First Principles

Herbert Spencer

Description

Whilst the greatest effort has been made to ensure the quality of this text, due to the historical nature of this content, in some rare cases there may be minor issues with legibility. The Principles of Biology will be followed by the Princi ples of Psychology; that is, Mr. Spencer will pass from the consideration of Life to the study of the Mind. This subject will be regarded in the light of the great truths of Biology previously established; the connexions of life and mind will be traced; the evolution of the intellectual faculties in their due succession, and in correspondence with the conditions of the environment, will be unfolded, and the whole sub j ect of mind will be treated, not by the narrow metaphysical methods, but in its broadest aspect, as a phase of nature's order which can only be comprehended in the light of her universal plan.

Sujets

• Philosophie et théologie

Informations

• Publié par: Forgotten Books
• Date de parution: 27 novembre 2019
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780243667956
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 12 Mo

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thefirs t edi t ion of t his have been prefied a dfini t n and e indication of its ori sapprethe m tha t have arisen in the absence of such indication ought before now to have shown me the need for supply ing it hough reference was made in a note on thefirs t page of the o iginal preface to certain ays entitled Progress its Law and ause and ranscendental Physiology as containing generalizations which were to elaborated in ystem of Philosophy th re set forth in rogramme yet the dates of these ssays were not iven nor was there any indication of their cardinal importance as containing in a brief form the general he ry of volution clear evidence to the contrary standing in the way there has been very g nerally u tt thatered and accepted the belief this work and the works following it originated af r and resul t the special doced from t rine contained in arwin s ssay on Progress ause sive in t he t heory i t Xcontains ith hapters V and XX in Part of this work wasfirs t published in the for April and ssay in which is b iefly se t forth the gen ral tru t h elaborated in hapter ori inally appeared under the title of ltimate Laws of Physiology in the for ctober Fur t h r I may poin t ou t that infirst

R I I vi edi t ion of t he publ shed in July the mental phenomena are interpreted ent rely from evolu on point of view the words used in the titles of sundry chapters imply the presence at that date of ideas more widely applied in the ssays just named As thefirs t edi t not make i ion of t s appear ance till ctober it is manifest that t heory se t forth in thi work and its successors had an o igin ent of and prior to that which is com only assumed have ni t iated i t dis t in ght of ori inc ne s indeed have been ferred from the work it elf which deals w th volutio at large norganic rganic and uper orga c t e ms of at t otion and er and t uches but briefly on thos particular process s so lum nously exhibi t ed by win only p whe illust a t ing the law of ultiplication of f ects as u versally dis played have I ferhad occasion to r t o the doctrine se t forth in t nting outhe po t ha t t he general cause I had previously assigned for the production of diver gent varie t would not sufies organisms fice to accoun t for all t he fac t cause disclosed bywithout ha special a win absence of this pa s ge w uld of cour e leave a serious gap the general ar ument but the rema nder of the work would st nd exactly i t now does I do not make t his explanation in t he belief t hat the prevailing misapprehension will thereby soon be rectified for I current w once having become am conscious that ong beliefs of t nd long persist all disproofhis k ing ever t heless I suggesyield the t ion that less I state t he facts as they st d I shall continu t o coun t enance t and cannot e peche misapprehension t i t t seo ce With t he excep t ion of unimportan t ofchanges one the no t s and some t co rections y ographical the tex t of

R A O R O this edition is identical with t hat of last I have how ever added Append x dealing with certain criticisms that have been passed upon the general formula of and upon the philosophical doctrine w ch pre cedes it

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present volume is thefist of a se ies designed to fold the principles of a new philosophy is di ided into two parts the aim of thefist being to determine the t ue phere of all rational investigation and of the second to elucidate those fundamental and universal p inciples whic science has established within that sphere and wh ch are to constitute the basis of system scheme of truth de in these First Principles is complete in itself and has ind pendent value but it is designed by the author to serv for ui ance and verificoncation the struction of the succeeding and larger portions of his p lo sophic plan Having presented in his introductory volume so much of the general principles of Physics as is essential to the devel of his method pencer enters upon the subj ect of rganic nature second work of the series is to be the Principles of iology systematic statement of the facts and laws which constitute the cience of Life is not to be an encyclopedic and exhausti e treatise upon this ast subject but such a compendious presentation of its data general principles as shall interpret the method of nature a ord a clear understanding the questions volved and prepare for further inquiries his work is now published quarterly numbers of from to pages Four of these parts have already appeared and some

R A R A O dea of the course and character of the discussion may be formed by observing the titles to the chapters which are as follows P R F R Actions ofrganic atter Forces on rganic atter Reactions of rganic atter on Forces Proximate efinition of Life V orrespondence between Life and its ircumstances egree of Life varies with the egree of orre cope of Biology P R Growth evelopment Function Wast and Repair V Ad ptation ndividuality Genesis V Heredity V aria t Genesis Heredity andion X a iation lassification istribution Principles of iology will be followed by Princi ples of Psycholog that is pencer will pass from the consideration of Life to the study of the ind his subject will be regarded in the light of t he great truths of Biology previously es t connexions of ablished the willlife and mind be traced the evolution of the in t ellec t ual faculties in their due succession and in correspondence with the conditions of the environmen t andwill be unfolded t he whole sub ject of mind will be treated not by the narrow e t aphysical methods but in its broadest aspect as a phase of nature s order which can only be comprehended in the light universal plan fourth work of t he series is ociology or the science of human relations As a multitude is but an assemblage of units and as the characteristics of a multitude result from the properties of its units so social phenomena are of the natures of individual men iology and are the two great keys to the knowledge of human nature and hence from these pencer naturally passes to the subject of ocial cience rowth of society the conditions of its intellectual and moral progress the de of i t will bes various activities and organizations here escribed and a statement made of those principles

R A A R A O which are essential to the successful regulation social affairs Lastly in Part Fifth pencer proposes to consider the Principles of orality truths furnished by Psycholo y and ocio l ogy will be her brought to bear to determine correct rules of hu an action the princi ples of private and public justice and to fo m a true theory of right living rea er will obtain a more just idea of the extent and proportions of pencer s philosophic plan by consulting his prospectus at the close of the volume will be seen to embrace a wide range of topics but in present work and in his profound and original volumes on the Principl s of P ychology and ocial tatics as a so throughout his numerous ssays and iscussions we discover that he has already traversed almost the entirefield while to elabo rate the whole nto one connected and organ zed philosoph ical scheme is a work well suited to his bold and sive gen us Wi h a met physical acuteness equalled only by his immense grasp of the results of physical remarkable for his profound analysis constructive ability and power of lucid and forcible statement pencer has rare endo ments for the task he has undertaken and can hardly fail to embody in system the largest scientifi philosophical tendencies of the age As the present olume is a work g out of un versal prin to be subsequently applied it is probably of a more stract character than will be the subsequent works of the series iscussions strike down to the profoundest basis of human thought and invol e the deepest questions upon which the intellect of man has entered hose to close metaphysical reasoning may thereforefind parts of the argument not easy to follow although it here presented with a distinctness and a vigor to be fou d perhaps in no other author till the chief portions of the book may be read by all with ease and p easure while no one

R A A R A O X i fai to be repaid for the persistent e or t that may be quired to master the entire argument All who have ufficient earnes ness of nature to take interest in those transcendent questions which are now occupy ng the most advanced minds of the age willfind them here considered with unsurpassed clearness originality and power invigorating influponuence of philosophical studies t he mind have beenequent educational value and their con long recognized this point of view the system here pre ented has high claims upon the young men of our country as i t does the latest and largest r sults of posi t ive science a natuorganizing its facts and principles upon ral method which places them most perfectly in command of memory and converging all its lines of inquiry to the end of a high practical the unfolding of those laws of nature and human nature which determine personal wel fare and the social polity arnest and reverent in temper cautious in statement severely logical and yet presenting his views in a transparent and attractive style which com bines the precision of science with many of the graces of ligh t it is believed that the thorough study ofer composition pencer s philosophical scheme would combine in an rivalled degree those pri e requisites of the highest educa tion a knowledge of the truths which it is most impor tant for man to know and that salutary iscipline of the mental facul t ies which results from their systematic acquisition We say the young men of for if we are not mistaken it is here that pencer is to his largest andfittest audience here is something in the bold han of his q uestions in his earnest and fearless appeal to fiand in the practical rst principle his concluavailability of sions which is eminently suited to the genius of our people has been so in a marked se se with his work on ducation and there is no rea on why it should not be so in an equal

A A R A O degree with his other writings hey betray a profound s pa t hy wi t and thatn titutio spirit of our h best noble a pirat on for the welfare and improvement of society which can hardly fail to commend them to the more l beral and en i htened po tions of the American pub c

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W the Fir t ition of this work was published sup posed that the general theory set forth its econd Part was presented in something like afibut subnished form sequent thought led me to further developments of much importance and disclosed the fact that the comp nent parts of the theory had been wrongly put together ven in the absence of a more special reason had decided that on the completion of the would be proper to suspend for a few months the series am issuing that might make the required organization And wh n the time had arrived there had arisen a more special reason which forbade hesitation ranslations into the French and Russian languages were about to be made had in fact been commenced and had deferred the organization the work would have been reproduced with all its original imperfections his will be a suf cient ex planation t o those who have complained of the delay in the issue the First Part remains almost untouched two verbal alterations only on pp and having been made to prevent misconceptions Part however is wholly trans fo med rst chapter Laws in General is om tted ith a e to the inclusion of it in one of the latter volumes of the series minor chapters disappear ost of the rest are transposed in groups or singly And ther are ine new chap t andng the further developments ers embody