OF THE SOUL. 219 



of the principal defects in the psychology of the empir- 

 ical school, a defect which had been noticed not only in 

 this country but also in France. Of this I shall speak 

 later on. 



In the meantime it will be of interest to draw 

 attention to some of the general characteristics of the 

 British schools of philosophy. There never has existed 

 in this country, up to quite recent times, a ruling 

 system of philosophy in the sense in which we may 

 speak of the ruling systems of Descartes, of Leibniz, 

 Kant, and Hegel abroad. It is quite true that Hobbes 22. 



° ^ Want of 



elaborated a system of philosophy and Berkeley sug- Sfj^?^'" 

 gested one, but neither had acquired any widespread pi^Jiosophy. 

 following or currency. More than by systems of phil- 

 osophy the British mind has been led by methods 

 of thought. Such methods are, for instance, the in- 

 ductive methods usually connected with the name of 

 Bacon, the common-sense and the introspective methods 

 usually connected with the name of Thomas Eeid and 

 the Scottish school. One of the results of this attitude 

 of the British mind has been the absence of completeness 

 and finality in many of the arguments of English and 

 Scotch thinkers. In spite of great acuteness and 

 originality, they have rarely pursued their leading ideas 

 to their ultimate conclusions. Instinctively they have 

 mostly been satisfied with the attitude peculiar to the 

 natural sciences, where definite methods are employed 

 and principles applied so long as they prove to be 

 useful ; being frequently abandoned when it becomes 

 evident that their usefulness has come to an end. 

 Thus, for instance, the division which in the Baconian 



