Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-s2hrs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-05T04:29:24.575Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Chapter 40 - Preface

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 June 2022

Judith Norman
Affiliation:
Trinity University, Texas
Alistair Welchman
Affiliation:
University of Texas, San Antonio
Christopher Janaway
Affiliation:
University of Southampton
Get access

Summary

The supplements to this Fourth Book would be considerable indeed if I had not, on the occasion of the prize questions set by two Scandinavian Academies, already written detailed monographs on two of its most vital and principal topics, namely freedom of the will and the foundations of morality. These were published in 1841 under the title The Two Fundamental Problems of Ethics. It is therefore just as vitally necessary that my readers be familiar with this work as was the case with the supplement to the Second Book, which presupposed a familiarity with On Will in Nature. In general I require that anyone who wants to be acquainted with my philosophy must read every line I have written. I am not prolific, I do not strive to earn honoraria, nor am I in the business of churning out compendia. My goal is not to meet with ministerial approval – in short, I am not the sort of person whose pen is swayed by personal ambition: I strive only for truth, and I write as the ancients wrote, with the sole intention of preserving my thoughts so that they can someday benefit those who understand how to think about them and to value them. This is why I have not written very much, but this little with care and over long intervals. I have also confined to a minimum the sometimes unavoidable repetitions one finds in philosophical works due to their interconnections (not a single philosopher can avoid these entirely), so that the vast majority is found in only one place. This is why anyone who wishes to learn from me and understand me should not leave anything that I have written unread. Of course people can judge and criticize me without having done this, as experience has shown; and I wish them every happiness.

Meanwhile, we welcome the extra space won for this fourth supplementary Book through the elimination of two main topics. For since the insights that lie closest to everyone's heart and are thus the tip of the pyramid of any system, its final results, are concentrated in my final Book as well, we will be glad to allow greater scope for any more solid grounding or precise explanation of them.

Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2018

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×