ning of the word philosophy now? And if we do, how
shall we draw a line between philosophy and the body of the special
sciences?
Perhaps the most just way to get a preliminary idea of what philosophy
means to the men of our time is to turn away for the time being from
the definition of any one man or group of men, and to ask ourselves
what a professor of philosophy in an American or European university is
actually supposed to teach.
It is quite clear that he is not supposed to be an Aristotle. He does
not represent all the sciences, and no one expects him to lecture on
mathematics, mechanics, physics, chemistry, zooelogy, botany, economics,
politics, and various other disciplines. There was a time when he
might have been expected to teach all that men could know, but that
time is long past.
Nevertheless, there is quite a group of sciences which are regarded as
belonging especially to his province; and although a man may devote a
large part of his attention to some one portion of the field, he would
certainly be thought remiss if he wholly neglected the rest. This
group of sciences includes logic, psychology, ethics and aesthetics,
metaphysics, and the history of philosophy. I have not included
epistemology or the "theory of knowledge" as a separate discipline, for
reasons which will appear later (Chapter XIX); and I have included the
history of philosophy, because, whether we care to call this a special
science or not, it constitutes a very important part of the work of the
teacher of philosophy in our day.
Of this group of subjects the student who goes to the university to
study philosophy is supposed to know something before he leaves its
walls, whatever else he may or may not know.
It should be remarked, again, that there is commonly supposed to be a
peculiarly close relation between philosophy and religion. Certainly,
if any one about a university undertakes to give a course of lectures
on theism, it is much more apt to be the professor of philosophy than
the professor of mathematics or of chemistry. The man who has written
an "Introduction to Philosophy," a "Psychology," a "Logic," and an
"Outlines of Metaphysics" is very apt to regard it as his duty to add
to the list a "Philosophy of Religion." The students in the
theological seminaries of Europe and America are usually encouraged, if
not compelled, to attend courses in philosophy.
Finally, it appears to be definitely accepted that even the d
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