OF THE UNITY OF THOUGHT. 593 



of thought has set in, — notably in the natural sciences 

 and through the pressure of practical interests, — this has 

 hardly made itself felt in the region of philosophical 

 thought. Philosophy, though the parent of all the 

 dififerent natural and historical sciences, has nevertheless 

 only tardily adopted the methods and points of view 

 which have in the latter led to conspicuous success. 

 Philosophical specialists have only sprung up long after 

 scientific and historical specialisation had become the 

 order of the day ; and now it appears as if unification of 

 thought on philosophical subjects may have to wait till 

 such has been partially attained in other and more 

 restricted regions. Thus the breaking up of the great 

 philosophical problem into a variety of special questions 

 is, to some extent, a tribute to the spirit of the age. 

 Nevertheless it cannot be doubted that this atomising pro- 

 cess of thought is least of all satisfactory in dealing with 

 philosophical questions, and that this is being more and 

 more realised by philosophical writers of opposite schools 

 and in different countries.^ The dictum of Herbert 

 Spencer, that science is partially unified knowledge and 



^ In the Retrospect at the end that the latter cannot similarly 



of the second volume of this His- relieve itself of this highest re- 



tory (vol. ii. pp. 741 sqq.), I pointed sponsibility — viz., to bring unity 



out that in the course of the last | into thought and knowledge, and 



century Science, in the narrower ! that though it may have found it 



sense of the word, as exact Know- \ necessary to break up the main 



ledge based upon observation, de- j problem into separate problems it 



finition, measurement, and calcula- i cannot permanently shirk its main 



tion, has, by a general but tacit duty. This explains the necessity 



consent, abandoned the ambitious of adding to the foregoing chapters 



task of uniting natural knowledge which deal with the separate 



into a comprehensive system ; and philosophical problems, a chapter 



further, that this task has been which answers the question : what 



handed over as one of the principal has the century done in the direc- 



inducements and interests of phil- tion of defining, understanding, or 



osophical thought. It is obvious solving the main problem ? 



VOL. IV. 2 P 



