PREFACE The author i s deeply conscious of the incompleteness of this study in view of the vast range of the subj ect . But if it may serve to stimulate a few minds to intelligent consideration o f a large and important problem in our present - day thought it will fi its have ful lled purpose . My grateful acknowledgments are due to Professor John o vivifi Dewey , whose vig rous thought has ed and reshaped my i f f I ac ent re philo sophy o nature and o man . Likewise gladly knowledge my indebtedness to Professor John Angus Mac V'annel , whose instruction first stimulated my interest in the liv ing problems of philosophy ; and to Professo r Paul Monroe whose ideals of careful scholarship I have attempted to follow in the f preparation o this study . W . G . o C lumbia University , I st 1 1 0 April , 9 . ¢ ’n \ TABLE OF CONTENTS INTR O DUCTIO N hr d m u i n h u h - I . T ee o inant attit des t o g t life 1 u a u m . S pern tmralis 2 um . H anis u m 3. Nat ralis - The emergen c e o f these world attitudes i n Greek philoso phy . Purpose of the following study CHA PTE R I NATURALI SM AND HUMA N ISM mTHE RENAISSANCE ma mo a h f h c I . The u nis t e earl y Renaiss n e 1 c c ml c ec ul . Influen e upon os o ogi al sp ation 2 . Man as a The first beginnings of Nat uralism ’ 1 m . Bruno s ato ic theory 2 r m . Ast ology and agic of n ew 3. Vives and Telesio as heralds a order m of l md ue Co r K The develop ent natura is to pe nicus , epler u n and Galileo . The revol tionizi g of sc ienc e by the d i s co very of a reliable method Evidences of naturalismin social theories Montaigne as an epitome o f hi s age The errors of both naturalismand humanism CHA PTER II T H E DEVE LO PM E N T o r NATU RAL I SM mTH E S EVENTEENTH A N D EI G HTEE N TH CENTU R I ES Tendenc y toward systematization Divergence of science and philosoph y Bacon as the representative of the n ew sc ientific spirit mf c The thought syste o Descartes . Its influen e The world view of Leibniz English philosophy as represented by Hobbes and Lo cke Its psychologi cal and moral trend r c . Psychologi al aspect Condillac and Helvetius 2 u mof L Mett rie . The nat ralis a vi Contents h F h h e m — Conti n ued T e renc Enlig t n ent . of 3. Voltaire as the leader French thought c . 4 . Diderot and the En yclopedists ’ mc c w - w 5 . The e hani al orld vie of D Ho lbach mo 6 . h oc um T e s ial h anis f Rousseau . to 7 . The relation of nature human perfec tibility CHAPTER III T H E HUMANISM o r T HE GERMAN ENLI G HTENMEN T l c Its ear y rationalistic harac ter . The beginnings of Romantic ism I The transformation of individualismin to a broad humani tarian i sm 2 L s Sc h ll . es ing , Herder , Goethe and i er The influenc e of Hume ’ ’ K l o f o m m s l o u ant s so ution the pr ble of an re ati n to nat re . ' Fichte s subjective nature- phil osophy ’ Sc hellin g s contribution to the problem The humanistic - naturalismo f Hegel ’ Sc hopenhauer s denial of the harmony between nature and huma n life The contrast between the nat ure - philosophies of Franc e and CHAPTER IV TH E CO N F LICT o r NATURAL I SM AND HUMANISM I N T II E NI N ETEENTH CENTURY The po sitivismof Auguste Co mte The soc ial and ethical charac ter o f English philoso phy Benthamand James Mill The nat ure- philosophy o f John Stuart Mill The revol utionizing work o f Darwin ’ - Spencer s humanistic naturalism. The modern idealistic school Its strong humanistic bent . The contrast between pres en t -da y naturalismand idealism Pragmatismas a positive means of reconciliation CHAPTER V HUMAN I SM AND NATU RALI SM I N EDUCATI O N m mof l s c I . The hu anis the ear y Renais an e Petrarch a n d the later humanists The educatio nal philosophy of humanism. t I u u . Pa l s Ve rge ri us ’ 2 Casti l io n e o s . g s Doctri n e f Courte y Con ten ts — The ed u cational philosophy of humanismC on ti n ue d p A G E 1 8 3. Vittorino da Feltre . 3 V The spread o f humanismto the No rth 1 38 1 l m in F c 1 8 . Its deve op ent ran e 3 V V 2 n . 1 . H umanismi Germany 39 Erasmus the master humanist 1 40 l c 1 1 3. The English Renaissan e 4 1 4 2 Narrow humanistic education 1 43 ' Rabelais naturalistic humanism 1 44 Educational philosophy of Montaigne 1 4 5 Naturalismi n Education 1 48 1 1 . 48 2 C m u 1 . o eni s 49 ea 3. The R lschulen of Germany S i n m c 1 r . c F 4 ience rench and A erican s hools s ~ " u m m mi n VIII . The conflict of nat ralis and hu anis English education 1 5 2 1 c 1 . Spen er and Huxley 53 ’ 2 w m c . Matthe Arnold s plea for hu anisti studies 1 5 7 w 3. Sidg ick and Mill o The present opposition f humanistic and scientific studies . CHA PTER VI m I . The pragmatic theory of nature and of an i n their mutual relations The pragmatic theo ry of knowledge Co ntrasts presented by pragmatismto 1 um m. H anis 2 m . l Natura is . Application o f the pragmatic philosophy to education 1 c o f uc . Its general con eption ed ation as an expe rience 2 o o o f o w of m . Its rec nc iliati n the pposing vie s h u ani sts and sc ientists O BIBLI GRAPHY . THE CONFLICT OF NATURALISM AND HUMANISM INTRODUCT ION When the unceasing flux of natural forces has generated re fl i e — of the ect v beings , nature becomes self evaluating and critical T meanings she has heretofore blindly evolved . his reflective of power , focussed in man , confers upon him the fice of mam taining and multiplying the meanings which nature suggests , and f s so of o organizing the e , far as may be , into an ordered realm To - values . this colossal task , nothing less than the construction of of a significant world , responsive to the needs and purposes its u — b ilders , mankind have bent their energies with increasing - T self consciousness . hat the work should have pushed forward steadily and in one direction could hardly have been anticipated . A multiplicity o f obscure natural causes have operated from the ’ beginning to determine each man s attitude toward the world of of i s nature , institutions and of ideals into which he gradually initiated from his birth . Regarded as the conflict of reason with lbrute e mere exist nce and change , human history reveals periods of intense activity and progress in the transmutation of physical o f energies into spiritual values , followed by epochs comparative intellectual torpor . But through the myriad chang es and variations in the li fe of thought , three dominating attitudes may be traced with some i s The defln tenes . first , which may be called the supernatural . attempts to explain all material and spiritual phenomena by ref e e to to er nc tremendous unseen personalities , or a great First Cause , distinct from man and nature , and more or less directly f or T - responsible their countless manifestations . his world view , a rooted deep in hum n nature , has its ardent adherents in every of H period . From the age the omeric myths to the times o f o f religious upheaval that brought forth the stern theology Calvin , the upholders o f supernaturalism have outpoured their faiths and ’ T i - ea . ts f rs in literature his attitude , having well spring in man s The Confli ct of Naturali smand H umani sm ' o wn attempt to read back his emotions , first into natural obj ects and then into unseen agencies , shows little evidence of relaxing its grasp on his intellectual and emotional life . Not antagonistic to the supernatural , yet by no means always in accord with it , is the humanistic attitude , which seeks the key H to the riddle of the universe in the existence of man . uman e life with its needs , its ideals , its possibiliti s of achievement , is the rudder by which the cosmic ship is steered , and the better ment of this life is the supreme goal to which the whole crea ” T tion moves . hus the significance and worth of the universe e . rest in their relation to the life of man , the touchstone of all valu Such conceptions of the meaning o f the world incline not rarely toward the supernatural attitude .