THE RATIONALE OF PHILOSOPHICAL THOUGHT. 737 



and to show how, in spite of the varying aspects which the 

 philosophical problem has presented to us in the fore- 

 going chapters, there has nevertheless gone on a very 

 definite underlying advance in the philosophical Thought 

 of the period. This chapter will accordingly aim at 

 expounding the rationale of philosophical thought. For 

 this purpose I shall have to answer two definite ques- 

 tions. The first will refer to the main influence through 

 which this change and this advance have been brought 

 about ; the second will refer to a general tendency of 

 thought which the detailed expositions in the earlier 

 chapters have enabled us to discover in recent philo- 

 sophical discussions. 



I will at once answer the first question by saying 

 that the main influence through which philosophical 

 thought has undergone what we may term a funda- 

 mental change must be traced back to the progress of 

 science itself and its manifold applications in practical 

 life : it is, in fact, the working of the scientific spirit, ex- 3. 



Influence 



tending beyond the limits of its special subject. This of science. 

 special subject itself we may define as the advancement 

 of natural Knowledge in theory and practice. 



It may also be convenient, whilst postponing an 

 answer to the second question, to state provisionally 

 that the advance of philosophical thought has been pre- 

 pared under the influence of the critical spirit through a 4. 

 process which may be divided into two distinct stages, i^riticism. 

 Criticism in philosophy first destroyed the older meta- 

 physical notions by applying, wherever possible, the 

 methods and principles which had proved so efficient 

 in the region of scientific research, and it then turned 



VOL. IV. 3 A 



