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CHAPTER IV. 



OF KNOWLEDGE. 



Of all the processes in the inner life of the human 

 mind, those referring to knowledge have always 

 attracted the greatest attention of thinkers. At a 



1. very early age of philosophical thought, the problems of 



Early ap- 

 pearance of the nature and origin of knowledge, of the means of 



the problem o o ' 



kdge°^ acquiring it, and of the difference between correct and 

 incorrect, useful and useless knowledge, have presented 

 themselves as amongst the most important questions in 

 philosophy. Nor does it seem as if, in spite of the very 

 advanced nature of the speculations referring to this 

 subject in ancient philosophy, the problem of knowledge, 

 of its nature, its origin, and its usefulness, has at all 

 lost its freshness, its interest, or its difficulties. Thus 

 we find that also during the nineteenth century the 

 problem of knowledge has again been attacked by 

 foremost thinkers with much eagerness, and that various 



2. solutions have been attempted. It has even been 

 encechar- maintained that theory of knowledge formed the 



act eristic of _ _ 



nineteentii characteristic occupation and the most important out- 

 century ^ ^ 



come of philosophical thought during the nineteenth 



