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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+. In the transliterations
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the original are surrounded by _underscores_.




THE
APPROACH TO PHILOSOPHY


BY PROF. RALPH BARTON PERRY

  THE FREE MAN AND THE SOLDIER
  THE MORAL ECONOMY
  THE APPROACH TO PHILOSOPHY


CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS




THE APPROACH TO
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 to
philosophy a 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 stand-point and its problem which
makes it universally significant entirely apart from dialectic and
erudition. These are derived interests, indispensable to the 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 to philosophy
in his own interests. To this end I have sacrificed all else to the 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.
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 to the purely introductory and expository
representation which I have, on the whole, sought to give. The
relatively great space accorded to the discussion of religion is, in my
own belief, fair to the 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 Kuelpe'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 to the 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 to the 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 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 to the 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 to the 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 TO THE PROBLEM OF PHILOSOPHY
                                                                    PAGE

CHAPTER I. THE PRACTICAL MAN AND THE PHILOSOPHER                       3

  Sect.   1. Is Philosophy a Merely Academic Interest?                 3
  Sect.   2. Life as a Starting-point for Thought                      4
  Sect.   3. The Practical Knowledge of Means                          8
  Sect.   4. The Practical Knowledge of the End or Purpose            10
  Sect.   5. The Philosophy of the Devotee, the Man of Affairs, and
                 the Voluptuary                                       12
  Sect.   6. The Adoption of Purposes and the Philosophy of Life      17

CHAPTER II. POETRY AND PHILOSOPHY                                     24

  Sect.   7. Who is the Philosopher-Poet?                             24
  Sect.   8. Poetry as Appreciation                                   25
  Sect.   9. Sincerity in Poetry. Whitman                             27
  Sect.  10. Constructive Knowledge in Poetry. Shakespeare            30
  Sect.  11. Philosophy in Poetry. The World-view. Omar Khayyam       36
  Sect.  12. Wordsworth                                               38
  Sect.  13. Dante                                                    42
  Sect.  14. The Difference between Poetry and Philosophy             48

CHAPTER III. THE RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE                                 53

  Sect.  15. The Possibility of Defining Religion                     53
  Sect.  16. The Profitableness of Defining Religion                  54
  Sect.  17. The True Method of Defining Religion                     56
  Sect.  18. Religion as Belief                                       59
  Sect.  19. Religion as Belief in a Disposition or Attitude          62
  Sect.  20. Religion as Belief in the Disposition of the Residual
                 Environment, or Universe                             64
  Sect.  21. Examples of Religious Belief                             66
  Sect.  22. Typical Religious Phenomena. Conversion                  69
  Sect.  23. Piety                                                    72
  Sect.  24. Religious Instruments, Symbolism, and Modes of
                 Conveyance                                           74
  Sect.  25. Historical Types of Religion. Primitive Religions        77
  Sect.  26. Buddhism                                                 78
  Sect.  27. Critical Religion                                        79

CHAPTER IV. THE PHILOSOPHICAL IMPLICATIONS OF RELIGION                82

  Sect.  28. Resume of Psychology of Religion                         82
  Sect.  29. Religion Means to be True                                82
  Sect.  30. Religion Means to be Practically True. God is a
                 Disposition from which Consequences May Rationally
                 be Expected                                          85
  Sect.  31. Historical Examples of Religious Truth and Error. The
                 Religion of Baal                                     88
  Sect.  32. Greek Religion                                           89
  Sect.  33. Judaism and Christianity                                 92
  Sect.  34. The Cognitive Factor in Religion                         96
  Sect.  35. The Place of Imagination in Religion                     97
  Sect.  36. The Special Functions of the Religious Imagination      101
  Sect.  37. The Relation between Imagination and Truth in Religion  105
  Sect.  38. The Philosophy Implied in Religion and in Religions     108

CHAPTER V. NATURAL SCIENCE AND PHILOSOPHY                            114

  Sect.  39. The True Relations of Philosophy and Science.
                 Misconceptions and Antagonisms                      114
  Sect.  40. The Spheres of Philosophy and Science                   117
  Sect.  41. The Procedure of a Philosophy of Science                120
  Sect.  42. The Origin of the Scientific Interest                   123
  Sect.  43. Skill as Free                                           123
  Sect.  44. Skill as Social                                         126
  Sect.  45. Science for Accommodation and Construction              127
  Sect.  46. Method and Fundamental Conceptions of Natural Science.
                 The Descriptive Method                              128
  Sect.  47. Space, Time, and Prediction                             130
  Sect.  48. The Quantitative Method                                 132
  Sect.  49. The General Development of Science                      134
  Sect.  50. The Determination of the Limits of Natural Science      135
  Sect.  51. Natural Science is Abstract                             136
  Sect.  52. The Meaning of Abstractness in Truth                    139
  Sect.  53. But Scientific Truth is Valid for Reality               142
  Sect.  54. Relative Practical Value of Science and Philosophy      143


PART II

THE SPECIAL PROBLEMS OF PHILOSOPHY

CHAPTER VI. METAPHYSICS AND EPISTEMOLOGY                             149

  Sect.  55. The Impossibility of an Absolute Division of the
                 Problem of Philosophy                               149
  Sect.  56. The Dependence of the Order of Philosophical Problems
                 upon the Initial Interest                           152
  Sect.  57. Philosophy as the Interpretation of Life                152
  Sect.  58. Philosophy as the Extension of Science                  154
  Sect.  59. The Historical Differentiation of the Philosophical
                 Problem                                             155
  Sect.  60. Metaphysics Seeks a Most Fundamental Conception         157
  Sect.  61. Monism and Pluralism                                    159
  Sect.  62. Ontology and Cosmology Concern Being and Process        159
  Sect.  63. Mechanical and Teleological Cosmologies                 160
  Sect.  64. Dualism                                                 162
  Sect.  65. The New Meaning of Monism and Pluralism                 163
  Sect.  66. Epistemology Seeks to Understand the Possibility of
                 Knowledge                                           164
  Sect.  67. Scepticism, Dogmatism, and Agnosticism                  166
  Sect.  68. The Source and Criterion of Knowledge according to
                 Empiricism and Rationalism. Mysticism               168
  Sect.  69. The Relation of Knowledge to its Object according to
                 Realism, and the Representative Theory              172
  Sect.  70. The Relation of Knowledge to its Object according to
                 Idealism                                            175
  Sect.  71. Phenomenalism, Spiritualism, and Panpsychism            176
  Sect.  72. Transcendentalism, or Absolute Idealism                 177

CHAPTER VII. THE NORMATIVE SCIENCES AND THE PROBLEMS OF RELIGION     180

  Sect.  73. The Normative Sciences                                  180
  Sect.  74. The Affiliations of Logic                               182
  Sect.  75. Logic Deals with the Most General Conditions of Truth
                 in Belief                                           183
  Sect.  76. The Parts of Formal Logic. Definition, Self-evidence,
                 Inference, and Observation                          184
  Sect.  77. Present Tendencies. Theory of the Judgment              187
  Sect.  78. Priority of Concepts                                    188
  Sect.  79. Aesthetics Deals with the Most General Conditions of
                 Beauty. Subjectivistic and Formalistic Tendencies   189
  Sect.  80. Ethics Deals with the Most General Conditions of Moral
                 Goodness                                            191
  Sect.  81. Conceptions of the Good. Hedonism                       191
  Sect.  82. Rationalism                                             193
  Sect.  83. Eudaemonism and Pietism. Rigorism and Intuitionism      194
  Sect.  84. Duty and Freedom. Ethics and Metaphysics                196
  Sect.  85. The Virtues, Customs, and Institutions                  198
  Sect.  86. The Problems of Religion. The Special Interests of
                 Faith                                               199
  Sect.  87. Theology Deals with the Nature and Proof of God         200
  Sect.  88. The Ontological Proof of God                            200
  Sect.  89. The Cosmological Proof of God                           203
  Sect.  90. The Teleological Proof of God                           204
  Sect.  91. God and the World. Theism and Pantheism                 205
  Sect.  92. Deism                                                   206
  Sect.  93. Metaphysics and Theology                                207
  Sect.  94. Psychology is the Theory of the Soul                    208
  Sect.  95. Spiritual Substance                                     209
  Sect.  96. Intellectualism and Voluntarism                         210
  Sect.  97. Freedom of the Will. Necessitarianism, Determinism,
                 and Indeterminism                                   211
  Sect.  98. Immortality. Survival and Eternalism                    212
  Sect.  99. The Natural Science of Psychology. Its Problems and
                 Method                                              213
  Sect. 100. Psychology and Philosophy                               216
  Sect. 101. Transition from Classification by Problems to
                 Classification by Doctrines. Naturalism.
                 Subjectivism. Absolute Idealism. Absolute Realism   217


PART III

SYSTEMS OF PHILOSOPHY

CHAPTER VIII. NATURALISM                                             223

  Sect. 102. The General Meaning of Materialism                      223
  Sect. 103. Corporeal Being                                         224
  Sect. 104. Corporeal Processes. Hylozoism and Mechanism            225
  Sect. 105. Materialism and Physical Science                        228
  Sect. 106. The Development of the Conceptions of Physical
                 Science. Space and Matter                           228
  Sect. 107. Motion and its Cause. Development and Extension of the
                 Conception of Force                                 231
  Sect. 108. The Development and Extension of the Conception of
                 Energy                                              236
  Sect. 109. The Claims of Naturalism                                239
  Sect. 110. The Task of Naturalism                                  241
  Sect. 111. The