Böcker av Thomas Henry Huxley

Purchase one of 1st World Library's Classic Books and help support our free internet library of downloadable eBooks. 1st World Library-Literary Society is a non-profit educational organization. Visit us online at www.1stWorldLibrary.ORG - THE discourse on "Evolution and Ethics," reprinted in the first half of the present volume, was delivered before the University of Oxford, as the second of the annual lectures founded by Mr. Romanes: whose name I may not write without deploring the untimely death, in the flower of his age, of a friend endeared to me, as to so many others, by his kindly nature; and justly valued by all his colleagues for his powers of investigation and his zeal for the advancement of knowledge. I well remember, when Mr. Romanes' early work came into my hands, as one of the secretaries of the Royal Society, how much I rejoiced in the accession to the ranks of the little army of workers in science of a recruit so well qualified to take a high place among us. It was at my friend's urgent request that I agreed to undertake the lecture, should I be honoured with an official proposal to give it, though I confess not without misgivings, if only on account of the serious fatigue and hoarseness which public speaking has for some years caused me; while I knew that it would be my fate to follow the most accomplished and facile orator of our time, whose indomitable youth is in no matter more manifest than in his penetrating and musical voice. A certain saying about comparisons intruded itself somewhat importunately.

CONTENTSPart I.- Hume's LifeEarly Life: Literary and Political WritingsLater Years: The History of EnglandPart II.- Hume's PhilosophyThe Object and Scope of PhilosophyThe Contents of the MindOrigin of the ImpressionsThe Classification and the Nomenclature of Mental OperationsMental Phenomena of AnimalsLanguage: Propositions Concerning Necessary TruthsOrder of Nature: MiraclesTheism: Evolution of TheologyThe Soul: The Doctrine of ImmortalityVolition: Liberty and NecessityThe Principles of Morals

Huxley was one of the first adherents to Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection. "Man's Place in Nature" was directed against Richard Owen, who claimed that there were differences between human and ape brains. Huxley showed that the two were fundamentally similar in every anatomical detail, thus applying evolution to the human race.

Thomas Henry Huxley (1825-95) was an influential biologist and tireless campaigner for the improvement of science education. This nine-volume collection of essays, edited by him and published in 1893-4, illustrates the wide range of his intellectual interests. Volume 1 examines the development of scientific practice and knowledge.

What is philosophy about? According to the author of this work (published in the first series of 'English Men of Letters' in 1879) it is fundamentally the answer to the question: 'What can I know?' T. H. Huxley (1825-95), the distinguished English scientist and disciple of Darwin, succeeds in giving a clear and succinct account of the way in which Scottish philosopher David Hume (1711-56) answered this question. The book is divided into two parts: in the first, Huxley provides the reader with a sketch of Hume's life, but the main emphasis of the book is in Part 2, where by expounding Hume's views on the object of philosophy, consciousness, theology, language and free will, Huxley guides the reader towards an understanding of how Hume's philosophical principles can be regarded as a search for the ultimate element out of which all valid knowledge may be shown to emerge.

Arguing that the human psyche is at war with itself, that humans are alienated in the cosmos, and that moral societies are necessarily in conflict with the natural conditions of their existence, this title states that moral dictates is the key to future human happiness and success.