Excerpt from A Critical History of Philosophical Theories Philosophy is the result obtained by the employment of reason in the discovery of those fundamental principles that give unity and harmony to knowledge. It seeks to reduce complexity to simplicity, and multiplicity to unity, and to find the ultimate reality. Facts acquired by observation arc explained by reason. The history of philosophy is the record of these speculations and their results. A critical history of philosophy is a discriminating examination of the theories of the philosophers of the various schools, in order to test and confirm their truth, to expose their errors, to trace the relations of the different systems, the conflict of their principles, the occasions of their appearance, and the order of their development. To understand the principles maintained by the philosophers of the various schools, the conflict of their principles, the reasons for their theories, and the connection of the various systems, is to understand philosophy itself. The phenomenal world is the product of two factors-the external world and the human mind; philosophy deals with both. Uncritical thought accepts appearance as the sole reality. Science classifies phenomena and determines their laws, while philosophy attempts to find a rational explanation of phenomena as facts of experience. That is, Science treats of phenomena and their laws, while philosophy seeks for causes and the rational explanation of phenomena. Nothing can be more interesting or more stimulating to thought than the study of the relations of philosophy and science. It will be found that no system of philosophy is without some merit, though it may be only a crude beginning, or a one-sided attempt to give an account of the mystery of existence. Broad views are requisite, if we wish to avoid the errors of all partial or incomplete systems. As the mission of philosophy is to give a rational explanation of the phenomenal, it cannot, therefore, disregard the facts of experience, and still be true to its calling. On the other hand, to deal exclusively with phenomena, discarding the necessary principles which afford their rational explanation, is to abandon the guide of reason, or to resolve it into transformed sensation. Herein is revealed the chief conflict in philosophy, as it exists between the empirical and rational schools. 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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Available in paperback for the first time, this landmark volume examines the course of Western philosophy over the past 2,500 years. A Critical History of Western Philosophy focuses on the most significant thinkers and philosophical movements while emphasizing key ideas of permanent interest and relevance. Arranged chronologically from early Greece to the twentieth century, this comprehensive work includes expert histories of all major figures from Socrates and Plato to G.E. Moore and Bertrand Russell, and of every important school from the Epicureans to the Existentialists.

Virtually every aspect of the modern Western worldview has its roots in the remarkably diverse body of philosophy that emerged from a small patch of land in the Mediterranean thousands of years ago. This volume offers an overview of the highlights of ancient Greek philosophy, as well as an historical account of the lives of many of the scholars and thinkers who helped shaped it.

The purpose of this series is to help make contemporary European philosophy intelligible to a wider audience in the English-speaking world, and to suggest its interest and importance in particular to those trained in analytical philosophy.