philosophy invariably act and react on one another. The scientific revolution was followed by an upheaval in philosophy. Everything went into the melting pot. There emerged a confused mass of opinion following upon the attempt to fit new facts to old systems, which finally settled down into two main tendencies of thought, the one clinging as far as possible to a modified Absolutism based on Kant and Hegel, the other launching out more boldly in an attempt to apply Evolution as a comprehensive metaphysical formula. The latter, though now generally discredited even by its posterity, was the forerunner of the modern evolutionary and pluralistic schools.
While much of the old remained in the new, there was, of necessity, a vagueness both in ideas and in method. Philosophy was cumbered with a mass of useless metaphysical cobwebs. Inevitably there arose an increasing demand for a general clearing up with a view to a fresh start. In this demand the new[1] scientific method finds its motive force, and history is repeating the story of Descartes over again.
Schools of philosophy may be classified according as they differ in method or in system. Whichever mode of classification is adopted, the various schools fall, broadly speaking, under two main headings. In method they are Empirical or Rationalist; in system, Pluralist or Singularist. Empirical method and pluralistic belief tend to go together, for if we appeal for the most part to the crude data of sense, we are confronted by a manifest plurality. On the other hand, the craving for unity has constantly caused men to mistrust the world of sense with its eternal diversity and flux, and led them to seek the characteristics of the totality of existence by pure thought alone. Hence the method which leads to the singularist or absolutist view of reality is essentially rationalistic.
We can best trace the path of progress if we observe the development and interaction of the two classical methods of attacking the problem. Most great advances in philosophy have consisted in a partial synthesis of Rationalism and Empiricism. Kant's work is a supreme example of such a synthesis. The
- ↑ 'New.' that is, in its particular mode of application of scientific principles to philosophy.
