Outlines of moral philosophy / by Dugald Stewart.

  • Stewart, Dugald, 1753-1828.
Date:
1845
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Outlines of moral philosophy / by Dugald Stewart. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by King’s College London. The original may be consulted at King’s College London.

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    which the human faculties are altogether in- competent. 5. The ultimate object of philosophical in- quiry is the same which every man of plain understanding proposes to himself, when he re- marks the events which fall under his observa- tion, with a view to the future regulation of his conduct. The more knowledge of this kind we acquire, the better can we accommodate our plans to the established order of things, and avail ourselves of natural Powers and Agents for accomplishing our purposes. 6. The knowledge of the Philosopher differs from that sagacity which directs uneducated men in the business of life, not in kind, but in degree, and in the manner in which it is ac- quired. 1st, By artificial combinations of cir- cumstances, or, in other words, by experiments, he discovers many natural conjunctions which would not have occurred spontaneously to his observation. 2dly, By investigating the gene- ral Laws of Nature, and by reasoning from them synthetically, he can often trace an esta- blished order, where a mere observer of facts would perceive nothing but irregularity.—This last process of the mind is more peculiarly dig- nified with the name of Philosophy; and the object of the rules of philosophizing is to explain in what manner it ought to be conducted.