Page:Philosophical Review Volume 4.djvu/24

8 consequence has been a radical change in the conception of history, in the widest meaning of the word, as the history not simply of events, but of literature, art, philosophy, and religion. History, so regarded, is defined, in conformity with the fact of evolution, as time's stage, upon which certain ideas have played their parts and given place to higher ideas, these in turn leaving the stage empty for their successors. Such a view of history, imperfect though it surely is, has nevertheless had far-reaching results.

(1) It has sent into perpetual banishment the notion that the thoughts which have swayed mankind through history, might have come in any other order, equally as well as the actual order of their occurrence. In the principle of evolution, as applied to thought, is involved the belief that there is something final and reasonable in the sequence of events or ideas. Consequently, historians are now predisposed to look for a special fitness in the author's work, when taken in conjunction with the ideas that prevailed before his time. Such an assumption, explained, it is true, in various ways, has commended itself to almost all historians of philosophy since the time of Hegel.

(2) A second consequence of the application to history of the idea of evolution is the refusal to recognize writers of past eras as authorities upon a present problem. Two centuries ago, e.g., controversies were often decided by the number of well-known names which a disputant could, by hook or crook, summon to his side. The Bible itself was quoted in support of views, such as the jus divinum of kings, upon which it could in the nature of things no more offer an opinion, than could Æsculapius upon a controverted point in modern medicine. But by virtue of the evolution of thought it has come to be believed that, great as may be the principles of any man's work, he is necessarily silent upon questions which have emerged only after his thinking was done. Hence it is impossible to prove any position merely by citing authorities; and reliance must be placed upon the fitness of a principle to the deeper needs and aspirations of the age. "Culture," says