19th Century British Philosophy S.
1 total work
Questions of epistemology, Veitch explains, naturally precede questions of ontology - one must settle one's views about knowledge before advancing any claims about the nature of reality. Hence Volume one, under the general title of "Knowing and Being" contains Veitch's lectures on such topics as nature and consciousness, relations, transcendental deductions, and perception, as well as on more obviously metaphysical topics such as the nature of reality, infinite self-consciousness, and religion. Volume Two contains three essays. In "Dualism and Monism" Veitch argues (against the absolute idealists) that relations presuppose there is a distinct existence of the relata, ie that mind and matter, if they are to enter into a cognitive relationship, must have distinct existence. The second paper is a contribution to the history of Greek philosophy, intended to illustrate the general theme of "progress by antagonism". The third paper is a sympathetic account of "The Theism of Wordsworth" by a philosopher who was also a poet and a lover of poetry.