ITS FOUNDATION. 



CHAPTER II. 

 The Greek School Philosophy. 



Sect. 1. — The general Foundation of the Greek School Philosophy. 



rTlIIE physical philosophy of the Greek Schools was formed by look- 

 -*- incf at the material world through the medium of that common 

 language which men employ to answer the common occasions of life ; 

 and by adopting, arbitrarily, as the grounds of comparison of facts, and 

 of inference from them, notions more abstract and large than those 

 with which men are practically familiar, but not less vague and obscure. 

 Such a philosophy, however much it might be systematized, by classi- 

 fying and analyzing the conceptions which it involves, could not over- 

 come the vices of its fundamental principle. But before speaking of 

 these defects, we must give some indications of its character. 



The. propensity to seek for principles in the common usages of lan- 

 guage may be discerned at a very early period. Thus we have an 

 example of it in a saying which is reported of Thales, the founder of 

 Greek philosophy. 1 When he was asked, "What is the greatest 

 thing ?" he replied, "Place ; for all other things are in the world, but 

 the world is in it." In Aristotle we have the consummation of this 

 mode of speculation. The usual point from which he starts in his in- 

 quiries is, that we say thus or thus in common language. Thus, when 

 he has to discuss the question, whether there be, in any part of the 

 universe, a Void, or space in which there is nothing, he inquires first 

 in how many senses we say that one thing is in another. He enumer- 

 ates many of these ; 2 we say the part is in the whole, as the finger is 

 in the hand ; again we say, the species is in the genus, as man is in- 

 cluded in animal ; again, the government of Greece is in the king ; 

 and various other senses are described or exemplified, but of all these 

 the most jwoper is when we say a thing is in a vessel, and generally, 

 in place. He next examines what place is, and comes to this conclu- 

 sion, that " if about a body there be another body including it, it is in 

 place, and if not, not." A body moves when it changes its place ; but 



1 Plut. Conv. Sept. Sap. Diog. Laert. i. 35. s Physic. Ausc. iv. S. 



