Introduction to philosophy

The generous reception which colleges and universities have accorded to the first edition of this Introduction encourages now the publication of a fully revised edition. The intimate relation between philosophy and science is more and more emphasized as the years go by, and certain branches of science are changing so rapidly that the new trends must at least be mentioned, even in an elementary book such as this. In the science of physics, where the development has been most rapid ? amounting almost to a revolution ? it is interesting and heartening to notice that there is a tendency among the physicists to become philosophers, and frankly to acknowledge the philosophical character of some of their writings; while students of philosophy await more and more eagerly the new discoveries in science. For instance, in the case of the Principle of Indeterminacy, some physicists admit that its interpretation must depend upon one's philosophy; and some students of philosophy admit that certain philosophical problems ? the freedom of the will, for instance ? must await further research in the new physics. From which we may cherish the hope that the last traces of dogmatism are disappearing from philosophy ? and the last traces of arrogance from science. In philosophy, the theory of creative evolution ? and of emergence as applied to life and mind ? has without doubt become more widely accepted in the new years; while the view that the emergents may be values, or even ideal values ? speculative, to be sure ? has certainly met with no refutation. In this revision of the Introduction, the number of chapters has been increased from twenty-three to twenty-nine, the increase being due partly to new material and partly to a new arrangement. All the chapters save one have been revised or rewritten ? and some new ones added.