xpected to say what the subject-matter of that study is. Botany is
the knowledge of plants, astronomy of the heavenly bodies, geology of
the rocks of the earth's crust. What, then, is the special sphere of
philosophy? What is philosophy about? Now it is not as easy to give a
concise definition of philosophy, as it is of the other sciences. In
the first place, the content of philosophy has differed considerably
in different periods of history. In general the tendency has been to
narrow down the scope of the subject as knowledge advanced, to exclude
from philosophy what was formerly included in it. Thus in the time of
Plato, physics and astronomy were included as parts of philosophy,
whereas now they constitute separate sciences. This, however, is not
an insurmountable difficulty. What chiefly militates against the
effort to frame a definition is that the precise content of philosophy
is differently viewed by different schools of thought. Thus a
definition of {2} philosophy which a follower of Herbert Spencer might
frame would be unacceptable to an Hegelian, and the Hegelian
definition would be rejected by the Spencerian. If we were to include
in our definition some such phrase as "the knowledge of the Absolute,"
while this might suit some philosophers, others would deny that there
is any Absolute at all. Another school would say that there may be an
Absolute, but that it is unknowable, so that philosophy cannot be the
knowledge of it. Yet another school would tell us that, whether there
is or is not an Absolute, whether it is or is not knowable, the
knowledge of it is in any case useless, and ought not to be sought.
Hence no definition of philosophy can be appreciated without some
knowledge of the special tenets of the various schools. In a word, the
proper place to give a definition is not at the beginning of the study
of philosophy, but at the end of it. Then, with all views before us,
we might be able to decide the question.

I shall make no attempt, therefore, to place before you a precise
definition. But perhaps the same purpose will be served, if I pick out
some of the leading traits of philosophy, which serve to distinguish
it from other branches of knowledge, and illustrate them by
enumerating--but without any attempt at completeness--some of the
chief problems which philosophers have usually attempted to solve. And
firstly, philosophy is distinguished from other branches of knowledge
by the fact that, whereas th