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Title: An Introduction to Philosophy

Author: George Stuart Fullerton

Release Date: August 1, 2005 [eBook #16406]

Language: English

***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AN INTRODUCTION TO PHILOSOPHY***

E-text prepared by Al Haines

AN INTRODUCTION TO PHILOSOPHY

by

GEORGE STUART FULLERTON

Professor of Philosophy in Columbia University
New York

New York
The MacMillan Company
London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd.

1915

Norwood Press
J. S. Cushing Co.—Berwick & Smith Co.
Norwood, Mass., U.S.A.

PREFACE

As there cannot be said to be a beaten path in philosophy, and as "Introductions" to the subject differ widely from one another, it is proper that I should give an indication of the scope of the present volume.

It undertakes:—

1. To point out what the word "philosophy" is made to cover in our universities and colleges at the present day, and to show why it is given this meaning.

2. To explain the nature of reflective or philosophical thinking, and to show how it differs from common thought and from science.

3. To give a general view of the main problems with which philosophers have felt called upon to deal.

4. To give an account of some of the more important types of philosophical doctrine which have arisen out of the consideration of such problems.

5. To indicate the relation of philosophy to the so-called philosophical sciences, and to the other sciences.

6. To show, finally, that the study of philosophy is of value to us all, and to give some practical admonitions on spirit and method. Had these admonitions been impressed upon me at a time when I was in especial need of guidance, I feel that they would have spared me no little anxiety and confusion of mind. For this reason, I recommend them to the attention of the reader.

Such is the scope of my book. It aims to tell what philosophy is. It is not its chief object to advocate a particular type of doctrine. At the same time, as it is impossible to treat of the problems of philosophy except from some point of view, it will be found that, in Chapters III to XI, a doctrine is presented. It is the same as that presented much more in detail, and with a greater wealth of reference, in my "System of Metaphysics," which was published a short time ago. In the Notes in the back of this volume, the reader will find references to those parts of the larger work which treat of the subjects more briefly discussed here. It will be helpful to the teacher to keep the larger work on hand, and to use more or less of the material there presented as his undergraduate classes discuss the chapters of this one. Other references are also given in the Notes, and it may be profitable to direct the attention of students to them.

The present book has been made as clear and simple as possible, that no unnecessary difficulties may be placed in the path of those who enter upon the thorny road of philosophical reflection. The subjects treated are deep enough to demand the serious attention of any one; and they are subjects of fascinating interest. That they are treated simply and clearly does not mean that they are treated superficially. Indeed, when a doctrine is presented in outline and in a brief and simple statement, its meaning may be more readily apparent than when it is treated more exhaustively. For this reason, I especially recommend, even to those who are well acquainted with philosophy, the account of the external world contained in Chapter IV.

For the doctrine I advocate I am inclined to ask especial consideration on the ground that it is, on the whole, a justification of the attitude taken by the plain man toward the world in which he finds himself. The experience of the race is not a thing that we may treat lightly.

Thus, it is maintained that there is a real external world presented in our experience—not a world which we have a right to regard as the sensations or ideas of any mind. It is maintained that we have evidence that there are minds in certain relations to that world, and that we can, within certain limits, determine these relations. It is pointed out that the plain man's belief in the activity of his mind and his notion of the significance of purposes and ends are not without justification. It is indicated that theism is a reasonable doctrine, and it is held that the human will is free in the only proper sense of the word "freedom." Throughout it is taken for granted that the philosopher has no private system of weights and measures, but must reason as other men reason, and must prove his conclusions in the same sober way.

I have written in hopes that the book may be of use to undergraduate students. They are often repelled by philosophy, and I cannot but think that this is in part due to the dry and abstract form in which philosophers have too often seen fit to express their thoughts. The same thoughts can be set forth in plain language, and their significance illustrated by a constant reference to experiences which we all have—experiences which must serve as the foundation to every theory of the mind and the world worthy of serious consideration.

But there are many persons who cannot attend formal courses of instruction, and who, nevertheless, are interested in philosophy. These, also, I have had in mind; and I have tried to be so clear that they could read the work with profit in the absence of a teacher.

Lastly, I invite the more learned, if they have found my "System of Metaphysics" difficult to understand in any part, to follow the simple statement contained in the chapters above alluded to, and then to return, if they will, to the more bulky volume.

GEORGE STUART FULLERTON.

New York, 1906.

CONTENTS PART I INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER I THE MEANING OF THE WORD "PHILOSOPHY" IN THE PAST AND IN THE PRESENT

1. The Beginnings of Philosophy. 2. The Greek Philosophy at its Height. 3. Philosophy as a Guide to Life. 4. Philosophy in the Middle Ages. 5. The Modern Philosophy. 6. What Philosophy means in our Time.

CHAPTER II COMMON THOUGHT, SCIENCE, AND REFLECTIVE THOUGHT

   7. Common Thought.
   8. Scientific Knowledge.
   9. Mathematics.
  10. The Science of Psychology.
  11. Reflective Thought.

PART II PROBLEMS TOUCHING THE EXTERNAL WORLD CHAPTER III IS THERE AN EXTERNAL WORLD?

12. How the Plain Man thinks he knows the World. 13. The Psychologist and the External World. 14. The "Telephone Exchange."

CHAPTER IV SENSATIONS AND "THINGS"

15. Sense and Imagination. 16. May we call "Things" Groups of Sensations? 17. The Distinction between Sensations and "Things." 18. The Existence of Material Things.

CHAPTER V APPEARANCES AND REALITIES

19. Things and their Appearances. 20. Real Things. 21. Ultimate Real Things. 22. The Bugbear of the "Unknowable".

CHAPTER VI OF SPACE

23. What we are supposed to know about It. 24. Space as Necessary and Space as Infinite. 25. Space as Infinitely Divisible. 26. What is Real Space?

CHAPTER VII OF TIME

27. Time as Necessary, Infinite, and Infinitely Divisible. 28. The Problem of Past, Present, and Future. 29. What is Real Time?

PART III PROBLEMS TOUCHING THE MIND CHAPTER VIII WHAT IS THE MIND?

30. Primitive Notions of Mind. 31. The Mind as Immaterial. 32. Modern Common Sense Notions of the Mind. 33. The Psychologist and the Mind. 34. The Metaphysician and the Mind.

CHAPTER IX MIND AND BODY

35. Is the Mind in the Body? 36. The Doctrine of the Interactionist. 37. The Doctrine of the Parallelist. 38. In what Sense Mental Phenomena have a Time and Place. 39. Objections to Parallelism.

CHAPTER X HOW WE KNOW THERE ARE OTHER MINDS

40. Is it Certain that we know It? 41. The Argument for Other Minds. 42. What Other Minds are there? 43. The Doctrine of Mind-stuff.

CHAPTER XI OTHER PROBLEMS OF WORLD AND MIND

44. Is the Material World a Mechanism? 45. The Place of Mind in Nature. 46. The Order of Nature and "Free-will." 47. The Physical World and the Moral World.

PART IV SOME TYPES OF PHILOSOPHICAL THEORY CHAPTER XII THEIR HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

48. The Doctrine of Representative Perception. 49. The Step to Idealism. 50. The Revolt of "Common Sense." 51. The Critical Philosophy.

CHAPTER XIII REALISM AND IDEALISM

  52. Realism.
  53. Idealism.

CHAPTER XIV MONISM AND DUALISM

54. The Meaning of the Words. 55. Materialism. 56. Spiritualism. 57. The Doctrine of the One Substance. 58. Dualism. 59. Singularism and Pluralism.

CHAPTER XV RATIONALISM, EMPIRICISM, CRITICISM, AND CRITICAL EMPIRICISM

60. Rationalism. 61. Empiricism. 62. Criticism. 63. Critical Empiricism. 64. Pragmatism.

PART V THE PHILOSOPHICAL SCIENCES CHAPTER XVI LOGIC

65. Introductory; the Philosophical Sciences. 66. The Traditional Logic. 67. The "Modern" Logic. 68. Logic and Philosophy.

CHAPTER XVII PSYCHOLOGY

69. Psychology and Philosophy. 70. The Double Affiliation of Psychology.

CHAPTER XVIII ETHICS AND AESTHETICS

71. Common Sense Ethics. 72. Ethics and Philosophy. 73. Aesthetics.

CHAPTER XIX METAPHYSICS

74. What is Metaphysics? 75. Epistemology.

CHAPTER XX THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION

76. Religion and Reflection. 77. The Philosophy of Religion.

CHAPTER XXI PHILOSOPHY AND THE OTHER SCIENCES

78. The Philosophical and the Non-philosophical Sciences. 79. The study of Scientific Principles and Methods.

PART VI ON THE STUDY OF PHILOSOPHY CHAPTER XXII THE VALUE OF THE STUDY OF PHILOSOPHY

80. The Question of Practical Utility. 81. Why Philosophical Studies are Useful. 82. Metaphysics and the Philosophy of Religion.

CHAPTER XXIII WHY WE SHOULD STUDY THE HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY

83. The Prominence given to the Subject. 84. The Especial Importance of Historical Studies to Reflective Thought. 85. The Value of Different Points of View. 86. Philosophy as Poetry and Philosophy as Science. 87. How to read the History of Philosophy.

CHAPTER XXIV SOME PRACTICAL ADMONITIONS

  88. Be prepared to enter upon a New Way of Looking at Things.
  89. Be willing to consider Possibilities which at first strike one
       as Absurd.
  90. Do not have too much Respect for Authority.
  91. Remember