Page:Philosophical Review Volume 1.djvu/22

6 the increase of philosophical knowledge and activity in America. It will reflect, in properly classified summaries, the light now scattered throughout the philosophical periodicals of the world; it will present full and critical notices, by recognized experts, of all new books as they appear; it will furnish an arena for the free discussion of philosophical topics or writings; and it will be an organ through which investigators may make known to their fellow-laborers the results of their researches and reflections. The philosophical genius of the nation will, it is expected, find in the new periodical a medium of free expression, an aid to full and harmonious development, and an instrument for ministering to its needs.

The scope of the will be as wide as Philosophy, in its broadest sense. It will range over the field of Psychology, Logic, Ethics, Æsthetics, Philosophy of Education, Philosophy of Religion, Metaphysics, Philosophy of Nature, and Epistemology. This is not the place to justify the inclusion of these different subjects under one generic title. It must suffice to observe that, historically, they have all been regarded as branches of Philosophy; and that, as a matter of fact, they run into one another in such a way that speculation (which is as essential to science as observation) cannot be carried on in any one of them without ultimately involving most, if not all, the others. This is, presumably, what is meant by those who speak of Philosophy as a unity, or a circle returning into itself. The perennial fascination of Philosophy for the best minds of the race is due to the fact that, setting out with consciousness, it is and must be directed upon nothing short of the whole of existence. But such a grasp of the whole is attained only in and through a mastery of the parts. In this connection it is impossible to overestimate the service recently