x PREFACE. 



term " Cosmos " connotes the orderly succession of phenomena 

 quite as forcibly as it denotes the totality of phenomena ; and 

 with anything absolute or ontological, with anything save 

 the " Mundus " or orderly world of phenomena, it has 

 nothing whatever to do. So that, strictly speaking, no 

 theological system of philosophy can be called "Cosmic" 

 while admitting miracle, special-creation, or any other denial 

 of the persistence of force, into its scheme of things ; and 

 no ontological system can be called " Cosmic " while pro- 

 fessing to deal with existence not included within the 

 phenomenal world. The term, therefore, forcibly distin- 

 guishes Mr. Spencer's philosophy from systems which have 

 contained ontological or theological assumptions. And, on 

 the other hand, as is shown below, in the ninth and 

 tenth chapters of Part I., it distinguishes it from Positivism ; 

 since the latter philosophy consists of an Organon of 

 scientific methods ancillary to the construction of a system 

 of Sociology, and has always implicitly denied the practical 

 possibility of such a unified doctrine of the Cosmos as 

 Mr. Spencer has succeeded in making. In short, Mr. 

 Spencer's philosophy is not merely a Synthesis, but it is 

 a " Cosmic Synthesis ; " that is, it is a system which, without 

 making appeal to data that are ontological or to agencies 

 that are extra-cosmic, brings all known truths concerning 

 the coexistence and succession of phenomena into relation 

 with one another as the corollaries of a single primordial 

 truth, which is alleged of the omnipresent Existence (ignored 

 by Positivism) whereof the phenomenal world i» the multi- 

 form manifestation. To no other system yet devised can 

 this definition be strictly applied ; and of no other system 

 can we strictly say that it is " Cosmic." 



Along with these specific advantages, as characterizing 

 Mr. Spencer's system of philosophy, the term " Cosmic " 

 and its congeners possess sundry general advantages, as 



