New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-10-21
AMERICAN PHILOSOPHY.
STUDIES IN THE SCIENCE OF KNowA-
EDGE.

PHILOSOPHY OF KNoWLEsRTGaEtd ,,v An n, fHn %msn
pp Dshiaor Of Philosophy in Yale University PIP
XIV, Ga Charles scrbner's Sons.
THEORY OF THOUGHT AND KNoWLEDGE Ky
Bor5en p Bovine Professor Of Philosophy ~
Boston University. PIP Kill. oes' harper
Brothers.
Professor Laid appeals to the consciousness
OF the plain man with democratic sy''ipa'"'
Professor Bovine sometimes casts ridlcule on
the plain mans way Of knowing without KNOW
ing that he knows. which is almost aristocratic
Yet they both give the same answer 10 tho
only question In epistemology that is worth
troubling ones self about Man can know that
he knows. they say, and that what ne KNOWS
Ia downright knowledge. but he cannot know
how he gains his knowledge He can know
that he Is real and that the world Is real al
least for him and for those with whom ne can
communicate lie cannot get any further ih's
view OF the case is one that simply EXTENDS the
common sense OF life into realms when science
has not yet explored. Professor Ladd SHOWS
clearly that the processes or knowing are INC
same for the ignoramus that they are lot INC
man of learning. In practical life no one doup's
the testimony OF consciousness. Hence the scep-
tic the ideaIst and the realist all act very much
alike in spite Of all differences In theory. Thus
II would seem II epis,emologists IN general
departed from the real problems OF their science
IN order to state anew those which have already
been disposed OF. Professor Laid shows IN a
lucid historical summary how the ancient creek
philosophers and Augustine and Origen. as well
as later thinkers. derived all the truth that Is
indispensable in science OF Knowledge ana
stated IT as fully as the limitations Of their
times would allow. He can state 1t more fuily
and show It's relations to life more In detail
hvf ho ms
hardly claim that he had passed much beyond
the conclusion which ne attributes to Augustine
that 1.-The existence Of truth cannot be doubted
and that all reality is lmplicate In the being
knowing and willing Of the self-conscious sub"
ject."
In that case why not abandon for the present
the twice-told tale Of the application OF philoso-
phy to life and turn to an investigation wnlcn.
whether it ends at discovery or nothing. Is at
least still incomplete? Both Professor 1.add ana
Professor Bovine agree In saying that this sug-
gested investigation must lead to nothlns.
1t Is impossible, they say. TO get back or con-
sc,ousness. Hence Professor Bovine would do
we'll not 10 let go OF weapon which he wlelds
with success against the pure sensationalsts
"rhere are" he says certain typical theories
of knowing and Of being. each OF which has Its
peculiar implications; and II we nave
knowledge Of typical theories We may spare
ourselves the trouble of reading new works be-
yond the point necessary to determine their
fundamental position. That is to say. II phi
losophy Is to give US nothing new what Is the
use of reading it? Both authors refuse to dis
cuss abnormal consciousness because 1t leads
to no conclusions about the normal conscious
ness. great many things can be done with
the nervous system. intinates Professor Laid.
in a psychological laboratory but all these leave
the main question OF knowledge still unsolved
and practically unknown.
A possible answer to this lies In the fact which
DR.. Johnson remarked upon long ago. that there
Is no such thing a normal mind. The ap-
proximate unanirnity Of the majority Of human
beings which often disappears In moments of
peculiar stress that crowd the individual mind
out Of its accustomed grooves. may after all. be
largely a matter Of training. Philosophy builds
a great deal on the knowledge Of self as II 1t
were Intrinsic. and the way normal egotist
scatters II" and I'VE" what he says or
writes seems to bear out this opinion. But this
knowledge may. after all. be matter OF habit.
Every person is aware Of having some time or
other made the same discovery as to the mean
ing Of the pronoun Of the first person which is
recorded OF David Copperheld's childhood 1t Is
quite conceivable that a language might be de-
veloped without this pronoun and consequently
without the thought which II is intended to
convey. Now. II IL happened that sef-con-
seriousness matter Of habit. the fact would
not change the relations Of mind to things.
Mankind would so on thinking about reality
Just as 1t has always done But the aspect Of
the self within would be changed from that Of
a being to that OF function. This possibility.
seems to justify the experimental psychologists
in magnifying the study Of divided conscious
ing this divided consciousness as necessarily alb
normal An engineer can turn two tiny thumb
screws or bolts at once. keeping both hands
busy and reversing the motion Of either hand
at will. But the ordinary man let's one hand
wait on the other In spite Of himself. The in
ference Is that the engineer can think clear to
his fnger-ends along lines Of activity which
have become habitual with him. II used to be
said that In such case habit replaced thought.
but this is known now not to be true. For con-
sciousness detects Instantly the slightest fail
ure in these hab!tual movements as II IT were
really in the hands as much as in the brain Of
the trained workman. At the other extreme
may be found a person whose movements are so
weakly correlated that consciousness while
attending to the movements OF one hand may
actually be convinced by suggestion that the
other hand belongs to somebody else may be
leo 10 give thiS ne" peisoha"e' q "oi'o oiu w
confound its vagaries with true perceptions OF
reality Between these extremes there Is every
degree Of variation, so that a normal conscious
ness becomes Of the most abnormal facts
In the universe.
But, unQuestionably. a perfect human being
would be one In whom consciousness was every
where active In due degree. though even in such
q creature consciousness would be no test Of
knowledge. You do not know because you are
conscious but you become conscious that
you know. This process may be long or short
II NAV be wholly within the view Of conscious
ness. What is more to the purpose. 1t may be
wholly unconscious up to the moment when 1t