On Truth

Excerpt from On Truth

IN the following pages the author has sought to place at the disposal of his readers as brief and plain an account as he could render of the results at which he has arrived in a life's pursuit of truth. He has purposely avoided con troversy as much as possible; not even having referred to world-renowned philosophers, whose systems have, never theless, much occupied his thoughts, and even for a time gained his assent. He has acted thus partly because con troversies which relate to the most important questions treated of here have been dealt with by him in other works, but mainly because he is convinced that it is not by negative criticism, but by synthetic construction alone, that the most useful scientific work can now be done. The author presents this volume to the public partly in the hope that his effort may make some slight contribution towards such building up of a solid temple of truth, but with a much stronger wish that it may impel other men, better gifted or more advantageously circumstanced, to.