Page:Philosophical Review Volume 1.djvu/21

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No. i.]
PREFATORY NOTE.
5

interest already mentioned, are the establishment of new philosophical professorships and schools with a corresponding increase of material equipment, the continuous enlargement of the body of advanced students who avail themselves of these privileges, the progress in the number of philosophical writers, and in the quality of their productions, and the multiplication of special investigations and publications in Psychology and other branches of Philosophy. If it were safe to prophesy from the "seeds and weak beginnings" of things "as yet not come to life," one might venture to forecast from this vigorous philosophical activity, taken in conjunction with the parity of conditions, a harvest of thought like that gathered in Greece in the fourth century before Christ, or that which came to maturity in Germany scarce three generations ago. But in one respect there will be an important difference. The new birth of Philosophy amongst ourselves will be the final outcome of devotion to special philosophical interests and of cultivation of special philosophical domains. Our classic systems, if ever we form them, will rest on a much wider induction of facts than any preceding philosophical systems. It is fortunate, indeed, that the spirit of specialization has taken possession of Philosophy, and we may congratulate ourselves on the special investigations and special publications conducted by Americans. But division of labor is profitless without co-operation. There exists, however, no journal which appeals to an audience composed of all those engaged or interested in Philosophy. With the ever-increasing specialization of studies, the need of such a common medium becomes every day more evident.

To meet this need The Philosophical Review has been established. It will aim at the organization, the diffusion, and