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Studies of good and evil: A series of essays upon problems of philosophy and of life,
INTRODUCTIONTHE essays which constitute the present volume, despite the variety of their topics and of the occasions under which they were prepared, have an unity which is already indicated in the title, but which may well be more explicitly set forth in this introduction.As a teacher of philosophy, the author of the papers here collected has several times given expression, in for mer books, to theories upon fundamental metaphysical issues.* These theories belong to a type not unfamiliar in the present speculation, namely, to the type of post-Kantian idealism. But the philosophical idealist is inter ested not only in stating his fundamental convictions, but also in applying them to more concrete problems, especially to relatively practical problems. If idealism means any thing, it means a theory of the universe which simply must not be divorced from empirical considerations, or from the business of life. It is not, as many have falsely supposed, a theory of the world founded merely upon a priori specula tion, and developed solely in the closet. It is, and in its best historical representatives always has been, an effort to inter-* Reference may be made to The Religious Aspect of Philosophy (Bos ton, 1885), to The Spirit of Modern Philosophy (Boston, 1892), and to the author's most mature statement of the argument for idealism in The Con ception of God (New York, 1897).pret the facts of life. The present is hardly the place to summarize the grounds upon which an idealistic interpreta tion of the world depends. In a very brief summary, these grounds have been indicated in one of the essays of the prevent volume, namely, the sixth, entitled The Implica tions of Self-Consciousness. But to many readers funda mental metaphysical arguments are sure to be less enlight ening than studies of more familiar issues in the light of philosophical considerations. To such readers, as well as to more technical philosophical students, the present essays are an appeal.I have thus indicated, to readers who may not already know, the general philosophical position which these papers in common undertake to illustrate. Yet I can not wish to leave upon the reader's mind the impression that he is deal ing merely with the predetermined product of the thought of a particular school. Idealistic philosophizing is, from the nature of the case, subject to wide individual variations. Without any effort to make extravagant claims for philo sophical originality, any life-long student of this region of inquiry finds it very natural to be aware that in trying to contribute to the subject he has not merely been reporting the opinions of other people or giving in his adherence to a traditional doctrine. I have always insisted that my own idealism does not make me in any sense worthy of being called a follower, say, of Hegel, although of the importance of Hegel's thought I am well aisvare, and although, on occa sion, in former publications, I have given expression to the obligations which, in common with other students, I feel towards Hegel's doctrine. In many respects I must insist that I have been quite as strongly influenced by Schopen hauer or by Fichte as by Hegel; nor can any student of recent idealism be unaware that his strongest obligations are, after all, to the general tendencies of contemporary speculation. In any case, if it is not one's duty to be whollyoriginal, it is certainly one's natural purpose, and as far as possible, one's obligation, to be, in philosophical matters, relatively independent, both as regards the manner in which one reaches one's conclusions, and as regards the kind of in sight that one seeks to impart to one's readers. In common, therefore, with other philosophical students, I am not un willing to have my own opinions judged by and for them selves.
- GenresPhilosophy
Hardcover
First published July 15, 2011
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About the author
Josiah Royce
403 books37 followersLife
Royce, born in Grass Valley, California on November 20, 1855. He was the son of Josiah and Sarah Eleanor (Bayliss) Royce, whose families were recent English emigrants, and who sought their fortune in the westward movement of the American pioneers in 1849. He received the B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley (which moved from Oakland to Berkeley during his matriculation) in 1875 where he later accepted an instructorship teaching English composition, literature, and rhetoric. After some time in Germany, where he studied with Hermann Lotze, the new Johns Hopkins University awarded him in 1878 one of its first four doctorates, in philosophy. At Johns Hopkins he taught a course on the history of German thought, which was “one of his chief interests” because he was able to give consideration to the philosophy of history.[1] After four years at the University of California, Berkeley, he went to Harvard in 1882 as a sabbatical replacement for William James, who was at once Royce's friend and philosophical antagonist. Royce's position at Harvard was made permanent in 1884 and he remained there until his death, September 14, 1916.
Historiography
Royce stands out starkly in the philosophical crowd because he was the only major American philosopher who spent a significant period of his life studying and writing history, specifically of the American West. “As one of the four giants in American philosophy of his time […] Royce overshadowed himself as historian, in both reputation and output” (Pomeroy, 2). During his first three years at Harvard, Royce taught many different subjects such as English composition, forensics, psychology and philosophy for other professors. Although he eventually settled into writing philosophy, his early adulthood was characterized by wide-ranging interests, during which he wrote a novel, investigated paranormal phenomena (as a skeptic), and published a significant body of literary criticism. Only as historian and philosopher did he distinguish himself. Royce spread himself too thin, however, and in 1888 suffered a nervous breakdown which required him to take a leave of absence from his duties.
Royce, born in Grass Valley, California on November 20, 1855. He was the son of Josiah and Sarah Eleanor (Bayliss) Royce, whose families were recent English emigrants, and who sought their fortune in the westward movement of the American pioneers in 1849. He received the B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley (which moved from Oakland to Berkeley during his matriculation) in 1875 where he later accepted an instructorship teaching English composition, literature, and rhetoric. After some time in Germany, where he studied with Hermann Lotze, the new Johns Hopkins University awarded him in 1878 one of its first four doctorates, in philosophy. At Johns Hopkins he taught a course on the history of German thought, which was “one of his chief interests” because he was able to give consideration to the philosophy of history.[1] After four years at the University of California, Berkeley, he went to Harvard in 1882 as a sabbatical replacement for William James, who was at once Royce's friend and philosophical antagonist. Royce's position at Harvard was made permanent in 1884 and he remained there until his death, September 14, 1916.
Historiography
Royce stands out starkly in the philosophical crowd because he was the only major American philosopher who spent a significant period of his life studying and writing history, specifically of the American West. “As one of the four giants in American philosophy of his time […] Royce overshadowed himself as historian, in both reputation and output” (Pomeroy, 2). During his first three years at Harvard, Royce taught many different subjects such as English composition, forensics, psychology and philosophy for other professors. Although he eventually settled into writing philosophy, his early adulthood was characterized by wide-ranging interests, during which he wrote a novel, investigated paranormal phenomena (as a skeptic), and published a significant body of literary criticism. Only as historian and philosopher did he distinguish himself. Royce spread himself too thin, however, and in 1888 suffered a nervous breakdown which required him to take a leave of absence from his duties.
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September 11, 2025
Royce's Studies Of Good And Evil
That philosophy is a study remote from life is a criticism as old as the discipline. It is a charge leveled frequently at contemporary analytic philosophy, just as it was a charge leveled against its predecessors. In the last decade of the 19th century, the charge of irrelevance to life often was made against the philosophical idealism of the American thinker Josiah Royce (1855 - 1916). Royce's friend, the pragmatist William James, attacked Royce's commitment to a philosophical absolute on grounds that the absolute was redundant and did no philosophical work. The dispute between James and Royce became known as the battle of the absolute. Royce had also engaged in a lengthy debate with a California philosopher named George Howison. While an idealist himself, Howison had argued that Royce's belief in an all-encompassing absolute left no room for individuation or for individual moral action.
These criticisms stung. In answer to them, Royce published in 1898 this collection of twelve essays, "Studies of Good and Evil: A Series of Essays upon Problems of Philosophy and of Life." The essays had been written over the prior several years for different audiences and for different purposes. They explored widely varying issues. Still, Royce claimed in the introduction he wrote to the collection that the essays had the common theme of showing the value of idealism to the problems faced by people in crucial aspects of everyday life. Royce argued that each of the twelve essays were "directly or indirectly, contributions to the comprehension of the ethical aspects of the universe.". He wrote::
"If idealism means anything,it means a theory of the universe which simply must not be divorced from empirical considerations, or from the business of life. It is not, as many have falsely supposed, a theory of the world founded merely upon a priori speculation, and developed solely in the closet It is, and in its best historical representatives always has been, an effort to interpret the facts of life."
The essays show the breadth of Royce's studies and interests. They range from discussions of idealism to evolutionary science to the developing science of psychology. There are essays on literature, on the nature of creativity, on poets, theologians, mystics and philosophers. Each of the essays presupposes or explains an aspect of philosophical absolute idealism, which, as Royce stresses, is a varied as opposed to a monolithic approach to philosophizing. The essays are also mixed in their writing styles, depending on their themes and on the audiences for which they were written. Royce is often an eloquent writer but he is sometimes prolix and garrulous. For most readers, the most difficult, least convincing essays in this volume are those in the middle of the volume (essays V -- VIII) in which Royce argues from science, psychology, and logic in support of his idealistic claims. Royce is more effective when he uses his idealism and puts it to work in the remaining essays. Royce develops his idealism in opposition of philosophic naturalism which probably remains the dominant type of philosophy practiced today. In addition, Royce's idealism in this volume emphasizes human finitude and the limitations inherent in every individual's efforts to find truth. Royce's emphasis on finitude among other aspects of his thought are shared with existentialism.
The most famous essay in this volume, which sets the tone for what follows, is the opening work, "The Problem of Job", which raises the problem of evil which has long troubled both religious and idealistic philosophy. Royce explored the nature of evil in many works and he offered an original insight in this essay. Royce rejected some traditional answers to the problem of evil and argued that the problem as traditionally stated was based on the wrong assumption that God or the absolute was separate from the individual and created suffering and evil. Royce argued instead that God in the suffering individual were part of the same absolute being. He wrote:
"The answer to Job is : God is not in ultimate essence another being than yourself. He is the Absolute Being. You truly are one with God, part of his life. He is the very soul of your soul. And so, here is the first truth : When you suffer, your sufferings are God's sufferings, not his external
work, not his external penalty, not the fruit of his neglect, but identically his own personal woe. In you God himself suffers, precisely as you do, and has all your concern in overcoming this grief."
Royce develops his position on the nature of evil and of suffering in the remainder of the essay and in the essays on literature and psychology which immediately follow.
Besides the essay on "The Problem of Job", another outstanding essay in this volume is on the great medieval German mystic and philosopher Meister Eckhart. Although written when studies of Eckhart were not far developed, Royce shows great understanding of this thinker. As philosophers tend to do, Royce expounds Eckhart in a way which emphasizes his commonalities with Royce's own idealism. Royce stresses the experiential character of Eckhart's philosophy, and he stresses as well how Eckhart's mysticism did not lead to the contemplation of a mere abstraction or absolute but required engagement with the world and with the everyday.
Royce's essay on the French philosopher, J.M Guyau offers a fascinating introduction to a thinker who differs markedly from Eckhart. Royce again stresses the elements his own thinking shares with Guyau. The final essay I will mention here shows Royce as a historian studying early California. His " An Episode of Early California Life: the Squatter" describes an 1850 incident involving a conflict over land titles. Royce uses the story to comment on the idealistic character of the United States and on how misplaced idealism leads to conflict. This message remains timely.
Royce's absolute idealism has long been out of favor philosophically. There remains much to be learned from its study and from Royce. If he did not establish idealism per se, Royce succeeded in this volume in reaching his aim to show that philosophy in general and idealism had bearings on life and on value. In that sense, the book offers an eloquent defense and exposition of Royce's idealism. Royce's "Studies of Good and Evil" will be of interest to readers with a serious interest in American philosophy and its history, philosophy of religion, or Royce. The book, together with many of Royce's other writings, is accessible online in a digitalization prepared and maintained under the auspices of the Josiah Royce Society.
Robin Friedman
That philosophy is a study remote from life is a criticism as old as the discipline. It is a charge leveled frequently at contemporary analytic philosophy, just as it was a charge leveled against its predecessors. In the last decade of the 19th century, the charge of irrelevance to life often was made against the philosophical idealism of the American thinker Josiah Royce (1855 - 1916). Royce's friend, the pragmatist William James, attacked Royce's commitment to a philosophical absolute on grounds that the absolute was redundant and did no philosophical work. The dispute between James and Royce became known as the battle of the absolute. Royce had also engaged in a lengthy debate with a California philosopher named George Howison. While an idealist himself, Howison had argued that Royce's belief in an all-encompassing absolute left no room for individuation or for individual moral action.
These criticisms stung. In answer to them, Royce published in 1898 this collection of twelve essays, "Studies of Good and Evil: A Series of Essays upon Problems of Philosophy and of Life." The essays had been written over the prior several years for different audiences and for different purposes. They explored widely varying issues. Still, Royce claimed in the introduction he wrote to the collection that the essays had the common theme of showing the value of idealism to the problems faced by people in crucial aspects of everyday life. Royce argued that each of the twelve essays were "directly or indirectly, contributions to the comprehension of the ethical aspects of the universe.". He wrote::
"If idealism means anything,it means a theory of the universe which simply must not be divorced from empirical considerations, or from the business of life. It is not, as many have falsely supposed, a theory of the world founded merely upon a priori speculation, and developed solely in the closet It is, and in its best historical representatives always has been, an effort to interpret the facts of life."
The essays show the breadth of Royce's studies and interests. They range from discussions of idealism to evolutionary science to the developing science of psychology. There are essays on literature, on the nature of creativity, on poets, theologians, mystics and philosophers. Each of the essays presupposes or explains an aspect of philosophical absolute idealism, which, as Royce stresses, is a varied as opposed to a monolithic approach to philosophizing. The essays are also mixed in their writing styles, depending on their themes and on the audiences for which they were written. Royce is often an eloquent writer but he is sometimes prolix and garrulous. For most readers, the most difficult, least convincing essays in this volume are those in the middle of the volume (essays V -- VIII) in which Royce argues from science, psychology, and logic in support of his idealistic claims. Royce is more effective when he uses his idealism and puts it to work in the remaining essays. Royce develops his idealism in opposition of philosophic naturalism which probably remains the dominant type of philosophy practiced today. In addition, Royce's idealism in this volume emphasizes human finitude and the limitations inherent in every individual's efforts to find truth. Royce's emphasis on finitude among other aspects of his thought are shared with existentialism.
The most famous essay in this volume, which sets the tone for what follows, is the opening work, "The Problem of Job", which raises the problem of evil which has long troubled both religious and idealistic philosophy. Royce explored the nature of evil in many works and he offered an original insight in this essay. Royce rejected some traditional answers to the problem of evil and argued that the problem as traditionally stated was based on the wrong assumption that God or the absolute was separate from the individual and created suffering and evil. Royce argued instead that God in the suffering individual were part of the same absolute being. He wrote:
"The answer to Job is : God is not in ultimate essence another being than yourself. He is the Absolute Being. You truly are one with God, part of his life. He is the very soul of your soul. And so, here is the first truth : When you suffer, your sufferings are God's sufferings, not his external
work, not his external penalty, not the fruit of his neglect, but identically his own personal woe. In you God himself suffers, precisely as you do, and has all your concern in overcoming this grief."
Royce develops his position on the nature of evil and of suffering in the remainder of the essay and in the essays on literature and psychology which immediately follow.
Besides the essay on "The Problem of Job", another outstanding essay in this volume is on the great medieval German mystic and philosopher Meister Eckhart. Although written when studies of Eckhart were not far developed, Royce shows great understanding of this thinker. As philosophers tend to do, Royce expounds Eckhart in a way which emphasizes his commonalities with Royce's own idealism. Royce stresses the experiential character of Eckhart's philosophy, and he stresses as well how Eckhart's mysticism did not lead to the contemplation of a mere abstraction or absolute but required engagement with the world and with the everyday.
Royce's essay on the French philosopher, J.M Guyau offers a fascinating introduction to a thinker who differs markedly from Eckhart. Royce again stresses the elements his own thinking shares with Guyau. The final essay I will mention here shows Royce as a historian studying early California. His " An Episode of Early California Life: the Squatter" describes an 1850 incident involving a conflict over land titles. Royce uses the story to comment on the idealistic character of the United States and on how misplaced idealism leads to conflict. This message remains timely.
Royce's absolute idealism has long been out of favor philosophically. There remains much to be learned from its study and from Royce. If he did not establish idealism per se, Royce succeeded in this volume in reaching his aim to show that philosophy in general and idealism had bearings on life and on value. In that sense, the book offers an eloquent defense and exposition of Royce's idealism. Royce's "Studies of Good and Evil" will be of interest to readers with a serious interest in American philosophy and its history, philosophy of religion, or Royce. The book, together with many of Royce's other writings, is accessible online in a digitalization prepared and maintained under the auspices of the Josiah Royce Society.
Robin Friedman
Displaying 1 of 1 review