Lanterna Rally

Author: Mrs. P. F. Fitzgerald

Publisher: Forgotten Books

Published: 2015-06-25

Total Pages: 431

ISBN-13: 9781330390344

Excerpt from A Treatise on the Principle of Sufficient Reason: A Psychological Theory of Reasoning, Showing the Relativity of Thought to the Thinker, of Recognition to Cognition, the Identity of Presentation and Representation, of Perception The present volume is perhaps rather an elaboration of the theory of the Principles of thought (which I have already submitted to the reflective public under the title of "An Essay on the Philosophy of Self-Consciousness") than a sequel to my first volume, except in the sense that the present work treats rather of the synthesis of the spontaneous intuitions under the reflective principle of sufficient reason, than of each of the three principles of causality taken separately. The spiritual nature of man is seen in his capacity of reflecting on the passing phenomena of his own being, in his power of classifying them as sensational, emotional, intellectual, and moral, and in his faculty of generalization, under the categories of causality and of postulation or assumption, according to these, i.e. of inductive and deductive inference, according to the logical principle of non-contradiction of Being, or of Essential experience, which alone constitutes a sufficient reason for belief. It appears to me that the oriental statement that "a man must be born again to the spirit" (the Brahmins, Zoroastrians, Israelites, and others alike held it) is but a figurative mode of expressing the truth that man must rise above his animal nature through the exercise of his power of reflective introspection, which forms the basis of the religious life, with its faith and hope in a Future state of blessedness arising out of his necessary or logical assumption of a Supreme or Absolute Creative Being. It is a subject of great regret to me, in offering this fruit of my own life-long experience and reflection to the public, that my want of literary practice, bad memory, and failing sight (which have again necessitated my turning to the able friend who assisted me in my first work) disable me from doing more justice to my theory of reflective or sufficient reason. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.