History Of Philosophy From Thales To The Present Time

Excerpt from A History of Philosophy, From Thales to the Present Time Since all subsequent definitions of philosophy until the modern period were more or less exact repetitions of those above cited and hence may here be omitted, we pus on to the definition which was received in the school of Leibnitz and Wolfi'. Christian Wolff presents (phaca. Rationalis. Disafi'aelim., the following as a definition originating with himself: (acoustic philomhz'ca at) cognate rationis comm, quac mt val final, undo intelligahcr, cur sint val oat; (ibid. Philosophic est act'cnlt'a possibilium, quatenus. Ease peasant. This definition is obviously cognate with the Platonic and Aristotelian definitions, in so far as it makes philosophy conversant with the rational grounds (ratio) and the causes, through which existing objects and changes become possible. It does not contain the restriction to first causes, and hence Wolff's conception of philosophy is the wider one; but it fails, on the other hand (as do Plato and Aristotle, when they use Wit: in the broader signifi cation as synonymous with Ema-rims) to mark the boundaries between philosophy and the positive (in particular, the mathematical) sciences. In this latter particular Kant seeks to reach a more accurate determination. Kant (critique of Pure Reason, Doctrine of Method, chap. 3) divides knowledge in general, as to its form, into historical (oogm'tz'o ea: datis), and rational (cogniti'o ea: prmapfi's), and the latter again into mathematical (rational cognition through the construction of concepts), and philosophical (rational cognition through concepts as such). Philosophy, in its scho lastic signification, is defined by him as the system of all the branches of philosophical knowledge, but in its cosmical signification, as the science of the relation of all knowledge to the essential ends of human reason (teleologia ratiom's kamunae). Herbart (introd. To Philan, 4 f.) defines philosophy as the elaboration of conceptions. This elaboration comprehends the three pro'cosses of the analysis, the correction and the completion of the conceptions, the latter process depending on the determination of their rank and value. This gives, as the leading branches of philosophy, logic, metaphysim. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works."

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