ne more closely these systems, we find a
conception of philosophy not really so very different from that which
had obtained before. We do not find, it is true, that disinterested
passion for the attainment of truth which is the glory of science. Man
seems quite too much concerned with the problem of his own happiness or
unhappiness; he has grown morbid. Nevertheless, the practical maxims
which obtain in each of these systems are based upon a certain view of
the system of things as a whole.

The Stoic tells us of what the world consists; what was the beginning
and what will be the end of things; what is the relation of the system
of things to God. He develops a physics and a logic as well as a
system of ethics. The Epicurean informs us that the world originated
in a rain of atoms through space; he examines into the foundations of
human knowledge; and he proceeds to make himself comfortable in a world
from which he has removed those disturbing elements, the gods. The
Skeptic decides that there is no such thing as truth, before he
enunciates the dogma that it is not worth while to worry about
anything. The philosophy of each school includes a view of the system
of things as a whole. The philosopher still regarded the universe of
knowledge as his province.

4. PHILOSOPHY IN THE MIDDLE AGES.--I cannot do more than mention
Neo-Platonism, that half Greek and half Oriental system of doctrine
which arose in the third century after Christ, the first system of
importance after the schools mentioned above. But I must not pass it
by without pointing out that the Neo-Platonic philosopher undertook to
give an account of the origin, development, and end of the whole system
of things.

In the Middle Ages there gradually grew up rather a sharp distinction
between those things that can be known through the unaided reason and
those things that can only be known through a supernatural revelation.
The term "philosophy" came to be synonymous with knowledge attained by
the natural light of reason. This seems to imply some sort of a
limitation to the task of the philosopher. Philosophy is not
synonymous with all knowledge.

But we must not forget to take note of the fact that philosophy, even
with this limitation, constitutes a pretty wide field. It covers both
the physical and the moral sciences. Nor should we omit to notice that
the scholastic philosopher was at the same time a theologian. Albert
the Great and St. Thomas Aq