R 



M I ' 



THE 



POPULAR SCIENCE 

 MONTHLY. 



MAY, 1892. 



HERBERT SPENCER AND THE SYNTHETIC 



PHILOSOPHY.* 



By WILLIAM H. HUDSON. 



ASSISTANT LIBRARIAN, CORNELL UNIVERSITY. 



THE present paper aims at furnishing an introduction to the 

 study of Mr. Spencer's philosophic system ; but, to avoid all 

 possibility of misconception, it may be well to state at the outset 

 in what sense the word introduction is here employed. Let it be 

 understood, then, that by it we mean neither an exposition nor 

 a criticism ; in other words, we do not now undertake either to 

 summarize the arguments and conclusions of the Synthetic Phi- 

 losophy, or to pass judgment upon them. Popular introductions 

 to abstruse and voluminous works too often confine themselves to 

 one or both of these methods ; our course, on the other hand, will 

 be a humbler, but, we may trust, not less useful one. Assuming 

 that the student of any great epoch-making work will feel himself 

 the better prepared to grapple with that work if he knows some- 

 thing of its genetic history I mean, of its inception, formulation, 

 and growth ; and will be placed in a more advantageous position 

 for judging of its essential merits if he understands its relation to 

 the thought and speculation of the time, we purpose to approach 

 Mr. Spencer's philosophy by way of its evolution ; to consider, not 

 what it is to-day, but rather how it came to be what it is to-day. 

 In a brief outline of the gradual unfolding and consolidation of 

 Mr. Spencer's thought, and in some appreciation of the historic 

 significance of his writings, will, we believe, be found the best 

 kind of introduction for those who would prepare themselves for 

 the direct and personal study of his works. 



* Read before the Unity Club, Ithaca, New York. 



YOL. XLI. 1 



31770 



