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A biographical history of philosophy
To write the Biography of Philosophy while writing the Biographies of Philosophers is the aim of the following work. The expression " Biography of Philosophy," though novel, may perhaps be pardoned, because it characterizes a novel attempt. There have been numerous histories of philosophical schools ; some of these learned and laborious chronicles being little more than a collection of fragments and opinions ; others critical estimates of various systems ; and others attempting to unite both of these plans. But the rise, growth, and development of Philosophy, as exhibited in these philosophical schools — in a word, the Life of Philosophy — has yet, I believe, had no biographer.
My conception of such a task, and the principles which have guided the composition of the present attempt, are stated in the Introduction.
It is usual, in presenting to the public a work destined for instruction, to show that such a work is wanted ; and, if other works on the subject already exist, to express a proper dissatisfaction at them, as an excuse for one's own audacity. So reasonable a practice invites imitation, even at the risk of appearing presumptuous.
That a History of Philosophy is an important subject may be taken for granted ; and although I by no means claim for the present work that it should supersede others, I do think that existing works have not rendered it superfluous. Stanley's 1 Lives of the Philosophers/ the delight of my boyhood, though a great work, considering the era in which it was produced, had long been obsolete when Dr. Enfield undertook his abridgment of Brucker; and, although the translation of
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