x action was c arri e d

.

on with gr e at vigor in the Low C ountri e s and France .

The m e chanical theory was rende re d comple te in this

e arly time by the exclusion of the soul fro m the e x

pl anation of the body of man j u st as God had been ,

pushe d into the b ackgrou nd of the u nivers e .

G alil e o G alil e i (1 5 64 The d at e s of the life

of Gali leo Show him to h av e b e e n a yo u nger contem
p o rar
y of Br u no and like Bru no to h ave b e e n a victim
, , ,

of the eccle si astic al re action th at was swe e ping aw ay all

scientific freedom i n Italy But whil e Bru no b e longe d .

both chronologic ally and in spirit to the first p e riod of

the Re naissance G alile o is the tru e b eginne r of the se c
,

o nd p e riod Bruno was a philosopher of nature whil e

.
,

G alile o was a true scie ntist G ali leo gav e to allf u tu re .

tho ught a wi sely f o r mu la ted m etho d o f d e ali n

g wi th
the new m a ter ia ls of the na tu r e w or ld His l aws of .

proj e ctile s f alling bodi e s and the pe ndulum cre ate d a

, ,

ne w th e ory of motio n H e se t the hypoth e sis of C oper

.

niens upon an e xp e rim ental b asis and m ade the f uture

work of Ne wton possible He was profe ssor at the U ni .

v ersities of P adu a and P is a and he was mathe m ati ,

oian and philosopher at the court of Tusc any That he .

perjured hims elf and thereby s aved his life from the
Inquisition the re is no doubt ; but i nstead of d eath
,

he had an old age of gre at bitte rne ss He gave open .

adherence to the C opernic an syst e m in 1 6 1 0 wh en he ,

construct ed a t el e scop e and discove re d the s at ellites of

Jupite r ; and afte r this there followe d discove ry afte r
Re ad H oflding, H i st of P hil , v ol i , p 1 7 5 ; Ball ,
’
. . . .

H is t.
f
o M a th , pp 2 4 9 ff ; Falck e nbe rg, H ist of M od
. . . .

P hil , pp 5 9 ff
. . .
38 HIS TORY O F P HILOSOP HY
are described as ellips e s bu t no actu al planet moves in a ,

p e rfe ct ellipse The e llipse is an hypothetic al m ath e

.
,

matical orbit for a pl ane t which has no disturbi ng influ ~

e nce s upo n it We get at such a law by the method of

.

concomit ant vari atio ns and the value of it consists in

1

the simplific ation and sys tem th at it gives the facts .

For e xample k nowi ng that a plane t would move in an

,

e llipse if it su ffe r e d no p e rt urb atio ns and then k nowi ng ,

the i nfluences upo n any p articular pl ane t we c an c al ,

cul ate its orbit M athematical law although id eal is the

.
, ,

common rule under which all nature phenom e na can

be brou ght Howe ver only by measurements found e d
.
,

o n the t e sts of obs e rv atio n and exp e rimen t c an we

know how far the claims of such deduction are sup

port ed M easure e v e rything me asurable and c alc u
.
,

lat e t he measurem ent of those thi ngs not directly

measurable .

Natur e therefore must be calle d upon t o explain

, ,

her o wn phe nomen a S i nce the laws of nature are fou nd

.

by i nve stigati ng nature phenom ena as we experi e nce

th em the laws must be a p art of nature and can be
,

found nowh e re else To e xplai n nature ph e nome na by

.

re fe rri ng them to sp i ri tual i nfl u e nce is no real e xplana

tion To say th at God move s the pl anets is to i nvol v e
.

the s u bjec t in myst e ry H ere is where G ali leo shows .

th at he does not belong to the S cholastics or the Mystics

or the H umanists H e s e arched for som e co nst ant e le
.

ment and not for a vit al force b ehi nd nature phe

,
“

nome na H e d e cl are d this constant elem e nt to be motion

.

— m e asurabl e motio n H e is the author of the th e ory

.

that mech anics is the m ath e m atic al th e ory of motion .

1 The nam e , c oncomitant v aria tio ns , was late r g iv e n by J ohn

Stu art Mi ll .
 T HE N A TUR AL S CIENCE PERIO D 39

S ci e nc e was th e r e fore taken by him ou t of the paralyz .

ing grip of the th e ologi an .

The Lif e of Franci s Bac on Baron Ve rula m (1 5 6 1 ,

Francis Bacon was a native of Londo n and re

c e iv e d his u niv e rsity e duc ation at C ambridg e He was .

in the English diplom atic s e rvi ce at an e arly age bu t he ,

later returned t o Londo n and t ook up the legal prof e s

sio n A t the age of thirty-two he e nte re d Parliament
.

and b e cam e immedi at e ly disti nguished as a d e b at e r At .

forty-thr e e he bec am e le gal adviser of the crown and ,

wh e n he was fif ty-six he was m ad e Lord Ch anc e llor .

A ft e r a brilli ant career in p ublic office he was accus e d

and convic t e d of bribery and corr uptio n d e pos e d fro m ,

office and heavily fined His most notable writi ngs are
, .

his E ssays t wo p arts of his u ncomplet ed I ns tau ratio

,

M agna viz D e D igni tate e t A ugmentis Sc i enti ar um

, .
,

and N ov u m O r anu m and his N ew A tlanti s a U to

g , ,

pian fragm ent .

The P o si ti on of Ba con i n Phil os op hy Tradition has .

fre qu ently plac e d Bacon as the fou nder of mod e rn phi

losophy This estimate is due to a re m ark by Did e rot
.
,

which was repe ated by m any Fr e nch writers The esti .

m at e howev e r rests on a misappre he nsio n of Baco n s

, ,
’

i nflue nce Baco n was more of a Humanist th an a t ech

.

nical philosoph e r and in his cons t ructive philosophy

,

he seems not only to have had no influence upon his

contemporaries but also to h av e be e n uninfluenced by
,

the m He was u nco nscious of the i nfluence of K e pler

.

and Galileo and th e ir mighty scie ntific co nstructions .

B acon s N o vum O rganu m which e mbodies his sci entific

’
,

methods had no i nflu enc e upon his o wn tim e no r was

, ,

it read in the sev e nte e nth c e ntury Its i nflue nc e was .

firs t felt i n the eigh teenth cen tury However all this .
,
40 HISTORY O F PHI LOSOPHY
must be qualifi e d in one resp e ct Bacon s N ew A tlan
.
’

ti s did hav e an i mmedi at e i nfl u enc e T he id e al of a

.

coll ege of sci enc e which Bacon pre s ent e d in his N ew

,

A tlanti s was no t o nly the c au s e of the w ork of Did e rot

,

in his E ncyclop edi a in the e ight e e nth c e ntury bu t wh at ,

is mor e import ant it had e fle c t in his o wn ti m e It le d

,
.

to the fou ndi ng of the Royal S oci e ty thirty-six y e ars ,

aft e r B acon s d e ath and lat e r to the fou ndi ng of sim il ar

’
,

acad e mi e s abro ad Whil e the re ader may be confus e d

.

by the conflic ti ng e stim at e s of Bacon the words of his ,

o wn co u ntry m an S ir David Bre wster may be acc e pt e d

, ,

as e mbodying the truth : H ad B a con ne ve r lived the

“
,

st u de nt of nature would have fo u nd in the works and

writi ngs of G alile o not only the principle s of i nductive
philosophy but also its practical applic atio n t o the no
,
”
ble st e fforts of i nve ntion and discov e ry S o f ar from .

b e ing the fou nd e r of mod e rn science B aco n d e v elop e d

,

o nly one side of it the i nductiv e S ide and th at wi thout

, ,

success He id e ntifie d ded u ction with the Aris t ot eli an

.

syllogism and he was therefore unawar e of the import

,
.

ance of the u se of m ath ematics in the method of de duc

t ion He did no t seem to h ave the slightest ide a that
.

m athem atics was going to be the scie ntific m ethod ;

co nsequ ently sci e nc e has gone much furth e r th an B acon
dre am e d it would go B acon s impor tance in the Renais
.
’

s anc e does not consis t in his contribution to the co nt e nt

of philosophy or to his successful formulation of the
sci e ntific m e thod .

’
Where in th en lie s the v alue of B acon s work as a
philosoph e r ? " B acon was the first in E ngland to col
9
 THE N ATUR AL S CIEN CE P ERIO D 41

lect the fruits of the Ren aissance and give th e m a secu

lar char act e r T aki ng them out of the h ands of the theo
.

o i
l g a he a l awy e r
n ,
“ gave th e m a leg al e xist ence by
, ,

the most e loque nt pl e a that has e ve r be e n m ade fo r

”
the m It was a tim e wh en philosophy and sci e nce we re
.

p assi ng out of the h ands of the th e ologi an and Bacon ,

fe eling that sci e nce i ncludi ng philosophy should be s e cu

, ,

lariz e d dr e w a sharp li ne b e tw ee n the work of sci e nce

,

and that of th e ology O ut of his gre at contempt for

.

antiquity Bacon voiced for England the co nte mporary

,

r eactio n agai nst the old scholastic m e thods H e s et up .

the i de al and gave dir e ctio ns for followi ng it He issu e d .

the call to go from abs tractions back to thi ngs A man .

of worldly wisdom and pu nge ncy his natur e was buoy ,

ant in it s b eli ef in the coming age He had confid enc e .

amounting to an optimism tha t final pri nciple s would

be found to explai n all the particulars of the “ ne w
”
world H e was a prophet who outli ne d his prophecy
. .

H e felt th at not o nly n atur e but all the activiti e s of man

Would be re d u ced to som e S imple pri nciples He sh ar e d .

and expressed the co nfid e nce of his time t h at wond e rful

things were to be re ve ale d ; th at no thi ng is impossibl e

to man pro v ided man hits upo n t he right key t o natur e s
’

s ecrets Just as every age that f eels its elf upo n the
.
,

t hr eshold of a ne w epoch writes U topias l so Bacon , ,

wro t e the N ew A tlanti s the U topian fragment for his , ,

age This is the li t erary e xpres sion of his optimism

.

Si mu la ti on, a nd D is s i mu la tion Abbott, F r a nc is B a con ;

E u c k e n, P roblem of H u ma n Life , pp 33 6-344 ; R and, .

M odern Class ic a l P hilos op hers , pp 24-5 6 . .

1 t
Bac on wr o e his N ew A tlant is i n 1 623 The sam e ye ar Cam p anella
.

wrote his State of the Sun, and the pre c e ding ye ar Thomas More wrote
his Utop ia .
42 HIS T ORY O F PHILOSOPHY
abou t the future of a disti nct ively s e cul ar sci e nce The .

world of the N ew A tlanti s is the world of ne w ma p

chi nes B acon s m ost ambitious sci e ntific contribution

.
’

to the s ame e nd is his I ns taur a ti o M agna O f this only .

t wo p arts were compl e t e d : D e D ignita te et A ugmen

ti s Sci enti aru m and N ov u m O rg anu m B acon is b e s t
. .

known in philosophy by the s e cond part which was ,

thus amed to co trast it with the old O rganu m of

n n “

Aristotle .

The high influence th at B acon gai ned later among

philosophers may therefore be accounted for by the
associ ation of his eminent position and wonderful pe r
sonality with his bold expr e ssio n of this co nge ni al utili

tarianism E v e n in th at rich Eliz ab e than age of English

.

lite rature he was prom i nent as a writ e r and politici an

, .

H e had occupi e d high politic al positio ns u nder J am e s I

but his p eculi ar p e rsonality would in its e lf h ave at
tracte d attention for his ge nius was such th at any of
,

t he products of th at age — e v e n the pl ays of S h ak e

sp e are — h ave seemed possibl e to him P op e de scrib e s.

”
him as the wisest brightest m e ane s t of m anki nd
“
, , .

M acaulay says in his e ssay B a con th at th e re w e re

, ,

many things that he lov e d mor e th an virtue and many

th at he fe are d more th an guilt H is c are er shows th at
.
,

he lov e d hims elf wealth and l e arni ng His u nusu al lov e

, , .

for le arni ng may be s afe ly t ak en as his e xcuse for his

unscrupulous lust for wealth H is gre at vers atility pre
.

vent ed his success in any one dir e ction bu t he had the ,

power of expre ssi ng the feeli ng of his impre ssive age

and of bec oming its p e rsonal re pre s entative .

The Aim of Bacon B acon sought to secularize phi

.

losophy by maki ng it the s am e as sci ence It was the .

age when Nat ure was conce ive d to be identical with the
 T HE N AT UR AL S C IEN CE P ERIO D 43

world of the natural sci e nces Baco n stood in this age as .

t he f ormul ator of the sci entific us e fulne ss of philosophy .

Philoso phy is to amelior ate social conditions and e nrich

h um an life by bringing nature u nder control A nci ent .

and me di aeval ti m e s had not be e n occupi e d with the i m

prove me nt of human society but Bacon was i nspire d ,

with the feeli ng of the m odern st ate sman for such i m

proveme nt The true tes t of philosophy accordi ng to
.
,

Bacon is wh at it will do That philosophy is wort h

, .

while which will efiectiv ely remove the w e ighi ng condi

tions upon human socie ty so that there are no longe r ,

two classes —those that sacrific e and those th at s atisfy

,

th e ir ambitions This domi nant utilit arian motive in

.

Bacon sets him in Opposition to pure th eo re tical and

conte mplative knowl e dge and mak e s him the fath e r ,

of utilitaria ism a d positivism in E gl d

n n l
n an "
Know .
6

ledge is the o nly kind of perm an ent pow e r and man ,

c an master the world when he give s up verb al discu s

sions and beli ef in m agic M an must gain a positive .

insight i nto nature S cie nce and philosophy must be.

separated from th e ology and philosophy must be re ,

d uced to scie nc e Thus whil e aimi ng to give a tangible

.

”
form to the scholastic doctri ne of the t wofold t ruth ,

Bacon through his utilitarianism missed the go al re ached

by Galil e o and Desc arte s .

The M e thod of Bacon Bacon says t hat t he m e thod .

of the scientist should not be lik e th at of the S pider

1 Uti l i tari anism re ga
dap tati on to g e ne ral happ ine ss as the i de al
rd s a

of s oc ie ty . P t
osi ti v is m , br oad ly u s e d , is that p hi l os o p hy w hi c h lim i s the

t t
sc o p e o f thou gh to the o bse rv a i o n o f f a c ts , altho u g h the o bse rv a i ons t
t t
are i nf e ri o r to the f a c s T he data and m e ho ds o f p os i ti v is m a re t he
.

t t
same as hose o f na u ral s c ie nc e , and o pp ose d to the a p ri ori m e tho ds

t
of me a physi cs .

I n this c onne ction r e ad H erbe rt Spe nc e r , E du ca ti on

.
 44 HISTORY O F PHILOSOPHY
th at spins a we b out of himself nor like tha t of the an t
,

which m e rely coll e cts m ate rial but like th at of the be e

,
’
whi ch coll e c ts assimilat e s and transforms Bacon s
, ,
.

origi nal i nspiration had been his re sp e ct for m e thod ,

and this gre w mor e pro nou nced Philosophy i e sci

.
, . .

e nc e is m e tho d
, With Bacon we s e e the b eginning of
.

p hilosophy c ut loos e from p e rsonality and ove r-val u e d

becaus e it had m ech anic al accuracy N ev e rth e le ss the .
,

m e thod of Bacon was ve ry comprehensive It i nclud e d .

o n the one h and a critical surv e y of the p ast and o n ,

the oth e r an anticip atory programm e for the sci e nce of

the f u tur e Le t us no w turn to these t wo asp e cts of his
.

m e thod .

a ) B a con s cr i tici sm o a s t was a tr e nch an t

’

( f the
p
criticism of pre vaili ng philosophy and amounte d to a ,

break with the p ast Bacon fe lt that wh at p ass e d for

.

science in his day was bu t a pret enc e I n the pre s ence .

of the facts of life traditio nal sci enc e was but e mpty
words The e arly thi nkers are not the ancie nts We
. .

ar e the anci e nts for we embo dy in ours e lve s all t he

,

prece ding c e nturie s Thus doe s B acon swi ng from the

.

m edi aeval bli nd acce ptance of the pas t to an equ ally

blind rej e ction of the p ast But why did the anci ent
.

t hinkers err ? N ot be cause th ey we re not men of t al e nt,

nor b e cause th ey lack e d in i nte lle ctual opportunity ;
but be cause their method of proce dure le d th em astray .

The e arly thinkers follow e d wrong paths and th e ir re ,

Sult s which we now pos s e ss are v ai n

, , .

What must be our attitude in the presence of this

t raditional philosophy ? We must disposs e ss ours elve s
of the prejudices th at h av e misled the p as t for t h ey ,

form the obstacle s to our tru e knowle dge of the worl d .

The roots of t he errors that have i nfe ct e d philosophy

46 HIS T ORY O F PHILOSOP HY
Idols we are ready to proceed to a posi tive construc
,

tion of a sci e ntific method of work By wh at in ge n .

,

eral ought scie nc e t o be guid e d ? By inductio n an

,
.

exp erie nce B acon sugge sts the followi ng st eps for th
.

sci enc e of the futu re :

( 1 ) Th e re must be an e xh austive coll e ction of
pa)

ticu lar i nstances .

2
( ) There must then be an analysis and compariso n 0

th e s e inst ances for to B acon induction was not a me r

,

e numerat ion of S ingl e instances N e gative i nst anc e s an

.
,
~

i nstance s of difierence of d egree must be tak en int

,

account Hasty generaliz ations must be avoid e d and w

.
,

must ascend gradually from the p articular to the gel:

e ra! .

3
( ) The simple form of the phenomenon must b
discove re d O f the four c auses of A ristotle Bacon em
.
,
” ”
h siz e s the formal By form B aco n m e ans th
“
p a .

nature th at is alw ays prese nt whe n t he phenom enon i

pre s e nt abs e nt wh e n the ph enomenon is abs e nt and in
, ,

cre ases or de cre ases with the ph ome on The form

e n n “ .

is the abidi ng e ss enc e of the phe nom enon .

The En glis h N a tur al Scienc e M ov e men t The na tu .

ral scie nce movem ent in Engl and thus rec e ive d at th
start the impressio n of the sob e r Anglo -S axon mind
Through its entire history English philosophy diff e re c

from th at of the C ontine nt H ere at the outs e t th

.

Englishm an is ske ptic al not only of scholastic de du c

,

tions from dogma bu t also of de ductions of all ki nds

,
.
 T HE N ATUR AL S CIEN CE PERIO D 47

by its nature the es tablishmen t of a general principle ,

but B acon would h ave refused t o use such a deduction

to establish a ne w truth in the way th at G alil e o used
his m ath e matical hypoth e s e s Accordi ng to B acon an .
,

hypothesis is true only so f ar as it has already received

the i ndisp ensabl e sanction of e xperi e nce .

Thoma s H obb e s and his Con t e mporarie s ; During

a certai n period Baco n had unde r hi m a secretary by
the n ame of Thom as Hobbes H ere was an obscure .

man turni ng to philosophy because of his i ntere s t in

politics ; whos e poi nt of att achment to philosophy was
the mechanical theory of n atur e so universally acc e pted ,

by the S cien tists of that time No conte mporary of .

H obbes neither Bacon De scart e s nor Galile o , had ,

so sys tem atic a philosophy No other man succee d e d .

bett e r in expressing all that was in his mind H ob be s .

was one of a l arge group of political theorists of the

Renaissa nce When the medi ae val ide a of the univers al
.

Christi an stat e such as was embodi e d in A ugustine s

’

C ity of G od was no lo nge r held ma ny of the Human

, ,

ists tried to cons truc t theo retic al systems of poli ti c al

government that would mee t the demands of the time .

Macchiavelli Thomas M ore Bodin Althusiu s and G ro

, , , ,

t ius belo ng to this group Hobbes is b e st kno wn .

in modern times as a wri ter on this aspec t of morals

Re ad Robe rtson, H obbes (Bl ackwood s P hil Cla ssi cs)
’
. ,

pp 204
.
— 2 0 6 ; F a lc k e nb e r
g, H i s t M od P h i l
.
, pp 7 1 — 7 2 . . .

”
E ncyclop te d ia B ri ta nni ca , articl e , Hobbe s ; Le slie Ste
“

h n H b b W tso n H d n is ti c T heor i es 7 3 — 9 4
p e , o es ; a , e o , pp ; .

Turner, H is t P hil , pp 443 —

. . 446 ; Wi ndel band, H is t P hil ,
. . .

p .3 8 9 ; E u c k e n, P r ob le m of H u m a n L if e pp 3 5 9 — 3 6 0 ; , .

Rand, M od ern Class ica l P hilosop hers, pp 5 7—6 9 8 0-84 .

, .

1 Se e also the ide al State; of Campanella and Bacon, p 4 1 .

~
.
48 HIS T ORY O F PHILOSOP HY
and politics ; but politics is only a part of his gen ~

eral mech anical system of the univers e He is the .

forerunne r of modern mat e rialism and his peculiar ,

t heory of society is only an ex e mplification of this

the ory
.

I n passi ng from B acon to Hobb e s we com e to a ve ry

di ff e re nt typ e of man B acon had risen to fam e by his
.

o wn g e nius in spit e of the host ility of his powerful

,

relative s ; Hobbes was a h ard-headed man with a nar ,

r ow outlook bu t with u ndou bt e d t ale nts which were

, ,

fostere d all his life u nde r the p atronage of the Devon

shire family Baco n was a pr actical politician ; Hobbes
.

Was a doctrin aire and theoretical political w riter O f .

t he volumi nous lite rary re m ai ns of B acon his philosophy

forms but a sm all p art ; H obbes had a ge neral philo
sophical system with which his classical and the ological
,

studies h ave conne ction .

In the succe edi ng ch ap ter we sh all review the philo

sophy of the rationalist Descartes who was a con tem
, ,

porary of Hobbes We Sh all find that Descartes and

. .

H obb e s are alike in this : that both employed Galile o s ’

mathe matical theory as authoritative They difle red .

,

howeve r in the way i n which they used G alile o s theory

,
’
.

De scartes r e duc e d mathematics to the rational and com ,

c e i v e d it to be the i nstrum ent of the reason ; H obb es

r educed the rat ional to the mathematical and conc e ive d ,

the reaso n as a form of m e chanics The start i ng-poin t

.

of De scarte s was the subj e ctive and he was held at a

,

s tandstill u nt il the re lation of thought and mechanics

was so lv e d by him The poi nt of vi e w o f H obbes was
.
 T HE N ATUR AL S CIENC E PERIO D 49

terms of only one series the mechanical Descart es

, .
’

main mo tive was to prese rve the rational ; and, c onse

quently the world to him consisted of a doubl e or du al
,

istie series of terms W e th e refo re place De scartes

.
,

wi th S pinoza and Leibnitz in a group called Rational

,

ists H obbes was a materi alist and his gr e atn e ss c on

.
,

sisted in going the full length of mate rialism : he we nt

beyond all the scientists of his time by extending the
mechanical theory to the men tal life .

The Lif e and Wri tings of H ob be s (1 5 8 8 The

life of H obbes falls into five natural peri ods In his .

firs t and las t periods he was the classic al scholar Dur .

ing hi s middle period of abou t thir teen years he was

the philoso ph e r Furthe rmore at one ti me he was ah
.
,

sorbed in mathematics and at ano t her in controversy .

Hi s period as mathematician was begun no t until he

was forty year s old and was preparatory to his creat ive
,

philosophical period which was begun when he was

,

abou t fifty .

1 A s a Class ic al Scholar (includi ng his e arly years )

.

1 5 88—1 62 8 — the first forty ye ars of hi s life A t

( ) .

O xford (1 603 first journey abro ad (1 6 0 8

1 6 1 2) b e gi nning of his r e latio ns with the Devonshire
family and also of his acquain t ance with the new “

”
sci ence ; tim e of l e isurely study (1 6 12—1 62 8) and ac
qu aint ance with Baco n H erbert of C h e rbury and Ben
, ,

Jonson t ranslation of Thu cydi des

.2 A s M athem ati c ian (1 6 2 8 S ec ond jou r
ney ab road (1 629—1 63 1 ) for e igh t een months as tu tor
to the son of S ir Gervase C lif ton ; reads E u cl i d while
abroad ; third journ e y ab ro ad (1 63 4 wh e n he
meets Galile o ; begins to develop the conc e ption of mo
t ion and sensation ; by 1 63 8 he is counted among t he
50 HIS T ORY O F P HILOSOPHY
not able philosophers and he mee t s the Parisian seien
tists M e rs enne and Gass e ndi
,

3 A s P hilo s op her (1 6 3 8
. Pl ans his philo
sophy und e r title of E lem ents of P hi losop hy : D e
C orp ore D e H om ine and D e C iv e which is i nt e r
, , ,

ru pte d by the English Re volutio n ; E lements o

f L aw
little tre atise writt en in 1 64 0 read by a f e w i n
,

m anuscript p u blish e d without his co ns e nt in 1 6 5 0 in

,

two p arts : H u man N a tu re and D e C orp ore P oli

ti co fle es t o Paris (1 6 4 0) and enters again the scie n
ti fic circle a t Paris ; criticises Descartes M edi ta ti ons
’

D e C iv e published which is D e C orp ore

P oli tico e nlarged ; acts for a time as tu tor to C harles
II in P aris ; engages upo n his general philosophical
t h e ory (1 64 2 L i ber ty a nd N ec ess i ty writ ,

ten published L ev iathan published

4A s C ontrove rsialist (1 6 5 1
. Fle es b ack to
London D e C o rp ore , publish e d
B ehem o th, written pre scribed and not pub
lished until aft e r his d e ath ; controversies with Bram
hall, Ward , Wallis , and Boyle ; D e H o mine , published

5 A s C lassic al S chol ar
.
(1 6 68 Transl ation
of I li a d and O dys s ey
In M olesworth s edition (1 8 3 9
’
H obb e s ’

Lati n works occupy five volumes the English el e ve n

,
.

The E lements of P hi lo s op hy — the D e C orp or e D e ,

H omine and D e Ci v e —were not published in the

,

seque nc e in which th ey were plan ne d bu t on accoun t , ,

of political exige nci e s in the above orde r

,
.

The Infl uen c e s upon the Thou ght of H obb e s 1 The . .

premat ure birth of Hobb e s had no i nconsiderable influ

 T HE N ATUR AL S CIEN C E PERI O D 51

ence upon his life When his mother was carrying him
.
,

s he had snfie red a gr e at fright at the announceme nt ,

of the approach of the S p an ish Armada Was it in .

consequence of t his that Hobbe s s life was a series of ’

panics and controve rsies ? He was e xtre mely conserve»

tive in politics He saw the ne w ch anges without sym
.

pathy with either p arty and he had no political ide als

,

— only fear The time in which he lived reinf orced

.

this nat u ral co nservatism When he was translati ng

.

Thu cydi des Bucki ngham was assassinated and the

,

Petition of Rights was presen t ed H enry IV of Fran c e .

had be e n assassi nate d not many year s before and the ,

P urit an elemen t had become a di sturbi ng factor in

England H is study and his allianc e with the Devon
.

shi re family confirmed him in his conserva tive position .

All signs of the time poi nted toward decentr aliz ation of
g over nme nt t,oward war and rebellion I n f e ar he was .

the first that fled to France at the beginni ng of the

troubles of Charles I ; in fear he fle d back to London
eleve n years later lest the Roman C atholics whom his
, ,

L ev i athan had o ff ended sho u ld murd e r hi m H obbes

, .

was again in grea t panic over the London fire and

looked upon i t as a divi ne pen alty on account of the ,

impurity of t he E nglish co urt H obbes was al ways in

.

frigh t lest he migh t not have peace .

2 The father of H obbes was one of t he unworthy

.

clergym en of the English Es tablished C hurch in the

reign of Elizabeth He was a dissolute man and af te r
.
,

many esc ap ades he abandoned his family In conse .

q ue nce of t his Hobbes always had an antipa thy toward

the offices of the church and to ward theology Although .

he clai med to be a communicant his allegi ance was only

,

nominal as his theory will Show

, .
52 HIS T ORY O F PHILOSOP HY
Hobbes was ve ry much i nflu e nc e d by the new
3 .

mathematical scienc e H is y e ars at O xford l eft li ttle

.

i mpression upon him and he was but little i nterested

,
‘

in the scholasticism which was t aught t he r e Ye t his .

twenty ye ars o n the C ontinent brou ght him into the

mi dst of the sci e ntific circles of It aly and Franc e H e .

was w ell along i nto m atu rity wh e n he fe lt this infl u ence .

O n his second journe y he r e ad E u cli d for the first

,

time H e was then forty-three O n hi s third journey

. .
,

he me t Gali leo and the Fre nch scientists M e rse nne ,

and Gassendi and it was th e n that he b e gan his refle c

,

t ions co ncerning motio n and s ensati on The writi ngs of .

Kepler De scart es and G alile o i nflu enced him mightily

, , .

Although he acte d as Bacon s s e cre tary aft e r the lat

’

t e r s fall B acon s influence upon hi m was little and has

’

,
’

been overe stimat e d The mental powers of Bacon and

.

his secret ary were diff e rent and B acon k ne w nothing

,

of the mathematic al m e thod H obb e s shows to some .

degre e the e mpirical t endency of his nationality and ,

he believed that knowledge must S pri ng from e x pe ri

e nce Furth e r th an this the m e thod that Bacon pur
.
,

su e d do e s not app e ar in him The mi ss ion of H o bbes

.

w as to constru ct a mechani cal v i ew of the w orld .

O f the t hree i nfluences upon H obb e s his i nh e ri te d ,

t imidi ty is seen in his conservative politic al theory ; the

i nfluence of his father is se e n in his theo ry of religion
t he influence of the new mathem atical sci e nce is
seen in his whole philosophy especially in his psy ,

The Fun damen tal Pr in ciple

'

Tea ch ing of in the

H obbe s The assumption from which H obbes deduced
.

his entire philosophy was the mech anical conception of

the physical world the char acteris tic philosophical
,
54 HISTORY O F PHILOSOP HY
the supernatur al for the sup e rnatural does no t consis t
,

of bodi e s in motio n M att e r and mi nd are homoge neous

.

m att e r and spirit are not The contrast in Hobb e s is not

.

betwe e n m atter and mi nd the mat e rial and the psychical

, ,

but b e twe en matt e r and spirit the m ate ri al and the supra ,

m at e rial .

The M etho d of H obbe s H obb e s made the m e thod .

of G alile o his own He b elieved th at all knowledge is

.

rooted in m ath e matics There is one tru e m e thod of

.

tre ati ng all subjects : the m athe m at ical calculat ion of

them as motio ns of bodie s Knowl edge co nsists in using .

words as the signs of e xperience and in re cko ning with

th e m S ci entific thought is the combinatio n of signs
. .

It is the rationalizi ng of our e x p e rie nce s S cie nce has .

a truth in its elf and stands as a r ationally organized

world quite di ffere nt from the world of experi enc e
,

which it has organized The world of bodies in caus ally

.

re lated motions is such an organized world the mos t ,

systematiz e d and most simply constructed world that

s cience c an devis e But how does the scientist pro
.

oecd ? H e b e gi ns with a ph enomenon which is a body ,

i n motion and finds out the causes of the phenome

,

non which c auses are nothi ng more nor l e ss than the

,

e l e m ents of the phenomeno n in qu estio n Th e n the .

sci e ntist proc e eds from the c aus e s to other phenom enal
e ff e cts These new efiects are like the original phe
.

nomenon and its c aus e s — bodies in motion Thus the

, .

world of the scientist is a world of causes and e fie cts ,

for the n at ural r eason of man is busily flying up and

down amo ng the creature s and bringi ng back a true ,
”
r eport of their order c auses and efle cts Thus we
, , .

find Hobbes to be a nominalist (see vol i p 3 5 8 ) .

, .

who neverth eless used the deduct ive method — rathe r

, ,
 T HE N AT UR AL S CIENC E PERIO D 55

a strange combi nation Like all his English successors

.
,

he employed i nduction and deduction bu t the t wo pro ,

cess e s never became f u sed l M ore over for i nductio n he .

’e

has no m e thod .

The order in which t he wri tings of Hobbes appeared

seems to have be e n the spor t of ou tward events f or ,

they were no t wri tt en accordi ng to his origi nal pl an .

O n his return from his third jour ney to the C onti ne nt

H obbes the n fifty y e ars old had adopted the
, ,

mechanical theory and had planned his philosophy His .

comprehensive work was to be called t he E lements of

P hi los op hy and was to be divided i nto three p art s
,

D e C o rp o re t reati ng physic al bodies ; D e H o mi ne

, ,

t reating man as a psychologic al individual ; D e C iv e ,

tr eating man as the citiz en of a S tate H obb e s s philo .

’

sophy was therefore to be a univers al philosophy and ,

he inte nded to bri ng his works ou t in logical order

fir st the scie nce of physics then of human na t ure and
, , ,

last of socie ty H owever the growi ng disturb ance s in

.
,

the politic al world a t th at time moved him to publish

several treatises on politics first and his physics and ,

psychology more than fifteen years later .

The Kin ds of Bod ie s There are t wo ki nds of bodies

,
,

natural and artifici al Natural bodies are those belo ng

.

ing to the physical world The art ificial bo di es are the.

i nsti tu t ions of society of which the mos t import an t is

,

the St ate M an belo ngs to both classes of bo di e s

.

he has a physical nature and he is a membe r of the

S tat e M an is the co nnecting link bet ween n at ural and
.

art ificial bodi es Philosophy is therefore divided i nto

.

Re ad F alcke nberg H i st M od P hil p 7 2 f or his

, . . .
, .
,

q uotation f rom G ri mm s c riti cis m o f the irre c onc il able c on

’

tradiction of the e mpirical and the rational in Hobbe s .

56 HIS T ORY O F PHILOSOPHY
three parts : p hysi cs which t reats of purely natural
,

bodi e s p sychology which tre ats of man in his r i fle as

,

a natural i ndividu al ; p oliti cs which treats of man in

,

soci al congre gations with his fellows Looking at the .

situation from the oth e r e nd political bodi es are de com

,

posable i nto men men are in turn decompos able i nto

,

physical bodies Politic al bodies are dep endent on the

.

psychic al nature of men and the psychical nature of

,

men is depende nt on the n ature of physical bodies i e , . .

on bodie s and their mot ions Th us all bodies n atural

.
,

and artifici al must be expl ai ned in terms of motion if

, ,

they are explaine d scie ntifically Physic al bodie s are .

t he first t e rm l e adi ng up through m an to the las t term

in t he seri e s which is the S tate
, .

Hobb e s s Applica ti on of the M a the ma ti cal Th e ory to

’

P sy ch olo gy A lthough the prime int e res t of H obbes

,

lay in the political life of man he neverth eless m ade an

,

origi nal contribution t o psychology H e s natched the .

science of ment al phenomena from the hands of the

scholas tic theologian and made it for the first time an
i ndependent scienc e Psychology had bee n based u pon
.

t he assumptions of the th e ologi an ; for th e s e Hobb e s

subs tituted the assumptions of the m athemat ician C on .

sciou sne ss became in his h ands no t a soul bu t the mo ,

tion of bodies It is described by him as the movement

.

”
of ce rt ain par t s of the organic body The states of .

consciousness such as se ns atio ns p e rceptions etc are

, , , .
,

brain movements or the r efined moveme nts of ato ms in

the nervous system M emory and imagi nat ion a re de
.

caying sensations though t is the sum of s e ve ral sen

 THE N ATUR AL S C IEN CE PERIO D 57

c hology, or the theory tha t consciousness is c omposed

of m e ntal atoms u nder fixed laws of associ ation .

Bu t al though Hobbes took psychology ou t of the

hands of the theologian and made i t a mechanical sci
e nce he did not ident ify i t with physics It is still psy
, .

c holo
gy T h.e me nt al s ta tes ar e the physical motion of

bodies but the y are not external motions nor are th e y

, ,

the copi e s of the ext ern al motions of bodi e s M ental .

states are br ain movement s they are the resu lt of ex

ternal motions They come abou t in this way A mov
. .

mg body in the ou ter world m akes an impression on

the sense organ and t his mo tion is t ra nsmitted by t he
,

n e rves to t he he art and brain A reaction is e ff e c ted

.

in the brain and this is a men tal s tate The brain trans
,
.

forma tions and no t the movement of the ex ternal obj e ct

, ,

is that of which we are consc ious The men tal s tate is .

an apparition of the ac tual fact in the ex ternal

world ; it is an e ff ec t in a causal s e ri e s O ur perception .

of ligh t is for example a modification of the c e rebral

, ,

substance and no t of the external body its elf We de

, .

c e iv e ourselves when we t hi nk that the sensations of

light sound hea t are ou tsid e u s These qualities of

, , .

thi ngs are modificat io ns of ourselves There is nothing .

external to us exce p t the motions of bodies which are

,

the causes of thes e m odific ations The ext ernal worl d .

is no doub t real bu t we have no knowledge of it

, no
knowledge of augh t save the motions of bodi e s within
ourselves Thi s is thep oi nt of v iew of all su bseq u ent
.

E ngli sh p hi los op hy the subs tance of things i s q u i te

d if erent f r o m o ur kno wledge of the m The su bs ta nc e .

o
f things i s r eal ; bu t is not the o bject of ou r kno w
ledge The ob f o u r kno wled e i s a mod ica tion
.
j ec t o g if
of o u r s elv es .
58 HISTORY O F PHILOSOPHY
The i ndep endence of knowledge with refere nce to
°

theology on the one side and to physical reality on the

,

o ther is w e ll illustr at e d in H obb e s s discussio n of lan

’
,

guage Sp ee ch consists of words which are only the

.
,

counte rs of things Words are m ark e rs by which men

.

”
m ay k now a thing as seamen m ark a r ock S cie nce .

consists in th e ir manipulation S ci ence combin e s th e m .

by addition and subtraction i nto j udgm e nts and syl

logism s and thereby co nstr ucts a body of demonstrated
,

principl e s Words are only cou nt ers and he is a fool

.
,

who mistakes the count e r for the coin of r eality Words .

only repre s e nt re ality and the law of their use is mathe

,

m aties Truth and f alsity are terms th at are concerned

.

with the corre ct or incorrect m anipulation of th e se ver

bal cou nters and not with real thi ngs .

H obbe s s Applica ti on of the M a th e ma ti cal Theory

’

to Poli ti cs I n t he s ame way t hat material bodies in

.

motion give rise t o mental st at e s and mental states as ,

bodi e s in motio n give rise to the human conscious ne ss ,

so men as individuals are the source of the artificial

body , the S tat e In ev e ry individual man the impulse
.

to s e lf-pr e s e rvation is in nate and is in fact his abso, , ,

lu t e and universal charact eristic Jus t as the law of .

the mechanic al association of id e as is the f undam e n t al

principle of the human mi nd so the m e chanical law of ,

self-preservation is the pri nciple of m an s ethical and ’

political life All our politic al institutions ar e the re

.

sult of the striving of men for self-preservatio n I n his .

n atur al st ate — whe n as H obbes conce ive d man lived

, ,

without social organiz ation man had no oth e r stand

a rd for cond u ct th an his o wn s e lf-i nt e r e st in the arti
ficial politic al state which man has co nstructe d self
, ,

in teres t is still his mot ive Egoism is the sole working

.
 THE N ATUR AL S CIENCE PERIO D
p rinciple of human b e ings both before and after th e y
live in societies ; bu t the political s tat e is the most in
g e ni ou s co ntriva nce which egoism h as hit u pon for its

own profi t Hobbes conceived th at the origi nal s tate of

.

man which under the name of

, s tate of nature was
a common problem in the Renaissan ce was a condition ,

in which every man was maki ng war against every

other man (Comp are Locke and Rousseau ) But such
. .

a co ndition of t hings was obviously self-des t ru ctive .

C onseque ntly man arbi trarily and artificially formed

the political State to avoid this self-de struc t ive inter ,

h eci ne warfar e . U nder the circumstances i t was the

most effe ctive way in which man could gai n his per
sonal ends for the political S tate was the o nly possible
,

means to peace In the state of nature the right of

.

every man to everything was the equiv alent of the righ t

of every man to nothi ng S o men made a compact with
.

one another under which each reli nquish e d a portion

of his rights i n order that each might have a portion of
them secure But what gives security to this compac t ?
.

The sovereign to which the powe rs of the many h ave

t hus been de l egat e d Wha t is the sovere ign ? It is the
.

soul of the S tat e the general will

, repres ented by a
,

si ngle p e rson in a monarchy by an assembly in a re

,

public This sovereign in whom the contrac t is vest e d

.
, ,

is absolu te ; for the sove r e ign was not a party t o the

origin al con trac t si nce he di d not then exis t The
, .

contrac t was made among the i ndividuals a t tha t tim e ,

”
in a s ta te of nature S o long as the S tate preserves
.

its power among the people the people must re nder th e ir

,

obedience to the S tat e — to the sove reign in who m the

,

c ontract was v e st e d The might of the political S tate

.

makes righ t Whatever the S ta te commands is righ t ;

.
60 HIS T O RY O F PHILOSOPHY
whatever is forbidden is wrong The re was no righ t .

”
and wrong in the s ta te of nature only the possible ,

and the impossible An act is a crime when it bre aks

.

the contr act and thus the ground of morality is politi

,

c al legisl ation E ven the religion o f the people is de

.

te rmine d by the S t at e A ny political S tate is be tter

.

th an a revolution He re was philosophical justification

.

of Charle s I A reve rsion to war is a reversion to the

.

”
stat e of nature .

Wh e n Hob be s was in France as a refu gee he wro te the

L ev i a tha n which co ntai ned this doctri ne of politic al so
,

c i ety H e prese nted a v e llu m-

. bound copy to C h arles II ,

hoping to gain favor with that prince H owe ver the L e .

,

v i a than u nfortunately for H obbes s purpose contai ned

’

, ,

t wo paragraphs that antagonized the royalis t s and t he

C atholics O ne was th at when a commonwealth is nu
.
,

able to protect its citizens in peac e that commonwealth is ,

dissolved and a new sovereign commonwealth is formed .

The second was that while the sovereign s tate sh all de

,

cide wh at the reli gion of its p eopl e shall be no religion ,

is infallible neither Anglican C atholi c nor P uritan , , .

The religion th at the sovereign makes legal is only a

temporary one ; the true religion will come no t un t il the
Last Judgment The church is subordi na te to the S ta te
.
,

like everything e lse and i t does no t mat ter much wha t

,

the State religion shall be provid e d there be pe ace , .

Religion is only a supe rstition resti ng o n a d e fec t ive

knowledge of nat ure and i t is of li ttle consequence what
,

particular religion the S ta te m akes bi nding .

It h ardly n ee d be s aid that the L ev i athan pleased

neither C harles II nor the C atholics The s e qu e l of its .

publi cat ion was th at H obbes fl ed back t o England from

 C HAPT ER V

THE RATIO NALISM O F THE NATURAL SCIENCE

PERIO D O F THE RENAISSANCE

The Nature of Rati onali sm Alth ough . the new scien ce

grew apace it was not altoge th e r a safe vocatio n Na
, .

tural sci ence involves metaphysical ques tions at eve ry

poi nt The sci e ntist at this tim e therefore found him
.
, ,

s elf often in delic ate relatio ns with the jealous church

guardians A scie ntific e xplanation of the universe
.

might antagoniz e the church dogma concerning God ,

cre ation and the fin al outcome of the world The church

, .

doctri ne concerning the soul too it s nature and its im

, ,

mortality its relation to the body might be an tagonized

, ,

by physiological and psychological discussions In such .

dilemmas as these the natural scie ntis t was not success

ful in p rete nding to isol at e hims e lf entirely from the
ology and in assumi ng an attitude of aloofness to i t .

Galileo migh t declare t hat wh at e ver the re sults of his

,

inves tigations in physics might be they had nothi ng to

,

do with the Bible ; but he sorro wq y found th at the

Inquisi tion though t otherwi se C opernicus fou nd th at his
.

astro nomical theories came into conflic t with church

dogma and he was torme nt e d by his bishop Kepler
, .

spent his later y e ars in a deadly struggle with both P ro

te stantism and C atholicism Bacon and Hobbes li ve d in
.

a cou ntry where th e ir perso nal s afe ty w as fairly secure ,

ne vertheless Baco n disg uised his positio n by usi ng larg e

words and Hobbes was u ntroubled because he accepted
the religion of his sovereign .
 THE R ATIO N ALISTS 63

If the po si tion of those was diffi cult who tried to keep

thems e lves s tr ictly withi n the limits of sci e nce how ,

much more fraught with perso nal d ange r was the posi
tion of thos e who ope nly constructed a new metaphysics
It would m e an that a ch alle nge was issued to the old
S cholasticism by the same hu man reason that had al
ready challenged and overthrown t he old science The .

group of men who did this were the Rationalists The .

Rationali s t s were interes ted in scie nce but they were ,

more i nterested in the metaphysic al problems th at sci

e nce arous e d The human r e ason had be e n succe ssful
.

i n the re construction of physics by the use of mathemat

ics Why should it not also be able t o re cons t ruct meta
.

physics and set it too upon a mathem atical b asis The

, ,

le ade rs of this school we re De scarte s S pinoz a Le ibnitz

, , ,

and the O ccasionalists — M alebranch e and G e ulincx

,
.

The Rationalists advanced a new conce ption not only of

natur e bu t of God ; ne w theories not only of the human
,

body but of the soul Th e ir task was the d ange rous one
, .

of bravely invading the hitherto i mpregnable realms of

the spirit .

The task of the Rat ionalis t s was rendered the mo re

d ifi c ult b e cause for the firs t time in the history of E u
,

ro e an though t
p the inner and out e r worlds had bee n
,

completely sunde re d For the first ti me do we meet

.

with a cle ar-cu t and posi t ive dualism The history of.

the growth of this du alism had bee n a lo ng one and to it ,

the Gre e k S ophist the S toic and the C hr is tian had e ach
, ,

co ntribu ted his share Howe ve r Galileo and his fello w

.
,

scie ntists in this p e riod of the Re naiss ance had so recon

struc ted the old world of natur e th at it had b e come
”
irre concilable to the world of grac e Th e s e sci enti sts
.

believed that na t ur e mus t be made t o explain i tself ;

64 HIS TORY O F PHILOSOPHY
i t s even ts must be conceived as necessitate d ; its pro
cesses as havi ng the i ne vitable ness of a m achine From .

the re volutions of the pla nets to t he circulation of the

blood the movements of nature can be m e asured The
,
.

law of n ature that is conceived to und e rli e all this

,

science is mechanical caus ation The re searches of the

, .

scie ntists of the Renaissance had yielded a rich world of

brute i nevitable and scientific fact s and these s t ood in
, , ,

absolute fundament al contras t to the world of spiritual

facts which we re e mbodi e d in the church dogma A pp ar .

ently the problem of reco ncili ng the world of n ature

and the world of grace had been solved by St Thomas .

A qui nas in medi aeval times Now however t he “ world

.
, ,

o f nature had b e en so reco ns t ructed th at the qu e stion

”
was re- opened Ho w is the ne w world of nature to
.

be brought i nt o harmo nious rel at ion with tha t old pe r ,

sis te nt and settled dogma of the ch urch ? How can the

,

newly conceived mech anism of nat ure be h armonized

with the realm of free co nscious spirits without giving ,

u p the concep tion of G od as a rat ional being and also ,

withou t d epriving the soul of its power of i ni tiation ?

The ne w scienc e had t he refore made i t especially diffi
cult on the one hand to r e co ncile a mechanical universe
with an omnipotent God and on the othe r to reconcile
,

the mechanical human body with the f ree soul .

The s truggle of the Renaissance with the M iddle Ages

is therefore conce nt rated in the development of the doc
tri ne of t his Ration alist S chool It is studied he re even
.

better than by readi ng the two periods side by side In .

Ra tionalism the S cholasticism of the M iddle A ges and

t he S ci e nce of the Re naiss anc e m ee t Rationalism was a
.

ne w science but it was a ne w th e ology as w e ll It was

, .

a ne w scholas t ic philosophy ; for while the Ra tionalis ts

,
 THE R ATIO N ALIS TS 65

though t t ha t they we re giving t he dea th blow to medi

se v al philosophy ,
they were inst e ad o nly r e pl aci ng i t
with ano th e r scholasticism In th e ir att empt by means
.
,

of t he m e ch anical th e ory , to ge t an ab sol ute system of

knowl e dge upon which thought c an re st the Rationalists

,

were acting in the spirit of the schoolm en In fact no .

,

schoolm an e ver showed mo re vigor or more dogmatic

c onfide nce in his philosophy To the math ematical eye
.

of t he Rationalist t here was absolutely nothing myste ri

ou s in the physical unive rse or in the spiri tual realm .

A ll things in heaven and earth could be m ade clear .

The declaration of the Rationalists was the call of free

do m bu t it was as haza rdous as i t was ambi t ious ; and
,

the church wi th i t s assured revelations always s tood

o pposed to the realiza t ion of fre edom . S o we shall find
De scarte s spendi ng his whole life trying to tri m his sails
that he may no t o ff end the Inquisition ; S pinoza saving
himself from both the Jews and the C hristians by livi ng
in obscurity and publishing no thi ng ; L eib ni tz construct
ing philosophy with t he avowed purpose of reconcili ng
sc ience and reli gion .

The M e n tal Confli ct in De scartes The s trife be

.

twee n t he spiri t of the M iddle A ges and that of the

Renaiss ance appe ars in Desca rtes more s t rikingly th an
in any other thinker of this time H e shows on t he
.
,

one h and all the conse rvati sm of a chur chman of medi

,

ze val time in his respec t for ins t i t u t ion al au thori ty ; on

the othe r hand his i ntellect ual activity places him amo ng
,

the leading scien tists of the Re naissance In no other .

thinke r does the con flict be twee n the O ld and the Ne w

appear so u ns e ttling ; in non e doe s the a nt agonism be
twee n the schol astic world of spiri tu al thi ngs and the
mechanical world of scie nce appear so irreconcilable .
66 H I S T ORY O F PHI LOSOP HY
He suff ered a life-long men t al s t rif e , for within himself
m e di aevalism and sci e nce were engage d in an u nendi ng
dram atic struggl e T he philosophy of Desc arte s was a
.

com pro m is e b e tw e e n his tradi tions and his sci entific

ge nius ; and his philosophy ne ve r ove rc am e his c on
flic ting motive s The admire rs of De scart e s h ave called
.

him the fath e r of mode rn thought and this is partly ,

t ru e The father of the modern scientific m e thod was

.

Galile o De scartes on the oth e r hand pointed ou t the

.
, ,

i ncont e stable pri nciple from which mode rn thought has

proce eded ; he won his place in the hi story of philosophy
by att empting to h armonize the old scholasticism with
the new science und e r this si ngle principle .

The Life and Phil osop hi cal Wr i tin gs of Descarte s

( 15 96
(1 ) A s Child and Stu dent (1 5 96
A t home u ntil he was eight y e ars old (1 5 96
A t the J e suit school at La Fl eche until he was seven
t een (1 604
(2) A s Tr av eler (1 6 1 3 Descar t es studies
the book of the world .

A t P aris (16 1 3 in re tiremen t and study .

I n H oll and (1 6 1 7 nomi nally attached to t he

army of M aurice .

First Journ ey (1 6 1 9 going through Bavaria ,

Austri a north to the shore s of the Baltic and b ack to

,

H oll and The gre a ter part of thes e two ye ars w e re spe nt
.

in Bohemia e nroll e d in the army of the Emp e ror He

, .

was on this journey when his mental crisis occurred ,

R e ad Robe rtson , H obbes (Bl ac k wood Phil C lassi c s ) ,

.

p 4 0 ; Rand M odern
.
, Cla ss ica l P hi losop hers , pp 1 1 7- 1 4 7
.

E u c k e n, P r oblem f
o H u ma n Lif e, pp 3 5 1 —3 62 ; C al k i ns,
.

P ers is tent P roblems , pp 45 9—

4 63 . .
 THE R ATIO N ALISTS 67

at Neube rg in A us tria in 1 61 9 I t was then tha t he

, , .

discovere d either an alytical geome try o r the fundamen tal

principle of his philosophy .

In Paris agai n 1 623 , .

S econd Journey (1 6 2 3 to S wi tzerland and

I taly maki ng a pilgrim age to the shrine of Lo rett o
, .

(3 ) A s Wri ter (1 62 9
In Holland (1 6 2 9 For the sake of absolu te
seclusion f rom inquisitive visitors Descartes changed ,

his residence in Holl and twen ty-four times and lived in

th irte en places All his c orr espo ndence passed th rough
.

M er senne Du ring these twen ty years he made th ree

.

journeys to France Thus this period of absolu te retire

.

ment became his period of li te rary production chiefly ,

between the years 1 63 5 and 1 644 He wro te his .

lif etho d (1 63 5
M ed ita ti ons (1 629
L e M ond e (1 6 3 0 published pos thumous ly .

P ri ncip les (1 6 4 1
P as si o ns (1 6 4 6
( 4 ) I n S toc kh o lm S we d en
(1 6 4 9 , The ro

mantic side of the life of Descart es appears in his book

on the P assi ons which he wro te for the Princess Eliz a
,

be th and also in his accep tance of the in vi tation of the

,

Qu e en of S weden to reside at her court and become

her tu to r He died there fr om t he rigors of the climate
.

af ter a r esidence of one yea r .

The Two C onfl i ctin g Infl ue nce s upon the Though t

of De s carte s O n t he one h and all the ties of inheri t
. ,

ance family influence and early education allied Des

, ,

cartes wi th the spirit of the M id dle A ges A de lica te .

constitution made him shri nk fr om public controversy

and the public eye He even made a half apology fo r
.
68 HIS TORY O F PHILOSOPHY
his pu rsui t of scien ce by saying that he was seeking to
reform his o wn life and that it was absurd for an in
,

dividual t o attempt to reform a state His f amily on .

both sides belonge d t o the land e d gentry and he was ,

there fore bou nd by c ast e to the s u ppo rt of i nstitutional

authorit
y H
. e was educated in the Jesuit school of La

Fl eche and this most conservative of ecclesiastic al in

,

flu ences res trained him from following the logic al con

elusions of his own though t H e was therefore bo th
.

physically timid and inte llectu ally aloof In 1 6 3 2 he .

was about to publish L e M onde which was a sci e ntific

,

descrip t ion of the origin and na tu re of the universe ,

and agrees in part wit h the C opernican th e ory It was .

a t reati se which would n aturally conflict with the teach

ing of the church H e le arned of the trial of G alileo a t
.

Rome and he never d ar e d to publish the book

, .

The rival spiri t spe aking in Descartes was the new

scientific spirit of the Renaissance H e had a geniu s
.

for mathematics even when he was a t school at La

Fl eche O n his going t o Paris he became the cen tr e
.

o f the mos t no t able scientific circle in France a

circle compos e d of such men as the A bbé C laude Picot ,

t he physician V illebre ssie ux the op tician Ferrier the

, ,

mathematician M ers e nne and many other sci e ntis t s

,

and theologians Bu t he became diss atisfied and made

.

so me long journeys in order to study “ the book of the

”
world H is di scovery of his method and his philoso
.

phical principle was the result In mathemat ics he was

.

the discoverer of analyt ical geome try and was the firs t
t o r epresent powe rs by exponents ; in physics he s tated
the principle of the refraction of li gh t in trigonom etr ical
form ; he explained the rainbow ; he weighed the air .

The same indus tr ious application of t he new scien t ifi c

70 HIS T ORY O F P HILOSOPHY
pri nciple can obtained only by an i ndu cti v e s ifti ng
be
of a ll i de as From this all furthe r truths mus t be
.

obt ai ne d by dedu c tio n Every true philosophy mus t .

th e refore be an i nductio n or a nalysis of ideas and ,

s e condly a d e d u ction or synthesis The gre at co ntr i

, .

bu ti on of D escar tes was ther ef or e this to the i ndu c

t iv e m etho d o f B ac o n a nd the dedu ctiv e metho d of
G alile o he added an a bsolu te p ri ncip le whi ch mu s t
,

be ta ken a s the basi s of bo th i ndu ction and dedu c

i lo n i

In du cti on Prov i si onal Doubt The Ulti mate Cer

tainty of C on sci ou sn e s s The philosophi cal proclama .

tio n of De scartes was characteris tically French for he ,

dem anded the same return to an uncorrupted nature for

the u nderstandi ng that Rousseau many yea rs later de
mande d for the heart The first st e p of Descartes was.

also French in its dem and for absolute clearness which ,

from his yo u th had shown him to be so p assionately fond

of mathematics The way t o such cl e arness is thr ough
.

provisional doub t Let us purify the understanding by

.

d elivering it of the rubbish of traditional opinions taken ,

upon the s ay-so of oth e rs By this negative induction .

of received k nowl edge le t us see if the re is any thing,

positive and cert ain In Descarte s s M di tati ons in

.
’
,

“ a dramat ic dialogue wi th hims e lf ” he po rtrays his

,

own in t ellec t ual s t ruggle t o g ain uncon tamina ted t ru th .

R e ad Des carte s M ethod M edi tations f or the dramatic

, , ,

struggl e of his i nner li fe ; Falckenbe rg H ist M odern P hil

—
.
, .
,

pp. 8 6 88 ; Fis c her D es ca rtes a nd

, his School p 1 99 ; , .

Blac k wood Classi c s D es ca rtes pp 1 44 -149 ; Wi nd e l band

, , .
,

H is t P hi l , pp 3 89 if ; H ofiding, H is t M odern P hil , pp

. . . . . .

2 1 9 if ; W e be r, H is t P hil , pp 3 06 ff , f or an opposing
. . . .

opinion about the plac e of Descarte s .

 T HE R ATIO N ALISTS 71

He makes an induc tion of all kinds of knowledge and

challenges each as i t appears N othing is to be accep ted
.

as true until i t has proved itself true All facts are .

subj ecte d to rigid sc ruti ny Descartes doubts the te sti

.

mony of the se nses the exis te nce of the ma teri al world

, ,

the exist ence of G od But this i nduction is provisional

.
,

even if i t is radical While none of the usually acc e pted

.

t ruths ar e found by him to be undeni abl e and absol ute ,

yet Descartes has an ul terior purpose in challe nging

t hem G reek skepticism had no further end than doubt
.
,

while at the other ext reme A nselm and the orthodox

scholasti cs had refused to doubt at all The method of .

Descar tes is contr asted both with that of Anselm and

wi th tha t of the S kep ti cs for he doub t s in order that he
,

may know D u bito u t intelligam Doubt is necessary

. .
,

but only as a means to an e nd ; and that end is kno w

ledge Descar tes proclaimed for the modern individual
.

t he pri v ilege and the du ty of rationalizing his o wn

b eliefs .

In such an induct ive s ifti ng of traditional beliefs are ,

there any t hat can be call ed knowledge ? Is there one

whose reliab ility ca nno t be successfully doub t ed ? No t
a single one ex c e p t the thinking process itself I am
,
.

certain that I am conscious E ven when in my uni .

v e rsal doub t I say t hat nothi ng is c e r t ain I am at leas t ,

certain tha t I doub t I am therefore con tradi cting my

.
, ,

univers al skep ticism To doub t is to think ; in doub t

.

i ng conscious ne ss is assert ing i t s exis t ence S kep ticis m

,
.

is self c ontradictory An i nduct ion of our ideas r eveals

a
.

at least this one abso lutely cert ain principle : I as ,

thi nki ng am C ogito ergo su m M y own existence is

, . .

an intuitive t ruth that accomp anies every state of mi nd .

This is the bes t known portion of Descartes s philoso=

’
72 HISTORY O F P HILOSOPHY
phy and perhaps i t is in part to the Latin fo rmula of
,

it that i t owes its widespread acce ptance It is c riti .

c ised as t rifli ng even if i t be tru e ; and as reaso ni ng in

,

a c ircle Ye t it must be remembered tha t De scart e s

.

does no t in tend the ergo su m therefore I am

to be a conclusion of a syllogism of which C ogi to I
”
think ) is the minor premise This formula is not an in
.

f e rence but an i ntuitio n whi ch is revealed by i nduc tion

, ,

as the certain background of all knowledge .

Three thi ngs a re to be learned from this fundament al

principle s ai d Descar tes : (1 ) The firs t is t hat man
,

has gai ned a cri terion of truth The cha racteris tic of.

this principle that makes it reliable and cert ain is i t s

clearness and distinctness C learness and d istinctness
.

of ide as i s the p roo f f

o the ir tru th A ll tr u e ideas wil
. l
t herefore have the m athematical and i nt ui tive certai nty
tha t the idea of t he exis tence of the self has (2 ) The .

second lesson from this fundament al principle is th at

the e xistence of t he soul is more certain th an that of
the body The soul is more important and i nde pendent
.

th an the body This is the subject ive po in t of view

.

of modern times The modern man views the world as

.

the rep resentation o r the creation of his thinking soul .

3
( ) The t hird lesson from t his principle conc e rns the

nature of the soul How long do you exis t ? As long as

.

you think (Sum cogitans ) T r ue exis ten ce is rational

. .

thinki ng and G od alone has i t Feeli ngs and passions

, .

are obscu re ideas .

Ded uc ti on— The Impli ca ti on s of C on sci ousne ss .

For Descartes reality lies within the S elf ; and the n e xt

question before him is how to ge t ou t of the S e lf .

K nowledge th at is confined to the S elf and its stat e s is

c alled techni cally solipsism
, S uch k nowledge amoun ts
, .
 THE R ATIO NALISTS 73

to li ttle ; indeed, i t is no t knowledge at all C e rtai nty .

of self-exist ence is the minimu m amount of knowledge

merely the s tart ing poin t of knowledge Descar tes .

proposes to escape from this solipsism by the use of

logic Hi s method from this poi nt on is os tensibly de
.

duc ti v e al though he i ntroduces by the side door other

,

ideas than the idea of S e lf to make his proof comple te .

Desca rtes main tai ns that any idea will be as t rue as the
c onsciousness that ac c ompanies i t jus t as a p roposition ,

in ge ometry partakes of the truth of the axioms fro m

which it is derived No w my consciousness con tain s
.

many ideas ; some of the m se e m to be the produc t of

my imagi nation ; some seem to be adventitious ; some
are innate It is upon the i nnat e id eas that Descart es
.

depends to get him out of his solipsism for they are ,

not cre at ed by the S elf and they have the quali ti es of

truth — a conscious clearness and dis t inctness A mong .

these innate ideas is the idea of God as a perf e c t bei ng .

The Ex i ste nce of G od

"
A s a deduc tion from con
.
6

sc iou sness the idea of God would prove to be a ve ry

,

u seful one to Des ca rte s provided i t had reali ty

, Fo r i t .

is eviden t th at consciousness can tes t ify only to the ex

iste nc e of itself and its own s tates How do I know .

the re ality of anything else A m I confine d wi thin the

ci rcle of my own thi nking ? Is all that I can say of
t his or that I t is real to me
“
,
Are all things only
the phantasmagoria of my own b rai n te stifying only to ,

the existence of myself ? Descartes thought tha t the idea

Re ad Falckenberg H ist of Modern P hil pp 92—94

, . .
, .

Black wood s Cl assi cs D esca rtes pp 1 5 1 —1 5 3 ; W e be r H is t

’
. .
, , ,

of P hil p 3 10 ; C alk i ns P ers is tent P roble ms i n P hiloso

.
, .
,

pp 4 5 1 f whi ch
h 5 -3 0 ; Turne r H i st o P hi l
p y pp
, 2 .
f ,
. .
, . .
,

pres e nts Desc artes argume nts as re duce d to two

’
.
74 HISTORY O F PHILOSOP HY
of God relieved him of this solipsism If he could de .

monstrate God s exis tence he would then be able to

’

demonstra te the existence of the materi al u niverse The .

proble m was so highly important to Descartes that he

t hre w it i nto se v eral difie rent argu ments The compli .

cations with which these argume nts are filled must be

p assed over here and the argumen t s s tated in t hei r
,

s im plest forms .

()
a Two are ontological argumen t s t ha t is argu , ,
’
ments from the charac ter of the concep tion of God s
nature .

1
( ) A S im p le D e d u c ti on If I have in my conscious
.

ness any id e a as cle ar and distinct as my idea of Mys elf ,

it must have exis tence like Myself My ide a of God has .

just that clearn e ss and distinctn e ss and therefore G od

exists .

(2 ) T h e G eo m e tr i ca l A r
gu m e nt so called by De s ,

cart es S om e ideas have properti e s so immutable that

.
,

when we thi nk the ideas we nec e ssarily think their ,

properti e s S uch is the idea of a triangle ; when I think

.

of a tr iangl e I must think of it as having i t s t hree

,

angl e s e qu al to two right angles S uch is also my idea .

of God ; I must t hi nk of him as p e rfe c t and exis ti ng .

He would no t be God i e a perfect Being if He did

, . .
,

no t exist .

The re ad e r will recognize this as a re s tatemen t of the

argument by St Anselm A s such it rais e d a t empes t
. .

of controversy in Descartes t ime and was att acked from ’

all sides .

b
() Two are causal argumen t s tha t is based on the , ,

ass umption of the equ ality of c au s e and e ffe ct O nly one .

of th e se arguments will be cited her e This is k nown as .

The C artesi an A rgument I have an ide a of a pe r .

 T HE R ATIO NALISTS 75

fe e t Being This idea mus t have an adeq uate caus e

. .

Th e refore God must exist for only He and no im , ,

~

perfe c t b e ing can be the adequate cause of my idea of

,

perf e ctio n .

The ontological argu ments give n by Descart es are evi

dently deduc tions from the certai nty of self-conscious
ness The question which we immediately raise con
.

cerning the m is Are they t ru e A s to the causal ar gu

,

me nt s De scartes is breaking away from his original

,

assumption viz that self-consciousness is the only cer

, .
,

t ai nty and is introd ucing another assumption viz the

, , .
,

cer tai nty of the law of cause The question the n th at .

, ,

t he thoughtful s tuden t asks is Does Des car tes really , ,

e scape from his solipsism ?

Th e Re ali ty of M a tter I t will be seen tha t Des .

cartes is tryi ng to deduce from the certai nty of the

idea of s elf-conscious ne ss the ce rtai nty of other ide as ,

as propositions are deduced in geometry from axioms .

The exis tence of God is an implication of human con

sciou sne s s
. Now Descarte s points out th at the exis t
e nce of matter is implied in the existence of God .

Descar tes is i nte rested in material science and it is ,

import ant for him t o prove the re ality of m att er He re .

again his scholas tic training com e s into play S ince .

God has all the attribu tes of a perfe ct being,He must

be ve racious If there were no God bu t only a de ce iv
.
,

i ng De vil t he external world might be o nly a fictio n

, ,

cre at ed to deceive us But God exis t s and we can trus t

.
,

tha t H e would not con t inually deceive men abou t the

exis tence of n ature A n atheist could have no science
.
,

but to Desc arte s ,

Go d in H is he av e n
’
s
”
A ll
’
s right with the rl
wo d .
76 HISTORY O F PHILOSOPHY
Of course man is cons tan tly in error abou t the char
,

act e r of physical thi ngs but these e rr ors a rise from his
,

misint erpretation of them Natu re in some fo rm li e s be

.

fore man or else God in H is truthfulness does no t exis t

, .

The esse nce of matte r is extension (see below) and ,

what ever my interpre tation of i t some thing extended ,

lies b e fore me to be interp r eted .

This is the skele ton upon which Descartes cons truc ts

his th e ory E ven this cursory exami nation of it shows
.

t he obvious attemp t to explain the world of grace

“

by the m e thod of m athematics and it is quite consistent

,

with the spirit of the Renaissance The existence of God .

and the exist e nce of m atter are d e duced in t urn f rom the

axiom of all thought the S elf ; while matter is furthe r

,

described as the ext ended or the m e asurable Thus .

De sc artes has tried to co ns t ruc t a bridge betwe e n the

scholas tic concepts and the science of the Renaissance .

The th re e reali ties the S elf God and matter which

, , , ,

De sc artes often speaks of as i ntuitive ly cert ain have ,

obviously a difie ring coge ncy The reality of conscious

.

n e ss is the ground from which the other two are de

r ive d In ass e rti ng its primacy he is voicing the spiri t
.
,

of the Ren aiss ance e ven more clearly t han di d Galile o

and Baco n For De sc art e s in this has gone back of t he
.

objective facts to a single subjective pri nciple ; where as

t he deduc t ive pri nciples of G alileo we re obj e c tive In .

this re spec t De scartes is the founde r of the subjecti ve

method of mod e rn thought and in identifying the S elf
,

as the reason he b e came the founder of rationalism In .

any case he e stablished a background for e pist e mology ,

or the th e ory of knowledge But in his d eriv ati o n of

.

the o ther two realities God and matter — he shows

how pe rsis ten t was the scholas tic curren t in his though t .
78 HIS TORY O F P HILOSOPHY
matter that is not extended An extend e d or mat e ri al .

body has howe ver in itself no principle of motion It

, , .

c annot move itself I t must be moved by an ext e rnal

.

cause and the whole universe must be a mech anism

,

whos e move ments have th e ir first cause in God M atter .

in its modes of motion and res t has God as i t s first cause

or unmoved mover ; and under m atter is includ e d every
thing exte nd e d inanimate obj e cts the lower anim als
, , ,

and the bodies of m e n To this world of matte r God

.

stands in the re lation of an i nve ntor to his m achine .

The Re la ti on of G od to M in ds The essential nature .

of minds is thought M i nd is th e refore di ff e rent fro m

.

m atter because it is une xtended and f ree The two rela . ~

t ive substanc e s have nothi ng in commo n except that

t hey are r e lated to God The rel atio n of God to mi nds
.

is however ve ry di ff e re nt from H is relation to matt e r

, , .

God is not the u nmoved mo v e r of mi nds but He is the ,

perfe ct and i nfinit e mi nd to which our finite mi nds turn

as the ir ide al God thinks and wills perfectly wh at we
.

thi nk and will imp e rfe ctly H e is not the mech anical .

but the t ele ological cause of minds their ens p erf ectis ,

s imu m the goal of all me nt al aspiration

, .

Th e R ela ti on of M in d and Body I n propo rt ion as .

Desc artes cle arly define d mi nd and body and re ferred ,

e ach back t o its own pri ncipl e the impossibility of c on ,

necting the t wo bec am e apparent De scartes i nt e nde d .

that his theory should above everyt hing else clear phi
, ,

losophy of all obscurities S o he divided the world in t o

.

two re lat ive subs tanc e s — mind and matter — e ach

, ,

op e rati ng in its o wn re alm e ach exclusive of the o th e r

, .

The inte ntion of De sc arte s is to be a consiste nt dualist .

But the re was one poi nt wh e re with one e ye on the ,

c hurch he had to qu alify for ethi cal c onsider ations his

,
 T HE RATIO NALISTS 79

scientific principle of matter Tha t is t he poin t wh e re

.

the human body ac ts upon the soul and t he soul acts

upo n the body .

There was little trouble for Descartes in concerv mg

the movements of inanim ate bod i e s pl ants and all the, ,

low er animals as purely mechanical and autom atic with ,

th eir fir st cause in God From his own investigations

.

he fel t oblige d to regard many of the hum an functio ns

as au tomatic also But his ethical and theologic al in
.

te re sts compelled him to thi nk of man as exalt e d above

the rest of cre ation Th e ology has always been in a sense
.

aristocratic and has draw n a line betwe e n man and

,

other things M an alone has a soul in his b ody The soul

. .

of man is immortal and fre e and mus t there fore have

,

co ntrol over the body neverth ele ss the soul of man mus t
be conscious of the impre ssions th at come through the
body H ere the sci ence of the Renaiss ance and the
.

scholasticism of the M id dle Age s re fuse to be reconciled

in the philosophy of De scartes When it becam e a que s
.

tion betw ee n De scartes sc i entific theory of matt e r oper

’

ati ng itself mech anically and the church doctri ne of a

spiritual will op e rating the m atter of the hum an body ,

the scien t ific theory had to yi eld How does Desc art e s
.

yield gracefully to the th e ologic al requirement s and

bring together the two unlike worlds of matter and
mi nd in the human p e rsonality
Descartes explanation of the r e l at ion of human
’

mi nd and body reminds us of the mythical explanations

of Parac elsus T he soul is u nited to all p arts of the
.

body but its poi nt of contact wi th the body is the pi ne al

,

gland and this contac t is m ade possible through the ani

,

mal spirits (sp i r i tu s animale s) or the fire atoms i n the

blood a re vived G reek co nception The pineal gland
, .
80 HISTORY O F P HILOSOPH Y
is a ganglion in the centre of the brai n which hic lo
'

gists t ell us is a d efunct eye but which Descartes con

,

c e iv e d to be the s e at of the soul De scarte s m ai ntai ne d

.

that the animal spirits h avi ng b een distilled by the

,

h e art asce nd by m e ch anical laws from the h e ar t to the

,

brai n and th en desce nd to the nerve s and muscl e s

, .

When th e y p ass thr ough the pi ne al gland they com e in ,

contact with the soul The soul exercis e s i nflue nc e on

.

the body by slightly movi ng the gl and and dive rti ng the
ani m al spirits In this way the e motions and s ensations
.

are to be e xpl ai ne d The moveme nt of the pin e al gl and

.

by the anim al spirits causes s e ns ations in the soul ; the

move m ent of the gland by the soul ch ange s the move
m ent of the animal spirits and is an e xhibitio n of fre e
,

action But this does not add to or subtract from the

.

e ne rgy It mere ly ch ange s the directio n of en e rgy

. .

The Influen c e of D e scarte s A lthou gh the philosophy

.

of De scart e s was forbidde n in the U niversity of O xford ,

was proscrib e d by the C alvi nists in H oll and and his ,

works were plac e d upon the I ndex by the Catholics i t ,

cre ated a profou nd impre ssion on the th e ology sci e nce , ,

and literature of the sevent e e nth cent u ry It spr ead over .

Europ e in a som e what simil ar way to the Darwinian

evolu tion th e ory in mode r n t im e s I t s success was im .

m e nse m any stand ard men ralli e d to i ts support and

, ,

ev e rything before Descart e s was considere d to be anti

q u ated A mo. n g philosophers his doctrine h ad an int e r

nal developme nt in a natural way alo ng the lines of the

problems which he had le ft unsolve d A philosophic al .

d e ve lopm e nt the source of which c an be tr aced dire ctly

,

back to De sc artes we nt on u ntil K ant publishe d his

,

C ri tiq u e in 1 7 8 1 This has lat e r be e n c alled the S chool

.

of Rationalis m in Germany Fran ce and Holland The

, , .
82 HISTORY O F P HILOSOP HY
world still remained because Descart e s had le ft the con
,

c ept of the spiritu al substanc e unde fine d The world .

of the spirit was still an u nknow n co u ntry The spirit .

u al subst ance had not be e n m ade cl e ar and disti nct ,

and th e r e still r e mai ned the o ntolo gic al proble m of the

rel ation b e twe e n mind and m att er and the psychological ,

proble m of the relation b e tween the individual soul and

its body .

De sc art es had however defi ned cl e arly the concep t

, ,

of the subs ta nce of matte r the substance with which

t he natural sci e ntist works H e had accomplished this
.
,

to be sure by destroyi ng the ess e nti al distinctions be

,
”
t wee n m ate ri al thi ngs A thi ng is essentially a sub
.
“

stance in which many qu aliti e s inh e re ; e g a pi e c e of . .

sugar having white ne ss swe e t ness e tc M aterial sub

, , .

s tance s were alike in th at all were ess enti ally extension .

A ll e ls e b e side s ext e nsio n in any p articul ar fi nit e thi ng

was a modific atio n of e xt e nsio n A lump of sugar was .

ess entially the s am e as a lump of s alt in th at both w e re

ext ension the s altne ss swee tness etc were s e condary
, , .
, .

No w this m akes the n ature of bodi e s ve ry cle ar ; and

De scar tes proposed t o r e duc e the subs tanc e of the stat e s
of mind to the s ame clearne ss but h e did not do it He , . .

was i nter e ste d in natur al sci ence and he dev e lop e d his
r atio nalism only with r e fe re nce to m att e r Bodie s are .

p arts of sp ace or corpuscle s which are m ath e m atic ally

,

infinitely divisible but p e rc e ptu ally are not furth e r divis

,

ible A s far as he w e nt De scart e s was cle ar e nough

.
, .

The O ccasio nalists and S pi noz a represent the se cond

s tage in the dev elopment of Rationalism Both tried .

by m ak ing cle ar the m e aning of spirit ual subst anc e to

d efine the relationship of God to the m at eri al world .

Bo th tr ied to s ta te the problem i n o ther words to over ,

 T HE RATIO N ALISTS 83

come the duali sm betwee n mind and matt er and to re ,

.

co nstruct the old world of gr ace so that it would be

consiste nt with the ne w world of science The O cca .

sionalists whos e chi e f e xponents were M alebranche and

,

Geulincx we sh all dismiss wi th only a fe w words while

, ,

considerable attentio n must be gi ve n to the teachi ng of

S pi noza M al ebranche t ried to do for the m e n tal world
.

what De sca rtes had do ne for the world of m atter S i nce .

no knowledge is possible excep t in God he claimed ,

that the modes of finite minds — our ideas j u dgme nts , ,

im agin at ions are alike in esse nce in being modifica

t ions of the universal reason of God God is so far the .

place of mi nds as sp ace is the place of bodies All .

our ideas par ticipate in God s reaso n and all our voli
’
,

tions are the modifications of the will of t he Divine ,

j ust as bodies are modifications of ex tension What .

then is the relation as ked Geuli ncx be twe en bodily

, ,

movemen t and the s tates of conscious ness ? Why does

my arm move wh e n I wish to move it ? By the medi a
tory power of God The thought in my mind is the
.

occasional cause of the movement of my arm while ,

God is the true cause of the move ment The move .

ment of the hum an body is therefo re like the movement ,

of all mat ter a conti nuous miracle c aused by an ever

,

watchful De ity who keeps bo dy and mind in harmo ny

, .

S pinoza completed hi s pantheism before M aleb ranche

had pr epared the way H e formula ted a complete do c
.

tri ne of substanc e conc e iving mat erial bodies to be

,

esse ntially the s ame in being modes of extension and ,

m e ntal phenomena to be ess entially alike in bei ng m odes

of though t But more impor tant was his fu rther t each
.

ing tha t on that accou nt the t wo series have no rela p

t ion to each other Th at is t o say S pinoza r educed the

.
,
84 H IS TORY O F PHI LOSOPHY
whole difficul ty to clearness and di sti nc tness by redue
ing the three subs tances of De scartes to one For this .

rea son S pi noza was a more complet e Rationalist th an

De scart es ; and he was assist e d in this construction of
a m athe matical Rationalis m by two facts : he held him
s elf strictly to the dedu ctive method and he was fre e ,

from soci al and eccle siastical ti e s S pi noza is the .

t ruest ut terance of his time in i ts e ff ort t o mak e all

things clear ; and this is not contradicted by the fact
that he had little influence in shaping contemporary
thought .

The Hi stori cal Pla ce of Spin oz a "

S pinoza did not .
e

ge t full standing nor was he widely read until Lessi ng , ,

o ne hundred year s l ater resurrect e d his t e aching and

,

Goe the adopted i t H e produced what the Renaissance

.

was s t rivi ng for but wh at the Re naissance co uld not

,

ye t grasp , the comple te logical formulation of its

deepest thought S pinoza produced the only great con
.

c eption of the world duri ng this period and it excited ,

the hostility of co ntemporary C atholics P rot estants , ,

and fre e-thinkers alike The product of his th inking

.

was a new sys temat ic scholasticism which if the time , ,

had b een ready for it would have enti rely superseded

,

the medi aeval H e succeeded in placi ng metaphysics

.

u pon a scien t ific and mathema t ical b asis for his phi ,

losophy was no t o nly logical in its co nt ent bu t mathe

m atical i n i t s form S pinoza s philosophy is the Re
’
.

naissance expre ssion of medi aeval schol asticism — the ,

ex pression of that rationalism that underlies bo th the

Re ad Royc e , Sp i r i t of M odern P hi l , chap iii ; Bald . .

wi n, F ragments i n P hi losop hy, pp 2 4— 4 2 ; R and, M od ern

.

Classica l P hilosop hers , pp 1 4 8—1 66 ; E ucke n, P roblem of

.

H u man L ife, pp 3 62—

. 3 80 .
 T HE R ATIO NALISTS 85

t hough t of the M iddle Ages and t he Renaissance It .

is as if Thomas A quin as had been transported into the

Renaissance , fi nding tha t scie nce would not sup
and

port and explai n dogma had conformed dogma sys ,

te mati cally to the new scie nce M athemat ically science .

was the new dogma S pi noza is the l as t word of medi

'

ae v ali sm altho ugh his langu age is the scie nce of the
,

Re naissance The u tte rance of S pi noza sounds s t range

.

because while his though t is medi aeval his expression

, ,

and form are sci entific .

S p inozism had a revival in the eigh t eenth cen

tury.
*
I t formed the b ackgrou nd of the philosophy
of Herder and that of the author of the Wolf enbilttel
F r agments The conne ction of Lessing and S pinoza
.

was a mat t er of active cont roversy at tha t t ime S pi .

noza was the gre at influence upo n Goethe In the ni ne .

tee nth ce ntury in E ngl and C oleridge reprod uced from

’
S pinoza s E thics the doc t ri ne of an all-pervading love
and reason .

S pi noza st rov e b e fore e verything else for a unitary

system and yet it is i nterest ing to see how much he has
,

been honored from difie rent quart e rs A rtis t s re ligious .

,

devotees poets idealists materialists and scientists

, , , ,

have fou nd in him their trues t expression This is not .

only because e ach has fou nd somethi ng diff e re nt but ,

because his philosophy had ac tu ally a many-sided char

acter His te achi ng had the advantage of bei ng thor
.

oughly radical Bad sys tems of philosophy are impos

.

sible because they are contradictory While no one

, .

knows that any sys t e m cor responds to f act still it is ,

possible that a radical syst em may have such correspo nd

Se e page 2 79 Re ad G oethe Gehei mnisse in this c on
.
, ,
86 HIS TORY O F PHI LOSOPHY
e nce S pinoza s syste m is compreh ensive and therefore
.
’
,

has st ruck symp athetic chords in difi e ring thi nk e rs .

The Influen c e s upon Spin oz a 1 H i s Je wi sh Tr ain . .

ing S pi noz a was born a Jew and rem ai ne d a m e mb e r

.

of the S ynagogue un t il he was excommu nicat e d at the

age of twenty-four Although he was the origi nal ge n
.

ius who transc ends hi s limitations his you ng mi nd was ,

mould e d aft e r the Je wish typ e H e rece ive d the strictly

.

r e ligious trai ni ng of the J e wi sh boy in the Jewish

ac ademy at A msterd am where he learned a t rade in
,

connection with his studies H e studie d the Talmud .

,

medi ae val Jewish philosophy especi ally the writings of,

M aimonide s (twelfth c e ntury ) and the C ab alistic litera,

ture I n a Je wish curriculum the classic al langu ages

.

had no place ; and m athematics e xcept arithme tic was , ,

ge nerally ove rlooke d His e arly i nstruction emphasized

.

above e v eryt hi ng else the unity and the supremely

transc endent theistic ch ar acter of God
, .

H oweve r his s e paration from the S ynagogu e at this

,

early age could not but modify his theology I t made .

him a fre e Jew He was no longer u nder the re straints

.

of Jewi sh traditions While he neve r ab andoned his

.

beli e f in God as a unity he gave up his belief in the

,

transc ende nt theis t ic God of t he H e brew prophets and

he diffe red from the contemporary Jewish C ab alistic
teachi ng of em anations from God He seems to have .

so modified the orthodox H ebre w conceptio n of God

th at i t rather re s e mble s th at of the mediaeval mystic
C hris ti an P erhaps the i nflu ence of Bruno upo n his
.

thought may account for its fi nal sh ape .

88 HIS T ORY O F PHI LOSOPH Y
his own love for the e thical as an ide al S pinoz a says .

that the motive of hi s philosophy is a practic al one ;

that he is s e eki ng th at which would e nable me to e n
”
joy co ntinuous and supre me and une ndi ng happiness .

H e is see ki ng a theory of life th at would aid in allayi ng

the u nre st of his tim e ; and he is the o nly philosoph e r
who has called his m e t aphysics E thi cs The humane .

n e ss of his doctrine the practic al purpose of his writ

,

ings and the e thical id e al that i nform e d his whole life

,

had at least th e ir r e i nforc em e nt and perh aps th e ir ori

,

in ih hi s co ntact with the C ollegi ants duri ng this c riti

g ,

c al period H is life with this sect i nfluenced him in his

.

re fusal to accept the chair of philosophy at the Uni

versity of H e idelberg and to re m ain conten t t o be the
,

obscure grinder of O ptic al l ens e s .

The Lif e and P hilo s ophi c al Wri ti n gs of Spin oza

“ ’

( 1 6 3 2 The history of philosophy pres e nts in the

p e rson of S pi noza a lovable intere sti ng and s triking

, ,

charac te r as well as the author of one of the profoundes t

,

of philosophical systems His l ife was one of social iso

.

lation and re tireme nt rather th an of solitude The J e ws .

to whom he belonge d lived a kind of double exile they

were exil e d from th e ir home in S pain and they live d by ,

thems elves apart from the people of Amste rdam Wh en .

S pinoza was e xcommu nicat e d by his bre thren he suf ,

f e red there fore a t hre efold exile M ore ov e r S pi noza

, , .
,

was not only excommu nicated by his people bu t he was ,

hated by the co ntemporary Catholics Prote stants and , ,

the prevaili ng C artesian school E ven the fre e-thi nker

.
,
”
Hume spoke of hi m as the i nfamous S pi noz a and
, ,

another philosopher described hi s philosophy as the

”
hideous hypothesis of S pinoza Bu t his isolation was
.

Read Auerbach Sp i noza an historic al romance

, ,
.
 T HE R ATIO N ALISTS 89

far from soli tude and he had many eminent and faith
,

ful friends and a no table correspo ndence O f his short .

life of forty-fiv e years he sp e nt twe nty-four or more

, ,

than h alf as a member of the Jewish synagogue Du r

, .

ing the ne xt seven years he found refuge amo ng the

C olle gi ants In the las t four te e n years of his life he
.

b e came widely kno wn mai nly through the Theologica l

,

P o li ti c al Tr act published in 1 6 7 0 the o nly o ne of his

, ,

writings which he himself published This brought him .

t he c all to the University of He idelberg which he de ,

cline d H is life may be co nve nie ntly divide d i nto three

.

p e riods as follows :
,

1 I n I sr ael (1 6 3 2
. S pi noz a was ed u cated a t
the Je wish academy at A msterdam wh e re he studied ,

th e ology and l earned a t rade according to the Jewish ,

cus tom This t rade was the grindi ng of optical le nse s ;

.

th at is he be cam e an O p tici an and this re quired some

, ,

knowledge of mathemat ics and physics Duri ng these .

ye ars he go t i nstruction fro m V an der Ende in sci e nce

and L ati n H e also re ad Desc artes and le arned m any
.

langu ages H e wrot e a comp endium of a H ebrew Gram

.

mar of which the da te is doubtful In 1 6 5 6 he was ex

,
.

commu nicated by the synagogue The charge s brought .

agains t hi m were th at : (1 ) he de nied t h at the O ld

T e s tament taugh t the doctri ne of immortali ty ; (2) he

affirmed th at angels may be only phantoms or id e as
in men s minds ; (3 ) be affirmed tha t God may have a
’

body .

2 I n R e ti r ement (1 6 5 6
. S pinoza spent thi s
time with the C olle gi ants and this was his most fru itful
,

i nte lle c tual pe riod He brought hi s o ntology e thics

.
, ,

politics and physics i nto a u nifi e d syste m ; and be for

,

mulate d his theory of dete rminism and hi s mathematical

90 HISTORY O F P HILOSOPHY
m e thod In 1 6 5 8—1 66 1 he was writ ing his so-called Short
.

Trea ti se “ co nc e r ni ng God man and his w e ll-b ei ng

, ,
.

This was the first draft of his E thi cs I n 1 6 5 6—1 66 2 .

he was writi ng his I mp r o v ement of the Under standi ng .

In 1 662—1 663 he w rote a summary of the pri nciples of

De sc artes .

3 I n the P u bli c E ye (1 663

. Duri ng this
period S pinoz a lived at or n e ar the Hagu e where he ,

“
had m any visitors and a l arge correspo nde nce ? H e was
an i nt im ate frie nd of the brothers De witt e who m ad e ,

so large a part of the political history of the country .

I n 1 66 2—1 66 5 he was writing his E thics his mo nu ,

me nt al work I n 1 66 3 —1 6 70 he wrote and publishe d

.

the Theological-P o li ti cal Tr ea ti se the o nly work pub ,

lishe d duri ng his life A lthough rec e iv e d wi th horror ,

.

i t was wid ely r e ad I t aim ed to show that the B i ble is

.

histo ry In 16 7 3 he d e cli ned the c all to the U niversity

.

of H e id elb e rg Just b efor e his d e ath in 1 6 7 7 he wrote

.
, ,

the fragm ent of the P oli ti cal Tr e ati se .

The M e thod of Spinoza The method which S pinoza .

employed in writing his E thi cs must not be regarde d by

the r e ader as a fantastic dress that he capriciously chose .

It had for Spi noza a re al and not mere ly an external

significance O n taking up the book one fi nds philoso
.
,

phy treated exac tly as Euclid tre ated his geometry Be .

g i nning with a number of d e fi nitions and axioms there ,

are deduced step by step propositions with appended

, ,

scholi a and corollari e s To S pi noz a this was not press

.

i ng ph ilosophy into an artifici al and rigid form bu t was ,

only the n atural m od e of philosophical expr e ssion For .

,

in the first plac e if the ne w m e thod of sci e nc e had proved

,

R e ad Bohn s L ibr a rie s Sp inoz a v l 11 pp 2 75 ff for

’
, ,
o . , . .
,
92 . HIS TORY O F P HILOSOPHY
adde d to t hese a ne w and transforming principle : he
conceived that the subs tance God is not mere ly one , ,

object of knowledge bu t H e is the only o bject of know

,

ledg e He is the only subs tance and finite thi ngs are
.
,

only modifications of Him Fini te things are alike a t .

bottom and to know them truly is to know God

, .

This ne w pri nciple transforms all the C artesian ele

m e nts in S pi noza s t eachi ng It ch ange s the Cartesian
’
.

t h e ism into a p antheism ; i t suppl ants De sc art e s theo ’

logical orthodoxy with a n atu ralism and De scarte s ’

doctri ne of free dom with a determinism ; and it turns

the c ultur e d aloofness of Desc art e s i nto a benevole nt
mysticism Thi s ne w principle b e comes the head of
.

”
the corner The o nene ss and u nive rs ality of God is
.

the single proposition from which S pinoz a d educed

his whol e philosophy God is the ultimate ground whose
.

e xiste nce mus t be r e al b e cause it is conce ived The

, .

i ntri nsic scholasticism of the philosophy of S pinoza

appears in his definitio n of s u bsta nce for i t is only ,

a conde nse d st ateme nt of S t Anselm s argum en t for .

’

the ex ist ence of God S pinoza says .

“
By substance I ,

mean that which is in its elf and conceived through it

”
s elf alone There ar e therefore two ki nds of thi ngs :
.
, ,

the thi ng that has exis t en ce in itself and the thi ngs
that have exis te nce in somet hi ng els e God stands .

alone in the firs t cl ass ; all other things m ake up

’
the second class S pi noza s world is di v ide d i nto two
.

p art s : God and the modes of God God is s elf-explana .

tory and self-existent while ev e rythi ng e lse is ex

,

plained through Him The only obj ect of k nowle dge

.

and the si ngl e pres u ppositio n of exist e nc e is God In .

a phrase th at has b e come classic Novalis describe d ,

S pi noza as a G od-int oxica ted man .

 TH E R ATIO NALI ST S 93

Thre e Ce ntral Proble ms in Spinoza s Te aching We ’

.

have already noted tha t S pinoza was the chi ef ex po

nent of cle arness and dis t inc tness in this epoch when
all myst eries were to be re v ealed He sough t to articu
.

late a me taphysics that would spread out the plan of

the world like a demons t ration in geome t ry His defi .

nition of substan ce is perfec tly intelligible ; he accep ted

t he mathema t ical analysis of the material world in to
a world of ext ension and that of the world of con
,

scious s ta tes i nto one of though t — all this for the sake
of simplification and clearness How simple su ch a phi
.

losophy at the first blush appears —the world is God

and his modi fications As a matte r of fac t i t is one
.

of the many examples of the i rony of histo ry tha t the

philosophy of S pinoza is one of the most difficul t to
i nte rpret Its di fficulties do no t arise f rom i t s ha ving a
.

novel point of view for on the con tr ary i t is one tha t

,

appeals s trongly to the popular imaginat ion Its difii .

culties arise from its very simplici t y for af t er all hu , , ,

man life is so rich and varied t ha t a simple form ula

will hardly express it F ro m beginning to end S pino
.

za s though t has a vagueness for which the beginner

’

in vain strives to find the cause The cause lies in the

.

seemingly simple pri nciple t ha t G od is all tha t really

exists and ye t the world consists of God and o ther
,

thi ngs .

From S pinoza s eff ort to simplify ma tte r s emerged

’

three cen tral proble ms : (1 ) The proble m of the all

i nclusiveness of G od the problem of pan theism ; (2 )
The problem of the unity of God — the p roblem of
mysticism (3 ) The probl e m of the salvation of man
an e thical problem W e shall now conside r these p rob
.

lems in order .
94 H I S T ORY O F PHILOSOP HY
The Panth e i s m of Spinoz a The All-Inclus iv e ne ss
’
of G od That S pinoz a s philosophy is a p anth eism ap
.

pears at the outs e t in his conc e ption of substanc e ; for

the subst ance is all that re ally is De scar te s had con .

c eiv e d of thre e substances God as the absolu te sub

,

stance and mi nd and m att e r as the two relative sub

,

stanc e s But to S pinoza th ere can be only one substance ;

.

for if there w e re two or more no one would be sub ,

stance since e ach would be conceive d through the

,

othe rs If we think at all we mus t thi nk of substance

.
,

as all-inclusive O ne might suppos e th at this prelimi nary

.

statement would be all that S pinoz a could say about

life : all th at really is is subst ance othe r thi ngs do not
,

exis t But that would be a misi nterpre t ation of S pinoza

. .

He does not me an that fi ni te things are mere nothings .

They exist as u nrealiti e s ; th ey exis t as n e gations of

the subst ance If you prick i nto the fi nite world it
.
,

does not coll aps e lik e a balloon It s t ill exists as an

, .

unreality .

No p e rson ev e r had the idea of i nfinity so profoundly

as did S pi noza His idea of i nfinity is not merely tha t
.

of the infinity of time and sp ace which indeed afiords ,

a tremendous vari e ty of possible constructio ns since ,

space and tim e are each i nfinite To S pi noza the in .

finity of the sub s tance is much more th an th e s e possible

combinations of t ime and space for corr e sponding to ,

space series is a series of m ental stat e s .

has a r e as on E very one of the i nfinity

.

of events in the world of extension is paralle le d by

so me state of tho u ght But this is by no means the
.

whol e story about S pi noz a s conc eption of i nfi nity Be

’
.

sides the infinite world of time and space and the in

fini te world of co rrespondi ng though t the substance to ,
96 HIS T ORY O F PHILOSOPH Y
know God in His charac ter as substance but that He ,

always appears to us t hrough H is attributes of though t

and e xte nsion Th e re are only th e s e two attribu tes th at
.

the human mind can know although God as an i nfinite

‘

being must possess an infinite numb e r of such attri

but es In our human world all thi ngs are either though t
.

t hi ngs or extension-thi ngs Each of these t wo attribu tes

.

is infi nite afte r i t s kind Each fully express es an asp e ct

.

of God without depreciating the value of the other .

Each is fully adequate j u s t as a table may be both,

white and h ard without either quali ty infringi ng upon

the other The attributes are the substance m ad e more
.

concrete The modes are in turn modifications of the

.

attribut e s and more concrete expre ssions of them and

of the s ubsta nce Each mode is i nfini te afte r its ki nd
. .

S i nce God exists only in reality H e would no t suppos ,

ably see from H is poi nt of vie w the world laid ou t in

a tt ribut es and modes for these are o nly human ways
of interpreti ng Him While the critics agree that the
.

modes are human interpre tations of the at t ributes and

therefore unreal they disagree abou t the relation of
,

t he at tr ibu tes to God S ome main t ain that the attri

.

bu tes are merely human ways of seei ng the substance ,

analogously to the modes — as if we saw God now as

though t and now as ext ension ; o thers maint ain tha t
God is nothi ng other th an t he sum of t he at tributes ;
of exte nsion thought and the u nknown infini te othe r
, , , ,

att ributes The difficulty lays b are the nerve of the

.

problem of pantheism and probably S pinoza was no t

,

clear in his own mind about t he relation of the attri

 THE R AT IO N ALISTS 97

su m-to tal of all exis te n t things or is He the principle,

behi nd them ? S pinoza says that God is both God is .

the cause of the world not cause in the way that the
,

term is commonly used nor in t he sense th at Descart es

used it God is not to exis ten t thi ngs the firs t cause or
.

the unmoved mover of m at t er or the teleological cause,

of thought as in Descar tes H e is cause in the sense

, .

t hat a triangle is the cause of its own three sides H e .

is the rat ional ground (r ati o essendi) or the logical

r eason for the being of things In thi s sense God may .

be regarded as the cause bo th in the sense that He is

the sum-to tal of exis ten t things or modes (natur a natu ~

ra ta) and in t he sense t hat He is t he immane nt and

,

energizing principle of ex is ten t things (na tura natu

r ans
) These
. concep t ions as well as thei r ph r as es S pi

noza probably go t from Bruno .

The world is therefore rela te d t o God in that i t fol

, ,

lows direc tly from the na ture of God ; God is re lated

t o t he world in that He is t he logical ground of the
world Is God the creator of the world ? No He is the
.
,

world Is God a person ? Is He a self-conscious be ing

.

like ourselv es an individual ? N o The thought

,
.

aspect of God i ncludes our though t bu t it is the v e ry ,

difierent i nfini te though t ; the extension -aspec t of God

includes our body but i t is the very diff eren t infini te
,

body G od has soul and body and an infini t e number

.

of o ther aspec ts God i s — nu unchanging self-depe nd

.
,

en t being whose modifications a re necessarily de ter

,

mined ih their relat ion to Him and to one another .

S pinoza co nceived the charac t er of God exactly from

the nature of geometry Jus t as all geometrical con
.
.

elusio ns follow fr om t he n atu re of sp ace and e xis t in

de termined and fixed relations to one ano the r so eve ry ,

98 HISTORY O F P HI LOSOP HY
t hi ng fini t e follo ws from the na tur e of the I nfinite and ,

eac h finit e thing is in a rigid chain of finite things of

its o wn ki nd — a ch ain without b egi nni ng or end The .

n e cessity of the divi ne n ature app e ars in all not as a ,

s e ries of e m anations from God bu t in a seri e s e ach , ,

m e mb e r of which is determine d e qually by Him .

The M ystici sm of Sp in oza F r o m the p o i nt of v i ew

.

of man mysticism in sp e cul ative or religious thought

,

has re fe rence to the immedi at e apprehension of God .

Mysticism fre quently accomp anies pantheism and f r om ,

the p oi nt of v iew of G od refe rs to the o neness of H is

all-inclusive n ature Spinoza s pantheism is also a
.
’

mysticism which involves the immediate apprehe nsion

of the divi ne by the hum an ; i t involves the one ness
of God and man M ore often than o therwise mysti
.

cism is a nimat e d by a religious mot ive and S pi noza s

’
,

philosophy is profoundly religious We h ave alre ady .

see n similar mysticism in the O rphic -Pyth agore an sec t

which formed so great a p e ril to Gr eek culture in
the sixth ce ntu ry B C in the neo-Pyth agore ans and
. .
,

neo-Pla tonis t s at the beginni ng of t his era in m any ,

of the churchme n of the M iddle Age s esp e ci ally S cotus ,

E rige na and M e iste r Eckh art Bruno and m any of the

.

Humanis ts were mystics and if we should wish to go

,

outside our field we should find mysticism to be the

,

p rev ailing atti t ude of mi nd of the

grea t O rie nt al peo
ples Mys t icism frequently is accompanied by belief in
.

occul t spiritual appe arances bu t that is no t necessarily

,

the cas e ; nor was it the case with S pinoza S pi noza s .

’

mysticism was purely i nt ell ectual Although a re ligious .

philosophy wi th an imm edi at e ethic al b eari ng upon con

duct it was a scie ntific relationalism th at could not
,

t ole ra te the miraculous and the abnormal psychologic al

1 00 HISTORY O F PHI LOSOPHY
v ers al, which has engaged the attention of so much of
mode rn philosophy A concre te univers al is all-i nclusive
.

of finite exist ence but at the same time is a self-con

,

sist e nt unity I n contrast with the concrete univers al

.

is the abstract u niversal which is a u nity but outside

, ,

of which all fini te existence falls While i t was nu .

doubtedly the concrete universal that S pinoza sought ,

his me thod could lead to nothing more concrete than

the abstract u niversals of Plato and the S choolmen .

’
The world of fini t e thi ngs is included by S pinoza s God
i n t he same way that blocks ar e i ncluded by a s tring
which has been tied around them .

’
S pinoza s God is the mos t abstract en ti ty which i t is
possible to conceive All finit e thi ngs fall outside Him
. .

No quali ty can be predic ated of H im for t o define H im ,

is to limit H im A fter the manner of the negative

.
“

t heology (see vol i p . S pinoza refused to ascribe

, .

an quali ty t o God
y H e does not feel think or will as we
.
, ,

do nor can ext ension be ascribed to Him in the sense

,

of fini te spaces We can say only that He is not this

.

and not this S pinoza s conc eption of God is reach e d

.
’

by dropping off all dete rminate qualities until the mos t ,

general and mos t abstrac t t erm is gai ned The b arren .

ness of this logical concep tion its absélu te empti ne ss

,

and abs trac tness makes all descrip tion of i t impossible

, .

God is a bloodless entity an absolu te logical nece ssity

,

and the mos t abstrac t universal O utside of H im falls .

all tha t we call life If this is God s ch aracter is He

.
’
,

everything or nothi ng ? If the process of abs t rac tion

rises so far above every limi tati on to an e ns r eali ss imu m
et ener ali ssi mu m — to the mos t real and mos t gen
g ,
 T HE R ATIO N ALISTS 1 01

’
S pi noza s philosophy appea rs he r e as in the case of all
mysticism — for the mystic revels in p aradoxes This .

empty generality is all that really is God is every .

thi ng and S pi noza poi nt s ou t empirical proof of this

,

by insisti ng that the transitory life of man has its only

m e aning in such a subst ance God is no t this particular
.

t hi ng nor again th at fi ni te d e term i nation but He is all ,

t hese He is the ti mel e ss reality of the temporal world

.
,

t he infinity of fini te thi ngs the necessi ty of co ntingen t

,

na tu re When the refore S pi noza speaks of God as hav

.

ing an in tellect ual love for H imself and when he s ays ,

that the a tt ribu t es of thought and extension consti tu te

the essence of the subs tance he is no t givi ng fini te
,

charac teris tics t o God H e is stru ggli ng wi th language

.

to exp ress the i nh e ren t paradox of his philosophy .

M oreover the deli neatio n of the fi nite world with

,

God as a background as i t appears f rom the point of

,

view of a hum an being is an in adequat e prese ntation

,

of S pinoza s profou nd concep tion of God

’
For the sub .

s tance is no t merely a neu tral poin t nor the central

poin t of the universe The substance is all All thi ngs
. .

have neither their explanation nor their existence in

th emselves God alone has an exis t ence th at expl ains
.

i t self and He is the reality and esse n ce of all fini te

,

thi ngs God is imm anen t in the world Jus t as the sides
. .

o f a triangle ge t t hei r meani ng fr om the t riangle its e lf ,

so the si gnificance of the attributes and m odes of the

substanc e lies in the substance .

The uni ty of S pinoz a s God is further suggest ed by

’

the relation of the a tt ribu t es of thought and exte nsion ,

however sep arate they must appear in t heir qu ali ty and

caus al depend e nce Both are aspects of the same sub
.

s tance in the 99 9 case in the form of extension and

, ,
1 02 HIS T ORY O F P HILOSOPHY
in the o ther in the form of though t In the all-inclu .

sive nature of God pre sumably each moment has an in

,

fi nite nu mb e r of correlative mom e nts corresponding to

the i nfinite number of the attributes of God S inc e to .

hum an b e i ngs only two of these worlds lie in sight only ,

two correspondi ng modes appear but always two This , .

corre spo ndence of the physical and psychical throughou t

natur e is call e d i n late r times p anp sychism in t he r ela p

tion of the body and mi nd of a human bei ng it is called

s cho- h s ical arallelism This co rr espo ndence h e lped
p y p y p .

S pinoza to solve the app are nt dualism of the t wo worlds .

While ideas are dete rmi ned o nly by ideas and mo t io ns ,

by motions both seri e s point below to the divi ne sub

,

stance which is the significance of bo th They are like .

the top and botto m sid e s of a piece of paper neithe r ,

side constituting the piece of paper bu t both being ,

necessary to it The su bstance is immanen t in thought

.

as w ell as in extension Bo th thought and ext ension

.

are asp e cts of God The relation of t hou ght and e x

.

tension through the De ity discloses the monisti c char

acter of S pi noza s philosophy and seems to prove that
’

he cannot be a m ateri alist although so me critics have

,

said that he is The same reali ty is seen now as con

.
,

sc io u sne ss and now as ext e nsio n .

Spin oz a s Doc tri ne of Salv a ti on S pinoza divided his

’
.

E thic s into five p art s The firs t is a t reat men t of the

.

nature of God ; t he second of the nature and origin of

,

the mind ; the third of the emo t ions ; the fourth of

, ,

human bond age ; the fifth of hum an freedom This , .

most import ant writing of S pinoza the only treatise on ,

metaphysics which has been calle d Ethics is a practical ,

philosophy of life and r edemption The di visions of it .

,
1 04 HIS TORY O F PHILOSOPHY
of ou r fac ulties if we look at it more closely we find
, ,

th at inste ad of being active o u rs elv e s duri ng a p assion ,

we are bei ng act e d upon by an e xte rnal obj e ct O nly as .

we are p u re ly rational — only through the reason

, ,

are we pur e ly active It is then th at we are like God

.
,

fre e like H im and the n do we ris e from insignificance

,

to great ne ss The n we transcend ou r fals e ide as of fre e

.

dom and become necessary beings for in God freedom is ,

nece ssity .

To be free from the passions and the fini te thi ngs of

t he world we mus t u nderst and their n ature for to u n
d e rstand a thi ng is to be d e livere d from it A n illusion .

is not an illusion wh e n we know it to be such To see .

that all t he p assions se ns atio ns im aginat io ns and all

, , ,

the other modes of thought are human limit ations is ,

to dwe ll within the re aso n S pinoz a s freedom is not

.
’

as will be s ee n freedom in the ordi nary psychological

,

m e aning of the t e rm but is the metaphysical freedom

,

of b e ing ide ntic al wi th the deity and de te rmi ned by

no fi nite thi ng Freedom is ratio nal k nowledge Ne ver
. .

theless fr e edom is ethical also for i t co nsists in over

, ,

comi ng the passions by re ason Freedom therefore .

, ,

has t wo sides : an escape from the e mo tions and an

escape from obscure id eas — the goal in both c as e s
bei ng the li fe of re ason To attain freedom is to see the
.

world as God s e es i t which is the s ame as the re ason sees

,

i t This is to see each fi nite thi ng as eternal Any c on

. .

crete thi ng may be r e garde d by the human b e ing as

 T HE RATIO N ALI STS 105

’
use S pinoza s own celebrated phrase “ under a certain ,
”
form of eternity (su b sp ec ie aeterni ta ti s ) This con .

c e ption of e t ernity is one of the mos t admir able in

S pi noza s teachi ng Wh e n man rises through the r ea

’
.

son to t he conscious ne ss of the et e r nity of the tru th of a

thi ng t he thing its e lf is t ransformed and the man him

, ,

self has gained salvation Any circle that I may draw is

.

imperfec t every leaf upon the fores t trees is d efective

, ,

all moral activi t ies are w an ti ng if re garded i n thei r

,

ti me-limi tations But below all the imp e rfections of the

.

universe is its absolute math em atical perfectness There .

is nothi ng so abortive and evil that i t doe s not have i t s

aspect of e ternity S ide by side with S pi noza s concep
.
’

t ion of i nfinity is his concep tion of et e rnity I nfinity is .

everlastingness e ternity is qu ality of b e ing Eternity

, .

has no refe re nce to time O ne minu t e may be eternal

. .

The infinity of the subst ance is one aspect ; the et e rnity of

the subst ance is another Tha t et ernity gain e d through
.

the re ason is s alvation and immortality God is reason .

,

and by the ac t of the r ea son do we become one with

Him O ur knowledge is therefore the m e asure of our

.
, ,

morality Knowledge and morality are the same and

.

whatever i ncreas e s our u nderstan di ng is morally good

wh atever diminishes our u nders tanding is morally

N evertheless , from the poin t of view of the philoso

pher there is nothing in the world that is morally good
,

or bad —nothi ng which meri t s his hat red love fear

, , , ,

co ntempt o r pity , si nce all that occ urs is n e ce ssary

,
.

The philosopher s knowl edge of the determi nism of the

’

world lifts him above the usu ally co nc eive d world of

finit e t hings to this mystic world reco nstruct e d by his
,

i nte llectual love of nature or God Love for G od will .

1 06 HIS T ORY O F PHILOSOPHY
give to everythi ng its proper value It is the high e st .

form of hum an activity Love for God is an absolut ely

.

disintere st e d fe eli ng and is not therefore lik e hum an

,

love which is the p assing from a less state to a gre ater

, .

Love for God is peace resignati o n and conte ntme nt , , ,

for it is o ne ness with God I n fact the love of man .

,

for God is the love of God for man ; it is the love of

God for Himself since man cannot love God withou t
,

be coming God Thus man int elle ctually r e cognizes

.

his oneness with God and rejoices Immort ality is , .

absorptio n in the e t ern al and n e cess ary substa nce of

the world It is a common misconc e ption that immor
.

t ality is duration aft e r d e ath ; immort ality consists in

looki ng at thi ngs under the asp e ct of et e rnity The .

finite man perishes but man s re al s e lf which is G od

,
’
, ,

survives .

Su mmary of Spin oz a s T e achi ng The ration alism of

’
.

S pi noz a is the final word of schol astic r e alism It is a .

mathem atic al scholasticism in which the attempt is to

m ake cle ar by the m e thod of deduction all me taphysi cal
problem s Th at the philosophical t e achi ng of Spinoza
.

is i nspiri ng and e nnobli ng no one will gains ay Th at , .

hi s philosophy is not cle ar is also true In the begin , .

ni ng of his discussion spirit is subordinat ed to na

,

ture ; at the e nd nature is s u bordi nat e d to spirit The

, .

result is th at u nde r the h ands of S pi noza God has

becom e a pure abstractio n and without conte nt the ,

world is an illusion du alism is sup e rsede d by a mo

,

nisti c parall e lism i ndi v idu al ac t ivity give s way and

,

becom e s a p antheistic determi nism Ye t amid all this .

a r e co nstruct e d world aris e s in which man is r ec om

1 08 HIS TORY O F PHI LOSOPHY
the fu tu re just as S pi noza for the past Leibnitz unites
, .

the Re naissa nc e and the Enlighte nm e nt j ust as S pi ,

noza joi ns the Renaissance and the M iddle Age s S pi .

noza is the Rationalist who utte rs the final word of

schol astic re alism while Leib nitz pres ages the coming
,

i ndi vid ualism S pinoza 8 philos phy 13 sci ence buried i n

’

o
.

t raditionalism ; Leibnitz s i s sci ence b re aking through

’

traditio nalism S pinoza har ks b ack to u nive rs als and

.

particulars substance and forms ; Leibnitz points for

,

w ard to vortex rings e nergy and dyn amics F ro m

, , .

Le ib nitz s origi nal purpose to rationalize theology and

’

to succeed wh e re Descartes and S pinoza had failed ,

there eme rges a new motive He no longer l ays the .

emphasis e ntirely upon the unive rs al but he shifts it in ,

p art to the p articular The panthe ism of S pi noz a had

.

system ati z e d the indi v idu al out of its r eali ty Leibni tz s .

’

conception of the i ndi v idual as dynamic and his co n

c e tion of the im po rt anc e of the i nfi nitesim al redeem
p
the i ndividu al and bring L eib ni tz into mo re m odern
tim e s To classify Leibnitz as a Rati onalis t is the re
.
,

fo re not to d e scribe him fully

, .

Th e Lif e and Wri ting s of Le ibni tz (1 6 4 6

C ompared with Desca rtes and S pi noza Le ibnitz had a ,

lif e th at was long in time and rich in experie nce Des .

car tes died at 5 4 and S pinoz a at 4 5 whil e Leib nitz lived ,

to be 70 I n striki ng co ntrast with S pi noza s care er th e re

.
’

11 the life of Leib nitz afte r his gradua

unive rsity th at he was not in publi c se r

v ice .H e held the ofii ce s th at would naturally go to the
hanger-o n of princes — some of them grandi ose o nes .

W hile th e oretically the int e rests of the three Ratio nal

i sts w e re the s am e Leib nitz d iff e r e d from his pred e
,

ce ssors in tha t his study of philosophical problems al

 THE R ATIO N ALISTS 1 09

ways gr ew ou t of some practical p roblem or political

occasion Leibnitz was not an academic think e r and
.
,

his “ writi ngs w e re called forth to esti mate some re

c e nt book to ou tline the syste m for the use of a
,

friend to me e t som e special di fficulty or to answer

, ,
”
some d e fini t e criticism Philosophy was only one of
.

the int e rests of Le ibnitz He was jurist histori an di p

.
, ,

lomat m ath e m atici an physical scie ntis t theologi an and

, , , ,

philologist Le ib nitz was as much at home with the

.

the ories of Plato and A ristotle of a ncie nt time wi t h ,

those of St Thomas and Duns S cotus of medi aeval time

.
,

as with the science of De sc art e s and G alileo H e was .

pre cocious had a prodigious m e mory and a reactive

,

mi nd In the we alth of his i nforma tion and the pro

.

ductiv eness of his genius he stands with Aristo tle as ,

unequal e d Descart e s S pinoz a and Leibnitz belonged

.
, ,

to the in ner circle of scholars of the t ime but Leibni t z ,

was als o in p e rsonal touch wi t h poli tical aff airs and in

'

intimate acquaintance with many of the important rul

ers He was in the service of the Elector of M ainz and
.

l ater of G eorge I of England whe n G e org e was only

Elec tor of Hanover H e was distinguished by P eter the
.

Great of Russia and Er nst A ugus t Emperor of Ger ,

many He corresponded wi th E ugene of S avoy and he

.

was ambassador t o Louis XIV of France S ophie Char .

lot te of Hanover who m arried the Ki ng of P ru ssia

, ,

was esp e ci ally i nterest e d in him and he wr o te for her ,

his Theodi cy The t hre e great Ra tionalis ts came from

.

di fferent s trata of society Descartes was a nobleman s .

’

son and he vol untarily reli nquished t he life that Leib

,

nitz was ambitious to e njoy S pi noz a came from the .

lower class Leib ni tz was the so n of a colle ge professor

.

and belonged to the uppe r middle class The ambi tions .

1 10 HISTORY O F PHILOSOPH Y
of Leibnitz reached for large ends as ofte n happ ens ,

among educat e d p e ople in the mid dle walks of life .

A mong other thi ngs he tr i e d to reconcil e the C atholics

,

and Prote stants and he trie d to unive rsaliz e l angu age

,

by g e tting u niversal characters for all languages .

The lit e rary production of Le ib nitz was e normous ,

consisting of som e le ngthy works but m ainly of corre ,

s onde nce at one t ime with a thousand perso ns ) and of

p (
dissertations to learned journals and socie tie s No one .

book cont ai ns his philosophy the M ona dology com

ing the ne ar e st to doi ng so H is most consid e rable work
.

is his Theo di cy H e himse lf published in book for m

.

only two works : his u nive rsity diss e rtation on I ndi v i d

u ati on and the The odi cy
" e
.

In spite of his m any succ e ss e s the life of Leibnitz ,

w as not h appy From death or other c aus e s his nobl e

.

p atrons change d until he was le ft without a p atron

,
.

H is life went from bad to worse and his death occurred ,

almost unnotic e d .

The s e venty years of Le ibnitz s life fall i nto fou r ’

periods That he p ass e d through thre e of these periods

.

by the time he was thirty shows the vo racity and v e r

satility of his me nt al pow e rs duri ng their form ative and

acquisitive st at e It also re v e als the unusu al length of

.

his productive period — from his thirtie th to his sev e n

,

tieth year Te n years afte r his productive period he

.

ga n when
,
he was forty he had comple
, t ed his philo
A good s election of Le ibnitz s work s f or the stud ent to
’

re ad is : D iscou rse on M etap hysi cs Letters to Ar

na u ld , M onad ology N ew System of N a tu r e
 1 12 HISTORY O F PHILOSOPHY
over he called o n S pinoza who showed him the manu ,

scrip t of the E thics .

4 H anov er a nd P hi lo sop hy (1 6 7 6
.

Leib nitz b e came cou rt councilor and librari an to the

Duk e of H anove r (Bru nswick-Lii nebu rg) H e was in .

volve d in a multitud e of administrative histo rical and , ,

politic al t asks and he c arried on a n e normous corre

,

spo nde nce Amo ng other thi ngs he wro t e the history
.

of the re igning family which ne cessitate d his going t o ,

Rom e and Vi enna I n 1 684 he publish e d his discove ry

.

of the difierential calculus over which aros e the c ele ,

brated controversy as to wh e ther he or N e wto n made

the prior discove ry In 1 686 in his fortieth year he con
.
, ,

structed his philosophic al syst e m H owev e r he showed .

,

his affiliation to the comi ng age by i ntroduci ng i nto his

syst e m i n 1 6 97 the term monad N ear ly all his im .

o r ta nt w orks w er e r o du ce d in this er io d In 1 7 0 0
p p p .

he founde d the A cad e my of S cience s in B e rli n H e .

was i nstrument al in the foundi ng of an ac ade my at St .

P e te rsburg and he plan ned acade mies at Dr e sden and

,

Vi enna .

The Thre e Influ e nc e s upon the Thought of Le ib ni tz .

(1 ) H is E arly C las s ical Stu di es The father of .

Le ib nitz who was a prof e ssor of moral philosophy a t

,

Le ipsic died when his son was you ng Left much to

, .

himself the boy spe nt his time in his father s library

,
’
.

A t eigh t ye ars he had acquired Latin ; at twelve he

had re ad S ene c a P li ny Qu i ntili an H erodot us Xeno
, , , ,

pho n C ic e ro Plato the Rom an historians the Greek

, , , ,

and L a tin fath e rs H e became so absorb e d in scholastic

.

studi e s th at his fri e nds fe ared th at he would not leave

th e m no t kno wi ng th at my mi nd could not be s atis
,
”
fied wi th only one kind of thing There can be no .
 TH E R ATIO N ALIS T S 1 13

q u e stion that this scholastic t r ai ni ng gave him a firs t

h and and sym p athe tic appreci ation of schol astic philo
sophy The Aristot e li an co nc e ption of cosmic purpos e
.
,

which he got at this time neve r le ft him Among the

, .

writers of the Natural S ci e nce Pe riod he alone return e d

to A ristotle H e made A ris totl e s teleologi cal c aus e an
’
.

int e gral part of his doctri ne His motto fi nally becam e

.
,

in his Theo d icy “ E veryt hing is b e st in this bes t of

,
”
possible worlds . Whil e for a time he tu rned from
A ris to tle to Descar tes in his fi nal construc t ion of his
,

theory he borrowed more from A risto tle .

( ) The N ew Sc i enc e and H i s O wn D iscov er ies

2 .

Leib ni t was mo re fortu nate than m any of hi s contem

z

o rari e s in that his university had al re ady i ncl u ded in

p
i ts curriculum the study of mathematics At the age of .

fifteen he was devoting himself t o mathematics at J e na ,

and he said tha t the study of K e pler Galileo and De s , ,

cartes made him fe el as though t ransported i nto a

”
diff e rent world Lat e r in life he said of himse lf tha t
.
,

a t fifteen he had decid ed to give up the scholas t ic the

ory of Forms for the m ath e m atical explanat ion of the
world . He b e came acqu ai nt e d with the theories of
Hobbes and Gassendi in 1 6 7 0 when he was at M ai nz
, .

I n 16 7 2 at the age of twenty-six whe n he was in Paris

, , ,

he mad e himself possesso r of all th at the c e l e br at ed circle

of Parisian sci e ntis t s had to te ach He had gone to Paris
.

a dualist ; he returned to his native land with the A ris

tote lian teleology side by side in his mi nd with the
S pi nozistic co nception of identity and ne c e ssity the S pi ,

nozi stic method and the math e matical theory of the

,

s ignificance of i nfinite ly small particl e s The nex t t en .

year s (1 6 7 6—1 686 ) were spe nt in overcoming his own

dualism by system atizing these new the ories acquired
114 HIS T ORY O F PHILOSOP HY
from so many so urces In 1 68 0 he had unive rs alized the
.

conce pt of force so as to apply it to both souls and bodies .

I n 1 684 he publish e d his discove ry of the di ffe renti al

calculus in whi ch he has had to share honors wi th N e w
,

ton I n 1 6 85 he asserte d th at the c e ntr e s of forc e have

.

individuality H e was le d to this conclusion on accoun t

.

o f the discovery of sm all org anisms by the microscopes

o f S wamm e rdam and Le eu we nhook I n 1 6 86 he su e

.

c essf ully organized hi s collected materi al in to his final

syst e m although i t was not un til eleven years late r

,
”
( 1 69 7 ) that h e call e d these ce ntre s mo nads P rob .

”
ably he got the t e rm monad not from Bruno but
“
,

from the mys tic chemist V an He lmont , .

Not only the content but the form of his philosophy

,

was d e termined by his m athem atic al studies His philo .

sophical diction is rem arkably lucid Mathe matics re .

inforce d his early r e solve in words to attain clearness

and in m atter usefulne ss H is later discussions con
.

tain many terms that he had borrowe d direc tly fr om

mathematics .

(3 ) P oli tical P ressur e f or R eligi ou s R eco nci lia

ti o n When Fred e rick the Wis e of S axony in 1 5 19
.

refuse d the crown of Emperor Germ any was thrown ,

i nto inte rnal strife that in one hu ndre d and thirty

ye ars des t roy e d all its mat erial wealth and d e populated
the country This te rmi nat e d in the Thirty Ye ars War
.
’

1 6 1 8 —1 64 8 and the P e ace of W est h alia Le ib nitz

( ) p .

was bo rn two years before p ea ce was d e clared H e was .

the first German scientist in two hundre d years Both .

C atholics and P rotest ants were weary of strife and ,

th e re was a general move ment toward re ligious recon

cili ation Thus religious ami ty was t he mos t urgen t
.
1 16 HIS T ORY O F PHILOSOPH Y
who tried to d educ e by the ge ometri cal method the
e ntire system of natural right from a single pri nciple
of human n e ed In the next ce ntury Wolff used this
.

method in writi ng his Lati n t ext-books .

When this aspect of S pi noza s te aching was gaini ng

’

a foothold in G e rm any Le ib nitz cam e into symp athy

,

with i t through his te ac her Weigel and at fir st was

, ,

o ne of its most ard e nt s upporters In j e s t he showe d .

by thi s ge om e trical syllogistic method in sixty propo

,

s itions th at the C ount P alati ne of N euberg mu s t be

ele cted Ki ng of the P oles In seriousn e ss he beli e ve d

.

that all philosophic al controv e rsies would cease wh e n

philosophy should be st ated like a mathemat ical cal
culation .

H obbes s theory of words as cou nt e rs to be used in

’

concep tu al reckoni ng the uni versal formulas of the A rt

,

of Lull and the pai ns which Bruno had taken for its
improvem ent the Carte si an b eli e f that the geo m e trical
,

method would prove to be an art of i nven tio n — all

these were infl u enc e s upon Le ibnitz that committed ,

him t o the m e thod of S pi noza and made him pursue

that m e thod e ne rgetically Leib ni tz was part of the
.

wide spread move ment of the time to form a L ingu a

A dam ica — a universal langu age which should discove r ,

fundame nt al philosophical conceptions and the logical

operations of their combi nat ions In brief Leibni tz .
,

hoped to form a philosophical calculus .

What ask e d Le ib nitz are the hi ghes t t ru ths which

, ,

in their combinat ion yield all knowledge Wh at are

the t ruths so imme di at e ly and i ntuitive ly certai n th at
, ,

they fo rce t hemselves upon the mind as self-evid ent and

t hereby form the ground for the deduction of all know
 TH E R ATI O NALIS T S 1 17

truths of the reason and (2) The fact s of experie nce

, .

The truths of the re ason are foreve r t rue the facts of

exp e rience have a truth for that single instanc e Bu t .

both are t rue in th ems e lve s and not from d e duction

”
from any thi ng else They are firs t tru ths for a thi ng
.
“
,

is true if it can be ded uc e d from the re ason or tested

as an exp e ri enced fac t The two ki nds of tru th are the
.

ration al or a p ri or i and the empiric al or a p o s ter iori

, .

The di ff e re nce betwee n the starti ng poi nt of the Ra

tionali sm of Le ib nitz and the Enlightenment of Locke
appears here Locke s aid There is nothing in the
.
,
”
mi d th at does no t come from the se ses
n n “
Exc e p t .

”
t he mi nd i t se lf and its ope rat ions added Leib nitz in ,

comment .

Bu t there is a di ff erence be tween these t wo kinds of

t ruth The truths of the re ason are clear and distinc t ;
.

the truths of exp e ri e nce are cle ar but not distinct .

Leib nitz is be it obs e rved maki ng a disti nctio n be

, _ ,

twee n the two terms of the pe t phrase of the Rational

i sts clear and disti nct id e as H e me ans th at ra
. p

tional truth is so tr ansp ar ent th at it is impossibl e t o

conceive its opposite ; th at empiric al truth is o nly cl e ar ,

and i t s opposite is thi nkable It is impossible to thi nk

.

th at the three angle s of a tri angle equ al any thing but

two right a ngl e s but it is possible to thi nk th at its side
, ,

which is now t wo i nches may be four i nches Thus

, .

emerge the two logical principles upo n which Leibnitz

founded his philosophy : r ational truths depend upon
the P ri ncip le of C o ntr a di cti on ; empirical truths de
p e nd upo n the P r inc ip le of Sufi ci ent R eas on At firs t .

Le ibnitz conceived that this distinction bet we e n truths

did not apply to God bu t o nly to man M an must re
,
.

joice i n the f e w rational truths in his possession and

me H IS T ORY or PH I LO SO PHY

be co n ten t with mere ly es tablishi ng the ac tuality of his

experiences The divi ne reason can however see the
.
, ,

impossibility of the opposi t e bo th in ratio nal and in

e mpiric al truth Later o n Le ib nitz co nceive d the dis
.

t i nction betwe e n the t wo kinds of t ruth to be absolute .

That is in the nature of things the two truths diff e r

, .

The ratio nal truth has no opposite but is a necess ary ,

t ru th ; the empirical t ruth has an O pposite and is a ,

contingent truth .

Leibnitz thus shows the fundament al principles upon

which knowledge is b ased but wh at does he say abou t
,

t he logical m e thod of t heir combi nation N othi ng N0 .

o ne would ever susp e ct from Leib nitz s philosophical

’

remai ns th at he had planned a syst em of philosophy

according to the method of S pinoza The many pam .

p hl e ts of L eibnitz on ma n y scattered subjects show

how far short he fell of hi s ideal of a unive rsal philo
sophical calculus He was too vers atile his in te rests
.
,

were too diversified to carry th rough so slow and plod

,

ding a task He merely s tated t he principl e s upon

.

which a sys tematic symbolic ph ilosophy might res t with ,

out deve lopi ng these pri nciples in a logic al way Like .

Bacon Le ibnitz conce ived a m e thod that was more of

,

a hope th an an accomplishme nt .

The Immediate Pr oble m f or Le i bni tz P erhaps .

Leibnitz was calle d away from this pur ely theoretical

problem of method by the practical proble m of re con
c iling science and r e ligion which problem in his day
,

had become pa rticularly acute For science had m ad e

.

rapid s trides si nce the days of Descartes had drawn ,

very f ar away from religion and Leibnitz s attemp t to

,
’

r e co ncile science and r e ligio n was much mo re di fficult

than tha t of the preceding Ra t ionalis ts Leibnitz had .
12 0 HI STORY O F PHI LOSOPH Y
in e n tir e agreement with other sci entists in their e ff o rt
to re duce all ph e nom ena to motion he insist e d th at ,

motio n was not by any me ans the f und am ent al thi ng ,

He calls the C arte sian conc eptio n of motion the ant e

ch amber of tru e philosophy There is no absolut e mo
.

tion nor absolute re st M otion and re st are relative to

.

e ach other Descartes th e ory th at there is conserva

’
.

tion of motion is i ncorrect M otion and rest are the

.

phenom enal c hange s o f force Force alone is const ant

.

and conserved Physics poi nts beneath its e lf to m e t a

.

physics ; motion points to forc e Force is wh at is f un .

dame ntal in n ature Force is “ t h at which in the pre

.

sent st at e of thi ngs brings about a ch ange in the f u

”
t ure . Th e refore forc e as the subst ance of n ature is
sup e r-sp ati al and imm at e rial and there fore the basis
,

of the new physics ough t t o be dynamic met aphysical

subst ance .

2 Le ibnitz n e x t examined the sci entific conception

.

of the atom G ass endi o ne of th at cel ebrated group of

.
,

P arisi an scie ntis t s had been the author of the introdu c

,

tion of Gre ek atomism i nto mod e rn thought It had .

been gene rally acc epte d by scie ntists and combined wi th

the m athem atic al hypoth e sis of G alil e o Leibnitz had .

k nown G ass endi in Paris and he took the h ard i ne lastic

, ,

atoms of G ass endi u nd e r e xamination He agreed th at .

the atomist was p e rf e ctly correct in s ayi ng that m at e rial

bodie s consist of simple p arts or atom s Bu t Le ib nitz .

i nsisted that the atomist e rred in thinking such simple

p arts t o be physical H oweve r simple the p arts migh t
.

physically app ear to be they we r e not re ally si mple

, .
 TH E R ATIO N ALISTS 12 1

or real S ubs tance must be un e x te nded and the ma

.
,

te rialists were wrong in at t ributi ng substance to the ex

te nded Is there anythi ng simple th at has a qualitative
.

character ? Is there anything re al below the physical

atoms Y es the metaphysical atoms The i ndivisible
, .
,

i mmateri al unit lies be ne ath the physical atom and in ,

orde r to re ach it we mus t pass be ne ath the physical i nto

the m e t aphysic al This imm aterial or metaphysic al a to m
.

is call e d by Le ibnitz the mo nad ; and thus is Leibni tz s ’

theory calle d monad ology .

Th e re are three ki nds of points or uni ts or sim ples , , .

There is the m athem atical point which is s imple e nough , ,

but i t is only im aginary The re is the physical point o r

.
,

atom which is real but not simple

, Th e re is la stly the .
, ,

metaphysical point or monad which is bo th re al and

, ,

simple The me taphysical poi nt is the only tr u e point

. .

To call the m ate rial a toms real only shows the feeble ,
'

ness of the imagi nation which is glad to re st and , ,

is therefore in haste to make an end of di vision and

, ,
”
analysis .

3 Le ib ni tz then iden t ifi e d fo rce as the substance of

.
,

motion with the metaphysical at om as the substance

, ,

of the material atom The re sult was the monad as he

.
,

conceived it The monads are the principles of active

.

working They are the super-spatial and immaterial

.

principles in which the mechanical principles of the

u nive rse have their roo t s and meaning Nat ure is not .

dead ; it is not merely extended It is alive resistant .

, ,

and re produc tive If as S pinoza t aught there were only

.
, ,

one subs tance na t ure would be non-

,
resistant and pas
sive Bu t as a mat ter of fact there are many substances
.

acti ng for th e mselves m any bodi e s resisti ng oth e r

,

bodies They are the cen tres of s epara te ac tivity and

.
,
1 22 HISTORY O F P HI LOSOPHY
there are as many forces as there are thi ngs There is .

no body without mov emen t no movement withou t force , .

Thus do e s Le ibnitz re int roduce vitalism in a maturer

for m than is seen in nee -Platonism Life becom e s the .

principle of nature P urpose is pl aced at the centre of

.

things .

The Double N a ture of the M onads The s t uden t will .

find th at the philosophy of Leib nitz is spok e n of as a

pluralism bu t the stud e n t will also find that Leibnitz
,

devoted n e arly all his strength to prove that the world

is aft er all a unity Leib nitz analyzed the world in to a
.

plural number of p arts and the qu e stion then with him,

was how to put th e se p arts toge t her ag ain in an organic

,

u nity This accomplishm ent would de pend a good deal

.

upon his co nception of the n ature of the par ts .

The mo nads have a double char acter Leibni tz con .

c e i v e d the mo nad (1 ) as a force c e ntr e and (2 ) as an

imm at e ri al soul This m akes an equivalence of psychical

.

and physic al attri but e s which r emi nds us of the St oics

’

”
fiery reason of God The word force as Leibni tz .
,

uses it squints both toward physics and t oward psycho

,

logy But such ambiguity about the monads the com e r

.
,

stone s in Leibnitz s philosophy assis ts Leibnitz s recon

’
,
’

ciliation at the start H e re in a miniature the physical

.
, ,

and spiri t ual li e in uni ty The monad is conceived as a .

sou l-
a to m .

Leibni tz came to philosophy wi th a mind sat u ra ted

with the mathematical ideas of the con ti nuous t he infin ,

itesimal and the possible H e though t of the mo nads as

, .

po te ntiali ties or possibili ties He looke d upon the world .

as essentially a developing world Behi nd the fac ts that .

see m to u s i nflexibl e lies the gre at world of ge nerating

,

force Explanat ion of the actual can be made only in

.
1 24 HIS T ORY OF PHILO SO PH Y

i ndivi du al which p as ses from one state t o another moved ,

”
by its constit utional app e tition .

A mong the psychic al powers no ne is mor e impor tant

in Leib nitz s d e scriptio n of the monad than its pow e r
’

of re pres ent ation Repres e nt ation is the general func

.

t ion of the mo nad — from the lowes t to the highest

monad This m e ans that e ach monad is the world force ;
.

e t i n a p artic u lar form a world substance but in some

y , ,

p e c uliar asp e ct E very monad is a microcosm E ach

. .

r e pre s e nts the world so f ar as it is conscious of its own

activity But it is evid ent th at all things in the universe
.

are not co nscious and ther e fore all soul -mo nad s are no t
,

co nscious I n so uls the r e are there fore more than con

.
, ,

scious thoughts — there are though t s that are u ncon

scious A mong the Ratio nalists Le ibnitz is the first to
.

give significance to the so-calle d unconscious st ate s th at

form so important a pl ac e in mode rn psychology (Bu t .

se e Ploti nus A s a wav e is compos e d of small p art icles

) .

of w ate r so the mi nd is m ad e up of a myri ad of un

,

co nscious st ate s T he conscious st at e is the general e ff ec t

.

of the whole A soul-monad cont ains in its e lf at all

.

t imes repre se ntatio ns of the whole world some obscur e , ,

some cle ar This power of u niversal represe nt ation

.

makes the monad a microcosm What we call knowl e dge .

of the ex ternal world is our representation of i t within

ourselves This repre s e ntation is possible to us because
.

we reproduce it i n miniature S i nce the monad dire ctly .

perceives only its e lf and its own stat e s it follows that ,

the more cle arly and disti nctly it is co nscious of its own
activiti e s the mor e ad e qu at e ly does i t r eprese nt the cos
,

mos The co nv e rs e is also tru e

. that the more a monad
re pre sen t s t he cosmos the more tr uly does i t re presen t
,

itself .
 TH E R ATIO N ALISTS 1 25

In hi s developmen t of his descrip tion of the monad ,

,

Lei bni tz hits upon two c atch-ph rases one of which pre ,

s e nts his doct ri ne of the physical isolatio n of the monad ,

the oth e r pres ents the doctrine of i t s ideal psychical

u ity These ph rases are : the monads are windowless
n .
“

”
and the monads mirror t he u ni v erse By window .

le ss Leibnitz means that each monad is “ like a sep a

ra te world s e lf-sufficient independe nt of every o ther
, ,
”
c reature . H aving no wi ndows by which anyt hi ng c an
”
enter or dep art the monad c an pe rceive o nly its own
,

sta tes Whateve r happens to it comes from itself alone

.

as a purely int e r nal principle The mo nad s develop ’

.

ment is s e lf-deve lopment and no t the result of ext ernal

change s Ne verth e less the monad is a mirror of the
.

u nive rs e In this psychi cal qu alification of the natu re

.

of the monad its physical isolation vanishes and the

,

way is op e n for a unity of monads which would have ,

otherwise se e med to be physically hopel e ssly sunde red .

Ho w is it possible for each of the numbe rless monads ,

all so di fferent to mirror the universe

, The answe r
is found in their psychical power of r epresentation .

The Two For ms of Le i bnitz s C on ception of the

’

Uni ty of the Sub stan ce s The p ri nciple of unity

.

among the mon ads is call e d by Leibnitz a p r eiés tabli sbed

harmony He prese nt ed t his pri nciple of h armony in
.

two ways In par t the h armo ny comes out of their

.

co nstit u tio n as be conceived it to be In part Leibnitz

, .

artifici ally sup e rimpos e d it upon the mon ad s for t heo

logi cal re asons I n e ither case it is pre est ablish e d

. .

Th e In tri n si c Uni ty of the M onad s — T he Philo

s ophi cal Uni ty There is a f amily re semblanc e among
.

the monads T he lo we st reproduc e s the u nivers e in

.

obscure and elementary represen tations M ine rals and .

126 HIS TORY O F PHI LOSOP HY
plan ts are sleeping monads with entirely unconscious
id eas A nim als are dre aming monads M an is a w aking
. .

monad The high e st mon ad is God who reproduc e s the

.
,

univers e in cle ar and distinct id e as B etween God and .

matter th e re is a serie s of mon ads graded as to the ,

clearne ss of t heir ideas All contain the unive rse by

.

represe ntation All are bound together accordi ng to the

.

principle of continuity ; plants are lowe r animals and

animals are less perfec t men M an is a monad whos e .

conscious activity has rise n to the height of s elf-con

sc iou sne ss with the cog nate pow e r of reason Ther e is
, .

no i nert ma tter ; no soul-less bodie s nor body-less souls .

The sm allest portio n of dust is the habiliment of ani

malc ulze N othi ng is dead and nature is a gradation of
.
,

monads in difiering d e grees of activity .

M etaphysically the monads are isolat ed ye t in na ,

ture as we see them th ey live in groups and compose

, ,

the things which we call pl ants anim als and men A n , , .

organic thing is a combinat io n of monads with a ce ntral

ruling monad This c e ntr al monad is the soul of the
.

group the subordinate ones form the body of the organ

ism The influence of the soul or ruling monad upon
.

the body-monads is pur ely ide al Th ey all strive for the .

same end which the soul represents more clearly The

, .

g r oup acts spo nt aneously and t og e ther not from any ,

outside i nfluence An inanimate object differs from such

.

a living organism inasmuch as it is a group of mo nads

,

withou t a soul or a ruling c e ntral monad ; and there

,

fore such a monad is both soul and body The re is .

therefore no du alism b e twe e n soul and body in any

cr e atu res for bo dy is only obscure or u nconscious ac
,

tiv ity The body consists of monads having a confus e d

.
1 28 HISTORY O F PHILOSOPH Y
diff e rence does not consis t in their content bu t in the ,

degree in which they represent the uni v ers e The law .

of nature is a u nifying principle that give s unitary in

divi du ality t o the members u nder the law The i ndi .

v idu ality of the terms of the n atur e -s e ri e s is impli e d

in the v e ry natu re of the law of necessity and on the ,

oth e r hand the i ndi vidu al terms for th e ir p art trans

, , ,

form the law of ne cessity into a principle of u nity th at

is higher than b are necessity I n a ne cessit ated s e ries .
,

Leib nitz po i nts ou t each term is d e te rmi ned by the p re

,

c e di ng and in turn e ach t erm d e t e rmi nes the e v ents

,

th at follow Thus while nature ph e nomena are a seri e s

.
,

and a nec e ssit ate d s e ri e s it is a s e ri e s whose existe nce

,

depe nds upon each event having not o nly its place but ,

its u nique plac e N0 other eve nt can fill that place and
.
,

the co nditions that give the eve nt its place co nstitut e

its i ndividuality Every fi nite event has so to spe ak
.
, ,

.ts formul a and t his giv e s individuality to each term

,

o f the s e ri e s which app e ared to S pi noza o nly as a homo

,

e neous ma t hematic al and ch ar acterless m ode L ife is

g , , .

meaningful to Leibnitz bec ause e ach me mber of the ,

necessitat e d seri e s of eve nt s has its uniqu e part to pl ay .

The changes of life are to Spinoz a void of m e ani ng be ,

cause he conceive s th e m to be u ndifie rentiated The law .

of mech anical ne cessity b e c am e u nd e r Le ibnitz s hands ’

a pri nciple of h armo ny a tele ologic al pri ncipl e

, Ev e n .

in the n e ce ssitat e d m athematical s e ries such as S pi ,

noza conceived the world to be Leib ni t z be lieve d that ,

necessity implies i ndividu ality and individuality impli es

purpo se .

Ho w vital therefore do e s life now appe ar wi th i t s

, , ,

m e chanical members transform e d i nto livi ng u nits !

 T HE R ATIO NALI STS 1 29

of individual fo rces gives a new meaning to the unity

of the whol e The mechanical series
. the physiological
changes of our bodie s and the efficien t c auses in nature
— ar e only the expression of the inner t eleologic al de
v e lopm e nt Leib nitz poi nt s ou t several pre nant pri n
.
g
c iple s th at are asp e cts of this pre establish e d but in
'

trinsic harmony I n t he first place nature has no breaks

.
,

and abhors a vacuum ; and the series is a continuous

one — t7ze law of co nti nu i ty M ember follows mem

, .

be r in con t inuous and graded order Their quali tative .

difl e re nce s ar e diff ere nces of quali ty of ac tivity Re s t .

and mo tion good and evil a re d ifie renc e s of d e gree

, , In .

the se cond place there is no thing supe rfluous ; no two

,

things in nature are alike If they were alik e they .

,

would be identical the law of th e i de nti ty of i nd i s

cer ni ble s
. A lthough t here is no absolute antithesis o r
contras t between thi ngs there is no absolu te likene ss
, .

E very monad mus t be difi erenti ate d from every othe r

intrinsic ally i e accordi ng to its perfe ct ed activity
, . . .

Therefore in t he third place every memb er has an ex

, ,

cuse for being — the law of sufi ci ent r eason E very .

member has i ts par t to perform and no oth e r can ac t as

an unders tudy for it However insignificant any member
.

may appe ar to be it is as u nique as i t s bigger neighbor

,
.

The Superimpose d Unity of the M ona ds — The

The ologi c al Uni ty The in t ri nsic uni ty of the mon ads
.

is derived naturally from the monads th e ms e lves bu t ,

it is an u natt ai ned ide al for which th ey s trive Wh en .

Leibni tz tu rns hi s philosophy into a t heodicy or justi ,

fication of the n atu re of God this u nity of the world ,

take s on a di ff er ent form and assumes a th e ological i m

portance The u nity is no longer an i nt ri nsic unity with
.
,

no actual bu t only ideal existence depending upon the

130 HIS TORY O F PHI LOSOP HY
hi ghes t monad in the se ries bu t is an actu al perso nali ty
,

who exists ap art from the world The world is his e ter .
.

nal purpos e P rob ably this conc eptio n was always in

.

t he background of L eibnitz s thought but it cannot be ’

,

deduced from his philosophy It is a co ncep tion after .

wards supe rimposed upon his philosophy Leibnitz now .

conc e ives God not as an ideal goal bu t as a p e rfec t and ,

ac tual person whose reason impelled Him to construc t

,

the best possible world The world in which we live is

.

the world He chose It is perfectly conceivable that the

.

world could be di ff erent Why among all the pos .

,

sible worlds di d God choose t o co nstruc t this world ?

,

The re is no reason in logic bu t in fact There was no, .

necessity for its construct ion The fac t is the excel .

lence of the world S pi noza said that all possible worlds

.

exist Leibnitz said this bes t possible wo rld exis ts

. .

Look about you is i t no t so

The best possible world is a world of fre e agen t s ,

whose acts are re warded or punished according t o thei r

deser t s If we discov e r what seems to be i nexplicable
.

evil we must re gar d it as an incid e nt in t he har mony

,

of the whole The world would be less good withou t

.

evil There is no more evil than the re ought t o be The

. .

world which God conceived to be the bes t possible

this world —is a world of lights and shades E vil comes .

f ro m the free agency of man and God is not r esponsible ,

for i t I t is bet te r to have evil and free agency than no

.

e vil and no f re e agency E vil after all is no t po sitive

.
,

and is o nly due t o the i ndis ti nct ide as of man I t is the .

absence of good as cold is the abs ence of hea t

, .

Thus a pre established harmony was cons t ru c t ed by

Leibnitz t hat does no t come ou t of his origi nal philo
 C HAPT ER VI
“

THE ENLI GHTENMENT (16 90

The Emerge nc e of the N e w M an, Indiv id ual

ism In passi ng to t his period we should rec all the two
.

objects of i ntere st that distinguish mode rn from me

diaav al thought : the ne w man of modern E urop e ;
and the new u niverse new in its g e ogr aphical out
lines and in its intellectual m ateri als We have already
.

fou nd that the two hu ndred and more years of the

Renaissance the first period of modern thought was
, ,

absorb e d in exploiting the s e co nd of th e se obj e cts

”
the new u nivers e . I n f ac t the new man had b e en
so interes t ed in the new u nive rs e that he had no t
thought of studyi ng hims e lf H e had system atiz e d the
.

great we alth of his acquisi tions and had cons tructed

gre at syst e ms of sci e nc e and met aphysics .

This s e cond period of mode rn though t the En

lightenm ent begins when the ne w man tur ns
away from his intelle ctu al stru ggles with his e nvi ron
me nt and attempts to u nde rstand his own nature Thus .

the more important of the t wo obj ects em e rge s last ;

and this t ur n to self-reflection cbnstitu te s the century
of the Enlight e nment The Re naissance had b ee n sub
.

cti v e and spec t acul ar ; the E nlighte nment was sub

je

ec tiv e and tr agic The me t al activi ty of the Re n ais

j . n
s ance had bee n vital spontaneous and unconscious like
, , ,

the aw ake ni ng from sleep th at of the Enlight enm ent

 T HE E NLIG HTEN M ENT 133

was se lf-conscious and at ti tudinizing The man of the

.

Ren aiss ance had be e n in love with nature ; the man of

the E nlighte nment was in love wi th hims e lf Like the .

Gre ek S ophistic Illumi nation which is i t s pa ralle l in

,

anci e nt history the Enlight e nm e nt turne d aw ay from

,

cosmological and m et aphysic al problems O n the othe r .

h and the philosophy of the Enlight enme nt p enetrated

,

all de part ments of life and found expression in prac ti

cal questions Erdmann has well expressed the m ean
.

ing of these nine decades of the Enlighte nmen t as an

e flo rt t o rai se man so fa r as he is a r atio nal i ndi vidual
, ,
”
i nto a posi tion of suprem acy ov e r every thing It was .

during this period whi ch we are now about to enter

, ,

that H erder brought i nto curre ncy in G e rm any the

”
wo rd humanity I n England the same se ntim e n t was
.

u tt er ed by PO pe in 1 7 3 2 in his E s s ay o n M an

Know then thyself , rs

p e um e no t G o d to sc an;
”
The pro pe r st ud
y of manki nd is man .

The Enli ghtenmen t marks therefore the ris e of

, ,

modern indivi duali sm ; and the conce rns of the indi

V
vidual becom e the important obj ec t of conside ration .

The novelty of the great di s coveri e s and inven t ions of

the Renaissance had los t its lus tre The “ new uni .

verse had become old and familiar bu t through his ,

accomplishmen t s the ne w man had begun t o feel the

strength of his liber ated powe rs For had not the won
.

de rf ul world of the Re naissance been his own accom

pli sh me nt ? Had no t all i t s no t abl e constructio ns been
the cre ations of hi s po wers ? The “ struggl e of tr ad i
tions to reviv e antiquity and t o i ncorporate the ne w
u nive rse upon an old b asis ; the strife of methods
to reorganize the newwor ld upon a new basis re
1 34 HISTORY O F PHILOSOPHY
vealed thi s gr eat fact : that man has world w isdom .

M an in his supremacy occupies the entire foreground ,

”
and i nt e re st in the “ n
ew universe fade s away The .

new u niv e rs e is no w se en in the ligh t of one s per ’

son al i nt e rests M an is supreme and to his word there

.
,

can be no e xc ep tion The re is constant refere nce dur

.

ing this time to the “

light of reason — to a bright in
ner r ational illumination in cont rast to the v agaries of
,

mysticism and the obscurities of dogmati sm The wo r .

ship of genius arises and with it a co ntemp t for the

”
unenlightened Thus would I speak we re I C hrist
.
, ,

said Bahrdt No wo nder th at Goethe descr ibed the En

.

lighte nment as an age of self- c oncei t !

T he Practi cal Pre s upposi ti onof the Enli ghtenme nt

The In d epen d en ce of the Indivi dual The new man .

emerge d from the Re naissance as the most impo rtan t

object of consideration and duri ng the Enlightenment
,

there was never the sli ghtes t question about his inde
p e nd e nce The individual
. became t he original da t um
of this period into which we are now ent e ring he was
co nsidere d to be the o nly thi ng t hat is self-in telli gible ;
he was the starting-point from which all social relation
ships were to be explai ned Am ong the many problems .

that arose t he indepe ndent existence of the individual

,

r emained u nqu e stioned It was the period of libe r ty

.
,

eq u ality and fraternity The p roblems were abou t the

, .

relations of the i ndi v idual ; never abo u t the individual

himself for co nc erning the i ndividual no problem co uld
,

arise The indi v idual rejoici ng in the exu berance of

.

”
his own powers the monad enj oying hi mself do mi
, ,

nate d ev e rything The monadology of the Re naissance

.

becam e an atomism in the Enlightenm e nt The in .

divid ual was the p rac t ical assump t ion of the pe rio d .
 1 36 HISTORY O F PHILOSOPHY
Ye t while the field of study was restricted the prob ,

le ms within it were multitudi nous and th e re was an ,

astonishing bre adth and u nive rs ality a tenacity of ,

everyt hing a disdainfulness of nothi ng Within its

,
.

o wn field the Enli gh te nment sought to sys t em atize and

to st and by any idea in spi te of all opposition The .

agi natio n took bold flights and from the standpoi nt

,

of the i nne r i ndividu al life tried to transform its world

,
.

O ve rload e d with b all ast it tri e d to reconcile the irre

,

conc ilable and to ove rlook the brute f acts of exis t e nce .

T he problems arise from an age that is self-opi nionated ,

s e lf-torm e nti ng and subjective

, .

The probl ems of this age may be divided i nto t wo

classes ili tarian and critic al both ha vi ng re fer
7\ e nce to the i ndividual man in his r elations These
, ,

i nclude the problems of psychology epistemology soci , ,

ology economics politics e tc Th e re was for example

, , , .
, ,

the probl e m of our knowledge of the ext e rnal world ,

of the v alidity of i nnate ideas as the basis of lm o wle dge ,

of the ration al basis of religion Thought was very ale rt

.

at this time as is alw ays the case in times of grea t in

,

dividualism and though t co uld move with gr ea t rapid

,

ity over the wide range of such subjects .

(a) Uti litarian Probl e ms The Enligh t enmen t was

.

curious about the int e re sts the happi ness and the m any
, ,

po we rs of the indivi dual Empirical psychologi s t s and

.

brilliant ethic al scholar s appeared How much can man .

know and what are the limits and exte nt of his know
,

led ge ? The Rationalis ts of the Re naiss ance had ac

c e pte d witho ut question t he medi a eval te ac hi ng that a
g roup of our ide a s is i nnat e and th e refor e God -giv e n

lThe M iddle Ages had b e en built up on revealed k now

.

ledge But t o the thi nkers of the Enlighte nm e nt the

.
 TH E ENLI G H TEN M ENT 13 7

mos t impo rtan t ideas — yea the only ideas of service

,

to us are those derive d from experience W e should .

be h appier if we confined ourselves t o the facts of

eve ry-day lif e and did not try t o deal wi th things be
,

yond experience Let us give me taphysical theories to

.

the C hurchm an .

w
pl ac e of met a h sics and bec ame k nown as hilosophy
me
.

ethics and epistemology Philosophy thus came ou t of

.

t he schoo l and became a public utility I t was based

, .
,

t o be sure upon th e ological preconc ep tions bu t i t was

, ,

to be pu t t o the service of man It was to be an instru .

men t of discovery as w ell as a means of grace With .

this psychological incentive gre at schools of moralis ts

arose esp ecially in England : s tudying morality as
,

based on the i ntellect on the feelings on authority

, , ,

on the association of ide as .

Empiric al psychology led to self-i nsp e ctio n and this ,

is the age when s e lf-inspection was unive rs al It is the .

age of the foundi ng of societi e s for the observation

“

of man I t is t he age of sen t imental diary wr iting

. .

Rousseau wrote his autobiography in F rance and i t was ,

followe d by a flood of autobiographies in Germ any .

Even m e moirs of s uch scoundr e ls as Laukhardt we re

wr itte n and read as m at te rs of public inte rest Reli .

g io ,n too took
, the form of perso na l experi e nces and

i ndi v idual co nversions ; and the church was more inte r

e ste d in the exp e ri e nces of the saved than in the dogma

of salvation The M ethodis t movem e nt arose i n Eng

.

l and and spread over the co nti ne nt and to America .

I ndividu al opi nions we re more import ant th an co nve n

tions ; fri endships th an m arri age ; soci e ties th an cor
p o rations The
. historical was los t t o view because the
 1 38 HISTORY O F PHILOSOP HY
pe rsonal and p articular occupied the foreground Gib .

bon said All ideas w e re equ ally true in the eye s of

,

the peopl e e qu ally false in the eyes of the ph ilosophers

, ,

Q
equally useful in the eyes of the m agistrates .

6
( ) ue sti on s o f C ri ti ci s m I n t he second place
. ,

the Enlight e nm e nt is a period of criticism and stands

in co ntrast wi th the cons t ru ctive Rationalism of the
Re naiss ance From Locke s i nvective agai nst innate
’
.

id e as to Hume s skepticism of the law of caus e from

’
,

Volt aire s examin ation of the foundations of r eligion

’

to Rouss e au s polemic against soci e ty the age was one

’
,

XM
O
W Q W The psychologists moral
.

ists d e i sts and soci ologists w e re r e volutionists — all

, ,
,

striking directly or i ndire ctly a t absolut e politic al sov

e re i nt agai n st the th e oretic al dogmatism and the
g y ,

ce remonious morality in which the Renaissance was

complac ent The r evolution began in the realm of the
.

i nt elle ct and spread to political socie ty I t was natural .

that the b eginnings should be made in the apparently

harmless theore tical e xaminati o n of the grou nds of
k nowle dge and the principles of morality ; but the out
com e was a ge ne ral sweep of historical criticism in ,

which authority and scie nce the church the st ate and
, , ,

education cam e under c e nsure The spirit of man was im.

patient Man b e came indifierent to le arning In con

.
“ ”
.

tras t wi th the Renaissance this was a time when books

,

w e re little re ad proper nam e s i nfrequently appeared in

,

writings authorities were little cite d Le t man study

, .

himself if he would le arn about history and underst and

the world M an st ands above the scholar the C hris
.
,
14 0 HI S T ORY O F PHILOSOPH Y
of vi ew of philosophy begins with Locke s psychologi ’

and e nds with Kant s C r i ti u e ; and from

’
c al E s s a
y q
the point of vi e w of politics it begins wi th the Re v olu
t ion of 1 6 8 8 in England and e nds with a revolu t ion in
,

France and another in the Am e rican colonies .

A Compari s on of the Enlight e nme n t in Engl and ,

France and G e rmany The individual ism of the En

,
.

lighte nme nt expre ss e d itse lf as a r atio nalism in Ger

m any as a s ensationalism and deism in France and as
, ,

a de ism and an empiricism in England N ev e rth eles s .

all its phas e s m ay be found in each one of thes e coun

tri e s The outc ome of the movem ent in the thr ee coun
.

tries is ho w e ve r very difle re nt In England the En

, , .

li ghtenment pass e d i nto a philosophical re actio n in the

s o- calle d S cottish S chool ; in France it res u l ted in ,

a political re volution ; in Germ any it merged with a ,

gre at literary move ment and re sulted in a creative

ide alism .

The M any G roups of Philosoph e rs of the Enli ghte n

ment A co mp arison of the li s ts of philosophe rs of this
.

with tho se of oth e r periods reveals an ext raordi nary

n umber of names The Re naissance for example shows
.
, ,

about half as m any n am e s of co ns equence although i t ,

is abo ut t wic e a s long The Enligh te nment te ems with

.

philos oph e rs for its s e cular lif e was pe rmea ted with
,

the r e flec tive spirit The philosoph e rs are also ofte n

.

not able m en whos e nam e s are famili ar to the mod e rn

,

read e r Nevertheless the number of constructiv e phi

.

losophe rs was ex w e di ngly f ew Only L ocke Berkel ey .

, ,

and H ume can be found who se importance equals tha t

of Bac o n H obbes Galil eo De scartes S pinoza and
, , , , ,
 THE ENLIGHTENMEN T 14 1

the secular spir i t O n the whole the his tory of t he

.

Enligh tenment is that of social movemen ts and the ,

philosophers seem to be the exponent s of such move

m ents .

S ome of these import an t groups are as follows

In E ngland .

1 A ss oci a ti onalis t P sycho log is ts : Pe ter Brow n (d

. .

H a rtley (1 7 04 S e arch (1 7 05
P riestl ey (1 7 3 3 Took e (1 73 6 Erasmus
Darwin (1 7 3 1 Thom as Brown (1 7 7 8
2 M oral P hilo s op her s S h aftesbury (1 6 7 1—1 7 1 3 )
.

mo rality based on in tellect S amue l C larke (1 6 75

,

Wollaston (1 65 9 morality b ased on

fe eling H u tcheson (1 694
, H om e (1 696
Burke (1 7 3 0 Fe rguson (1 7 24
A dam S mi t h (1 7 2 3 mor ality bas e d on author
i ty Butle r (1 6 92
,
Pal ey (1 7 4 3 e thics

based on associational psychology Be nth am (1 74 8

,

in an i solated ethical position M andeville

,

1 6 7 0 —1 7 3 3 t he P l ato nist P rice (1 7 2 3

( ) ,

3 The D e is ts : Tol and (1 6 7 0

. C olli ns
( 1 6 7 6 Ti n d al
( 1 6 5 6 C hubb ( 1 6 7 9
M organ (d . Bolingbroke (1 6 7 8
4 T he Sco ttish Schoo l of P hi lo s op hy : Thomas
.

Reid (1 7 1 0 O s wald (d . Bea tt ie (d .

Dugald St e wa rt (1 7 5 3
In France .

1 Skep tics : Bayle (1 6 4 7

. Vol tai re (1 694
M aupe rt uis (1 698 d Alembert (1 7 1 7
’

Buif on (1 7 07 Robine t (1 7 3 5
2 The Se nsu a lis ts La M ettrie (1 7 0 9
. Bon
ne t C ondillac (1 7 1 5 C abanis
(1 7 5 7
1 42 HISTORY O F PHILOSOPH Y
3 The E ncyclop ce di sts : Diderot (1 7 1 3 —1 7 84 ) , Vol
.

taire , d Alembert, Rouss e au (1 7 1 2

’
Turgot , Jau
court , Duclos , Grimm (1 7 2 3 H olbach (1 7 2 3
H e lve tius (1 7 1 5
4 . The P olitical E co nomi s ts a nd C ons titu ti o nal
i s ts M o nt e squieu (1 6 8 9
: Quesnay Turgot, ,

M orelly M ably ,
.

5 . The Senti mentali s t Rouss e au (1 7 1 2

the
most notable figure of France d uri ng the Enlight e n
ment .

6 P hi losop hi cal R ev olu tioni s ts

. St Lamb e r t .

1 7 1 6 —1 8 03 Vol ney 1 7 5 7 C ondorcet 1 7 4 3

( ) ( , (
G arat (1 74 9
I n Germ any .

1 Jh om asiu s (1 6 5 5
. the firs t of the Eu
lighte nme nt .

2 The Wolfiia ns :
. Wolff (1 6 7 9 Bilfinger,
K nu tz en (d . Gottsch e d (1 7 0 0 Baum
gart en (1 7 1 4
3 The G eo metri ca l M etho d a nd i ts Opp onents
.

H ansch , P lo u c q u et, C ro u saz , Rudige r (1 6 7 1

C ru siu s (1 7 1 2 Budde , Brucker, Tiede mann ,
Lossius , Pl atne r .

4 The P sycho log is ts and R elated P hilo s op hers

.

Kruger , He ntsch, W e iss , I rwing, M oritz (1 7 5 7

Basedow (1 7 2 3 P es t alozzi , andS ulzer .

5 . The I ndep endent P hilo sop hers Lambert (1 7 2 8

Te te ns (1 73 6
6 . The D e is ts S chmidt S e ml e r (1 7 2 5
, Re i
marus (1 6 99 Ed e lm ann .

7 T he P ie tis ts : S p e ner (1 6 3 5
. Fra ncke
(1 66 3 A r nold D ipp el , .

8 The P op u lar P hi los op hers Me ndelssohn (1 72 9

.
 C HAPTER VII

JO HN LOCK E

The Enlightenme nt in G re a t Bri tain The his t o ry of

.

the philosophy of Great Brit ain includes the teachi ngs

of Locke Berkeley Hum e and the S cottish S ch ool
, , , .

With the ex cep tion of the teachings of the reaction ary

S cott ish S chool all the important philosophical t each
,

ings appear in the first half of the eigh te enth ce nt ury .

We n eed to underst and fir st the philosophical position

, ,

o f Locke who was t he father of the E nlightenme nt

,
We .

shall then see how his doc trine developed in t h ree d iffe r
e nt directions : 1
( ) as D e ism a ratio na
,l C hristi anity ,

2
( ) as an associ ational psychology in ethics (3 ) as a ,

th e ory of knowledge in the philosophies of Berkeley and

H ume .

Our discussion of the philosophy of Bacon and H obbes

has bee n followed by that of Rationalism I t would .
,

however be a mis take for the reader to infer as we are

, ,

abou t to take up the s tudy of Locke that a long period

,

of time i nte rve ned b e tween H obbes and Locke A .

chronological comparison of their live s shows th at they

w e re contemporaries for forty-seve n years Both li ve d .

through the reign of C harles I duri ng the C omm onwealth

,

and the Res toration H obb e s di e d eleven years before

.

Locke published his only philosophic al essay We mus t .

remembe r too that the English empiric al philosoph e rs

, ,

of the Enlightenment w e re not insulated from the Ra

tionalists of the C ont i nen t O n the co nt rary there was a
.
,

lively interchange of ideas Descar tes influenc ed Hobbes

.
1 46 HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY
and Hobbes influenced S pi noza The i nfluence of Des .

cartes upon Locke was not inco nside r able and Le ib nitz ,

fe lt the i nfluence of Locke B e rke ley and Le ibnitz ar

.

r ive d at ide alistic concl u sio ns from i ndep endent poi nts
i

of view B acon alone se e ms to stand ap art both from

.

his contemporaries and from his imm e diate followers .

The English Enlighte nmen t was the natural develop

ment of the English Renaiss anc e Locke was the su c .

cessor of Bacon and Hobbes O n the other hand the.

,

English E nlightenment is simi lar to wh at w ent on in

France and Germ any The firs t h alf of the English
.

Enlightenment — from 1 6 90 to 1 7 5 0 — was absorb e d

in ph ilosophical discussions during the second h alf the ,

period abandone d philosophy and was e ngaged e ntirely

,

in politics The cla sses th at won i n the R e volution of

.

1 68 8 had li ttle trouble i n mai nt ai ni ng th eir plac e of

powe r The peaceful coming of Willi am and M ary gave
.

w e ll-ordere d conditions for i nte llectu al development and

for a powe rful lit e r ary moveme nt T he Jacobites were .

crushed and there ensued a p e riod of political p eac e

, .

I n the l att e r half of the ce ntury how e ver another se t, ,

o f topics c ame to t he front After 1 7 5 0 politics super

.

se de d philosophy and where as the keenest English

minds had b ee n employe d upo n the the oretical stu dy
of mankind i n lit e rature and philosophy th ey now be ,

came e ngaged in practical political qu e stions Political .

p arties develop e d The C ourt was arrayed against the

.

familie s of the Revolution the A m e rican trouble and

, ,

the Wilkite agi tations wer e loomi ng large England was .

sucked i nto the politic al m ae lstrom th at was involvi ng

all Europ e I nstead of deis t ic co ntroversies with the
.

th eological orthodoxy dange rous politic al questions were

,

appea rin g I ns tead of H ume s E ssay and Bu tle r s A na

.
’ ’
1 48 HIS TORY O F PHILOSOP HY
t een years of t his p e riod were sp e nt first as studen t and ,

th e n lectur e r in O xford He took hi s O xford degrees

as .

in 1 6 6 0 the ye ar of the Restor ation and the year in

,

which the British Royal S ocie ty was fou nded at Oxford .

His dislike for the classics which was b e gu n at the W e st

,

mi nste r S chool was confirmed by his O xford studi e s

, .

C onsequently duri ng the y e ars of his perfunctory le c

,

t uring at O xford (1 660 his main int e re st was

in physics H e was engaged in ch e mical meteorological
.
, ,

and e specially medical observ atio ns He was also e n .

gaged in an amateur medical practice in partnership ,

with an old physician .

The first t urni ng poi nt in his life came in 1 666 when ,

he was called to attend the first Lord S haftesbury who ,

had fallen ill at O xford This accidental m e e t ing was

.

the b egi nning of a lasting fri endship with the Shaf tes
bury family sustai ned by th e ir common love for polit
,

ical religious and inte ll ectual liberty T he first Lord

, , .

S hafte sbury was the most notable s tat e sm an in the r e ign

of C harl e s II ; the third Lord S haft e sbury was the
greatest of English ethical scholar s Locke was the .

trus ted friend and ben e ficiary of the firs t Lord Shaftes
bury the tutor of the s econd and influe nced mo re th an
, , ,

any one else the e thical productions of the thi rd Locke

, .

wrote some notes in t his p e riod on the Rom an C ommo n

wealth an ess ay on tolerat ion and mad e records of
, ,

physical obs e rvatio ns .

2 .A s P o li ti ci an (1 666 Duri ng th e se
seventeen year s Locke s outw ard fortu nes we re inti
’

mately connected with the political career of S h aftesbury .

H e held public office H e was m ade a memb e r of the

.

Royal S oci e ty in 1 66 8 The wi nter of 1 6 7 0—1 6 7 1 was

.
 J O HN LO C K E 1 49

t urning point in his life It was then that he s tarted

.

t he inquiry that led to his famous E ss ay 1

T he E s say .

was in the process of development during the next ni ne

t ee n y e ars He pass e d four y e ars in re tire ment and in
.

study in France (1 6 7 5 H e also at this tim e

fir st conce iv e d his E s says on G ov ernment S hafte sbury .

fled to H olland i n N ovember 1 6 8 2 and Locke a f ew , ,

months l at e r followed him .

3 A s P hi ZO SOp hi c al A u thor (1 6 8 3
. The year
1 689 divide s this period into two important p arts .

The fir s t part (1 68 3—1 68 9) is not o nly the p eriod

of his e xil e in Holland but it is the time in which he
,

is composing and comple ting his three most importan t

lit e rary works — E ss ay on the H u man Unders tandi ng
, ,

the two Treati ses on G ov ernm ent the thre e Ep i s tles ,

on To ler ance Duri ng the second part (1 6 89—1 691 ) he

.

publishe d these which was the ti m e immedi ately follow

,

N ewton s P ri ncip i a was

’
ing his return to Engl and .

pu blished in 16 8 7 and Locke s E ss ay in 1 690 the o ne

,
’

the fou ndation of modern physic al scie nce the oth e r the ,

beginni ng of moder n psychology The appearance of .

these two works toge th e r with the Revolu tion in 1 68 8

make s this poi nt of t i me an important o ne in the history
of the world .

4 A s C o ntr ov er si ali s t (1 6 91
. Lock e th e n
b e gan to write upon almost every conceivable subj e ct ,

— t he coining of sil v er mo ney the raisi ng of the value ,

of money the cult ure of olive s e t c H e was also v e ry

, , .

busy in defending his philosophy agai nst attacks For .

him until 1 7 00 the p e riod was one of co ntrove rsy A t

,
.

that tim e he retired from all activity and aft e r fo ur y ears ,

o f failing h e alth di e d in 1 7 04 H is p e riod of produc .

1 S E ay int duct y p i tl t th
ee ss , ro d or e s e o e re a e r.
 150 HI STORY O F PHILOSOPHY
t ion was confined to the eleven years between 1 68 9 and
1 7 00 .

The Sou r ce s of Thought 1 H is P u r itan

Locke ’
s .
.

A nces try The anc e stry of Locke is little known and

.
,

i
no t much th at app ea rs in his perso nality can be e x
plai ned by it Both his father and moth e r were Puri
.

tans and he s ee ms to h ave inh e rite d the s e ve re piety

, ,

prudent s elf-r eli ant industry and love of liberty th at

, , ,

were com mo n in English Puritan famili e s of the middle

class in the sevente e nth ce n tury Duri ng t he first four .

t ee n ye ars he was schooled by his p are nts .

2 If is Tr ai ni ng i n To leranc e If Locke inherited

. .

in the least degree any temper of i ntole rance from his

Purit an ancestry it e ntirely dis app e are d with his ex pe
r ie nc e s before and duri ng his life at the University of

O xford I n 1 64 6 at the Westmi nster S chool his mi nd

.
, ,

r evolted at the cru el intol e rance on both sid e s in the

event s just succe edi ng the C ivil War He also rebe lled .

at the st e r n schol astic training which he rec e ived Th e se .

n egative i nfluences were suppleme nt e d by positive in

ce ntiv e s to freedom and tole ration duri ng his univ e rsity

life Joh n O wen was the lib e ral Vice-Chance llor of

.

O xford at th at tim e and the unive rs ity granted fre edom

,

of thought to all Protest ants Lock e fe lt O wen s influ .

’

ence throughout his whole lif e The f act th at Lock e s .

’

inti ma te fri e nd at O xford was P rofe ssor Po cocke the ,

most out spok en Royalist in the university shows that ,

whatever Purit anis m there was in Locke s nature had ’

bee n ameliorated Tole rance and liberty of opinion be

.

c ame now the k ey not e in the life of Joh

- n L ocke A
“
.

ge ntle disposition great love for his frie nds an hones t

, ,

seeking after truth and a firm faith in the importance

,

of perso nal and politi cal fre edom are the trai t s most
15 2 HIS T ORY O F P HI LOSOPHY
Bacon were widely re ad as was also G assendi s e x posi
,
’

tion of Epicuru s Lock e himself wri t es concerning the

.

i nflu ence of Descart es upon him He gave up all .

thought of becomi ng a clergym an ; and his personal

fri endship for B ayle a famous chemist and for Syden
, ,

ham a no less f amous physician i nt e r e sted him in the

, ,

empirical method as th ey applie d it to chemistry and

th e r apeutics He owed his philosophical awak e ning to
.

Descart e s and the Port Roy al logic The lucidity of .

De scarte s came to him as an inspiration of int elle ctu al

liberty ; although he afterwards us e d the pri nciples that
Descart e s had taught him t o co nt rovert his t eacher s ’

doc tri ne .

During the fir s t period of Locke s life (1 63 2—1 666 ) ’

he was nothing more th an a s t udent of medicine and a

meteorological obs e rve r He was the retired scholar
.

who le d so plac id a life th at i t port e nde d nothi ng note

worthy He was a creditable scholar and t eacher bu t
.
,

his life was negative in charac ter He had passed .

throu gh stirring times and they did not stir him

, .

4 The P oli tic al I nflu ence Locke s i nterest in poli

’
. .

t ics began wh en he was thi rty-four years old when

he met Lord A shley at O xford For fifteen ye ars he .

sh are d the home and fortune of this mos t remarkable

man of aff airs in the r e ign of C h arles II This Lord .

A shley (Earl of S h aft e sbury ) fled to H oll and in 1 6 8 2 ,

and died there the n e xt year A fter the death of his.

p atron Locke l eft Engl and for exile in Holl and u ntil
1 6 8 9 when he re turn e d to England with Willi am and
,

M ary In Holland he found a brilli ant company exil e d

.
,

from all cou ntries ; and he formed an intimate friend

ship with Limborch the leade r of liber al theology in
,

Holland S ome of the t ime he lived wi th a Quake r

. .
 J O HN LO CKE 15 3

Locke s friendship with S h aftesb u ry and his r esid e nce

’

i n Holland confirmed hi m in his beli e f in political lib

e rty S o whe n William e nt er e d England and need e d
.

li te rary j ustification for the Revolution he got it in ,

Lock e s two Tr eati s es on G ov ernment Locke thus be

’
.

came the philosophical de fe nder and i nte llectual repre

s e ntativ e of the Re volu t io n tha t now af ter fifty years

had reached its culminatio n .

Summary O n the whole the inheri ted P uri tanism

. ,

of Locke was easily modified not only by his own mod

c rat e disposition bu t also by his scie ntific i nt e re sts and
,

by his large political experiences H e nat urally grew .

to be the apos tle of the v ia me di a betw ee n t raditional

ism and empi ricism He published p ractically nothing
.

before he was sixty y e ars old A fter his return from .

exile hi s princip al works app e ared in swift succession .

T wo accide nts formed turning-poi nts in his life H is .

accide nt al mee t i ng wi th S h aftesbury in 1 6 66 t urned

him to politics and seco ndly at an informal meeting ,

of fr ie nds in the winter of 1 6 7 0- 1 6 7 1 the question

about the nature of s ensations was accide ntally raised ,

out of which gre w his gr e at E ss ay Hi s life was pri .

marily one of afiai rs and of large acquai ntance with men

and things To him life was the first thi ng hi s i nterest
.
,

cam e second and his philosophy third That

, .

his ideas should have been t he basis of ex treme phi

loso phical and poli tical beliefs on the C o nti nen t is na
t u ral enough when one remembers the perils of misin
te rpre tation to the man who p r eaches t he doctrine of
the vi a medi a .

The Pu rpose of Locke I n the his torical

. p e rspective
of two centu ries we to-d ay see Locke in his E ss ay
o n the H u man Unders tand ing delivering the inaugural
154 HISTORY O F PHILOSOPHY
address of the e ighteenth century H e is maki ng the .

first form al de claration of the i nte lle ctu al rights of the

i ndi vidu al in a lengthy dry and e rudite psychologic al
, ,

diss e rt ation O f cours e he never k ne w the historical

.

i mportance of his own work It gre w out of the ne e d .

of the hou r He wou ld h ave b e e n as tonish e d to find

.

hims elf the spok e sm an of the c e ntury of Frenc h Ency

c lo pze dis ts mat e rialists and revolutio nists of English
, , ,

d eists of G e rm an Illuminat i of H ume and of Volt aire

, , , .

H e had in mi nd to answer the restrict io ns of the high

churchm an on the one h and and the arrogant claims ,

of the atheists on the other as to the powe r of the hu

,

man te in llect H e stat.e s tha t his d e sign is to “ i nquire

i nto the original certainty and e xte nt of human k no w

”
l e dge I n this decl aration Lock e foresh adows K ant
.
,

but he falls short of the insight of K ant For Lock e .

sp e aks for the spiri t of the eightee nth and not the
ni netee nth c e ntury and (1 ) he mus t keep within t he
,

range of concrete facts ; (2 ) he mus t st ate only wh at

c an be st at e d clearly ; and 3 he mus t be p rac t ic al
( ) .

I t was however in its large r meani ng a decla ration of

, ,

human fre edom Locke shows what limitat ions the hu

.

man intelle ct has what it can and what i t canno t know

, .

When the Enligh tenment got momen tu m i t forgot the ,

l imitations to k nowledge that the sobe r Locke had se t

do wn and re ad in his words only a declara tion of license
, .

The E ssay diff e rs from any p revi ous modern philoso

p h ic al writi ng M an and not the uni verse is the sub
.

jce t For the first tim e we find an e xamin atio n of the

.

laws of mi nd and not of the laws of the universe

, .

But it is the vi a medi a for which Locke stan ds and ,

not the lawl e ss exces s e s of the eight eenth c entury The .

human reason is not all-knowing canno t solve all

156 HISTORY O F PHILOSOPHY
discrimi nation as to wh at should be acc epted and wha t
r ejected of the past It gives his philosophy a positive
.

and a negative aspec t I n bri e f on its n e gative sid e he

.
,

m ake s a show of reject ing the e ntire p ast by rej ecting

all i nnat e id e as bu t re ally he i nco nsisten tly acc epted
,

from the past its conc eption of substance and of i ndi

v idu ality O n its positive side he bu ilds up from e x pe
.

ric u ce a theory of k nowledge which he divides i nto

i ntuitive d e mons t rative and probable That is to say
, , .
,

while Locke affirms that all our knowledge must be

d e rived from e xperi e nce i t neve r occu rs to him to
,

doubt the t raditional C art esi an theory of the e xistence

of God man and matt e r
, , .

( )
a T he N e a t iv e Sid e — Locke and Schola sti ci sm
g .

Locke issued an avow e d defi anc e to schol asticism in

the i ntroductio n of his E s s ay O f the four books i nto .

which the E s say is divided the first was composed last ,

and add e d as an i ntro duc t ory decl ar ation of inde pe nd

e nce If it had been the only part ever written the

.
,

anarchism of the eight ee nth c entury would have been

right in finding its jus tification in the E s s ay To a .

mod e rn mi nd this first book looks harmless e nough bu t ,

in Lock e s time it had a deep sociologic al and political

’

meaning It e xpresses his practical moral defianc e of

.

”
tr aditional mediaevalism The re exist no innat e ideas
.
,

says Locke I nnate ide as mean to him the tyran ny of

.

tradition — u ne xamined and u nsubs tanti ated b e liefs ,

con cep t ions unverified by fact They stand for church .

dog ma imposed upon the u nthinki ng m asses the abso ,

lu tism of mona rchy and the di v in e right of kings the ,

inherit e d supers ti tions about nature S pi noza had de .

duc ed his en tire philosophy from the i nnate id e a of sub

 J O HN LO C KE 15 7

Leibnitz believed all ideas inn ate Locke plead s for the
.

pe rsonal righ t to examine all ideas Locke s critics .

’

have claimed t ha t no philosoph e r ever m ain taine d the

existe nce of innat e ideas in the sense in which Locke
at tack e d them Locke was aiming at some thing more
.

v ul nerab le than i nna te id e as themselves — he was at

t acki ng the medi aeval habit of t he individual who takes

a thi ng as true be cause the thing has the weigh t of t ra
ditional authori ty .

6
( ) The Positiv e Sid e The N ew P sychol ogy and
Epi stemology If i nheri ted ideas have no weigh t for
,

Locke he was bo und to sho w the kind of ideas upon

,

which we can rely The mind e nters upon life with no

.

s t ock of ideas in trade how do they arise The logical

outcome of Locke s disclaimer of scholas tic psychology
’

obliged hi m to cons truct a new psychology and theory

of knowledge H e mus t c fier a psychology as a con
.

struc t ive p rogramme for the i ndividualism of the En

lightenme nt I n his second boo k Locke sta tes the po si
.

tive side of his doctri ne by saying that the mind is like

a whi t e p aper without any original marki ngs ; that i t
g e ts its marki ngs f rom the impressions made upon it .

Thus to de ny in na te ideas and to affirm that all ideas

a re empiric ally aro used are the nega tive and positive
,

sides of the same doc trin e of i ndividualism They are .

t wo ways of sayi ng that the mind of the individu al is

fre e to j udge for i tself of the t ru th or falseness of its
experi enc e s
.

I n his d e nial of the exis t e nce of inna te ideas in his ,

u se of the formula that “ no thi ng is in t he in telle ct t ha t

”
has not bee n firs t in t he sens e or in his employment
,
”
of the figur e of the whit e piec e of p ap e r Locke doe s ,

no t in ten d to s ta t e anythi ng fur the r than that the mind

15 8 HISTORY O F PHILOSOPHY
is free He mer ely m e ans th at the individual s tart s
.

without tr amm els and pre judice s H e does not mean .

th at the mi nd is compl et ely passive and at the m ercy

of i ts e nvironm ent as his French followers i nterpret e d
,

him Lock e is a se ns ationalist bu t he does not b e long

.
,

to th at class who b e lieve that our m e ntal st ates are

mere ly translated s ensations and th at the mi nd itself ,

is merely p assive He believe s th at the mind do e s not

.

cre ate its ide as but that th e y are prese nted to it The
, .

mind has origin al powe rs upon which it c an r eflect .

The mi nd c an op e rate with its id e as and m ake them

into compounds Thu s one must re ad Locke s E ss ay
.
’

to the end to ge t his double poi nt of vie w I n the sec .

e nd and third books he frequ e ntly discusses t he con

t ents of the mi nd as if the mind we re passive in the ,

manner of modern psychologists I n the fourth book .

he d e v e lops an epist e mology on the assumption th at the

mi nd is active and fre e .

Lo ck e s P sy ch ol ogy The se cond and third books of

’
.

the E ss ay are a discussio n of the e mpiric al sourc e s of

our ideas O ne notes the C arte si an du alism of mind
.

and m att e r i n t he back round All ide as h ave th e ir

g
.

source e ith e r ext ernally i n t he impgeggqns upon the

bodily se ns e s or i nte rnally in the oper ations of the
,

mi nd it self The sourc e s of id e as are either se ns ations

.

or r eflections or as Locke calls them “ ou ter and 1nne r

, , ,
” ”
p e rce ptions Lock e also c alls th e m
. simpl e ide as ,

being the units ou t of which the complex ideas are c on

struct e d We u nd e rst and e asily e nou gh wh at Loc ke
.

m e ans by s ens ations but refle ctio ns is a word pe c u

,

li ar to him w hich has not bee n t aken up by philosophy

, .

H e m eans by r e flectio ns a consciousness of the ma

chine ry of the min d We are that is to say conscious
.
, ,
160 HISTORY O F PHILOSOPHY
flections It is an int e rnal infallible pe rcep tion that
.
,
”
we are It is an accomp animent of the processes of
.

thought It stands beside the ideas which are e mpiri

.
,

cally derive d as an un e xplai ned re maind e r The result

, .

’
of Lock e s psychological analysis is the r efore th at the
inner world of the mi nd consists of the combi nation of
the simpl e ideas of s ensation and re flection plus the
u nexplai ne d idea of the S e lf .

Lock e s The ory of Knowl e dge Although Locke says

’
.

that the purpose of his E s s ay is to show the li mits and

e xt e nt of human knowl e dge he does not re ach this u n ,

til the las t book The first three books form a long i a
.

trodu c tio n to t he fourth book and his re al th e me H ere .

for the first time he trea ts the mind as active ; and he re

for the first time in the his to ry of thought the attempt I
is made to show what questions man can ans wer with
c e rtainty what with probabili ty and what ar e b eyond
, ,

man s knowledge
’
.

All the d ifficulties in the assumptions of the Eu

lightenment come out in Locke s t rea tm ent of hi s main
’

theme Locke d e fines knowledge as the perception of

.

”
the agre e ment or dis agreement of our ideas and ye t ,

he says that k nowledge is real only as ide as agre e with

t hi ngs That is t o say Locke had assumed (in Book II
.
,

of t he E s say) the existence of the mate ri al subs tance

of thi ngs of the oute r world jus t as he assumed the ex ,

i stence of the spiritu al S e lf-subst anc e of the i nner world .

What is the nature of the outer mate ri al substa nce ?

Lo cke h e sitates and the b e st he c an answ e r is
, It is I ,

the unkno wn support and caus e of the u nion of several I

”
distinc t simple ideas S ubstance t o Locke is a word
,
.
, ,

for som ething unknown But do e s the mi nd k now no .

t hing abou t substance ? What inform at ion do our ideas\

 J O HN LO C K E 161

co nvey to u s of subs tance We have this knowledge

we know the p ri mary or cons tan t unchangeable quali ties ,

of subst ances and the seco ndary or variable qualities

,

of substances The p r imary qualities of bodies are the

.

same as their eff ects in us s uch as the ex tension of ,

bodies the ir soli dity movemen t and rest du ration and

, , ,

position in time The secondary are nothing in the

.

obj ec t s themselves bu t powers to produce various sen

”
sations in us by thei r primary qualities S econdary .

q uali ties ar e sounds colors e tc In t his confused s ta te

, , .

me nt i t would seem that subs tance s tands as merely the

nominal suppor t of the p r imary quali ties and the p ri ,

m ary quali ties are the cause of t he secondary qu alities .

Thus the indi vidual s tands forth free in the develop

ment of his ideas but he is an individual ci rcumscribed
,

by his d ualis tic world He belongs to the world of an

.

unexplained spiritual subs tance on the one han d and ,

he is surrounded by a world of an unknown material

subs tance on the other There are three ki nds of know
.

ledge : intuitive demons t rative and probable Lo cke

, , .

s ays that the i ndi v idual is in t uitively cer tai n of his own
ideas The in di vidual has also demons trative knowledge
.

—he can reason logically and mathemat ically Bu t .

Loc ke s re al p roblem does not lie with i ntuitive and de

’

monstrati ve knowledge The question that concerned .

hi m was rather W hat is t he cha rac ter of our knowl e dge

,

o f the ext ernal world ? The in dividual in the Enlight e n

men t lived in a spiritual indep e ndence of m atter ye t ,

he had a feeling of unce rtainty abou t his hold upon

a world of matter so different from himself I t was a .

world fore ign to his spiritual essence With the dee p .

e nin of the mind within its lf and wi t h its growi ng

g e

independence the equally independen t ma terial world

,
162 HIS TORY O F P HI LOSOPHY
grew more diffi cult and dis tan t Locke fee ls this difli
. .

culty How can man know thi s ext ernal world ? Ho w

.

can the i ndi vidu al with all his fre e dom bri ng the ex
, ,

ternal world u nd e r his co ntrol ?

Besid e s the cert ainty of intu itive and demonstrative
k nowl edge th e re is a third kind according to L ocke
, .

This is the prob able knowl e dge of the natur e world .

We are ce rt ain of our sensations but w e are not cer ,

tain of wh at our se nsatio ns r e port The highes t degr ee .

which our knowledge of the exte rnal world can attain I

is probability or an i nfe rence from many sources Such I
, .

knowledge is me re O pi nion which supplemen t s c e rtain

,

k nowledge and operat e s in the large field of our d aily

existence The spiritual i ndividu al st ands in a kind of
.

twiligh t region wi t h the dull w all of the mate rial world

of probable e xis tence loomi ng up b e fore him the out ,

li ne s of which he can b ar ely discern O n e ither side of .

this twiligh t e xist e nce lies the broad d ay light of i ntui

ti ve and d emonstrative knowl edge and arou nd it all the ,

absolute d arkne ss of ignoranc e O ur k nowledge is much

.

less th an our ignor ance b e cause our knowledge is lim

i te d to our ideas and th e ir combinations .

Locke s Pr acti cal Philo s ophy Lock e pursu e d the

’
.

v i a med ia in his discussion of the practical probl e ms

t h at were at th at time of burni ng import anc e in Eng

lish society H e always k ept in mi nd the spiritual man
.

who is circumscribed by his own li mitations M orally .

,

r eligiously and politic ally the i ndividu al has to conform

,

to the co nditions in which he liv e s But morality r e li .

,

gio n and governme nt cannot ge t th e ir authority from

,

ide as i nborn in the mind All are the outgrowths of ex

.

p e rie nc e .The moral law for example is a law of nature

, , ,

although a t the same t ime i t is a law of God I t a rises .

1 64 HIS TORY O F P HILOSOPHY
of thought of the Enligh te nment His E s say did no t .

contain anything f undam ent ally ne w and its pre s ent ,

ation has little origi nality ; but it voic e d the thought of

the e igh te enth century so easily and with such skillful

,

avoid anc e of pitfalls that it m ade Lock e the most

,

wi d ely r ead and the most influ enti al philosoph e r of his

tim e Four sep arate move m ents had th e ir sou rc e in him
.

1 From his theory of k owledge i which he e mpha

( ) n n t ,

sis is laid u pon the mind as active came t he empirical ,

idealism of B e rkeley and H um e ; (2 ) fro m his psycho

logical analysis in the second and third books of the
E ssay in which the mi nd is reg arded as p assive c ame
, ,

the s e ns ationali sm of the French ; (3 ) from his theory

of religion c ame Deism ; (4 ) from his associational
istic e thics came the utilitarian e thical theories of the
E nglish moralists The most co nstru ctive followers of
.

L ocke were Berkeley and Hume The oth e rs may be .

c all e d the lesser Lockian schools ; for although they

may have exercised a much gr eater i nflu e nce upon th e ir
own time they were neverthel e ss only p arti al inter
,

p re te r s of Locke We shall deal briefly with De ism

.

and Ethics in England nex t consider at length the

,

philosophies of Berkeley and Hum e and then prese nt ,

in a summ ary but articulate way the development of

the E nlighte nment in France and Germ any .

The En gli sh De i sts We have s e en ho w Rationalism

.
,

es pecially in the case of Descartes tri e d a t the begin

,

ning t o recons t ruc t theology without breaki ng with e s

tabli she d dogma Gradually however r ation alism and
.
, ,

reve al e d religion showed signs of divorce S om e of the .

rationalis t s came to take the st and th at if re ason can

u nd e rst and the na t ure of God re vel atio n is either i n
,

c redible or supe rfluous The reve aled religions di ff er .

 J O HN LO CK E 1 65

The god of the medi aeval people is no t the same as the

god of the heathen nor as the Jehovah of the J e ws .

The re ar e many religions and many sec t s in each reli

gi on There must be t o them all a common basis which
.
,

is the t rue re ligio n This was the creed of Deism or

.

N atural Re ligion P ositive re ligions are only the cor

.

ru tions of n atural r e ligion or the r eli gio n of reaso n

p , .

De ism sought to sepa ra te religion f rom spe cial revel a

t ions which were looked upon as the irrat ional elemen ts
,

of religion Bac on and Descar tes had freed natu ral

.

science from church dogm a ; Hobbes had fre ed psycho

logy from the same dogma ; G ro tius had freed the con
c eption of law from dogma The Deis t s would free
.

re ligion from do ma
g .

Deism was founded on three principles ; (1 ) the origin

and t ru th of religion may be scientifically in vestigat ed ;
( )2 t he origin of religio n is the consci e nce 3
( ) positive
r eligions ar e degene rat e forms of natur al r eligion The .

tendency of the E nligh t enment was deistical and the ,

movemen t was powerful in England France and Ger , ,

many Deism was quite consistent with the cen tral

.

principle of this period — t he self-sufficiency of the in

dividual .

I n England the fi rs t deis t was H e rber t of C herbury

( 1 5 8 1 wi t h hi s five fundamen t al propositions of
r eligion The body of English deis t s however got thei r
.
, ,

cue from Locke s identificat ion of the moral law wit h

’

the law of nat ure bu t Locke himself was no t a deist .

The li terature of deism coincides for the mos t part with

the English moral philosophy of t he period but usu ally ,

the group of English deis t s is supposed t o includ e o nly

Toland Chubb Tindal Colli ns M organ and Boli ng
, , , , ,

bro ke These men lived in the firs t half of the Enligh t

.
 166 HI S T ORY O F PHILOSOPHY
enme nt They w e re much des pis e d by the scholars of
.

the time as being mere dabblers in lett e rs “ They we re .

but a ragge d r egi ment whose whole ammu nition of learn

ing was a trifl e wh en comp ar e d with the abundant
'
store s of a si ngle light of orthodoxy ; whilst in specula r

tive ability th ey were children by the side of th e ir an

The English deists passed from view at the end of

the first h alf of the eighteenth century crush e d by the ,

weight of the attack upon them The more powe rful .

orthodoxy with its gre ater talent was itself rationalistic

, , ,

and could beat the m on their own ground The church .

me n showed that the objecti ons agai nst the G od of

re velation would be equally e ff e ctive agai nst the deistic
God of nature The classic argument along this line
.

ag ai nst the deists is Bishop Butler s A nalo y o f Re

’

g
lig ion The b attle was u nequ al and the character of
.
,

the books publish e d duri ng the con troversy rev e als the
i nequ ality of the contest The deistic publications were
.

sm all and shabby oct avos and were published anony

,

mou sly The orthodox public ations w e re solid oc tav e s

.

and quartos in hands ome bindings wi th the cred entials ,

of powerful signat ur es Even if the orthodoxy had no t

.

employed the arm of the law agains t the d e ists the ,

deis t s would have been broke n by the in tellectual fo rce

agains t them .

T he En gli sh M oralis t s Jus t as the moti ve of the

.

deis ts was to free r e ligion from the authori ty of theo

logy so the motive of the cele brated group of English
,
168 HISTORY O F PHILOSOPHY
Chronologi cal Table of the En gli s h Mor ali sts .

1 5 00 1 600 1 700

C u mbe r land .

Wo llaston
Mande v ille
S hafte sbury

Be rk el ey

Butle r
Hut c he son
Ed wards
H artle y
Tu c ke r
R e id

H u me
S mith

Be ntham
Ste wart
 CHAPTER VII I

BE RKELEY AND HUME

The Lif e and Wri tings (16 85

of G eorge Berke l ey
In Bishop Berkeley we have t he fines t type of
I ri sh mind In his brilliant men tal powers and ide alistic
.

theory he r eminds us of that wo nde rful Irish scholar

of the M iddle Ages John S cotus Erige na Be rkeley was
, .

acu tely critical and ye t he po ssessed a childlike reli

,

gions faith He combi ne d an i nsat iable longing for know

.

ledge with an ar den t missionary zeal Berkeley was a .

born child of P lato a lineal desce ndan t of a race whose

,
”
origi n is afar O E and is divine He was one of the se .

excep tional mi nds that begin to bring fo rt h their intel

lectual ofispring when they are you ng Berkeley began .

to pu blish a t the age of t wen ty -four H ume a t twenty ,

eight Desca rte s at forty-one Locke a t fif ty-eigh t

, , .

We s hall divide the life of Berkeley into three pe

ri ods .

1 . H is E arly Tr ai ni ng (1 685 is N o thing

’
known of Berkeley s early years ex cep t t hat he was ,

born in Kilkenny Ireland He was educa ted at the

, .

E ton of Ireland the Kilkenny school where S wi f t had

, ,
’
bee n a pupil ; and i t is known that one of Berk e ley s
schoo lmates was Thomas P rior Berkel ey en tered Tri n .

ity C oll ege Dublin at fifteen and graduated a t nine

, , ,

tee n S cholas t icism was s t ill i nfluenti al a t Trinity bu t

.
,

new sci e nces such as bo tany chemistry and anatomy

, , , ,

Re ad Roy c e Sp i r i t of M odern P hilosop hy p 8 6 ; Rand

, , .
,

M odern Classical P hilos op hers , pp 263 -27 7 . .

1 70 H I STORY O F PHILOSOPHY
had been added to the curriculum There too the .
, ,

you ng B e rk eley found that Lock e s E s say was mu ch ’

discuss e d and th at N ewton Boyle M alebranch e Des

, , , ,

carte s and Le ib nitz w e re widely re ad From this e arly

, .

date Berke ley b egan to keep a book of his own philo

sophical re flections calling it his Commonp lac e B oole
, .

From it and from his philosophy it would appear that

Locke and M alebranche w e re t he most powerful philo
sophical i nfluences upon him .

2 A s A u thor (1 7 0 7
.

Berk eley remained at Dublin as tu to r and fellow

five years af ter his grad u ation I n 1 7 09 he was ordai ned
.

deac on in the English church H e publish e d t wo m athe

.

matic al tracts in 1 7 07 his Theory of Vi si on in 1 7 0 9

, ,

his P ri ncip les of H u man K nowle dge in 1 7 1 0 The .

Theory of Vis ion and the P ri nc ip les of H u man

K nowle dge were prac tically a statemen t of his philo
sophy Th ey have b e en compared thus : the Theory of
.

Vi s i o n teaches th at all tha t we se e is our sensation

the P ri ncip les of H uman K nowle dge teach e s that all
”
th at e xists is our knowle dge Berkeley then we nt to.

London wh e re he was admitted to the cou rt of Queen

,

A nne and also to the circle th at i ncluded S t e el e S wift , ,

A ddiso n and Pop e Berk eley showed hims elf humble

, .
,

wis e conside rat e and u ns e lfish and although he was

, , ,

shocke d at the cou rt life he on his side ch arm e d e very

,

o ne whom he me t H e wanted to make his idealism

.

be tter unde rs tood and so he publish e d it in the form

,

of a dialogu e b e tween a re alist and an idealist Thi s .

public ation was calle d Thr ee D i alogu es between H ylas

and P hilo no us H e th en m ade two j ourneys
to the C o nti nent 1 7 1 3 —1 7 1 4 and 1 7 16- 1 7 2 0 — and
1 72 HISTORY O F PHILOSOPHY
of influenz a he tre ated them eff ec tively wi th tar-water
,

— a re medy he had learned from the I ndi ans He pub .

lished Sir i s an e ssay on the ph ilosophical virt u e s of

,

tar-water in 1 7 44 I n 1 75 2 he went to O xford to live

,
.
,

and in 1 7 5 3 he died .

The I nflu en c e s upon the Thought of Be rke ley .

’
Berke l ey s philosophy shows little development aft er
his first publications With the exception of Siri s .
,

which contains much Platonic ide alism the later works ,

of Berkel e y ar e scar cely more than an e laborat ion of

his early t hough t in the Theory of Vis i on and the
P r incip les of H u man N atu re We should i nfer there .
,

fore that the o nly philosophical i nflue nces upon Berke

,

ley were the origi nal S pri ngs at which he drank as a

yo u th M oreover he al ways sp e aks with the dogmatic
.
,

c e rtainty of one who has drawn his mat e ri al from bu t

f e w sources N ever do e s he exhibit the indecision of a
.

man who is embarrassed by many poi nts of view The .

two chie f influe nces upon him were Locke and M ale
branche The influence of Locke was partly of the na
.

’
ture of a reaction : Berkeley accepted Locke s psycho
’
logical analysis bu t reac ted from Locke s common ,

sense dualism as e arly as the time of his s t udent life

at Trini ty M alebranch e with his theory of occasional
.
,
”
causes reinforce d his Opi nio n along the line that his
,

re action took But Berke ley s own incisive genius had

.
’

a relatively gre ater i nfl ue nce in dict ati ng the cours e of

hi s p hilosophy th an is usu ally t he c as e H is mind was .

precocious fertile and continuously ve rsatile Furthe r

, , .

more Berk eley s simpl e re ligious n ature seems t o have

,
’

be en an important factor in det e rmini ng his i ntellec tual

belief His pecu liar ide alism could tak e roo t only in a
.
 BER K ELEY AN D HU M E 1 73

The Purpos e of Be rke ley

The life and t eachi ng of
.

B e rkel ey were dedicated to the t rue i ntere sts of re li

gion H e may be call e d the re ligious Enlight ener H e
. .

would not like the de is ts strip religion b are of dogma

, , ,

bu t he would u nlimber dogm a and rational philosophy

so th at th ey would be of s e rvice to religion H is p u r .

o r ee s cho la s tic is m on the o ne hand a nd

p s e w a s to
f ,

r a ti o nalis m o n the o ther f r om a bs tr a ctio ns and o bs cu r e

'

term s a nd there by br ing a bo u t a u nio n o

, f f a ith and
kno wledge B e rke ley looked u po n hims e lf as a crusade r
.

who would retake the Holy Land for the spiri t ual i ndi
vidual .

We have re marked th at one of the presuppositions

of this p e riod of the Enligh tenment is the indepe ndence
of the i ndividu al The i ndi vidu al around which Ber ke
.

ley s philosophy centres is the spiritual individual and

’
,

is there fore unique e ve n for this period S uch an indi .

vidu al is s uperior to his e nvironment because he be

longs not to a mate rial world but to a communi ty of ,

re ligious beings who c an talk and walk with God The .

English Enlightenment passed from Locke to Berkeley .

The i nner life c ame into compl et e a sc ende ncy and the
spi ritual i ndivi dual emerged Fro m the Lockian phi .

lo sophy wi th its many contradictory motives there ap

, ,

eare d the audacious one - sided philosophy of Berkeley

p ,

with its proclamat ion of the reign of spirituality It .

stood in marked contras t with the development of the

E nligh tenmen t in France — a development of mat e rial
ism and ma terial atoms The spectr al although stub
- .

bo rn bo unda ries of the u nknowable materi al world ,

which Locke suppose d to shut around the powers of

the human in tellec t crumbled before the hand of
,
1 74 HIS TORY O F PHILOSOPHY
The casual reader of the history of though t is how ,

ever ofte n disconcerte d at t he appearance of such a

,

philosophy as Berkeley s in this p e riod of empiricism ’

,

and e sp e ci ally as t he immediat e follow e r of Locke The .

English school is call e d the empiric al school and ye t ,

Berke ley is also c alled an ide alist But we must re .

m e mbe r th at e mpiricis m and idealism are not antithe ti

c al ! Empiricism refers to the source of our knowl e d ge ;
.

it me ans that all our k no wledge is pri marily derive d

'

from s ense-perce ptionsJ Thes e se nse-p e rc eptions m ay

be of two kinds : th ey may be (1 ) psychologic al facts ,

or (2) material facts B erkel ey was lik e Locke and .

,

H ume an empiricist of the fir st cl ass ; and yet be c ause

,

he denied the i ndepende nt existence of m at e ri al f ac t s ,

he was also an ide alist He was an empirical ide alis t .

,

just as t he French philosoph e rs of the Enligh tenme nt

we re e mpirical materi alists The critic may find th at .

B e rk eley is not a co nsistent empiricist to be sure but , ,

neith e r was Locke B e rkeley start ed out by affir ming

.

the testi m o ny of experie nce agai nst scholastic spe cula fo

lation and abstraction ; yet all along he assum e d the

scholastic conc eption of mi nd Nevertheless this as .
,

sumption of the i ndividual makes Berkeley a true child

of the E n lightenment ‘
.

Be rke ley s G e ne ral Re la ti on to Locke and H ume

’
.

T he growth of this English school from Locke to Hume

is no t difficult to unde rsta nd or to remember It is .

not so much a page in the histo ry of metaphysics (the

n ature of reality) as in e pistemology (the th eory of
1 B k l y nd H m w
er e e a lly lu d li t li k L c k
e e re re a nd ll a so ua s s, e o e a a

o th erEnlight n Th ide w
e rs . b tit t d by th m f
e e as m t i l e re su s u e e or a er a

su b t nc
s a A bj ct
es . f k n wl dg th id
s o e s o w nti th ti c l t th
o e e e e as e re a e a o e

k n w ing p c
o H m t i dt
ro ess . c m this duali m b t h w n t
u e r e o ov e r o e s , u e as o

s ccessf ul in hi
u tt mpt s a e .
1 76 HIS TORY O F PHI LOSOPHY
by othe r names He commits hims elf to Locke s psycho
.
’

logical empiricism in the first s e nte nce in his P ri ncip les

It is e vide nt to any one who t ake s a survey of the ob
s of k nowl e dge th at t h e y a re eith e r ideas actu ally
j ec t ,

i mpri nte d on the s e nses ; or els e such as are perc e ive d

by attending to the p assions and operations of the mind ;
or lastly id e as formed by the help of me mory and
, ,

im agination either compo unding dividi ng or b ar ely , ,

repres enti ng those origi nally p erc e ive d in the afore s aid
”
w ays O ur k nowledge th e re fore d eals only with ide as
.
, , .

There are the simple ideas of se nsation and reflection ,

and ide as compou nd e d from these .

B e sid e s acc e pting the psychological analysis of Locke ,

B e rke ley also adopts without qu e stion the assumption

common t o Locke and all the philosoph e rs of t he En
li ghte nment the assumption of the independe nce of
,

the i ndividu al soul But b e side s all the endl e ss variety

.

of ide as or obj e ct s of knowle dge there is likewise some ,

thi ng th at knows or perc e ives th e m what I c all mind ,

spirit soul or self By which I do not d e note any one

, , .

of my ideas but a thing entirely distinct from them

, ,

wherein th e y e xist or which is the same thing whe reby

, , ,
”
th ey are p e rc e ive d .

B e rk e ley there fore (1 ) agre e s with Locke th at all

, ,

k nowledge is derive d from se nse-perce ption i e he , . .

agre e s with Locke s empirical psychology and he

’
2
( ) ,

also agre e s with one of Locke s assumptions viz that ’

, .
,

the spiritual subs tance s exist .

The N e gativ e Side of Be rkeley s Phil os ophy W e ’

.

h ave now poi nt ed out Berkele y s ge neral re lation to ’

Locke and H um e and more in p articular his agree

,

ments with Lock e We are now prepar ed to examin e

.
 BER K ELEY AN D H UME 177

Berkeley was obliged to d e vo te a good de al of time

to the n e gative side of his philoso phy Just as Locke .

could not co nstruct an empirical psychology until he

had di sclaimed all alle gianc e to innat e ide as so B e rke ,

ley c ould not construct an id e alism u ntil he had

brought to bear in a polemical fashion all his forc e s
agai nst abstract ide as O f his two m asterpieces he de
.

votes the e ntire ess ay o n the Tizeory of Vi si on and a

good part of his P r incip les of H u man N atu re t o this
e nd .

1 . In p roof of thi s he advances his analysis of ab

s tr ac t id e as He not o nly d enies th at abs t ract ide as
.

have a corre sponding ext e rnal reality bu t he e ven de ,

nie s that abs trac t ide as e xist in the mi nd i tself The .

deception in abstract id e as arises from the u se of words

as ge neral terms Words are always ge neral ; ide as are
.

always p articul ar There is n e ve r an ide a that exactly

.

corresponds to a word Words are useful not as a co n

.

v eyanc e of ideas but for i nciti ng men to ac t io n and

,

arousing the p assions W h ene ver a word is used what

.
,

we think of is the p art icular s ense id ea or group of , ,

se nse object s that give ris e to it For ex ample the word

.
,

“ e l
y l ow cannot be employe d by us except in c o nnec
t ion with the thought of some p articular yellow thing .

B e rkele y is a nominalist of the e xtremest type .

2 A gain Berkeley s e eks to show by d e molishi ng the

.
,

disti nction b e t we en pri mary and second ary qualiti e s ,

th at m att er as an abstrac t idea has no existence This .

distinc tion was as old as the Greek Democritus and , ,

was accep ted by Locke W e ha ve alr e ady described

.

it : of a thing like a lump of sugar the s e nse qu aliti es

,

of whit ene ss roughne ss swe e tness et c are second ary

, , ,
.
,

because they depend u pon our sensations for their ex

1 78 HISTORY O F P HILOSOPHY
i stence ; t heythe ways in which our organisms a re
ar e

a ff e cted and not tru e copi e s of thi ngs ; the mathe mati
,

c al qu aliti e s form siz e d e nsity i m p e ne tr abili ty are pri

, , , , ,

mary b ec au s e th e y ex ist i ndep e nd e nt of ou r s ens e s and

a re tru e copi e s of thi ngs H obb e s had alre ady shown
.

t hat such a disti nctio n is erro ne ous and Be rk e l e y fol ,

low e d him by m ai ntai ni ng that all qualities are seco nd

ar T he siz e and impe ne trability of a bo dy d e pe nds
y .

as much on sense-perc e ptio n as its swe etne ss and color .

A t so m e l e ngth in his Theory of Vis ion Berke l e y tak es

up the question of the solidity or third di m e nsion of , ,

a ma teri al body and shows th at i t is an i nfe re nce

,

d e p endi ng on se ns atio ns arisi ng from the converge nce

of the two eyes and complicated by the sensatio ns of
touch .

Berkeley p rofessed t o be ple adi ng the cause of the

man in the s tre et who w an t s a philosophy that is r eal
”
“ common sens
e He mai nt ai ne d th at the conce p t ion
.

of m atter is only a philosophical s ubtle ty for those phi

IO SO phers who seek for something b eyond perception .

The man in the street wishes t o expl ain things as he

finds the m and not to se e k mysterious abstractions
,

which philosophers say in one bre ath that we kno w ,

and in anoth e r that we can not know .

There fore while Berk el e y agre ed with Locke s as

,
’

sump tion of the e xistence of the spiri tual substance he ,

d e parted from L ocke in denyi ng the e xistence of a ma ,

ter ial subs tance B e rk e l ey accept e d ther e for e one of the

.
, ,

t wo assumpti ons common to the Enlightenm e nt but he ,

denied the o the r Now Berke ley was tryi ng to prove a

.

thesis H e was controlle d by the ideal of his arden t re

.

ligiou s natu re to free r e ligion from false philosophy He .

180 HISTORY O F P HILOSOPHY
compose the mighty frame of the world have not any ,

s u bsis tence without a mind that th e ir being is to be

”
p e rceive d or known O r we may stat e Be rkeley s posi
.
’

tion in the ter m s of a mod e rn i nterpr e ter of him : A ll

1

o bjec t s are m e nt ally discer ned ; all objects are me n

”
t ally constit u t ed B e rk e ley m e ans th at the e xiste nce
.

and ch aracter of all objects are withi n the co nfine s of

consciousness and the re are no obj e cts outsid e of c on

,

sci ou sne ss As sense-p e rceptions th e y have reali ty ; as

.

memories they los e their warmth and dis tinctness ; bu t

th e y are not objects a t all when ne ither percei v ed nor
remembered These obj e cts are always colored by the
.

s e nse-perce p tion Th ey a re received through the c on

.

sciou sne ss and co nstitut e d by t he consciousn e ss

, M inds .

and their ideas are all that exist .

2 B e rkeley does not try to prove the existence of

.

the mi nd or sou! nor does he attempt to sho w that we

,

p e rceive the soul But in the spirit of the Enli ghte nment
.

he h ardly quest ions its reality H e t ak e s its existe nce

.

for granted and lik e the philosoph e rs of the peri od he

,

m ak e s a direct appeal to consciou s ness I k now I am .

”
conscious of my own b eing Like Locke and Descart e s
.

he alleges the direct i ntuition of the self In the P rin .

cip les he speaks of “

a notion of our own minds or
spiri t s S ince the ide as are copies of oth e r ideas there
.
,

c an be no id e a of the soul ; but the notion is like the

”
spiri t that knows it We have therefore di re ct know
.

ledge or noti on of ourselve s in knowing our ideas ; we

have direc t knowl e dge of something sup e rior t o the
ideas an ac t i vi ty whose reality consists not in b e ing
,

perceived but in perceiving I ndeed he made the as

, .
,
 BER K ELE Y AN D H UM E 1 81

college that nothing properly does exis t but conscious

,

p ersons All other things are not so much exist ence s as

.

signs of the existences of p e rsons O ne is absolut ely .

”
certain of what one means by I .

.3 S piritu al subst ances are sufficient and adequa te

to e xplain all ideas There is no difficulty in expl ai n:
.

i ng the im age s of o u r o wn minds for our mi nds c o n ,

trol them But what explains the existence of our per

.

c e ts ov e r whi ch we h ave no co ntrol ? Wh at substan t ial

p
support have they if we re move the ma teri al hypothe
sis S uppose I gran t that I e xist and have control of
my imagi native ide as and that other minds exis t and
,

hav e control of their imaginative id e as how then I ask , ,

Berkeley am I to expl ai n the great world of p e rcep

, _

t io ns ove r which n e ither I nor oth e r men h ave co ntrol ?

’
Berkeley s gener al psychologic al position must be sum
mariz e d h e re in order to a nswer this import ant question .

It is as follows : (I ) All things are nothi ng more th an

perc epti ons (2) All ideas both p e rceptions and image s
.
, ,

ar e p assiv e and m u st be c aus e d by somethi ng in itself

,

active (3 ) S ouls are active and the cause of ideas The

. .

question then is Wh at soul is t he cause of our percep

,

tions ? P e rceptions are ideas are p assive bu t the y are , ,

the ideas of whom ? Repudi ate the material substance ,

and what is the cause of perceptions

P e rceptions are not origi nated by me ; th e y can not be
s elf-origi nated because they are p assiv e and not active ;
,

th ey cannot be originat e d by a m aterial subst anc e be ,

cause it does not exis t Their origin mus t be sought in

.

the i nfinite spirit or God If you wi ll exami ne the id e as

.
, .

which consti tut e wh at we c all n ature obj e cts you will ,

observe th e se significant ch aracteristics about th e m t o ,

which at ten t ion has already been called They have as . ,

1 82 HIS TORY O F P HILOSOPHY
we have said a stre ngth liv e liness distinctness and
, , , ,

orderliness that disti nguish them from imagin ations .

Th ey are God spe aki ng to us in His orderly way N a .

ture obj ects are the langu age of God The regularity .

a nd d e p e nd ability of the world of natu re rev e al the ch ar

act e r of the B e i ng whos e l angu age the world of nature

is Th ey r e veal a Bei ng who is i nt e llige nt i nfinit e o m
.
, ,

nipo te nt and b e ne vol ent The r e gularity of the ch ang

, .

i ng se aso ns the co nstancy of the he avenly bodi e s to

,

the ir orbits the provision of the e arth for man all

,

the laws of n ature are the language of an ord e rly Bei ng .

’
No w we see the import ance of Berkeley s devi ation
’
from Locke in his (B e rk e l ey s ) co nc e ption of all ide as
as passive All ide as b ei ng pas sive th e re mus t be a
.
,

c ause of them The only active c aus e s are spiri t s I am

. .

the cause or perceive r of my own im agi natio ns I per .

c e iv e a nother s moveme nts and know that a nother perso n

’

o r spirit must be the cause Whe n nature speaks in its

.

i nvariable and purposive harmo ny I know th at an in ,

finite spirit is the caus e We are indeed living in a

.

soci e ty of spiri ts who speak t o one another in th e ir own

,

language .

The doctri ne of B e rkeley s trike s b e gi nners and p eople

who temp erame nt ally cannot und e rst and it as absurd , .

The reduction of the trees sky e tc to id e as is a theory

, , .
,

that has brough t down all ki nds of ridicule upo n it .

Wh e n Dr Joh nson he ard of it he is s aid to h ave stampe d

.
,

his foo t upon the ground and thereby re f uted it Byron

, .

is quo te d as sayi ng If the re is no matter and Berkeley

, ,

has pro ved i t it is no m att e r what he said

”
, O the rs .

have asked if we eat and dr i nk id e as and are cloth e d

with ide as But Berk eley never doubted the existence
.

of mat e rial objects and the poin t of his theo ry is missed

,
184 HI S TORY O F PHILOSOPHY
Bo th turned from philosophy to other pursui t s
Berk el ey to missionary work at the age of thirty-six ,

and H ume to politics at the a e of forty- one Th e re

g .

the res e mbl anc e b etwe e n the t wo men ce ases ; for they
were antipod al by nature and anim at e d by diff e rent
,

purpos e s The e nthusi astic nature of Berkeley is in

.

m arke d contrast with the u nimpassione d nature of the

S cot H ume was u nim aginative to the l ast H e was
. .

u nimpre ssed by the l ege nds of the bord e r where he

lived ; he had no love for nature and no appre ci ation
of art While Hu m e s i ntell e ct w as imperi al his sym
.
’

,
”
pathics were provinci al Berke ley s symp athie s were
.
’

imperial and his i nt elle ct was in the ir serv ice Hume .

was a man of kindly disposition and of moderate temper ,

yet he was vain and interested above everyt hi ng else

,

in his own r eputation No obj e ct seemed worth while

.

to him u nless it m ad e for the improvem e nt of his tal

,

ents in literature T he failure of the Tre atise was a

.

blow from which he neve r r e covered Always aft erw ard .

he had an eye to popularity and this is important in ,

maki ng up our j udgment a bout him All his works afte r .

the Treatise were written to please his readers and fo r

perso nal success Locke the Englishman Be rk e ley the
.
,

Irishman and H ume the S cotchman came from the

,

s ame middle class of society had unive rsity trai ni ng , ,

were engaged in public service and are to be class e d in ,

t he s ame e mpiric al school of philosophy But the y were .

p e rson ally very di ffe rent ki nds of me n and w e re typ e s , ,

although perhaps no t r e pre se ntatives of their nation ,

aliti e s .

1 P eri od of Trai ning (1 7 11

. Hume was
born in Edi nburgh and lived there and at Ninewells on
t he bo rder H e was a s tuden t at Edinbu rgh U niversity
.
 BER K ELEY AN D H UM E 1 85

1 7 23 —1 7 2 6 and s t udi ed law the nex t year He was

( ) .

in busine ss in Bris tol in 1 7 3 4 I n all the occup ations

.

of this period he was u nhappy .

2 P er io d of P hilo s op her (1 73 4
. From
1 7 3 4 to 1 73 7 Hume was in r e tir e m ent in Franc e ,

especi ally at La Fleche where he wrote his Trea tis e

,

o n H um an N a tu r e . H e returned to E di nbur gh in
1 7 3 7 and p u blished his Tr ea ti s e (1 7 3 9 It was
r ead by nobody and was an absolute failure S o he re .

wrote Book I in 1 74 8 and called it the E nqu iry con

c ernin H u man Under s tand in H um e s full stateme nt
’

g g .

of his th e ory of knowledge is contai ne d in the Treatise

and not in the E n u ir
q y
. H e r e wrote Book II I in 1 7 5 1

and called it the E nqu iry concerning P ri nc ip les of

M o rals of all my writi ngs i ncomparably the best
, ,
”
,

and in 1 75 7 he published Book II as an E ssay on

the P ass i ons i n F o u r D iss er tatio ns He bec ame ao
.

uainte d with A d am S mith in 1 7 4 0 ; he published

q
E s s ays M or al and P o litical in 1 7 4 1 —1 7 4 2 and was
, , ,

a t u tor in 1 74 5 because he needed mone y In 1 74 6

, .

1 7 4 8 he bec ame secretary in the English military em

bassy to Vi enna In 1 7 5 1 the s ame ye ar that he was
.
,

r ecasti ng the third b ook of the Trea tise he wro te his ,

D i alogu es co ncerning N atu ra l R elig ion which was ,

no t published u ntil 1 7 7 9 H is au tobiography was also

.

published pos thumously .

3 P er io d of P olitic ian (1 7 5 2
. In 1 75 2
H ume published hi s P olitical D is cou rs es the only ,

work of mine that was s uccessful on its first pub

lication . I n 1 7 5 4 -1 7 6 1 while Librar ian at Edi n
,

burgh he wr o te and published his H is tory of E ngla nd

,
.

Thi s work was the fir st serious att e mpt sinc e the Re vo

lu tion to give an impa rtial accoun t of the earlie r strug
1 86 HISTORY O F PHILOSOPHY
gles agains t the S tu art s Through it he at last got great
.

fame and fo rtune followed in its wake In 1 7 5 7 cam e

,
.

his rest atement of Book II of the Tr eatis e I n 1 7 6 3 .

1 7 65 Hum e was secr e tary of the English Embassy at

Paris and he was m ad e much of by French society
, .

The tho u ght of the Fre nch Enlighte nm ent had advanc e d
f ar e no u gh to e nt e rtain him and his doctri ne s H um e .

met Rousseau at this time Late r H ume was visit e d .

by Rousseau in England and was b adly tre ated by the

ecc entric Fr e nchm an He says th at Rousseau sins a t
.

the found atio n Hume was appoi nt e d Under S ecr e t ary

.

of S t at e in 1 7 6 6 he r e turned to Edi nburgh in 1 7 6 9 ,

and di e d in 1 7 7 6 .

Infl u e n ces upon the Thought of H um e The wr i t .

ings of H ume show no eruditio n and for that reason ,

it is u ncertain wh at were all the source s from which he

dr e w H e does no t mention Descartes for e xample
.
, ,

although he w ro te his Tr ea ti s e at La Fl eche in the

sh adow of the school wh e re Descart e s was educate d I t .

is prob able howeve r t hat Hume was influenc ed at leas t

, ,

by the Gree k philosophers of the H ellenic-Roman Pe

riod and by Locke Duri ng the ye ars after H ume s s t u
’
, .

dent life a t the university he po red over the wr iti ngs

,

of the Roman Stoics i n the library a t N inewells and ,

he felt the i nfluence of C ic e ro S enec a and Plutarch , , .

Hume r ead extensively and he r eacted from his re ading

, .

H e became so dissatisfied with t he past tha t he pu t i t

aside in t he belief that t he t rue philosophy had not
,

yet be en w ritten In thi s react ion from the pas t he

.

was i nfluenced along the li nes of Lock e and B e rke

ley He ad mired the advance that Be rke ley had made
.

over Locke and naturally took a furth e r s te p in the

,

same di rec t ion Hume was also acq uain ted wi th the
. .
1 88 HIS TORY O F PHILOSOPHY
t hat truth can be known and that t hings exist This was .

not Hume s contention H e affirmed the validity (1 ) of

’
.

mat hematical re aso ning (2) and of m att e rs of fact and ,

(3 ) the probability of the n atural scie nces Hum e may .

c orrectly be call e d a phenomen alist a positivis t or an , ,

agnostic S o f ar as he mai nt ai ned that there are some

.

t hi ngs whi ch the r e ason canno t k now he is an agnostic , .

I n his affirm ation that we c an know ide as and o nly

ideas he is a positivist In hi s affirmation that ideas are
, .

the o nly exi st ences he is a phenom e nalist Are external

, .

objects the cause of s ensations ? Experi enc e is dumb .

H ave exte rn al obj e cts an existence ? Exp e ri e nce is

dumb Are souls the substanc e of our thoughts ? Ex pe
.

r icuce is dumb But m athem atics has t ruth experience

.
,

is beyond question and the workings of nat ure are

,

prob able .

We shall find Hume to be the k eenest criti cal mind

of this critical period of the Enlight enment He is pro .

f ou ndly s e rious in his e xami nation of the roots of the

i nt ellectual life H e is past-mast e r in the art of raising
.

questions H e not only shows that the fundamental

.

t heoretical proble ms are still u nsolved but he also calls ,

t o acco unt the hi th e rto unteste d assumptio ns of prac ti

c al life But this is criticism positivism phe nomenalism
.
, , ,

or agnos ticism and not skepticism H e spe aks of his

, .

doctri ne as like th at of the M iddle A cad emy in contras t ,

with that of Pyr rho He says that e xcessive skep ticism

.

upse ts activity employment ah d common occupations

, , .

The conclusions of the in tellect never agree wi th our

n atural i nsti ncts Every time positive ske pticism ap
.

pear s nat ure de str oys it

,
.

H ume s conclusion as to the prac t ical attitud e of the

’

pos itivis t towar d life can bes t be s ta ted in his own wo rds
 BER K ELEY A N D H U M E 1 89

( Trea tise, Book I Co nclusion ) ,

S hall we then estab
lish it for a ge neral maxim that no re fined or elaborate
,

reasoning is eve r to be r e ceive d ? If we emb r ace th is

principle we run in to the mos t manifest abs u rdities
,
.

If we re j e c t i t in favor of those reasoni ngs we subver t ,

en tire ly the human und e rs tanding We have therefore .

, ,

no choice left but between a false re ason and none at

,

all M ost fortu nately it h appens that since reason is

.

incapable of dispelling thes e clouds nature suffices to ,

t hat pur pose and cures me of this philosophi cal mel an

,

c hol I di ne I play a game of backgammo n I converse

y .
, , ,

and am merry wi t h my friends — No If I mu s t be a .

fool as all who reason or believe any thing cer tainly are
, ,

my follies shall at leas t be nat ural and agr eeable In all .

the incide nts of life we ought still to p reserve ou r skep

ti c is m Where reaso n is lively and mixes i t self wi th
.

”
some prope nsity it ough t t o be assen ted to .

The O rigi n of Ide as Locke did no t pro ce ed t o the

.

construction of his theory of knowledge until he had

disclaimed at le ngth his b e li e f in the exis tence of in
na te ideas Berkeleywent further and made his polemic
.

agai n s t the existence of all abs t ract ideas H ume wen t .

s till further and denied that any ideas exis ted excep t
Locke s a ttack upon
’
t hose d e rived from imp ressions .

i nna te ideas was an attack upon unverified t radi tion ;

’
Berkeley s a ttack upon abstract ideas was an at tack
u pon materi alism ; H ume made a ge neral a tt ack upon

r ationalism The psychology of H ume is thus made

.

simple It is a cancellatio n of t he factors incompatible

.

with s trict empiricism — the fac tors which he found

i n Lock e and Berkel ey H ume s empirical psychology
’
.

is si m ply this : ev ery i dea i s the image or cop y of an

i mp ress ion .
1 90 HIS TORY O F PHILOSOPHY
What is an impression ? Impressions are of two
classes (1 ) se nsations or ou ter i mpressions ; (2 ) feel
ings or emotions or i nner impressions Impre ssions are
.

neve r mistake n bec ause they always have a very lively

,

and vivid character What is an ide a ? It is the copy

.

of an impressio n An idea should ne ver be mistake n for

.

impression b e cause it is faint e r and more feeble th an

,

t he impression of which i t is the copy For e xample .

,

the sensation of yellow is more vigorous th an the thought

of yellow ; the fe eling of anger more vivid than the
thought of anger Impressions are simple and elem ental
. .

C an we go back of them and fi nd their origi n We can

not We r eceive imme ssions ; echo e s of impressions
.

linger as ideas ; ide as may be compound e d with o ther

id e as Hum e deals in his criticism mostly with the com
.

poundi ng or combi ni ng of id e as but this is the sum and

,

substance of his psychological a nalysis of our men tal

life The following table will help us
. .

Sensations or outer impre s

‘

Impressions sions
(= origin al
) F ee li ngs or inner imp re s

s 10 ns
M emories o r an exac t re
production of an impre s
sion or of a combination of
Ideas impressions
— derived Im aginatio n or a combi na
_

)
tion s ep aration and trans
, ,

position of impressions ao
cordi ng to the im agi na
t ion s o wn laws
’
.

It should be not ed however that the above classes

, ,

a re not coiirdinate according to Hume Imp ressions are

.
192 HISTORY O F PHILOSOPHY
t ion of the ide as to rela te themselves with other ide as .

Give n the impre ssions and their re lat ions and Hume ,

will e xplai n the whole knowing process A ssoci ative .

re lations take an important place in Hume s t heory ’

,

but some critics say that they are int e rlopers ; th at he

has introduced them by a b ack door ; that t hey are no t
me ntione d in his psychological inven tory .

But to Hume there is nothi ng mysterious abou t the

association of ide as Th ey are combi ned transposed
.
, ,

augme nte d and diminished according to fix ed rul e s

,

de r m e ch anical laws Their r e lationship t akes plac e with

.

ou t freedom Impr e ssions occur in the way th ey happen

.

t o occur Ideas combine in the way th ey h appe n to com

.

bine Rel ations be t ween ideas are accident al and ex

.

t e rn al Th e re is only one qu ality of id e as tha t doe s no t

.

d ep end on i t s accide ntal re lation to othe r ideas This is .

the qu ali ty of non-contradiction This is the nece ss ary .

prop e rty of an impression An impression must be what

.

it is and can not be conc e ived as h avi ng properti e s con

,

trary to its own nat ure The quality of identity in an

.

impression is intri nsic and necessary .

A ccording t o H ume there are three fundamental

,

ways in whi ch ideas associat e c all e d the three laws of

,

association (1 ) There is the law of r es embla nce or

.

co ntrast by which the occurrence of a thi ng calls up

,

a similar t hi ng or i ts O pposite M ath e mat ics is b ased

.

upo n this law of the resemblance the con trari e ty and , ,

the quantitative rela tions of ideas (2 ) There is the .

law of co ntigu i ty i n time and sp ac e by which things ,

h app e ni ng together in time and space are recalled to

ge ther U pon this law are b as ed the d e scrip ti v e and ex
.

e rimental sciences Th e re is the law o c au s a tio n

p 3 ) .
f ,

upon which r eligion and the me taphysics of the world of

 BER KELEY AN D HUME 1 93

nature are base d The question wi th Hume is How is

.
,

he to explain all these laws of associat ion as derived from

impressio ns ? If they canno t be derived from impres
sions then his theo ry th at all knowle dge is derive d
,

f rom impressions goes to the wall The Rationalists and .

even his pre d e ce ssors Locke and Berkel ey had c on

, ,

c e iv e d m athemati cal propositions and c au sation as u n

d e rived and in the nat ure of thi ngs If H ume is to e s .

tablish his doc tr i ne of comple t e sensa t ional empiricism ,

h e re is his test .

These as sociations and no t isolate d imp ressions are

, ,

t he obj ec t s of human i nteres t i nquiry and investiga , ,

t ion H ume makes a further reductio n of associations

.

by his well known classification of them as either re

- “

”
lations of ideas or m att e rs of fact A ssociatio ns of .

c o ntigui ty and associatio ns of causation are mat ters

”
of fact whi le associ atio ns of resemblance are “ rela
,

tions of ide as Furthermore Hume looks upon asso

.
,

c iatio ns of contiguity as those of ou t er impr e ssio ns asso ,

c iations of res e mbl anc e as those of inner impressio ns ,

while associ ations of caus ation are not what they are
alleged to be bu t ar e derived from some inner impres
,

8 10 118 .

1 . t
Con i gu i y t O u er t Des cri p tiv e
Matte rs o f asso c iati on im p re ssi ons Sc ie nc e s

2 . Cau sa ti on Inne r Me taphysi cs

R l ti
e a ons 3 . R e se m blanc e I nne r Mathe mati cs
of Id e as ass o c iati on im p ress ions

The Ass ociati on of Contigui ty This is the most ele .

m e ntary of the thre e class e s of association, and conc e rn s

the spati al and temporal order in which impr e ssions
1 C u l
nt are t H m m
a sa ev e ly all g d m tt
s o f f ac t
u e e re e e a e rs o .
 1 94 HISTORY O F PHILOSOP HY
come to us Two impressions come at the same time or
.

in succession and wh e n one of them is re membe red

, ,

t he o ther is lik ely to be r emember e d also We see a .

man and hear his name ; wh e n we remember the m an s ’

face we may rem e mber his name also Hume m ain

, , .

tains that this associ ation of succ e ssion or coexistence

is give n with the imp r essions thems e lve s I t is the orde r .

of the ou ter imp res s ions We p e rc e ive the order of the .

oute r impre ssions with the same certainty that we per

c e iv e t he con t en t s of the impressions Thi s i s the only .

c er ta inty we hav e abou t matters of f act — a cer

“ ”
,

t ainty of t he exac t ord e r of our immediat e ou ter im

pressions We know the order in which our impressions
.

do occur bu t as we sh all see when we argue from this

, , ,

that our imp ressio ns mus t recur in the same order we

are i nvolved in a fallacy A ny order may recur The fac t
. .

t h at the sun rises in the eas t to-day does no t m ake c e r

t ai n that i t wi ll ris e in the eas t to-morrow I t is only a .

matt e r of prob abili ty however many tim e s re pe ate d , .

”
There is no certain sci e nce of m at ters of fact .

The As socia ti on of R e s e mbl ance This is a clea r .

and distinct associat ion which is given with the impre s

sions Wh e n we have an impression we see i ntuitive ly
.
,

i t s s imilarity or diflerenc e to other impressions and the ,

degrees of likeness and u nlikeness The face of one man .

r emi nds us of ano t her man or we co nt ras t it with a ,

bru t e s face This associ a tion concerns only i nner im

’
.

ress i ons while the associa t ion of conti gui ty concerns

p ,

outer impressions This has to do with the relation of

.

”
ideas while the association of cont igui ty has to do with
,

“ matt ers of fac t ” .

I M a th e ma ti c s Bu t there is t his difference be

. .

t ween t he associat ion oi resemblance and tha t of con

 196 HISTORY O F PHILOSOP HY
less explain th e ir psychological origin The illuso ry .

ide a of substanc e origi nates from the similarity of the

frequent conjoining of c e rtai n impressions The impres .

sions — swe et rough white e tc —occur togeth e r so

, , , .

ofte n th at the i m agi nation cr e at e s the conc eption of

t he subst anc e of sugar be hind th e m This aris e s not .

from the first experi ence but aft e r the associ ation of
,

impressions has be e n observed a l arge numb e r of tim e s .

From the frequent as sociation of id e as aris e s the f eeling

of the ir nec e ssary co e xist ence Thus do we come to have
.

the id e a of a m at e ri al subst ance .

H ume evidently follows Be rkeley in his criticism of

material subst ance Bu t Berkeley wen t o nly halfway
. .

Berkel ey had found th at bodies w e re only conjunctions

of s ensations and he had rej e cted as me aningl e ss the
,

u nk nown subs tance behind them H e did not se e that .

the s ame attack could be made upon spiritu al sub

stances Berke ley s argument against the substance of
.
’

the ch e rry could be used agai ns t the Ego or the S oul .

H av e I the impression of my Ego ? C an I touch it or

see it ? The simple test shows th at I kno w nothi ng
abou t it and I cannot affirm wh eth e r or not i t exis ts
, .

Bu t if the concep t ion of the S oul has no reality as an

obj e ct of k nowledge how can i t be psychologic ally ex
,

plained ? How doe s i t arise in the mind ? The idea of

the S oul is due to the f requent re appe arance of t he
same trains of though t in my mind Th eir similarity .

give s ris e to the feeli ng that a metaphysical identi ty or ,

S oul exis t s behind th e m

, .

The Associati on of C au s a ti on: H ume s Attack o n

'
’

Sci e n ce A mong the m any tradi tional conceptio ns upon

.

which Hume turned his critical examin ation th at of ,

 BER K ELEY A N D H UM E 1 97

cu sses i t both in the Treati se and in the E nqui ry He .

is the first philosopher si nce Aristotle to giv e it compre

hensiv e tr e at me nt H e saw th at all philosophi c al th e o
.
,

logical and i nde ed scienti fic knowledge rests upo n this

,

conce ption of c aus ation It was acce pted without ques

.

tion by the S cholastics of the Middle A ges the Ration ,

ali sts of the Re naiss ance and the sci e ntists of his own
,

time If the conc e ption is valid H ume s criticism goes

.
,
’

for naugh t ; for by m e ans of that relation we can go

”
beyond the evide nce of our memory and se nses In .

th at case wh at becom e s of H ume s psychological analy

’

sis that all k nowledge consists of impressions and ideas

And if H ume s psychology falls all his cri ticism of the
’

spiritual and the mat eri al substance falls also Upon .

t he vali dity of the concept of cause depe nd many of

the scholas t ic argume nts for t he existe nce of God whose ,

exis te nce we can demons tra te although H e is no t an

object of sense impression Im agination can then go on
.

unrestric ted ; for God is accep ted no t only as cause bu t ,

as first or u ncaus e d c ause Descar tes Leibnitz and even

.
, ,

Be rkeley and Loc ke had acc e pted the causal ar gument

for the existen ce of God althou gh the la tter two had
,

p re tended t o rest rict knowle dge to sense-percep tions

and ideas A gain the causal concep t has bee n the
.
,

foundation for the be lief in a functio ning soul b ehind

the mental and physical ac t ivities of a human bei ng ;
and on the same causal concep t man has argued from

s e ns ations to their m ateri al substrate All thi s is u n

.

warr ted
a n an d u rest ric ted knowledge because it goes
n “

”
be yond the m e mory and se nses Not only theology
.
,

but scie nc e its elf has gone “ b eyond the m e mory and
”
se nses . H ume dares to doub t the c e rtainty of the
causal pri nciple even in scientific knowledg e Is the re .
1 98 HIST ORY O F P HI LOSOPHY
any necessary connectio n among events so tha t with
certai nty we can predict the occurre nce of one event
if another is give n Is t h e re in nat ure and hi story any
caus al law so binding th at every event is a necessary
r esult of what has gone before and a necessary cause
of what will come ? The question of cause is therefore , ,

p aramount with Hume If he is succ e ssful in impe ach

.

ing c ause as he has been in the case of subs tance scie n ,

tific th e ory must fall wi t h theologic al dogma .

In his review of the conceptions of time and space

( as soci ation by contiguity ) H ume had found succes ,

sion to be a quali ty of impressions and to be given wi th

them Bu t that is all that can be said — the relation is
.

o ne of t ime ord e r but no t a relation tha t is necessary

, .

The ou t er impressions happe n to occur thus and thus ;

th ey ne e d not have occurre d thus and may never occur , .

in this ord e r again This temporal order is no t by any

.

me ans a c ausal orde r The ide a of caus e is that of

.

power t ransferred but we have no impression of power

, .

Impre ssio ns come as s e quences not as consequences ,

or as powers S e quence s of impre ssions ar e

.

matters of fac t co nsequen ce s are no t matters of

”
fac t They mus t the refore be only relations between
.
, ,

id e as and have no objective re ality From H ume s .

’

point of view this is sufficien t to show that cause is no t

vali d and r eal .

To deny that we have the concept of cause would ,

however be nonsense We do h ave the conc e p t and

, .
,

how is i ts psychological origin to be explained ? How

does t he idea arise ? It does not origi nate (1 ) as an
a prior i concept i e by an analysis of ideas nor (2 )
, . .
,

as an outer impression i e a se ns ation nor (3 ) as

, . .
,

memory since memo ries are images of impressions The

, .
 2 00 HISTORY O F PHILOSOPHY
i ric al
sciences consis t in knowledge of matte rs of fact
p .

S uch knowledge never amounts to more than probability .

There is no c e rt ainty or d emonstration in natural sci

e nce Its re sults c all forth not co nviction bu t belief
.
, .

'
Beyond these subj e cts we h ave no k nowledge whate ver .

M e t aphysics and theology are o nly fictions Beyo nd i m .

pre ssions and the copies of impre ssions we c an m ake no

assertio ns The te nd e ncy of thought to trench beyond
.

its o wn territory is the cause of all our m e taphysical

di fficulties I t t ries to do what it was not inte nded to
.

do and the resul t is abs tract ideas Re ason and the

,
.

r e lation of resemblance give us the erron e ous idea of

spiritu al and m ate rial substance imagination and the
rel ation of caus e give the e rroneous idea of the funds .

mental pri nciple of natu re .

H ume s Th eo ry of Reli gi on and Ethi cs H um e is

’
.

so tru e an e mpiricist to the e nd th at he is a rem ark able

exception amo ng the philosophe rs of the Enligh te nm e nt .

He alone amo ng philosoph e rs shows the historic al s e nse

in the application of his positivism to re ligion and mor
als I n general the Enlight enm e nt t ook no account of
.

the past ; in this H ume di ff ers from his cont e mpo raries .

H ume was the destroyer of deism because he ad r

v anced hi s torical e vi d e nce agai nst de ism De ism had.

thre e principles : that religion is the obj e ct of scientific

i nvestigation ; that re ligion had its origi n in the reason
and that natu ral r eligion is the oldest form H ume .

agreed to the firs t proposition but he re ve aled his hi s

,

torical i nstinct by showi ng that religio n did not origi nate

in the reason but in the fee lings ; and th at no t natural
,
”
religion bu t idolatry e tc is the old e st form Fu rther
, , .
, .
 BE R K ELEY AN D HU M E 2 01

upo n the intellec t The ethical motive s of man are pleas

.

ure and pain and not an ide a of the re ason Hume s hi s

,
.
’

toric se nse led him to this co nclusio n .

Both morals and re ligio n should be empirically inv es

tigate d A s in scienc e so in them t he most cog e nt c on
.
,

elusions are only prob able and not intuitive O ur moral .

activities are under the s am e ki nd of law of caus e that

e xists in t he world of natur e -ph e nomena The will is .

de termined by the fe eli ngs and the r easo n is the slave

,

of the passio ns O ur moral judgme nt is based on th e

.

fe eli ng of symp athy (A dam S mith ) It is practically .

probable that there is a purpose in t he world and there

fore a God But this cannot be established O n the
. .

same pri nciple of probability the world may h ave grown

up m e ch anically or by ch ance Re ligio n is naturally .

reasonable e nough but its doctri ne s c anno t be proved

, .

The Scotti sh School This school r e pr e sents in Great

.

Britain the reaction from the sensualism of the Enlight

e nme nt .The S cottish S chool was the Briti sh reply to
Hum e jus t as K ant was the German r e ply They we r e
, .

the l ate eightee nth c entury reactions in two countries to

the Enlight e nment The teaching of Kant was however
.
, ,

also the b e gi nni ng of a new movemen t and a ne w period .

The S cottish S chool has no such importance .

Thomas Reid (1 7 1 0—1 7 96) was the founder Reid ad .

mi tte d tha t B e rke l e y and Hum e drew legitim ate co nclu

sions from Lock e s general assumption th at the obj e cts of
’

thought are not thi ngs but ideas Therefore Re id main

, .

taine d tha t Locke s positio n mus t be giv e n up S till

’
.

e mpiricism r emai ns t e nabl e and mus t be applied to the

ph enom e na of mi nd Wh at are the d at a of conscious

.

n e ss ? Not i ndivid u al ide as as Locke s aid bu t complex

, ,

i deas or ju dgments The elemen t s will be discovered

.
202 HIS TORY O F P HILOSOPH Y
la te r by analysis of these complex states which are firs t
given The mind is not a blank piece of pape r upon
.

which simple ch aracte rs are first i nscribed and then ,

late r the und e rstanding i ntroduced to form judgments

and the re fle ction to add beli e f in the exis tence of oh
ec ts O ur knowl e dge star ts ra ther from judgmen ts which
j .
,

involve certain original truths or natural judgme nts .

M ankind possesses the faculty of common sense and ”

,

this faculty makes these truths a common poss e ssion .

A mong the principles tha t common sense i nclude s

are s elf-c onscious ne ss the reali ty of object s pe rceived
, ,

and the principle of c aus e .

The S cottish S chool called att en tion to the impor

t ance of self-observation The members of the school
.

made their attack upon s e nsuali sm from the poin t of

empirical psychology Philosophy be came in their hands
.

the p e rfec t ing of psychology as a scien ce of inne r oh

serv ation . Thus t hey we re in accord with t he school
of the Enligh tenment al though opposed to i t s sensual
,

istic ou tcome The p romi nen t membe rs of the school

.

we re Reid Dugald Ste wart, Brown and Sir William

, ,
2 04 HIS TORY O F P HILOSOP HY
by the long wars and the ex t ravagance of pa ternal gov ~

e rn ment .

The r eign of Louis XV seeth e s wi th the s t ruggle of

social fo rc e s It is a p e riod in which the i ndividual is
.

s t rivi ng to gai n his righ t s under the i ns t i tutions t ha t

have so long repressed him The d e ve lopmen t of the

.

French Enlight enment is id e ntical with the s t ruggle

for political liberty In no other p e riod of history
.

exc ept perh aps the Age of P ericles -is the history of
philosophic though t so intimat ely connected with politi
c al history . The fifty-ni ne y e ars of the r e ign of Louis
XV ar e fill e d with e xciti ng even t s which interest both
t he philosopher and the histori an The French Enlight
.

e nm e nt is the r e actio n agai nst that protective and

i nt e rfe ri ng spirit which re ach e d i t s z e nith u nder Louis
”
XIV With Louis XV the magnificence and the u til
.

ity of eccl e si astical and political absolutism could no t

be m ai nt ai ned For the hi e rarchy of t he church was
.

u nable longer to keep up i t s claim of ind ependence and

morality ; and the S t ate was rapidly exhaus ting its
powe r by e xhausti ng it s financial r esources E ach event .

i n the history of France in t he eigh t eenth ce ntury had

ther e fore two aspec ts — e ach led t o the Revolu tion and ,

e ach was a s t ep in the developme nt of the Enlighte n

m ent of the indi v idual The pione ers in the move m e nt

.

cou ld no t have be e n conscious of the e nd to which their

criticism would l ead ; bu t to us looki ng back upon the
century the res ult seems i nevitable A co mpariso n wi th
.

the sit u atio n in E ngland is i nter e sti ng W hile in Eng

.

land the politic al and ec cle si astical instit u tions were so

e l astic that they could withou t disi nt e grati ng absorb the

movement of the Enlight enment and while th ey w e re so

,

little bou nd to t raditional institut ions th at the growth

 T HE EN LIG HTEN MENT IN F R AN CE 2 05

in i ndividualism would be co nstitu ti onal the si tuat ion in ,

France was exactly opposite (1 ) In France the church

.

and the political i nstitutio ns had be come i nelas t ic bodi es

u nde r Lo uis XIV Th ey had reach e d the limi t of their

.

develop men t S o dee ply rooted in absolutism and spe

.

ci ul privileges were they th at th ey we re not ope n to in

novation or re form Duri ng the reign of Louis XV
.

the o nly questio n was which would be crushed

, the
new i ndividualism or the old institu tions No compro .

mise was possible The inst itu t ions h avi ng survived

.
,

their usefulne ss g ave way (2) In the next place the

, .

Fre nch church and sta te had for m any years been iden
tifie d with oppression and tyranny whi l e t he English ,

people had within a c entury gain e d inany needed re ‘

forms by beh e ading o ne king and forci ng ou t anothe r .

C ons e que ntly the English governme nt of the eigh te enth

century was identifi e d with the liberty of the i ndividu al .

I n Engl and politic al and r e ligious specul ation followed

and did no t pre ced e political re forms I n France the op .

o site was t rue To the mi nd of the Fre nch people the

p .

church represe nted only superstition and the s tate only ,

p rofli acy and tyran ny

g T he more they see m e d to sup
.

po rt e ac h oth e r in one social structu re the more rapid , ,

viru le nt and excessive would nat urally be the reaction

,

agains t bo th when once i ndividualism got a footing

'

The result was tha t while in England the E nlighten

men t always remained critical and negat ive in France ,

i t beca me an obs tinat e and posi t ive dogmatism B e hind .

French cri t icism was developi ng a philosophical creed .

The French Enligh tenment was a social cause and a

s elf- sus taining idea The French philosophers of the
.

eigh teen th cen tury on the whole were not sup e rior men
, ,

in tellec tually fo r they were inclined to make the sm all

,
206 HIS TORY O F PHILOSOPHY
look large and the large great But although their per
.

spe cti v e was i naccu rate they had an enthusiastic faith

,

in progr ess and hum anity .

The En gli s h Infl u en ce in Fr an c e Louis XIV and

.

his two predecessors had mad e Paris the i ntell e ctu al

ce ntre of E urop e and up to 1 6 90 it had no rival The
, .

French language had taken its place beside the Latin

as the l angu age of scienc e The circle of scie ntists e x
.

isting just before and a t the begi nni ng of Louis X I V S

’

reign had its equ al nowhere in Europe We remem .

ber how Hobbes fou nd Euclid in Paris Locke spent ,

four years at or near Paris Le ib nitz gained th ere all

,

his m athematical erudition and t rai ni ng During the .

seventee nth century Paris was the centre of scholastic

infl u enc e and this is s e en directly o r indi rectly in the
,

writi ngs of all seve nteenth c e ntury philosophers The .

English had tak e n their one from the French ; but on

the oth e r ha nd it is doubtful if as l ate as the death of
,

Louis th e re were a h alf dozen Frenchmen tha t knew 1

the English language .

About the t ime of the publication of Locke s E ss ay

’

the int ellectu al cent re of gravi ty b e gan to move from

Paris to Lo ndon The founding of the Royal S oci e ty
.

in O xford in 1 66 0 was the begi nning of the organiza

tion of Bri tish scientific influence Newton s physics
.
’

( 1 6 8 7 ) then beg an to supplant t he C artesian physics ,

and Locke s psychologic al d octrines the dogm atis m of

’

the Rationalis ts among the thinkers of wes tern Eur ope

, .

Newt onia n physics and English empiricism became the

sci entific watchwords of the e igh te e nth ce ntury ; and
although the Fre nch w e r e late in accepti ng th e m it is ,

sa id th at at the e nd of the Enli ghtenm e nt there was no

208 HIS TORY O F PHILOSOPH Y
The two p e riods have a common fundamen t al motive ,

although the m e ans used ar e radi c ally diff eren t Both .

re pre s e nt a gr adual progre ssion toward the elevation of

the individu al in his reaction agai nst the i nstitutio ns of
t he sevente e nth century But the first was an int e ll e c t ual
.

e nm e nt and all th at this me ans whil e the se c

,

as e motional and social The first was aristocratic

.
,

the seco nd was d e mocr atic Ye t the whol e move

.

ment was a gradual filteri ng of the doctrine of i ndivid

u alism from the upper to the low e r classes It naturally .

took the form first of i ntelle ctual culture and then of

, , ,

an app e al t o spo nta neity The intellectual th e ories of

.

the first period were bound to find practical e xpression

in the second In the first p e riod the ch ampions of the
.

anci ent mon archy were forced to d efe nd i t on th e ir op

ponents own ground that of rat ionality In the sec
’
.

ond p e riod the monarchists had to change their battle

,

grou nd and make some prac tic al re forms In the first .

,

the attack was m ad e pri ncip ally on the church in the ,

second on society While the attack o n the st ate b e gan

.

early it at tai ned significance not until the middle of the

,

cent ury .

The In te ll e ctu al Enlight enme nt (1 7 2 9 Vol

tair e M ont e s q u ieu and th e En cy clopae di s ts The firs t
, , .

r epre s e ntatives of the Fre nch Enlightenm e nt were Vol

taire and M ontesquieu Voltaire w e n t to England in
.

1 7 2 6 and M ont e squi e u in 1 7 2 8 and they both re turned

, ,

to France in 1 7 2 9 Voltair e published his L etters on

.

the E nglish in 1 7 3 4 and his E lements of the P hi lo s op hy

o N ewto n i n
f M o ntesquieu had p u blished a fierc e
 T HE ENLIG HTEN M ENT I N F RA N C E
invective against the poli tical institutions of F rance in
1 7 2 1 a discussion of the decad e nce of the Rom ans in
,

1 7 3 4 and his famous Sp i r i t of the L aws in 1 7 4 8 s elli ng

, ,

t wenty-two editions in e ight e en months Vol t aire i ntro .

du c ed and espoused the r eligious t h e ory of Lock e in

d e istic form and M ontesqui eu expounde d Lo ck e s theory
,
’

of government The ir writi ngs w e re wid e ly read by the

.

upper classes and this theore tical r e volutionary move

,

ment agains t all ex isting i ns t itutions got momen tu m

about 1 7 3 5 .

The aim of this moveme nt was e nt irely aris t ocra tic .

The solution of the existing predicame nt in France lay

for them in the greater c are of the masses by an e n
lightened tyr anny The du alism of the cl asses was always
.

as sumed . The few ar e to be cultured ; for them re ason

is to take the pl ace of dogma The m asses are not amen .

able to reason have no c apacity for education and for

, ,

them re ligion sufli ce s To free the i ndividual from t e rror

.

of the supe rn atural to re lease his morali ty from Jesu

,

i tical domi nance to give hi m intell e ctu al i nd e pe nde nce

,

of state and church this was t he worki ng id e a of the

i ntellectu al Enlightenment Though t should be free .
,

and the co nscie nce of the individual should be nu tram

me led because the reaso n is a su fficient guide Be ing
, .

t hus ratio nalistic the move me nt was a ristocrat ic A

,
.

new aristocracy should be substituted for the old — an

aristocracy of the cultured inst e ad of the corrup t and
ignorant who were then the domi nant F re nch class e s in
,

chu rch and state The illumi nati should participa te in

.

t he exis ting political priv ile ges ‘

Vol tai r e (1 694 Volt ai re was a deist when

he we nt to England and he was therefore ve ry much ,

Re ad Ueberweg H is t of P hi l vol 11 pp 124—125

, . .
,
.
,
. .
2 10 HISTORY O F PHILOSOPHY
impressed by the prevalent English deism Among .

the English deists Bolingbroke had the grea tes t i nflu

,

e ce ove r him a d
n n he was t e direct progenitor of
,
h “

Voltaire s re ligious opinions Boli ngbroke s light and

’ ’
.

supercilious infidelity of the man of the world was

suited to Voltaire A universal ge nius Voltaire wrote on
.
,

every subject ; bu t not one of his books but be ars marks

of his sojourn in E ngland He re ad with fam iliar .

i ty all the English philosophers Hobbes Berkeley , , ,

C ud wor th Locke ; bu t always r e t urning t o Locke

, .

Harassed wearied ashamed of havi ng sought so many

, ,

t ruths and found so many chimeras I retur ned like a ,

prodigal son to his father and threw myself in to the

arms of that modest man who never pre te nds to know
wh at he does no t know ; who in truth has no enormous
”
possessions but whose substance is w e ll assure d
, .

In his P hi losop hical L etters Voltaire m akes i nvidi

ous comp arisons be tween Locke s Empiricism and De s ’

cartes Ration alism betwee n English De ism and French

’
,

C atholicism and betw e en the English government and

,

the French gov e r nme nt Toward C hristi anity as he

.
,

saw i t in his own cou ntry his ha tre d amou nted to fa ,

naticism H is strictures were so scathi ng t ha t C hri s

.

t ians have looked upon him as an ath e ist He was .

,

howe ve r a d e ist who b eli e ved th at while we c an know

, , ,

God s e xistence we c annot k now his nature He was

’

, .

fond of bri ngi ng all dogma under criticism and while ,

”
he denied nothing he cast su spicion upon everything
, .

”
He called hims e lf the ignoran t philosoph e r
“ To him .

athei sm was prefe rable to dogma and supers t i ti on His .

passion for inve cti ve agai nst the Fre nch cle rgy was so

immo rtality were cold and impersonal .

2 12 HIS TORY O F PHI LOSOP HY
There are two thi ngs t o be notice d in connec tion
with the E ncycl0p ce d ia : the men who wrot e it went
much furth e r toward individualism and sk e pticism than
did Voltaire ; and the E ncycl0p oed ia reached a wide r
circle and different class e s th an did the works of Voltaire .

I nste ad of the deism of Voltaire we find co ntributio ns

from ske ptics ath e ists and m ateri alists — me n who
, , ,

are becoming more ne gative in th e ir opinions as the

century advances The thorough-goi ng agnosticism of
.

the Encyclop aedist grou p r e ach e d a poi nt wh e re i t

c e ased to be a philosophy Did e rot had said that the
.

firs t step in philosophy is u nb eli e f and his associates

,

went so far as t o thi nk th at unbelief is all of philo

sophy Their extreme s ensationalism naturalism and
.
, ,

m ateri alism sometimes appeared in disguis e d form in

the E ncycl0p oedia but more often i n i ndependen t wr it
,

i ngs The E ncyclop oed ia became the source of inform

.

ation for everybody It spre ad inform ation among all

.

cl asses and u ndermi ned their revere nce for Fre nch in
'

stitu tions The re sul t was th at wh at had been sacre d

.

to the cour t and the laborer b e cause it was traditional ,

now became the obj e ct of scorn to all .

The mos t profou nd of the sensationalis t s of this t ime

was C ondillac (1 7 1 5 who does not however , ,

appear to be co nnected with the E nc clo aedi a

y p He pub .

lished his Treatis e on Sensations in 1 7 5 4 which reduced ,

Locke s psychologi c al analysis to a pure s ens ationalism

’
.

The we ll -known figurative statue endo wed only with

the sense of sm e ll was co nceived by him He introduced .

Locke s psychology i nto F rance whence i t was car ried

’
,

i nto Germany .
 I
T HE EN L GH EN M EN T I N T F R A NC E 2 13

The Social Enli ghtenme nt (1 7 6 2 The second

period of the French E nlighte nment begins with the
publi cation of Rousseau s C o ntr a t Soc i al in 1 76 2 and
’

culmi nates in the Re volution The i nfluence of Ro usse au

.

domina tes the second period as that of Voltaire domi

nate d the firs t Volt aire had never aim ed at a social
.

revolution H is objecti ve poi nt was to reinstat e the u n

.

de rstandi ng to em ancipa te the in di vidual by s e lf-

,
culture
and by freedom of thought He was not histori an enough
.

to see tha t he could not revolutioniz e i ntellectual Fr ance

without pulling down t he social s t ru c ture He did not .

r ealize th at in s triki ng at the tyr anny of the church he

was deali ng a fatal blow at t he structure of French so
cie ty The literary fencing be t wee n Volt ai re and the
.

adroit churchm e n might have bee n amusing had the issue ,

not been so serious But although supe rfi ci al and vain

.
,

Voltaire was downright in e arnest A t one time i t seemed

.

as if the in tellec tual Enlightenment would work i tself ou t

in the church But the c auses of the revolt were too
.

deeply social the m alad y against which Voltaire was aim

,

ing was too vital ; and besid e s a t tha t mome nt atte ntion
,

was being directed to the charac ter of the S tate its elf .

Rous se au (1 7 1 2 Rousseau began at the

point where Voltaire le ft off He was u nder the influ.

en ce of Vol t aire at the first and receiv e d from Vol

taire his original product ive impulse Bu t the concre te .

of

eratlon and li ter ary f ree dom were too

—half
gat ve
h
ne i ,

hearted for a reformer of Rousseau s type Public

,
’
.

O pi nion was no t to be found in Versaill e s as Voltaire ,

thought bu t in the s t ree ts of Paris The Re voluti on

, .

Re ad E ucke n P roble m of H u ma n Life pp 4 23—

,
43 3 , . .
2 14 HISTORY O F P HILOSOPHY
the n came to head and we find the schools of Voltaire
a ,

and Rousseau locki ng horns Voltaire s theory of mo de ra

’
. p

tion was r epre s ent e d in the Constitu ent A ssembly and

the u pp e r and middle cl asses whil e Rousse au s radical
’
,

ism was introduced in the Conve ntion and fully ex

pound e d in the s e ctio ns of the C ommune of Paris which
att acked the C onve ntion H istory shows how i mpo ssi
.

ble the aim of eac h school was and how the cont e st ha d ,

to be fought over again in the ni ne te enth century .

Rousse au li v ed a wande ri ng and adventurous lif e ,

full of h allucinatio ns and s e lf-created trouble He made .

m any friends o nly to quarrel wi th them He was half

, .

insane and his c areer inspires both disgust and admir

,

ation His numerous works fill twenty-two volume s the

.
,

mos t important ones be i ng t wo prize essays published

in 1 75 0 and 1 7 7 3 which r e pres e nt the n e gative side
,

of his doctrine ; H elo ise 1 7 61 E mile 1 76 2 L e Con

' '

, ,

tr a t Soc ial 1 7 6 2 ; and his Con

, f ess ions which contain ,

his constructive thought .

Rousseau was a t firs t a con t ribut or to the E ncyclo

oed i a but at hea rt he cared no t hi ng for the di ff usion
p ,

of knowledge and art He did no t unde rstand the com

.

preh e nsive intellectual ambiti on of Diderot ; he resente d

the utilitarianism of H e lve tius and the materiali sm of
Holbach When he wrote his priz e e ss ay i n 1 7 5 0 he
. ,

suddenly pe rceive d how absurd the i nte lle ctual

e nment was amid t he dis tr essi ng social s tat e of

He turned agai nst both the existing order

would-be in tellec tual r eformers The temporal o rder of .

things was to him awry S tudy knowledge and culti

.
, ,

v ation were t o him o ly a

n gloss
degrad ation S ociety as i t i s cons truct
.
over the deep
.
-lyi ng

and all organization is a ty ranny God .

2 16 HIS T ORY O F PHILOSOPHY
The Revolution was the natur al co nsummation of the
Enlighten m ent i n Fr ance The imme di at e issue s ou t of
.

which it gr e w w e re the practical one s of finance legisla ,

tion economics and policy The growth in the physical

, , .

scie nc e s (b e ginni ng in the study of politic al

c ienc e in the theory of gover nm e nt as well as the
, ,

ancial distress of the Fre nch go v e rnm ent the success ,

of the Americ an Revolution the advance of the Fre nch ,

middle cl ass to a position of power the foolish and h alf ,

hearted measures of the French stat e sme n — all th e se

w e re fac tors that at the end brough t on the crisis Yet .

the words of Rousseau falli ng on fruitful soil were the

, ,

r eal cause In the years imm e di ate ly precedi ng t he

.

Re volutio n there was a world-wide agit ation an enthu ,

s iasm for n at ure an e xa lt ation of man and a con tempt

, ,

for the age and for the society th e n existi ng There was .

a v ague presentiment of impending change which mos t ,

people were prepared to welcome Thi nkers were full .

of illusions E v en such despots as Fre derick the Gre at

.
,

C ath e rine of Russia and Joseph of A ustria aff e cted a

“

r adicalism and S pain Portugal and Tus cany as w e ll

, , , ,

as England France and G e rm any we re moved with

, , ,

great huma nitarian sentime nts The d ebate was u nive r .

sal as to the condition of the human rac e Rousseau was .

the e loquent expressio n of this world-wide movement .

The G e rm an Enlight en men t (1 7 4 0 A s the

Enlight enment in Fra nc e so the Enligh tenment in ,

Germ any had its introdu ctory p e riod The history of .

Germany from the e nd of the Thirty Years War (1 6 4 8) ’

to the public ation of Kan t s Cr itiq ue ’

or 1 3 3
years is -divide d into two periods at the year 1 74 0
, ,
 THE ENLI GHTENMENT I N G E RM AN Y 217

Enlight e nme nt The period from 1 6 4 8 to 1 74 0 or

.
,

nine ty-two ye ars is i ntroductory to the Enligh tenmen t

, ,

and as i n Fr ance a pe riod of absolutism

, ,
.

The In trodu ctory P e ri od (1 64 8 Abs ol u ti sm .

The spirit of absolutism both politic ally and i nt e l

,

le c tually domi nated Ger m any from the e nd of the

,

Thirty Ye ars War (1 6 4 8) to the crowning of Fre d

’

erick the Gr eat A bsolutism domi nate d G e r

m any and France a fu ll one hundre d ye ars There are .

som e difle re nces be twe e n the t wo countri e s however , .

It began and e nded in Germa ny about thir ty-fiv e years

later than in Fr ance A gai n in France i t grew in
.
,

sple ndor from the e ffort s of Rich e lieu and Louis XIII
( 1 6 1 0) to the gre at protective ide a of Louis XIV who ,

for seventy-two years rule d as absolute political and

i ntellec tu al dictator In Germany on the other ha nd i t
.
, ,

was a spec tre hovering over a disi nt egr ati ng and decay
i ng natio n o nce k nown as the Holy Roman E mpire bu t ,

since the Thirty Ye ar s War only a collection of states

’

under a nominal central governmen t The idea of ab .

solutis m prevail e d no ne t he less for withi n the several ,

states e ach monar ch was dic ta to r as to the religious in ,

te llec tu al and poli t ical Opinions of his subj ec t s

, .

Politic ally and soc ially the H oly Roman E mpire was
in striking co ntras t to the power and spl e ndor of con
’
te mporaneous France The Thirty Y ears War had left
.

the empire absolutely de solate The land was impo v .

e rishe d the nation disrup ted and the po p ulat ion re

, ,

d uc ed from seven teen millions before the war to five

millions af ter the war The war had bee n a ge neration
.

lo ng and it had degraded the nat ion It had s e ttl e d .

nothi ng I t left the people poor and the prince s abso

.

lu te within their respec ti ve sta tes The upper cl as ses .

 HISTORY O F P HILOSOPHY
erywhere , exc ept a t Weim ar had be come profligate ,
.

1c universiti e s w e re reduced to a position b e lo w wha t

ey were in the Re naissance The prince of e ach st at e .

sablishe d the r e ligion for his st at e so that prac ti ,

ily no religious lib e rty had bee n gai ned Lutherans .

,

dv inists and C atholics we re exh aust e d but w e re still

, ,

tagonistic Th e re was no moral activity among the

.

°
thodox ; often th ey se t their o wn immorality up to
ov e the absolutism of their resp e c t ive dogma The .

LP left Germany poli tically prostra t e and intelle ctu

y st agnant .

In the years that follow the Thirty Years War it is ’

ssible to de tec t moveme nts th at are the b e gi nnings

the Enlightenment I t is an import ant point th at .

arman was resuscitated from sources th at lay within

y
r own civilization The Fre nch Enligh tenment and
.

a i ntellectu al freedom of modern Fr ance were due

°
gely to the influence of foreign ideas from England .

le se e ds of the German i ntellectual revival were de

loped o n her own soil Those begi nnings are (1 ) the .

e of Pruss ia ; (2) the early Ge rman li te ratu re ; (3 )

Pietistic movement ; (4 ) t he t ransformation of
ibnitz s r ationalism
’
.

1 The rise of the little elec to ra te of Brandenbur g

.

the powerful kingdom of P russ ia in 1 74 0 was the

liti cal basis of the Enligh t enmen t that followed .

D state had su ff e r ed more during t he Thirty Y ears

’

ar The en t ire population was reduced to less than

.

nillion and Berlin the c apit al had only thre e hu n

, , ,

3d citize ns The gove rnment was as h arshly absolut e

.

A ‘n n m L A -
n m1
. “ -
fl A : LL A A _ L
:
_
22 0 HISTORY O F PHILOSOPHY
the church Its two le ade rs were S p e ner (1 63 5 -1 7 05 )
.

and Fra ncke 1 663 The moveme t e t e red

( n n
Germany from the Netherlands ; and the m e mbers
were d e vout and holy men conse crated to good de e ds .

T he Pi e tists w e re not h e roic figure s like the e arly Ln

th e rans bu t th ey stood for what L uther had i n his
,

e arly p e rio d t aught The y oppos e d e ccl e siastical formal

.

ism and they proclaimed the ne e d of p e rsonal regen

,

e ratio n and of the u niv e rsal pri e sthood Th ey stood for

.

religio u s fre edom Th ey m ade no onslaught upon the

.

church bu t th ey were conte nt wi th savi ng individuals

,
.

Pi etism u nit e d at first w ith Ratio nalism of which we

sh all ne xt sp e ak — against orthodoxy but when the ,

two had won th e ir victory th ey quarreled Although .

t he Pi e tis t ic move ment l at e r becam e its e lf conve ntion al ,

it furnish e d the ground for the religious fre e dom of the

E nlighte nment Duri ng th e se hundred years of Germ an
.

religious absolutism the P ie tists re pres ent the moral

,

activity among re ligious bodies .

4 The chi ef sourc e of the Enligh tenment was the

philosophy of Leib nitz I n turni ng back to the life of
.

this di sti nguished G e rm an the reader will rem e mber

”
th at he was the firs t sci e ntist in two hu ndred years ,

and that he was t he Ration alis t who pre saged t he

Enli ght enment Le ib nitz was born in 1 64 6 just two

.
,

years b e fore the war closed and he died in 1 7 1 6 one

, ,

y e ar after the death of Louis XIV H e live d during .

t hose u nfrui tful yea r s aft er t he war and before the

E nligh t enmen t ; and his philosophy stands ou t promi
u ently from the low plane of the intellectu al activity of

that time I n 1 6 86 he completed the construc tion of his

.

philosophy by introduci ng the concep t io n of the in di !

v idual as a dynamic cen tre .

 THE EN LIG HTEN M ENT I N G ERM AN Y 22 1

Many German philosophe rs abou t the t ime of Leib

,

nitz had later t ried to free philosophy fr om i t s tech

,

nical di ffi culties and make it readable fo r the people as

the French E ncyclopaedia was for the French people .

A mong these were Tschirnhau sen (16 5 1 Men

delssohn (1 7 2 9 and Te tens (1 73 6 bu t
the German E nligh t enmen t for many reaso ns di d no t
come about like the Fre nch in the populariz ing of phi
losophy The philosophy of Leibni t z did r each the peo
.

ple direc t ly , bu t the people were s t irred t h rough the

medi um of lit eratur e rather than of philosophy Leib .

nitz s philosophy b e came the dominan t though t only in

’

t he universities and academic circles and r emained so

,

until the publication of K ant s Cr iti que in 1 7 8 1 The

’
.

Halle professor, W olff (1 6 7 9 developed and

transformed i t no t t o its advan t age , i nto an absolut ism ,
,

and under the name of the Le ibnitz-Wolfli an phi losophy

it was the canon for the German schools O nce es ta b .

lished in the u niversi ties i t remained unchanged the re

e ven by the invasion of French though t tha t pene tra ted

o the r Ge rman circles Eve n Voltai re s residence at t he

.
’

court a t Berlin (1 7 5 0) had no influenc e upon the Leib

nitz-Wolfli an philosophy of the Be a A cademy The .

dogmati c absolut ism of thi s philosophy remained impreg

nable in academic circles and was the las t to be dislodged
and then only by a G e rman There was little progress
.

among these Ra tionalists o nce their doc trine had been

,

cast ex cept in incorpo rating in an eclec tic fashion the

,

doctri ne of othe rs .

Wolff sys tematized the u nord e red and desul to ry doc

t rines of Le ibni tz for the purpose of t e achi ng them log
ically This was in 1 7 0 6 wh e n by the aid of Leibnitz
.
,
222 HI S T ORY O F PHILOSOPHY
he ob tained the professorship of m athematics at H
He met with i nstant success The rationalism of his .

trine is s e e n from the title of m any of his works W! ,

are R eas onable Thou ghts on G od R eas onable Thom ,

o n the P o wers o f the H u man Unders tanding e tc , .

lectured at Halle u ntil 1 7 2 3 when he was ex pellec ,

the theological i nflu e nce H is ret urn to Halle in 1

.

was co incident with the crowning of Frederick the G

and the beginni ng of the German Enlighte nm e nt .

can no te a few g ener al aspect s of his t e achi ng He .

ploye d the Germ an l angu age in his lecture s f ollov ,

Thomasi ns who was the first to do it Le ib nitz had v

,
.

t en in letters and tre atis e s for the few and had 1 ,

either Lati n or French W olff exp and e d Leibni tz s

.
’

trine broadly and sup e rficially for a larger publi!

, ,

the G e rm an to ngue H e syste matiz e d Le ibnitz s te

.
’

ing and thereby could diss e mi nate it But in doing

, .

he so to ned down Le ib nitz s leadi ng ide as th at they

’

all their peculiar force For inst ance he taught

.
,

only the human mi nd has the pow e r of repre sentat

and agai n that preest ablish e d h arm ony appli e s on!
,

t he relation of the soul and body of the human mo

In gene ral he so extende d the Leib nitz principle of
,

fic ient reason that i t applied to all d e p artm e nts and ,

reduced to the principle of identity The world is a l .

m e ch anism d e signed for divine ends Rationality i .

sumed to be eve rywhere and knowledge of i t s exist

,

is to be ob t ai ned only by deduction f rom evident 1

c iples The result was that the philosophy of Leil
.

was r e duc e d to a com monpl ace and e mp ty rat ions

a pu re ly deductive afi air Wolff undertoo k to de n
.

stra te every thi ng and to make in telligible wha t is a

,

r e a s on T he W o lfii an nhilo so nhv was a r e v e rs im

.
2 24 HIS TORY O F PHILOSOPHY
German Enlightenmen t The spirit of the Enligh t
.

men t was at its height twenty year s later c

t emporaneous with the S e ve n Ye ars War (1 75 6—1 7 ( ’

and with the publi cation by Le ssing in 1 7 5 9 of his 1

ters concer ni ng the mo s t M o d ern L i ter a tu re In th .

L e tter s L essi ng gave the d eath-blo w to G ottschedi:

and e st ablished the Enlight enm e nt on a firm ba
This was followe d by the Storm and S tress movem
( 1 7 7 3 which brought the E nligh tenme nt pro
to an end .

1 73 0—1 7 5 0 Period of Experimen t at ion Go ttsch

the S wiss t he Anac reontic ists e tc
, , .

1 7 4 0 The Enlight e nm ent i naugurated the crow

ing of Fr e derick the Gre at the decli ne of Go tt sch
,

ism the retur n of Wolff to Hall e

, .

1 7 5 0 The comi ng of Volt aire to B e rlin .

1 75 1—1 7 80 Le ssi ng and the Enli ghtenme nt .

1 7 7 3 —1 7 8 7 S torm and S tress Period - The l .

lighte nment prop e r at an end .

1

1 7 8 7—1 80 5 C l assicism (S chiller d

. .

1 7 95 -1 8 5 0 (approxi ma tely ) The Roman t ic M c

ment .

1 85 0 The Reali stic M oveme nt .

The P oli ti c al Enli ghte nmen t of G e rmany — Fri

e ri ck th e G re a t P olitic al ch anges preced e d and did
.

follow philosophical th eori e s in the G e rman Enligh t

ment Germany was the refore like England and unl
.

France in this respect The comi ng of Fred e rick to

.

throne of the now powerf ul P ru ssi a the reforms t ,

 I
T H E EN L G HTEN M EN T I N G E M AN R Y 2 25

te lle c tual things and especially the S even Ye ars W ar

,
’

1 7 5 6—1 7 63 were the political grou ndwork th at m ade

( )
possible the Enlighte nme nt in G e rmany Frederick .

himself is the gre at figure in the G e rman E nlight en

ment just as Vol taire is in the French Fr e derick ao
, .

complished in concrete acts for political E urop e what

Voltaire acco mplished for ecclesi astical Europe Vol .

taire d e s troy e d the ecclesias tical absolutism of the spir

itual power while Frederick destroyed the absolutis m
,

so long connecte d with the name of the Holy Roman

Empire and the H ouse O f H apsburg Before he died .
,

he had freed the German states from the domi nance of

A ustria and had give n to the Empire its death-blow
, .

In t he S even Ye ars War he had given to mod e rn Eu

’

r ope an example of a ne w political ideal in an autocrat

who profe ssed to be the servan t of the S tate H is whole .

thought was upon the advancem e n t of his S tate He set .

up the pri nciple of the equ ality of his subj e cts be fore
the law and the principle of r e ligious and philosophic al
,

liberty I n his e xternal struggles with A ustria and in

.

the i nternal co nstructio n of his ki ngdom Fred e rick is

the protes t of the Enlightenment against the arbitrary
d e spotism of political Europe The example of Fred.

erick was an inspiration t o all Germany Kant calls the .

e ight e enth ce ntury t he A e of Fr e d e rick the Gr ea t

g .

Frederick had mad e his subj ec t s fe el that the y w e re

P russi ans or as Goethe puts it “ F ritz che
, , , (Fri t z s ’

men) ; t hat the great foe of the German people was

the German E mpire as p e rsonified by the A ustrians
and S axons W hen he had conduc ted to a succ e ssful
.

issue a deadly war of seven ye ars single hand e d agai ns t

the combined force of more tha n h alf of E urop e ,

A ustria Russia and France all represe nti ng political

, , ,
2 26 HISTORY O F PHILOSOPHY
absolu tism —he inspired patriotism not only in his
,

o wn subject s bu t in t he people of many other G e r man

,

states Re forms w e re und e rtake n in Bavari a B aden

.
, ,

S axony Bru nswick etc and by C atherine of Russia

, , .
,

and Jos eph of Austri a .

Furth e rmore Fre d erick hims elf was person ally en

,

lighte ne d ; he look e d upon hims elf as the greate st

among those of e nlightened i ntell e ct s He had become .

denationaliz e d by his early trai ning His father was .

fond of what was German his mother of what was ,

E nglish and he himself of what was French He had

, .

s tudi e d Bayle read French philosophy an d become

, ,

acqu aint e d with the rationalism of Wolff and the em

pi ricis m of Lock e He was at one t im e an atheis t and
.

mate ri alist ; bu t d e ism was his n atural at titude of mind ,

for he emph asiz ed morality above speculation C on .

c ei v ing hi mself as the mos t enlightened to be the

, ,

g reat servant of the S t ate he und ertook the enlighten ,

me nt of his p e opl e All Prussia must be e nlightened

.

by him and there fore no re strictive i ns t itutions such

, ,

as guilds and corporations could be permitted The , .

best man should rule and he was the bes t man S in ce

, .

the p e ople are i nc apable of looki ng afte r themselves ,

the y must be comp e lle d unde r his benevolen t au tocracy

t o be e nlightened ration al and h appy
, , .

Th e C ou r se of the G e rman Enli ghte nme nt Why .

did not the moveme nt be come as in France a poli t

ical revolution ? There are thre e re as ons why it did
not : (1 ) the reforms th at the Germ an princes adop ted
w e re wise ; (2 ) Germany was compos e d of segregated
states in which conc e rt e d action was difficult ; (3 ) a
new i ntellectu al and ae sth e tic curre nt was begun b
y
2 28 HI STORY O F PHILOSOPHY
origin ator of the Germ an Enlightenment Lessing is ,

the savi or of i t The E nlight enm e nt in E ngl and stopp e d

.

with the ph e nom enalism of H ume in France with the ,

R evolutio n but in G e rmany it has in a sense co ntinu e d

,

eve n to the pre s ent day The classic period of Go e the

.

and S chill e r the moder n sci e ntific achi e veme nts of the
,

Germans have th e ir p e rp etual source in Lessi ng H e

,
.

not only gave the d e ath - blow to the pedantic absolutism

of the intell e ctu al p ast but he set the move m e nt upon
,

a perm anen t int e ll e ctu al b asis upon which it has stood ,

against the assaults of se ntimentalism for a h undred

and fifty years .

in
Le ss g G E
. L essi
. ng (1 7.2 9—1 7 8 1 ) was not only

a sound scholar but a polished man of the soci al world

,
.

He was a wri t er of epigrams fabl e s and come dies a , , ,

dramatic and literary critic a tr ansl ator and essay ,

ist a stu dent of philosophy and e cclesiastical history

, ,

and a writer upon art H is N athan the Wi s e is after

.
,

Goeth e s F au s t the gre atest lit e rary production of G e r

’
,

man thought W ith him Germ an lit e rature begi ns He

. .

re jected the French models accepte d by Gottsched ; he

introduced S hakespeare to the Germa ns ; and he sur
passed all his con temporar ies in literary and arti stic
r eform soci al enligh te nmen t and r e ligious emancipa
, ,
’

tion Lessing and Winckelm ann were the firs t to spread

.

a love for the p as t by a critical study of it Lessing .

was no t a violent iconoclast li ke Voltaire but a dis ,

crimi nati ng critic H e s aid that if Leib nitz had wished

.

for an interpre ter he would not have chosen Wolff

, .

The new literary writers Le ssi ng and He rde r in th e ir , ,

insis tence upo n subj e ctivi ty and i ntuition rath e r than ,

 THE E NLI G HTEN M ENT I N G ERM A N Y 2 29

the p resent in its continui ty wi th the pas t Herder too .

, ,

was i nterested in d e ve lopme nt Lessing poi nt e d to the

.

perfec t mod els in the p as t ; H erder to the origi ns of

thi ngs Both believe d in an i m
. mane nt God and the
harmony of the universe A t this time the proble ms
.

in aesthetics came t o light and with them the creation

,
”
of world lite rature which dre w from all histo rical
,

thought fro m antiquity the Re naissance , and the

,

Enlightenm e nt The Pi e tists , the Wolffians and t he

.
,

li terary wr iters agreed in t aking the subjec tive point

for their vie w of life Thus Le ibnitz appears through
.

Lessing as a motive power in the German Enligh ten

’
ment Le ssing s doctrine of individu ality so t ransce nded
.

that of t he St orm and S tress P eriod tha t he was no t

unde rstood by it H is enligh ten e d i ndividual suppre sses
.

his i ndividuali ty But his pri nciples were so funda

.

mental th at the S torm and S tress P eriod proved to be

only an i nt e rru ption and the G e rman Enlighte nme nt
,

was p e rpetuat ed H e t hus proj e ct e d himself b eyond the

.

eigh teen th cen tury by the ins trumen ts of t hat cen tury .
 C HAP T ER X

KANT

The Conv e rge nce of Infl uence s in

Phil osophi cal
G e rmany The i nt ellectu al thoroughfare from the p as t
.

i nto our modern t imes does not pass in the e ighteenth

ce ntury through Engl and nor yet through France but
, ,

by way of Germany Tradition al Franc e ended wi th the

.

Fre nch political re vol u tio n while the English e mpir

,

ical movement prove d its o wn i nconsiste ncy in the phe

no m enalism of H ume I n Germa ny alone at the close
.
,

of the eight e enth century there was a renew e d and

,

brilliant i ntellec t u al life I n its cre ative productions it

.

has b e e n co mp ared by the Germans to the Systematic

Pe riod of Gre e k thought (from the de ath of S oc rat e s
to th at of Aristotle ) Both p e riods appeare d wh en the
.

poli tical fortu nes of the re sp e ctive countri e s were a t

their lo west ebb .

The re w e re six large influe nc e s that converged u pon

this epoch some of which we have already noted as
,

b egi nning even as f ar b ack as the period i ntroductory

to the Enlight e nm ent (1 6 4 8—1 74 0) (see pp 2 1 7 .

S ome are lat e r in th e ir origin or come from a foreign

source Let us m e r e ly e numerate them he re
. .

1
( ) P ietism ,t h e r e ligious i nflue nce t hat began with

S p ene r (1 63 5 ) and swept G e rmany in the e ighteenth

23 2 HIS TORY O F PHILOSOPHY
of an external world but of the inmost nature of reality
, .

Thus individuality and cosmic reality are one and the

same Lif e has a joyf ul outlook not because our t asks
.
,

are easy but bec ause our s t rengt h is equal to th e m ;

,

for is not God in us ?

The Two P e riod s of G e rman Philos o phy German .

philosophy is divid ed i nto two e poc hs : (1 ) the period

of the formation of the critical the ory of knowle dge by
Kant ; (2) the period of the metaphysical developmen t
of Fich te S chelling H egel Herbart and S chopenhaue r
, , , , .

K ant belongs bo th t o the Enlightenme nt and to Ger

man ide alism He is the point of conve rgence of t he
.

i ntellectual forces that prec eded him and the poi nt of

departure of the ide alists who followed him For thi s .

reason histori ans difle r as to the period in which he is

to be placed In one se nse he is the transitio n from the
.

Enlight e nment in another se ns e he is the i nt roduction

,

of G e rm an idealism But in re ality he forms an epoch

.

between the t wo Although the dualism which was al

.
,

w ays the backgrou nd of the philosophy of the Enlight

e nme nt formed too the backgrou nd of his thought al
, ,

though he on the other hand looked upon hi s C ri ti qu e

of P u r e R ea s o n as only an int roduction t o a m e ta
physics which he never wrot e nevertheless he occupies
, ,

a u nique place in drawi ng up for his time and for the

futu re a ne w co ncep tual s tan dard by which the new

problems might be criticised The p roblem that Ka nt
.

set before himself was epis temologi cal and no t one of

me taphysics .

Af ter K an t t here appeared a growth of me t aphysics .

The great German id e alis tic syst ems app eared A t .

firs t the Kanti an th e ory was misunderstood but at ,

 K AN T 2 33

there was fo rm ed a li ttle group of Kan tians under the

leade rship of Rheinhold J e na is near Weimar (see .

map p which was the m ai n li terary city of Ger

.

many and the residence of Go e th e The po e try of

, .

Weimar and the philosophy of Jena stimulated eac h

other S chiller is a not able example of the i nflue nce of
.

K ant upon the literat ure of the t ime In philosophy .

K ant was followed by the various systems of Fichte ,

S ch elli ng H egel H erbart and S chope nhau e r which

, , , ,

built a me taphysical supers t ruc ture u pon the K antian

Th e Influ en ce s upon Kan t The developm ent of .

K ant s thought was modified by influe nc es from at least

’

fiv e difle re nt source s .

1 P i etism This was the earliest influence upon his

. .

life and was due to his parent s and to F A S chultze

, . .
,

the teach e r of the high school of K onigsberg It will be

'

re m emb e red t hat this e thical P urit anism was a moral

reaction against the form alism of the church e s in the
period after the Thirty Y e ars War Kant never lost his ’
.

attac hme nt for the Pi e tists ; and his l ater rigoris t ic

e thical theory as well as his own personal life spr ang
, ,

fro m his early P ie tistic training S chiller wro te to .

G oethe There is always som e thing about Kant as

, ,

about Luth e r which re mi nds one of the monk who

, ,

has i nd ee d quitt e d his clois ter but who can never quite ,
”
rid himself of its t race s .

2 The L e ibnitz Wo l
.
fi an P hi lo so hy
p Th i s i nflu .

ence came duri ng his acade mic t rai ning in the Unive r
sity of KOni sbe r which he e nt ered upon a t the age
g g ,

of six teen y e ars This was in 1 74 0 the s ame ye ar in

.
,

which F rede rick was crowned and Wol ff was recalled

to Halle — the ti me when the Le ibnitz-W olfli an philo
,
2 34 HISTORY O F P HILOSOPHY
sophy was at the f ullness of con trol of Germany I t .

must not be forgotten th at thi s philosophy rem ai ne d

dominant in German ac ademic circle s until Kant s own ’

t heory suppl anted it in the nine ti e s Kant was an .

avowe d disciple of the Wolffian school for the next

tw enty ye ars (until and he never shoo k off the
Wolfli an m e taphysical dualism .

3 The P hysi cs of N ewton To his universi ty train

. .

ing Kant was i ndebted also fo r his acquaintance with

Ne wto n The ant ago nism between the met aphysics
.

of Wolff and the physics of Ne wto n was at leas t at ,

the b e ginning of K an t s care e r of decisive import ance

’
,

in his dev elopment O ne of Kant s teachers at the uni

’
.

versity was M artin Knutz e n whos e lec tures includ e d

,

philosophy math e m atics and n atural scie nce Through

, , .

personal int ercourse with Knutzen the young Kant ,

was introduced to the Wolfii an philosophy and also to ,

the N e wt onian mat hem atics and physics During his .

activity as a teacher Kant showed even i nto his late r

,

period a predilecti on for natural scie nc e especially fo r

, ,

physical ge ography and anthropology The s ame year .

in which he ent e r e d upon his career as te ach e r in the

U niversity of KOnigsbe rg he published his
cele brated Theory of the H eav ens in which he antici,

pate d Laplace by forty ye ar s in the formulatio n of the

nebular hypothesis .

4 Zhe H u manitar iani sm of R ou sseau Kan t got

. .

from Rouss e au a new e v alu ation of man Kant had the .

advantage of a prolonged youthful d e velopment : He

was well into his thirtie s wh e n the movem ent begun by ,

Le ssi ng bec ame a soci al force in G e rm any A ne w po

, .

litic al co nscious ness app e ared among the G e r man people ,

236 HIS TORY O F PHILOSOPHY
external changes in the life of Imm anuel Kant were the
fe wes t possible H e was bo rn at KOnigsbe rg in 1 7 2 4 ;
.

he we nt to the school of th at city and th en to its u ni

v e rsity and then act e d in the c ap acity of tutor in fami
,

li e s in the province of KOnigsbe rg H e b ecame priv at .

doce nt in the u niversity at the age of thirty-one and ,

profe ssor of logic and metaphysics at the age of forty

four He was call ed to the Unive rsity of Halle in 1 7 7 8
.
,

but he refused to leave Konigsberg I n fact K ant .

,

never we nt outside the p ro vinc e and but littl e outside ,

the city Nev e rthele ss in the eighties he saw himself

.
,

b e come the most important figure in KOnigsbe rg and ,

in the ni neti e s the most import ant power in G e rm an

ac ad e mic circles I n 1794 he cam e unde r the c e nsure
.

of the r e actionary government of Fre de rick William II

and was oblige d to refr ai n in the future from all
”
public addr e ss e s on re ligion This was the only out er .

conflict in his life In 1 8 04 at the age of eighty he

.
, ,

di ed The exte rnals of his life we re from the begin

.

ni ng to the e nd an u ndeviating routine his lectures , ,

his d aily w alk his di nner with friends his hours of

, ,

refl e ction upon his gre at problem These have been .

m ad e the subject of m any d es criptions l .

ae

The li f e of Kant is notable because it is the his tory

of an un u sual si ngleness of devotion to the solution of
a specul ative probl e m H is youthful poi nt O f de p art ur e
.

was the rationalism of Wolff ; his poi nt of attai nm en t

the q u otation f rom H e ine in E Caird P hil of .
, .

K a nt, v ol. i p
, . 6 3 ; Stirli ng Tex tbook to K a nt Biogr aphic al
, ,

Sk e tc h ; Sp i ri t of M od ern P hilosop hy, c hap iv ;

Roy c e
, .

W indelband , H is t of P hi l , pp 5 3 2—5 3 4 ; R and, M odern

. . .

C lass i ca l P hilos op hers , pp 3 7 6— 4 05 , 4 20—4 24 ; E ucke n,

.

P roblem of H uma n Life , pp 4 3 5 -4 5 2 . .

 K AN T 23 7

was the Cri ti qu e of P ure R eason Between these two .

points his history was a s e rie s of mental revers als Kant .

spoke O f his life as di v id e d into two parts at the year

1 7 7 0 hi s pre-critical and his critic al periods A t th at .

tim e th e re was a cha nge in the form as well as the con

te nt O f hi s writi ngs H is pre -critic al writings poss e ss
.

a grac e ful flowi ng styl e ; his critic al works are h e avy

,

and artifici al in th e ir stru ctur e and reveal the labor

,

with which his thought tri e d to re co ncile co nte ndi ng

m o tif s S o f ar as the co nt ent of K ant s tho u gh t is co n
’
.

c e rne d the pre -critical period wi ll be seen to fall into

two su bdivisions at the ye ar 1 760 K ant s life may there
.
’

fore be divide d i nto thre e epochs (1 ) 1 7 2 4 —1 7 60 the ,

p e riod when he was a W olffian rationalist ; (2 ) 1 7 60

1 7 7 0 the p e riod when he was an e mpirical skeptic ;
,

3 1 7 7 0 —1 8 04 the period when he was a critical

( ) ,

epistemologist .

I n the fir s t period he accepted the ratio nali sm of

Wolff but his main i nterest as shown by his writi ngs
, , ,

was in n atural scienc e H e was inspired by the n atural

.

philosophy of Newto n which in the la tt e r p art of this

, ,

p e riod le d him to mis trust the m e taphysics of Wolff

,
.

Th at is to say he began to suspec t that the mere logical

,
”
operat ion of con cep t s by the pure reason co uld no t be
a s tate men t abou t thi ngs in the real world In the next .

ten year s — his second period — he became co nvinced

t hat the me taphysics of t he r a tionali s ts was impossible ,

and yet tha t the me taphysics of the empirical school of

t he English was eq ually absu r d His wr i tings during this
.

ti me ar e more s t rictly devo te d to ques tions of me taphysics

and epis temology Then came his critic al period This
. .

was inaugurated by his celebra t e d Dissert ation of 1 7 7 0 ,

followed by a pe riod of eleven years of li t erary silence ,

238 HISTORY O F P HILOSOPHY
a silence broken by the publication of his Cr i tiq u e of
P u r e R eason in 1 7 8 1 . Between 1 7 8 1 and 1 7 90 ap
ature works from Kant s pe n A mo ng
’

p e are d the more m .

them wer e the C ri ti qu e of P r acticalR eas on (1 7 8 8) and

the Cri ti qu e of Ju dgment formed on the mode l
of the Cri ti qu e of P u re R eason Besides th e se his .
,

mi nor writings were very num e rous and one notes an ,

e ss ay by him in the l ast year of his life But the writ .

i ngs of K ant after 1 7 90 treat in the main of the phi

losophy of law and co nduct and show thems e lves to be
,

the writings of his declining ye ars .

The Probl em of Kan t The probl e m which Kan t

.

placed b e fore hims e lf was th at of e pistemology Episte .

mology is the theory of k no wle dge and K ant set to ,

work to i nvestigat e the knowi ng proc e ss The pecu .

liar significanc e O f Kant re sts upon the fac t that out

of the various i nfl u enc e s conve rgi ng u pon him and
his time he matured a new conceptio n of the probl e m
and of the m e thod of procedure of philosophy He .

was convi nced that the proble m of his time was not one
of metaphysical speculation although he fel t the v alue
,

of such speculatio n in the re gions of religion and morals .

Yet he saw that the metaphysical r ationalism of Wolff

had prove d its elf i nadequa te b e cau se it was merely the
logical op e ration of concepts and had not de alt with
,

re al relations He was equ ally s u re that the empiric al

.

metaphysics of the Engli shm e n was i nade quat e b e cause

i t was nev e r certai n of any truth Rational m e t aphysics
.

was logic ally true but not re al e m pirical m e t aphysics

,

was real e nou gh bu t ne ve r tr u e S o K ant d e t e r mi ne d

, .

to find out the r e l atio n b e twe en the logic al proc e ss of

thought and the re ality of thi ngs He f elt th at the first
.

problem in his time to be faced and se ttled was the prob

24 0 HISTORY O F PHILO SOPHY
method . What is this method ? It is a s tudy of the
nature of the reason itself I t is an e xamination of the
.

pure reason to see if its judgme nts h ave in any

i nstance a univers ality beyond hum an expe rience and ,

ye t are necess ary to human experi e nce The logic of .

s u ch judgm e nts must be absolutely reliabl e ; and ye t at

the s ame time the judgme nt s must be applicabl e to the
world of thi ngs The method b e ing transcende ntal s u ch
.
,

j udgm e nts are transce ndental ; not be cause th ey tran

sc end our experie nce bu t b e caus e th ey are ne ce ssary to
,

e xp e ri e nce The transce nde nt al is not what is c hronolo i

.
g
lly but what is rationally p ri o r The transcendental is .

the indisp e nsable to knowle dge The cri ti cal method is .

t he finding of t his i ndispensable condition Kant would .

s e arc h the whole field of the r e ason fo r thi s S ince to .

K ant thinking feeling and willi ng are the fund ame ntal
, ,

forms of the reason he sought the re alm of thought for

,

the trans cende nt al pri nciples of knowl e dge t hat of the ,

will for t he transcenden tal principl e s of morality that ,

of feeling for the transce ndental principl e s of beauty .

The Thr e ef ol d Worl d of Kan t

1
Subjectiv e Sta te s ,
Thi ngs-in-The ms elv e s , and Phe n ome na I n his search .

for those indisp e ns able conditions of k nowledge of the

exte rnal world Kant unfolds the thre efold charac ter
,

of the real m of huma n life To Wolff the world had .

been t wofold In other words Wolff had conceived the

.
,

world as dual in which there was a co rrespondence

, ,

par t by part of i ndepende nt re ali ty to the s ta tes of

,

conscious ness To Wolff reali ty is independen t of co n

.

s cio u sne ss and ye t we are conscious of that reality

, .

T he w ord world is u se d f or lac k of a be ter t . T he re ad e r is,

ho we v e r, ag ai n re m i nd e d tha K ant s t’
proble m is one of e p iste mology
 K AN T 24 1

Now Kan t never gave up e ntirely the Wolffi an duali sm ,

but he c ame to see that in such a situation th e re could

be no k nowl e dge For how c an we be conscious of what
.

is absolutely i nd epe nd e nt of us ? C o ns e qu ently Kant

plu nd e re d the Wolffian worlds of i ndepe ndent re alities
to build u p an i nte rmediate world — a world of phe ,

nomena H e dissolved the sh arp ne ss of Wolff s dualism

’
.

in to a world with three divisions ; and he gave to e ach

di vision a new e pist e mologic al v alue These were the .

r ealm of the subj e ctive s tates or the i nner conscious

ness of the individual t he world of phenom e na or the
,

realm of knowledge and the world of absolu te re ality

,

or that of things-in-thems e lves The value of the world .

of phenomena consis t s in its bei ng the r ealm of know

ledge The other two realms have values of their own
.
,

which we shall d e scribe below .

Wolff s t wofold world may be thus compar ed wi th

’

’
Kan t s threefold world :
Wolff . Kan t .

1 M ind. 1 S ubjective s t at es
. . .

2 P henom e na — the r ealm .

of knowledge .

2 M att er
. 3 Things-in-th e ms e lves
. . .

1 T he re alm of subje c tive stat es e v idently is no t a

.

re al m of knowledge For i t is the realm of intui tio n

.

and immedi ate appr e he nsio n of the i ndi v idual s own

’

id e as and se ns ations and this is not wh at we me an by

k nowledge This subjective world is that in which I
.

live alone I t is a re alm of which nobody els e is con

.

scious a realm which gives to me my i ndividu ality

, .

The only co nnec t ing linkage be t ween my v arious

subj e ctive s t ates is the accide ntal order of
empiric ally or by association t hey ,
 242 HISTORY O F PHILOSOPHY
ligence possesses only such sens e-p e rceptions and sensa
tions and th e s e ar e modifications of its subjective c on
,

s c io u sne ss S uch a m e nt al constit u tion has not the

.

c apacity for k nowle dge but o nly the h aph azard associ a
,

v tIO D of id e as K ant look e d u pon the cont ent of s u bj e ctiv e

. .

consciousness as the objec t o nly of psychological inv e s

tigation .

2 . The realm of thi ngs-in-th e mse lves is not t o Kant

t he re alm of knowledg e By thi ngs-in-the mselves K ant
.

distinctly does not mean things-for-us not m ateri al ,

bod i e s not nature objects I t must be re memb ere d that

,
.

Kant has plundered the materi al re alm of the dualist .

The thi ngs-in-th e ms elves which are left behi nd as a

r e siduum lie o utside all sens e-perception and so b eyond
all knowledge A divine i ntellige nc e migh t have the
.

thi ngs-in-themselves as object s of knowledge but not ,

we hum an beings The thi ng-in-itself is the u nk no wn

.

and un k nowable But if this realm of things -in-them

.

s elve s is so absolutely i ndependent of us that we c an

not in any way k now it how c an we say that it exists ,

K ant r e plies to this : while we canno t say what a thing

in-its e lf is we are oblige d to say tha t it is For although
, .

b eyond even our s ens e -p e rc eptio n it stands as a no ,

”
c essary post ul at e to perceptio n as a m e re problem
“
, .

K ant als o c alls thi ngs-in-themselves Noum ena and re ,

g ards them as limiti ng concepts to the divi n e non

“

s ensuous intelligence Th e ir reali ty is as little to be

.

denie d as affirm e d .

3 Kant poi nt e d out that be t w e en or beside t he

.
2 44 HIS T ORY O F PHILOSOPHY
the mind is entire ly p assive and its conten t is withou t
control ; in a stat e of knowi ng the mi nd is actively e n
gage d in coll e cti ng and relating its id e as This is c all e d .

by Kant synth e sis .

Wh e n Kant was formu l ati ng his probl em th e re ,

gradually c am e to him in cle are r outli ne the synth e tic

n ature of the activity of the hum an reason H e felt .

more and more th at the s e cre t of the knowing pro

cess was to be explai ned by its fu nction of combin
ing many experi enc e s i nt o a u nity This conception .

of synthesis is wh at s ep arates the C ri tiqu e of P u re

R eas on from all the previou s writi ngs of Ka nt Fu r .

the r more t he thr e e books of the C r i ti q u e are e x posi

,
‘

tions of the di ff e re nt st age s in which mental synth esis

completes itself : in (1 ) perce ption (2 ) und erstand ,

ing and (3 ) reason The knowi ng activi ty of m an de

, .

v e lo s i n these thr ee diff e r ent forms of s ynthesis in

p ,

whi ch e ach lower stage is the cont ent of the higher .

Wh at th en is the ce ntral factor in k nowledge ? I t

, ,

is the synthetic power of the mind The mi nd is not .

m e re ly passiv ely aw are of its sensations as th ey come

s eri a tim but it actively relat es t h e m and holds th e m
,

toge ther The mind is a dynamic agent whose activity

.

consists in synthesizing in the present mom ent its ex

e rience s of the past The hum an mi nd is not lik e a
p .

c u rt ain upon whi ch st e re opticon pictur e s appear and

th en disapp ear in t urn It re tai ns its pictures although
.
,

they are no longer being throw n upon the scre en S up .

pose we hear the ticki ng of a clock Now if we had no .

synth e tic power all we should appreh end would be

,

one o ne one — and so on

, , , But we do have syntheti c
.

power and we say one t wo th ree and so on We count

, , , , .

in a series in which each term includes the pre ceding

 K AN T 2 45

t e rm Two includes one and three includes two etc

.
, , .

This is knowledge It is cumulative exp e rience The ex

. .

e rie nc e of twe nt anim als e ach h aving one exp e ri ence

p y , ,

is not the s ame as the e xperience of one man h aving

t wenty e xperi enc e s In v ain wou ld nature act on man
.

if the mi nd of man through m e mory and h agination

did not car ry ove r expe rienc e s S o the import ant thi ng .

is not wh at h appens but what power t he hum an mind

,

has Knowledge then to Kan t is the unifying of the

.
, ,

m anifold .

There are th e re fore twi o aspec t s to knowledge ; the

, ,

passive s ensations and the active power of syn thesis .

S e ns ations on the one hand are the raw m at erial ou t

, ,

of which reason through its various forms creates the

finishe d fabric of k nowl e dge S ensations are the cont ent .

of k nowle dge O n the o ther hand there is the active

.
,

u nifyi ng powe r of the reason K no wledge consis ts of .

s ens ati ons and s nthesi s i n con u nc ti on Re ason alo ne

y j .

deals with thought re lations or im agi nations wh en ,

ev e r it tries t o tre at objects of which se ns ations are not

the raw ma teri al S e ns ations alone howeve r are only
.
, ,

subjective st ates The oft-quo ted s ayi ngs of Kan t that

.
,
”
O nly in experienc e is the truth and th at C onc ep ,

t ion wi thout p e rception is emp ty p e rception withou t ,

”
conception is blind r e fe r t o the restriction of know
,

l e dge to the s e nse-mate ri als and to the sy nthetic func

tion of the reason .

The Pl ac e of Synthe s i s in Knowl e dg e Wha t posi .

tion do e s synthesis occupy in the tot al proc e ss of

knowled ge ? Is synth e sis one of the f ac tors or el e m e nts
/
of knowl e dge ? Is synth e sis on the same level with the
s e nsations the fe eli ngs the im agi nations ? N o it is
, , ,

very different The syn thesis that K ant is de scribing is

.
246 HISTORY O F PHILOSOPHY
not the product or conclusion from an infere nce K ant .

do e s not mean by synth e sis the co mbinatio n of facts as

a re sult such as a biologist might m ake in frami ng the
,

law of the h abits of animals from his obs e rvation of

them The synth e sis th at Kant is talki ng about is not
.

so much the re sult of comb ini ng ex perjeg ces as the a ct

qf co mbi ni ng the m T he frame of the u nified m anifold
_ _ _
.
,

the law of its u nification the ac t of b indi ng t he isol ated

,

e xp e ri e nc e s togeth e r is sy nthesis S ynthe sis occupies a .

high e r l e v el than the el ements of k nowl e dge or know

ledge its elf S y nth esis is the knowi ng proc e ss rath e r
.

th an the k nown product I t is constitu t ive it is cre ative ;

.

it conditions exp e rie nc e and puts the m aterial of e x peri

e nce toge ther It must not be thou ght to be a voluntary
.

act of the mi nd which the mi nd will or will not do as i t

, ,

ple as e s Wh en the mi nd acts it sy nthesizes

.
, .

Fu rth e rmore the synth e tic fu nctioning of all human

,

m i nds ev e rywhere is the s ame H owever much their sen .

s ations di ffe r th ey combi ne and orderly arr ange th e ir

,

se ns e-m aterials in the same w ays The synthesis of the .

hum an mind is the source of the universality be longi ng

”
to knowledge ; the s e ns ations the giv en are the source , ,

of the differe nc e in kno wle dge K nowle dge is the resu lt .

of mi nds that fu nction in absolu t e ly the same ways ;

and we should nev e r h av e k nowl e dg e if the ord e r and

li nkage of the world d e pende d on the accide nt of e x pe

rie nce Tak e for exampl e such laws as those of math e
.
, ,

maties or the physic al law of caus e Thes e are the same .

for e verybody Th ey are u nivers al l aws The ordi nary

. .

conce ption of them as i nd e p e ndent principle s of an i nde

p e ndent nature world will not account for their neces
sity for ev e rybody and th e ir u niv e rs ality A s inde pe nd .

ent p ri nciples they would diff er for diff erent peoples j us t

 HIS TORY O F PHI LOSOPHY
have to be s aid of x y and z None would live in a
, , .

world of absolute re ality Bu t e ach would live in a

.

world m ade di ffere nt from all the other worlds by the

diff eri ng ment al po we rs of each rac e Yet the memb e rs
.

of e ach r ac e would i nh abit a world in common bec ause

the i ndividuals of each had common m ental powers The .

par ticular world th at hum an bei ngs i nhabit is calle d

physical na ture whose laws are known as the laws of
,

science How can it be one world in which so many

.

millions of di ff erent human b e ings live ? Because th e se

millions of human b ei ngs are u nder the sam e funda
mental r ational laws and th ey construct the world in a
,

common fashi on The laws of n ature are after all the

.
, ,

laws of our own mi nds Th e y are the laws of re ason

. .

The laws of nat ure are not the laws of absolute reality ,

but the laws of the hu man i nte rpret atio n of r e ality All .

the linkage of facts all the law and order of our uni
,

verse all the co mbi nation of the vari e ty of obj e cts of

,

k nowledge — in a word the entire body of science or

,

the world of physic al nature 18 a hum an mental syn

thesis Does i nd ep ende nt absolut e reality exist ? Ye s ;
.

but it exis t s behi nd the sc e nes for us as for the ange ls .

M e nt al synthesis is co nstitu ti ve of the world in which

we are act u ally engage d — me ntal synthesis is shot
through and through all our exp e rie nc e s M ental syn .

thesis is the framework of the unive rse and th e refo re ,

Kan t says The world is my represe ntation

, .

The Ju dgm e nts Indisp en sabl e to H u man Kn ow

l e dge I t will be seen fro m the a bo ve di scussion th at
.

Kant does no t believe that an id ea or a sensation taken

by itself const i tu tes knowledge Knowl edge consists of
.

sensati ons f ramed toge ther in a synthesis Th at is .

,
 KAN T 249

called in g rammar a proposition havi ng a subjec t and ,

a pre dicate In logic i t is called a judgme nt The only

. .

way a human being can express knowl e dge is in the

form of j udgments but all judgmen t s of human beings
,

ar e not nec e ssarily k nowledge .

Judgment s are di v ided by Kant i nto t wo large

clas se s - analytic and synthetic The large cl ass of
, .

a nalyt ic judgm ents are no t e xpre ssio ns of knowledge .

What is an analytic judgment ? A n analytic judgmen t

m e rely expresses in the predicate something that is con
tained in the usu al meaning of the subj e ct S uch a . .

judgmen t articulates the m e a ni ng of an ide a by e mpha

sizi ng some of its well-known attribut e s Thus we say .
,
”
G old is yellow S uch a stat e ment about gold does
.

not show any knowledge It is calle d sometimes an ex

.

plicative statement It is t autologous but no t on tha t

.
,

accoun t trivi al Let us look th e n to sy nthe tic judg

.

ments to see if they express k nowle dge Bu t first what .

,

is a synthetic judgm ent ? A synthetic judgment is o ne

in which the pr e dica te is not cont ained in the usual
meaning of the subjec t It is a statemen t of some thing
.

ne w about the subj e ct in hand For ex ample t he j udg ,

m e nt The wa tch is yellow 1 8 a syn thetic judgme nt

,

be c aus e t he predicate yellow is not a necessary part

”
of the meaning of wat ch A synthetic judgmen t
.

therefore brings two ideas together in a new relat ion .

It ther e by enriches k nowledge and is the expression of

discovery The syn the tic j udgmen t is often called am
.

pliativ e (The double meani ng which Kan t gives the

.

t e rm syn thetic need not confuse us S ynth e sis is used .

by Kant to mean the frami ng consti tution of the m ind ,

and also as one of the results of the activity of the

mind i e a class of judgme nts In the firs t sense all

, . . .
250 HISTORY O F P HILOSOPHY
judgments both analy tic and syn thetic ar e exp ressions
, ,

of synth e sis ) .

A re all sy nthetic judgmen t s e xpressions of know

ledge ? Kant repli e s that they c e rtai nly are not He .

poi nts out that th e re are two class e s of sy nthetic judg

m en t s : one class he calls a p o ste ri ori and the othe r a
p r ior i .By a p o s ter i o ri he mea ns judgm e nt s fou nd e d in

some sense-perc eption which are p articul ar j udgme nts

,

or j udgme nts that are i nferences from a greater or less

i nduction of sense-perc eptions For example if I say .
, ,

To— d ay is warm
”
or th at S w ans so f ar as I have
, ,
”
observ e d are white I am m aki ng a syn thetic judg
, ,

m ent because I am joining two ideas in a new re l ation

, ,

and I am also maki ng an a p o s ter iori judgment be cause ,

it is a st atement founded upon sense-perception Now .

Kan t rules such judgments out from those th at consti

tute t rue knowledg e This wo uld rule out ev e n empiri
.

c al gene r aliz atio ns of high probability such as “ The ,

”
sun ris e s in the east A p oster iom judgments or thos e
'

.
,

found e d on experi ence howeve r l arge do not give us, ,

k nowledge but mer ely probability The cases upon

,
.

which such judgments are fou nded are al ways limit ed ,

and there may be exceptions beyond our observa tion .

The only kind of judgmen ts th at are the expression of

‘

true knowledge must there fore be synth etic judgments

, ,

th at are a p ri ori That is to say they mus t exp ress some

.
,

ne w relation betwee n ide as th at is also universally and

nec e ssarily t ru e By a p ri o ri Kant means the u nivers al
.

and ne cessary ; and furth e rmore he m aintai ns th at

, ,

the u nive rs al and ne cess ary and nothi ng else consti , ,

tute s knowl e dge He poi nts out th at we m ak e such

.

judgm ents Whe n we say th at the three angl e s of a tri

.
252 HIS TORY O F P HI LOSOPHY
r each certa inty B e sid e s (1 ) conceptual knowledge and
.

”
2
( ) k no wledge of m att e rs of f act K ant poi nted ou t
,

that there is a third kind This is the only valid kind

. .

This knowle dge is b as e d on synth e tic j u dgments a p ri

or i S uch knowle dge aris e s i nde p end ently of exp e rie nce
.
,

i e is a p ri ori and ye t is v alid for e xp e ri e nce i e is

. .
, , . .

synth e tic H um e s st ate m ent th at such k nowle dge is

.
’

synth e tic a p os ter ior i is not acc e pte d by Kant K an t .

is th ere fore bou nd to show how this third class of syn

, ,

thetic ju dgm e nts a p r ior i is possi ble and how pure ,

thought c an be bindi ng on experi e nc e .

The Pro of of the Validi ty of H u man Kn owl e dg e If .

we turn now to revie w what we have s aid about Kant ,

we find that he u ndert ak e s to solve the probl e m H ow

‘

c an w e know by a critical study of the forms of the

r eason We have found that the re ason is essentially a
.

synthetic power and is the fram ework of the world of

,

phe nomena to which k nowledge is limite d Knowledge .

is the complex thi ng consisting of sens ations as its

,

woof and sy nth e sis as its warp To answer the qu e stion .

,

U nde r what conditions is knowl e dge possible ? we mus t

s tudy not se nsations but synthesis in its several forms
, .

If Kant c an show that the mi nd furnishes the a p ri ori ,

that is the universal and necessary forms to knowledge

, ,

he thinks he has proved his case H e has then expl ai ne d .

why human knowledge is valid and thus proved that

human knowledge i s valid N ow K ant tries to show .

what the special a p r iori forms of knowledge are and in

what the validity of such forms consists In t he firs t .

book of the Cr iti qu e qf P u re R eas on the E s tfietic he , ,

u nde r takes to show wha t the a ri or i forms of math e

p
mati e s ar e and how they m ake knowledge valid by be i ng
forms of men t al syn thesis In the next part of the .
 K AN T 253

C r i ti q u e, the A nalyti c ,
he tries to show what the a p ri
o r i forms of the knowledge of physical sci e nce are and

how the y make physical sci enc e valid and obj e c tive In .

the l ast part the D ia lecti c he discusse s the a p r i o ri

, ,

forms of the re ason and shows why th ey have no validity

in knowledge These are three st age s in which the
.

knowi ng activity develops as thre e difle rent forms of

sy nthesis The stages are p e rception understanding
.
, ,

and reason E ach higher stage has the lower as its con
.

te nt Fi nished knowledge involve s perc eptions repro

.
,

d u ctions in the u ndersta nding and a recognition of the ,

whole by a thinking subject Perceptio n unders t and .

,

ing and re ason are no t separate ac t s bu t difiere nt levels

, ,

of one conscious ness These wi ll be taken up in suc.

cession .

1 .In What d oe s the Vali di ty of Se ns e -Perce pti on

C on s i st ? Kan t poi nts out
1
( ) S e ns perceptio
e- n has ( )
a a con t en t of sense
qualities li ke sound color e tc and (b) the relations
, , ,
.
,

of sp ace and t ime .

2
( ) S pace and time originally belong t o the subj ec t
as i ts forms of sense- percep tion and a re no t in troduced ,

f rom without by experience .

3
( ) By means of space and t ime a
p ri or i knowledge

is possible .

If the re is any validity in perce p t ual k nowledge it ,

d e p ends upo n the constitution of space and time ; no t

u on the charac ter of the empirical co ntent or the se nsa
p ,

tions The ques tion about the v alidity of sense-pe rception

.
,

the n is a question about the reli abili ty of mathem atics

,
.

Ther e are t wo eleme nt s in s ens e-percep t ion : a meces

sary and constant and a ch angi ng and acciden tal S pace
,
.

and ti me are the co nstan t el e men t They are homogene .

254 HISTORY O F PHILOSOPH Y
ous and always one and the same in quali ty They are
, .

unities for th e re is only one spaceand one time and the

, ,

many spac e s and times are only divisions of this on e ness .

All the differe nces in space and time are due t o the re
lation and movements of bodi es and are not inhere nt ,

in space and time themselves How is this unity and.

homogeneity of space and time t o be explained ? By

assuming that sp ace and time are original and u niform
fu nctio ns of perception the forms of perc e ption the
, ,

ways of appreh ension the prehensile organs of our

“
,

sensibility Th ey are the ways in which we synthesize

.

o n t he lower level of co nscious ne ss If they w e re given.

in exp e ri e nce there is no re ason why the s e veral

,

space s and times should not be intrinsically difie r

e nt like difiere nt bodies with diff e r e nt qu aliti e s
,
Ho w .

e ver by conc e ivi ng th e m to be men tal sy ntheses in

,

the lev e l of perceptio n th ey expl ain the u niversality

,

of the laws of mathem atics They are the colored .

spe ct acles that all human bei ngs wear ; or to use ah ,

other figure they are the mould i nto which all sensa
,

tions are ru n Bei ng the unchange able forms of ou r

.

s ensuous rec eptivity th ey have a v alidity for the enti re

,

compass of perception Th e y are univers al b e caus e one

.

experience of sp ace and tim e is valid for all spaces

and ti mes ; they are necess ary because we c annot thi nk

of objects ap art from them ; they are perc ep tu al syn

thes e s because they incre ase knowl e dge O f course we .

are unco nscious of this p e rceptu al synthesis of the se n

sory e lements in space and t ime The process takes .

p lace au to m atic ally We c an neverth el e ss analyze the

.

process after it has take n pl ace and spe ak of the se nsw

,

tions as the materials of knowle dge and the forms of ,

space and t ime as the a p ri ori elem e n ts But in ac t ual .

256 HISTORY O F PHILOSOPHY
beginni ng of k nowledge It is not knowledge bu t only
.
,

s u bj e ctive conscious ness O n the oth e r h and the nu

.
,

d erstanding is the faculty of k nowl edge and therefore ,

K ant s e eks to point out its a p r iori or universal ele

m e nts and by their pres e nc e prove its validity
, .

S i nce the days of A ristotle the general terms u sed

in reasoni ng have b e e n call e d categories Any class .

t erm or ge nus may be called a cat egory There are .

cert ain summa gener a the most e xt e nsive class e s or

,

classes with the lowes t connotat ion that have b ee n ,

traditionally known as categori e s because everythi ng,

th at can be affirm e d in a judgm e nt must come under

some one or other of them A ristotle names ten
.
,

substance quality quantity etc But these A ristotelian

, , , .

cat egori e s are classes of an alytical re lations such as ,

form al logic tre at s They are the classes of the attri

.

bute s and r elations i nto which objects may be an alyze d .

These evide ntly are not what Kant is se e ki ng H e is in .

search of syn thetic c ategories H e is looking for the

.

synthetic forms of the u nderstanding itself which trans ,

form perceptio ns in t o obj ects of k nowle dge H e is no t .

looki ng merely for abstract conceptions For ideas .

become n at ure obj e c t s o nly when they are tho u ght as

thi ngs with qualities u nive rs al to every hum an mind .

The understandi ng creates out of the perc ep tio ns the

objects of thought which form the nature-world ; and
the categories of the unde rs tanding are the constitutive
principle s of such objects The categories are the re
.

lating forms of synth e sis through which objects ari se .

The m ost difficult part of the Cri ti qu e is called the

”
Deduction of the Cat egori e s in which Kant attempts
,

t o derive the synth e tic forms of the u nderst anding from

’
the va rious kinds of judgment Kant s lis t is cu r ious
.
 K ANT 25 7

but nimpo rtan t and only two of these ca tegories are

u ,

useful ,
substanc e and c aus e H e divide s the cat egories .

i nto fou r ge ne ral ki nds and e numerat es t hree categories

of each of th e se kinds as follows ,

C ategori e s of Qu antity U nity P lu rali ty To t ality

, , , .

C ategories of Quali ty Reality N egation Limita

, , ,

t ion .

C a te gories of Rela tion — S ubs tance C ause Reci , , ,

procity .

C at e gories of M odali ty —P ossibili ty Exis tence , , ,

Necessity .

These cat egories occupy the same position in the u n

derstanding that space and time do in the perception ,

they a re the a p r io r i principl e s In respect to them .

the perceptions ar e the a p o s ter i ori ma t eri al The c ate .

o ries a r e pure i nnate and t ranscendental They are

g , , .

the i nne r nature of the unders tandi ng Thus the ob .

j e c ts of t he unders ta ndi ng co nt ain both a

p ri or i and

a
p o s ter io ri fac tors and are sy nt hes
, e s of manifolds .

Pe rcep tion sy nthesiz es sensatio ns while the u nder ,

s tandi ng synthesizes percep tions and s tates the synthe ,

sis ia the form of a judgmen t .

H aving named the a p r ior i forms of the u nders t and

ing how doe s Kan t show th at by t heir means our
,

knowle dge of nat ure has validity ? Bec ause when the
understandi ng func tions i t prescribes these forms to ,

perception Impressio ns would remain vagu e and form

.

less if we di d no t think th e m ; by means of thought

,

we w eld impressions i nto obj e cts and give them a c c

herent reality Thi s is exac tly what is meant by unde r
.

standi ng If nature were an i ndepend e nt thi ng and

.

pres crib e d laws to the u nders tandi ng t he l aws would ,

never be unive rs al and necessary The unive rs ality of .

258 HISTORY O F P HILOSOP HY
t he laws of nature can be explained only by supposing
that the unde rstandi ng prescrib e s its laws t o n ature ,
not to nature as a Thi ng-in-Itself but only so far as it ,

a pp e ars in s ense-p e rception Universal and necessary

.

knowledge of nature is possible only if the co nnections

and relations of n ature are absolut e ly identical with the

mode s of thought The cat egori e s of the u nderstanding

.

have objective validity there fore because the laws of

, ,

the u nderstanding are the fundament al laws of nature .

The understanding has given such laws to nature A .

ri ori and ther e fore u niversal and necess ary syn th e tic
p ,

and therefore cre ative the world consis t s of objects

,

under laws of the u nderstandi ng There are as m any .

kinds of n atural objects as there are cat egories of the

und erstandi ng .

If we will examine what we call the world of natu re ,

we sh all find that m any of its obj e cts have never b ee n

perc e ived M an has only p artly e xplore d the e arth and
.
,

th e re are vas t regions in sp ac e tha t he has ne ver se en .

He has ne v e r seen the S outh P ole and the North P ole ,

o nly recently ; he has neve r seen the other side of the

moon and there are m yriads of sta rs beyond even the
,

re ach of his telescope These are not perceptibl e thi ngs

.
,

and yet they are the objects of the understandi ng

obj ects of knowl e dge How is it possible ? It would not
.

be possible if the laws of nature were limited to the em

piric ally p e rc e ived facts I t is possibl e be caus e the l aw s
'

of the understanding ar e the l aws of nature and apply ,

eve rywh e re whether the thing is actu ally perceived o r

,

not The moon mus t have another side bec ause the hu
.

man u nderst andi ng conceives all subst ances in this way ;

the law of cause and e fiect ob tains beyond the s tars and ,

at the S outh Pole even though they have never been

,
 260 HISTORY O F PHI LOSOPHY
cre ator of the objects of knowledge ; rather conscious p

ne ss in ge ne r al the co nscious ne ss of hum anity is the

cre ator K ant is not a solipsis t bu t an ide alis t A
.
, .

high e r conscious ness a super-c onscious S elf must be as

, ,

,sumed to e xpl ai n the compactness of human knowledge .

-
Kant does not call this super conscious S elf the soul “

” ”
or spirit but the I thi nk or the transc endental
“
,
“ “

”
ego or by the more clumsy phrase the transce nde ntal
,
”
uni ty of app erc e ption He contrasts it wi th wh at he
.

”
calls the emp irical ego on the ground th at it is the
“

ego always ide ntical with itself rather than the S elf at
.

thi s o r tha t pa rticular momen t I t is the S elf as thinke r

.

rathe r than the S elf as though t about The super-con .

scious S elf is always self-active and never dependen t

upon empirical condi tions I t must be accept ed as the
.

postulat e of all knowledge I t is the u niversal S e lf and

.
,

through i t the c at egori e s of the hum an understandi ng

b ecome u niversaliz ed Just as sp ace and t ime are t he
.

unifyi ng forms of syn thetic co nsciousne ss on i ts lower

level ; jus t as the ca tegori e s of the understanding
the unifying forms of the synth e tic conscious ness on a
higher level ; so the univers al S e lf must be postula ted t o
e xplai n t he u nivers ality of the categories I t is a postu .

late only because it not known in e xperience is necos

, ,

sary t o explain the unity of knowledge This theoretical .

conce ption of the S e lf by Kant is thus v ery diff erent ,

from the tradi tional noti on of the soul .

H as the Re ason by Its e lf any Vali di ty ? When K an t

calls his criticism the C ri tiq u e q u re R eason he uses ,

the te rm Reason in a wi de sens e as the whole know

ing p rocess In t he D ialec tic he treats the Reason in a
.

narrow se nse as if i t were a special faculty like the

,

p e r c ep tion o r unders tanding This is of.course a con, , ,

 K AN T 2 61

fusing use of te rms like his use of the t erm Synthesis

,

but it should caus e no difficulty provide d the two u ses

are known beforehand The t e rm Ide as is also us e d
.

in two se nses In t his place it has a special use While

. .

usually an idea me ans any thought here it me ans the ,

s ynthetic form of the sp e ci al faculty of the reason jus t ,

as the ca tegori e s are the form of the understanding and ,

space and time the form of s e nse-p e rc eption The syn .

th etic forms of the Reason are the three Ideas viz , .

,

God the soul and the to tality of the universe

, , .

What is the office of this special faculty of the Re a

son and it s Ide a-form s ? Th ey r e present K ant s way of ’

stat ing the natural t endency of the human mind to ge t

from its knowledge the great e st possible unity with the
reatest possible ex t ensio n C o nsciousn e ss is a sy nt hesis
g .

which is never sa tisfi e d in bei ng part i al and incomple te .

The partial syntheses of its facultie s of percep t ion and

unders tanding do not satisfy it P erception and under
.

s tanding tell us nothing abou t God abou t the soul and , ,

about the tot ali ty of the u niverse for these faculti e s are
,

fe tte red to experience Yet God the soul and the t otal
.
, ,

ity of the universe are very importa nt matters S o the .

Reason leaps ove r the boundar ies of experience and ,

thinks i t is justified in poaching in the t erri tory for

bidde n to knowledge The Re ason is no t cont en t with
.

the p arti al and relational knowledge of mathematics and

of physic al science bu t i t would deal with the unrelated
,

and the unco nditio ned Inde e d we need o nly se arch

.
,

our own mi nds t o see how tru e K ant is t o fac t We .

find t hat we our s elv e s are not satisfie d with conditio ne d

things which must be expl ai ne d by othe r condi tioned
,

things O n the co ntrary we long to know the ab sol ut ely

.
,

un condition ed, which alone w ill explain all conditions .

2 62 HISTORY O F PHILOSOP HY
W e are forever see ki ng to make our synthesis complete ,

and to rende r a rational and comple te account of what

is ne verth ele ss impossible t o our knowl edge .

No w it is e vide nt th at the Id eas o f the Re ason are not

i ndisp ens able to k nowl edge in the sense th at the cate
or ie s of the u nd e rsta ndi ng and the forms of s e nse
g p e r

c e tio n are i ndispensabl e

p C aus e time and sp ace e nt e r
.
, ,

i nto all k nowledge P hysical and m athem atical laws

.

e xist as facts and need no proof for their ex i stence

, .

K ant asked abou t th e m How are synthetic a p r ior i

,

”
ju dgme nts possible ? But concerni ng the judgm ents
of the Reason he asks a diff erent question : not How
,

are they possible but A r e they possible ?

,

The Re ason and its three Ide as give wh at Kan t c alls

t ransc e nd ent k nowledge in disti nctio n from the tran
sce ndental k nowledge of the u nd e rstandi ng and i t s c ate

g or ie s
. By t r ansc e nd e nt k nowl e dg e he mea ns t h at

which is b eyond the limits of possible experie nce ; while

transce nde ntal knowledge refe rs to knowledge about
the ne cessary pri nciples of experience K ant however .
, ,

is willi ng to acknowledge that the Ide as of t he Reason

have a l egitimat e use They are regulative principles
.

i n th at by showi ng what our li mitati ons are t hey also

, ,

show that hum an knowledge is not the fi nal goal Their .

illegitim at e u se appe ars when th e y make a show of be

i ng true knowledge Both science and theology will be
.

the gai ners when the Ideas are no lo nger us e d illegiti

m at ely K ant says that he has d e stroyed knowledge of
.

”
G od and the soul in order to m ake room for faith .

The Idea of the So ul Rational psychology had

.

t a u ght that the soul had di rect and i ntuitive knowl edge
of its elf From t he time when Descartes form ulated
.

”
his famous Cogi to ergo sum this co nceptio n of self
,
2 64 HIS TORY O F P HILOSOPHY
wh at it is We know that the immedi acy of experience
.

or the s am e ne ss of k nowle dge from mom ent to mom ent

d e m ands this This is the transce nde ntal e go a ki nd of
.
,

u nivers al synth e tic b ackground .

But this is d iff ere nt from the empirical ego which I ,

ban know as an obj ect of experi ence The empirical .

ego is what I can know of myself at any time a group

of sens ations fe e lings or thoughts N o w such groups

, ,
.

change from mome nt t o mom ent My knowledge of .

mys elf consists only of my mom ent ary changi ng self , .

This ch angi ng self is not the immortal simple and , ,

identical soul of which the Rat ionalists have been spe ak

lu
g .The e mpiric al s e lf is complex and transitory ; it is

an object of knowledge and it is not therefore the s ame

,
“
a s the immor t al soul I thi nk I is impossible I
“ .
.

” ”
think me is possible To make the I an obj ect is
.
“

to commi t a fallacy .

The Idea of th e Uni v e rs e The co nt radiction in rea

.

soni ng about matters beyo nd the t e st of exp e rie nce

app e ars sh arply with referenc e to problems about the

world as a tot ality The i nheren t self-contradic t ion of

.

the re ason at t rac t e d Kan t s a tt ention very e arly with

’

r e fere nce t o the problems of i nfinity S uch s e lf-contra .

dictions were put into fi nal sh ap e by Kan t in the Cr i

tiq u e in the four followi ng so-c alled anti nomies
1
( ) The anti nomy of cre ation Thesis
. : The world

mus t have a begi nning in time and be inclosed in fi nite

space Antith e sis : The world is eternal and infi nite
s
.

2
( ) The a ntin omy of immor t ality (or the simple ) .

Th esis : The world is ultim at e ly divisible into simple

p arts which cannot be furth e r divide d Antithesis The .

world is composed of p arts subj e ct to further division ,

and no simple thing exis t s in the world .
 K AN T 265

( )
3 The an tinomy of freedom Thesis : There is fr ee
.

dom ; the re are phe nom e na that c an not be accounted

for by ne cessity A n tithe sis : Th e re is no fr eedom bu t
.
,

everythi ng t ake s place e ntirely acco rding to the neces

sary laws of n ature .

4
( ) T he anti nomy of theology Thesis : There is a .

nec e ss ary b e i ng eithe r as p art or as cause of the world .

Antithesis : Th e re exists n e ith e r withi n nor wi thout t he

world an absolu tely nec e ss ary being .

C ritics have pointed out th at these problems as thus

s ta ted by K ant are no t altogeth e r cosmological prob

le ms bu t includ e the contradic tions of psychology and

,

th e ology ; th at is all the co ntradictio ns of the Re ason

,

wh e n it is us e d di alectically They show how bo th Ra

.

tionalism and Empiricism as m e t aphysical th e ori e s are

, ,

in th e ir nature cont radictory When the universe is

.

treated as an obj ect of k nowl e dge co nt radi ctory propo ,

sitions c an be mai nt ained The contradictories are both

.

proved and re f uted I n re sp e ct to the first t wo antino

.

mies both thes e s and antith e ses are f alse ; in respec t

,

t o the last two both theses and antitheses may be t rue

, ,

if th ey refe r t o diff erent worlds If the Ideas ar e ap .

plied only to the world of phenomen a they i nvolve in ,

explicable co ntr adiction The Idea of free will and nu

.

conditioned b e i ng may apply to the world of Nc umena

whil e the Idea of necessity and co ndi tioned being may
apply to the world of ph enomena .

Th e Id e a of G od The Idea of the soul involves us

.

in a paralogism the Idea of the universe as a whole

,

involves us i n i nextricable d ifficulties and contradic

tions ; the Id e a of God c an not be demonstrated K an t .

does not de ny th at God exists H e merely maintains .

that we canno t make God an objec t of knowledge The .

 2 66 HISTORY O F PHILOSOPHY
Idea of G od is t o Kan t the exp ression of the need of
the Reason for a perfec t uni ty .

I n one of his e arlier writings Kant had cons truc t ed

a conception of God which is the s ame as appears in ,

the Cr itiq u e God purely as a conceptio n is constructed

, .
, ,

by Kant as the su m total of r e ality the ens reali s s i ,

mu m who so i nclud e s all fi nite qu alities in H imself

,

that th ey do not limit Him He is the primal c ause of .

the possibility of all being Now can such an Idea .

,

have obj e ctive validity ? No ; the Idea of a su m to tal

of all that is co nc e ivable is not an obj e ct of possible
exp e ri e nc e O nly p articular thi ngs or phenom e na are
.

realiti e s for us God as the transcending total of par

.

tic ular thi ngs c an have o nly a co nceptual reality and a

validity for thought The total has the reality th at any
.

ide a has This is Kant s general criticism of the di a

.
’

le ctic Idea of God .

But t he gen e ral conc eption of God had played so

important a p ar t in traditional philosophy tha t Kan t
felt it necessary t o examine the thr ee importan t i ntel
l e ctual proofs for His existence in order to show their
falsity .

H e t akes up firs t tlze ontologica l p roof of God s

’

existence which origin at e d with S t Anselm and had

,
.

been accepted by the Ration alists The Idea of God is .

t he idea of a perfe ct being A bei ng would no t be per .

fee t who did not exist There fore the Idea of a perfec t .

being mus t include the quality existence amo ng its

predicat es The essence of God must involve His ex
.

i stence because the unreali ty of the ens r ealiss imu m

,

c a ot be thought K t repli s thus : Bei ng is no

nn an e
“
.

”
real predicate It is not a qu ality like love powe r
.
, ,

or goodness for i t ad ds not hing to the con ten t of the

,
2 68 HISTORY O F PHI LOSOP HY
a ttempts t hrough its Ide as to soar beyo nd experience ,

is th at such sp e culation has nev e r added to our know

l edge M ere conc eptual though t c annot be k nowl e dge
.

o f the re ality of the soul God and the world

, ,
S till .
,

the Id e as of the r eason are an int egral part of the hu

man mi nd and th ey must hav e th e ir purpose Th e y can
, .

not be v e rifi e d by e xp e rie nc e in which alo ne is truth

, ,

but th ey c an re gulat e e xperienc e They are regulative

.

Ide as in that our experienc e is b e tter governed if we

act as if there w e re a soul as if God existed and as if
, ,

the world w e re a tot ality of rel at e d thi ngs M oreover .

,

while speculatio n c annot prove the e xistence of God ,

the immort ality of the soul and the fr e e dom of the will
, ,

ath e istic speculation is u nabl e to prove the co ntrary of

all th e s e propositions The Id e as of the Re ason cle ar the

.

way for faith b as e d on morality .

C onclusi on The Cr iti q u e of P u r e R e ason is what

.

its nam e im plie s -a criticism of our co nscious powe rs

, .

It poi nts out the limits and ext ent of hum an know
ledge I n one sense it is constructiv e ; for it establishes
.
,

against skept icism the co nclusion th at knowl edge has a

v alidity withi n its own limits In another sense it is
.
,

d e structive ; for it shows agai nst dogm atism how futile

our i nt e llect u al striving is to e xplore many regions th at
h av e been conside re d the prop e r re alm of knowledge .

No k nowle dge is possible th at is transce nd e nt — no

knowl edge beyond the limits of e xperience Experi e nce .

ti e s our me ntal powers to its elf Exp e ri enc e is the .

bou nd ary of the unde rstanding Reality the Things-in

.
,

Themsel ve s are u nk nown and u nknowable Bu t tran

, .

scende ntal k nowl e dge is possible Withi n exp e ri ence

.

th e re are the tra nsc end e nt al factors th at on the one

hand t ransform se ns ations into phenomena and on the ,
 KAN T 26 9

other give to these phenomena a validi ty for all man

kind These t ransc e nd en tal fac to rs make knowle dge
.

re liable but they add not one whit to its content O n

,
.

accou nt of t hese tr ansce ndental fac tors we can be ra

tio nal wi th o ne another and m e m b e rs of one world of

h u manity The val u e of knowle dge is not l e ssened but
.
,

is de fin ed O ur world of ph e nom e nal existe nce is now

.

accur ately ass e ss e d as a world of r e l ativ e r e ality It is .

pl ac e d in its proper p e rspective It is s e e n as our own

.

i nterp r etatio n of wh at is really r e al This is v e ry impor .

t ant ; for although the restric te d form of our mental

pow e rs withholds us from k nowing reality we may ,

n e vertheless think it The pure i ntellectio n of reali ty

.

will be of value if in some othe r way i ts contents can

,

be assure d Kan t now poi nt s out tha t this assurance is

.

fou nd in the moral will .

The Probl e m of the C ri ti q ue of Prac tical Re ason

The Ethi cs of Kant Two thi ngs fill the mind with
.

ever new and increasi ng admiration and awe the oftene r ,

and the longer we r eflect upo n them the starry heavens

”
above and the moral law wi thi n I n this classic sen .

tence Kan t showed th at he had no desire to humiliate

the theoretical reason which is the understanding He
, .

was merely assigning i t to its place among the powers

of man in order that i t might do its proper work more
,

e ffi ci ently The world of morality and the s tarry heaven

.

impressed Kant equally Kant would not have the nu.

de rstanding chasi ng will-o -the- wisps Af ter his criticism

’
.

of the unde rs tanding he turn e d to the will or as he calls ,

it t he prac tical reason and criticized i t s functions and

,

scope . This e thic al teac hing of Kant app e ars in his

M e tap hys ic of M or ali ty and in the Cri ti q u e of F r acti
c al R eas o n His ear ly P ie tis t ic ed uca t ion his r eading
.
,
2 70 HISTORY O F PHILOSOP HY
of Rousseau , his study of the English moralists , influ
enced his theory of morals ; whil e his inv e stigatio ns

into the history of civilization , his theoretical philoso

phy , and his ind e p end ent an alysis of the ethical fe e li ng
m arked the route which his e thic al dev elopm ent took .

The world of morality to K ant has prim ac y I n his .

th e ory it is the re al world for compared to it the world

,

of sci entific ph e nom ena the world of the th e ore tical

,

re ason is re lativ e
,
.

The central id e a in Kant s th e ory of morals is that

’

ratio nal spont aneity is exactly the sam e as free dom .

This co ntrasts his theory with H edonism The v alue of .

m an s life dep ends on what he does spont ane ously not

’
,

on what happ e ns to him This idea of fre edom is the

.

ce ntral t hought in all Kant s discussions of soci e ty I n

’
.

his theory of gov e rnm ent the re public is to be prefe rred

to the mo narchy b e cau s e of the opportu nity to its citi
,

zens of spontane ous fre e dom in re ligion the true church

is compos e d of fre e b e ings worshiping God freely ; in
ed u c ation s elf-activi ty is the sole principle of growth .

Ethics is a system of the pure rational l aws of fre e dom ,

just as science is a syst e m of the pure ration al laws of

n ature If ethics has real v alidity its laws must be as
.
,

in sci ence a p ri or i or derived from the re ason itself and

, ,

synthetic or appli cable to e xperi ence everywhere If the .

moral law be valid it must be indiff e r ent as to its content ,

and ye t valid for all content irr e spectively The source .

of the pri nciple of mo rals is thus the same as that of

science : it is a p ri ori The principle of mo rals is uni
.

versal in its application to expe ri e nce just as the a p r i ori

,

synth e sis of knowledge is However just at that poi nt

.
,

the difference is to be s e en be twee n the foun dation of

science and that of morals be tween t he reaso n as
2 72 HISTORY O F PHILOSOPH Y
1 . Tfie F irs t Q c the M o r al L aw
u es ti on con erni n

If we search our consciousness we shall find that there

g
,
.

are t wo class e s of i nce ntives to actio n The first ar e .

called the i nclinations or perh aps b etter the impulses

, .

We may will because we d e sire to gai n something ,

of u se ple asure perfe ction etc S uch an act of will is

, , , .

d epe nd e nt upon the obj e ct th at arous e s it S uch an .

act of will would no t be an ex ampl e for any one e ls e ;

for the circums tances t hat call e d it forth would be
lik ely to be diff erent in each case Fo r example there .
,

is no cons ensus as to pleasure among individual men ;

and wh at is ple as ant to one is u npleasan t to another .

The same is tru e about objects of use and ambition .

I n all these mat t ers judgment do e s not help us in mak

i ng our s election for people who are the mos t dis
,

crimi nating often are the mos t u nh appy and u seless .

All these thi ngs are i ndeed goods but th e y are goods ,

for the moment goods that are depende nt on some

w

thing e lse and not goods in thems e lves They are

, .

legitim ate ends e nough but they are so transitory tha t

,

they canno t be valid It is evid e nt t hat when t he wi ll

.

is governed by incli nation i t is gover ned by an empiri

,

cal o er ior i) and no t by a universal and necessary

( p
a s t ,

( p
a r ior i
) principle S uch .empirical pri nciples are
call e d by Kan t hypoth e ti cal impe ra tives .

Le t us look to the reason i t self to see if the pri nciple

of i ts practice li es the re ; for it is ce rtain that we sh all
not find t he principle of universal validi ty for ou r will
among o u r imp ulses The re aso n is a spo nta neous s n
.
y
thesis I t is a f act th at any one may verify who will
.

se arch his conscious ne ss — th at man may will fro m

r e ason The will may be imp e ll e d from within and
.
,

nee d not be compelled from wi thout The will may be .

 KANT 2 73

an impe ra tive in itself p roclaiming i t s right because i t

,

is reason able jus tifying itself bec ause it is reason able

, ,

functio ning be caus e it is the func tion of r eason Then .

is the will the e xpression of reason It is the r eason in .

practice The will is unconditio ned and free becau se i t

.

is the unconditi oned reason acting It is then auto no .

mous It has then validity because the re ason is unive r

.

sal and necessary This ki nd of willi ng K ant calls the

.

ca tegorical impe rative I t is the mo ral law I t is a law

. .

u n to i tself and i t is the o nly basis for morali ty because

,

i t is the universally valid reason .

The c a tegorical imperative is unique there is no

thi ng like it in human nature I t is t he one kind of will
.

ing tha t has absolut e validity ; and that is because it is

u nique in having itself for its own end The consci ence .

may be said to be its expression in the individual .

Kant formula tes the valid comm and of the moral law
as Act as if the maxim from which you act were to
,

become th rough your will a universal law of nat ure .

The various maxims of morali ty like Thou shalt no t ,

”
lie occupy the sam e position to the will tha t the cate
,

ori es do t o the u nderst anding They are the forms of

g .

the moral will Actions should proceed from m ax im s

.

r ather than from impulses and the mor al m axims are

,

adap ted for all bei ngs who ac t rationally A specific .

act may become good because the moral law that inspire s ,

it is good N evertheless nothing can possibly be con

, .

ce iv ed in the world or eve n out of it which can be ,

”
called good wi thou t qualification except a good will , .

The virtues or the gif ts of fort une may be good and

des i rable ; they may also be evil and mischievous if ,

Q
they are not t he expre ssion of the moral will .

2 The Seco nd
. u es tio n concerning the M or al
2 74 HISTORY O F PHILOSOPHY
L aw .This leads us to the answer to the second ques
tio n How can such a pu rely necess ary and u niversal
,

pri nciple be eff ective in hum an l ife ? O f what service

to man is a pri ncipl e so formal that if the incli nations
c o iipe rate with it the act is no longe r moral ? The
,

moral law is not only t ranscenden tal but i t is tran ,

sce ndent for i t does no t have experi e nce as its con te nt

, .

It is its o wn conten t It is indep end e nt of all ex pe .

r icuce in three ways : (1 ) In origin i t cont ai ns o nly ,

a formal principle ; (2 ) In co nte nt it con tai ns o nly a

.
,

formal principle ; (3 ) In validity it is not concerned ,

as to whe th e r i t is obeyed or not ; it declares wh at

ough t to be even if what ough t to be is never done
, .

The question always arises about Kant s e thics O f ’

wh at service c an such a remote and formal principle

be ? Morality takes plac e in the world of experie nce ;
and h e re is Ka nt s pri ncipl e of mor ality existi ng in the
’

world of u nco nditioned re ality O f the use fulness of .

such a pri nciple Kant s e xplan ation is no t fully sa tis ’

~

factory H is e thics is fundam e nt ally a rigorism from

.
,

which he is unable to escape Du ty and incli nation are .

in antagonism O nly those acts of will are moral which

.

ar e p e rformed sole ly from the sense of duty In them .

selves the natural i nclinations are i ndi ff e rent ; when

t hey oppos e the mor al will they becom e bad ; o nly whe n ,

t h ey are i nspired by the moral will are they of ethical

s e rv ice M oral action is th e r efore n arrowed to th at in
.

which the imperativ e of duty is consciously p aramo unt .

“ The f ie nds who m I l v e I ladl wo uld s e rv e bu t to this in

r
g y o , ,

clinati on i nc it s m e ; e

And so I am f c e d fro m v i tu e to swe rv e sinc e my act through

or r ,

afi ec ti n d lights me
o e .

The f rie nds who m th u lov e st thou must first see k to scorn for
1

o , ,
,

to no othe r way can I guide thee ;

2 76 HISTORY O F PHILOSOPHY
r . The Postu la t e of Fr e e dom
unconditioned . T he
moral law is the b asis of fre e dom for which all sci ent ific
knowl edge s e e ks in vain An u nco nditioned will is a
.

fre e will The will bas e d upon the re ason is bas e d upon
.

itself and is th e re fore fre e The conscious ness of the .

moral law within u s implies fre e dom in its exe rcise .

The I ought impli e s I can We c an hav e no know

”
.

ledge of free dom for in the eye of the understandi ng

,

only causal necessity rules But the reason comm and s .

as well as knows It states what ou ght to be as well as

.

what is Its m and ate implies fr eedom as its knowledge

.
,

s tates existence When we will we act as if we were

.
,

free and our f reedom is a postul ate which canno t be

,

p roved to the unders t anding Fre e dom is not an object .

of knowledge but an ac t of faith Freedom as a postu

, .

lat e is the condition of mo rality and the primacy of the ,

will over the pure reaso n is shown in the fact that i t

c an guarantee wha t the underst andi ng cannot prove .

2 The Postula te of the Immortali ty of th e So ul

. .

The goal of the i ncli nations is h appi ne ss The goal of .

the will is virt ue There is no relation or corre spond

.

e nce between the two in this world A man may be .

happy and s t ill not virtuous ; he may be virtuous and

no t h appy S i nce a man belongs t o bo th the world of
.

free spiri ts and the world of necessi ty he is thwarted ,

in reaching for his highes t good in this lif e His hi gh .

es t good is the union of virtue and happiness If this .

is to be attained ano ther life mus t be guar an teed Yet

, .

this is only a postula te and not a proof When man .

wills he wills as if he were an immo rtal being

, .

3 .T he P o s tul ate of th e Ex i st e nce of G od F ai t h .

in re achi ng forward mus t pos t ulate God as alone able ,

to vouchsafe fut ure harmony be t ween goodn e ss and

 K A NT 2 77

happiness and alone able to dis t ribu te jus tly the rewa rds
and p u nishme nt s tha t are so dispropo rtio na t e in this

world Wh e n I will I will as if God exis t ed W hen

.
, .

I will I crea te by my willi ng my fr eedom my immor

, ,

tality and God s exis t e nce But b e cause

,
’
is an .

unconditioned law of my real being my fai th in these ,

t hings is w ell fo unded 1

.

1 K nt
a th y f B ty di c d in hi C itiq u f J udgm nt
’
u ss e
s e or o e au , s s r e o e ,

th
ro u g h whi ch h t i t reconcil th antag oni sm f kn wl dg e and
e r es o e e o o e

m ality i mitt d h re
or , s o e e .
 C H APTER XI
R
T HE GE MAN I DEA LIST S
Ideali sm af te r Kant K ant s criticism had been a
.
* ’

fine di ss e ction of the processes of knowledge He had .

l aid scienti fic k nowledge op e n and s e parated it into its

par ts I n doi ng this he had acted in the spirit of his
.

time which had be e n inaugurat e d by Le ssi ng H is doc

, .

t ri ne became the poi nt of dep arture of m any d iff eri ng

syst e ms A mode rn G e rman profe ssor in the University
.

of B e rlin has b ee n wont to say Th e re are te n inter

,

pre tatio ns of Ka nt s C r i tiq u e which are the ten ki nds

’
,
”
of philoso phy at the pres e nt tim e The i ncohe rence of .

K ant s philosophy mad e it famous He re presented the

’
.

first stage of a soci al movement and l ike all social move

m ents the world over the first s t age was critic al self
, ,

i nconsist ent and destructive of tradition The second

, .

stage is the one upon which we now e nt e r and we sh all ,

find it to be reconstructive along several li ne s C riticism .

is always an i nduce m ent t o ne w syste matization In .

G e rmany afte r K ant there was naturally the refore a

, , , ,

gre at systematic move me nt which its i ntellectu ally viril e

and many-sided life was re ady to e xpress C ulture and .

philosophy we nt hand in hand J e na was the c entr e of

.

Kantianism and was in close proximi ty to Weimar the ,

c ent re of Germ an culture .

At the t ime th at the philosophy of Kan t became

pop ular the teachi ng of S pinoz a was resu rrec ted from
,

its long sle ep and introduced into Germany Kan t was .

t
Re ad W i ndelband H ist of P hi l pp 5 68-5 69
, . .
, . .
 THE G ER M AN I DEALI STS 281

tu rers, o therwi se the great represen tative of t he age ,

Goe the would not have associated with S chelli ng and

,

H egel on equ al terms They s tood for t he revulsion of

.

the period agai nst all external sys t e ms and for the reali ,

z atio n of a spiritual realm of free spirits Th ey sough t .

no t a facti t ious and im agi nary condition but tried ,

rath e r to discove r the e ss e nti als of the spiritu al li fe .

They would reclaim reality spiritu ally and their only ,

de fe c t was in their has te in carryi ng ou t their pri nci

ples Ficht e S chelli ng and H egel are sharers i n one
.
, ,

common movement They trie d sys tematic ally to pre

.

s ent the evolu t io n of the world as an u nbrok e n ev olu

tion of though t Th ey went bac k to K ant but they were
.
,

bolder than he They sought to t ransce nd the limi ta

.

t ions of though t which he had laid down Th ey would .

se t though t free and gazi ng in upon t he ir own spirit s

, , ,

they would find there the whole infinite u niverse The .

S piritu al realm seemed to t hem to be wider than any

o ne had supposed It was a self-governing r ealm qu i te
. .
,

di ffer e n t from the world of m atter H istory to them .

is co smic and develops under one law of progression .

I t is an u pward moveme nt of ass e rtions negations , ,

and synthes e s . Life is co smic spiri tuali ty For Fich t e .

the spiri t is a cosmic battle for moral ends ; for

S ch e lli ng the spiri t I S a cosmic art isti c co ns truction ,

which t ransforms the external and in te rnal worlds

i nto a work of li v ing art ; for Hegel the cosmic spirit
unfolds in a s t rict and rigorous logic whose consumm ,

tion is though t of thought Bu t while Fich te S chelling

.
, ,

and H egel look a t the world each in his own wa th ey

y ,

are members of one common movement tow ard spirit

u al freedom and toward the reéstabli shme nt of me ta

’

.
,

physics .
282 HISTORY O F P HILOSOPHY
The Lif e Writings of Fi chte (1 76 2
and
Joh ann Gottli eb Ficht e was the most not able of the
imm e di ate disciple s of Kant In co ntrast with the nu .

disturbed and u neve ntful scholastic re tiremen t of his

m aster Fichte s life looms up as a series of co nflicts
,
’
,

so me tim% with e xtr e m e poverty and som e tim e s with

hostile forc e s cre ate d by his o wn stubborn and irascible

dispositio n Fichte s e xt e rnal life was throu ghout one
.
’

of curious contrasts both of tr age dy and rom ance H is

, .

love for the moral and theologi c al app ears in his e arly
youth in his voluntary s elf-d enial and in his sermons
t o the ge ese which he was h e rdi ng A gain he made .
,

prep aratio n to b e com e a preacher bu t his i ntellect ual ,

trai ning in the u niversity drove him to ab andon i t .

H e bec ame a necessit ari an and tri e d to squ are his life
with his philosophy although it weighed his heart down
, .

Then came the so-calle d A theistic C ontrove rsy when

he was profe ssor at Jena and his d e fiance of the au ,

t ho ritie s and his dismiss al I n the tumultuous d ays a t .

B e rlin he turned his met aphysics i nto p atriotic app e als ,

and would h ave joi ne d the army but his death i nt e r ,

vene d The i nne r de v elopment of Fich te t oo was dif

.
, ,
’
f e rent fr om th at of Kant Ka u t s 1nne r development .

was coinciden t with his long lif e Fich te on t he other .

,

h and at the age of tw e nty-eigh t had read and a cc ept e d

,

K ant s philosophy and four years lat er had cre ated his
’
,

o wn This was o nly slightly modi fied in hi s la ter year s

.

’
in the dire c tion of the p antheism of S pinoza Kant s .

life was apart from the poli tical cur re nt of his time ,

Re ad Royc e Sp ir i t of M odern P hil chap v ; E uck e n

, .
, .
,

P roblem of H u ma n L ife pp 4 86— 4 90 ; R and M odern

,
.
,

Clas sica l P hilos op hers pp 4 8 6—4 96 5 1 6—5 3 5 W i ndelband

,
.
, ,

H ist of P hil pp 5 79—

. . 5 81
,
. .
284 HISTORY O F PHILOSOPHY
however made the re al author Fichte famous S o he
, , , .

r e tu rned to Zurich in 1 7 93 to m arry Fr aulein Rahn ,

who was herself now in comfor tabl e circumstances .

3 II i s L if e a t J ena (1 7 94
. The ye ar 1 794
was another milestone in the biography of Fichte In .

this year he was called to Jena th e n the principal u ni ,

ve rsity of G e rmany to succe e d Rheinhold I n this

, .

ye ar he publishe d his philosophy in his b e st known

work the Wi s senschaf ts lehre H e remained at Je na
, .

o nly fiv e years A t first his populari ty exceeded th at of

.

the popular Rhe inhold but he soo n fille d his life with
,

co nt roversies H e qu arreled with the students and t he

.

cl e rgy a d n 1 7 9 the o cal e d A theis tic C ontro

n,
i 9 s - l “

”
versy arose in which ch arge s were brough t agai ns t
,

his teaching as ath e ism Brooki ng no criticism either

.

of his teachi ng or of hi s official position he de fied the ,

a uthoriti e s of the u niversity and was di smiss e d .

4 H i s L if e a t B erlin (1 7 99
. In 1 7 99 Fich te
went to Berlin to live At first he had no ac ademic.

affili atio ns but he fou nd a l arge and symp athetic pub

,

lic to whom he le ctured He was warmly rec e ived by

,
.

the circle of Romanticists — the S chlegels Ti e ck and , , ,

S chle ierm acher His philosophic al system got little de

.

v elo ment ; but the i nflue nce of S pinoza appeared in his

p
teachi ng He lectured upon the ethic al and r e ligious
.

aspects of his philosophy and upon po litical and soci al ,

subjects In 1 8 08 he d elivered his famous A ddr ess es

.

to the G erm an P e op le In 1 8 1 0 the U niversity of Ber

.

lin was founded and he was called to the chair of phi

losophy bu t he was connect e d with the university only
,

two ye ars For in 1 8 1 2 came the call to arms and

.
,

Fichte was with difficulty dissuaded from enlisti ng He .

remained in Berlin and p reached to the soldiers in

 TH E G E R MAN I DEALISTS 285

c amp His wi fe volun tee red as hospi tal nurse and con
.

t rac ted a fever fro m which she r ecovered Fich te how

, .
,

ever who nu rs ed her through her sickness died of the

, ,

dis ea s e in 1 8 1 4 .

The Influe n c es upon Fi chte s T e achi ng Any esti

’
.

mate of the i nfluences upon Fich t e would be disto rt e d

th at did no t re cognize the calib re of the man him s elf .

Fichte was e ssenti ally a puritan reform e r He was im .

e tu ou s and life -lov ing bu t with al a simple- mind ed

p ,

man All the philosophical i nfluences which he was os

.

p a b le of feeli n g would n aturally be turned by him i nto

ethical and religious sermons to reach the life of men .

He mus t be t hought of as the crusader armed wi th ah

’
stract tru ths which he wields wi t h a gian t s s tre ngth
,

for the mo ral uplift of man .

It was natural then that the t wo principal infl uence s

upon Fichte s doctrine should be S pi noza and Kan t
’
.

To be sure such wri ters as Lessi ng Rousseau and Pes

, , ,

talozzi furnished him much ma terial in his early yea r s ,

and the Romanticis t s in his later years H is wife .

,

Johanna Rahn was also a source of powe r to him and

, ,

through her influence after the ir marri age his aim he

c ame clearer and his ch arac ter los t much of i t s harsh
ness But the t wo gre at influences upo n Fich t e were
.

the two gr eat philosophical forces of t his time S pinoza ,

and Kant Fichte s philosophy has been d e scri bed as

’
.

”
S pi noza in terms of Kant and also as an i nverted,

or ide alistic S pi nozism The i nfluenc e of S pinoza upon

.

’
Fichte s though t is seen at bo th ends of his life At the .

begi nning he was an amateurish S pi nozis t H e found .

th at the theologic al trai ning of his boyhood was a nece s

sitarianism like S pi no z ism He los t his .

tianity and he was unhappy because he

,
2 86 H I STORY O F PHILOSOPHY
doctrine of necessity was in tole rable and yet unanswer
able The n he read Kant and found a solutio n of his
.

di ffi culty withou t having to ch ange the doc trine of

S pinoza For Kant had placed behind the necessi ta ted
.

world the free Spiri t In the las t period of Fichte s life

.
’

the influ e nce of the mystical side of S pinozism ap

pe ared through Fichte s in tercourse with the Romanti
’
,

cists in B e rli n .

Why We Philosophiz e To F ichte philosophy was .

d isti nctly a pe rso nal problem and we feel in all his ,

words th at he is wr e stling with his own nature He .

found in his mind t wo very di ff e rent cl asses of id eas ,

and he was c e rt ain th at philosophical problems arise

from th e ir ant agonis m O n the o ne h and the re are the

.

ide as about the world of physic al n ature which are only ,

our experie nc e s unde r the law of necessity O n the .

other hand th e re are the ide as of the i ndividual con

sc iou sne ss which are co nti ngent and volu nt ary
, Which .

of these two cl asses of ideas is prim al ? Fichte f elt that

all philosophical curiosity aros e from the contrast of
t he s e two classes ; the solution of philosophy and the
satisfaction of our philosophical curiosity would be
r eached o nly by the reduction of one class to the othe r .

Fichte calls the philosopher a dogmatist who seeks to re

duce voluntary ideas which compose our i ndi vidual con
,

sc io u sness to the necessitated seri e s

, S pi noza sought to .

do t his and the philosophy of S pinoza depress e d Fichte

,

as i ntole rable Bu t there is the alternative to the phi

.

10 3 0 pher to expl ain the necessitated seri e s by volu ntary

consciou s ne ss This is ide alis m The mo me nt a man be
. .

gi ns to re fl e ct he m u s t choos e b e t wee n dogmatism i e

, , . .

ne c e ssitari anis m and ide alism H e is alw ays confronted

,
.

by an Either-O r a choice be t ween freedom and necessity

, .
288 HIS T ORY O F P HILOSOPHY
one t heore tical the other prac tical The primary mot ive
, .

is t he practic al one and si nce dogmatism and idealism

,

are equ ally consistent sys tems m an s choice will depend ,

’

mainly on the ma nner of man he is If the i ndi v idu al .

has a high s e nse of duty he will be disposed to b elie ve

,

in his moral control over all his experie nces however ,

much th ey may seem to be necessi tat e d C onscious free .

dom will s eem to him to be the only satisfactory e x

planation of practical life But the n th e re will be t he
.

addi tional theoretical motive The man that chooses .

either dogmatism or id ealism must th e oretically m ake

hi s world consistent The dogm atist canno t explai n the
.

conscious facts in terms of d e t e rminism ; but Fich t e ,

thinks the id e alist c an explain the necessitated facts in

,

t e rms of co nscious ness A t any rate the idealist has the

.

task of re thinking his sci e ntific k nowledge .

The C e ntral Pr in ciple in Fi chte s Ph il osophy How ’

.

does Fichte attempt to draw up a consistent theo ry so

th at he can overcome the du alism between the ne c e ssi
tate d fac ts of physic al nature and the free st ates of con
sc iou sness ? A s an ide alist he must r e thi nk the know

l edge of science But how is this to be done ? Wh at

.

pri nciple will he pl ace at the ce ntral point of conscious

n e ss so to illumi na te the manifold problems of life th at
,

life s du alism will p rove to be only app arent after all ?

’

H e re as answer we find the outcome of Fichte s struggle

’

with his o wn nature He believed that the pri ncipl e of

.

the tru e philosophy of life co mes from the s tudy of con

sc iou sne ss T he nature of the Ego is the subject for
.

philosophic al study Wh at is the ess e nce of the Ego or

.

the p e rso nality ? It is activity will vitality ; not i nte l, ,

l e ct and change less ne ss Bu t c an we not ge t be ne ath the

.

ac t ivi ty of the pe r so nali ty and ask Why doe s i t ac t ? ,

 T HE G ER MAN I DEA LIS T S 28 9

Yes bec au se i t
, ought
When we have said this we have
.

said all The esse nce of the vitality of the Ego is moral
.

obli gation O ught is t he found ation of life ; it is u lti

.

mate ground of exis tence If we ask why th e re is an

.

ought the only answer is there ought to be The duty

, , .

exis t s that you and I shall ha ve a duty I n order to be .

,

the Ego must act ; and i t acts in respo nse to duty This .

activity is fre e activi ty The Ego is unco nditioned becau se

.

i t is ac t i ng out its own nat ure Thus wh e n Fichte is t alk

.

ing about the Ego the ought t he moral law or freedom

, , ,

he is talking about the same thi ng in d iff eren t guises .

Fich te placed moral freedom as the c e ntral principle of

me taphysics and tried to re think the world of nec essi
tated experiences in terms of moral freedom H e at .

temp ted to const ruc t a monistic vi ew of life of whi ch ,

t he free moral personality should be i t s i nner v itality .

M onism and liberty was Fichte s war-cry Re ali ty is i n ’

.

us ; t he re can be no reali ty i ndependent of us The mor .

ally free Ego is the cen t ral pri nciple of life .

S uch a m e ssage to the Germ an p e ople would appe al

to two sides of their n ature I t would appeal as a meta
.

physics to the mys t icis m in th e ir blood ; it would find

also a prac t ical respons e in the hum anitarian and revo
lu tionary spirit of that revolutionary time Be up and .

be doing for reality is not wh at people commo nly thi nk

,

it is Your environment is only app arently an i ndepend

.

e nt exis tence beyo nd your co ntrol Re ality is no t static

. .

Rethi nk i t and make i t dy namic N o t bei ng but acti ng

.
, ,

and free acti ng is r e al ity S uch was Fichte s sermon ’

.
,

to the Germans of his day His theory can be stated.

in the terms of the Greek H e racleitu s All thi ngs ,

”
change provided the change be thought of as moral
,

ac tivi ty To philosophize was to Fich te to think the

.
290 HIS T ORY O F PHILOSOPHY
unive rse as free moral activi ty t o see i nact ivity no ,

where t o free ourselve s from dualism and to participate

,

in the u nivers al fr ee dom Fre e dom is higher than t ruth

. .

E xist ence is d e rived from thought in action and thus ,

our existence and our e nvi ronm ent may be shaped by

us Thought is essenti ally action and we sh all educat e
.
,

the world only through o ur own activity .

The M o r al Worl d Fichte had a philosophy the pr in

. ,

c iple s of which he repeat e d over and over ag ai n as a

ki nd of h abit H e was a man of f e w but great ideas

. .

H e was inspired by some ge neral concep t ions which he

did not carefully elaborate His philosophy can be e x .

press e d in f e w words and his point of view is no t diffi

,

cul t to feel Nevertheless there is great difficulty in r e

.
,

s tating his meaning H e maint ain e d th at K ant s early

.
’

philosophy was not truly K anti an and that he Fichte , , ,

r e prese nted the t ru e K ant In tak i ng this st and he was

.

obliged to do two things : to explain away the thing-ih

itself and to rethink the world of necessitat ed nature in
,

term s of the activity of the morally fr e e Ego .

If we start from the h eart of exis t ence the ac ti ve

Ego the world spreads out before us as a syst em of
r eason whi ch has b ee n creat e d by the activity of the Ego .

O n this accou nt Fichte s philosophy has been called sub

’

je ctiv e idealism I.n such a scheme of thi ngs there is no

place for the Kantian thi ng-in-its elf A ll Bei ng is o nly .

an e xte nd e d product of the active Ego and the obj e c t of

its knowledge The Ego acts because it must and the n

.
,

reflects upo n its activity I t s knowledge of its activi ty

.

is in grades from s ens e -p e rc eption to comple te k now

ledge Now K an t had re fe rred se nsations to the thi ng
.

in-itself as their source But this is un ne c e ss ary since

.
,

sensations are only the ac tivi ty of the Ego S ensa tions .

292 HISTORY O F PHILOSOP HY
activi ty We no t only crea t e ou r human drama but
.
,

we creat e also the stage upon which it is perform e d .

B e ing is not the cause of Doing bu t B e i ng is creat e d ,

for the s ake of Doing Wha tever is is to be e xplained by

.
,

wh at ought to be The world is the theatre of moral

.

” “ ”
action . N ature is the s ensible materi al of duty .

G od and M an If Fichte regarded the human per

.

sonality from this moral h e ight he would naturally give ,

a ne w meani ng to God the absolut e reality God is not

, .

”
a substance a something that is God is the u nive r
,
“ .

sal moral proc e ss the moral world -order God is the

, .

U niversal E go a free world-cre ati ng activi ty God was

, , .

conceived by Fichte as M atthew A rnold s somethi ng ’

”
no t ours elves that m akes for righteous ne ss When I .

find in mys elf th at duty is re ality and not this or th at

fixed and cryst allize d thi ng whe n I find that my re al ,

self is moral functioni ng and no t a t angible form of

flesh and bo ne s then I take the ne xt st ep I th e n find
,
.

th at God is u nive rsal duty unive rsal moral functioni ng, ,

in which I am p articip ati ng W e are not o nly part of .

G od — yea we are H e A s the Holy Wri t s ays

, . Ye ,
”
are Gods The absolute Ego m anifests Itself in our
.

poor finite Egos H ow dignified our humble lot is mad e

.

by thinking that in our acting God is acting ! W e are ,

fighting God s battle and H is victory is no t won ex

’
,

cept as we win Duty in us is the cl arion voice of God

.
,

and we are persons so f ar as we expr e ss that voice I t .

matters little whether I sp e ak of my o wn duty or the

moral purpose of the world They are the same thi ng . .

This e njoi ned labor upon e ve ry rational soul t o per

form his du ty of reaching high ideals thr ough his hum ,

ble t asks of fighti ng the good fight and keepi ng the

,
”
fai th is to Fich te the meaning of coming to a con
,
 T HE G ER M AN I DEALISTS 2 93

sc iou sne ss of one s self What is myself my real self ?

’
.
,

It is not this phe nomenal existence wi t h its appearance

of necessity It is the eternal and everlasti ng d u ty within
.

me What is it to think myself ? It is to th ink my duty ;

.

and to thi nk duty is to think God When I come to .

consciousness of myself the cosmic orde r is coming so

,

far to self-conscious ness Re ali ty is so far at taine d H is

. .

tory is the record of this proc e ss of the moral order

comi ng to self-consciousness .

In his later teaching Fich t e succumbed to the v ictori

ous S pinozism of the period He co nceived God as an .

Ego whose i nfini te impuls e is directed towar d H imself he

conceived fini t e things as product s of this infinitely ac tive
consciousness The fini te products find th e ir vocati on in
.

imitati ng the infini te producer which imitation consists ,

no t in the ac tivity of produci ng o the r finite thi ngs

through the categorical imp e rative bu t in the blessed ,

life of si nki ng into the infinite .

What a M oral Re ali ty inv olv e s S i nce reali ty is this .

proc e ss of moral developmen t i ts conditions will arise ,

ou t of its e lf and be its own creation S ince the world is .

reason comi ng to i t self i t mus t develop its own condi

,

tions ou t of its origin al task All the ac ts of history mus t

.

”
be explained as the original deed-act as Fich t e cal ls ,

it Fichte thought that the whole business of philoso

.

phy consis ts in showing what is involved in this original

”
“
deed-ac t of conscious ness this a ttemp t of conscious
,

n e ss to think itself S ince self-consciousness is reality

.
,

t his will be the s ame as showing wh at reali ty involves .

1 In the first place conscious ness always i nvolves

.
,

the conscious ness of somethi ng els e To use Fichte s .

’

technical langu age the Ego posits its elf (since it is a

,

moral process ) and inthe s ame ac t i t posits a non-Ego

294 H I S T ORY O F P HI LOSOPHY
( which is the n e c e ssary obj ect of co nsciousness ) The .

absolu te Ego ass e rts a dist inguish able Ego against a

”
distinguish able non Ego - It is like a boy who fe els
.

t he c all to b e come a l awyer H e ass e rts himself in that

.

c all and at the s am e time in th at assertion he creates

,

his life s care er H is c are er in the law is his non-Ego

’
. .

Both the Ego and the non-Ego are cr e atio ns of th at

absol u te E o which is the ever surging duty or God
g , .

Whil e both the Ego and the non-Ego are the cre ations of
th at absolute Ego which is cosmic duty or God ye t each
, ,

li mits the oth e r Ego and non-Ego are correlative t e rms ;

.

both originate in the free act of God The world is .

,

there fore the cre atio n of the re al self as the condition

,

of its own activi ty I t even creates its sens ation s as the

.

given materials of its k nowledge The world is the ma .

t e rial of duty put i nto se nse forms While We cre ate .

matter in ord e r that we may be active in it the spat ial ,

and tempor al forms its c at e gories limi t our activities

, , .

2 I n the second plac e this awake ni ng of the Ego to

.
,

a conscious ness of itself i nvolves a curious contradiction .

Duty is by natur e co ntradictory Duty calls me to kno w .

mys e lf and to perform my task and yet in th at call du ty

,

preve nts the task from bei ng pe rformed In att empt .

ing t o know duty complet ely I am always under the

condition of an opposing and limiting no n-Ego The .

non-Ego is e ssential to the Ego and a t the same time

thw art s the Ego s full k nowledge of its e lf S o lo ng as
’
.

the non- Ego exis t s no comple te k nowledge of myself is

,

po ssible A li miting non-Ego makes the Ego limite d and

.
,

there fore preve nt s comple te knowle dge and fulfillme nt

of duty Duty calls upon us to perform a task but u nder
.
,

co nditions such that i t canno t be performed S o long as .

the boy strives in his legal profession duty appear s ; bu t ,

 2 96 H ISTORY O F P HILOSOP H Y
phase of i t ; and so even was the Period of C lassicism
th at followed Goethe and S chiller w e re Rom anticists
.
,

a nd C l assicism was o nly an episod e i n their lives The .

P eriod of German C lassicism (1 7 8 7—1 8 05 ) was diffe r

e nt from the C l assicism of the seve nte e n t h cent u ry he ,
3 c aus e i t was thoroughly i nfected with Rom antic ge rms .

If one is to t ake accou nt of the diff erent ph as e s of

G e rma n thought aft e r Le ssing one m e ntions firs t the
,

S torm and S tr e ss Period the n C lassicism and the n the

, ,

Romanti c movem e nt prop e r fro m 1 7 95 to 1 85 0 S ome .

of the lit e rary names con ne ct e d with the Rom antic move
ment have alre ady b ee n mentione d Richt e r Tieck, , ,

W ac ke nrode Novalis the S chlegels S chille r and

, , , ,

Goeth e Fichte S chelli ng and H egel are the philoso

.
, ,

he rs of t his Rom ant ic movem e n t and embody its spiri t

p
in di ff e rent degrees The t rue philosophical exponent
.

of it is S chelling .

Romanticism is an accidental and i nadequate n ame

for this world-wide lit e rary and philosophical mov e
m e nt I n ge n e ral it m e ans the e xalting of the i ndivid
.

”
ual who admits no law above himself The Rom an
, .

tic indivi duality is domin ated by u nr e strained fancy is ,

animated by fe eli ng and passion and prefe rs the vagu e ,

and mys ti cal to the cl e ar and defi ne d In lite rature .

Romanticism is contrasted with C lassicism The Cl ass .

icist emph asizes the typ e the Rom an t icist the i ndivid
,

u al The C lassicis t defers to t raditio nal form and law ;

.

the Rom anticist has no common c anon even with other

Rom an t icists except the right to dis agree The o nly .

mmon pri nciple amo ng Rom anticists is s u bjective

the truth of t he individual i ntuitio ns which in the c ase ,

of the his torical Romanticists found exp re ssion in the

play of fiercely egois tic wills seeking self-re aliz ation .
 THE G ERM AN I DEALISTS 297

The his torical Roman tic movement was a passionat e and

migh ty reaction against the pre v ious sh allow in t ellectual
life with i t s nar row co nve ntions Ro manticism was a .

r evolt agai ns t the period of t he Enlighte nmen t which ,

scorn e d what it could not define Th ese Romanticists .

were discon tented with typical ideas and with logical

r easoni ng about them Th e y challenged the u niverse
.
,

bec ause it was not obedien t t o the ir egois t ic cravi ngs .

I t is ve ry clear what the dangers as well as the gr ea t

ness of thi s German Roma nticism were The dange rs of .

the movement lay within its elf in i t s aris tocratic exclu

,

si v e ne ss its reluctance to face the forces of evil its lack

, ,

o f strength and of firm ne ss of cha racter Ye t the age .

i tself may be largely re sponsible for these Its stre ngt h .

lay also within in its de e p ening of s elf-consciousness

, ,

in its rejuve nating and e nnobli ng the whol e e xpa ns e of

bei ng in its intelle ct ual conception of ma n s most inti
,
’

mate relations to himself to his companions and to the

, ,

world around him S om e tim e s indeed the spiri tual

.
, ,

force of this small band shows its e lf quite cap able of

strong action in the out e r world Napoleon himself as .

c ri be d his downfall no t ri marily to diplomacy or to the

p
bayonet bu t to the resis t ance of the Germ an Ideologists
, .

G oe the as a Romanticist We have already spoken

.

’
of the resurrection of S pinoza s doc trine and i ts acc e pt
ance as a model by this time The Romanticists fol
.
,

lowing S pinoza conceived of n ature as a u nity in which

,

the divi ne manifest s i tself in its fullness Nature is .

Re ason in Becomi ng S o fitting i nd e ed for the time

.
, ,

was Spinoza s p antheism t hat Goe the the literary ex

’
,

pone nt of the period made i t the c e ntral pri nciple of

,

his poetic thought Goeth e c an be u nd e rstood only as

.

the Ro man t ic S pinoza The philosophy that underlies

.
298 H I S T ORY O F PH ILOSOP HY
Goeth e s work is no ted here as an example of the R0
’

m antic moveme nt .

Lik e all the Romant ic philosophy Goe the s philoso

’
,

phy was a p e rsonal r e ve lation and no t a formulat e d ,

doctrine for u ni v e rs al applic ation Like all the R0

'

manticists Go e th e was a highly strung personality and

, ,

his philosophy was conc e ived to be t rue by himself o nly

for hims elf He did not look upo n the trivialiti e s and
.

the co nve ntio ns of life as mere limi tatio ns of his per

s onalit
y but as a fall from tru th Tru th i s r ealiz ed by
, .

m an when he i s in v i tal i nter change wi th the u niv ers e .

Th e refore Goeth e was in full agre ement with S pinoza

in lo ngi ng for em ancip ation fro m human littl e ness and
in his d esire for t he i nfinite Goethe difie re d fro m .

S pi noza s p anth e ism in his own way ; for Go e the con

’

c e i v e d m an to h ave an i nd e p e nd e nt function in the i n

fi nite M an m ak e s his contribution t o history and does

.

not me r ely p assively approp ri ate the products of the

world arou nd himself M an re acts upon the world he
.
,

r e sists it and becomes alive to the joy of i t

, .

To Go e th e the world had a so ul because the world ,

gives cle arn e ss to the human soul Nature shows how .

closely she is re lated to us by disclosing to us her in

most soul Here in Goethe is a mys ticism in modern
.

garb an art istic view of l ife Beside s the world e x

,
.
,

pre sses human experi e nc e s ou a large sc ale and the ,

way to nat ur e s h e art is not to go behi nd n ature -phe

’

momena bu t through them The facts of natur e ar e real

,
.
,

and our o wn lif e is like n at u re Bo th move in pre .

scribed orbi t s but both are e mp ty if the connection be

,

twee n th e m is s e ve red W e find th e r e for e the secret of

.

our life by returning to nature and this is a re tu rn to ,

the spiri tual whole of thi ngs A t di fferent tim es Goethe

.
300 HISTORY O F P HI LOSOPHY
the Roman t icists mo tives I t may be s tated under
’
.

thre e h e adings
(1 ) M an s ideal is t o expand his soul un t il it becomes
’

one wi th God .

2
( ) Ther e is no Thing- in-Itself The fini t e world is .

o nly li mit ation of the ego

a .

3
( ) M an and the na t ure world are essen t ially one .

M an has a knowl e dge of n ature when he has a k now

l e dge of himself I n re ading his own history he reads
.

the history of na ture The Romanticist drew a veil from.

the face of natu re and found there his own spirit .

The Life and the Wri ti ng s of Sche lling (1 775

O f S chelli ng s long lif e of seven ty-ni ne years
’
,

the fifte en years from 1 7 95 to 18 1 0 were the mos t im

port ant productive p e riod Like B e rkeley he was a .
,

m any-sid e d genius and began to write brilliantly in his

,

early ye ars H e published his firs t t re atis e at six te en

.

years and b e fore he was twenty he published s e veral

,

e ss ays of disti nct merit o n Fic hte s philosophy t he suc

’

c e ss of which le d to his c all to the chair of philosophy

at J ena All his technical works were wr it ten in an
.

academic atmosphere After 1 8 1 2 he so fond of wri ting

.
, ,

be came sile nt He eve n ceased to d eliver lecture s a t the

.

U niversi ty of Berlin wh e n he found tha t notes of them

we re published without his consent H egel in commen t .
,

ing o n S chelli ng said that S chelling liked to carry on

,

his thi nki ng in public .

S chelli ng and Fichte may be stu di e d together because

they ar e alike in d e ve loping one side of Kant s doc ’

Re ad E ucke n, P r oblem
f H u ma n L if , pp
e 45 7 —4 64 , o .

4 90—4 94 Wernae r, R oma nti cis m a nd the R oma nti c School

i n G erma n , p 1 3 2—1 4 3 ; R and, M od ern Class i ca l P hi
y p .

losop hers , 5 3 5 -5 68
pp . .
 THE GER MAN IDEALISTS 30 1

t rine Bu t their ca ree rs we re very diff e ren t C on t ras t ed

. .

with Fichte life of po verty struggle se lf-cre ated ah

’
s , ,

tagonism s long-delayed victory and d e votion to rigo rous

, ,

morality is S chelling s life of e arly ac ademic success

,
’
,

prosperity and rom antic friendships The life of Kan t

, .

was one of i nner development and outward routine ;

th at of Fichte of early form ulated thought and exter
nal warfare S che lling s life on the other hand does
’
.
, ,

not strike us as one of d e ve lopme nt either ext ernally ,

or s u bj e ctively It was rather a serie s of ch anges H e

. .

look e d upon his o wn philosophy as a dev elopment bu t ,

its li nkage is thread-like due to his wonde rful imagin

,

ation and mobility of t hought With his gre at sugges tive .

power he depende d more upon analogy than logic ; hi s

,

argume nt and his philosophy lie b e fore us as if eve r in

proc e ss of co nti nuous read apt ation S chelli ng possessed .

all the fe rvor and i nsight of the Romanticists and all ,

th eir egois m and c aprice It is even more difficult to .

charac terize his philosophy th an that of S pinoza H e was .

monist pan th e ist and evolutionist ; p aralle list theoso

, , ,

p hi st and beli ever in fre e dom

, he acc e pt e d the doc t rin e

of the Trini ty ; in all this he was the tru e Romanticist .

S ch elli ng s philosophy of nat u re is i ntelligible o nly in

’

t he light of the gr e at ar tistic ferme nt of his time and

as the e xpression of his s trong a rt istic personality H is .

ideal of artistic i nsight in to nature became for hi m hi s

idea of scie nce Reality is nature and na ture is a work
.
,

of art self composed and self re ne wing The endeavor

, .

of S chelling was to fashion all human exis tence into

artistic form A t firs t he look ed upon nature as rat ional
.
,

but later h e was i mpressed with its irra tionality .

S chelling s life may be divided i nto six periods on

’

the basis of the changes of his t hough t

302 HISTORY O F PHILOSOPHY
1 . E arli er P eriod (1 7 7 5 S chelling was the
son of the chaplai n of a cloister sc hool near T ubin
gen and was educated in history and spe culative sci e nc e
,

in the university of tha t town A fte r his unive rsity

.

’
e duc at io n he held the positio n of tutor in a nobl e ma n s

family at Leipsic for two ye ars Duri ng this t ime he

.

lis tened to l e ctures at the University of Leipsic on

medicine and physics Be fore he was twe nty he had
.

publishe d s e veral not able ess ays on speculative mat

te rs among them The E go a s a P ri ncip le i n P hi loso
,

p h y ; and in 1 7 9 7 I d e as
f or a P hilos o hy o
p f N a tu re .

These led to his call to a ch air in the University of

Jena S chelling was early acquainted with the doc
.

trine of Le ibnitz but the most powerful i nfluences

,

upon him at this t ime were K ant and esp e cially , ,

Fichte .

2 The P hilo sop hy of

. N atur e (1 7 97
S chelli ng was c all e d to Jena through t he influenc e of
Goethe S chiller and Fichte ; and it was here th at he
, ,

comple t ed what he had b egun at Leipsic the supple

me ntat ion of Fichte s philosophy with a P hilo s op hy
’

of N a tu r e (writt en H e was colleague of Fichte

and afte rwards a helpful frie nd of H ege l Jena was .

then the centre of the Roman tic movement the movi ng ,

spirit of which was C aroline the wife of A u gus t Schle

,

gel S ch elli ng was v e ry successful at Jena as lecturer

.
,

and his publications at this time were very m any .

3 The Tr ansc endenta l P hilo s op hy (18 00

.

While still at Je na he fe lt the influ ence of S chill e r ,

who had u ni ted the ide as of K ant and Goethe into an

E sthetic Ide alism U nd e r this i nflu e nce S ch e lli ng re
.
 HIS TORY O F P HI LOSOP HY
Fichteideal
’
t is their r elation as philosoph e rs s

s commonly called subjective be cause o f his em

is upo n the Ego at the expense of the non-Ego In .

. e c hnic al terms Fich te g ave no ad e qu ate philosophy

ature ; for his assump tion was th at nature is o nly

ri al for the reason N ature to Fich te was only the

.

upon which the reason could act Fichte s k e en

.
’

h t i nto human aff airs bli nd e d him to the m e aning

itur e The contribution of S ch e lli ng to the philo
.

y of n atur e was no t th e re fore unw e lcom e d by

te ; for he saw that such a philosophy could e asily

eve lope d from his poi nt of vi e w provided n ature
,

a
a de d as a unity in the s e rvice of t he reason In
g r .

the d ev elop ment of Schelli ng ov er F i chte was

1
( ) S chelli ng added a scie n ce of n ature to
te s sci e nc e of mind ; (2 ) Then he transformed
’

te s philosophy of m ind i nto an ae sthetic philoso

’

o f mind ; 3 Th e n he tried in several succ e ssive

( )
npts to find a commo n metaphysical grou nd for his
philosophy of nature and his recast philosophy
llD d .Whil e the m ethod of S ch e lling was not dif
lt from th at of Fichte his ge neral mo tive was dif
,

It ; for to S ch e lli ng the universe must no t be re

ed as the cre atio n of an ac t ive moral Ego bu t as ,

1 an exist e nce of its own While for Fichte to

g .

r is t o produce for S chelli ng it is to reproduce

, .

he i nve stigating mind of S ch elli ng exp e rience and

cv ation ar e the sourc e s of knowl e dge ; e t it mus t
y
>e i nfe rre d that S ch e lling s philosophy was i nduc
’

or tha t he d er iv ed t he E o from the no n- Ego as

g ,

a R n ha d be e n e volved from the no n-Eg o Thes e

u .
 THE G ERM AN IDEALISTS 3 05
'

trary, mind and nature have a common sou rce in the

Re ason Th ey h ave a p arallel exist e nce and d e velop
.

accordi ng to the s am e law N at ure is existi ng Re aso n

.
,

mind is thinking Re ason .

Sch elling s Philo s ophy of N a ture S ch e lli ng star ted

’
.

with K ant s e arly conc eption of nature as dy namic

’

that m atter exists through the i nterplay of the forc e s

of attraction and r e pulsion The human organis m is
.

the highest expre ssion of such dynamic activity In the .

world there is nothi ng dead M at te r is the lowe st e x

.

p ression of dynamic activity ; the vegetable is next the ,

animal next and the human brain is the co nsumm ation

,

of this process of p ro ductivity Thus matter o n the .

one hand and mi nd on the oth e r are the two pol e s of

r eason in nature Eve rything is life moveme nt ; e ve ry
.

thi ng is the oscillation betwe e n t wo ex tremes the int e r ,

play of contrary but correlative forces In romantic .

t e rms nature is the S e lf in Becoming Nature is a liv

, .

ing whole which manifes ts i t self in an asce ndi ng scale

of rich and varied forces betwee n mat ter and mind .

S uch a conception me t consist ently the demands of

t his Ro m antic p e riod *
The high expecta ti ons of the
.

physicis ts of the p revious ce ntury had been u nfulfilled ,

for they had not succeeded in obtaining a pu rely m e

chanic al explanat ion of the derivatio n of life from mat

te r Darwin was still t o come M edicine which was a t

. .
,

th at time showi ng great progress off e r ed no argument ,

for the mechanical conception of the world There had .

,

howeve r bee n many discoverie s at this tim e in ele c

,

tricity and m agn e tism ; and these mysterious qu alities

seemed to r epudiate the mechanical theo ry Vit alism .

thus us u rped the pl ace of mathemati cs S pi noza r ather .

Re ad Shelle y Lov e s P hilosop hy

’
.
,
3 06 HIS T ORY O F PHI LOSOPHY
than Galileo was the mod el of the ti me Natu re mus t .

be co nce ived as a u nity in which the Divine manife sts

its elf in its fullne ss.

A ll these influ e nces appear in S ch e lli ng s firs t philo

’

sophical u nde rt aking H e states philosophically wh at

.

Go ethe stat e s poetic ally Nature is not to be d e scrib e d

.

in quantiti e s nor m easure d by rule It t ranscends .

me asurem ent It is to be truly understood only as

.

productivity h avi ng organic life as i ts goal N atu re .

is rational life not mech anism Everything has its

, .

logically determi ne d place S ch elling u s e d the n atural

.

s ci e nc e of his time to show how the connection of forces

and their transformation i nto one another w e re the mani

f estation of divi ne cosmic purpose The gaps he filled
.

in with t eleological conce ptions He used morphology

.

with the same purpos e as Goethe He fe l t the same .

need of a de eper m eaning of nature than m athematics

c an give -the ne ed of a ratio nal purpos e ful meani ng .

Goethe shows this in his Theory of C olors when he

looks u pon colors not as atomic movemen ts bu t as ,

so methi ng ess e ntially qualitat ive S chelli ng too was

.
, ,

not an evolutio nist in the modern s e nse and he did no t ,

r egard one species as derived from anoth e r He though t .

of specie s in an asce ndi ng scale to be sure ; but he saw

,

in e ach only the preliminary s tage to the next and all ,

as the divine e xpression O ne accomplishment of na

.

t ure mer ely precedes another in t ime .

The nineteenth cen tury looke d back on this Rom antic

science as m e rely a fit of excessive s en t iment th at has
impeded the modern work of serio us in vestigation Ye t .

it may safely be said tha t the ni neteenth century has

not se ttled the ques tion and that nature will always
,

need a ra tion al as well as a m ec hanical explana tion .

3 08 HI S TORY O F PHILOSOPHY
of sense as of will It does not have the qu ality of n e ed
.

th at belongs to s ense ph enomena nor of e arnest ne ss th at

,

accompani e s morality S ense is oblit e rat e d ; the stirrings

.

of the will b e com e s ilent That which appears was c all e d

.

”
by S chiller the play impulse Toward the e duc ation .

of man S chille r thus off e red art while K ant had pre ,

se nt e d religio n Art re fine s the fe e lings t empers the

.
,

sensuous will and m akes room for the moral will Ye t

, .

the moral will is not the e nd ; for art is not o nly the
me ans of education but the goal as well C ompl e t e life
, .

comes when the co nflict b e twe e n morality and se nse

disappe ars in artis tic feeling O nly as man plays is
.

”
he t ruly man The ideal th at S chiller formulated for
.

”
this Rom antic age was the sch one S eele Whil e in
“
'

the soul of man the K antian rigoristic moral law e xists

wh en se nse stands in opposition to d u ty the be autiful ,

soul does not k now conflict becaus e its n ature is e n

nobl e d by its own i ncli nation Thi s ae sthetic hum anism
.

S chille r e xpress e s for his time in antith e sis to K ant s ’

and Fichte s rigorism Go e the impersonated this ide al

’
.

in his life and r e presented it in his works The Roman .

tic ists c arri e d this co nceptio n to i t s extreme both in their

practice and in their literary productions Thus th ey .

came t o s tand for an aristocracy of c ulture and in th e m ,

ethical ge ni ality culminated The Ro m anticis t con .

traste d himself with the Ph ilistine who lives accord

ing to rules The Rom anticis t wo uld live out his own
.

individuality as valuable in itself He substitu ted the .

endless play of the imaginat ion for Fichte s moral law ’

,

and was frequ ently very wayward and c apricious This .

 T HE G E RMAN IDEALIS TS 309

In his construction of his own phi lo so phy of mind

S chelli ng adopted completely S chiller s theory of the
’

aesth e tic reason in what he called Tr ans c endental I de al

i sm H e looked upon the Fich tean anti thesis be twe e n

.

theoretical and prac tical reason as the same as that be

t w e en the u nco nscious and the conscious activity of the
’

S e lf Theore tically or from the poi nt of vie w of the

.
,

underst anding consciousness is d e te rmined by the u n

,

conscious ; practically or from the point of v iew of the

,

will the unco nscious is the creation of consciousness

, .

The practical or willi ng S e lf re-sh apes the produc ts of

the nat ure world For a thi nki ng being is not m e r e ly a
.

r efl e ctor or re-prese nter of eve nts as th e y occur i n the

n ature world — as na ture produce s them Thi nking man .

is not merely passive He re-sh ap e s and transforms na

. p

ture through the fre edom of his morality .

But neither t he series of p assively appreh e nded

e vents nor the series of eve nts transform e d by the
,

ac tive moral will is e ver comple t e Ne ither as a p assive

, .

p ro duct of nature nor as a moral will is man a perfected

bei ng In eithe r condition man perpetually fe e ls the
.

c ontradi ction si nce he is nei th e r wholly passiv e nor

,

wholly ac tive The ant agonism be t we e n will and sense

.

is eve r prese nt M an realizes t he full ness of his Ego

.
,

wh e n he tran scends both will and sens e both morality ,

and science in the conscious -u nconscious activi ty of

,

artistic ge nius This is the highes t synthesis I n S ch el

. .

’
ling s lec tures delivered at Je na on the philosophy of
art after he had writ t en his Transcendenta l I deali sm
, ,

he develope d and appli ed this theo ry and it determi ned

the subsequent deve lopment of aesthetics in the J ena
circle Kant had previously defined genius as i ntellec t
.

tha t wo rks like na tur e ; S chiller had de fined i t as play

3 10 HIS TORY O F P HILOSOPHY
ing ; S chelling looked upo n it as aesthetic reason and the
climax of the philosophy of mi nd Ar t and not logic .
, ,

is the i nstrument by which the reason develops A rtistic .

r eason is the goal tow ard which the re ason aims .

The Sys t e m of Iden ti ty S ch e lling p u blish e d his .

Tra nsce ndental I dea li sm in 1 8 0 0 I n the n e xt y e ar he .

publish e d his Sys tem of I dentity in the hop e of findi ng

som e common ground for his two preceding poi nts of
v ie w For N atur e is not absolute but is a limit e d obj e ct
.
,

ive Ego ; and M ind is also not absolute but is also ,

limi ted although subj e ctive The S e lf p e rc e ives the oh

, .

j cet as oth e r th an its elf and in subs e qu e nt reflection i t

,

s e es the obj ect as a form of its own de eper S elf S ub .

e ct and object mi nd and nature ar e one in reality

j , ,
.

The qu e stion th e n is Does the absol ute S elf e xist ?

,

Ye s bu t outside the co nditions of existence and b eyond

,

all con t r adictions It is i tself the highest conditio n the

.
,

unconditioned condition Bu t what is the basis of these

.

two antithetical aspects of life ? The most suitable name

that S chelli ng could give it was Identity or I ndiff er
ence ; for other n ames would imply conditions In this .

at tempt to construc t an absolute Idealism S chelling ,

shows the influence of S pinoza Ide ntity remi nds us .

of S pinoza s subst anc e — a reality that is absolut ely

’

indifiere nt to both mental and nature phenom ena and ,

yet is the reality of bo th It is absolut e re ason u nde ter

.

mi ned in its content It was this turni ng to S pinozism

.

on the p art of S chelling that m ade Hegel bre ak with

,

him and call his Identity the night in whi ch all cows ,
”
are black S chelli ng even cam e so much u nder the
.

i nfluence of S pinoza as t o imitat e S pinoza s form of ’

presenta tion in the Ethics Bu t S chelling regarded t he

.

o bj ec tive and subjec t ive wo rlds no t af te r the manner of

3 12 HI S T ORY O F PHI LOSOPHY
ligion would f urnish a final basis for the solution of all
problems ove rcome all antithes e s in an inner harmony
, ,

and bri ng about the eternal welf ar e of all .

S che lli ng no w no lo nge r called the Absolu t e I ndiff e r

ence but G od or I nfini ty and he co nc e ived Him as
, ,

possessi ng modes and po tencies I n the de velopment of

.

this ne w li ne of thou ght he i ntroduced the neo-Platonic

doctri ne of Id e as as God s i ntuitio ns of H ims e lf and as
’

i nt e rm e dia ries with the world Later S chelli ng pass e d

.

through another change and this doctrine gre w u nder

,

his ha nds into a theosophy and a theory of the irra

tional The i nflue nce of S chell ing was eclips e d by He gel
.

after S chelling retire d to M u nich ; and S chelli ng saw

his rival in control of G e rman academic though t fo r
many ye ars But he had the satisfaction in his old age
.

of b e ing called by the authoriti e s to Berlin as the official

S pokesman agai nst the H egelian doctri ne .

H eg el and the C u lmina ti on of I d eali sm We have .

di vid e d the philosoph e rs after K ant i nto two groups ;

1 Fichte S ch e lli ng and the Romanticists and Hegel ;
( ) , ,

( )2 H erb art and S chopenhauer In this firs t group

.
,

which we have at prese nt under our eye Fich te is the ,

ethical e xhort er S chelling the Romantic nature-lover

, ,

and H e ge l the intelle ct ual systematiz e r Fi chte s con

’
.

ception of Re ality is always an ethic al ideal unr e aliz e d ,

in whos e cause men are called to fig ht for conviction s

’

sake S ch elling poi nts to the be auty of n ature s pro

.
’

du ctivity as a re ality th at lies hidden in mystery Both .

these theories show profou nd i nsight i nto life and both

are expressive of the period in its attitude towa rd life .

Fich te is the type of the Puri tan id ealist ; S chelli ng

the type of the sentim entalist Ye t both eve n from the
.
,
 THE GERM AN IDEALISTS 3 13

tial exp ressions Idealism was a social movemen t ; and

.

like all social movements must run its course It would .

not stop until it had cu lmi nate d in a full and systematic

formulation This was found in the p hilosophy of Hegel
. .

The social forces of the eight ee nth ce ntu ry had bee n

gath e ri ng a momentum which naturally c am e to a
,

m agni fic e nt climax O n its politic al side this move

.

m e nt culmi nated u nder the l e adership of the gre at e st of

all political ideali sts Napole on Bo nap art e in 1 8 1 5 a t
, ,

Waterloo O n its i nt ellectual side it reached i ts com

.

l tio n in the philosophic al sys t em of H eg e l H e gel

p e .

di e d in 1 8 3 1 and his i ntellectu al ki ngdom like the po

, ,

litical kingdom of N apoleon was immedi ately shat tered

, .

But the obs e rve r of the curr e nts of history will find
m u ch significance in the stubborn persiste nce of the
i ntellectu al pha se of the Ideali s tic movem e nt long after
i ts political dominance had gone Hegel rul e d the in .

te llec tu al world of Germ any from B er lin for sixteen

ye ars after the b attle of Waterloo and his philosophy ,

was o ffici ally recognized by the Berlin authoritie s This .

s tubbornness of the real m of id ea s can be exe mplified

th ro ughou t history for i t requires more th an one politi
,

c al e arthquake to demolish a well - organized intellectual

th e ory .

H egel may be s aid to have drawn the scattered

thre ad s of the preceding ide alists i nto a sys tem L ike .

them he firmly grounded his ph ilosophy on the Kant

,

ian epis t emology Like them also he sought to find

.
,

absolu te reality by means of the conscious Ego This .

’
o nly me ans th at all three were idealis ts Bu t Fichte s .

conception of the Ego was only partially formed It .

could not be an absolu t e reality si nce it need ed to be

,

conf ron ted by a non - Ego in o rde r to a ss e r t it self and

3 14 HISTORY O F PHI LOSOPHY
live . Hegel was dis cerni ng enough to see that Reason
was more fundam ental th an either action purpos e or , ,

consciousn e ss its e lf To him both the Ego and the non

.

Ego w e re in ess enc e Reason The Ego could not k now .

th at it had cre at e d the non-Ego unle ss the Ego was in

the b e gi nni ng ratio nal To disti nguish the Ego fro m the
.

non-Ego ther e mus t be som e grou nd of simil arity upon

,

which both are based I n his search for thi s ground

.

Hegel at firs t allied hims e lf with S ch elling The bril .

liancy of S ch elli ng s thought d azzl e d him The n he saw

’
.

th at S ch e lling only le d b ack to the abstract univ e rs al

of S pi noza A mys tic al “ black night Id entity was not
.

actual nor did it explai n anythi ng actu al It me rely .

s aid that the Absolu tely Real is unk nowable This is too .

easy a solution of the comple xity of life Having neither .

meaning nor act uality it cannot e xplai n the actual ,

concrete and m e aningful things The Absolutely Real .

must be a universal bu t it must also be co ncr ete H is

,
.

tory has been the Re ason in its toil and t ravail The .

Absolutely Real must include history and it mus t be

”
Re aso n With Fich t e the de e d act had primacy wi th
.
,

S che lli ng the aesthet ic feeling with Hegel t he Reason ,

as an artic ulated series of co ncepts .

W y g
h H e e l re mains to-day the Repr es entativ e of
Kant There were several r easons why H egel remai ns
.

the representa t ive of Kan t

1 H e had more lear ning and abili ty th an t he o ther
.

post-Kantians .

2 Hi s own i nte rpre t at ion was an int e rpre tation of

.

facts By the oth e r post-K anti ans thi ngs are not re pre
.

sented as th ey are but as th ey h av e b e en transformed

, .

He ge l howe ver was a r e spect e r of thi ngs as th e y are

, , .

He gel was posse ssed of no se ntiment He was a sat iris t ; .

3 16 HISTORY O F P HI LOSOPHY
o pposition Lik e Kan t s his life was e ntirely academic,
.
’
,

but unlike Kant s his experienc e was in m any university

’
,

circle s T ii bingen Jena H eidelb e rg and Berlin H is

, , , .

thirte en y e ars at Berli n w e re rem ark abl e not only fo r ,

his philosophic al domi nance but for his i nflu e nce in ,

soci e ty and court The official recognition of his phi

.

lo so phy by the B e rli n authoriti e s was a d e trim e n t

i n the e nd ; for imm e diately after his de ath in 1 8 3 1 , ,

it lost its i nflue nce He gel had s u cc ee d e d Fich t e at

.

B e rli n and by the irony of fate S chelli ng alre ady an

, , ,

old man in Vie nna was called by the B e rlin authoriti es

,

to combat Hege l s influe nce H ege l s followers after

’
.
’
,

his de ath bec ame e ngage d i n angry dispute s ove r their

,

inte rpre t ations of their m aster s philosophy His ph il o

’
.

80 phy was attacked by H erb art The i ntell e ctual world .

tur ne d away from him to empiric al discoveri es and the

doctri ne of e v olution I n twenty years Hegel s influ
.
’

e nce was i nsignificant and t od ay his name is scarcely

,

m entioned in the le cture room of a Germ an unive rsity .

H is i nfluence is howe ve r growing and powerful in Eng

, ,

l and and the United S tates S till it must be s aid that .

eve n in Germ any no one has so domi nat e d the direction

of jurisprudence sociology th e ology ae sthe tics and his
, , , ,

tory (a science which He gel hims elf cre ated) He ge l s .

’

erudition his ability to sys temat ize hi s power of dis

, ,

criminati on are suffi ci ent to expl ai n such i nfluence

, .

The illumination that his philosophy gi ves lies less ,

in his met aphysic al th e ory than in his applica t ion of it

to histo ry and tradi ti on H e won adherents not by his .
,

abstruse ar gum e nts that so few can und e rstand but by ,

illustration ; not by his de mons tration of the Absolute ,

but by showing how that A bsolute is what the re ligious

devo tee seeks what the moralist presupposes and the
,
 THE G ER MA N I DEALISTS 3 17

historian recognizes In carryi ng out his theory in

.

d e t ail he arbitrar ily fitt e d hi s fac t s to his th e ory espe ,

c ially in the philosophy of na tur e the history of philo ,

8 0 phy and history

,
In the realm of pure t hough t where
.
,

conceptual facts ar e dealt with this is not so app ar ,

e nt. He was succe ssful for example in the scien ce of

, ,

aesthetics .

H ege l s li te ra ry s tyle is difficult and his technicali t ies

’
,

a re almost barbarous He uses philosophical and com .

mon terms with meanings to suit hi mself He loves .

paradoxical ph rases and is pedantic in hi s insis tenc e on

,

systematic arrangement .

1 F orm ativ e P eri o d (1 7 7 0

. Hegel was bo rn
a t S tuttgart in 1 7 7 0 and in the years be t ween 1 7 88
,

and 1 7 93 he studi ed philosophy theology and the class , ,

ics in the U niversity of Tii bingen A mong his compan .

ions the re were S chelling and Holderlin From 1 7 93 .

to 1 7 96 he was a tutor in S wi tzerland whe r e he made ,

a further s tudy of Kant .

2 F ormu lation o
.
f h i s P hi lo so hy
p (1 7 96
H egel formulated his phi losophy for the first time in
t he four year s (1 796—18 00) of hi s li fe at Frankfort ,

where he was ac t ing in the capacity of t u to r I n 1 8 0 1 .

he became privat— d ocen t at Je na through S chelli ng s

’

recomm end ation He e di t ed a philosophic al journal with

.

S ch e lli ng and the two were friends so lo ng as Hege l

,

fou nd S ch e lli ng s assist ance of value to h imself Wh e n

’
.
,

in 1 8 0 3 S chelli ng left Je na H egel began to criticiz e

, ,

his former frie nd s philosophy H egel was appoi nte d

’
.

professor of philosophy at Je na in 1 8 05 .

3 D ev elop ment o
.
f hi s P hilo s o h
p y (1 8 0 6
1 806 He wrot e the P hii nomenologi e whi ch was pub
.
,

lished in 1 807 .
3 18 HISTORY O F PHILOSOPHY
1 807 .The university was discontinued af te r the battle
of Jena and H egel wen t to Bamberg to edi t a news
,

paper .

1 8 07—1 8 1 5 H egel was at Nurembe rg as t eache r in i ts

.

gymn asium and in 1 8 1 1 a t the age of fo rty-one he

, , ,

married .

1 81 2—1 8 1 3 H e published his L ogic

. .

1 8 1 6—1 8 1 7 He was professor of philosophy a t H eidel

.

b e rg H e published his E ncyclop oed ia which con

.
,

sis t s of thr e e p arts : Logic Philosophy of Nature and

, ,

P hilos ophy of M ind This was e nl arged in 1 82 7

. .

1 8 1 8 H ege l succe e d e d Fic hte at Berlin wh e re he me t

.
,

with marked succ e ss and where he exe rcis e d a v e ry

,

w ide i nflue nce Wh e n H e ge l came to B e rli n his phi

.

lo sophic al th e ory was alre ady formulat ed and his ,

thirte en ye ars at Berli n w e re spent in illustrating and

verifyi ng it in history .

1 8 3 1 A t the height of his fame he died of chole ra

.
, .

Re ali sm, M ys ti ci sm and Id eali sm It will no t be

, .

amiss at this poi nt to co ntras t three of the grea t types

of h um an tho u ght Re alism and M ysticism wi th the
,

Idealism of which H egel was the consumm at e expre s

sion The Ide alistic Pe riod of E uropean though t is con
.

fined within the forty-one years be twee n 1 7 90 and 1 83 1 .

M oreover i t is a world-wid e movem e nt the philosophical ,

expre ssion of which is res trict e d to the G e rman peopl e .

Mysticism and Re alism repr e s e nt the civilizations of

longer periods and of m any p eo ple s Mysticism is for .
,

e x ample the attitud e of mi nd fre que ntly fou nd in the

,

M iddle A ge s in Europ e and may be ro u ghly s aid to be

,

the philosophy of the O ri e ntal p e opl e s S pinoza was a .

belated mystic and its bes t European expone nt ; and

agains t the revival of S pinoza s Mys ticism during this ’
3 20 HISTORY O F P HILOSOP HY
than Myst icism It is simply the concep tion of many
.

reali ties indep endent of one anothe r and of the thinki ng

mi nd Reality is not one it is a plurality of i nd ependen t
.
,

things all of which are inde p end ent of t he thi nking

,

process S uch r e alities are not und e fined A s in Ide al

. .

ism our knowledge of them is a definite m atter of

,

re flection ; bu t agai nst M ys t icism such defi ni t e know ,

ledge is proof of their reality .

This can be illustrated by the series 1 i t i l 2 n .

Le t the number 2 represe nt the re ality or meani ng

o f the infinite series which however f ar extended n e ve r
, , ,

re aches Le t t he s e ri e s itself r e prese nt the defi ni te

proce sses of ph e nom e nal nature The Re alist would say .

that only the incre asing series is real and the 2 is ,

an unknowable The Re alist admits that the series is

.

fragmentary and incomplete but i t is q u ite de finite and

,

cert ainly the best we c an do I t is at le ast exact and

.

scientific ; and the goal of scientific knowle dge belongs

t o the realm of the attai nable O n the oth e r hand t he
.

Mys tic main tains that since exac t knowledge attain s

,

o nly the changi ng and phenomenal exact knowledge is ,

illusory When we canno t attain the re al by e ff ort and

.

sense knowle dge why was te our time in seeking to do

,

so ? Re ality is r igh t at hand — in one s s e lf To the ’

.

Mys tic the infi nit e series of f rac tions is unre al because ,

i t is and always will be incomple te The ideal 2 can .

be go t by direct and intuitive knowledge Thus to the .

”
Realis t the i nfinit e series is real and the goal 2 is “

u nreal whi le to the M ystic the

, 2 is real and the
fr ac tions of experience are u nreal .

H egel fe lt profou ndly convinc e d th at neith e r Re alism

with its definite re aliti e s nor M ysticism with its u nde
fined goal was an adequat e explanation of the world and
 T H E G ERM AN IDEALISTS 32 1

lif e The tr uly r eal must not only be defini te but i t

.
,

mus t also be all-i nclusive It mus t not on the one hand

.

be incomplete nor on the other mus t it be vague I t

, .

mus t be both the number 2 and the infinit e seri e s

leadi ng to 2 A t ruly and absolu t ely real must be
“
.

the explanation of everything t hat happens joy evil , , ,

necessity in nature eve ry leas t eve nt and change In

, .

the ligh t of the idealism of H ege l the soluti ons of the

Mys tic and the Realist seem to fade in impo rt ance and ,

the p roblem of life seems to gr o w in significance and

meaning .

The Fundame ntal Principle s of H egel s I de ali sm

’
.

In contr as t wi th Mysti cism and Realism as well as wi th ,

t he doctri ne of Fichte and S chelling Hege l t ried to ,

formulat e a concep tion of the unive rse tha t would in

clu de everything and ye t be an organic whole I n wh at .

terms can this world of richness and var iety of cobrdi ,

nations and contradictions be conceived as a si ngle ,

whole How can it be one and still be many ? He ge l

saw clearly that this was his problem The truly abso .

lut e mus t be a unity and still be absolute

, .

There ar e two fundamental pri nciples upon which his

doctrine r es ts : (1 ) The w orld mu s t be conceiv ed i n
terms of co nsci ou sness To any one who has s t u died
.

the pri nciples of psychology or who has followed Kant s

’
,

epistemological analysis i t is clear that the only re al

,

uni ties are co nscious unities The ch ar ac te ristic of con

.

s ciou sness is synthesis This is wha t we mean by con

.

sc iou sness and co nscious ness is unique i n this

, (2 ) The .

w o rld as a co ns c iou s who le mu s t be ess enti a lly a wor ld

of co ntr adi c ti o ns We mus t accep t contradiction and
.

not co nsistency as the fundame nt al and explanato ry

principle of life In scien ce and our ordinary hu man
.
3 22 HIS TORY O F PHILOSOP HY
p roblems we try to get results that ar e logically consis t
en t This is useful bu t in doi ng so we do not ge t a full
.
,
’
explanation We omit in such calculations life s negw
.

t io ns and i nco ngrui ties But do not i nconsist encies and

.

negations and incongruitie s exist ? Th ey certainly do ;

everything has its Opposite ; and if we will t ak e the
pains to observ e the proce ss e s of thought we shall find ,

th at thought is fund ame ntally inconsistent Why do .

we usually regard though t as a s e lf-consis tent process ?

Because our methods of form al logic are such In formal .

logic we re ason smoothly and consis tently from the pre

mises to the conclusio n If we loo k more deeply into
.

though t we shall find th at such consistency is m ade

,

possible by ignoring the i nconsis te ncies necessary t o the

very b e i ng of thought The question therefore is not
.
,

C an the cosmic whole be conc e ived as consistent ? bu t

What i s the law of i ts i nco nsistenci es
Le t us consider th e se two principles of the H egelian
philosophy more in de tail .

The C os mi c Uni ty H e ge l insists on the old tru t h

.

th at thought is self-operati ng within us Though t be .

longs to our nature yet i t controls our nature Though t

,
.

deve lops co nsequ ence s withou t regard to the will and

demands that co nt radic tions sh all be solve d It is not .

correc t to say t hat we think but rather that t hinki ng

,

goes on within us Thought is the life of the world

. .

Thought is a process which embraces all things and pro

je c ts them .H e gel ema ncipat es thought from all the
limit ations of human mind s He would m ake t hough t
.

objective and t ransform re ality in to thought .

Thus H egel c onceives th at thi s self-operati ng though t

3 24 HISTORY O F P HILOSOP HY
me nt M ind and mat ter are not aspect s of a reality which
.

is behi nd th e m but are the mode s of that re ality The

, .

cosmic r e ason is successively mind and matter and not ,

the pri nciple of mind and nat ur e In S chelli ng things .

proceed fr om the absolute I n He gel they ar e the abso

.

lute The absolute do es not exceed things but is wholly

.
,

in them as their organic u nity E verything is u nde r .

the conceptual labor of thought The important thing .

is to refer all our complex states t o the u nifying cosmic

concep t and have one illuminating ide a Absolute r e ason .

is absolu te move m ent the p e rp etual movement of life .

Y e t this absolu t e reason — the reason that r e fus e s to

change ac cordi ng to our likes and dislikes is its own
law and goal The cosmos is t he law of reason and has
.

as its end its own unfolding self-consciousness It is not .

the purpose of philosophy according to H egel t o t ell , ,

wh at the world should be but to recognize its n ature ,

as rational .

W e must therefore be care ful t o distinguish H egel s

, ,
’

conc e ption of the u nity of God from th at o ther concep

ti on of Him as a qu antit ative single and isol at ed u nity, , .

An isolat ed and si ngl e Being would imply the exis t s

e nce of other isolated Beings S uch an indivi dual would .

be limited by others and dep e nden t upo n them In .

tec hnic al te rms sameness with one s self implies diff er

’

ence from others A good example of the conception of

.

an isolated God can be found in modern theology ; such

a G od is a uni ty bu t H e is o nly t he gre atest of the
,

several powers in the universe S uch an One is not an .

absolu te for the O ne to be absolu te must be all th at

,

t he re is Limitation i mplies some thi ng else

. D as .

Wahre is t das G anz e .

 THE G ER M AN I DE ALISTS 3 25

aggregation of pa rt s nor does he mean a sys tem or

,

arrange ment of parts An aggregation of p arts how

.
,

ever big is nev e r complet e and c annot include all that

,

the re is An aggregat ion eve n if it includes the p ast

.
,

and the pre sent is not A bsol ut e The temporal series

, .

points t o som e thing else to give i t meaning ; and ye t

Re ality mus t no t stand outside any part of t he t e mporal
series The Absolu t e Re ali ty must include the temporal
.

series and ye t the temporal seri e s is no t in i tself Real

,

ity Nei ther does H ege l mean tha t Re ali ty is a system

.

or socie ty of individu als whose knowledge and will im

,

ply one another ; for such an organization of individuals

also has its meaning in something be low it .

The Abso lute Reality is a spiri tu al individual It is .

a u nifying conscious ness which i s self-moving subject , ,

ive and active

, I t is the Idea that thinks itself and
.

”
is complet ely self-identi cal in its oth erness It canno t .

be abs trac t though t like S pinoza s God for the Abso ’

,

lu te mus t be ac tual Nor does H egel mean by Reality

.

merely life or vitali ty as Haeckel has conceived it

,

in mode rn t imes for these too are only abstrac t , ,

terms . I t is pure personali ty which alone through the

absolut e dialec tic encloses all within itself Reality is .

Absolu te C osmic S pirit e ngaged in i t s self-dis covery

d self-appropriation by means of i ts own movement ;
and this moveme nt is revealed in a rt religion and , ,

philosophy The A bsolute is as S helley makes the Earth

.
,

pictu re man in P r o metheu s Unbound ,

“
O ne harm nious S u l o f m any a soul
o o ,

Whose natu re is its wn d ivi ne c ntr l o o o ,

”
Whe re all t hi ngs fl w to all as riv e rs to the se a
o ,
.

The panorama of his tory is the progressive knowledge

of the A bsolu te a under succes ively m o r
ppearing
s e
3 26 HISTORY O F P HILOSOP HY
ad equate forms M or ali ty is the A bsolu te in ever e n
.

larging social r e l ations R eligi o n is the A bsolute in

.

personal rel ations to man P hi lo s op hy is the A bsolute

.

in reasoned appreh e nsion of himself The Absolu te is .

not to be conceived in anthropomorphic terms but is the ,

world-proc e ss re aliz e d as an individual self conscious ~ ~

n e ss It is cosmic consciousne ss b e come more significant

. .

It is B ei ng re garded as an individuality and including all

d e velopme nt .

The C o s mi c Law If the cosmic unity is a cosmic

.

synthetic co nsciousn e ss it must be subject to the law of

,

re ason which is fund am ental in consciousness The pro .

c e ss of co nsciousness is an u nfoldi ng It is an evolution.

,

but an evolution that is an u nfolding O rdinar ily biologi

.

cal evol ution re stricts itself to the part icular type u nde r
conside ratio n It does not t ak e account of the fact that
.

the growth of one typ e means the d e structio n of another .

It do e s not view nature in a u nivers al way and consider

construction and de struction action and reaction equal
, , .

It looks upon de velopm ent as a process along a tangent

or like the i nfinite series of nu mbers But the destruo .

t io ns the defe at s the reciprocal r e t rogressions must be

, , ,

account e d for i n a tr uly A bsolute consciousness Ev olu .

tion is not therefore an upward advance bu t a clos e d ,

circl e The Absolu t e is not therefore a consis tency bu t

.
,

i ncludes cont radictions ; and evoluti on cannot t ruly be

i nte rpre ted in quantitative but in qualitative te rms as ,

the unfolding of co nscious ness The only way to include

.

e v e rythi ng i n the A bsolute is to think of the A bsolute

a s comi ng to a co nsciousness of i t se lf The A bsolu te .

Reality is the same at any temporal begi n ni ng or e nd

3 28 HISTORY O F PHILOSOP HY
next s tage in his tori cal development is the asse rt ion of
pri nciple s that synthe s ize the ass ertion of the previous
e poch and the opposition to it The law of conscious
.

ne ss drives hi story to oppose i t s own self-ass e rtio ns and

then to a dee per apprehension of its elf in a higher asser
tion until it finds rest in the knowle dge of the Absolute
,

Idea — tha t A bs olu te Tr uth i s co nti nu o u s contradic

ti on P erh aps Hegel s mos t notable con t ribut io n t o
’
.

modern though t was his emph asis upon the t remendous

po wer of negation and the stimulati ng force in contra
d iction S piritual advance is mad e through opposition
. .

H e ge l s Appli ca ti on of his The ory Formul ati ng his

’
.

theory in 1 8 00 H e ge l spe nt the most of his litera ry

,

career in exemplifying i t The P hanomenologi e (1 807)

.

is an attempt to sho w the natural his tory of thought in

exp e rience He shows there the s e ries of st ag e s through
.

which the mi nd passes st ages corresponding to logic

, ,

t o the growth of the individu al and to soci e ty In the

, .

dial e ctic movement co nscious ne ss views the world in

,

an external way until i t becomes self-conscious ; then

re ason is evolved as a syn t h e sis of the two : i e of . .

external consciousness and self-consciousness Reason .

then develops by conti nually turni ng back upon i tself

into an e thical religious and lastly an absolute reason
, , , , .

H egel wro t e hi s L ogi c (1 8 1 2 ) as an application of his

theory to though t regardi ng though t as consis ti ng of
general concep ts Then came his E ncycl0p oedi a
.

contai ni ng his P hi lo s op hy of N a tu r e and P hi lo s op hy

of M i nd In
. his P h i los o h
p y of N a tu re natu r e is re ,

garded as reveali ng the same dialectic as logic but in ,

t he ext ernal world N ature there fo re st ands to logic

.
, ,

as its antithesis The P hi los op hy of Mi nd pl ac e s mi nd

. .

as the syn thesis of logic and na ture and elabora te s the,

 THE G ER M AN I DEALISTS 329

subject as mi nd obj e ctive mind and the synthesis of

, ,

t he t wo or Absolute mind Thus the dialectic of the

, .

L o gi c is repeated and applied to the P hi lo s op hy o f

N atu re and the P hilos op hy of Sp i ri t Logic and his .

tory ar e therefore p arallel The conten t is always the

.

same in both ; and the dev elopmen t is always in logical

forms The A bsolu te Ide a by diff e rentiat ion with itself
.

com e s to its e lf : (1 ) in Logic through Being E sse nce , ,

and Idea ; (2 ) in Nat ure through matter i ndividual ,

forms and organism (3 ) in S piri t through conscious

,

ness self-consciousness reason right morality social

, , , , ,

morality art r eligion philosophy Logic i s the S piri t

, , , .

an s ich ; n ature is the spiri t f iir-s ich mind is the

S p iri t an-u ndf iir-si ch .
 CHAPTER X I I

THE PHILO SO PHY O F THE THING-IN—

IT ELF S
rhart and Schope nhau e r The main line of d e vel
.

1t of the critic al Kantian movement was the ide al

EFichte S chelli ng and H e ge l I t was the most
, , .

at expressio n of the p eriod of Germ an philosophy .

wer e how e ver so many distinct elements in the

, ,

an doctri ne and th e se were so loos ely tied toge ther

,

i nt t hat one is not surpris e d to find m any diver

,

ines of its subsequ e nt elaboration It is di fficult to

.

th e s e l at e r philosoph e rs But most promi e nt

'

y all . n
3 group stood H e rb art ar i d S chop enh auer He r .

ras a Re alist and S chopenh auer a volunt arist and

,

l ist. Th ey had a common ground and motive for

e s ec ti v e philosophi e s and ma be pl aced together
p , y
s econd group of the disciples of Kant They were .

( 1 ) i n th e ir emphasis upo n the impor ta nce of the

in-itself and (2 ) in their strong opposition to the

st movem e nt . While both published their princip al
gs b e fore the death of H egel in 1 8 3 1 both lived to ,

ddle of the ni ne teenth century and bo th repres ent

ac t io n ag ai ns t the period of idealism They spe ak
.

for the subsequent ni net e enth century than for

an ide als and Romanticism They represented a
.

1 fe eling of the time th at Kant s doctri ne had no t

’

ed its due at the hands of the Ideali s t s .

ne philosophers had rem ained true to Kant bu t ,

33 2 HIS T ORY O F P HI LOSOPHY
inspire d Germ an ide alism for they could not develop their
,

philosophy of e ducation psychology or art exc ept upon

, ,

a m etaphysic al b ackgrou nd M et aphysics was n e c e ss ary

. .

It was as nec e ssary a foundation t o the G e rm ans as

e thics to the Gr eeks and psychology to the English .

Joha n n Fr ie d r ic h H e rbartfi"
A s a K anti an of the

year 1 828 H erb art cl aimed to h ave c arried the Kant

ian doctrine a step further by disclosi ng its psycho
logical grou nds He insisted t h at analysis was the only
.

tru e method ; and he conte nded agai nst Fichte that i t

is impossible to deduce the th e ory of the world from a
si ngle principl e An all-inclusive principle may be the
.

conclusion but not the pre mis e of a philosophy Thus

, , .

his though t move d in ex actly the oppo site direction from

the monism of the Ide alists and S chle i e rm acher with ,

which he was in const ant hostility Exp e ri ence proved.

to H erbart the exist enc e of ind e pendent realiti es ; and

he could not re concile himself with the a p ri ori doctrine
of the idealists which begi ns by d e nying the existen ce
,

of the Thi ng-ih -Its e lf O n the contr ary philosophy to

.
,

H e rbar t had the Thi ng-in-Its e lf as its chief concern .

H e rb ar t did no t see how p aradoxic al his position mus t

be — how fu tile mus t be the r esults of attempting to
k now the unknowable He was impressed with the
.

depth of the problem of exis tence and he felt that if , ,

it was t o be e xpl ained at all it must be along sci e ntific

,

lines especi ally in the fi e lds of psychology and e duc a

,

tion The scientific m ethod of He rb art was mechanics

.

his Re alism was the re sult of his m e thod .

Herbart s programme at the begi nni ng of his te ac h

’

R e ad R ibot G er man P s ychology of T od a y pp 24—67

, ,
.

W e be r H is tory of P hi losop h7 pp 5 3 6—5 4 3 ; De wi ng I ntro

,
.
,
 THE PHILOSOPHY O F THE THING-I N—ITS ELF 33 3

ing at t was as follo ws : He defined

tinge n in 1 802
p hilosophy in a ge neral way by simplifyi ng the concept s
t h at u nde rli e the di ff e re nt scie nc e s Th us he (1 ) recon .

structed Re alism (2 ) re store d the principle of co ntra

,

diction and (3 ) est ablishe d philosophy on the same basis

,

as sci e nce O f all the philosophic al schools in t he ni ne

.

te e nth c e nt u ry the H e rb a rti an school was the mos t nu

m e rc u s and compact He gel s attitude had drive n m any
.
’

thinke rs into science and the m ajority of them attach e d

,

th e ms elve s t o Herbart for w ant of somethi ng b e tt e r .

The Life and Wri ti n gs of H e rb art (1 7 7 6

He rb art was the typic al schol ar H e was a man of qui e t .

and conservati ve tast e s and his life was ne ver disturbed

,

by dramatic situations arising o u t of contradictions in

his charac ter or e nviro nm e nt Hi s d ays were spe nt in .

study lec turi ng and e fl orts for soci al education The

, ,
.

philosophical i nfluenc e s upon his thought were Leibnitz ,

K ant and ne gative ly the Idealis t s In his early life he

,
.

had read Leibnitz and Kant and before he was eighte e n ,

he had read enough of Fichte to be rep elled by his doc

tri ne I n 1 7 96 he was a stud ent at Je na From J e na
. .

he w e nt as tutor t o S witzerland wh e re he met Pe sw ,

lozzi and l aid the found ation of his o wn philosophy I n .

1 8 0 2 he was called to t tingen wh e re he bec ame ,

full profe ssor in 1 805 I n 1 8 06 he published P ri ncip al

.

P o ints i n M e tap hys i cs I n 1 8 09 he was c alled to K6

.

nigsbe rg where he published his chief works

,

1 8 1 3 Tex t-bo ok of the I ntr o du c ti on to P hi losop hy ,

1 81 6 Tex t-book of P sychology .

1 8 2 2 P o ssi bi lity and N ec essi ty of App lyi ng M athe

m atics to P sycho logy .

1 82 4 —1 82 5 P sychology a s a Sci ence .

1 8 2 8—1 82 9 G eneral lif e tap hys ics .

33 4 HIS T ORY O F PHI LOSOP HY
In 1 830 he was called back to Gottingen and he ,

died in 1 84 1 .

The C ontr a d i cti ons of Ex pe ri e nce All the c oncep .

tions of practical lif e are self-contradictory and are

therefore vicious This applies not o nly to the concep
.

tions of unreflec ting minds but also to those of scientists

,

and phi losoph e rs To philosophiz e is nothing else th an

.

this : to free our conc e ptio ns of their s e lf-contr adictio ns

by simplifying and revising the m W e thi nk of the .

world as consis t ing of things perso ns rel ations and , , ,

laws bu t such a view of the world is fou nded upon the

fallacy of thinking an obj e ct at the s ame time as one
and as many This general f allacy takes four specific
.

forms : i nhere nce ch ange conti nuity and s elfhood

, , , .

For example it is contradictory to thi nk of a pl ant as

,

o ne thing in which many qu ali ties i nhere ; it is con t ra

dictory to thi nk of a pla nt as the same whe n i t p asse s

through many changes ; it is co ntradictory to thi nk of
space as conti nuous and ye t divided i nto parts ; and i t
is cont rad ictory to thi nk of the s e lf as always the same
d ye t as a stre am of conscious states ‘
.

The Ar gume n t f or R e ali sm This i nheren t contradic

.

t ion in human co nceptio ns had bee n a m atter of oh

se rv ation by philo sophers for many ce nturi e s bu t it had ,

le d to m any divergent conclusions The Greek S kep .

tics had long ago observed it and had concluded there ,

fore that t here is no such thing as reality To them .

though t is discredited b e c ause the contradictions of

thought a re i nsoluble Truth does no t exist O n the
. .

other h and He gel de ve loped his great di alec ti c syste m

upo n the b asis of th e se cont radi ctions Is thought s elf .

1 A dis c uss ion of these c nt

o radi cti ons can be f ound in any t t-b
ex oo k
336 HIS TORY O F PHILOSOP HY
that th ey have re ali ty as their ground S eemi ng things .

i mply re aliti e s as the grou nd of th e ir qu aliti e s ; seem

ing occurr enc e s imply actual relations be tw e e n the re als .

S e emi ng is just so much an indic ation of Being Con .

sist ency lies behind ph e nomena The existence of ap

.

e arance s must be admitted bu t appe ar anc e s are a

p , p
p e aranc e s of somethi ng If nothi
. n g existed nothi ng ,

would appear to exist ; and ye t things are no t in reality

what they appear to be .

H e rbart agre ed with Kan t that we can experience

o nly ph e nom e na There is also a sim ilarity in the two
.

t heories as to the rel ationship be t ween phenomena and

the t hi ng-in-its e lf The simil arity is howe ver o nly su
.
, ,

p e rfic ial . Ka n t re asoned from the r e l ati v i ty of phe no

m e na to the synth e tic u nity of apperc ep tion i e to , . .

co nscious ness in ge ne ral while the thi ng-it-itself was

,

t o K ant an u nk nowable and irre ducibl e rem ai nde r To .

K ant ph enome na point e d to consciousness rather than

t o things -in-themselves O n the other h and He rbar t
.
,

r easoned from ph e nomena to the e xiste nc e of thi ngs

in-thems e lves Phenom ena poi nt t o an i ndepend ent
.
,

obj ective re ality rather than to a thi nking subjec t .

While in K ant s doctri ne phe nomena d ep end for their

’

existence upon the creative power of consciousness to ,

H erbar t consciousne ss has no creative power bu t its e lf ,

depends on the e xis te nce and i nd ep e ndence of a plu

rality of i ndependent Re als Eve n the c ategories and the
.

forms of space and time are not i nnate sy nthetic forms .

A ll are the re sult of the r el at io nships among indepe nd

e nt Re als whi ch are t he spri ng of all activity and ex
,

iste nce Herbart thus gav e to the things-in-thems elves

.

all the indep e nden t func t ions tha t Kan t a tt ribu ted to

consciousness .
 TH E PHILOSOPHY O F T HE THING—IN -ITS ELF 33 7

The M any R eal s and N atu re P h e n ome na

We mus t .

remove the contradictions of e xp e ri e nce if we would ,

get at a true conception of Reality and the m e aning of

phe nomen a The true way is (1 ) to posit a plural nu m
.

ber of Re als and (2) to i nterpre t the ph enomena as

,

d erived from the r e lat ion among thes e Re als .

I n the first pl ace a multiplicity of Re als and no t a

, ,

si ngle Real is needed to explai n the multiplicity of phe

,

nomena Herbart s doctri ne is the re fore a pluralism

.
’
.

He co nceives the m any Re als to exist no t in phenome ,

”
nal bu t in in tellec tu al space They are no t su bjec t
,
“
.

to any phenome nal limitations wh atsoever ; the y may

occupy o ne point of space at the same time Their na .

tur e cannot be kno wn bu t we c an s ay that t he y h ave

,

“ absolu te positio n ” They ca nno t be limited nor ne

.

gated and even their plurality does no t mean that th e y

,

limi t one another .

In the seco nd place He rbar t assumes a mul tiplicity

,

of relatio ns Why do the Re als appe ar as ph enomena ?

.

Why should the Reals appear to be the qualities that

i nhere in thi ngs the co ntinuities of t hi ngs and the
, ,

changes of things ? H erba rt is not al togethe r satisfac

tory in his explanation of thi s problem It is the prob .

lem of the u nity of the manifold whi ch Kant could ,

explain as due to the synthe tic power of consciou s

n e ss ; but such an explanation was precluded fro m
H e rbart s Realism H erbar t spe aks of two ki nds of
’
.

rela tions The re are the actual r el ations among the

.

Reals Although the Reals are co nceived by H e rbar t

.

as simple and unchangeable he also thi nk s of th e m ,

as comi ng and going in in telligibl e space We .

can never know what the nat ure of these actual rela
tions is The ac tual r ela t ions be t ween two Reals are
.
3 38 HISTORY O F PHILOSOP HY
not essential to eithe r Real nor can such relations have ,

their b asis in the Reals All that we can know are the .

s eem i ng relations a mong t hi ngs These are the rela .

tions of phe nom enal sp ace — of i nhere nc e continuity , ,

and change Herbart calls these ph enome nal relations

.

”
“
contingent vi e ws (zuf allige A ns ichten) and looks ,

upon the m as h aving a semi-exis t ence Th at is t o say .

,

H erbart regards the world of exp e ri e nce as a world of

r el atio ns which are not the actu al rel ations among
Realities but merely the phe nomenal relations or re
, ,

lations as th ey appe an to us .

The Soul and M e n t al Phe n ome na Each Re al has .

one si ngle fu nctio n viz s elf -prese rvation ; and i nas

, .
,
”
much as the Re als co-e xist they mutu ally disturb
“
,

each o th e r The disturb ances take the for m of i nne r

.

re actions on the p art of the Re al in its e ff ort at self

preserv ation Promi ne nt among the Reals is the S oul
.

real Like all the other Re als it is u nk nowable We

.
, .

have however immedi ate k nowledge of its manife sta

, ,

t io ns in its self-preservation amo ng the other Re als .

P sychology is the sci e nce of the r e latio ns which the S oul

r e al be ars to other Re als From the conflict of the S oul
.

wi th other Re als me ntal phe nomena take their ris e Co n

, .

sciou snes s is ther e fore not the same as the S o ul ; it is

, ,

t he sum-tot al of the ac t s of the S oul in self-preservatio n .

C onscious ne ss is the aggregat e mental s ta tes and is no t ,

ess e ntial to the S oul Nevertheless isolated souls do not

.
,

thi nk ; th ey have no s tates of conscious ness C onscious .

ness c an arise only in a communi ty of Reals .

O ur knowledge consis t s ther e fore of ideas which ar e ,

the r e sults of the disturbance of the S oul-real by other

Reals Thes e id e as live withi n the S oul which is m e rely
.
,

an indiff erence poin t where they are held togeth e r The .

340 H IS T ORY O F PHILOSOP HY
educational theory The conception of the i nflue nce of
.

e nvironme nt upon m ent al life the the ory of the d e ve l

,

o pm e nt of m e nt al life the natur al m e thod of

, prepa
ration pr e sent ation associ atio n syst e matiz atio n and
, , , ,

application of an e ducational subject the theory of ,

the correlation of subj e cts — all are founded upon his

psychology H erbart s attempt to apply math e m atics to
.
’

the laws of psychologic al ph eno m ena was not so f ortu

nat e At one tim e during the nine teenth c entury psy
.
, ,

c hologists hop e d m u ch from m athem atics in their sci

ence ; but the hO pe has b e en pr actically ab andone d In .

rece nt ye ars the d e m and for e xactness has be e n me t in

psycho-physics which operate s with mat hematics in a
,

differe nt way .

Arthur Schopenhau e r and hi s Philo s ophi c al Re

lations S chop e nh auer is group e d with H erb art bec ause

.

1
( ) both had an especi al dislik e for the idealistic d e vel

o pment th at the K anti an m ovem e nt took and

(2 ) both
built th e ir th e ori e s u pon interpret ations of the K antian
thi ng-ih -itself While H e rb art was a Re alist S chop e n
.
,

hauer was a Mystic ; which only shows how th e ori e s ,

seemi ngly very diff e rent c an have the s am e source

,
.

H erbart s Re alism was an in t erpretation of K ant s

’ ’

’
thi ng-in-its elf as m any re alities ; whil e S chop enh aue r s
M ysticism was an int e rpr e tation of it as one re ality In .

both th e ori e s the conscio usness and with it the r eason , ,

were co nc e i v ed as d e rivati o ns of the thing-in-its elf .

’
The b e st approach to S chop enh auer s doc t rine can
perhaps be made by contrasting it with his pe t ave rsion
the doctri ne of He gel S chope nh auer was t o Ide al
.

ism wh at M ephis t ophel e s was to Faus t — he turne d

Read Eu c k e n P roblem of H u ma n L ife pp 5 10-5 1 8 ;
, ,
.

Rand M odern Classical P hi losop hers pp 6 29—67 1

, , . .
 T HE PHILOSOPHY O F —
THE T HI N G I N-ITS ELF 34 1

Roman ticism into pessim ism The theo ry of empi rical

.

evolution which was to be highly develop e d in the nin e

,

te enth ce ntury lay in theore tical germ i n the teachi ng

,

of the imm ediat e followers of Kant To Hegel the his .

to rical developme nt of the cosmos is the stru ggle of

reason which with all i ts essential contradicti ons i s
,

futile ly s tri ving to come to itself To S chope nha uer the

.

history of the cosmos is also an endle ss struggle although ,

a struggle in which all reason is absent H ege l could .

conceive the hi s tory of the cosmos as a developm ent

worthy of inv e s t igation S chopenhauer on the contrary
.
, ,

took no in t erest in his tory bec au se to him it could no t

,

be a developmen t To H egel phe nomena form an in

.
,

t ima te part of the cosmic s t ruggle since they ar e the

,

conte nt of the cosmic-re aso n ; to S chopenhauer phe ,

h ome na are t he surface illusio ns of an ebullient u nrea ,

so ni ng Will .

A s the firs t theo re t ical pessimis t of Eu rope S chopen ,

haue r express e d for the nineteenth century one of its

most essent ial cha rac teristics He got scant recognition
.

during hi s lifet ime on account of the vogu e of H egel ;

but to-day i t is S chop e nhaue r rather th an He gel who
, ,

has a pop ular influenc e and is wid ely read This is

, .

partly on accoun t of his mas terly lite rary style and

partly by reason of the content of his doct rine The .

nineteenth ce ntury was carried along upon a strong cur

rent of pessimism becaus e of (1 ) i ndus tri al problems ,

which involved many ethical co nside rati ons and because ,

of (2) its breaki ng away from t radi tion al re ligiou s ties .

S o long as the u nbou nd e d optimism of Ide ali sm pre

vailed the world had little room fo r S chope nh au e r s
,
’

teaching ; but when Realism with its limi tatio ns took

’
hold of the ni ne teen th cen t ury t hen did S chopenhauer s
,
34 2 HISTORY O F P HILOSOPHY
day of r ecognition come The popular mi nd has found .

in S chope nh au e r its b e st philosophic al expression and ,

r eprese ntative s of his te aching have been numerous .

A mong the m are Richard Wag ner (1 81 3 - 1 88 3 ) wi t h

his music dramas ; Von Hartm ann (b 1 84 2 ) with his .

theo ry of the unco nscious ; Nietzsche (1 844 -1 900) with

his ex treme statement of egoism that i n view of uni
v e rsal evil the only hope is in the sur vival of the strong
,

e st and in the vir t ue of selfishness .

The Lif e and Wri ti n gs of Schope nhau e r (1 7 8 8

S chop e nhauer was the ki nd of genius who is
al ways an alie n to the world of men He lived a long .
,

lonely isolat e d life in which his i nheri t ed emotional

, ,

and broodi ng nature became more and more cynical and

p e ssimistic Eve n in his paternal home he fou nd him

.

self a s tranger H is father pushe d him i nto mercantile

.

business which he hated ; and after the death of his

,

father his brilliant mother told him that he was welcome

t o her Weim ar home o nly as a visitor The doo rs of all .

ac ad emic circles we re closed to him ; and he in com ,

me nting on it said th at he had failed to get an academic

,

hearing because the German did not believ e in a meta

,

physics which was so expressed as to be und e rstood But .

t he caus e of his isolation lay m ai nly in himself He was .

neurasthenic and peculiar t he subject of ill -t e mpe r ,

night-terrors causeless depressions and dreads With the

, .

’
ge nealogy of S chope nhauer s family on his fath e r s side
’

befo re us who could wonder

, the grandmother ins ane ,

o ne uncle insane one uncle idio tic one neu ro tic and his
, , ,
’
fath e r a suicide S chopenhauer s own pec uliari t ie s we re
.

not pathological He had a genius tha t blossomed as

.

early in his years as H egel s blossomed late He wro te ’

.

his two importan t works befor e he was thi rty .

344 HISTORY O F PHI LOSOP HY
S chopenhauer is unique among the philosophers of
Europe , bec au se he d e ni e d all for which the Enlighten
m ent stood Even such reac tionaries against the Eu
.

lightenment as Rouss e au were a p art of its ess ential

spirit ; for the presupposition of traditional th e ology
and philosophy has b ee n that e xist e nce is esse nti ally a

harmony S chop enh auer however appe ale d to the dis

.
, ,

c ordanc es and the sorrow of existe nce and drew the in ,

fe rence t hat fund amentally existe nce is irrational For .

the source of S chopenh au e r s u nique teaching we have ’

t o look th e r e fore fart h e r than modern Europe The

, , .

preceding mode rn Europe an philosophers whom we have

studied developed th e ir philosophies from p urely O cci
,

de ntal sources S chopenh auer drew from the O rient as

.

well as from the O ccide nt The Rom anticists had re -dis

.

cov e red O ri entalism The study of the H indus had been

.

i nteresti ng Europ e an scholars since the begi nning of the

nine teenth c e ntury S chopenh auer who was i ntroduc e d
.
,

t o I ndi an philosophy by Goe the s frie nd Fr M ayer ’

, .
,

r e ad the Up anish ads in a Latin translation ; and they

contrib u ted much to the development of the theory
which his own emot ional and cynical n ature had pre

sage d. The Hindus had long felt that the m ain problem
of existence is moral and physical evil S chopenh auer .

found in this t e aching the stateme nt of his o wn attitude .

H e e s t eem e d the pri ncipl e s of C hristianity and Bud

dhi sm becaus e th e ir c entral requirem e nt was faith in a
redeeme r rather than a cre ator C hris tianity had no .

ori gin al me taphysics but B u ddhism on account of i ts

,

met aphysics had an especi al impo rt ance in S chopen

’
hauer s eyes I t was no t only a pessimism bu t a phi
.
,

losophy of p e ssimism O ur e xist e nce is only a bli nd

.

s tru ggle for enlightenmen t and arises ou t of a flowing

 THE PHI LO SOPHY O F TH E THING—IN—ITS ELF 3 45

chain of pere nnial re-births M an needs to be fre ed from

.

the illusion of existence and releas e d from re-birth .

The Worl d as Will and the World as I d ea I n The .

F o u r-f o ld R oo t of the P r i nc i le o
p f Su
fi c i en t R e as o n ,

S chopenhauer summariz e s knowle dge as The world ,

”
is m y p resentatio n which is Kant s theory of k now
,
’

l edg e A co nscious subject vitalizes all thi ngs But the

. .

pr ese ntations have no corr e sponding reality in the outer

world They ar e cre ated by my own subjec tivity from
.

”
the principle of sufli cient reason This has a fourfold .

root logic cause mathematics and will activity The

, ,
-
,
“
.

world of ph e nomen a is my ide a and in The Wo rld a s

”
,

Will and I dea S chopenhauer says This is a truth ,

which holds go od for everythi ng that live s and knows .

M an alone can re fl e c t upo n this t ruth Wh e n m an comes .

to the realizi ng sens e that the world is an id e al constru c

tion he begi ns to philosophiz e as to the n ature of the
,

reality behind it We r e member th at He rb ar t start e d

.

from the same proposition H owever S chope nh au e r .

,
’
de par ts fr om Kant s t e achi ng in one important re sp ect
although he agree s with Kant that the thing-in-its elf
cannot be understood by id e as or a chain of reasoning ,

he holds that the thing-in-itself is knowable The World .

as Id e a is a world of appearances bu t we can know the ,

”
thi ng-in-i ts e lf by intui tion by the look of genius .

The certai nty of this first-hand or immedi at e knowledge

shows how poor ou r second-hand or mediat e k nowledge
is For even reaso ned or media te knowledge in i t s mos t
.

p e rfe ct form viz science is u nder the law of cause and

, .
, ,

can therefo re reveal no t hing absolut e S cience ne v e r .

ge ts b elow phenom e na .

If reason reve als only the World as Idea wh at ,

r evelat ion does in t ui t io n give of t he t hing-in-i t se lf ?

346 HIS TORY O F PHILO SOPHY
I ntuition r eveals the thing-ih -i t s e lf to be W ill M an .

finds firs t the Will to be in himself H e finds it obj e ct

, , .

ified in his o wn body and in its members A ll the .

members of the body are s t ruc tures of some function .

E ve ry par t is the visible expression of som e d e sire .

H unger speech locomotio n hav e their di ff e re n t instru

, , ,

me nts Will is imm e diate ly k no wn to us as the reality

.

in us I n spite of the e xalt atio n of the reason by the

.

modern Enlightenme nt is it not secondary to Will ?,

For behold ! Let me look beyond myself The reve .

latio n of the reality within mys elf illumi nates the r e ality
of the outer world M y Will me e ts resist ance in other
.

things The e ve rl asti ng strivi ng of the Will app e ars in

.

all nature It appear s in the fall of a ston e t he crys

. .
,

tallizing of the diamo nd in all the mechanic al move

me nt s of matter The impulse with which w at ers
.

hurry to the oc ean the persistence of the m agne t for

,

the pole the p e r e nni al push of vege tation t he mo t iva

, ,

tion of animals show by an analogy stronger than any

,

proof th at the re ality of the world is f und ame ntally

Will All n ature is in reality the World as Will
. .

This Will is alw ays one and the s ame O nly in the .

World as Id e a do difle rence s app e ar W ill is com .

mon t o all and is the o nly re ality Difl erences are illu .

sio ns and the reason which exists only in man is one

,

of those diff e r ences .

The World as W ill and t he W orld as Idea do no t

s tand in the relation of cause and e ff ect bu t the W orld ,

as Idea is the objec tification of the W orld as Will .

Will is to phenom ena what essence is to expression .

Will is the freedom th at is wi thin all thi ngs and ye t all

t hi ngs are de termined when they have the form of ide as .

There is o nly one Will and so the world is in reality

,
348 HISTORY O F PHILOSOPHY
i ns t inctive bli nd force The e ssenc e of t hi ngs is undi
.

rec te d s t rivi ng Life is the expression of the absolu t e

.

u nreason of the Will It is a Will withou t an object

. .

Nature is the obj e ctifica tion of t he Will that p e rpetually

cre ates its elf and is forever u nsatisfied unres ting and , ,

A M o me nt s Halt — a mo me ntary taste

’

O f Be ing f ro m the W e ll amid the W as te

A nd Lo t r
the phan om Ca av an has re acht
T he N o t hi ng it se t ou t f om r
O h, mak e has te l
The M i s e ry Worl d as Id e a — P e s s imi sm
of the .

The fu ndame nt al irr atio nality of the Will re ve als the

absolut e mis e ry of the World as Id e a The d e sp air of .

p e ssimism follows from the very nature of the Will ; for

it must be remembe re d that S chopenhaue r s p e ssimism ’

do e s not m e rely m e an th at the app ear anc e s of life are

illusory but th at re ality itself is irratio nal T he World
,
.

as Ide a is the obj e ctification of such mis e ry Willing .

has its sou rc e in w ant and want arises from snfiering

, .

M or e over the proportion of our wants tha t are sa tis

fie d is v e ry sm all To one th at is s u pplie d there are
.

many that are not Furthermore while our desires las t

.
,

long their satisfaction is short and scan ty like the alms

,
“
,

thrown to a beggar that keeps him alive t o— day t hat hi

”
misery may be p rolonged to-morr ow O ur eve r-spring .

ing wan t s make las t ing peace impossible The fi nite .

world is no t adequate to the i nfi nite cravi ng which it

con tains and there is no equation be tween the cares and
,

the satisfac tions of life The gr ea te s t evil t ha t can be

.

Re ad R ubcii ycit of O m ar K hayy am, F itz G erald s trans

' ’

l ation, 4 th c d , q uatrains xl v ii-lx xi ii ; G oethe , Sorrows of

.

Werther, as an example of pessimism due mainly to e nv iron

me nt .
 THE PHI LO SO PHY or THE THING-IN —ITS ELF 34 9

fall a cre ature is to have been born ; and this is a thou

sand-fold worse in man than in any other To live is to .

go from willing to a ttaining and then to willing again .

A tt ainm e nt m e ans new stri v i ng and the W ill shows

,
”
the ach e of the not-yet-satisfie d Af ter all is said and
.

done satisfac ti on des troys not only the desi re bu t the

, ,

s atisfaction i ts elf The re is no m e aning in life Pain is

. .

positive ; pleasure is negati ve and is merely the absence

,

of or re spi t e from p ain .

The Way of D e liv e rance The relief from misery

.

that S chopenhauer off ers is t inged with the grim de

spair of li fe itself I t is an escape that he fi nds rather
.
,

than a h aven -an escape that consists in giving up all

t h at life means Why no t the n give u p life since it is
.
, , ,

misery and torm ent ? But escape is not in suicide for ,

the ac t of taki ng o ne s own life is the performance

’

of the greate st act of affirm ation of the Will ; and in

the Buddhistic doctrine the suicidal soul only pass e s by
re -birth (me t empsychosis ) into another form of Will .

S chope nh au e r uses two phrases that h ave b e come classic

in the descrip t ion of the two attitudes possible to man
1
( ) if man is mer e ly a part of the World as Idea he
”
is affirming the Will to life ; and (2 ) if he seeks a
“

”
way of deliverance he is de nying the Will t o life
“
.

S uicide is an ac t of affirm ation of the Will to life .

How m ay the Will be denied ? and since we are in

esse nce Will the que s t ion takes this form How may
, ,

the Will deny the Will ? This question pr e suppos e s a

transcend e nt al fre edom which may be sough t in t wo
ways : one in which the freedom is temporary and the
other in whic h it is perm ane nt .

1 The t e mporary d e live rance of the Wi ll may be

.

’
found in art istic contemplation (S chiller s disin tere sted
350 HISTORY O F P HILOSOPH Y
con templa ti on) Art deals not with p art icular forms
.
,

bu t e te rn al typ es (Platonic Ideas ) Art isolat e s an .

e ternal obj ec t from ou t the stre am of the world s ’

changes and places i t beyond all re latio ns of t ime

, ,

place and caus e Art not only remove s its object from
, .

t he W orld as Idea bu t i t r e moves the contemplator as

,

well The cont emplat ing subj e c t and the contemplated

.

obj ec t thus become one and the subj ect is tem porarily
,

saved for he is elevated above all desire and pai n This

, .
,

however is po ssible not to the m ajority of men bu t

, ,

only to those fe w possessing ae sth e tic fancy and for ,

them o nly at i nterv als M usic is ranked by S chopen

.

h au e r as the hi ghest form of art ev e n above poetry

, ,

— and it is not surprisi ng th e r e fore that amo ng the

S chope nh auerian worshipers h ave been m any promi
n ent musicians .

2 Bu t art istic ecstasy is too flee ti ng and restricted

.

to ofier l asting delive rance from the affirmation of the

Will to life and the World as Idea Another act of .

transcende nt al fre edom will bri ng man i nto more com

ple te freedom ; but thi s a ct i s a m ir a cle a nd a mys tery ,

si nce it is the comple te transformation of our nature .

This act must be sup e rnatural and the church is r igh t

,

in c alling it a ne w birth and a work of grace Com .

l ete f ree dom f rom the Wi ll comes thr o u h mor al d e

p g
li v er ance .

This l as t ing esc ape from the Will is open to the

man who appreciates two facts : th at all strivi ng for
h appine ss is vain and th at all men are alike m anife st
atio ns of the Will To tak e this do u ble V ie w of life
.

i nvolv e s the feeli ng of sympathy with o th e rs in th e ir

mise ry S ymp athy is thus the o nly tru e mo ral motive
.

and t he fundamen tal ethical feeling The Will in us is .

 CHAP TER XIII
THE PHILO S O PHY O F THE N IN ETEEN TH CENTU RY

The Re turn to Re ali sm I f the his t ory of man kind .

had termi nated with t he nine tee nth century , the las t
te ndency of thought to be recorded would h ave been
the r eturn to Re ali sm The abbreviated accoun t which .

follows of the philosophy of the ni ne teenth centu ry

will expl ain and illus tr ate this tende ncy Before we .

se t this forth ho we ver i t ma

, y be well to d e fi ne again ,

the n ature of Re alism What is Realism In gene ral .

it is the belief th at re ali ty or re alities e xist quite inde

pende nt of anybody s know i ng them M oreover Real
’
.
,

ism has the disti nction of bei ng o ne of the four gre a t

types of m e taphysic al thought These types are Re al .

ism M ysticism C ritic ratio ism and Ide alism In

, a l-
,
n al 1 ’

, .

othe r words Re alism is an attitude of mi nd possible to

,

a whole civiliz ation This is wh at is m eant by a gre at

.

philosophical type The Id e alism of the period which

.

we h ave just stu die d is such a type A ltho u gh Germany .

had be en the l e ading representat ive of Id e alism the ,

spre ad of philosophic al and literary Ide alism had be e n

world-wi de All n ations had sh ared in it But when the
. .

great eve n t s and the romancing spirit of that p e riod

Re ad Rand M od ern Clas s i calP hi los op hers pp 7 03—
, 7 08 ; ,
.

W ebe r H i s t of P hil
,
. 69 7 0 E u c k e n P roblem of E u
.
, , ,

ma n Life pp 5 1 8—5 23 5 244 5 3 5 59-5 73 N ietzs c he A lso

, .
, , ,

Sp r ach Z a ra thus tra ; J am e s P ragma tis m Le ctures I I V , , , ,

V II ; Royce Sp i r it of M od P hi l Le c ture I X
,
. .
, .
 PHILOSOPHY O F I
T HE N NE EEN T TH C ENTURY 35 3

had pass e d the reac tion to Realism was likewise fe lt

,

t he world ove r It is the period of this re actio n that

.

we are bri e fly to consid e r .

The Ch ara ct e r of th e Re ali sm of the N ine t e en th

C e ntury W e h av e alre ady discuss e d the natur e of the
.

Realism of ancient civili zatio n as it app e are d in Plato s

’

t heory of Ide as ; and we also h av e re viewed the vari a

tion of Plato s doctri ne in m e di aeval tim e s Both ancie nt
’
.

and m e di a eval societies gi ve expression through Plato t o

Re alistic conceptions anci ent socie ty to an aesth e tic
Re ali sm me di aeval to an ecclesiastical Realism N o w in
, .

the mod er n period we find a s till difierent k ind The .

R eali sm of the nine teenth c e ntu ry has been that of

na tu r al sc i ence The qu e stion of the ninet e e nth century
.

has been What de gre e of importance has the scientific

,

conception of ph e nomena in our tot al co nception of

life German Idealism had take n up the natural sci ence
of the Renaissance and the Enlight enm e nt and had ,

m ad e it a p art of a world co nceiv e d as cosmic Re ason .

Bu t in t he nineteenth c e ntury the conception of the

cosmic Re ason and that of nature p art company The .

t wo conceptions begin to stand in antithesis N ature is .

c onc e ived as a reality exi sti ng in sublim e indepe nde nce .

Democritus wins his victory ove r S pi noza There a re .

two re aso ns for this : (1 ) The id e as of sci ence are e x

pressed with a clearn e ss and di sti nctness that is in
m arked contras t with the ideas of German romanti
c ism. Natur al scie nc e is formu la t ed m athem at ic ally and
demons trated in experienc e and natural scie nce more
,

over does not require the labor of inte rpre tation (2 ) .

Natur al scie nce proves its useful ne ss th e r eby r e spo nd

,

ing to the imp e rative needs of the eco nomic changes of

t he ni neteenth century .
35 4 H IS TORY O F P HILOSOPH Y
In this modern period the a ttention of man has been
r ivet e d upon his e nvironment If at any t im e the man .

of the nin e te enth c entury has se e m e d to be i ntere sted in

man the int er e st has re ally b e en in man s relation to his
’
,

e nvironment The ni net e enth c entu ry has champione d

.

the ne cess ary l aws and mech anic al structure of the out e r
world against m an hims elf The unive rse has b een .

e nthro ne d man has be com e its s e rf H um an e ffor t .

has b e come slave to its o wn progre ss Work has bee n .

apotheosized — work in the outer world work with the ,

hands I nve ntio ns in m ate rial things have multipli ed

. .

The ninet e enth century has been the period of s team ,

of electricity of machinery of factori e s of the enor

, , ,

mous increas e in the numb e r and size of cities of the ,

mi nute division of labor S ocial and economic rather

.

than m e t aphysical problems have command e d at te ntion .

Not a nother and ide al world bu t thi s p r esent w o r ld is

, ,

th e one in which the mod e rn m an has live d The sci

'

eme e s h ave b ee n sp e cializ e d and man has becom e practi

c al H eg e l would h ave said of our time tha t the cosmic
.

Re aso n had bee n so engag e d in concrete and external

realities that it had had no time to turn within and
,

scrutinize itself If one wishes to turn back the le aves

.

of history for c e ntu ries simil ar to the nine te enth in th e ir

spirit o ne will find them in the third and s e cond centu
,

ri e s B C and the fourte e nth and fiftee nth of the pres ent
. .

era Neve rtheless there is this to be s aid about mod e rn

.
,

Realism in comp arison with the Re alism of p re cedi ng

periods — the preceding Realism had been cri t ical n ega ,

tive in its practical res ults and usually an opposition

,

to tradition or a re action from it ; modern Reali sm has

b ee n d istinguish e d by its positive practical results its ,

ambitio n for supremacy and its shaping of the whole

,
356 HIS T ORY O F PHILOSOPH Y
between the d ate of the battle of Wat erloo (1 8 15 ) and
th at of the d eath of H e ge l A fter He ge l died
no adeq uate succ e ssors in specul ative pow e r c am e t o
t ake the pl ace of the old Idealistic le aders but the in
,

tere st in e mpiric al sci ence was borne on by m any men

of ge nius T he study of e mpiric al ph e nome na was ex
.

tende d to all branch e s ; biology and ge ology which ,

were late in b e i ng studie d historically began to occupy

,

the ce nt re of the stage In spite of the fact th at the

.

nearness of modern philosophical theori e s blinds us to

their true persp e ctive yet even now we can see that in
,

comparison with the Germ an Ide alism the philo sophical

doc t rines of the ninetee nth cen t ury are part ial in their
surv ey of the field The whole probl e m of life was be
.

fore the eyes of the Id e alists ; the modern world abou t

1 8 3 1 shifte d its attention to a critic al scruti ny of o nly
one part of that problem The philosophical probl e m to
.

the Idealists was the proble m of the cosmos ; t he philo

sophical problem to the nineteenth c entury was con
cerne d only with a re examination of the envi ronmen t
of man .

The Phil osophi c al Proble ms of the N ine t e e nth C e n

tury In summ arizi ng what we have above said we h ave
. ,

before us a situation som e thing as follows Idealism .

had run its cours e as a social atti tud e of mind and abou t,

1 8 3 1 the leaders of Id e alis m had di ed with no one to

fill their places But withi n Idealism betwe en 1 8 1 5 and
.

1 8 3 1 there had aris e n a grea t empirical interest in the

ori gins of history law philology e tc S ide by side with
, , , .

this empirical interest there had come c e rtai n eco nomic

conditions that had called forth and rewarded genius in
natural science .

Thus we find even befo re the fourth decade of the

 P HILOSOPHY O F TH E N I NETEE NTH C ENTURY 35 7

nine tee nth ce ntury t wo st rong tendencies : (1 ) a new

conc ep tion of the meani ng of history as an evolution
from origins ; and (2 ) a rem ar kable i nt e rest in the
n atural sciences The t wo te ndencies modified each
.

other The his torical view of the world exercised a

.

powerful i nfluence upon na tural scie nce ; n at ural science

had to be reckoned with in the writing of history H is .

tory and natural sci e nce w e re drawn toge ther but with ,

out producing a new philosophical concep tion that would

include them both .

F rom the i nteraction of these t wo powe rful tenden

cies the great variety of philosophical i nter e sts were
grouped around t wo general problems These were (1 ) .

The p r o blem of the f u nc tioning of the sou l ; (2 ) The

r oblem o
p f e conc ep tion of history
th .

I
. The Pr obl e m of the Functi oni n g of the Soul .

With the decline of me taphysics and the reaction from

specula tion psychology began to loosen f rom i ts an
,

chorage in philosophy P sychology which had been a

.
,

s tudy of mi nd now became the s tudy of the relation

,

of mi nd and bo dy The tendency was strong to make

.

psychology an empirical science and by the use of the

,

methods of science to bec ome a part of physiology and

biology Phi losophy has be en a nes t in which all the
.

sciences h ave been brood e d Psychology has b e en the

.

las t to attemp t to leave the nes t and to-day in some of

,

our large universities i t is coordina ted in the curriculum

with the natural scie nces Dep rived of a basis in phi
.

losophy psychology turned to n atural sci e nce for sup

,

port Concerni ng the rela t ion of the soul to the body

.

ma ny solutions have been off e re d .

Followi ng the S e nsationalis t C ab anis who died in

, ,

1808 some of the French Ideologis ts so-called con

, , , _
3 58 HISTORY O F P HILOSOPH Y
cluded tha t the soul is everywhere de termined by phy .

s ic al influences such as a e se x temperame nt clima te

, g , , , ,

etc ; some said that the mind is a res ult of brain ao

.

tiv ity ; some de v e lop e d the co nc e ption of phr enology ,

according t o which the shape of the skull determi ne s

the faculties of the mi nd The Fr e nch Id e ologists dif
.

f e re d wid ely i n their i nt e rpret atio ns but o n the whole the

,

basis of the movement was m ateri alism The hypo t h e sis .

of phrenology aroused great i nterest in England bu t ,

John S tuart M ill le d the movement back to H um e s ’

associati o nal psychology . He conc e ived the psychic al

and the physical states as two s e parate realms and he ,

concluded that psychology as the study of the laws of

mental s tates can no t re duce me ntal stat e s to physical .

S o S ir William Hamilto n under the i nfluence of Kan t,

,

ch ampio ned the life of inner experie nce .

O f course the materi alistic challenge of the soul

aroused gre at heat in theologic al circles The person .

ality of God and the natu re of the soul became burn

ing ques t ions and led t o t he di ssolution of the H egelian
,
” ”
school i nto the right wing and the lef t wi ng
“ “
.

He gel had always m ai ntai ned his standi ng in or thodox

”
circles as the Prus sian S tat e philosophe r Those f ol .

lowers who composed the righ t wing t ried to in te r

pre t his doc trine in acco rdance with the t radi tional
th e ological concep t ion of the soul the left wing in
“

te rprete d H e gel as a pan theist in whose doc trine the

,

soul cou ld no t be considere d as a subs tance wi t h i mmor

tali ty Feuerbach followed this by inverting H egeli anism

.

in t o a nominalist ic ma terialism and conceived the soul

,
”
as natur e in i ts o therness In 1 8 5 4 at a conve ntion
“
.
,

of naturalists in Germany the materi alis tic conception

,

of the so ul was found to be widely spread among the

360 H IS TORY O F P HILOSOPH Y
O ur present psychology has se en a developmen t from
all these earlier e xpl anations ; but this is a matt e r of
con t emporary writing and not of history .

2 .The Pr oble m o f the C on c e pti on of H i s t o ry The .

contrast in the K antian te achi ng b e tween nature and

mind becam e an ant agonism in the ninete e nth c entury .

W hen psychology was no longe r a purely mental sci

e nc e soci al life in i ts historical deve lopme nt at first
,

wi thsto od t he vigorous m arch of the natural scie nce of

the ni neteenth c entury But the inroads of science in .

psychology we re duplicated in the field of sociology and ,

thus the proble m of society was only the problem of the

soul on a larger scale .

The first form th at this problem t ook arose from the

opposition in France between the traditio nal conc eption
of socie ty and that of the philosophy of the Re volution .

The nineteenth century French philosophy has how ,

ev e r a r e ligious colori ng that diff e rentiat e s it from

,

th at of the Re volution A uguste C om te (1 7 98—1 8 5 7)

.

st ands as the chief representative of this scie ntific re

duction of society He pushed the doc trines of H um e
.

and C ondillac to their extreme in his positivis t sys tem

of social scie nce H e m ai ntained that hum an knowledge
.

had as its objects ph enomena in their reciprocal rel a

tio ns but tha t ther e is nothi ng absolute at the basis of
,

t hes e phenomena The only absolute principle is All is

.
,

r elative There is a hi e r archy of sciences in which soci

.
,

ology is highest S ociology includes all the prece di ng

.

sci ences and yet it is the original fac t The firs t soci al
, .

phenomenon is the family The s tages of the develop .

ment of society are (1 ) theologic al (2) m e taphysical , ,

Re ad Rand M odern Classi ca l P hilosop hers pp 6 72

, ,
.

68 9 .
 PHI LOSOP HY O F I
T HE N NE EEN T H C ENT TURY 36 1

and
(3 ) positivis tic or scientific All men t al lif e in de .

tail and human history as a whole are subj ect t o th e se

, ,

stages of growt h In the positi v istic s tage m ankind will

.

be the object of re ligious vene ration and the li ves of ,

gre at men will be justifie d because they have raised the

lives of commo n me n The democracy to which C om te
.

looks is one ruled by great mi nds and is not a soci alism , .

In co ntrast to C om te s theory is that of Buckle who

’

would study history by discovering the mechanical laws

governi ng society .

While human his tory was thus b e ing invaded by nat

ural scie nce and had to de fend its autonomy agai ns t the
n at u ralistic principle of sci e nc e n atural scienc e on the ,

other hand was in the ninete e nth century invad e d by

the his torical pri nciple of evolutio n Natural science .

becomes a history We h ave se e n that in the Romantic

.

circle the re was gr e at i nterest in the origin and d e ve l

o me nt of law philology art etc I n the begin ni n g
p , , , .

and middle of the ni ne te e nth c e ntury this i nterest

spread to an investigation of the origin of anim al life .

This i nvestigation has been the most not able in this

ce ntury b e cause (1 ) it include d in its scope the source
,

and m e a ns of progress of the human race ; and because

2
( ) it adva nced a n ew co nception of development D e .

v e lo me nt now becomes evolution U t o the nine teenth

p p .

c e ntury the world was looke d upon as a graded series

of types bu t no type was supposed to evolve i nto an
,

other (Se e vol i pp 1 80 1 9 3 vol ii p

. .
, .
,
The .
, .

the ory of hi storical e volution of the ninete enth ce ntury

is not able bec ause it advanced the conc e ption based ,

upo n e mpiric al i nvestigation th at types are ch ange d ,

i nto oth e rs This theory among those of the cen t ury

.
, ,
36 2 III ST O RY O F P HILOSOP HY
comes the nearest to an original philosophical doc tr ine .

The book tha t became the cen tre of scient ific interest
for m any years was Darwin s O r ig i n of Sp eci es pub
’

lishe d in 1 8 5 9 The n ame most promine ntly li nk e d

.

with that of Darwin is that of H erbert S pencer who ,

attempt e d to mak e u nive rsal the principl e of develop

m ent and to formulate its law .

The modern th e ory of the historical evolu t ion of

anim al life has reinforc e d the m e ch anical principle of

natur e which had its origi n in the m inds of the phi

,

lo s0 phers of the Renaiss anc e It has ant ago nized the

.

the ological doctrine of cre ation ; it has relat e d the an

i mal and man by filling i n the suppos ably impass able
g ulf b e tw een th e m ; it has advanced the doctri ne of
ch e mical synthe sis agai nst the hylozoistic notion of a
vit al principle ; it has push e d forward with gre at assur
a nc e its th e ories of tr ansform ation and equivale nc e of

force s and of the actio n of e le ct ricity as a substitut e

,

for thought-activity ; it has shown a wonderful parsi

mo ny in giving a value to all the facts of history which
had hitherto b e en co nc e ived as trivi al ; and on the oth e r
h and it has reduce d the co nception of mighty cosmic
cataclysms to a geological series of gr adual grad ations .

Darwi n s place in this movemen t of the ni nete e nth ce n

’

t ury was this : he tried to show that anim al life c an

be expl ai ned witho u t the aid of fi nal causes I n othe r .

words the adapt ation of the structure of anim als can

,

be accou nted for mech anically The fac tors i nvolved .

in the development of organic life upon the e art h

w ere accordi ng to Darwi n infinite di ff e renti ation
, , ,

ad aptatio n na tural selec t ion

,
and the survival of the
,

fit tes t .
 INDEX

A bbo tt E A F ra nc is B a con 40 n
, . .
, , . A t oms , s ci entific c oncepti on o f , e x
A b s l u te R e al i ty f H e g e l 3 14 3 16
o o , , , am i ne d by Le ibm t z , 1 1 9 , 120, 12 1 .

3 2 1 323 - See R a l i ty b ute s acc d ng t S p i n za 95

See Q
3 2 6 328 329
, , ,
. e , A t t ri , or i o o , ,

A b l u t i sm s p i i t of i n G e m any
so , r , r , 96 . ua l i t i s e .

f rom 1648 t o 1 740 , 2 1 7-223 ; i n A ue b ac h B rt h ol d Sp i noza 88 n

r , e , , .

Fran e , 21 7 , c 22 5 ; d es tro ye d by A u to b i g ap hi e s
o m any
r f t h em , o
Fre d e ri t he ck
re at and e ss i n , G L g wri t te n i n t he E nl i g h te nme nt 13 7 , .

229 .

c
E st h e ti I d e a i sm of S h e i n , 302 , l c ll g B ac on , Franc is
, 3 1 , 35 ; i f e o f , 39 l °

304 , 307 . pos i t i o n o f , i n hi o so hy, 39— 42 , p l p

g c
A nost i i sm of u me , 1 88 H . hi s N ew A tl a nti s , 40-4 2 ; th e ai m
lc
A he mis ts , t h e , 25 . o f , 42 , 4 3 ; h i s me th o d , 43 - 46 ; c o m
l b J
A e m e rt , e an le ond d , 211
’
R . pare d w i th o e s , 48 ; s e e m s t o H bb
A lt h us i us , J o h anne s , 4 7 . s tand a art 146 p .

c
A me ri a, d i s o v e ry of , 6 c . l
B a d wi n, J
M F ra gm ents i n P hi
.

A nac re o nti c is ts , t h e , 224 . lo sop h y, 84 11 .

l
A na ys is See I nd u t i o n
. c . ll
B a , W W R , H i story of M a the
. . .

A na yti l c j g
u d me nts o f K ant , 249 m a ti cs , 36 n , 4 0 n . .

25 2 . B ayl e P i e rre 203

, , .

A nt i no mi es o f K ant , 264, 265 . B e au ty i n S ch e lli ng ’

s p h i l o so p h y ,

A nt i t h esi s , of i h te , 2 95 ; of e e , Fc Hgl 3 07 .

32 7 . B e ers H , H i s to ry of R om a ntif
. A .
,

A p ost e ri o ri , u d m ents , o f K ant , j g ci s m i n E i g h te enth Ce ntu ry , 29 5 n ; .

25 0— 25 2 ; m ate ri a , t h e e r e t i ons , l p c p H i st o ry of Rom a nti i sm i n N i ne c

25 7 ; ri n i p c pl
e , i n e th i s , 2 71 , 2 72 c . teenth Centu ry , 2 95 n .

j g
A p ri ori , u d me nt s , o f K ant , 250 k l G
B e r e e y, eo r e , if e and w ri ti n s g l g
p c pl c
25 2 ; ri n i es , ate o ri es , 25 7, 2 71 , g of , 1 69 -172 ; t h e i nfl u e n c es u p on h i s

2 72 . g
t h o u h t , 1 72 ; t h e ur p p ose o f , 173 ,
c
A r h aeu s, t h e , of P ara e su s , 26, 2 7 c l . 1 74 ; ge ne al r to o e l
re at i o n o f , L ck
l p
A ri sto t e , re re s e nt e d by t w o an and H
u m e , 1 74 , 1 75 ; h is o i nts o f p
t agoni s t i c s h oo s i n t h e Re nai s c l g
a ree m e nt w i th o e , 1 75 , 176 ; L ck
san e , 1 1 c . g
t h e ne ati v e s i d e o f h i s p h i loso
c l g p l p
A rt, i n S h el i n s hi oso hy, 308 ;
’
h
p y, 1 76-1 79
; d e ni es e x i ste n e o f c
c p
and m S h o e nh au er s hi os o hy,
’
p l p b c
a s t ra t i d e as , 1 77-179 ; t h e os i p
t i v e si d e o f hi s h i o s o h y, 1 79 p l p
c
Asso ia ti on I d e as , a o rd in to
of cc g 1 83 ; and u me , H
o m are d , 183 , c p
H um e , 191-193 ; by law o f o nt i c g 1 84 .

ui ty , 192 -194 ; by law o f res e m B l ack wo o d Class i c s , D es cartes , 70 n , .

blan e , 192 — c
1 96 ; by law o f au s a c 73 n .

ti o n, 192 , 193 , 196 -199 . B od i n, J e an, 47 .

A ssoc i ationa P sy h o o y, l o es c l g H bb Bo d y, re at i on o f l mi nd and , a ccord

th e f ath e r o f , 56 . i ng to D c
e s art e s , 78 8 0 ; i n Le ib —
c l
A s so i at i ona i s t P s y h o o i st s , 14 1 c l g . p l
ni t z s h i oso h y, 126
’
p .

A s tro no mers , m ath e mat i a , 32 -36 c l .

’
Lb
B o h n s i rari e s , Sp i noza , 90 n .

A th e is t i o n ro v e rsy o f F i h t e , 282 ,
cc t c c
B rah e , T y h o, 32 , 33 .

B ro wn, T ho mas, 202 .

366 I N DEX
B rowning R obert , , P a rac elsus , 25 . c
E o nom is ts , th e , of t h e E n i h t lg
26 n . e nme nt , 142 .

B u n G d an 25 2 7—30 32 33
r o, i or o, , , , . C g
o nt i u i t y, as s o i at i o n o f , 192-194 c .

B u ckl H T 3 62 e, . .
, C o nt i nu i t y, law o f , 129 .

B u fi n G L L d e 21 1
o , . . .
, . C c
o nt rad i t i o ns , t h e wo r d a w o r d l l
B u tl J se p h h s A na logy of Re
e r, o , i of , a o rd i ncc to e e , 32 1 , 32 7 , g Hgl
li g i o n, 1 66 . 3 28 , 335 ; o f e x e ri e n e , a ord in p c cc g
By ro n, G G L o rd , o n B e rk e l e y , 182 . to H b 334 , 335
er art ,
—
. . .
,

C p c
o e rni u s , i o au s , 7 , 32 34 Nk l .

C a i rd , E , P h i losop h y of K a nt, 236 n

. . C c
o s m i , u ni ty, o f e e , 3 22-32 6 ; Hgl
C lk
a i ns , M W , P e rs i stent P r o blems . . law , o f e e , 3 26-3 28 Hgl .

i n P h i losop h y , i v , 66 n , 73 n , . . C o u nt e r- e v o u ti o n, R l th e , 17 .

110 n . C ri t i c is m , t h e E n i h t enm e nt a p e lg
C b
am rid e S h oo , t h e , 61 g c l . ri o d o f , 138 ; K ant s me th o d a , 23 9
’
.

C p
am ane a, T o m m ass o , hi s Sta te ofll Cu sanus N i col as (Ni c ol as of C us a),
th e Su n, 4 1 n . 23 25 — .
,

C art e s i an a r u me nt , t h e , 74 , 75 g .

C g c l
at e ori a i m e rat i v e , t h e , o f K ant , p D arw m , Ch a l e s r R o b e rt , h i s O ri g i n
2 73 . of Sp ec i e s f o rm u l ate d m o s t f u ll y
C g
at e o ri e s , A ri s t o te i an and K ant l th e E v o l u t i o n mo v e me nt , 3 , 362 .

i an, 25 6 , 25 7 ; o f e e , 323 , 3 2 7 Hgl . D c nt l i ti n f E p nd f

e e ra za o o u ro e a o
C au s at i o n, as s o i at i o n o f , 192 , 193 , c p h i l ph y i 12 13
os o , v, , .

196 -1 99 . D d ct i n i n th N t l S c i nc
e u o , e a u ra e e
C hu bb
, Th o m as , 1 65 . pe ri o d , fi ne d 35 n ;
1 9 , 2 1 , 35 ; d e , .

c
C h u r h , m e d i ae v a , 14 ; at ti tu d e o f , l u se f cco g , G al ile 3 7 ;
a o rd i n to o,

t o ward s i e n e , i n t h e e ri o d o fc c p acc d i ng t B ac n 4 0 4 6 ; a cc
or d o o , , or

t h e Re nai s s an e , 19—2 1 , 62-65 ; ao c i ng t D sc a tes 70 72 73 ; u se

o e r , , ,

c o rd i n to o e s , 60 g H bb . m ad e f by t h e f ll we s o f D es
o , o o r

C i V i li za t ro n, o f t h e M id d e A es , l g ca t 81 r es, .

au s e s o f t h e d e ay o f , 4—
c 7 ; mo d c D e d -a t f F i c hte 293
e c o , .

e rn, i s su j e t i v e , 1 5 b c . D i sm and H u m 200 ; of V o l tai re

e , e, ,

l
C as si i s m , ce r m an, 224 , 296 G 210
D e sts th e E ngl ish 14 1 164—166 ; th e
. .

l g
C o e ri d e , S T , and S i no z a, 85 . . p . i , , ,

C ll g
o e i ant s , th e , S ino za s a q u ai nt
’
p c G m an 1 4 2
er ,
.

c
an e W i t h , 8 7-89 . De s ca tes Re ne 3 1 3 ; compare d
r , , ,
5

C ll
o ins , A nt h o ny, 1 65 . w it h H bb e s 48 49 ; t h e m nt a l
o , , e

C l b
o um u s ,C h ri s t o h e r, d i s ov e rs p c c onfl i c t i n 65 66 ; l f e and ph i l o , , i

c
A m e ri a, 6 . s p h i c a l w i t i ng
o of 66 6 7 ; t h e r s , ,

C g
om te , A u u st e , q u o t e d on th e E u t w o c nfl c t ng i nfl u e nc s u p on
o i i e

c y c lop aed i a , 2 11 ; h rs h i oso h y, p l p t h e t h u gh t o f 67—69 ; t h m e th d

o , e o

of 69 70 t h e g e at co nt ri b u t i n
, , , r o

C onc o m i tant v ari at i ons , t he nam e , of an ab

, l u t e p nc i pl 70 ; in
so ri e,

38 n . d u c t i n p v i s i na l d u bt u l t i
o , ro o o ,

C o nd ill ac E B d e 2 12 m at e c e rt ai nty f c nsc i u sne ss o o o

7 0—
. .
, .
, ,

C onsc i u sness u l tim ate ce tai nty

o , r acc d i ng t
or 72 d d u c t i on im o, , e ,

f acc d i ng t D e sc a t s 70—72 ;
o , or o r e ,
pl i c ati ns f c on c usne ss ac
o o s io ,

im pl i c at i ns o f acc ordi ng t D es o o c o d i ng t 70 72 73 ; h is p f s of
r o, , ro o

f G o d 73—
, ,

carte s 72 73 ; i n Fi nte s p h ilo so

, ,
e
’
th e e te nc e x is 75 ; t h e o ,

-288 293 ; i n S ch ll i ng s al i ty f m att e r ac co d i ng t o 75

'
h
p y 286 , , e re o ,
r ,

phi l s ph y 309 ; i n H e g l s p h l 7 7 h i s i w f t he e l ati n f G o d

’
o o , e i o , v e o r o o

s ph yo 3 2 1 322 326 3 27 ; i n H e
, , , , r t o t h e w o l d 7 7 o f G od t rm at , , o

b art s p h i l o ph y 33 6 338 i n
’
so t e r, 77 , 78 , o f G od t o m ind s , 78 ; of
bod y 78—
, ,

F e c h ne s p hi l ph y 359 r
’
oso , . m i nd and 80 ; , i nfl u e n e c
C onstant in pl e f all of 6 o , , . of , 80 8 1 ; r l ati n o f
, e o th e O cca
C ons ti tuti nal is ts and P l iti cal o o s io nalis ts and S p i noza t o , 81-
84 ;
36 8 I N DEX
Hgl e e wh a t th e y sou h t , 279 , 28 1 , g G ne w re i
e ne v a, lg i o us c e ntre i n th e
i f e and wr i t i n s o f , 282—
,

3 12 ; l 285 ; g Re nai s san e , 12 c .

t h e i nfl u e n e s u c p on h i s te a h i n , c g G e o m e t i i c al M
e t h o d and i ts o Opp
285 , 286 ; h i s tw o k i nd s of i d e as, ne u t s i n t h e E n i h t e nm e nt , 14 2 lg .

28 6 ; t h e m o ra awa e ni n , a ord l k g cc G l
e rm an I d e a i s m and mo d e rn p h i

i ng t o . 2 8 7, 288 ; t h e e nt ra ri n c l p lo so p h y, 355 , 356 .

c i p le i n h i s h i o s o h y, 28 8 290 ; p l p — G e rm an I d e a i s t s , l a es pl c
onne te d c c
t h e m o ral w or d o f , 290-292 ; G o d l w i t h (m ap ), 280 t re at e d ,
and m an, i n t h e p l p
h i oso hy of , G e rm an l
i te rat u re a f a t o r i n t h e c
292 2 93 ; wh at a m al re al i t y i n or lg
E n i h t e nm e nt , 2 18 , 2 19 , 22 3 .

G l p p
,

v l s acc
o ve d ng t 2 95 295 ; h is or i o, e rm an P h i o s o h y, t h e t h i rd e ri o d
p l p
,

relat i n t R m nti c i sm 299 ; and

o o o a o f m o d e rn h i o s o h y, 3 ; t re at
m e nt o f , 2 30—
,

S c h ll ng a b e f c m p a i s on f
e i ri o r o 3 29 ; t h e th re e h ara c c
5 03—
, ,

as p h il s p h e rs 1 o 30 5 o ,
t e ri s t i c s o f , 2 3 1 , 23 2 ; t h e t wo p e
F i c he K u n D
s r, t s a nd h is o, es c a r e ri o d s o f , 232 , 233 .

S h c l 70 n ; l e ad t h e
oo , r tu n to G s e r e rm any , i n t h e R
e nai ss an e , 12 , 16 , c
lg
.

K ant 3 50
”
17, 2 1 , 3 1 ; t h e E n i h te nme nt i n.
c
.
,

F i t z G e rald , E d w ard , h i s t rans l at ion 1 40 , 2 16-229 ; t h e i nt ro d u t o ry p e

of t h e R u bd i yd t, 34 7, 34 8 b l
r i o d (a s o u t i s m ) , 21 7— 22 3 ; su mm ary
l lg
.

F orc e f u nd am e nt a ro u nd o f m o lg o f th e i t e rary E n i h t e nme nt i n,

p l c l lg
,

t i o n, a o rd i n t o cc e i ni t z , 1 19 , g L b 223 , 224 , t h e o i ti a En i h t e n
fi
120 ; i d e nt i e d wi th t h e m e t a h ys p m e nt i n (F re d e r i ckt he re a t ), G
c l
i a ato m by e i ni tz , 12 1 ; t h e L b c
224 -22 6 ; t h e o u rse o f th e E n i h t lg
w ord , as u se d by e i ni tz , s q u i nts L b e nm e nt i n, 22 6 — 22 8 ; e s si n , 22 8 , L g
to w ard p c l g
h ysi s and psy h o o y, c 229 , t h e c
o nv e r e n e o f p hi los o g c
p h i c a l i nfl u e n e s i n, 23 0, 23 1 c .

F anc e i n t h e N atu al S c i e nc e p e G l c
r ,
r e u i n x , Arno d , 63 , 83 l .

i d 1 7 2 1 3 1 th E nl i g h t e nm nt
r o , , G b
,
e e i b o n, E d ward q u ot e d , 138 , .

i n, 140 , 20 3 - 2 16 ; th e Si t u ati on i n, p l
G o d , i n t h e h i os o h y o f p
us anu s , C
i n t h e E n i h t e nm e nt , 203 — lg 2 06 ; t h e 25 : in B n hi o so h y, 28—p l p
’
ru o s 30 ;
gl
E n i s h i nfl u e n e i n, 2 06 , 2 0 7 ; t h e c D c
e s arte s
’
p
ro o f s o f t h e e x i st
t wo p
e ri o d s o f t h e E n i h t e nm e nt lg c
e n e o f , 73 - 7 5 ; re at i on o f , t o t he l
i n, 2 07 , 208 ; th e i nte e tu a E n ll c l l
w o r d , t o m at te r, and t o mi nd s ,
ligh t e nm e nt (V o tai re , o nt e s l M a cc o rd i n tog D c
e s art e s , 7 7 , 7 8 ; i n

q u i e n, t h e E n y o ae d i s t s ) i n, c cl p the p l
h i o so h y o f t h e p as i o n Occ
208-212 ; t h e s o i a l E n i h te nm e nt c lg alis ts , 83 p
i n S i no z a s h i o s o h y,
‘
p l p
(Rou sse au ) i n, 2 13 — 216 ; a so u t is m b l 9 1 — 106 ; i n Le i n i b
’
t s p h i lo s o i i h y,
z

i n, 2 1 7 . 126 , 1 27 , 130 , 1 3 1 ; i n t he E n i h t e n lg
F ran ck
e, A H 22 0 . . m t,e n 135 ; i n B e r e e
’
k l
y s p h i lo s o
F re d eri th e ck re at , 223 -22 6 G . h
p y, 1 8 1 —1 8 3 ; i n u m e
’
s H
p hi lo s o
F re e d om . S i noza s
’
p
o n e t i on of , c cp p h y, 200 ; i n Vo tai re s h i o so h y,
’
l p l p
104 ; a ord i n t o cc o e , 154 , 155 ; g L ck 21 0 , t h e i d e a o f , a o rd i n to cc g
Kan s i d e a o f , 270 ; th e ostu ate
t
’
p l K ant 26 1 , 265 —
. 268 ; t h e ostu ate o f p l
o f, a cc
o rd in t o K ant 27 6 ; a g
o rd , cc th e e x i s t e n e o f c a co rd i ng , to c
i ng to Fc
i h t e , 2 89 , 290 ; and G o d , K ant , 2 76 . 2 77 ; m F ie nte s p h i lo s o ’

c ll g
S he i n ’s h i o s o h y o f , 303 ; p l p h
p y, 292 , 293 ; i n S h e i n
’
s c ll g p l
hi o
c
t rans e nd e nta , o f S h o e nhau e r, l c p p
s o h y, 300 ; a nd f re e d o m S he c l ,

349-35 1 . l g p l p
i n s h i os o h y o f 3 0 3 3 1 2 ; o f th e
’
. .

c
M ys ti , 3 19 ; i n e e ’s h i o so hy, H gl p l p
G al i l e i G al ileo 31-3 3 35 —39
, , , . cc
324 ; a o rdi n t o F e h ne r, 35 9 g c .

G ama V as c o d a d i s c v e rs
, , o all-
se a G oe t h e , J W v on F a ust , 25 26 n ,
. .
, , .

ro u te t o Ind ia , 7 . . p
85 n ; and S ino za , 84 , 85 ; d e .

G asse nd i , P i e rre , w as au th or of t h e c b lg
s ri e s t h e E n i h t e nm e nt as an
i nt rod u t i on ofG k ree c ato mism l c c
age of se f - o n e i t , 1 34 ; r o m i ne nt . p
i nto mod ern th o ug h t 120 , . in th e S to rm and S tre ss m ov em e nt ,
 IN DE X 369

22 7 ; as a Romanti c is t 2 97-299 ; and

, H i bb e n, G
P hi lo sop hy of E n
J .

c
S he l i n l g , th e i r ph l i oso h y, 306 p . lwh tenme nl , 1 07 n , 11 9 n , 1 3 2 n , . . .

Go tts ch d J C e , . .
, 2 19 , 29 4 . 1 79 n q u o te d o n e r e e y, 1 80
. B k l .

G ac e w l d f
r ,
See or o r d o f gra e o . W l c . H i s t o ry , c c p
o n e t i on o f , i n t h e ni ne

G at B ta n
re ri i , t h e E n i h te nm e nt lg c
t ee nt h e nt ury, 35 7, 360-363 .

i n, 145 — 14 7 Se e E n and . gl . H b
o b e s , Th om as , 3 1 , 35 , 36 a o i t i a p l c l
G re e , k l g g
an u a e a nd i t e rat ur e , l t h e o ri s t , 4 7 ; f ore ru nne r o f m o d e rn
s tu d y o f , b e f o re and i n t he Re nais ma t e ri a i s m, 48 , 49 l o m are d W i th c p
c —
s an e , 10 14 , 16 . c
Ba o n, 48 ; o m are d Wi t h D e s c p
G i ee ks , th e , nat u ralis m o f , recov c l
arte s, 48 ; i f e and w ri t i n s o f , 49 , g
e re d i n th e Re nai ss an e , 14 c . 50 t h e i nflu e n e s u o n th e t h o u h t c p g
G ro t i u s , u o, 47 H g . of , 50- 5 2 ; hi s mi ss i o n, to ons tru t c c
G p
u n ow d er, di s o v e ry o f , 6 c . c c l
a m e h ani a v i e w o f t h e wo r d , 5 2 l
t h e f und am e nta ri n i e i n th e lp c pl
H milt n Si Wi l li m 202 358
a o , r a , , . c
te a h i n o f , 5 2— g
5 4 ; t h e me t h o d o f ,
H d nb g F i d i ch n (N
ar e er , r e r vo ov a 5 4 , 55 ; k i nd s of o d i es , a or d i n b cc g
li ) n Sp n
s , o92 ; q t d 295 i o za , uo e , . t o , 55 , 56 , hi s a li at i o n of t h e pp c
H t m nn K R E n 342
ar a vo m at h e m at i a t h e o ry to c l
sy ho p c
58 ; to o i t i s , 58—
. . .
, .
,

H y W ll i m 35
arv e , i a , . o y ; 56—
l g 60 ; h i s p l c
H g l G W F G m n p h il
e e , . . .
, er a o so Le vi a th a n, 60 ; and e s ar tes and D c
p hy e nd s w i th , 3 ; and F i c h te L ck
o e , 145 , 146 , e an th e s h o o o f bg c l
and S c h e ll g
i n , wh at t h e y so u g ht ,
E ng h sh M o rah s ts , 1 07 , 168 .

79 , 28 1 , 3 12 o mm e nt o f , on c H oif d i ng , H
aro d , Hi s tory of M od l
c ll g
S h e i n , 299 ; and t he u m i na c l ern P hilo s op h y , i v , 36 n , 40 n , . .

t i on o f I d e a i s m , 3 12-3 14 , W h y l 70 n .

h e re m a i ns to -d ay t h e re re se nt p H ll
o and i n th e at u ra S ien e pe N l c c
a t i v e o f K ant , 3 14 , 3 15 ; i f e and l r i o d , 17 , 2 1 , 3 1

w rit in s o f , 3 15 —
.

g 3 18 ; t h e f u nd a H l R
o y o m an E m i re , 2 1 7, 225 p .

m e nta c pl
ri n i l p l
e of h is id e a i sm, cp g l c c H u m ani s t i eri od , e ne ra h ara
c c
3 2 1 , 3 22 ; t h e o s m i u ni ty o f , 3 22 l gl p t e r o f , 15— 2 1 ; on i s t o f re re s e nt

326 ; t h e c c
osmi law o f 326-3 28 , c . at i v e s o f , 22 , 23 o ns i d e rat i o n o f
h is appl i c at i n f h i s t h e ry 3 28 p o o C o , ,
re re se ntati v e s o f ( us anu s , P ara

329 ; ba s of th pp i t i n
si c l B e o os o e s us , ru no ), 23 - 30 .

ag ai n t 33 1 332 ; and S c h op en
s , , b g H u m a ni ty , t h e w o rd , ro u h t into
h au c mp a d 34 0 34 1 ; hi s
e r, o c c reH , , u rre n y by e rd e r, 133 .

p hi l p h y h w i nte p e ted by H
oso , D o p r r ume , av i d , o n S i no z a, 88 ; t h e
h is f ll w o 358 o e rs , c g gl . ll c l h an e i n E n i s h i nte e tu a i n
H e i d lbe g U ni e i ty of 12
e r , v rs g l , . te re s ts s h o w n i n, 14 7 ; e ne ra re
H e b a t J F as a f ll we f K ant
r r , . l ati n f B e k l ey t 1 74 1 75 ; a
.
, o o ro , o o r e o, .

330 — 332 ; t u n t t h t h ng i n-i ts e l f

r d u al s t 1 74 n ; l f
s o and w e ti ngs i -
,
i , . i e ri

33 2 ; hi p g amm e at th e be gi n
s ro f 1 83 —
r 1 86 ; co m p a d w i t h B k o ,
re er e
ning f h is t e a c h i ng 33 2 333 ; l f e
o l y 183 184 ; i nfl u nc s u p n t h e , , i e , , e e o

and w i t ng s f 333 334 ; h is c n

r i th u gh t f 186 18 7 ; h i S k p t i c is m
o , , o o o , , s e
t ad i t i n o f e p
r c o i nce 334 ; h is
s and P h n m nal s m 1 87-189 ; t h e
x er e , e o e i ,

a gu m nt f
r al
e m 3 34- 3 36 ; t h e g i n f i d as acc di ng t 189
o r re is , o ri o e , or o,

m any e al and n t u e p h e n m ena

r s 19 1 th a s m t n f i d a ao
a r o , , e s oc io o e s,
acc d ng t
or 33 7 338 ; t h
i u l and c d ng t 191 193 as oc i ati n by
o, , e so or i o, - s o

la w f c nt gu t y 1 92—
,

m e nt al p he n m na acc d ng t o o e 194 ; by l w
, or i , o o i i , a

f e m bl anc e 192 — 196 ; a ca o r se , s so i

H e b e rt f C he bu ry 165
r o t i n f c u a t i n 192 1 9 3 1 9 6-199 ;
r , . o o a s o , , ,

H d J G n “b u ght into u
er e r, . . m at h mat i c s i n h i s p h i l
vo ,
ro ph y c r e o so ,

re n y t h e w d h u m an t y
e 1 33 ; 1 94 195 ; h i s c nc p t n
or f b i , , o e io o su .

p m i n nt in t he S t m and S t s
ro e s t anc 195 196 h i tt ck n t h or re s e, , s a a o e
m m nt 22 7 ; t ru e i nterp e te r
ove e , l gy 195 196 ; h s at tack n r o o , , i o SC I

of Le i b n tz 2 28 i e nc e 196 -
, 199 th e e x te nt and hmi t s
.
, ,
3 70 I N DEX

of h um an now e d e , a o rd in k l g cc g I nd e p end ent P hi oso h e rs , t h e , of l p

t o , 199 , 200 ; h i s t h e o ry o i re i i o n lg t h e E nl g h t
i e nm e nt , 142 .

and e t h i s , 200 , 20 1 c
t h e s e t i is m kp c p
I nd i V i d u a l, i nd e e nd e n e o f t h e , i n c
l
o f , i nf u e n e d K ant , 2 35 c . lg
t h e E n i h te nm e nt , 1 34 .

H guy h e ns , h ri s t ia n, 3 2 C . l
I nd i v i d ua i s m , m o v e m e nt to w ard ,
R
i n th e e nai ss an e , 12 , 1 5 mo d e rn, c
I d e a, t h e w o r d l as , and as W ll i , ac t h e r is e o f , 1 3 2 -1 34 i n t h e E n i h t lg
c o rd i n g to S c h o p e nh au e r , 345 —34 7 ; e nm e nt , i ts ex p re ss i o n in E ngl and ,

th e m i s e ry o f t he wor d l as , a cc o rd F ranc e , and Gin er m any, 140 ;

c p
i ng t o S h o e nh au e r , 3 48 , 3 49 . c
F ran e , i n t h e E n i h te nme nt, lg
l
I d e a i s m, o f B e r e e y, 1 74 ; af te r k l 20 7-209 ; i n G
e rm any, 2 19 , 220 , 223 ,

K ant , 2 78, 2 79 ; s u e t i v e , o f bj c 225 — 229 ; o f th e Ro m ant i mov e c

c
F i h te , 290, 304 ; ms t h e t i c , o f S h e c l m e nt , 2 96 .

l g
i n , 302 , 304 , 3 07 T rans e nd e nt a , c l c
I nd u t i o n, i n t h e atu ra S i en e N l c c
c ll g
o f S h e i n , 3 09 , 3 1 0 , H e e and t h e gl pe ri o d , 19 , 2 1 , 35 , d e ne d , 35 n ; fi
—
.

c lu m i nati o n o f , 3 1 2 3 14 ; and Re a l u se o f , a cc
o rd i n g
t o G a i eo , 3 7 ; ll
i sm , and ys t i i s m , M
o nt ras te d , c c a cc
o rd i n t o g B c
a o n, 40 , 46 a ord cc
3 18-3 2 1 ;
’
Hgl
e e s , t h e f u nd am e nta l i ng t o D c
e s art e s , 70- 72 .

p ri nC i p le o f , 3 2 1, 3 22 ; G e rm an, and fi p
I n ni ty, S i no za s i d e a o f , 94 , 95 ,
’

p l
m o d e rn h i o s o h y, 35 5 , 356 p . 105 , 106 .

l
I d e a i sts , G
e rm a n, t re a te d , 2 7 9-3 2 9 . I nnat e I d e as , o f D c
e s art e s , 73 , 15 6 ;
p
I d e as , t h e ro o f o f th e i r t ru t h , ao p
o f S i no z a , 1 5 6 ; e x i s te n e o f , d e c
c o rd i n tog D c
es art e s , 72 ; i nnate , nie d by o L ck
e , 1 5 6 , 15 7 , 189 ; o f
of D c
e s art es , 73 , 15 6 i nnate , o f L b
e i ni t z , 15 7 .

p
S i noz a, 15 6 ; i nnat e , d e ni e d by ll c
I nt e e t ua l
E n i h t e nm e nt inlg
L cko e, 15 6 , 15 7, 189 i nnat e , o f F c
r an e , 2 07— 2 12 .

L b e i ni tz , 15 7 , s o u r e o f , a o rd c cc .
I nv e nt i o ns , o f t h e M i d d e A e s , 6 , 9 ; l g
i ng t o o L ck
e , 15 7—
'
15 9 i n t h e p li i fo i n t h e ni ne te e nt h e nt u ry, 354 c .

p
so h i e s of o e, e r e e y , and L ck B k l l
I t a i an nat u re h i os o h e rs, 22 p l p .

H u m e , 174 , 1 75 ; a st ra t , i n b c B k er e l
I ta y i n t he Re nai ss an e , 10, 12 , 16, c
l ey s
’
p ph l i o so h y ,
1 89 ; 1 7 7, 1 79 , 1 7 , 2 1, 3 1 .

s u ce
o f a cc d ng t B k l y
r o , or i o er e e ,

181-183 ; ig n f a cc d i ng t
or i o ,
or o J ames W i ll i am, H i bbert J ou rna l,
,

H um 187 189—191 ; as c i ti n f
e, , so a o o , 3 15 n . P r a g m a ti sm , 35 2 n .

acc d i ng t H u m e 191—193 a so
or o , s J e na, 233 , 2 84 , 30 2 , 3 0 7 .

c i a ti n f by la w
o f c nt i g u i t y
o , o o , J e W i sh C b l
a a a, t h e , 11 .

192—1 94 ; by la w o f s m bl nc e re e a , J oh ns o n, S amu e , re s id e nt of l p
192-1 96 ; K ant s u s e o f t h e t e rm ,
’
g C ll g
K i n s o e e i n N e w Yo r , 1 7 1
’
k .

2 6 1 ; t h e th re e , a o rd i n t o K ant cc g J g
u d m e nts i nd i s e ns a e to nowp bl k
l
(G o d , so u , t o t a i ty o f t h e u ni l l g
ed e, a cc
o r di n t o K ant (ana yt i , g l c
26 1-268 ;
v e rs e ) , o f F i h t e , 286 ; c c
synth e t i , a p o s te ri ori , a p r i o ri ),
ne o— l
P at oni , i n Sc h e lh ng s h i o
’
c p l
p
so h y , 3 12 .

I d e nt i t y, of i nd i s c e rni bles , 129 ; K ant , l

I mm anu e , h i s Cr i ti q ue of
c ll g s p l
S he i n ’
p
h i os o h y o f , 303 , 3 10, P u re R ea s on, m ar s t h e t ra ns i k
3 11 . t io n f ro m t h e E n i h te nm e nt t o lg
l g
I d e o o i s t s , re n h , 3 58 F c . l
G e rm an P h i o so h y, 2 4 , 23 2 , th e p
l
I d o s , t h e , o f B a o n, 4 5 c . c p
i nfl u e n e s u on, 2133 -235 ; i f e and l
ll
I u m i nat i , t h e , 2 27 . w ri ti n s o f , 235 —
g 238 ; t h e ro em p bl
l
I mm or t a i t y o f t h e s ou , th e os tu l p o f , 23 8 , 23 9 ; t h e m e t h o d o f , 2 3 9 ,
l a te o f , a o rd i n cc
to K ant, 2 76 g . 2 40 ; t h e t h ree f o d w o r d o f (s u b l l
p
I m re ss i o ns , i n um e ’ s h ilos o h y, H p p j e c t i v e s t ate s , t hi n s -i n -t h e m g
190 . l
s e v e s , and p
h e no m e na), 24 0— 24 3
In c ons i s t e n c ies f th e wo l d acco o r rd h is wo r d o f no w e d e , 24 3—
l k 24 5 , l g
i ng to H ege l 322 , . pl ca e of synthe s is i n no w e d e, k l g
3 72 I N DEX
an e s t ry,c 150 ; hi s t ra ini n i n t o! g d iff ere ntia l c lc l
a u u s , d i s ov ere d c
e ranc e , 1 50 , 1 5 1 ; t h e s e i e nt i fic i h L b
by e i ni tz , 1 1 2 , 114 , 1 1 9 ; i n e i L b
fl u e nc e o n, 1 5 1 , 15 2 ; t h e o it i p l p l p
ni t z s h i o s o h y, 116 , 122 , 1 23 ; i n
’

c al i nfl u e n e o n, 15 2 , 15 3 the pur c H u m p h l p hy 194 195

e s
’
i os o

p se o f 15 3 —
, , .

o 1 55 ; t w ,
o Si d e s o f h is M a tt e t h e e al t y f acc d i ng to
r, r i o , or

p h i l soph y 1 55 -15 8 ;
o ch l as , and s o D esc a t es 75-77 82 ; l ati on f
r , , re o

t i c i m 156 1 57 ; h is p sych l g y
s , ,
o o , G d t o acc d i ng t
o, D es c a t s or o r e ,

15 7-160 ; h i s e p i te m l og y 155 15 6 7 7 78 i n B e k l y s p h i l s p h y
’
s o , , , , , r e e o o ,

15 8 160-162 ; h is p ac t c al p h i l o 1 7 7 1 78 i n S ch ll i ng s p h l p hy '
,
r i , e i oso ,

s p hy 1 62 163 ; t h e i nfl u nc of 305 i n H g l s p h i l os p h y 3 24
’
o , ,
e e , e e o , .

1 63 164 ; g e ne al e l at i n f B
,
k r r o o er e M ch ani m f t h w l d of H bbe s
e s o e or o ,

le y to 1 74 1 75 ; B k l y s p i nt s 5 2-54
’
, ,
er e e o .

o f a g e m nt rt h 1 75 1 76
e e Wi , , . M e d i aav al, m an, 9 , 10 ; s i e n e , 1 1 ; c c
Lo g i c in th e l att p t f t h e M id
,
er ar o i ns ti tu ti o ns , 11 c
h u r h , 1 4 w or d , c l
d le A g s st u d d f et w n ak e
,
ie or i s o s , 15 .

4 ; in H eg l p h l p hy 3 23 3 28 e
’
s i oso , , . l
M e nd e sso h n, M oses , 22 1 .

Lo nd n ne w li g i u s c nt e n t h e
o ,
re o e r i p c C
M e ta h ys i s , art es i an, assu me d i n
R e nai s anc e 1 2 ; be c m s an D
s , o e I lg
t h e E n i h t e nm e nt , 135 .

t e ll c t u al ce nt
e ab o u t t h e t i m e f re o M e th o d i s m , ri se o f , 13 7 .

th e p u bl c at i n of Lo ck s E a y i o e
’
ss g
M i d dle A e s , t h e , au se s o f the d e c
—
,

c ay o f th e c l
i v i i za t i o n o f , 4 7 .

L o t ze , H , 35 9 R . . . M ll
i , J
S , 38 n , 35 8
. . . .

L o u i s X I V , F re n h K in , 203 c g . l
M i nd , re at i o n o f G o d t o , a o rd i n cc g
L o u i s X V , F re n h K i n , 204 c g . to D c
e s a rte s , 78 ; re at i o n o f od y l b
and , a cc
o rd i n t o e s art e s , 78- g 80 ; D c
M acau l ay T B ,
. .E ss a y o n B ac on,
, p l
i n t h e h i o so h y o f th e p
as i o n Occ
40 n ; o n a . B c o n, 42 . alis t s , 8 3 ; i n t h e h i os o hy o f p l p
cc
M a h i av e i , ll N i cc l o o ,
47 . L ck
o e , 15 6-162 i n B e r e e y s hi o
'
k l p l
gc
M a i i n the H u m ani s t i c pe ri o d , 18 , p
s o h y, 1 76 , 180 , in um e s
’
h i lo H p
1 9 , 21 , 25 . p
s o h y, 191 ; in Re i d s
’
hi o so h y, p l p
M gn t c n d l d c
a e i ee e, is o v e ry o f , 6, 7 . c
202 ; o f F i h t e and S h e i n , 304 ; c ll g
M l b nch N i c l d
a e ra 63 , 83 e, o as e, . in e e s Hgl p l
’
h i o so h y, 3 24 , p h e p
M an, hi s r e at i o n t o t h e u ni v e rse l no m e na o f , a ord i n t o cc
e r art , g H b
i n t h e R e nai s s an e , 8— 18 ; i n t h e c 338-3 40 See S o u l .

p l p c l
h i o so h y o f P ar a e su s , 26 ; i n M od e rn h i o so h y, p l p o m arat i v e c p
H bb
o p l p
’
es s h i o s o h y, 55 , 58 ; i n l g
s h ort t i m e - e n t h o f , i i i , i v ; d i ffi
D c p l p
’
e s art e s s hi o so h y, 79 ; i n Sp i c l
u t y i n t h e s t u d y of , 1 , 2 ; e ri o d s p
no za sp l p
’
h i o s o h y, 103 ; i n Le 1b o f , 2-4 ; and G
e rm an id ealis m , 355 ,
p l p
ni tz s h i oso h y, 1 6 ; i n F i c t e s
’
2 h
’

p l p c ll g
h i o so hy, 292 , 293 ; i n S h e i n s
’
M od es . of mi nd and mat te r , a cc ord
p l p
h i os o h y , 300 , 309 See N e w m an . . i ng t o D c
e s artes , 7 7 ; o f th ou h t g
l H bb
M at eri a is m , o f o es , 48 , 4 9 , 5 3 ; and e x t e ns i o n, a o rd i n to Sp i cc g
fi
d e ne d , 5 3 n ; o f t h e ni ne te e nt h . noza , 95 , 96 .

c e nt u ry , 358 . M o nad o lo y, g L b
e i ni tz s t h eo ry o f ,
’

M c l
a th e m at i a A s t rono m e rs , t h e , 3 2 121 .

36 . M o nad s , of L ibnit
e z, m e tap h ysi cal
M at h e m at i c al la w , a cc o rd i n gt o G al at o ms ,
1 12 , 1 14 , 1 19 , 12 1 ; t h e d o u e bl
i l3 7 , 38
eo, . nat u re o f , 122— 125 ; o n e i v e d as c c
M at h e mat i s , i n t h e at u ra S i e n e c N l c c l
s ou -ato m s , 12 2 , 123 , 1 26 ; re p re se nt
p
e ri o d , 1 9 , 2 1 ; m o d e rn i nfl u e n e c ati o n the g f u n t i on o f ,
e ne ra l c
of g , re w f ro m a st ro no m i a e in c lb g 124 , are W i nd o w e s s , and m i rro r l
ni ngs am o n the g
u mani s ts , 35 ; H t h e u ni v e rse , 1 25 , 127 ; t h e ri n p
of H bb o es , 4 8 , 54 , 56 —
60 ; o f D e s c i p le o f u ni ty am o n , alle d a re g c p
cartes , 48 , 68 , 69 , 74 , 76 ; i n Sp i e s ta bl
is h e d h a rm ony, 125 ; th e ln
noza s
’
p l hi oso h y, 90 , 91 , 93 , 99 ; p t ri nsi c (ph i lo s0 p h i c al ) u ni ty of .
 I N DEX 3 73

125 -129 ; t he su e ri m o se d (th eo p p so p h y of

3 00, 304-306 ; henom e na
, p
l gc l
o i a ) u u i ty o f , 129-1 3 1 . o f , and t h e m any re a s , a ord i n l cc g
M o nte s q u i e u , d e 8 d e , B aro n, 208 C
_

. . . to H
e rb ar t , 33 7 , 33 8 ; i n S h o e n c p
M l
o ra , a wa eni n , t h e , a ko r di n g cc g h au e r, 348 ; h o w on e iv e d , i n t h e c c
to F i ch te , 2 8 7 , 288 f re e d o m , of ni ne te e nth e nt u ry, 35 3 ; a o rd i n c cc g
F i c h te 289 290 ; w o rl d o f F i c h t e
, , , , to F e c h ne r
35 9 , .

290— 292 ; re al i ty a wh at i t i nv o l v e s , , , N atu re p l

h i o so h e rs , I ta i an, 2 2 p l .

acc or d i ng t o F i c h t e 293 -29 5 ,

. N e o P a to ni s m ld o m i nat e d t he
l l
M o ra P h i o s o h e rs o f th e E n i h t p lg Hu manis t i cp
e ri o d , 17 , 18 , 2 1 , 23 , 25 ,
e nm e nt , 14 1 . 2 7—29 .

M 0 1 ali s t s E n is h , t h e , 166-168
, gl . N e w M an, i n a N e w Uni v e rse , p h ras e
M o ra l i ty acc , o rd i n g to Hgl e e , 3 26 . c c
h ara t e ri z i n rs t e ri od o f mo d gfi p
M or s, al K ant
s th e o ry o f 269—
’
2 77 , . e rn p l
h i o so h y, 8-18 ; t h e e m e r p
M o re , T h om as , h is Utop i a , 4 1 n , 4 7 . . g c
e n e o f t he , i n t h e E n i h t enme nt , lg
M 0 1 le y, J oh n, D i d e rot 2 1 1 n , . 1 3 2-134 .

M o t i on, i n G al i l e o s p h i l os o p h y, 38 ; N wt n Si I c 32 ; h i p hy i c
’
e o , r s aa , s s s,
i n H bb ph l 53 ; ei phy L b K nt i nfl nc d by 234
’
o es s i o so , a ue e , .

ni t z s
’
ex am i nat io n o f t h e s c i e n N i t ch F i d c h 342 35 2 n
e zs e, r e ri , , .

t i ficc nce p t i n f 119 120

o o o , , . N i n t nth c nt y p i mi t i c
e ee e ur , e ss s ,

M u s i c acc d i ng t o S ch o p nhau e
or e r, 34 1 , 34 2 ; th e h ara te r o f t h e re a c c l
35 0 . i s m of , 353 -355 ; t h e arre nne s s o f b
M yst i c i sm , l
se f -d e st r u t i v e , 5 c of th e p l
h i o so h y o f , and e r m an p G
S p i no za , 98-1 02 ; and Re al i sm , and l sm 355 3 5 6 ; t h e p hi loso phi
i d ea i , ,

l
I d e a ism , o nt ras t e d , 3 18- c
3 21 o f c al p o bl e m f 35 6—
r 362 s o , .

c p
S h o e nh au e r, 3 4 7 o f t w e nt i e th N i n t nt h C ent u y P h i l p hy th e
e ee r o so ,

c e nt u ry , 3 63 f u th p e i d f m d e n p h l s
o r r o o o r i o o
—
.

M yst i cs , P ro t e stant , th e , 2 3 .
p h y , 3 , 3 5 2 363 .

M yt h l g o o y and Re v e at i on, S h e l c l N o m i na li sm ,
d o t rine c of , le d to th e
l ng s p l
i
’
p
h i oso h y of , 303 , 3 1 1 , 3 12 . d i s so l u t i o n o f t he c l i v i izati o n o f

th e id dM 6 le A ge s, .

N pla q u o te d , 23 1
o e o n, . N o u m e na of K ant , 242 .

N at u ra na tu ra ns and na tu ra na N o v a i s See l ard e n e r. H b g .

tu r a ta , 29, 3 0 , 97 .

N at u ra lR lg c
e i i o n, t h e re e d o f , 165 . O ccasi onal i sts the 63 81 ; th e i r re , , .

N atu ra l c c p
S i e n e eri o d , t h e , g e n l ati n t D sca tes 81-83
o o e r
—
, .

l c b
e ra f a ts a ou t , 15 21 d is c u ss mn O w e n J oh n Lo cke i nfl u e nce d by
, , ,

of (G a l i l e B ac n H bb es ) 3 1-6 1
o, o , o , 1 50 .

d is c u s i n of t h e Ra ti onal i sm o f
s o .
, O x f o rd Uni v e rsi t y , 12 .

62 -131 .

N at u ra l i sm , of th e G ks
ree , re c o v p c
P an sy h i sm , 102 .

e re d i n t h e Re nai ss , 14 ; i n anc e P ant h e i sm , d e ne d , 94 ; of fi S p i noza ,

H bo b e s, 5 3 d e ne d , 53 n fi . 94 —98 .

N atu re , i n t he at u ra S ie n e N c c l c l
P ar a e s u s , 23 , 25 -2 7 .

p e ri o d , 1 8 ; i n t h e h i oso h y o f p l p c
P ari s , th e e nt re o f s h o ast i i nflu c l c
cl
P ara e s u s , 2 7 ; i n ru no s
’
hi o B p l c
e n e i n t h e s e v e nte e nth e nt u ry, c
p
s o h y, 29 , 30 ; i t s t wo as e t s , na p c
t u ra na tu ra ns a nd na tu ra na tu P au ls e n, F ri e d ri ch c i t e d , , 23 1 ; on
r a ta , 29 , 30 ; i n t h e h i os o h y o fp l p K ant ’
s s ynt h e t i c j u d g me nt s a

t he R
a t i o nal i st s , 63 , 64 ; o nt i nu i t yc p r i o ri , 25 1 n .

of, a cc
ord in to g L b
e i ni t z , 123 , 126 , c p
P e r e t i o ns , o f B e r e e y, 18 1 ; o f k l
1 28 , 129 ; i n t h e E n i h te nm e nt , lg Hu m e , 190 See S e ns e - e r e ti o n . p c p .

1 35 ; i n t h e h i o so h y o f p l p
o e, L ck P e ri o d s o f m o d e rn h i o so h y, 2 — 4 p l p .

1 63 ; a o rd i n cc g
to K ant , 24 8 , 2 5 5 , P e ss i m i sm , 34 1 , 34 2 , 344 , 34 8-35 1 .

2 58 , 25 9 ; as c c
o n e i v e d by t h e R 0 P h e no m e na, t h e wor d o f , a o rd i n l cc g
mant i c is ts , 297 ; S h e li n s hi o ’
c l g p l to Kant, 242-243 ; rea i t i es i mph ed l
3 74 IN DEX
by, a ccord ing to H b er art , 33 6 ; na See A sso i at i ona P sy ho o y, As c l c l g
t u re , and t h e ma ny re a l s, a ord cc so c iat i o nal P s y h o o i sts c l g .

i ng to H b
e r art , 33 7, 338 . c
P sy h o - h ysi a p
ara e i s m of Sp i c l p ll l
P h e no m e na is m o f l
u me , 1 87-189 H . no za, 1 02 .

l p ”
P h i o s o h e r s s to ne , t h e , 2 5
’
. l
P to e m ai c syste m t he 33 , , .

l
P h i os o h i a p c l
R e i i o n, Le ss m g a lg P yrrh o, S ke p ti c p h i l oso p her , 187 .

Q
wri te r o n, 143 .

l
P h i o so hi a p c l
Re v o u ti o ni s ts , th e , l l ua p i mary and se cond ary i n
i ti e s , r ,

o f t h e E nh gh t e nme nt , 142 . L ck o e s p h i l oso p hy 1 61 ; i n Be ke

’
, r
l p
P h i oso h y, a ord i n t o cc
e e , 326 ; g Hgl l e y s p h l osop h y 177 178 S e A t
’
i , , . e
b
mo d e rn, arre n o f i d e as , 355 ; and t but s
ri e .

G e rm an I d e a i sm , 355 , 35 6 l .

l g
P h re no o y, i n t h e ni ne t e e nth c e n Rand , M o d e rn C la ssi ca l P h i lo so
t u ry , 35 8 .
p he rs, i v , 40 n , 4 7 n , 66 n , 84 n , . . . .

P h ySI C S, i n o
’
es s H bb
h i o s o h y, 56 ; p l p 10 7 n , 14 7 n , 169 n , 183 n , 2 12 n
. . . .

of D c
e s ar te s , 68 See S i e n e . c c . 236 n , 282 n , 300 n , 3 15 n , 340 n
. . . .

P i e t i s m , and Le m tz , 1 15 ; a f a t o r m c 35 2 n , 360 n . .

i n t h e G e rma n E n i h te nme nt , 2 19 , lg l
Rat i o na i sm , d e ned , 61 n ; t h e na fi .

2 20 , 223 , 230 ; i nfl u e n e d K ant , c t u re o f , 62- 6 5 ; S h oo o f , i n G e r c l

2 33 . F
many, ran e , and o and , 80 ; o f c H ll
Pi e t i s ts , t he , of th e E n i h t e nment , lg W l
o ff and t h e Wo lfii ans ,
e i ni tz- L b
142 2 21-223 , 23 1
—
. .

Plat o, 45 n . l
Rat i o na i sts , th e , 3 1, 63 65 See .

Pl a t c A c ad emy th e of th e Re
o ni , , D c e s ar te s , S p i noza ,
L ibn t e i z.

nai sanc e 1 0
s ,
. Re al is m M y t i c s m and I d al is m
, s i , e ,

P l t n m re ac ti n t owar d af te
a o is , o , r c nt ast d 3 18-32 1 ; t h a g ume nt
o r e , e r

H obb 61 e s, . fo acc o d ng to H e b a t 33 4-336 ;

r, r i r r ,

P l t nu 2 8
o i s, . mu l ti pl e a cc di ng to H bart , or er ,

P l u al i m of Le i b ni tz 1 19-
r s 122 , . 33 7 , 338 ; t h e re t u rn to , i n t h e ni ne
P o l t i c a l E c n mi ts and C nsti t u
i o o s o t e e nth c
e nt u ry, 3 2 , 35 3 ; o f
5
the
t i nal t s th e o f t h e E nl g h te n
o is , , i ni ne te e nt h e ntu ry, t h e h ara te r c c c
me nt , 1 42 . o f , 35 3 -
35 5 .

l c al p h i l s ph ers 23
Po iti o o , , l c
Re a i s ti M o v e m e nt , th e , 224 .

l c acc d ing to H bb e s
P o i ti s or o , 56 , 58 e a i ty, o f F i h t e , 28 7—
R l 295 o f R e a c , l
60 . i sm , M
yst i i sm , and I d e a i s m , 320 ,c l
Po p e, l
A e x and e r, o n B a on, 4 2 ; E 3 c 3 21 ; i m i e d by pl
h e no me na, ao p
s a y o n M a n, q u ote d , 1 33 . c
o rd i n to g
e r art , 336 ; i rra H b
p l
P o u ar P h i o s o h e rs , t h e , o f th e l p t i o nal, t h e w i as , a o rd i n to ll cc g
lg
E n i h te nm e nt , 142 . c p
S h o e nh au e r, 34 7, 348 See A bso .

P o s i t i v i sm , B c
a o n t h e f at h e r o f , i n l u t e Re l it y a .

gl
E n and , 43 ; d e ne d , 4 3 n ; o f fi . Reaso n t h e q u es t i on o f its v a id i ty ,
,
l
H u me , 188 , 189 cc
a g
o rd i n t o K ant , 2 60 - 262 ; t h e
g
P ra u e , U ni v e rsi ty o f , 12 . w i ll e e rted f m 2 72 2 73 ; i n
x ro , ,

g
P rint i n , d i s o v e ry o f , 6 c . H e g l p hi l s ph y 3 14 3 23
e
'
s o o , , .

P ro t est ant M ysti s , th e 2 3 c , . Re fl e c ti ns i n Lo cke s p hi l s p h y

o
’
o o ,

Pru ss i a, r i se o f , 2 18 , 2 19, 22 3 ; and 158 , 15 9 .

F re d e ri t h e re at 22 4-226
ck G , . Re f o rm at i on P rot estant, th e , 7 ,
.

c l g
P sy h o o i s ts and re ate d p hi lo so l R e i d , Th o m as , 2 01 , 202 .

lg
p he rs , o f t h e E n i h te nme nt , 142 . lg
R e i i o n, a o rd i n t o o cc g
es , 60 ; H bb
c l g H b p l p
P s y h o o y, i n o be s s h i o so h y,
’
c
and s i e n e , c L b
e i ni tz s att e m t t o
’
p
p c l k pl c
56 -58 ; e m i ri a , t oo t h e a e of c cl
re o n i e , i n t h e En i h t lg
p c g
m e ta h ys i s i n t he E nli h t e n e nme nt , 13 7 ; P h i o so h i a , e ss l p c l L
L ck
ment , 13 7 ; o f o e , 15 7-160 ; o f i ng a wr i te r o n, 143 ; o f t h e e i st s , D
H H b
um e , 189 ; o f e r art , 338 - 340 ; 1 64 , 1 65 ; in ume s
’
h i o s o h y, H p l p
c
i n t h e ni ne tee nth e nt u ry, 35 7 . 200, 201 ; a ordi n t o cc
e e , 3 26 g Hgl .
a m I N DEX
S e nsati ons o f Lo ck e 158 159 ; , , , of s al v at i on, 102 -106 ; sum mary o f h is
K ant 245 ; o f F i c h te 29 0 29 1 ;
, , ,
of te a c g h i n , 106 ; hi s o n e t i o n o f th e c c p
H e rb ar t 3 39 ; o f F e c h ne r 35 9
, , . wo r l d c m pa o re d Wi th L bn t ei i z s,
’

p c p
Se nse - e r e ti o n, i n w h at it s v al 12 7 ; a nd K ant f om o f t h e p h i lo so
,

i d i ty c o nSi sts , a o rd i n to K ant cc g , phy of the g e ne ra tio n af t e r a nt , K

253 -255 See P e r e t i o ns
. c p . h i s i nfl u e n ce u p on F i ch t e ,

l
S e nsu a i sts , t h e , o f t h e E n i h te n lg 28 5 .

m e nt 14 1 2 12 , , . S p i ri t Se e , M i nd ,
S ou l .

S e nti me ntal is t , t h e o f t h e E nl i gh t , S p i ri t u a l i t y of F i c h te , S ch elling,

e nm e nt (Ro u sse au ) 142 , . and H g l 281 e e , .

S ev en Ye ars W ar 225 '

, . S tael , M dm d a a e q u o t e d , 23 1
e, .

S h af te s b u ry, or d , and L L ck o e, 148 , S t ate , th e , a cc ordin t o o e s , 55 ,g H bb

15 2 , 15 3 .

S h e ll e y, B , L ove ’ s P hi los op hy ,
P . . S tate s i d eal 4 1 , , ,
47 .

305 n P ro m e th e u s
. Unbo u nd L
S te p h e n e s l i e
H bb 47 n, Hi , o es , . s

q u o t e d , 3 25 . t y f E ng l h T h
or o g h t 166 n is ou , .

Sk p c
e t i i s m , re v i v e d by R e nai s s an e c S t w t D g l d 1 4 1 2 02
e ar , u a , , .

c l
s h o ars , 1 1 ; o f u m e , 187- 1 89 ; o f H S t i rl i ng , J . T ex tbo ok to K a nt,
H u me , i nfl u e n c ed K ant , 2 35 . 23 6 n .

S ke p t i c s , t he , of t h e E n l g h te nment
i , S to i c i sm , re v i v e d by R e nai ssance
14 1 . c l
s h o ars , 11 .

S oc i al Enl i gh te nme nt i n F ranc e , 213 S t o rm and S tress m ov eme nt , 224 , 22 7,

2 16 . 229 , 295 , 296 .

S o c i o l o gy acc o rd i ng t o C o m te 360 , . St e o
r i f f m e h
t o d s , t h e,
”
1 9 , 35 .

S o l i p s i sm o f e s c art e s 72 d e fi ne d
, D ggl , , S t ru f
e o t ar d i t i o ns, t h e ,
”
17, 18 .

183 . S u bj c t v e i d e al sm f F c h t 290 e i i o i e, ,

S u l acc d ng t D es c a t s 72 79
o or i 3 04 o r e , ,

c nc iv d S u bj ct iv e stat s th w l d f ac
, ,

f Le mm t
.

th e m n d o a o z o e e e e , e or o ,
r

as ,
126 cc d ng t H u m c d ng t K ant 240—242
, a or i o e, or i o , .

196 ; t h e d a of t h acc d i ng
i S u bj c t i v s m R e nai s sanc e m a k e d
e e, or e i ,
r

to K ant 2 61-2 64 ; th e p ,
t u l at e f by t h e i s f 14 15 os o r e o , , .

t h e i mm rta l i ty f acc d ng to
o S u b stanc e i n D e s c art es s ph il so
o , or i ,
’
o

K ant 2 76 ; i n H e bart ph l s p h y 77 8 1 82 ; i n t h e p hi l phy ’

,
r s i o o , , , oso

p yh 338 -340
, ; the p bl e m f th e f th e O cc asi nal i s ts and S p i n a ro o o o oz ,

f u nc t i ni ng f 35 7-360 S e M i nd 8 1-84 91-95 1 01 ; i n L e b n t s p h l o

’
o o , . e .
, ,
i i z i

S p ac e and t m kno w l e d g e p oss i bl e s p h y 1 19 122 ; i n L ck s p h il

’
i e, o - o e oso
—
,

by m e ans o f acc o d ng t o K ant h

p y 16
, 0 1 62 cc d ing to Lo cke r i , ,
a or ,

B e k l ey and H u m 174 175 i n r e ,

e, ,

S p e nc e H erb ert E d u ca ti on 43 n
r, Be ke l ey s ph l , phy 1 76 1 78 , r
’
i o so , ,

and ev l u t i n 3 62 o oH u m e s c nc e pt n f 1 95 196
, .
’
o io o , , .

S p ne P J 220 2 30
e r, . Su fii i e nt e as n law f 129
, . c r o , o , .

S p i n a B a u ch d 3 1 35 ; h i s l a
oz , r S u i c id acc d i ng to S ch op e nh au er
e, , re e or ,

t i on t D e c a t 8 1-84 ; th e h i s
o s 3 49 r es , .

to i c al pl a c e f 84 -8 6
r nfl u nc e f S ymp ath y a cc d i ng to S ch p e n
o , i e o or o

h i s J w i sh t a ni ng n 8 6 h i i m
e h au e 350 35 1
r i o , s r, , .

p u l se f m t h e n w c nc and S ynt h is acco d ing t K ant 244

ro e s ie e. es , r , o , ,

D s c a tes s i nfl u nc u p n 86 8 7 ; 245 th e pl ac e of i n kn w le d g ao
e r
’
e e o , , ,
o e,

c d ing to Ka nt 245 —248 of F i ch te

,

h is ac q u ai nt ance th t h C lle Wi e o or , , ,

g i ant s 87 88 l if e and p h i l p h i
, , 295 f H g l 3 27 See De d u c ti on o so , o e e , . .

c al w ti ngs f 88-90 ; t h e m th d
ri S ynt h t i c j u d gments f K ant 249
o , e o e o ,

of 90 91 ; t h
, , f u nda n nt al p i nc e e r i

p le i n h i s p h i l p hy 9 1 92 ; t h o so , ,
re e

c ntr al p b l m s i n h s te ach i ng Tau re llus 11

e ro e i , , .

93 ; h is p nt h i m 94 -98 ; t h e mys
a e s ,

t i c i sm f 98 - 102 ; his d o c trine o f Th eo l o gy H ume s attack on 195 196

’
o , , , , .
 I N DEX 3 77

Th es is , o f F i h t e , 295 ; o fc e e , 32 7 Hgl . 265 a o rd i n cc

to S h e i n , 304, g c ll g
g
T hi n s-i h -t h e m s e v e s , t h e wo r d o f , l l 3 11 See N e w M an
. .

ac c m d i ng t o K ant, 240 -242 , 336 ; U niv e rs i t i e s , i n th e Re naiss an e , 12 c

h o w t re a te d by F i h te , 290 , 29 1 ; c c
t o wns o nt ai ni n (m ap ), 280 g .

h o w t re at e d by S he i n , c ll g l
U t i i ta ria ni s m , 43 .

t he p l p
h i o so h y o f , 33 0— 35 1 ; t h e p
U to ia s , 4 1 , 4 7 .

chi ef c c p l p
o n e rn o f h i o s o h y, ao
co rd i ng toH b pl
e r art , 33 2 ; i m i ed V an d e r E nd e , h i s i nfl ue n e c on
p cc g
by h e no m e na, a o rd i n to H e r p
S i no za , 8 7, 89 .

b a t 33 6 ; bas i f S ch p nh au e
r , s o o e
’
r s V i e nna, U ni v e rsi y o f , 12 t .

p h i l s p hy 3 40 ; acc d i ng t
o o , or o l
Vo tai re , F
M A d e , 2 08-210, 223
. . . .

S c h p nh au e 345 346
o e r, , .
0

T h i rty Y W a r, 2 1 7
ea rs
’
. W agner R i ch ard 342 , , .

C
T h o mas i ns , h ri s ti an, 14 2 , 221 . W a tson J ohn H ed nisti c
, , o Theori es ,
g
Th o u h t , i n S i no a s
z
’
p
h iloso h y, p p 47 n .

95 , 10 1 , 102 ; i n e e s Hgl p l
h i o so h y,
’
p W e be r, E A . .
, H is tory of P h i losop h y,
322 , 335 . i v , 70 n , 73 n , 1 07 n , 33 2 n , 35 2 n
. . . . .

p c k
Ti me and s a e , now e d e o s si e l g p bl W e im ar, 233 , 307 .

by me ans of , a o rd i n to Kantcc g . W e rnae r, R M , Roma nti cis m a nd . .

25 3 —255 . th e R oma nti c S h oo l i n G e rm a ny, c

l
Ti nd a , M at th ew , 165 300 n
—
. .

T o and , J oh n, 1 65
l . ll
W i , the , K ant s h e o ry of , 269 2 77 ;
’
t
c l
Trans e nd e nta , m e th od , of K ant , l
t h e w or d as , and as i d e a , a o rd cc
p l p
23 9 , 240 ; hi o so h y, o f S h e i n , c ll g c p
i ng to S h o e nh au e r, 345 4 4 7 ; as
302 , 30 7-3 10 ; f ree d om , o f S h o e n c p i rrat i o na re a i ty, a l l
o rd i n to cc g
ha u e r, 349- 35 1 . c p
S h o e nh au e r, 34 7, 348 su i i d e c
C
Tre nt , o u n i o f , 1 6, 20 cl . and , a o rd in cc
t o S h o e nh au e r, g c p
T ru th , stand ar d o f , i n th e M i d d e l 34 9 ; th e d e ni a o f , a ord i n to l cc g
g
A es , se f - l
d e s tru t iv e , 5 , ri te ri on c c c p
S h o e nh au e r, 34 9— 351 .

of , a cc
ord i n to g
e s art e s , 72 D c . lb
W ind e and , W i h e m , H i sto ry of l l
T ru t h s o f L b
e i ni t z , 1 1 6 , 1 1 7 . P hi losop h y, i v , 8 n , 2 3 n , 30 n , . . .

T s c hi rnh au se n, E v o n, 22 1 . W . . 4 7 n , 70 n , 119 n , 1 32 n , 183 n ,

. . . . .

T urne r, Wl
i li am, H i s tory of P hi loso 2 30 n , 23 6 n , 278 n , 282 n ; o n
. . . .

p h y, 73 n . K ant ’s synth eti u d me nts a p ri cj g

o ri , 25 1 n .

U e be rw eg , F ri e d ri ch , H i s tory of W b g
i tt e n e r , ne w re i i ou s e nt re i n lg c
P hi los op h y , i v , 209 n . th e Re nai ssan e , 12 c .

g
U nd e rst and i n , in wh at i ts v a i d i ty l Wo lf enbiittel F r a g me nts , 85 .

co ns is t s , a o rd i n cc
t o K ant , 25 5 g l C
W o ff , h r i sti an, 22 1 , 22 2 , 22 8 .

W o lfli ans , th e , 142 .

Uni ty , of L i bnit
122 ; a p re es tab
e z, l g c
W o r d , o f ra e , 63 , 64 , 76, 83 ; re a l ~

i sh e d h arm o ny, 1 25 ; th e i nt ri nsi c t i o n o f G o d t o , a o rd i n t o D e s cc g

p l p c l
( h i oso h i a ), 125 129 ; th e s u e r — p c p l
art es , 77 i n S i no za s h i o s o h y , p ’
p
i m p se d (th o l g i c al ) 129— L b c c p
97 ; t h e , e i ni t z s o n e t i o n of , as
’
o 13 1 ; e o ,

cos mi c f H e g l 322-3 26
, o e , . b p bl
t h e e st o ss i cc
e , 130 ; a o rd i n to g
U ni e rs al co nc re te and ab strac t 99
v , , , G o e th e , 298 i n te rms of c o nSC lO llS °

100 . ne ss , 3 21 ; a w or d of cont rad i c l

U ni v e rse , l tion to in th e
M an’s re a , t i ons , 32 1 ; as wi and as i d e a, ao ll
Re nai s sanc e 8 — 18 ; acc or d i ng to t h e
,
c g
o rdi n t o S h o e nh au e r, 345 - c p
34 7 ;
P t o l e mai c sys t e m 33 acc rd i ng to , , o as i d e a, t h e m i se ry o f , a o rd i n cc g
th e Co pe ni c an syst e m 34 t h e i d e a
r , c p
to S h o e nhau er, 348, 34 9 See .

o f th e acco rdi ng to Kant 261 264

, , , , U niv e rse .