408 INTRODUCTION TO PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE 



than as a science. The same consideration applies to the 

 use of "mental philosophy' for "psychology." The older 

 term "political economy' has been quite generally sup- 

 planted by the term "economics." The use of suffixes such 

 as "-ology," "-osophy," and "-ography' cannot be taken 

 as infallible indications of the characters of the disciplines 

 to which they are applied. Nor does it assure one of the 

 legitimacy of the studies, as witnessed by astrology and 

 theosophy. Disagreements among authorities as to the 

 proper scope of a given term are not uncommon, and they 

 create difficulties of classification. For example, epistemology 

 is sometimes included in metaphysics and sometimes in 

 logic; social studies such as sociology and economics are 

 sometimes called sciences and sometimes not; and the in- 

 clusion of ethics and esthetics in most colleges and univer- 

 sities in departments of philosophy does not make them 

 philosophical disciplines. Many disciplines which are ordi- 

 narily called sciences, such as archaeology, paleontology, 

 epigraphy, and heraldry, are just as significantly to be 

 classed as histories. All of these facts suggest that the con- 

 struction of a classificatory scheme must be preceded by 

 accurate definitions of the main disciplines; ambiguity and 

 vagueness in terminology is no less a vice in the speculative 

 problem than it is in the problems of the special sciences. 



HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS 



History abounds in examples of classificatory schemes. 

 Most . philosophers and many scientists and literary men 

 have felt the urge to solve this synoptic problem. 1 Many 

 of the historical instances, while no longer entirely adequate 

 to the modern scene, exhibit important lines of cleavage 

 and linkage. The division into ethics, physics, and dialectics, 

 usually attributed to Plato, suggests the parallel division 

 into problems of human life, problems of nature, and prob- 



1 The availability of several good books devoted to the history of this problem 

 obviates the necessity for a more detailed consideration at this point. See H. E. Bliss, 

 op. cit.; E. C. Richardson, Classifications, Theoretical and Practical (New York: 

 Scribners, 1901); R. Flint, Philosophy as Scientia Scientiarum (London: Blackwood, 

 1904). 



