A History of Modern Philosophy, Vol. 1

The appearance of a new representation of an important period in the History of Philosophy will naturally give rise to the ques tion as to what view of philosophy is regarded by the author as fundamental, and what is the significance, and what the value which he ascribes to its history. To which I answer that the whole aim of the studies of which the publication of this book denotes the provisional conclusion has been to shed light on the question as to what philosophy really is. As we learn to know a man from his biography, so also we must be able to learn to know a science from its history. And it is the more natural that we should adopt this path, since experience is continually showing us that, within the sphere of philosophy, contending views are advanced, each one of which claims to be valid, so that there is. No one exposition of philosophy to which we can point as developing an exhaustive conception of it. It is natural, therefore, that we should here, as within the sphere of religion, employ the comparative method. The history of philosophy treats of the attempts which have been made by individual thinkers to discuss the ultimate problems of know ledge and of life. It will be a result of no small importance, therefore, if we can show clearly what are the problems with which philosophy deals, how these problems have presented themselves at different times, and what, in each case, were the conditions which determined the different statements of the problems, and the attempts at their solution. If such a result can be approximately attained, the study of the history of philosophy will be of no small importance for the future development of philosophy itself.

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