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Part I various great human interests have been selected as points of departure.
Part II undertaken to furnish the reader with a map of the
Part II is due in part to a desire for brevity, but chiefly tothe hope
Part III sought to present the tradition of
Part II offers a general classification of philosophical
Part III sought to emphasize the point of view, or the
PART I<p> APPROACHTOTHE PROBLEM OF PHILOSOPHY
CHAPTER I.
CHAPTER II.
CHAPTER III.
CHAPTER IV.
CHAPTER V.
PART II<p> THE SPECIAL PROBLEMS OF PHILOSOPHY
CHAPTER VI.
CHAPTER VII.
PART III<p> SYSTEMS OF PHILOSOPHY
CHAPTER VIII.
CHAPTER IX.
CHAPTER X.
CHAPTER XI.
CHAPTER XII.
PART I<p> APPROACHTOTHE PROBLEM OF
CHAPTER I
CHAPTER II
CHAPTER III
CHAPTER IV
CHAPTER V
PART II<p> THE SPECIAL PROBLEMS OF
CHAPTER VI
Part V, Proposition XLII. Translation by
1
Part I, Fraser's
CHAPTER VII
PART III<p> SYSTEMS OF PHILOSOPHY
CHAPTER VIII
Part IV, § ccii.
CHAPTER IX
CHAPTER X
Part I. Translation by Elwes, p. 45.
Part IV. Translation by Elwes, p. 243.
CHAPTER XI
CHAPTER XII
CHAPTER I
CHAPTER II
CHAPTERS
CHAPTER V
Part II.
CHAPTERS
CHAPTER VIII
Part I.
Part I. (On the religious,
CHAPTER IX
CHAPTER X
CHAPTER XI
Approach to Philosophy, by Ralph Barton Perry
Project Gutenberg's TheApproachto Philosophy, by Ralph Barton Perry This eBook is for the use of anyone
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Transcriber's Notes: Some typographical errors have been corrected. A complete list follows the text. Words
in Greek in the original are transliterated and placed between +plus signs+. Words italicized in the original are
surrounded by underscores.
THE APPROACHTO PHILOSOPHY
Approach to Philosophy, by Ralph Barton Perry 2
BY PROF. RALPH BARTON PERRY
THE FREE MAN AND THE SOLDIER THE MORAL ECONOMY THEAPPROACHTO PHILOSOPHY
CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS
THE APPROACHTO PHILOSOPHY
BY
RALPH BARTON PERRY, PH.D. ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN HARVARD
UNIVERSITY
CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS NEW YORK CHICAGO BOSTON
COPYRIGHT, 1905, BY CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS
Printed in the United States of America F
THIS VOLUME IS DEDICATED TO
MY FATHER
AS A TOKEN OF MY LOVE AND ESTEEM
PREFACE
In an essay on "The Problem of Philosophy at the Present Time," Professor Edward Caird says that
"philosophy is not a first venture into a new field of thought, but the rethinking of a secular and religious
consciousness which has been developed, in the main, independently of philosophy."[vii:A] If there be any
inspiration and originality in this book, they are due to my great desire that philosophy should appear in its
vital relations to more familiar experiences. If philosophy is, as is commonly assumed, appropriate to a phase
in the development of every individual, it should grow out of interests to which he is already alive. And if the
great philosophers are indeed never dead, this fact should manifest itself in their classic or historical
representation of a perennial outlook upon the world. I am not seeking to attach tophilosophy a fictitious
liveliness, wherewith to insinuate it into the good graces of the student. I hope rather to be true tothe meaning
of philosophy. For there is that in its stand-point and its problem which makes it universally significant
entirely apart from dialectic and erudition. These are derived interests, indispensable tothe scholar, but quite
separable from that modicum of philosophy which helps to make the man. The present book is written for the
sake of elucidating the inevitable philosophy. It seeks to make the reader more solicitously aware of the
philosophy that is in him, or to provoke him tophilosophy in his own interests. To this end I have sacrificed
all else tothe task of mediating between the tradition and technicalities of the academic discipline and the
more common terms of life.
The purpose of the book will in part account for those shortcomings that immediately reveal themselves to the
eye of the scholar. In
Part I various great human interests have been selected as
points of departure.
Part I various great human interests have been selected as points of departure. 3
I have sought to introduce the general stand-point and problem of philosophy through its implication in
practical life, poetry, religion, and science. But in so doing it has been necessary for me to deal shortly with
topics of great independent importance, and so risk the disfavor of those better skilled in these several matters.
This is evidently true of the chapter which deals with natural science. But the problem which I there faced
differed radically from those of the foregoing chapters, and the method of treatment is correspondingly
different. In the case of natural science one has to deal with a body of knowledge which is frequently regarded
as the only knowledge. To write a chapter about science from a philosophical stand-point is, in the present
state of opinion, to undertake a polemic against exclusive naturalism, an attitude which is itself philosophical,
and as such is well known in the history of philosophy as positivism or agnosticism. I have avoided the
polemical spirit and method so far as possible, but have, nevertheless, here taken sides against a definite
philosophical position. This chapter, together with the Conclusion, is therefore an exception tothe purely
introductory and expository representation which I have, on the whole, sought to give. The relatively great
space accorded tothe discussion of religion is, in my own belief, fair tothe general interest in this topic, and
to the intrinsic significance of its relation to philosophy.
I have in
Part II undertaken to furnish the reader with a map of the
country to which he has been led. To this end I have attempted a brief survey of the entire programme of
philosophy. An accurate and full account of philosophical terms can be found in such books as Külpe's
"Introduction to Philosophy" and Baldwin's "Dictionary of Philosophy," and an attempt to emulate their
thoroughness would be superfluous, even if it were conformable tothe general spirit of this book. The scope
of
Part II is due in part to a desire for brevity, but chiefly to the
hope
of furnishing an epitome that shall follow the course of the natural and historical differentiation of the general
philosophical problem.
Finally, I have in
Part III sought to present the tradition of
philosophy in the form of general types. My purpose in undertaking so difficult a task is to acquaint the reader
with philosophy in the concrete; to show how certain underlying principles may determine the whole circle of
philosophical ideas, and give them unity and distinctive flavor.
Part II offers a general classification of philosophical
problems and conceptions independently of any special point of view. But I have in
Part III sought to emphasize the point of view, or the
internal consistency that makes a system of philosophy out of certain answers tothe special problems of
philosophy. In such a division into types, lines are of necessity drawn too sharply. There will be many
historical philosophies that refuse to fit, and many possibilities unprovided for. I must leave it to the
individual reader to overcome this abstractness through his own reflection upon the intermediate and variant
Part II undertaken to furnish the reader with a map of the 4
stand-points.
Although the order is on the whole that of progressive complexity, I have sought to treat each chapter with
independence enough to make it possible for it to be read separately; and I have provided a carefully selected
bibliography in the hope that this book may serve as a stimulus and guide tothe reading of other books.
The earlier chapters have already appeared as articles: Chapter I in the International Journal of Ethics, Vol.
XIII, No. 4; Chapter II in the Philosophical Review, Vol. XI, No. 6; Chapter III in the Monist, Vol. XIV, No.
5; Chapter IV in the International Journal of Ethics, Vol. XV, No. 1; and some paragraphs of Chapter V in
the Journal of Philosophy, Psychology, and Scientific Methods, Vol. I, No. 7. I am indebted tothe editors of
these periodicals for permission to reprint with minor changes.
In the writing of this, my first book, I have been often reminded that a higher critic, skilled in the study of
internal evidence, could probably trace all of its ideas to suggestions that have come to me from my teachers
and colleagues of the Department of Philosophy in Harvard University. I have unscrupulously forgotten what
of their definite ideas I have adapted to my own use, but not that I received from them the major portion of my
original philosophical capital. I am especially indebted to Professor William James for the inspiration and
resources which I have received from his instruction and personal friendship.
RALPH BARTON PERRY.
CAMBRIDGE, March, 1905.
FOOTNOTES:
[vii:A] Edw. Caird: Literature and Philosophy, Vol. I, p. 207.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PART I
APPROACH TOTHE PROBLEM OF PHILOSOPHY
PAGE
Part III sought to emphasize the point of view, or the 5
CHAPTER I.
THE PRACTICAL MAN AND THE PHILOSOPHER 3
§ 1. Is Philosophy a Merely Academic Interest? 3 § 2. Life as a Starting-point for Thought 4 § 3. The Practical
Knowledge of Means 8 § 4. The Practical Knowledge of the End or Purpose 10 § 5. ThePhilosophy of the
Devotee, the Man of Affairs, and the Voluptuary 12 § 6. The Adoption of Purposes and thePhilosophy of Life
17
CHAPTER I. 6
CHAPTER II.
POETRY AND PHILOSOPHY 24
§ 7. Who is the Philosopher-Poet? 24 § 8. Poetry as Appreciation 25 § 9. Sincerity in Poetry. Whitman 27 §
10. Constructive Knowledge in Poetry. Shakespeare 30 § 11. Philosophy in Poetry. The World-view. Omar
Khayyam 36 § 12. Wordsworth 38 § 13. Dante 42 § 14. The Difference between Poetry and Philosophy 48
CHAPTER II. 7
CHAPTER III.
THE RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE 53
§ 15. The Possibility of Defining Religion 53 § 16. The Profitableness of Defining Religion 54 § 17. The True
Method of Defining Religion 56 § 18. Religion as Belief 59 § 19. Religion as Belief in a Disposition or
Attitude 62 § 20. Religion as Belief in the Disposition of the Residual Environment, or Universe 64 § 21.
Examples of Religious Belief 66 § 22. Typical Religious Phenomena. Conversion 69 § 23. Piety 72 § 24.
Religious Instruments, Symbolism, and Modes of Conveyance 74 § 25. Historical Types of Religion.
Primitive Religions 77 § 26. Buddhism 78 § 27. Critical Religion 79
CHAPTER III. 8
CHAPTER IV.
THE PHILOSOPHICAL IMPLICATIONS OF RELIGION 82
§ 28. Résumé of Psychology of Religion 82 § 29. Religion Means to be True 82 § 30. Religion Means to be
Practically True. God is a Disposition from which Consequences May Rationally be Expected 85 § 31.
Historical Examples of Religious Truth and Error. The Religion of Baal 88 § 32. Greek Religion 89 § 33.
Judaism and Christianity 92 § 34. The Cognitive Factor in Religion 96 § 35. The Place of Imagination in
Religion 97 § 36. The Special Functions of the Religious Imagination 101 § 37. The Relation between
Imagination and Truth in Religion 105 § 38. ThePhilosophy Implied in Religion and in Religions 108
CHAPTER IV. 9
CHAPTER V.
NATURAL SCIENCE AND PHILOSOPHY 114
§ 39. The True Relations of Philosophy and Science. Misconceptions and Antagonisms 114 § 40. The Spheres
of Philosophy and Science 117 § 41. The Procedure of a Philosophy of Science 120 § 42. The Origin of the
Scientific Interest 123 § 43. Skill as Free 123 § 44. Skill as Social 126 § 45. Science for Accommodation and
Construction 127 § 46. Method and Fundamental Conceptions of Natural Science. The Descriptive Method
128 § 47. Space, Time, and Prediction 130 § 48. The Quantitative Method 132 § 49. The General
Development of Science 134 § 50. The Determination of the Limits of Natural Science 135 § 51. Natural
Science is Abstract 136 § 52. The Meaning of Abstractness in Truth 139 § 53. But Scientific Truth is Valid
for Reality 142 § 54. Relative Practical Value of Science and Philosophy 143
PART II
THE SPECIAL PROBLEMS OF PHILOSOPHY
CHAPTER V. 10
[...]... leads him from the summit of purgatory into the heaven of heavens, and even tothe eternal light; so there is added tothe mere human, intellectual, and moral resources of the soul, the sustaining power of the divine grace, the illuminating power of divine truth, and the transforming power of divine love Through the aid of this higher wisdom, the journey of life becomes the way to God Thus the allegorical... Pluralistic Philosophy Purity of the Good 420 § 215 The Incentive to Goodness 422 § 216 The Justification of Faith 423 § 217 The Worship and Service of God 425 § 218 The Philosopher and the Standards of the Market-Place 425 § 219 The Secularism of the Present Age 427 § 220 The Value of Contemplation for Life 428 BIBLIOGRAPHY 431 INDEX 441 PART I APPROACHTOTHE PROBLEM OF PHILOSOPHY CHAPTER I 18 CHAPTER I THE. .. convinced of the inner and essential character of the universe Some of the alternatives are matters of every-day thought and speech One cannot tell the simplest story of human life without disclosing them To live the human life means to pursue ideals, that is, to have a thing in mind, and then to try to accomplish it Here is one kind of reality and power The planetary system, on the other hand, does... Curtailment of Philosophy in the Age of the Sophists 319 § 157 Socrates and the Self-criticism of the Philosopher 321 § 158 Socrates's Self-criticism a Prophecy of Truth 323 § 159 The Historical Preparation for Plato 324 § 160 Platonism: Reality as the Absolute Ideal or Good 326 § 161 The Progression of Experience toward God 329 § 162 Aristotle's Hierarchy of Substances in Relation to Platonism 332 § 163 The. .. itself philosophy, thought has only recognized the definiteness and earnestness of its largest task Philosophy is still thought about life, representing but the deepening and broadening of the common practical thoughtfulness We who began together at the starting-point of life, have now entered together the haven of philosophy It is not a final haven, but only the point of departure for the field of philosophy. .. adopted it for his vocation; if neither, it has been present as an undertone throughout the rendering of his more inevitable life He will recognize it when it is named as the desire to do the will of God, or to have as good a time as possible, or to make other people as happy as possible, or to be equal to his responsibilities, or to fulfil the expectation of his mother, or to be distinguished, wealthy,... himself in the form of poetry The philosophical point of view is that from which the universe is comprehended in its totality The wisdom of the philosopher is the knowledge of each through the knowledge of all Wherein, then, does the poet, when possessed of such wisdom, differ from the philosopher proper? To this question one can give readily enough the general answer, that the difference lies in the mode... smearing the stone with butter that his god may be pleased, tothe woman crying tothe forest god for her sick child, tothe boy before his monks learning to be good No matter where you go, no matter what the faith is called, if you have the hearing ear, if your heart is in unison with the heart of the world, you will hear always the same song."[59:5] [Sidenote: Religion as Belief.] § 18 The general... common to me and to my neighbor, and presupposed in our collective undertakings This reduction of religion tothe type of the believing state should thus provide us with an answer to that old and fundamental question concerning the relative priority of faith and works The test of the faith is in the works, and the works are religious in so far as they are the expression of the faith Religion is not the. .. from chaos to cosmos For religion its significance lies in the idea of original and far-reaching power rather than in the idea of totality But that which is at first only "beyond," is practically the same object as that which comes in the development of thought to be conceived as the "world" or the "universe." We may therefore use these latter terms to indicate the object of religion, until the treatment . underscores.
THE APPROACH TO PHILOSOPHY
Approach to Philosophy, by Ralph Barton Perry 2
BY PROF. RALPH BARTON PERRY
THE FREE MAN AND THE SOLDIER THE MORAL ECONOMY THE. fictitious
liveliness, wherewith to insinuate it into the good graces of the student. I hope rather to be true to the meaning
of philosophy. For there is that in its