still was a task to be performed, a task, which Plato and Aristotle 

 took to be the essential work of the philosopher, a task, which had 

 not been delegated to the special philosophies or sciences. 



It will be seen that the word philosophy retains, throughout a 

 long history, the dual sense already given to it. It has included all 

 the special investigations, that have been carried on, and, almost 

 to the present day, the phrase, natural philosophy, has been used 

 to designate the different natural sciences; but the essential 

 significance of philosophy, its best definition in other words, will be 

 found by following that trend of thought, which emphasized rather 

 the peculiar function of philosophy, a function which it retained 

 after the separation of the special disciplines had taken place. 



In attempting thus to arrive at a definition of philosophy, the 

 work of the early Greek speculators must be borne in mind, but 

 interest will centre more especially upon Socrates, Plato and Aris- 

 totle, that great triad of thinkers, who influenced succeeding genera- 

 tions more than human mind can ever estimate. 



Socrates, 469-399 B.C., marks an epoch in the history of human 

 investigation. He was the son of a sculptor, and, at first, busied 

 himself with the chisel, but his ardent desire for knowledge led him 

 to absorb the new doctrines with which the streets of his native city 

 echoed. He, however, was not to be dazzled by the brilliant rhetori- 

 cal efforts, which were becoming so popular because of the teaching 

 of the Sophists. His keen intellect penetrated behind the glittering 

 words and phrases, and there he often saw superficiality and incon- 

 sistency. Such teaching was unsatisfactory to Socrates, whose 

 moral earnestness led him to delve beneath the surface in the 

 endeavour to discover true knowledge. Thus he came to hold it his 

 duty to enlighten himself and his fellow-citizens concerning the 

 emptiness of the ordinary Sophistic teaching, in order to prepare the 

 way for a better comprehension of truth. With this end in view, 

 he worked unceasingly and unremittingly among his fellow- 

 citizens, facing with them the practical problems of daily life, 

 until misunderstanding and intrigue finally brought him before the 

 court, which condemned him to the death that has served only to 

 heighten his glory and his fame. 



The work of Socrates is known to us only indirectly, but histori- 

 cal criticism has agreed that in the Socratic method there is con- 



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