PiATO. I. The Nature of Philosophy When Socrates, in the immortal conversation at the house of Cephalus, defined the philosopher as lover of the vision of ...

Introduction.--Systems of numerical pluralism.--A criticism of preceding systems.--Systems of numerical monism.--Conclusion.--Appendix: Biographies and bibliographies of modern writers on philosophy, together with summaries and discussions of certain texts (p. 457-564).

Originally published in 1919, this book was mainly written in an attempt to 'present and defend the theory that the texture of the Universe is through-and-through spiritual'. An argument is developed based around the primary nature of experience and its varying qualities and contexts. From this perspective, the text takes issue with the purely objective approaches the author perceives as being inherent in 'neo-realist' and 'logical atomist' schools of thought. Textual notes are incorporated throughout. This book will be of value (...) to anyone with an interest in philosophical idealism and spiritualism. (shrink)

This chapter is Mary Whiton Calkins’ discussion of, and support for, the identification of philosophy with speculative metaphysics.