The Theory of Knowledge: A Contribution to Some Problems of Logic and Metaphysics (Classic Reprint)

Excerpt from The Theory of Knowledge: A Contribution to Some Problems of Logic and Metaphysics

The world of thought at the present day is in a somewhat anomalous condition. We have come to the point where science seems to stand in real danger of being ruined by her own success. The mass of accumulated fact on which she justly prides herself has become too vast for any single, mind to master. There could be no Aristotle in the nineteenth century. Year by year it becomes more difficult to take any sort of view of the whole field of knowledge which should be at once comprehensive and accurate. It results that positive knowledge can scarcely be said any longer to have a general purpose or tendency. Intellectually, it is an age of detail.

The unity which we miss in science we might hope to find in philosophy. And here, indeed, our century has done its best. In Germany, in France, and in England it has produced great systems, containing elements of high permanent value. But these systems date from before the deluge of specialism. And they have all been, not so much refuted, - for a dialectical refutation can, after all, be lived down, - as undermined by the subsequent movement of thought and discovery. Nor is this all. Not only is there no accepted scientific system, but in England, at least, the tendency of philosophic work is scarcely sympathetic to science. So far from seeing our way to a near or distant synthesis, we are more distracted than ever when we turn from science to philosophy. Instead of uniting the sciences, philosophy threatens to become a separate and even a hostile doctrine. The antagonism is doubtless veiled, and the philosopher, like the theologian, is careful to avoid direct conflict with a far stronger foe. But the veil is not difficult to pierce.

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