Publisher's Synopsis
An excerpt from the author's "Preliminary Notions"
1. PHILOSOPHY. The word "philosophy" means the love or study of wisdom. By "wisdom" the ancients meant the knowledge of all things human and divine which make for right living, as well as the causes by which these things are related or hang together. Hence the aim of philosophy is to answer, in as far as reason is capable of doing so, the last why of all things that are. Philosophy is therefore usually defined: The science of all things from the point of view of their highest or last causes, in so far as this knowledge can be attained by the light of natural reason.
2. EXPLANATION OF THE DEFINITION. "Science" is a knowledge of a thing through its cause. A cause in its widest sense is that by which a thing is, becomes, or is known. Philosophy, then, is a science because, like all other sciences, it furnishes us with a systematized body of truths which, resting ultimately on self-evident principles, are united to one another like the links of a chain by an orderly process of demonstration.
"of all things"-Each of the other natural sciences treats of some special department of things, as chemistry, astronomy, medicine, etc., while philosophy takes in a larger field of vision. It embraces the sum total of all things in one complete view.
"highest or last causes"-This characteristic of philosophical knowledge which aims at answering the last "why" of all reality differentiates philosophy from all other natural sciences. Other natural sciences furnish the more immediate or proximate, but not the ultimate causes of the objects of their study. Hence philosophy helps to satisfy the yearning of the human mind to explore, as far as it is given to reason to do so, the utmost limits of knowledge.
"by the light of natural reason"-In this way is philosophy marked off from sacred or dogmatic theology. The latter takes its facts and truths from divine revelation. Philosophy depends upon the natural human faculties to acquire its data and to deduce conclusions from them.
3. THE DIVISIONS OF PHILOSOPHY. It is divided into:
Logic, which lays down the rules of right reasoning and treats of the means given us by the Author of nature to acquire the knowledge of truth.
Metaphysics, again divided into General and Special. The former, called also Ontology, treats of the properties of Being in general. The latter applies the notions and principles of Ontology to the primary classes of Substance and investigates their natures and properties. It comprises:
Cosmology, which treats of the nature and origin of the visible world, of the laws to which it is subject and of the nature and constituent elements of bodies in general;
Psychology, which treats of living beings, but principally of the human soul;
Natural Theology, which treats of God in as far as reason enables us to fathom His Divine nature....
