Page:Ferrier Works vol 2 1888 LECTURES IN GREEK PHILOSOPHY.pdf/56



1. the present session I propose to treat of the history of Philosophy, both moral and metaphysical, on a more extended scale than I have yet been in the habit of doing. Philosophy itself must, of course, engage our attention; because, unless we know what philosophy is, unless we have a clear conception of its aim and results, the history of philosophy must remain a blank, a sealed book, a mere repertory of dead and unprofitable dogmas. But when we have once formed a right conception of philosophy, the study of its history will then be found to react powerfully in confirming and enlarging our knowledge, and in directing and enlightening our energies. The aim of philosophy is to raise us into the region of universal, or, as I may call it, unindividual, thinking; the accidents of reason must fall away, and the