LIFE OF HUME 145 



same time illustrate his philosophical attitude, and his 

 power as a writer. 



The Preface (dated January 1894) to t ^ le s i xt ^ volume 

 of the Collected Essays, most of which is a reprint of the 

 Hume, begins with an eloquent tribute to Descartes and 

 Socrates, but Plato is severely handled : — 



" The Platonic philosophy is probably the grandest example 

 of the unscientific use of the imagination extant ; and it would 

 be hard to estimate the amount of detriment to clear thinking 

 effected, directly and indirectly, by the theory of ideas, on the 

 one hand, and by the unfortunate doctrine of the baseness of 

 matter, on the other." 



Berkeley and Hume are then mentioned as the greatest 

 philosophical reformers since Descartes, and the following 

 advice is given to those who wish to acquire a sound 

 knowledge of philosophy, but do not desire merely 

 " to discourse fluently and learnedly about philosophical 

 questions . . . " : — 



" If . . . you are animated by the much rarer desire for real 

 knowledge ; if you want to get a clear conception of the deepest 

 problems set before the intellect of man, there is no need, so 

 far as I can see, for you to go beyond the limits of the English 

 tongue. Indeed, if you are pressed for time, three English 

 authors will suffice ; namely, Berkeley, Hume, and Hobbes. 



" If you will lay your minds alongside the works of these 

 great writers — not with the view of merely ascertaining their 

 opinions, still less for the purpose of indolently resting upon 

 their authority, but to the end of seeing for yourselves how far 

 what each says has its foundation in right reason — you will 

 have had as much sound philosophical training as is good for 

 any one but an expert. And you will have had the further 

 advantage of becoming familiar with the manner in which three 

 of the greatest masters of the English language have handled 

 that noble instrument of thought." 



A vigorous sketch of Hume's Life occupies the first 

 K 



