A Realistic Universe - An Introduction to Metaphysics #254824

This volume on metaphysics is the sequel of a volume on the theory of knowledge, entitled Truth and Reality, which was published in 1911. The two volumes furnish a survey of the field of general philosophy from the point of View of pragmatic realism. This attitude which the author has been champion ing for several years is an attempt to apply scientific method to philosophic problems. The term pragmatic is used in the sense which was first advocated by C. S. Peirce, and which is defined by the author in his own terms in Truth and Reality. As applied to metaphysics the pragmatic method means that we must judge the nature of reality, in its various grades and complexities, by the consequences to the realization of human purposes, instead of by a priori assumptions. Some may pre fer the older adjectives of empirical or critica but these terms seem definitely associated with certain historical doctrines, and a new term seems to be preferable in designating the scientific tendency of today. There is need in every age of retranslating the perennial problems of philosophy into terms of living human interest; and the author hopes in a meas ure to further this movement at the present time through these volumes. In A Realistic Universe the author has tried to make vital the fundamental problems of metaphysics in terms of our present thought-world, without the cant of the past, but with a deep sense of indebtedness to the masters of all time. While the book is intended primarily for the philosophic stu dent, the aim has been to make the style as clear and simple as the problems would permit. In the use of scientific material, an effort has been made to find sources which would be intel ligible to the layman rather than to make an appearance of erudition. Some portions, such as the introductory chapter.