The associates of the Prophet are unanimous in saying that his spiritual and intellectual growth was marvelous, from the time that the work of the ministry fell upon him. He was transformed from a humble country lad to a leader among men, whose greatness was felt by all, whether unlearned or educated, small or great. Of himself the Prophet said, "I am a rough stone. The sound of the hammer and chisel was never heard on me until the Lord took me in hand. I desire the learning and wisdom of heaven alone." Certainly, his whole history shows that the great learning which he did manifest was acquired in a manner very different from that followed by the majority of men.
A SUMMARY RESTATEMENT OF PRINCIPLES.
Chapter XIX.
[Sidenote: Philosophy and its methods.]
In its broadest sense, philosophy includes all that man may know of the universe—of himself and of the things about him. To be worthy of its name, a system of philosophy must possess certain comprehensive, fundamental principles, which if clearly understood, make intelligible to the human mind any or all of the phenomena in the universe. The simpler these foundation principles are, the greater is the system as a philosophy. In the words of Spencer, "Philosophy is knowledge of the highest degree of generality," or "completely unified knowledge."[A]
[Footnote A: First Principles, pp. 133 and 136.]
It is to be observed, that the great laws of nature are inferred only from a number of lesser laws that have been gathered by man. A generalization which is not built upon numerous confirmatory observations, is at best an uncertain guess, which can be accepted only when demonstrated to be correct by numerous isolated experiences. The rational philosopher proceeds from the many to the few; he groups and groups again, until the wide, fundamental laws have been attained.
In olden days, and at times today, this method was not pursued. A philosopher, so called, would assume that a certain statement or idea were true. Upon this idea an elaborate, speculative, philosophical superstructure was reared. If by chance, and the chance usually came, the fundamental notion were shown to be false, the whole system fell with a crash into the domain of untruth.
It is the glory of modern science that by its methods, innumerable facts, correct so far as present instruments and man's senses will allow, have been gathered; and, that present day philosophy is built upon these certain facts. The errors, if any exist, of this philosophy lie not in the foundation stones, but in the inferences that have been drawn from them. Modern philosophy rests upon the truths of the universe, and not upon the wild speculations of men.
[Sidenote: The fundamental conceptions of scientific philosophy.]