The Open Court. the Science of Thought
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— — — — — The Operi Sourt A 'WKEKLY JOURNAL Devoted to the Work of Conciliating Religion AA^ith Science. Entered at the Chicago Post-Office as Second-Class Matter. -OFFICE, 169—175 LA SALLE STREET.- No. 113. Vol. m.— J Two Dollars per Year. 35 CHICAGO, OCTOBER 24, iJ Single Copies, I 10 cts CONTENTS THE RELIGION OF GEORGE W^ASHINGTON. MoN- PROBLEMS." The Sin Against The Holy Ghost. cuRE D. Conway 1895 Editor 1904 BEETHOVENIANA. Philipp Spitta 1897 CORRESPONDENCE. MEMORY AND ORGANIZED SUBSTANCE. Editor 1900 The Cutworm and the Weevil. Wheelbarrow 1995 AUGUSTE COMTE AND PHILOSOPHY IN AMERICA. BOOK NOTICES. A Letter to a Youth Proposing to Study Philosophy in Mind. Revue Philosophique. " Manuals of Faith and " Germany. T. B. Wakeman, Esq 1902 Duty : Salvation. Pamphlets, etc. IN REPLY TO CRITICISMS OF "FUNDAMENTAL NOTES. JUST PUBLISHED! ARTICLES OF NOTE Three Introductory Lectures Science, Literature, Criticism, and Philosophy Fundamental Problems. previously appearing in The Open Court. The Science Of Thought. (First published in The Open Court of June, July, CARLYLE'S RELIGION. Personal Reminiscen- and August, 1887.) The Method of Philosophy as a ces. By Moncure D. Conway loc BY F. MULLER. DREAMS AND VISIONS. Feli.v L. Oswald, MAX Systematic Arrangement of M. D 15c I. The Simplicity of Language; RICHARD WAGNER. Dr. Paul Carus loc a. The Identity of Language and Thought ; and Knowledge. MAN AS A MICROCOSM. From the German. 3. The Simplicity of Thought. Carus Sterne 15c By Dr. PAUL CARUS. With an Appendix which contains a Correspond- A DREAM OF ALCHEMY.—The Brown-Sequard Price, One Dollar. Elixir ot Life. George M. Gould, M. D loc ence on "Thought without Words," between F. Max MuIIer and Francis Galton, the Duke of Ar- ibersof The Open Cour: 75 Cents. MEMORY AS A GENERAL FUNCTION OF ORGANIZED MATTER. By Prof. Ewald He- gyll, George J. Romanes and Others. ring, of the University of Prague 25c //o Agnosiicistn but Positive Science, Neatly Bo-und in Cloth. Price, 73 Cis. No Mysticisyn but Clear Thought, PERSONA. A Study in Philology. By Prof. Ma.\ MiiLLER, of Oxford, England 251, Neither Supernaturalitm nor Materialism, PRESS NOTICES. But a Unitary Conception of the World, THE ORIGIN OF REASON. Ludwig Noire.ioc "No other writer concentrates so much in such No Dogtna but Religion, WHAT MIND IS. Prof. E. D. Cope loc No Creed but Faith. simple language." Baltimore Sunday News. TRANSFORMATION AND ADAPTATION IN — " SCIENTIFIC THOUGHT. Prof. Ernst Mach, Mas Miiller's supremely simple theory is hotly University PRESS NOTICES. of the of Prague 15c disputed ; but it is easily vindicated, provided one " A book which must be read from the first to the RISE OF THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL. An histor- is not a dualist on principle." — Boston Beacon. ical Sketch. Dr. Carl Heinrich Cornill, of last line."—Pericles, in Independent Pulpit. " The lecturer states his position with great clear- Konigsberg 25c " Dem Verfasser stehen neben seiner gnindlichen THE ELECTRICAL EXPERIMENTS OF PROF. ness and cogency and comes out of the correspond- philosophischen Bildung tuchtige HERTZ 15c ence with his critics with credit and with his rea- schaftliche Kentnisse zur Seite." Natu THE PSYCHIC LIFE OF MICRO-ORGAr ISMS.. soning unshaken." —Chicago Times. schaftliche Wochenschrift, Berlin. An answer to the criticism in M. Binefs nork of "They are the ripe expression of a life long la- that name. G. Romanes, LL. D,, F. R. S...10C wissenschaftlichem, weitden- J. bor in the study of the science of language: THE DOUBLE PERSONALITY AND DOUBLE t diktirtes V^erV."—Deutsche Zeitung. CONSCIOUSNESS OF HYSTERICAL INDI- To the student of the science of language the lec- " We have studied these essays with much in- VIDUALS. Original Unpublished Psychological tures ope up ! ugge and fascinating terest, and :an recommend them to minds not Studies. Alfred Binet, of Paris 25c prospect i n the encouragement wh ch they give for easily da ed from the analysis of difi&cult prob- THE STUDY OF SANSKRIT. Prof. H, Olden- its furthei perfection." Scotstnan Edinburgh. berg, of Berlin 30c nental and healthy "They ; ire studded with lumino s suggestions of THE PSYCHOLOGY OF ATTENTION. Author- tone prevails throughout." Inquirer, London. value to s indents of language, logi ;, and the allied ized Translation. Th. Ribot. (Now being con- tinued.) sciences.' ' Art Amateur. OPEN COURT PUBLISHING CO. 169—175 La Salle Street, CHICAGO, ILL., For copies of The Open Court, at the prices THE OPEN COURT PUB. CO., P. O. Drawer F. above stated, apply at our office. 169—175 La Salle St., CHICAGO, ILL. THE OPEN COURT. Religion is man's aspiration to be in harmony with the All. THE OPEN COURT. [Religion has been defined differently in the columns of The Open Couvt, but all definitions that have been presented are in THE OPEN COURT PUBLISHING CO. strict agreement. Mr. Hegeler in No. 25, defines Religion as "man's union with the All " (taking the definition from the Lu- theran Catechism " Religion ist der Bund des Measchen rait Gott EDWARD C. HEGELER, President. DR. PAUL CARUS, Editor. durchGott, " and replacing the Word God by the more compre- hensive word The All). The editor has defined Religion as TERMS THROUGHOUT THE POSTAL UNION : " man's consciousness of his relation to the All" (No. 24); as "Das $1.00 FOR SIX MONTHS. $J.oo PER YEAR. AUgefUhl im Einzelnen," the All-feeling in the individual (see $0.50 FOR THREE MONTHS. SINGLE COPIES, 10 CTS. foot-note page 965); as " man's conception of the world that serves him as a guiding-star through life" (page 1180).] All communications should be addressed to THE o^iEisT cotj:ej.t, Morals are man's conduct in so far as it is in unison with the All. (Nixon Building. 175 La Salle Street,) [The basis of morality is religion. A moral educator or P. O. DRAWER F. CHICAGO, ILL. preacher may justly be asked, "On what authority dost thou jus- tify thy precepts?" And he will tell us that his authority is not Open is not exclusive or sectarian, but liberal. It The Court personal; he speaks in the name of universal order. Accordingly desires to further the efforts of all scientific and progressive people his authority is that of religion. Ifi t were not so, all his good in the Churches and out of them, tovifards greater knowledge of the precepts would have no foundation; they would hover in the air like beautiful dreams that have no reality.] world in which we live, and the moral and practical duties it re- quires. To this end it asks for circulation in the Churches, and Ethics is the Science of Morals; it teaches man why he must, also in all Ethical, Secular, and other Liberal societies. It hopes and how he can, regulate his conduct so as to be in unison for a well-wishing co-operation in what all must admit to be true, with the All. good, and practical in the conduct of life, individual and collective. Natural history and the history of mankind prove that here on earth a constant progress takes place developing ever higher forms of existence. DEFINITIONS EXPLANATORY OF THE POSITION OF " THE OPEN COURT." Morally good are those acts which are in harmony with the All, The Data of experience are perceptions. i. e., those which enhance progress, and morally bad axe. those All, i. e. , Reality is the sum total of all that is. which are not in harmony with the those which retard or prevent progress. Truth is the conformity of cognition to reality. [Truth being a relation between subject and object appears to [Religion (man's aspiration to be in unison with the All) has naturally world, its be relative in its nature. Absolute truth is a self-contradiction; it produced many superstitious notions in the of would imply cognition without a cognizing subject. origin, and of its purpose. Similarly, science (man's search for At the same time it is obvious that absolute existence (in fact truth) has produced many errors or false notions of reality. But everything absolute) is impossible. Reality is properly called Wirk- all the superstitions of religion do not prove that religion as such liehkeit in German, derived from wirken, to take effect. Reality is is an illusion, and all the errors of science are no evidence that sci- not immovable and unchangeable absoluteness, but the effective- ence as such is a sham. ness of things in their relations. Reality therefore implies not It is obvious that religion and science, as here defined, are not only existence, but the manifestation of existence also. Existence contradictory to, but complementary of, each other. If religion and science do not agree, it is a certain sign that our conception of and its manifestation are not two different things ; both are one. The idea of something absolutely Unknowable is therefore also either the one or the other is wrong. The history of the human mind has been one of constant conflict and reconciliation between untenable ; it would imply the existence of an object whose ex- ;'. religion and science. Their relation has repeatedly been disturbed istence is not manifested e. , existence without reality ; Sein and re-adjusted. ohne Wirklichkeit—which is a contradiction, an impossibility. ] The unitary conception of the world affords the only basis for SCIENCE is the search for truth. the union of Religion and Science, and opens a new vista of pro- The nature of science is the economy of thought. (Mack.) gress for both.] Economy of thought is possible through application of the laws of form to thought. RECENT CONTENTS OF "THE OPEN COURT." Knowledge is the possession of certain truths.