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H . V A I H I N G E R

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C. K. OGDEN

NEW YORK

HARCOURT, BRACIi & COMPANY, INC.I-NDON: I(EGAN PAUL. TItllNCl{. TII.UBNE,R & CO.. Ll'D.

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OEXEBAL INTRODUCTION

( ' t lA l '1 ' l1R I

Thoughtn considered from the poiot of view of a purporive'

organic Fuuctiou

Sctr:NrIrtc thought is a furtctiort rrf thc ps1'chc" lly the term" psychc " rvc do not urtdcrstarttl a sttbstarrcc' but thc organic

,*,t.,ot. of all so-catled " mcrrtal " actiorts atttl rcactiorts ; thcsc

trever come undcr cxternal otrscn'ation, brrt havc to bc partly

infcrrccl from plrysical sigrts, partly observc<l by tlrc'-so-called

inttcr setrse. i 'ryahi..l actions and reactions are' likc cvcry

event known to us, neccssary occurrenccs; that is to say' thcy

result with compulsory regularity from tltcir conditions and

causes. If we would .otp"t" psychical proccsscs with some

group of cxternal phcnomctra, the llhysical and in a narr)wer

,"enrc mcch"nical proccsses arc less suitable than thc functions

of the organism. 'This

statcment is conf rmcd by the fact that

so.cal led"empir icalut i l i ty isfoundinthepsychica|funct ions.aswell as in tLe organic

-functions of the bodily sphere'- This

utility is manifestld here as there in a ready adaptation- to

circumstances and environment I in the maintenance of e

striving and successful reaction of thc physical or psychical

organiim to external impulses and -influences; and in the

ad"option and acceptan". oi the rcpulsion of new elements' ln

the psyche thcre iakes place not m:I:ly t mechanical play of

ideas, but the movement of idcas fulfits to a grcat extent the

demands of util ity by its continual modification' All psychical

processes ̂re osc/ti in thc sense mentioncd ; above all the

so-called theoreticat Processes of apperception' - Scienti6c

thought consists in such apperception-Processes and is there-

fore to be considered from the point of view of an organic

function.Thus we woutd compare the logical or thought-Processes

with the organic creative processes' The appropriateness that

we observe in growth, in propagatton and regeneration' inA

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70 PART I: IIASIC PnniCil'LDS

analysis, this must rest uporr a fcw fundarnental mechanicelptoclrr.r of psychical life. If when once this mechanismhas been disclosed it is still claimed that these construct!arc rcal, we can only rccall the well-known story of th9pcasant, who aftcr hiving had a steam-cngine explainedio trirn asked if he might sce thc horsc which drew thelocomotivc.

The rncchanisnr of a lrr'omotive can certainly not bcunderstoo<l without a knowlcdge of the purpose it ful6ls.Irr the s:rme way the tnechartism of thought is not in-telligible without a knowledge of the PurPose it serves-Thii- pu.pose can only bc that of facilitating con-ceptudactivity, of effccting a safe and rapid cotrncction of sense-tions.

- What rve hive to shorv, therefore; is how fictiond

methods and constructs rcndcr this possible ; for that iscxactly thc naturc of the mechanism of thought, and inthe end its goal can only be tlrat of facilitating thc intcr'relation of scnsations, i.e. of rcndering action easy. Wernust slrow, then, how action is made easy thereby, endremember in this connection that the whole mechanisoof thought is arr articulated systcm of cxpedients whicb.mutually support one another, so that- fictions scrvi-ttgprimarily to'pcrfect the instrument itsclf become in dtr,course an accessory of this very instrument.

pp. t76-t77: TI{E USE OF CATEGORIES

Th€c catcaorier rre not forms with rny corrcrpondingobictive rcality. Thcy are merely combinations of thought,formed in responrc to some typc of objectivc retatlonrhip butof purcly subjective origin and of no vatue for understandingThis grouping of cvents under categories represents one oithose circuitous devices which, though indifferent as regardstruth itself, are yet indispensable in investigation (Lotze).

The world of ideas thus formed makes action more andmorc easy. We must ho'*'ever note that these constructs--object, attribute, causei effect-drop out as soon as their purposchas been attained. Their aid renders action easier and makesthe operations of thought possible; but as soon as the desiredsensations have occurred, the conceptual forms lose their value.Man does not want " things " but the occurrence of certainsensations. Fictions, even though thcy remain theoretically,drop out as far as practice is concerned, as soon as thc desiredresult is attained. But it cannot be denied that thoughtobtains its practical success only at the price of its logicalpurity. The logical function-which consists of just theseproccsscs-is not afraid of the mistakcs and contradictionswhich result.

Thus thought moves forward through contradiction as wehave already repeatedly observed. The conceptual constructsinhere in the psyche even after their purposc is achieved; andthough these logical processes have attained their practicalresutts, their forms persist as residues and husks. These formsconstituted thc subject-matter of phitosophy until thc theoryof knowledge proved them to bc mere forms of fictional originand value

Logically considercd, these psychical constructs are fictionsand not hypothescs relating to the nature of reality, as manyphllosophers rupposcd until thc contndictionr thcy contelncdproved that ttcre was nothing objcctive corresponding tothem. For our " critical " standpoint thcy are only fictionr, l,e.conceptual and ideational aids.

xl

And here are some excerpts frqr the autobiographical introduetlon:

xxxvlll During the lettcr part of the year 1876, for my inrugunldisscrtation, I wrote down my thoughts in e lergc menurripqto which I gave the title 'Logical Studies. Pen I: TboThcory of Scicntific liictions." As I had becn orefullycollecting the material for sevcral years and had gwre into itmost thoroughly many times, the writing of it did not trkc melong. I handcd in my MS. in the Ncw Year end et the cndof Februaqy ft77 | rcceived my acnia hgcdi. Thc work whichreccived this recognition from the Faculty is exactly the semeas what was published in r9t r as thc " l'art I: Iiasic Principles"of Thc Phihsolhy o/ 'As i/'. ln it I developed thc wholcsystem of scientific fictions, that is to say the' As if ' trcatment,applicd practically to the most varied aspects of scicnce, andI tricd to give an exhaustive,theory of this menifold'As if'Proccslr.

In 19o6, in the midst of all thesc curious complications andcrossings of my original intentions, a misfortunc unexpectedlybrought a happy solution, and enabled me after twenty-scvenycars to return to my original plan, which I had given up inrBZ9. 'I'he

misfortune was the weakening of my eyesigbt, sothat it became impossible for me to continue my lectures, or thespecial classes which I particularly enjoycd. So I had to givcup my official duties. The eyesight still remaining to rne warjust sufficient to allow me to publish my MS. t got myDissertation of t876 copied, and introduced a number of smalleditorial alterations. This comprehensivc MS. now forml" Part t : llasic Principlcs " of The Philosolhy o1l, , As i/,. Ialso completed the revislon which I had made between $77and the beginning oI tETg on the basis of the reviews of thattime, and thir forms thc Part Il (Spccial) of the complete work.'Ihis part took me two and a half years because of my badeyesight,and Part ll l (Historical) took me another two anda half )'cars. Between t877 and t87g I had made a note ofthe most important 'As if ' passag$ in Kant,s works, and Inorv cornpleted this in an exbaustive manner, so that I wasable to produce a monograph on Kant's . As if , theory of neartyone hundred pages. The exposition of Forberg's religion of'As if ' also took me a long time, and so did the developmentof F. A. l-ange's " Standpoint of thc ldcel,' with which I hadmuch in common. tsut whrt tool longer ttill wu thc fnatrcdorr o NlCacbc,r thory of Fia&n* rbicb bc brd oond.n d ho I lr gr, It ru thc Spring of rgrl bcforettG n*.pprd.

xlv

I will cnd by *rmrnariring e[ the conctusions shich rrcexpresscd in thc Philosophy of ' As if', or which form its besisor arise out of it, as follows:-

. (t) ?hilosophical anatysis leads e.rrcotuaily, from an epistemo-

l"g:""! standpoint, to sensationat contents, and from a psycho-logical to sensations. feetings end strivings or actions. scienti6canalysis leads to another concept of rility, to matter and thesmallest constituents and motions of matier. Naturarty it isimpossible fior the mind -as such to bring thcse two spheres oireality into a rational relation, atthough in intuition "nd cxperi-encc they form a harmonious unity.

. (zl T.ne strivings which probably exist in the most elementary

physical processcs devetop in organic bcings into impulsel.In man, who has sprung from the animat (and io a certain extent

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