CHAPTER XV. THE VALUE OF PHILOSOPHY Having now come to the end of our brief and very incomplete review of the problems of philosophy, it will be well to consider, in conclusion, what is the value of philosophy and why it ought to be studied. It is the more necessary to consider this question, in … Continue reading
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CHAPTER XIV. THE LIMITS OF PHILOSOPHICAL KNOWLEDGE
CHAPTER XIV. THE LIMITS OF PHILOSOPHICAL KNOWLEDGE In all that we have said hitherto concerning philosophy, we have scarcely touched on many matters that occupy a great space in the writings of most philosophers. Most philosophers—or, at any rate, very many—profess to be able to prove, by a priori metaphysical reasoning, such things as the fundamental dogmas … Continue reading
CHAPTER XIII. KNOWLEDGE, ERROR, AND PROBABLE OPINION
CHAPTER XIII. KNOWLEDGE, ERROR, AND PROBABLE OPINION The question as to what we mean by truth and falsehood, which we considered in the preceding chapter, is of much less interest than the question as to how we can know what is true and what is false. This question will occupy us in the present chapter. … Continue reading
CHAPTER XII. TRUTH AND FALSEHOOD
CHAPTER XII. TRUTH AND FALSEHOOD Our knowledge of truths, unlike our knowledge of things, has an opposite, namely error. So far as things are concerned, we may know them or not know them, but there is no positive state of mind which can be described as erroneous knowledge of things, so long, at any rate, as … Continue reading
CHAPTER XI. ON INTUITIVE KNOWLEDGE
CHAPTER XI. ON INTUITIVE KNOWLEDGE There is a common impression that everything that we believe ought to be capable of proof, or at least of being shown to be highly probable. It is felt by many that a belief for which no reason can be given is an unreasonable belief. In the main, this view … Continue reading
CHAPTER X. ON OUR KNOWLEDGE OF UNIVERSALS
CHAPTER X. ON OUR KNOWLEDGE OF UNIVERSALS In regard to one man’s knowledge at a given time, universals, like particulars, may be divided into those known by acquaintance, those known only by description, and those not known either by acquaintance or by description. Let us consider first the knowledge of universals by acquaintance. It is … Continue reading
CHAPTER IX. THE WORLD OF UNIVERSALS
CHAPTER IX. THE WORLD OF UNIVERSALS At the end of the preceding chapter we saw that such entities as relations appear to have a being which is in some way different from that of physical objects, and also different from that of minds and from that of sense-data. In the present chapter we have to … Continue reading
CHAPTER VIII. HOW A PRIORI KNOWLEDGE IS POSSIBLE
CHAPTER VIII. HOW A PRIORI KNOWLEDGE IS POSSIBLE Immanuel Kant is generally regarded as the greatest of the modern philosophers. Though he lived through the Seven Years War and the French Revolution, he never interrupted his teaching of philosophy at Königsberg in East Prussia. His most distinctive contribution was the invention of what he called the ‘critical’ … Continue reading
CHAPTER VII. ON OUR KNOWLEDGE OF GENERAL PRINCIPLES
CHAPTER VII. ON OUR KNOWLEDGE OF GENERAL PRINCIPLES We saw in the preceding chapter that the principle of induction, while necessary to the validity of all arguments based on experience, is itself not capable of being proved by experience, and yet is unhesitatingly believed by every one, at least in all its concrete applications. In … Continue reading
CHAPTER VI. ON INDUCTION
CHAPTER VI. ON INDUCTION In almost all our previous discussions we have been concerned in the attempt to get clear as to our data in the way of knowledge of existence. What things are there in the universe whose existence is known to us owing to our being acquainted with them? So far, our answer … Continue reading
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