GENERAL INTRODUCTION physical matters. In the lengthy treatise of the Lans, he addresses himself to the final duty of the philosopher as announced in the Republic: a long habituation to abstract thought will qualify rather than disqualify him for the practical regulation of public and private affairs. Attention is fixed once more on soul, as the energy of the world and the vehicle of our sovereign reason. Thus Plato maintains the fixity of the objects of knowledge in a great variety of studies, which enlarge he compass of Socrates'teaching till it embraces enough material for complete systems of logic and metaphysics. How far these systems were actually worked out in the discussions of the Academy we can only surmise from the Dialogues themselves and a careful comparison of Aristotle whose writings, however, have come down to us in a much less perfect state. But it seems probable that,to Plato was too fertile in thought to rest content with one authoritative body of doctrine. We may be able to detect in the Timaens a tendency to view numbers as the real principles of things and we may conjecture a late-found interest in the ysical complexion of the world. As a true artist, th a keen sense of the beauty and stir of life Plato had this interest, in a notable degree, through out: but in speaking of his enthusiasm for science we must regard him rather as a great inventor of ciences than as what we should now call a scientist This is giving him a splendid name, which few me xviii Digitized by Microsoft(GENERAL INTRODUCTION physical matters. In the lengthy treatise of the Laws, he addresses himself to the final duty of the philosopher as announced in the Republic : a long habituation to abstract thought will qualify rather than disqualify him for the practical regulation of public and private affairs. Attention is fixed once more on soul, as the energy of the world and the vehicle of our sovereign reason. Thus Plato maintains the fixity of the objects of knowledge in a great variety of studies, which enlarge the compass of Socrates' teaching till it embraces enough material for complete systems of logic and metaphysics. How far these systems were actually worked out in the discussions of the Academy we can only surmise from the Dialogues themselves and a careful comparison of Aristotle ; whose writings, however, have come down to us in a much less perfect state. But it seems probable that, to the end, Plato was too fertile in thought to rest content with one authoritative body of doctrine. We may be able to detect in the Timaeus a tendency to view numbers as the real principles of things ; and we may conjecture a late-found interest in the physical complexion of the world. As a true artist, with a keen sense of the beauty and stir of life, Plato had this interest, in a notable degree, through￾out : but in speaking of his enthusiasm for science we must regard him rather as a great inventor of sciences than as what we should now call a scientist. This is giving him a splendid name, which few men xviii