Movements Of Thought In The Nineteenth Century (Paperback)

MOVEMENTS OF THOUGHT IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY GEORGE H. MEAD Late Professor of Philosophy y The University of Chicago EDITED BY MERRITT H. MOORE Professor of Philosophy Knox College UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS CHICAGO - ILLINOIS THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS, CHICAGO 37 Cambridge University Press, London, N. W. i, England W. J. Gage Co., Limited, Toronto aB, Canada Copyright 1936 by The University of Chicago. All rights reserved Published April 1936, Fifth Impression fpjo. Composed and printed by THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS, Chicago, Illinois, PREFATORY NOTE A YET, comparatively little has been done by way of synthetic studies of nineteenth-century thought as a whole. This situation is aggravated in that what is available for the use of the student, or other interested persons, is of relatively little value because of lack of time, lack of train ing, or other reasons. To date, the most extensive single work on this period is Merzs four-volume work History of European Thought in the Nineteenth Century. But of this work the length alone makes its widespread use unlikely, and in some instances unfeasible, except for specific problems considered apart from their wider significance. Added to this is the difficult nature of the text. It is so detailed, so complex, as of course the thought of the century was, that the uninitiated are apt to find it more baffling than helpful. On the other hand, some work of a more popular nature has been done, but largely by French and Ger man writers. Much of this material is untranslated, and so rela tively unavailable to a large number of persons who would otherwise make use of it. Again, not a small part of the bibliog raphy on the nineteenthcentury relates to works on particular phases of the thought of the period. Among these are Royces The Spirit of Modern Philosophy, Lvy-BruhFs excellent work on the History of Modern Philosophy in France, and Ruggieros European Liberalism. These are limited in scope. Thus Professor Meads lectures on the Movements of Thought in the Nineteenth Century are peculiarly apt, for a number of reasons. They are inclusive. Even a brief perusal of the Table of Contents is sufficient to indicate the catholicity of their scope. I think it may truly be said that few significant thought developments have been neglected. The lectures are also relatively simple. Being designed, as they were, . for undergradu ate students in the University of Chicago, they are presented M PREFATORY NOTE from a point of view which such students can readily grasp. This is a great boon to the general reader who wishes a picture of the thought of the century as a whole. Again, their develop ment does not go into such detail as to hide general tenden cies. Finally, Mr. Meads penchant for turning old problems around in such a way as to bring new light on them keeps his lectures from being repetitious. These factors all lead to the cumulative value which these lectures have as one goes through them. One cannot read them with any care without having a real sense of what went on in the century immediately before our own. Of course, when these lectures were given, Mr. Mead had not designed them for publication. They are classroom lec tures, reported in the form of student notes but of an excep tionally complete and exact nature. They have the value and deficiencies of the purpose for which they were intended. In this case, however, the former completely outweigh the latter. Per haps, had Mr. Mead himself prepared them for publication, they might have been presented in a somewhat different form. It is, I think, unlikely that he would have made any significant changes the material is too good as it stands. These lectures make up a course that was presented numerous times. In this process they were subject to constant growth of insight and con sequent revision. Thus, it is no idle statement to say that they represent their authors mature views...