Page:Ferrier's Works Volume 3 "Philosophical Remains" (1883 ed.).djvu/484



1. of the topics touched upon in the Introduction to the 'Institutes of Metaphysic' is the necessity of philosophy being reasoned, the obligation which is incumbent on its teacher to exhibit his views in a demonstrative and systematic form. I now propose to offer a few remarks by way of illustration, enlargement, and enforcement of this truth; because the longer I reflect upon it, the more am I convinced of the stringency of the obligation referred to. I am prompted to make these observations on account of the hostility which the attempt to reduce speculative science to precision and exactitude frequently calls forth. I venture to oppose the prejudice which holds that truth can scarcely be made to square with logic, that sublime knowledge is incompatible with rigorous method, that profound thought sets at defiance the formulæ of lucid order; and opposing myself to this prejudice, I shall attempt