A History of Philosophy in Epitome

The History of Philosophy, by Dr. Albert Schwegler, is considered in Germany as the best concise manual upon the subject from the school of Hegel. Its account of the Greek and of the German systems, is of especial value and importance. It presents the whole history of speculation in its consecutive order. Though following the method of Hegel’s more extended lectures upon the progress of philosophy, and though it makes the system of Hegel to be the ripest product of philosophy, yet it also rests upon independent investigations. It will well reward diligent study, and is one of the best works for a text-book in our colleges, upon this neglected branch of scientific investigation. The translation is made by a competent person, and gives, I doubt not, a faithful rendering of the original.

HENRY B. SMITH.

UNION THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY, NEW YORK, Nov. 6, 1855.

TRANSLATOR’S PREFACE.

Schwegler’s History of Philosophy originally appeared in the “Neue Encyklopädie für Wissenschaften und Künste.” Its great value soon awakened a call for its separate issue, in which form it has attained a very wide circulation in Germany. It is found in the hands of almost every student in the philosophical department of a German university, and is highly esteemed for its clearness, conciseness, and comprehensiveness.

The present translation was commenced in Germany three years ago, and has been carefully finished. It was undertaken with the conviction that the work would not lose its interest or its value in an English dress, and with the hope that it might be of wider service in such a form to students of philosophy here. It was thought especially, that a proper translation of this manual would supply a want for a suitable text-book on this branch of study, long felt by both teachers and students in our American colleges.

The effort has been made to translate, and not to paraphrase the author’s meaning. Many of his statements might have been amplified without diffuseness, and made more perceptible to the superficial reader without losing their interest to the more profound student, but he has so happily seized upon the germs of the different systems, that they neither need, nor would be improved by any farther development, and has, moreover, presented them so clearly, that no student need have any difficulty in apprehending them as they are. The translator has therefore endeavored to represent faithfully and clearly the original history. As such, he offers his work to the American public, indulging no hope, and making no efforts for its success beyond that which its own merits shall ensure.

J. H. S.

SCHENECTADY, N. Y., January, 1856.

CONTENTS.

PAGE

INTRODUCTORY NOTE, by HENRY B. SMITH, D. D. iii

TRANSLATOR’S PREFACE v

TABLE OF CONTENTS vii

SECTION I.—WHAT IS MEANT BY THE HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY 11

II.—CLASSIFICATION 16

III.—GENERAL VIEW OF THE PRE-SOCRATIC PHILOSOPHY 17 1. The Ionics 17 2. The Pythagoreans 18 3. The Eleatics 18 4. Heraclitus 18 5. The Atomists 19 6. Anaxagoras 19 7. The Sophists 20

IV.—THE IONIC PHILOSOPHERS 21 1. Thales 21 2. Anaximander 22 3. Anaximenes 23 4. Retrospect 23

V.—PYTHAGOREANISM 23 1. Its Relative Position 23 2. Historical and Chronological 23 3. The Pythagorean Principle 24 4. Carrying out of this Principle 25

VI.—THE ELEATICS 27 1. The Relation of the Eleatic Principle to the Pythagorean 27 2. Xenophanes 28 3. Parmenides 28 4. Zeno 30

VII.—HERACLITUS 31 1. Relation of the Heraclitic Principle to the Eleatic 31 2. Historical and Chronological 32 3. The Principle of the Becoming 32 4. The Principle of Fire 33 5. Transition to the Atomists 33

VIII.—EMPEDOCLES 35 1. General View 35 2. The Four Elements 35 3. The Two Powers 36 4. Relation of the Empedoclean to the Eleatic and Heraclitic Philosophy 36