Education and the Philosophical Ideal by Horatio W. Dresser - Read the Complete Text for free at NewThoughtLibrary.com

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Horatio W. Dresser's

Education and the Philosophical Ideal

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Preface - Introduction - The New Point of View - Educational Ideals - Equanimity - The Subconscious Mind - The Spiritual Ideal in Childhood - An Experiment in Education - The Expression of the Spirit - An Ideal Summer Conference - The Ministry of the Spirit - The Mystery of Pain and Evil - The Philosophical Ideal - The Criteria of Truth - Organic Perfection - Immortality - Index - p. 247

seemed to be an insuperable difficulty proves to be of positive value when seen in its true light.

Taking a glance over the whole field, we may sum up the criteria of truth as follows: Philosophic truth in its ultimate sense is self-consistent, but this self-consistency often lies far below the surface which it apparently contradicts. It meets the reasonable, mutually supplementary demands of realism and idealism, the head and the heart, intellect and intuition, and is at once valuable for its own sake and because of its utility. Reason is its most useful criterion, yet experience is its most important corrective. It must never overlook the most distinctive revelations of individuality, yet must be equally faithful to the universal. It is an organic totality to which all phases of thought and life contribute their share; in its pursuit every man must give play to the highest side of his nature. It is progressive, and can only be progressively revealed. It is eternal and may, happily, for ever be sought without permitting itself to be fully grasped.

While we are engaged in the long process of developing a universal system, there is one criterion which is always to be kept closely in sight: philosophy ought always to benefit conduct. Reality is what we feel, not merely what we think about. "If we were purely thinking beings," says F. C. S. Schiller, "[agnosticism] would obviously be the right attitude toward matters unknown. But as we have also to act, and as action requires practical certainty . . . no agnostic can live for five minutes without

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