Ferrier’s Institutes of Metaphysic

Jenny Keefe (University of Aberdeen)

James Frederick Ferrier was a mid-nineteenth century Scottish philosopher. He is widely regarded as rejecting the tradition of the Scottish school of common sense and producing a philosophy which is more akin to the philosophies of some of the German idealists. The Institutes of Metaphysic is the fullest development of his philosophy.

Ferrier maintains that a system of philosophy in its ideal perfection is a system of reasoned truth. Moreover, he argues that whilst truth is the ultimate end of philosophy, the presence of reason in philosophy is of primary importance. This is because truth may be outwith man's reach but reason is within man's reach and can be applied. Therefore, a philosophical system can be a reasoned system which does not attain the ultimate end of truth. However, a system which possess truth but is not reasoned, cannot be described as a philosophical system. Ferrier says that the latter system "has no scientific worth".

Ferrier divides his system into three main sections, which must be laid out in the following order: 1) Epistemology 2) Agnoiology 3) Ontology. He argued that it is not possible to ascertain what is (ontology) before what can be known (epistemology) has been determined. Furthermore, once what can be known has been realised, that which cannot be known (agnoiology) must be determined before truth may be ascertained (ontology). He believed that this is the only method in which truth can be obtained.

He maintains that psychology, or the 'science of the human mind' confounds the errors of the human mind and he argues that the reconciliation between philosophy and common sense can only consist in the correction of the latter in accordance with reason.

The question I wish to examine in this proposed paper is to what extent Ferrier’s system relates to common sense philosophy and to ascertain whether it may be properly described as a rejection of common sense philosophy or as a modern development. The main points to be examined include the conditions and the limitations of philosophical knowledge; subject-object relationship; and the precedence of necessary above contingent truth.