846 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



EDITOR'S TABLE. 



DR. FAIRBAIRN AND THE SYNTHETIC 

 PHILOSOPUY. 



IT was the aim of Bacon to bring the 

 great divisions of knowledge into 

 unity. Tired of the sterility of the old 

 philosophies, he proposed a new one that 

 should be both a true interpretation of 

 nature and lead to grand utilities. He 

 divined the method, but his imagination 

 outran the resources of his time, and he 

 could not execute it. 



Three centuries of science have now 

 made the fulfillment of Bacon's concep- 

 tion not only possible, but an impera- 

 tive intellectual necessity; and, among 

 the thinkers of this age who have most 

 clearly perceived and most strongly 

 felt the need of attempting this formi- 

 dable task, is Mr. Herbert Spencer. He 

 entered upon it as a life-work, and has 

 now devoted twenty-five years of un- 

 remitting thought to the undertaking. 

 As his system is predominantly con- 

 structive a binding together of differ- 

 ent orders of ideas by far-reaching 

 principles he has called it *'The Syn- 

 thetic Pliilosophy." It is now in its 

 main features an accomplished fact, 

 and its appearance is probably the most 

 considerable intellectual event of our 

 times. The periodical press is slow to 

 note the significant incidents of its 

 progress, and so nothing remains but 

 for " The Popular Science Monthly " to 

 repair the omission. 



The project, in the nature of the 

 case, was extensive, and it was certain- 

 ly a worthy thing for a man of ability 

 to forego the common aims of ambi- 

 tion, and dedicate his powers to what 

 required prodigious work, and was 

 even then generally thought to be im- 

 practicable and impossible. But, no- 

 ble as was the scheme, it was neither 

 received with the sympathy nor sus- 



tained with the liberality that sucb an 

 undertaking deserved. Nevertheless, 

 Spencer's system of thought has made 

 its way so successfully as to have be- 

 come of cosmopolitan import before it 

 is yet completed. His elaborate works 

 have been reproduced in all the lead- 

 ing modern languages, and they are 

 making a powerful impression upon the 

 cultivated mind of the different coun- 

 tries where they are circulated. They 

 are ably criticised in the leading re- 

 views of these countries, and books are 

 multijilying on every hand, directed to 

 the exposition, defense, and refutation 

 of their doctrines. 



We have referred to the unfavor- 

 able reception of his system. That his 

 views should have met with a formi- 

 dable resistance was natural and proper, 

 but criticism did not stop here. The 

 attacks of reviewers were too often ac- 

 companied by gross personal disparage- 

 ment. His adversaries, assuming them- 

 selves to be the guardians of great and 

 sacred interests, often wrote with pas- 

 sion, and indulged in the tone of de- 

 preciation wholly foreign to the pur- 

 poses of honorable controversy. The 

 critics are, however, beginning to find 

 that nothing is gained in the long-run 

 by such unfairness. The system pro- 

 nounced worthless and impotent, or 

 potent only for mischief, is steadily 

 gaining upon the world's fayorable ap- 

 preciation. Spencer has been again and 

 again ostentatiously "crushed," and all 

 men called to witness how the dust of his 

 unsubstantial reputation has gone to the 

 winds. Yet there stands the solid fabric 

 of his labors unharmed, the stronger 

 for every attack, and becoming more 

 stable with each addition as its author 

 steadily proceeds with his task. 



What we are now called upon to 



