INTRODUCTION 



be made, it seems unfair to the author's mem- 

 ory to reprint his longest and most notable 

 philosophical book without giving the reader 

 some connected view of the accessible evidences 

 regarding what the changes in question might 

 probably have been. To this end it seems neces- 

 sary also to give a summary view of what the 

 most notable features of Fiske's earlier period 

 of thinking were. No one can feel more than 

 does the writer of the present Introduction that 

 the evidences as to just how this earlier period 

 of Fiske's activity is related to his latest thought 

 are indeed, at best, sadly fragmentary ; and that 

 our author, had he ever returned to the old 

 ground of his " Cosmic Philosophy," would 

 have been sure to retell his story in a fashion 

 such as no one can now with any precision de- 

 termine. Fiske was always his own best ex- 

 positor ; and nobody can take up the pen that 

 fell so suddenly from his hand, and undertake 

 to complete, at any point, his unique task. But 

 the publishers have determined, in putting forth 

 the definitive edition of his works, to provide 

 the " Cosmic Philosophy " with an Introduction 

 which shall attempt three distinct but closely 

 related offices. These are, first, to set forth in 

 some detail, by means of a summary analysis 

 of Fiske's text, what was most characteristic 

 about Fiske's method as a thinker, and what 



XXV 



