Abstract
[A man should] look upon all things with a benevolent, but upon great men and their works with a reverential spirit; rather to seek in them for what he may learn from them, than for opportunities of showing what they might have learned from him; to give such men the benefit of every possibility of their having spoken with a rational meaning; not easily or hastily to persuade himself that men like Plato, and Locke, and Rousseau, and Bentham, gave themselves a world of trouble in running after something which they thought was a reality, but which he Mr. A. B. can clearly see to be an unsubstantial phantom; to exhaust every other hypothesis, before supposing himself wiser than they; and even then to examine, with good will and without prejudice, if their error do not contain some germ of truth; and if any conclusion, such as a philosopher can adopt, may even yet be built upon the foundation on which they, it may be, have reared nothing but an edifice of sand.
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 1966 Macmillan Publishers Limited
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Mill, J.S. (1966). Selected Readings. In: Robson, J.M. (eds) A Selection of his Works. Palgrave, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-81780-1_8
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-81780-1_8
Publisher Name: Palgrave, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-81782-5
Online ISBN: 978-1-349-81780-1
eBook Packages: Palgrave Social & Cultural Studies CollectionSocial Sciences (R0)