On Sir William Hamilton's principles, the only object of philosophy is the determination of the limits'and re- quirements of thought, or, as he phrases it, "the Condi- tions of the Thinkable." On this subject he has left an admirable and most suggestive paper; but his whole scheme of speculation is without any basis for certainty, without any witness of " tlie Spirit bearing witness to our spirit." It is thus built upon the void; and, like the eclecticism of Cousin, and the transcendentalism of He-
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gel and Schelling, which it was specially designed to | oppose, it tends, however unconsciously, to practical scep- ticism. " Such {(pojvavTU avvtTolaiv)," says Sir AVil- linm, "are the hints of an undeveloped philosophy, which, I am confident, is founded upon truth." Doubtless this philosophy is undeveloped, and doubtless it is founded upon truth ; but the foundation may not be homogene- ous or sufficient, and the supcrstructiu'e may not be composed of the same materials as the substruction. The most dangerous error is that Avhich proceeds from mutilated, distorted, or alloyed truth.
"The views of Sir William Hamilton are before us, in certain parts, in his own exposition;" they invite and require rigorous examination. " That they have already been much discussed, and have exerted a pow- erful influence on specidation, is a good omen for phi- losophy. We have, espcciallj', his treatment of three great problems in philosophy. First, there is the the- ory of the two kinds of human knowledge. Immediate and jMediate. Secondlj', there is a special application of this theory to the construction of a theory of Exter- nal Perception. Thirdly, there is an exhaustive system of IMetaphysics Proper, or Ontology, in his ' Philosophy of the Conditioned' and 'Conditions of the Thinkable' — a vast and noble idea, traced out for us in nothing but a tantalizing fragment. His Logical system is to be gath- ered from the sources already mentioned. They will probably convey no distinct notion of the system, unless to readers who are familiar with the German methods of logical analysis since Kant. The leading points may be said to be four; and it is perhaps possible to make tliese intelligible very briefly to persons acquainted with the outlines of the science in its received forms. 1. Hamil- ton insists on having, in ail propositions through com- mon terms which are set forth for logical scrutiny, a sign of quantity prefixed to predicate as weU as to sub- ject. The point, though merely one of form, is curi- ously suggestive of difficulties, and hence of solutions. 2. Instead of recognising only four fonns of propositions, tlie A, E, I, O of the old logicians, he insists on admit- ting all the eight forms which are possible. (See Thomson and Solly.) 3. He widens the range of the syllogism by admitting all moods which can validly be constructed by any combination of any of his eight kinds of propositions. 4. The Port-Royal doctrine of the in- verse ratio of the extension and comprehension of terms is worked out by him in reference to the syllogism. This application of the doctrine has certainly not been anticipated by any logician; and, when elaborated to its results, it throws many new lights on the characters and mutual relations of the syllogistic figures." The value of these innovations has not been definitely set- tled, nor has it been ascertained whether they were overlooked by Aristotle, misapprehended by him, or de- liberately rejected from his Analytics.
A ulhorides. — An earnest discussion of Hamilton's doctrines may be found in the Methodist Quarterly Re- vieio for 1857; a sketch of his metaphj'sical views is given m the Princeton Review for 1855. One of the most unfortunate features in the literary history of Sir William was his attack on the reputation of Luther, which was fully answered by Hare in his Vindication rf Luther. Hare convicts Hamilton of using second-hand knowledge as if he had studied the original soiurccs. See N. Brit. Rev. Nov. 1848, Feb. 1853, July, 1859; ^e- fue des Deux Mondes, April, 1856; Gentleman s Marja- zine, June, 1856; North American Rcvitir, Oct. 1845, p. 485-0 ; Jan. 1853, art. iii ; British Qunrirrh/ Rrrinr, xvi, 479; AVight, Philosophy of Sir William Jfawilt<m (N. Y. 1855); Mill, Examination of Sir WiUiam II(imilt<m\s Philosophij (Lond. 1865) — reviewed in the Westminster Review, Jan. 18G6, and elaborately answered by H. L. Mansel, The Philosophy of the Conditioned (Lond. 1866) ; De IMorgan, Formal Lof/ic (London, 1847) ; Bowen, A Treatise on Lofic (Cambridge, 1864). The Life of Sir William Hamilton, by J. Veitch (1869), which liad been long expected, has been recently published (G. F. H.)