PSYCHOLOGY BY JOHN DEWEY H. D. MAD PROFESSOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN UNIVERSITY OP CHICAGO CbirD - RevieeD DUion NEW YORK CINCINNATI CHICAGO AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY Copyright, 1886, by HARPER BROTHERS. Copyright, 1891, by HAKPKK BKOTHKRS. All riyHt, r rW. W. P. ZZ PREFACE. ANY book, written as this one is, expressly for use in class-room instruction, must meet one question with which texts-books Qutsyp the realm of philosophy are not harassea. What shall be its attitude towards phil osophic principles This is a question which may be ...
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PSYCHOLOGY BY JOHN DEWEY H. D. MAD PROFESSOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN UNIVERSITY OP CHICAGO CbirD - RevieeD DUion NEW YORK CINCINNATI CHICAGO AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY Copyright, 1886, by HARPER BROTHERS. Copyright, 1891, by HAKPKK BKOTHKRS. All riyHt, r rW. W. P. ZZ PREFACE. ANY book, written as this one is, expressly for use in class-room instruction, must meet one question with which texts-books Qutsyp the realm of philosophy are not harassea. What shall be its attitude towards phil osophic principles This is a question which may be suppressed, but cannot be avoided. The older works, indeed, were not so much troubled by it, for it is only recently that psychology has attained any independent standing. As long as psychology was largely a com pound of logic, ethics, and metaphysics, the only thing possible was to serve this compound, mingled with ex tracts from the history of philosophy. And it must not be forgotten that such a course had one decided advantage it made psychology a good introduction to the remaining studies of the philosophic curriculum. But at present, aside from the fact that there is already an abundance of text-books of this style, which it were idle to increase, psychology seems deserving of a treat ment on its own account. On the other hand, there are books which attempt to leave behind all purely philosophic considerations, and confine themselves to the facts of scientific psy chology. Such books certainly have the advantage of iV PREFACE. abandoning or, at least, of the opportunity of aban doning a mass of material which has no part nor lot in psychology, and which should long ago have been relegated to the history of metaphysics. But one can hardly avoid raising thequestion whether such surren der of philosophic principles be possible. No writer can create nor recreate his material, and it is quite like ly that the philosophic implications embedded in the very heart of psychology are not got rid of when they are kept out of sight. Some opinion regarding the nature of the mind and its relations to reality will show itself on almost every page, and the fact that this opinion is introduced without the conscious intention of the writer may serve to confuse both the author and his reader. But to me one other consideration seems decisive against such a course. It does not have due reference to the historic conditions of our instruction. One es sential element in the situation is that it is the custom of our colleges to make psychology the path by which to enter the fields of philosophy. How, then, shall we unite the advantages of each class of text-books That is to say, how shall we make our psychology scientific and up to the times, free from metaphysics which, however good in its place, is out of place in a psychology and at the same time make it an introduction to philosophy in general While I cannot hope to have succeeded in presenting a psychology which shall satisfactorily answer this question, it does appear to me an advantage to have PREFACE. V kept this question in mind, and to have written with reference to it. I have accordingly endeavored to avoid all material not strictly psychological, and to re flect the investigations of scientific specialists in this branch but I have also endeavored to arrange the ma terial in such a way as to lead naturally and easily to the problems which the student will meet in his fur ther studies, to suggest theprinciples along which they will tind their solutions, and, above all, to develop the philosophic spirit. I am sure that there is a way of raising questions, and of looking at them, which is philosophic a way which the beginner can find more easily in psychology than elsewhere, and which, when found, is the best possible introduction to all specific philosophic questions. The following pages are the authors attempt to help the student upon this way. NOTE TO THE THIRD EDITION...
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