Introduction
Definition, importance, sources, method, and division of the History of Philosophy as a scientific and critical account of human thought through the ages.
The History of Philosophy is a scientific and critical account of man's sustained effort to think out the ultimate causes and reasons of all things — to understand God, the world, and man himself by the unaided light of reason across the centuries. It is scientific in that it presents its data reliably and systematically; critical in that it judges the doctrines it discusses by the canons of sound philosophy. The treatise covers three major epochs: Ancient Philosophy (Oriental and Greek, including the Greco-Oriental synthesis of Neoplatonism and Gnosticism); Philosophy of Christian Times (Patristic philosophy's encounter with pagan thought, and the great medieval synthesis and its decline); and Modern Philosophy (from the 17th-century crisis through Kant, German Idealism, 19th-century movements, and the Neo-Scholastic revival). Throughout, the perennial philosophy of Aristotle and Aquinas serves as the critical standard by which other systems are evaluated.
I. Definit ion: The History of Philosophy is a scientific and critical account of man’s effort to think out the ultimate causes and reasons of all things.
a) It is a scientific account: that is, it is a reliable history set forth in a manner that is systematic, orderly, and relatively complete.
b) It is a critical account: that is, it weighs and judges the doctrines which it discusses.
c) It is an account of man’s efforts to think out the ultimate causes and reasons of all things. The human mind has a quenchless thirst for knowledge. Man wants to know all that can be known about God, about humanity, and about the world. Man wants to know everything about everything; he wants to understand all reality. Nor is man content with a list of facts or truths, however long and complete. Man does indeed want facts, but he also wants to know why the facts are so and how they come to be so. In other words, man wants to know facts together with their causes and reasons. Pushing this inquiry to its utmost limit, man comes to certain ideas and principles which he accepts as the roots and bases of all knowledge and of all reasoning. Beyond these fundamental things man finds it humanly impossible to inquire. Upon these i fundamental things man elaborates his interpretation of the universe—of the world, of God, of man. When man has done this, when he has pursued his quest of causes and reasons to the very end and has built up his interpretation of the universe, then he has achieved a philosophy. Philosophy is the science of all things knowable by the human mind and studied in and through their last causes and reasons, their ultimate whats and whys and hows and wherefores. Consequently, the History of Philosophy is the history of man’s inquiry into the ultimate causes and reasons of all things. 2. Impor t ance: That the History of Philosophy is an important study is evident from the following descriptions of its character and function;
a) Philosophy is the highest human science because it traces out the ultimate causes and reasons of all things. Now the history of the highest human science is obviously a very important branch of study.
b) Philosophy is the font from which all the separate or individual sciences draw their principles, criteria, and methods. In philosophy all the separate sciences find their ultimate unification, their place and interrelation in the entire scheme of human knowledge. Thus it appears that philosophy is the most important of human sciences. Its history is correspondingly important.
c) What men hold to be ultimately true about God, man, and the world, has necessarily an enormous influence upon their conduct of life, their thoughts, their volitions, their actions. In other words, philosophy exercises a large influence upon the activities of men, and this is true of men as individuals and as social groups. It is apparent, then, that the History of Philosophy is the history of a very important factor in the whole of human existence.
d) The History of Philosophy gives the setting and background for the doctrine of great minds on important ques3 tions. It is therefore a study important, and even necessary, for the proper understanding of such questions.
e) If the history of man’s deeds is of interest and importance; if the story of human ideals and aspirations, dreams and fancies, is of recognized worth; then, surely, the first and highest value must attach to the history of man’s earnest and systematic thought, of man’s most far-reaching investigations of reality : and precisely such a history is the History of Philosophy.
f) In its incidental discussion of false doctrines that have been proposed and defended in all ages, the History of Philosophy affords the student the opportunity of profiting by the mistakes of others, and enables him to indicate for the benefit of those misled the illogical nature of erroneous doctrine. Thus the service of the History of Philosophy is practical as well as cultural, and it has, in consequence, a twofold importance.
g) The History of Philosophy is a most interesting branch of study, and it stimulates both the understanding and the memory. 3. Sour ces : The History of Philosophy draws its materials from the authenticated writings of philosophers themselves (primary sources), and from other writings and monuments, the evidence-value of which has been duly tested (secondary sources ). 4. Met hod : The History of Philosophy may be developed according to the sequence of centuries or epochs (chronological method), or according to the major problems of philosophy, tracing each singly through its entire course of treatment by different philosophers in different ages (topical method). A combination of these methods is used in this manual : the order of time is followed in the grouping of philosophers, while recurrent and related doctrines are noticed as they appear. This method seems well suited for showing the continuity of philosophy in its movement through the ages.
4 5. Division: The History of Philosophy is conveniently divided into two main parts, viz., I. The Philosophy of Ancient or Pre-Christian Times, and II. The Philosophy of Christian Times. The major subdivisions follow: 1. Ancient Oriental Philosophy I. The Philosophy of Pr e- ■ 2. Greek and Greco-Roman Christian Times … Philosophy . 3. Greco-Oriental Philosophy r I. Patristic Philosophy II. The Philosophy of 2. Medieval Philosophy Christian Times … . 3. Modern Philosophy Following such a division the present manual deals with the History of Philosophy in two Parts (I and II of the scheme set forth above), and each Part is divided into three Books (1, 2, and 3, of the scheme).
Ancient Philosophy or The Philosophy of Pr e-Christian Times This Part contains three Books : Book First : Ancient Oriental Philosophy Book Second: Greek and Greco-Roman Philosophy Book Third : Greco-Oriental Philosophy