The effort has been made to translate, and not to paraphrase the author’s meaning. Many of his statements might have been amplified without diffuseness, and made more perceptible to the superficial reader without losing their interest to the more profound student, but he has so happily seized upon the germs of the different systems, that they neither need, nor would be improved by any farther development, and has, moreover, presented them so clearly, that no student need have any difficulty in apprehending them as they are. The translator has therefore endeavored to represent faithfully and clearly the original history. As such, he offers his work to the American public, indulging no hope, and making no efforts for its success beyond that which its own merits shall ensure.

J. H. S.

Schenectady, N. Y., January, 1856.

CONTENTS.

PAGE
INTRODUCTORY NOTE, by Henry B. SMITH, D. D.[iii]
TRANSLATOR’S PREFACE[v]
TABLE OF CONTENTS[vii]
Section I.—WHAT IS MEANT BY THE HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY[11]
II.—CLASSIFICATION[16]
III.—GENERAL VIEW OF THE PRE-SOCRATIC PHILOSOPHY[17]
1. The Ionics[17]
2. The Pythagoreans[18]
3. The Eleatics[18]
4. Heraclitus[18]
5. The Atomists[19]
6. Anaxagoras[19]
7. The Sophists[20]
IV.— THE IONIC PHILOSOPHERS[21]
1. Thales[21]
2. Anaximander[22]
3. Anaximenes[23]
4. Retrospect[23]
V.—PYTHAGOREANISM[23]
1. Its Relative Position[23]
2. Historical and Chronological[23]
3. The Pythagorean Principle[24]
4. Carrying out of this Principle[25]
VI.—THE ELEATICS[27]
1. The Relation of the Eleatic Principle to the Pythagorean[27]
2. Xenophanes[28]
3. Parmenides[28]
4. Zeno[30]
VII.—HERACLITUS[31]
1. Relation of the Heraclitic Principle to the Eleatic[31]
2. Historical and Chronological[32]
3. The Principle of the Becoming[32]
4. The Principle of Fire[33]
5. Transition to the Atomists[33]
VIII.—EMPEDOCLES[35]
1. General View[35]
2. The Four Elements[35]
3. The Two Powers[36]
4. Relation of the Empedoclean to the Eleatic and Heraclitic Philosophy[36]
IX.—THE ATOMISTIC PHILOSOPHY[37]
1. Its Propounders[37]
2. The Atoms[37]
3. The Fulness and the Void[38]
4. The Atomistic Necessity[38]
5. Relative Position of the Atomistic Philosophy[39]
X.—ANAXAGORAS[40]
1. His Personal History[40]
2. His Relation to his Predecessors[41]
3. The Principle of the νοῦς [41]
4. Anaxagoras as the close of the Pre-Socratic Realism[42]
XI.—THE SOPHISTIC PHILOSOPHY[43]
1. The Relation of the Sophistic Philosophy to the Anaxagorean Principle[43]
2. Relation of the Sophistic Philosophy to the Universal Life of that Age[44]
3. Tendencies of the Sophistic Philosophy[46]
4. Significance of the Sophistic Philosophy from its relation to theCulture of the Age[47]
5. Individual Sophists [48]
6. Transition to Socrates, and characteristic of the following Period[51]
XII.—SOCRATES[52]
1. His Personal Character[52]
2. Socrates and Aristophanes[55]
3. The Condemnation of Socrates[57]
4. The Genius of Socrates[60]
5. Sources of the Philosophy of Socrates[61]
6. Universal Character of the Philosophizing of Socrates[62]
7. The Socratic Method[64]
8. The Socratic Doctrine concerning Virtue[66]
XIII.—THE PARTIAL DISCIPLES OF SOCRATES[67]
1. Their Relation to the Socratic Philosophy[67]
2. Antisthenes and the Cynics[68]
3. Aristippus and the Cyrenians[69]
4. Euclid and the Megarians[70]
5. Plato as the complete Socraticist[71]
XIV.—PLATO[72]
I.Plato’s Life[72]

1. His Youth

[72]

2. His Years of Discipline

[73]

3. His Years of Travel

[73]

4. His Years of Instruction

[74]
II.The Inner Development of the Platonic Philosophy andWritings[75]
III.Classification of the Platonic System[82]
IV.The Platonic Dialectics[83]

1. Conception of Dialectics

[83]

2. What is Science?

[84]
(1.) As opposed to Sensation[84]
(2.) The Relation of Knowing to Opinion[86]
(3.) The Relation of Science to Thinking[86]

3. The Doctrine of Ideas in its Genesis

[87]

4. Positive Exposition of the Doctrine of Ideas

[91]

5. The Relation of Ideas to the Phenomenal World

[93]

6. The Idea of the Good and the Deity

[95]
V.The Platonic Physics[96]

1. Nature

[96]

2. The Soul

[98]
VI.The Platonic Ethics[100]

1. Good and Pleasure

[100]

2. Virtue

[102]

3. The State

[102]
XV.—THE OLD ACADEMY[107]
XVI.—ARISTOTLE[108]
I.Life and Writings of Aristotle[108]
II.Universal Character and Division of the AristotelianPhilosophy[109]
III.Logic and Metaphysics[112]

1. Conception and Relation of the Two

[112]

2. Logic

[113]

3. Metaphysics

[115]
(1.) The Aristotelian Criticism of the Platonic Doctrine ofIdeas[116]
(2.) The Four Aristotelian Principles, or Causes, and theRelation of Form and Matter[120]
(3.) Potentiality and Actuality[123]
(4.) The Absolute Divine Spirit[124]
IV.The Aristotelian Physics[127]

1. Motion, Matter, Space, and Time

[127]

2. The Collective Universe

[128]

3. Nature

[129]

4. Man

[129]
V.The Aristotelian Ethics[131]

1. Relation of Ethics to Physics

[131]

2. The Highest Good

[132]

3. Conception of Virtue

[134]

4. The State

[135]
VI.The Peripatetic School[136]
VII.Transition To the Post-aristotelian Philosophy[137]
XVII.—STOICISM[138]

1. Logic

[139]

2. Physics

[140]

3. Ethics

[142]
(1.) Respecting the Relation of Virtue to Pleasure[142]
(2.) The View of the Stoics concerning External Good[142]
(3.) Farther Verification of this View[143]
(4.) Impossibility of furnishing a System of Concrete MoralDuties from this Standpoint[143]
XVIII.—EPICUREANISM[145]
XIX.—SCEPTICISM AND THE NEW ACADEMY[148]
1. The Old Scepticism[149]
2. The New Academy[150]
3. The Later Scepticism[151]
XX.—THE ROMANS[152]
XXI.—NEW PLATONISM[154]
1. Ecstasy as a Subjective State[154]
2. The Cosmical Principles[154]
3. The Emanation Theory of the New Platonists[155]
XXII.—CHRISTIANITY AND SCHOLASTICISM[157]
1. The Christian Idea[157]
2. Scholasticism[159]
3. Nominalism and Realism[160]
XXIII.—TRANSITION TO THE MODERN PHILOSOPHY[161]
1. Fall of Scholasticism[161]
2. The Results of Scholasticism[162]
3. The Revival of Letters[163]
4. The German Reformation[164]
5. The Advancement of the Natural Sciences[165]
6. Bacon of Verulam[166]
7. The Italian Philosophers of the Transition Epoch[167]
8. Jacob Boehme[169]
XXIV.—DESCARTES[172]
1. The Beginning of Philosophy with Doubt[173]
2. Cogito ergo sum[173]
3. The Nature of Mind deduced from this Principle[173]
4. The Universal Rule of all Certainty follows from the same[174]
5. The Existence of God[174]
6. Results of this Fact in Philosophy[176]
7. The Two Substances[177]
8. The Anthropology of Descartes[177]
9. Results of the Cartesian System[178]
XXV.—GEULINCX AND MALEBRANCHE[180]
1. Geulincx[180]
2. Malebranche[182]
3. The Defects of the Philosophy of Descartes[183]
XXVI.—SPINOZA[184]
1. The One Infinite Substance[185]
2. The Two Attributes[186]
3. The Modes[188]
4. His Practical Philosophy[189]
XXVII.—IDEALISM AND REALISM[192]
XXVIII.—LOCKE[193]
XXIX.—HUME[198]
XXX.—CONDILLAC[201]
XXXI.—HELVETIUS[203]
XXXII.—THE FRENCH CLEARING UP AND MATERIALISM[205]
1. The Common Character of the French Philosophers of this Age[205]
2. Voltaire[206]
3. Diderot[206]
4. La Mettrie’s Materialism[207]
5. Système de la Nature[208]
(1.) The Materiality of Man[208]
(2.) The Atheism of this System[209]
(3.) Its Denial of Freedom and Immortality[210]
(4.) The Practical Consequences of these Principles[210]
XXXIII.—LEIBNITZ[211]
1. The Doctrine of Monads[213]
2. The Monads more accurately determined[214]
3. The Pre-established Harmony[215]
4. The Relation of the Deity to the Monads[216]
5. The Relation of Soul and Body[217]
6. The Theory of Knowledge[218]
7. Leibnitz’s Théodicée[219]
XXXIV.—BERKELEY[220]
XXXV.—WOLFF[222]
1. Ontology[224]
2. Cosmology[225]
3. Rational Psychology[225]
4. Natural Theology[226]
XXXVI.—THE GERMAN CLEARING UP[227]
XXXVII.—TRANSITION TO KANT[229]
1. Examination of the Faculty of Knowledge[230]
2. Three Chief Principles of the Kantian Theory of Knowledge[232]
XXXVIII.—KANT[235]
I.Critick of Pure Reason[238]
1. The Transcendental Æsthetics[238]
(1.) The Metaphysical Discussion[239]
(2.) The Transcendental Discussion[239]
2. The Transcendental Analytic[241]
3. The Transcendental Dialectics[246]
(1.) The Psychological Ideas[247]
(2.) The Antinomies of Cosmology[248]
(3.) The Ideal of the Pure Reason[249]
(a.) The Ontological Proof[249]
(b.) The Cosmological Proof[250]
(c.) The Physico-Theological Proof[250]
II.Critick of the Practical Reason[252]
(1.) The Analytic[254]
(2.) The Dialectic: What is this Highest Good?[256]
(a.) Perfect Virtue or Holiness[257]
(b.) Perfect Happiness[258]
(c.) Kant’s Views of Religion[259]
III.Critick of the Faculty of Judgment[262]
1. Critick of the Æsthetic Faculty of Judgment[263]
(1.) Analytic[263]
(2.) Dialectic[265]
2. Critick of the Teleological Faculty of Judgment[266]
(1.) Analytic of the Teleological Faculty of Judgment[267]
(2.) Dialectic[267]
XXXIX.—TRANSITION TO THE POST-KANTIAN PHILOSOPHY[268]
XL.—JACOBI[271]
XLI.—FICHTE[279]
I.The Fichtian Philosophy in its Original Form[282]
1. The Theoretical Philosophy of Fichte, his Wissenschaftslehre,or Theory of Science[282]
2. Fichte’s Practical Philosophy[295]
II.The Later Form of Fichte’s Philosophy[301]
XLII.—HERBART[303]
1. The Basis and Starting Point of Philosophy[304]
2. The First Act of Philosophy[304]
3. Remodelling the Conceptions of Experience[305]
4. Herbart’s Reals[306]
5. Psychology connected with Metaphysics[310]
6. The Importance of Herbart’s Philosophy[311]
XLIII.—SCHELLING[312]
I.First Period: Schelling’s Procession from Fichte[314]
II.Second Period: Standpoint of the distinguishing betweenthe Philosophy of Nature and of Mind[318]
1. Natural Philosophy[318]
(1.) Organic Nature[319]
(2.) Inorganic Nature[321]
(3.) The Reciprocal Determination of the Organic and InorganicWorld[321]
2. Transcendental Philosophy[322]
(1.) The Theoretical Philosophy[323]
(2.) The Practical Philosophy[324]
(3.) Philosophy of Art[324]
III.Third Period: Period of Spinozism, or the Indifference ofthe Ideal and the Real[326]
IV.Fourth Period: The Direction of Schelling’s Philosophyas Mystical, and Allied to New Platonism[333]
V.Fifth Period: Attempt at a Theogony and Cosmogony,after the Manner of Jacob Boehme[335]
(1.) The Progressive Development of Nature to Man[337]
(2.) The Development of Mind in History[337]
VI.Sixth Period[338]
XLIV.—TRANSITION TO HEGEL[339]
XLV.—HEGEL[343]
I.Science OF Logic[346]
1. The Doctrine of Being[347]
(1.) Quality[347]
(2.) Quantity[348]
(3.) Measure[348]
2. The Doctrine of Essence[349]
(1.) The Essence as such[349]
(2.) Essence and Phenomenon[350]
(3.) Actuality[351]
3. The Doctrine of the Conception[352]
(1.) The Subjective Conception[352]
(2.) Objectivity[353]
(3.) The Idea[353]
II.The Science of Nature[353]
1. Mechanics[354]
2. Physics[355]
3. Organics[355]
(1.) Geological Organism[355]
(2.) Vegetable Organism[355]
(3.) Animal Organism[356]
III.Philosophy of Mind[356]
1. The Subjective Mind[356]
2. The Objective Mind[358]
3. The Absolute Mind[362]
(1.) Æsthetics[363]
(a.) Architecture[363]
(b.) Sculpture[363]
(c.) Painting[364]
(d.) Music[364]
(e.) Poetry[364]
(2.) Philosophy of Religion[364]
(a.) The Natural Religion of the Oriental World[364]
(b.) The Religion of Mental Individuality[364]
(c.) Revealed, or the Christian Religion[365]
(3.) Absolute Philosophy[365]

A
HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY.