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22 chapters
AUTHOR'S PREFACE.
AUTHOR'S PREFACE.
For some time past we have been asked, on various sides, to collect in a body of doctrine the theories scattered in our different works, and to sum up, in just proportions, what men are pleased to call our philosophy. This résumé was wholly made. We had only to take again the lectures already quite old, but little known, because they belonged to a time when the courses of the Faculté des Lettres had scarcely any influence beyond the Quartier Latin, and, also, because they could be found only in
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TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE.
TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE.
The nature of this publication is sufficiently explained in the preface of M. Cousin. We have attempted to render his book, without comment, faithfully into English. Not only have we endeavored to give his thought without increase or diminution, but have also tried to preserve the main characteristics of his style. On the one hand, we have carefully shunned idioms peculiar to the French; on the other, when permitted by the laws of structure common to both languages, we have followed the general
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ADVERTISEMENT.
ADVERTISEMENT.
The Publishers have to express their thanks to M. Cousin for his cordial concurrence, and especially for his kindness in transmitting the sheets of the French original as printed, so that this translation appears almost simultaneously with it. Edinburgh, 38 George-street, Dec. 26, 1853....
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PHILOSOPHY IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.
PHILOSOPHY IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.
Spirit and general principles of the Course.—Object of the Lectures of this year:—application of the principles of which an exposition is given, to the three Problems of the True, the Beautiful, and the Good. It seems natural that a century, in its beginning, should borrow its philosophy from the century that preceded it. But, as free and intelligent beings, we are not born merely to continue our predecessors, but to increase their work, and also to do our own. We cannot accept from them an inhe
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LECTURE I. THE EXISTENCE OF UNIVERSAL AND NECESSARY PRINCIPLES.
LECTURE I. THE EXISTENCE OF UNIVERSAL AND NECESSARY PRINCIPLES.
Two great wants, that of absolute truths, and that of absolute truths that may not be chimeras. To satisfy these two wants is the problem of the philosophy of our time.—Universal and necessary principles.—Examples of different kinds of such principles.—Distinction between universal and necessary principles and general principles.—Experience alone is incapable of explaining universal and necessary principles, and also incapable of dispensing with them in order to arrive at the knowledge of the se
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LECTURE II. ORIGIN OF UNIVERSAL AND NECESSARY PRINCIPLES.
LECTURE II. ORIGIN OF UNIVERSAL AND NECESSARY PRINCIPLES.
Résumé of the preceding Lecture. A new question, that of the origin of universal and necessary principles.—Danger of this question, and its necessity.—Different forms under which truth presents itself to us, and the successive order of these forms: theory of spontaneity and reflection.—The primitive form of principles; abstraction that disengages them from that form, and gives them their actual form.—Examination and refutation of the theory that attempts to explain the origin of principles by an
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LECTURE III. ON THE VALUE OF UNIVERSAL AND NECESSARY PRINCIPLES.
LECTURE III. ON THE VALUE OF UNIVERSAL AND NECESSARY PRINCIPLES.
Examination and refutation of Kant's skepticism.—Recurrence to the theory of spontaneity and reflection. After having recognized the existence of universal and necessary principles, their actual characters, and their primitive characters, we have to examine their value, and the legitimacy of the conclusions which may be drawn from them,—we pass from psychology to logic. We have defended against Locke and his school the necessity and universality of certain principles. We now come to Kant, who re
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LECTURE IV. GOD THE PRINCIPLE OF PRINCIPLES.
LECTURE IV. GOD THE PRINCIPLE OF PRINCIPLES.
Object of the lecture: What is the ultimate basis of absolute truth?—Four hypotheses: Absolute truth may reside either in us, in particular beings and the world, in itself, or in God. 1. We perceive absolute truth, we do not constitute it. 2. Particular beings participate in absolute truth, but do not explain it; refutation of Aristotle. 3. Truth does not exist in itself; defence of Plato. 4. Truth resides in God.—Plato; St. Augustine; Descartes; Malebranche; Fénelon; Bossuet; Leibnitz.—Truth th
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LECTURE V. ON MYSTICISM.
LECTURE V. ON MYSTICISM.
Distinction between the philosophy that we profess and mysticism. Mysticism consists in pretending to know God without an intermediary.—Two sorts of mysticism.—Mysticism of sentiment. Theory of sensibility. Two sensibilities—the one external, the other internal, and corresponding to the soul as external sensibility corresponds to nature.—Legitimate part of sentiment.—Its aberrations.—Philosophical mysticism. Plotinus: God, or absolute unity, perceived without an intermediary by pure thought.—Ecs
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LECTURE VI. THE BEAUTIFUL IN THE MIND OF MAN.
LECTURE VI. THE BEAUTIFUL IN THE MIND OF MAN.
The method that must govern researches on the beautiful and art is, as in the investigation of the true, to commence by psychology.—Faculties of the soul that unite in the perception of the beautiful.—The senses give only the agreeable; reason alone gives the idea of the beautiful.—Refutation of empiricism, that confounds the agreeable and the beautiful.—Pre-eminence of reason.—Sentiment of the beautiful; different from sensation and desire.—Distinction between the sentiment of the beautiful and
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LECTURE VII. THE BEAUTIFUL IN OBJECTS.
LECTURE VII. THE BEAUTIFUL IN OBJECTS.
Refutation of different theories on the nature of the beautiful: the beautiful cannot be reduced to what is useful.—Nor to convenience.—Nor to proportion.—Essential characters of the beautiful.—Different kinds of beauties. The beautiful and the sublime. Physical beauty. Intellectual beauty. Moral beauty.—Ideal beauty: it is especially moral beauty.—God, the first principle of the beautiful.—Theory of Plato. We have made known the beautiful in ourselves, in the faculties that perceive it and appr
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LECTURE VIII ON ART.
LECTURE VIII ON ART.
Genius:—its attribute is creative power.—Refutation of the opinion that art is the imitation of nature.—M. Emeric David, and M. Quatremère de Quincy.—Refutation of the theory of illusion. That dramatic art has not solely for its end to excite the passions of terror and pity.—Nor even directly the moral and religious sentiment.—The proper and direct object of art is to produce the idea and the sentiment of the beautiful; this idea and this sentiment purify and elevate the soul by the affinity bet
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LECTURE IX. THE DIFFERENT ARTS.
LECTURE IX. THE DIFFERENT ARTS.
Expression is the general law of art.—Division of arts.—Distinction between liberal arts and trades.—Eloquence itself, philosophy, and history do not make a part of the fine arts.—That the arts gain nothing by encroaching upon each other, and usurping each other's means and processes.—Classification of the arts:—its true principle is expression.—Comparison of arts with each other.—Poetry the first of arts. A résumé of the last lecture would be a definition of art, of its end and law. Art is the
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LECTURE X. FRENCH ART IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY.
LECTURE X. FRENCH ART IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY.
Expression not only serves to appreciate the different arts, but the different schools of art. Example:—French art in the seventeenth century. French poetry:—Corneille. Racine. Molière. La Fontaine. Boileau.—Painting:—Lesueur. Poussin. Le Lorrain. Champagne.—Engraving.—Sculpture:—Sarrazin. The Anguiers. Girardon. Pujet.—Le Nôtre.—Architecture. We believe that we have firmly established that all kinds of beauty, although most dissimilar in appearance, may, when subjected to a serious examination,
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LECTURE XI. PRIMARY NOTIONS OF COMMON SENSE.
LECTURE XI. PRIMARY NOTIONS OF COMMON SENSE.
Extent of the question of the good.—Position of the question according to the psychological method: What is, in regard to the good, the natural belief of mankind?—The natural beliefs of humanity must not be sought in a pretended state of nature.—Study of the sentiments and ideas of men in languages, in life, in consciousness.—Disinterestedness and devotedness.—Liberty.—Esteem and contempt.—Respect.—Admiration and indignation.—Dignity.—Empire of opinion.—Ridicule.—Regret and repentance.—Natural a
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LECTURE XII. THE ETHICS OF INTEREST.[190]
LECTURE XII. THE ETHICS OF INTEREST.[190]
Exposition of the doctrine of interest.—What there is of truth in this doctrine.—Its defects. 1st. It confounds liberty and desire, and thereby abolishes liberty. 2d. It cannot explain the fundamental distinction between good and evil. 3d. It cannot explain obligation and duty. 4th. Nor right. 5th. Nor the principle of merit and demerit.—Consequences of the ethics of interest: that they cannot admit a providence, and lead to despotism. The philosophy of sensation, setting out from a single fact,
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LECTURE XIII. OTHER DEFECTIVE PRINCIPLES.
LECTURE XIII. OTHER DEFECTIVE PRINCIPLES.
The ethics of sentiment.—The ethics founded on the principle of the interest of the greatest number.—The ethics founded on the will of God alone.—The ethics founded on the punishments and rewards of another life. Against the ethics of interest, all generous souls take refuge in the ethics of sentiment. The following are some of the facts on which these ethics are supported, and by which they seem to be authorized. When we have done a good action, is it not certain that we experience a pleasure o
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LECTURE XIV. TRUE PRINCIPLES OF ETHICS.
LECTURE XIV. TRUE PRINCIPLES OF ETHICS.
Description of the different facts that compose the moral phenomena.—Analysis of each of these facts:—1st, Judgment and idea of the good. That this judgment is absolute. Relation between the true and the good.—2d, Obligation. Refutation of the doctrine of Kant that draws the idea of the good from obligation instead of founding obligation on the idea of the good.—3d, Liberty, and the moral notions attached to the notion of liberty.—4th, Principle of merit and demerit. Punishments and rewards.—5th
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LECTURE XV. PRIVATE AND PUBLIC ETHICS.
LECTURE XV. PRIVATE AND PUBLIC ETHICS.
Application of the preceding principles.—General formula of interest,—to obey reason.—Rule for judging whether an action is or is not conformed to reason,—to elevate the motive of this action into a maxim of universal legislation.—Individual ethics. It is not towards the individual, but towards the moral person that one is obligated. Principle of all individual duties,—to respect and develop the moral person.—Social ethics,—duties of justice and duties of charity.—Civil society. Government. Law.
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LECTURE XVI. GOD THE PRINCIPLE OF THE IDEA OF THE GOOD.
LECTURE XVI. GOD THE PRINCIPLE OF THE IDEA OF THE GOOD.
Principle on which true theodicea rests. God the last foundation of moral truth, of the good, and of the moral person.—Liberty of God.—The divine justice and charity.—God the sanction of the moral law. Immortality of the soul; argument from merit and demerit; argument from the simplicity of the soul; argument from final causes.—Religious sentiment.—Adoration.—Worship.—Moral beauty of Christianity. The moral order has been confirmed,—we are in possession of moral truth, of the idea of the good, a
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LECTURE XVII. RÉSUMÉ OF DOCTRINE.
LECTURE XVII. RÉSUMÉ OF DOCTRINE.
Review of the doctrine contained in these lectures, and the three orders of facts on which this doctrine rests, with the relation of each one of them to the modern school that has recognized and developed it, but almost always exaggerated it.—Experience and empiricism.—Reason and idealism.—Sentiment and mysticism.—Theodicea. Defects of different known systems.—The process that conducts to true theodicea, and the character of certainty and reality that this process gives to it. Having arrived at
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APPENDIX.
APPENDIX.
Page 188 : "What a destiny was that of Eustache Lesueur!" It is perceived that we have followed, as regards his death, the tradition, or rather the prejudices current at the present day, and which have misled the best judges before us. But there have appeared in a recent and interesting publication, called Archives de l'Art français , vol. iii., certain incontrovertible documents, never before published, on the life and works of the painter of St. Bruno, which compel us to withdraw certain asser
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