The Spirit of Modern Philosophy

Royce's Spirit Of Modern Philosophy

Josiah Royce (1855 -- 1916) was a California-born American philosopher who taught at Harvard as a friend and colleague of William James. He is an idealist philosopher which helps to explain the neglect his writings have suffered until recently. I have been reading Royce for some years and recently returned to read his 1892 book, "The Spirit of Modern Philosophy: An Essay in the Form of Lectures" because I will be speaking about the book at an upcoming conference. I wanted to write a brief review here on the rereading. I have written an earlier review.

"The Spirit of Modern Philosophy" (Spirit) was Royce's second book of philosophy, following his book,"The Religious Aspect of Philosophy" (1885) by seven years. Royce had delivered a well-received series of lectures to non-specialists on the nature of philosophy and its history and expanded his lectures into the Spirit. Royce did several important things in the book. Most importantly, he stressed that philosophy was not a mere dry academic subject for specialist but was instead a reflective discipline which individuals of all backgrounds could use to deepen their understanding of their lives and of what they found important. Next, Royce stressed the importance of thinking about philosophy historically -- understanding what the great philosophers have thought and said -- to reflection of philosophical matters. Finally, Royce developed the outline of his own idealistic philosophy.

The book is substantially expanded from its origins in lectures. The work remains accessible to lay readers even though it is often surprisingly detailed. The book is written in a hortatory late-Victorian style with many literary, historical, and musical allusions. It is inspiring and a pleasure to read though long-winded in places. Royce was never one to be stingy in his use of words.

The book consists of an important Preface followed by thirteen essays in two broad parts. In the Preface and first lecture, Royce explains his conception of philosophy, a matter to which he returns repeatedly in the remainder of the book. Part I of the book, "Studies of Thinkers and Problems" offers an overview of the history of modern philosophy beginning, surprisingly enough, with Spinoza rather than Descartes. Royce's exposition is unusual in the focus he gives to biographical information in addition to the explanation of philosophical teachings. The focus on the book is on Kant and on his German absolute idealist successors, including Hegel, Schopenhauer, Fichte, and Schelling. Royce is heavily influenced by all these thinkers as well as by Spinoza. The historical section of the book concludes with a discussion of the theory of evolution and with the need Royce saw to synthesize evolution and science with the spiritual life.

In Part II of the book, "Suggestions of Doctrine" Royce develops his own philosophical position. He argues that the position of naïve realism
is internally inconsistent and develops instead, based on a purportedly logical argument, a philosophy of absolute idealism, centering on the existence of what Royce calls at various places the all-inclusive Absolute, the Deep Self, or the Logos. But the most interesting part of the discussion is distinction Royce develops between appreciation and description. He argues that the descriptive world of scientific necessity and of everyday life is based on a broader appreciative world of feeling and subjectivity. He finds the descriptive/scientific outlook is part of a broader appreciative outlook based on logos and feeling. Scientific teachings do not conflict with spirituality because these teachings form a particular part of the spiritual life. In the final section of his book, Royce discusses how an idealistic philosophy can bring meaning and purpose to life, and he considers and assesses different approaches to the problem of evil that need to be addressed by all idealistic or theological philosophies.

Most readers will remain unconvinced by Royce's Absolute and by some of the longer wanderings in the book. There still is much to be learned from the Spirit, and I have found that the work bears repeated readings. Royce's broad conception of philosophy and the manner in which he explains the personal and historical bases of different philosophies remains insightful, as do his historical studies. The distinction between appreciative and descriptive approaches to reality also seems to me mirrored, in approach if not in name, to much current writing. It offers promise of a holistic, unifying view of life independent from the form of Absolute Idealism in which Royce himself propounded it.

Royce's philosophy may have moved in a different direction in the early 20th Century in the years following the Spirit. This book is still rewarding and worth knowing by lovers of philosophy.

Robin Friedman