Outlines of Cosmic Philosophy: Based on the Doctrine of Evolution, With Criticisms on the Positive Philosophy

This is volume one of a four volume set. This is Fiske’s magnum opus, an evolutionary account of the relativity of knowledge, the test of truth, subjective and objective knowledge, causation, positivism, and evolution. Fiske was heavily influenced by Herbert Spencer. John Fiske (1842-1901) was a Harvard lecturer and Professor of US history at Washington University in Saint Louis. He was the chief popularizer of Victorian science and philosophy in the USA in his day, and an evolutionist and theoretical biologist. He was America’s foremost 19th century cheerleader for the evolutionary theory. On reading this work sent to him by Fiske, Charles Darwin wrote “I never in my life read so lucid an exposition”