Herbert Spencer.
"Thinking is discerning relations."
Dr. McCosh.
"The thing is its relations."
G. H. Lewis.
"Consciousness implies the recognition of hkenesses and
differences."
John Fiske.
"The primary element of all thought is a judgment which arises
from comparison."
Francis Bowen.
"All knowledge results from the establishment of relations be-
tween phenomena. "
J. B. Stallo,
"We must practice in thinking, the constant object of all
teaching."
Charles W. Eliot.
14
XIV.
'lino DI'IVMLOI'MKNT
Til 10 iiiiiid ^'irovvs Uir(>u^:;li ccrljiin irrnriJincni
|)iiii('i|)l<'.s .'uid rchiljoiis which uikIciTk^ cxpcricrK^c
jmd which c.ouMtirul.c the very (*HH(^n(5e of piirc"
Uiouf^ht itself. These uhidiii}.^ forin.s of thoii;i;ht lie
nt tli(^ fouii(hitioii of ull human kn()wh'(l<i;(^ by ('oii-
(litioiiin^J!; the tliiidviii^ und kiiowin^^ process. The
thouj^ht process which conceives the oi(h'r of luitnre
is oiM' ill source .-md nie.nninj'; with the order itself.
If object relations were not thoii^-;!!!, rt-lations atid
there weri" no ('(nninon element between l\\r. two,
then there would be no l;nowIe<|^e possible of l-lie
('on.iitHM.H tliini-;. in onler for knowledge to be
()f(}.Mwti. ,„,.ssil)le niid the mind to develop there
must Ih' :i.n nclivity '>f niind related to jin inherent
activity in the connected order of thin^';s. in think-
iii'*; :uid knowin;-; we reco«.^ni/e relations whicii
imd<'iTw* mental life and which translal,e experiences
int<> intelli^ibhs forms. In terms of the syllogism,
the real is a, relation; a relation is a form of con-
sciousness; therefore, reality is rationality. The
facts of experience are related and form a bond of
union in and lhrou<';li a spiritual |)rin(*iple which
knits things together, and knits mind and lhin«i;s
tof^ether in the thinkiii<^ (){ them. The fundamental
principle whi(di enables us to think the world, is
identical to thai, wiiich conditions the world.
210
Tiii<: I)I':vp:l()pi\1!':n'1' 2n
Th(i liiinh'in inind in tlilukiiif^ docs not cn^aie
o])]v.('X\vv. cxi.sicrK^c, ycri nothing (exists for the, lliink-
iii^.'; inind wliic-li (%'innol (^iiU^r Uiou^hl or Ixm-oiik^
ji Uiinkahh! n^nJiiy. If fact, inind is po.ssihh^ only
in unity with hidden rclationH out of wlii(di it ^rows
and in wliicdi il, exists. It has bec^n well said that —
" Nal,iir<! iH II HyHlx'.in of i(',l;il<;<l ;i[>jMtJir:in<;(!H :iu<\ n;l;il,(!(l apixiur-
:iii('(;h iiHi imi)()HHil)lri :ij)ur<, froiri (,lui nvMow of \n\A:\\\^i-An:('.."
It is a self-(;vident trutli thai, t,h(; onler woild^
as known and knowahlc, is a sysU^ni of ohjeets
r(;lat(Ml to a Uiinkinf^ mind and rehired lo eaeJi
oilier through thrtir r(;lation io mind. An i{<.i;,ti..i>ai
object exists only in reflation to a subj<;ct A.uvity
and when this rf^lationship is want/ing, tin; obj<!(;t
for thoufj;ht is wanting. TIk^ abiding S(tlf is th(^
combining princ/iple of buman and phcjiomcmal
cxiHt(;nc(; whicdi weaves tin; world int,o thinkabhi
forms. The mind in thinking searcluts for unity
amid variety, for a fiindamentnJ princi|)l<; embra-
cing dirfer(;nc(; jind reconciling opposing (dements^
and finally for the n^al unity of thought, th(; [)hilo-
so[)hi(; insight, and that rational knowle(lg(t wlii(di
is n(;C(*Hsary i,o i(;veal tin; true nature; of the world
wit-hout- and the woi'ld within.
A thinking being r(;aliz(;s hims(;lf in tfiat which
lies outsider of himself by sharing in th(; lif(; and the
thought of t,he litc^rary, se,ient,ific, social and ral,ion;iI
world which are m(;ans in attaining his true; worth.
Th(i cosmic uniti(!S calhul laws of nature which the
mind grasps in all scientiiic rewearch, arc coherent
212 THE EDUCATIONAL PROCESS
System of relatioRS not foreign to mind but intrin-
Reiations sically mcntal in their nature. If mind be
intimately connected with nature, if the student be
rationally related to the facts of science, he is still
more closely identified with human constructions
and mechanisms. The relations in the violin and
piano constitute their inner essence and are the
product of the formative mind. The design of these
musical instruments is the creative principle organ-
izing the material into relations necessary for the
production of musical sound.
It is generally thought that the reaper is made
out of parts rather than the parts made from the
reaper. The reaper is constructed of wheels, sickle,
reel, canvas, chains, bolts, etc., but the fact is,
these parts are built out of the idea — reaper. The
universal creates the particular, the ideal brings
into existence the real and what is now a machine
was originally a pulsating thought. The truth is,
the parts of the reaper are relations and
the reaper itself is a system of relations.
The sickle is found in the reaper and the reaper
exists in the sickle. Relationship makes both
reaper and sickle; the reaper makes the sickle as
certainly as the sickle makes the reaper. In making
a close study of the reaper we conclude that the
canvas, sickle, reel, chains, bolts, etc., have no
reality except in activity. It is through activity
that these parts fulfill their purpose ; activity means
relationship. The sickle realizes its purpose only
through activity, and its activity is possible only
THE DEVELOPMENT 213
in relation to the other parts of the machine. The
relating activity which binds the parts into an
organic unity is a thinking, creating mind. That
which brings the machine into existence is a spiritual
principle and to think the reaper is to think the
mind externalized in the material and to ascertain
the thought constituting its system of relations.
The Imnianent Principles of Knowing. — The peda-
gogical problem is to determine the immanent prin-
ciples of knowing and mind growth, and to trace out
the underlying conditions of human knowledge. It
is necessary to discuss the universal types of know-
ing and thinking which form the structure of in-
teUigence. Samuel Taylor Coleridge classifies these
types into three dual divisions, i.e., subject and at-
tribute, whole and part, cause and effect. From each
division there arise certain subordinate principles
which are also necessary to articulate experience.
In thinking a thing the mind splits it into sub-
stantive and adjective, or into existence and the
property modifying it. The primary properties of
a thing are those essential to its existence; exten-
sion and resistance; the secondary qualities are
those given by the senses. In order to illustrate
the relation of quahty and object we analyze sugar
into sweetness, whiteness and hardness, object and
These isolated attributes are our own Quality
points of view but the reality of sugar is found in
their unity. Furthermore these qualities do not
exist except in relation to each other; relation pre-
supposes quality and quality is nothing apart from
214 THE EDUCATIONAL PROCESS
relation. To get the truth of sugar its existence must
be qualified ideally, as sweet, white, hard. Sugar
has existence and content and the adjectives imply
a separation of meaning from being. According to
Anaxagoras a quality is an idea "cut off with a
hatchet" from its reality. The sugar is known
only through its qualities and its qualities are known
only through the sugar.
In harmony with the thought of the poet-phi-
losopher, quality and quantity and likeness and
diff(u-ence are derived from substance and attribute.
In thinking, quantity logically follows
(piality and the pupil passes from a
study of the adjective to a study of number and
mathematical science in general. In explaining the
relation between quality and quantity Dr. Borden
P. Bowne writes:
"Qiiiintity refers to an order of likeness and difference within
qualitative likeness, and the changes within qualitative constancy
are quantitative."
Apples and wheat being qualitatively unlike can
have no quantitative value. This fundamental
principle of thinking is necessary to the pupil in
number work and runs through the whole science
of mathematics. Quantity may be considered
from two angles of view; namely, continuous and
discrete. The United States, E Pluribus Unutn, is
an example of continuous quantity, and a bushel of
apples, discrete quantity. In the former, emphasis
is put upon the connecting bond of the parts and
THE DEVELOPMENT 215
in the latter, upon the isolated conditions of things.
Number exists neither in quantity nor objects but
is wholly relational in natun^ Tlui mind (establishes
the constituent unit and Uw. nuuHjrical relations
are ascertained by a proccess of comparison. An
exhaustive analysis of nund)er would include a
study of the diffenmt systems of notation and the
transposition of i]u\ scahe, as the dcecimal to the
binary and the octary to the duod(M'/imal.
Growing out of a study of an object and its
attributes are two necessary modes of thinking —
likeness and difference. These molds of conscious-
n(;ss are the (essential factors in human uncherstand-
ing and take into consideration discrimination and
comparison. As noting lik(;n(ess(es and differences
is i)urely a thought proc(ess, i)U[)ils should ]h) thor-
oughly drilled in this particular movement of the
mind. In arithmetic they should see the likeness
and difference between a triangle and rectangle,
cone and cylinder, prism and pyramid, cube
and parall(ilopip(5d()n, (etc. In g(M)graphy th(iy
should be drilled in discerning the likeness ukonms an.i
and difference b(;tween an isthmus and a '^'""•""••"
strait, a (hesert and a plain, and should compare
the outlin(?s, products and peophes of diffenait
countries and should study geographical facts in
general from the standpoint of comparison. The
teacher in [)hysiology should insist that pupils
understand the likeness and difference of veins and
arteries, inspiration and expiration, secretion anrl
excretion, etc. Grammar should also be taught in
216 THE EDUCATIONAL PROCESS
accordance with these immanent principles by not-
ing the likeness and difference between the different
kinds of sentences, the different parts of speech and
figures of speech, etc. History should be taught by
comparing great men, great events, great periods, etc.
The second coordinate group of immanent prin-
ciples in thinking is whole and part. The mind in
thinking a thing grasps the object as an individual
Whole whole, analyzes it into its constituent
And Part attributes and parts, and finally reorgan-
izes these elements into the original whole. Attri-
butes are inclusive, parts are exclusive; the former
are inherent in the thing, the latter are the com-
ponent elements making up the thing. Some
fundamental principle of division should be deter-
mined upon before a thing is thought into parts.
After the basis is established the parts should be
thought in order completely. The Bird of Paradise
has a partitive as well as an attributive existence.
The bird may be thought anatomically into head,
trunk and extremities, or physiologically into the
functions necessary to its existence. Pupils should
be drilled in analyzing wholes into parts and in
synthesizing parts into wholes. This is an essential
form of thought and enters largely into all school
studies. Closely connected with whole and part is
One and auothcr dual type of thought — one and
^^"^ many. This dualism of thought would
ask the questions — Is the school one or many?
Is the world one or many? These are pertinent,
pedagogical questions and lead the student into a
THE DEVELOPMENT 217
discussion of monism and pluralism from both the
educational and world standpoint.
The highest dual form of thought is cause and
effect which explains the antecedent condition of
things. There are certain invariable sequences of
phenomenal and educational facts that cause and
depend upon a primal principle for their ^^^^'^
existence. There are two kinds of causes known in
human thinking — efficient causes and final causes.
Final cause sets forth the end or aim of an action.
Efficient cause brings about certain changes which
realize an end. In a grain of corn there is a causal
energy which purposes an ideal corn-stalk. The
soil, moisture, sunlight and air constitute the effi-
cient cause which has the power of converting the
original force into a perfect plant. In the domain
of human activity final cause governs efficient
cause. The final cause of the Panama Canal origi-
nated in the fertile minds of our great statesmen.
The efficient is seen in the agencies, pick, machinery,
laborers and money which have the power of
accomplishing the final purpose. Dr. William T.
Harris writes:
"We notice two important steps in self -activity; the first, the
formation of an ideal or purpose, and the second, the transformation
of the real into the ideal."
The reign of law has had a tendency to destroy
the reign of purpose. Causal energy establishes a
uniformity in nature called natural law. Things
exist through mechanical and evolutionary forces
218 THE EDUCATIONAL PROCESS
or through purposive processes. The educational
world is purely purposive while the physical world
is purposive and developmental. To think the
purpose of the school or the world is to gain a knowl-
edge of their hidden power or origin. To think the
purpose of a hat is to become conscious of the
reason for its existence. The hat is the objectifica-
tion of the self and is not wholly material nor
Purpose wholly thought, but a concrete unity of
And Means ^^^ ^^^^ rp^ ^^^^^ ^j^^ j^^^ ^^ ^ material
thing accords with the first phase in the develop-
ment of thought, but to study the hat as a thought
process is to enter the second stage of mental growth.
The highest stage of thought activity takes cogni-
zance of the duality in unity and attains the true
knowledge of the object. It is a valuable exercise
to trace out the thought found in manufactured
and natural objects. The evolution of the hat
process may be traced out in the following manner.
Some one conceived that a covering for the head
would be beneficial in protecting it from heat and
cold. This individual thought out a condition in
which the head could not be exposed. He con-
trasted the real condition with the ideal and lastly,
created the thought of the hat which takes on
external form. The spiritual hat and the material
hat form a concrete unity called *^hat. " To study
the eye as an organ of sight is to retrace purpose in
the Infinite Mind. This is a more difficult process
and the thinker must choose for himself the evolu-
tionary or the teleological doctrine of the world.
THE DEVELOPMENT 219
It is impossible to think a thing without think-
ing it as fixed or changing. The house must be
thought as it now exists or in the process of be-
coming through a causal energy and a Fixed and
material means. Old Ironsides may be changing
thought, as she now lies in Boston harbor or she
may be thought in the process of construction in
1795. To think a thing as fixed is description;
to think a thing as changing is narration. We
describe Old Ironsides as she now is and narrate the
process of her construction. Again, every individual
is derived from a universal, and every universal
is housed in an individual. The table is derived
from some universal idea or conception
, .,.., ,. , Individual
of table, if the mdividual is destroyed And
the universal may create others indefi-
nitely. If the universal ceases to be then there is
no individual. We gain a knowledge of the individ-
ual through sense perception, but the universal is
known only through thought or reason. The
individual that is first perceived is finally grasped
with the universal in it. The mind passes from
the individual to the universal and from the uni-
versal back to the individual.
The when and the where are rooted in the very
nature of thought and knowledge, and are indispen-
sable types of mental activity in all processes of
knowing. Nothing can exist except in Time
time and place, and nothing can be ^""^ ^^^^'^
thought except at some time and at some place.
These two forms of consciousness lie at the founda-
220 THE EDUCATIONAL PROCESS
tion of all biography and history, and are the
essential questions of inquiry in geology and other
sciences. These patterns of thought are used daily
and unconsciously in all school work, and their
value is not appreciated and understood by the
ordinary thinker.
In the development of the educational process,
subject and object are twain — yet resolvable into
each other. Unless a poem can be resolved into
mind terms it cannot be learned and has no value
in the education of the individual. Knowledge is
possible only in the unification of the mind with
Subject ^l^c thing the mind thinks. All thought
And Object j^qvcs bctwcen subject and object which
are essentially distinct from each other yet in their
unity lies all knowledge. No thinking is possible
without an idea and an idea implies that there has
been a separation made between the object and its
meaning. A judgment adds an adjective to an
object and qualifies it ideally. . In thinking we
arrive at the nature of the object and find it to
exist, in the last analysis, in a thought process.
Every appearance involves a reality and every
phenomenon, a noumenon or thing-in-itself. If this
dualism is denied then one element resolves
AndleauTy itsclf iuto the othcr. The appearance
of a work of art belongs to its reality, and
its reality is grasped, not sensuously, but through
processes of thought. Nature is the appearance or
manifestation of the Absolute which Spencer says
is unknowable, but which Tennyson says is attained
THE DEVELOPMENT 221
not by reason but by faith. The objective school is
the appearance, but its reality lies beneath the phe-
nomenal existence in a spiritual unity. The mechan-
ical means used in teaching represents its phenomenal
side while soul unity is the real teaching itself.
Activity is a process of self-realization and is the
power which transforms the real into the ideal. When
the is is changed to the ought-to-he the indi- i^eai
vidual has acquired a fresh adjective and a "^"^ ^'^®^*
new increment of life. It is through activity that the
pupil attains the consciousness of his own freedom.
Washin^on Monument. — To make a summary
of these immanent principles of knowing, a brief
study is made of the Washington Monument. The
student first thinks it as an object of admiration
possessing adamantine qualities. The quantity of
material used in its construction was donated by
the States and different nations of the world. It
is 555 feet high and is the tallest shaft in the United
States. It may be compared to Bunker Hill Monu-
ment; there is a likeness in structure and purpose,
but a difference in size and commemoration. In
thinking the Monument the mind first grasps it as
a wJiole and then analyzes it into its constituent
j)arts. The many stones are synthesized into one
shaft and are transformed into knowledge and
patriotism. The spirit of American patriotism is
its final cause, whereas, the rock and other material
constitute its efficient cause. The means used in the
construction of this Monument are insignificant
compared with the purpose which it commemorates.
222 THE EDUCATIONAL PROCESS
The Monument may be thought as fixed or as
changing; changing from its ideal to its realization,
or fixed definitely near the Potomac River. Scien-
tists tell us that its inclination varies with the
seasons. The universal Monument conceived in the
minds of the American people is housed in an
individual structure which perpetuates the memory
of George Washington. Washington City is natu-
rally the most desirable place for its location. The
elements of time considered in a study of the Monu-
ment are the laying of the corner-stone by President
Polk, July 4, 1848, the placing of the capstone
December 6, 1884, and the dedication February 21,
1885. The Monument is an object of inspiration
and patriotic knowledge to every thinking subject
struggling to realize liberty and freedom. Its
appearance, although grand and sublime, cannot be
compared in importance with its ultimate reality.
The Monument in its solemn stateliness is a national
incentive in transforming the real American into
an ideal citizen. To make an exhaustive study of
these fundamental principles of knowing is to
attain a complete knowledge of the Monument.
The individual finally finds himself reflected in
the Monument and transforms it into a type of his
own lif(^ As Goethe puts it, the thinker uses the
^.Hihetic individual to set forth some universal
Freedmu ^^.^^^i, Hc sccs back of thc material
thing a spiritual law which is a reflection of his
better self. He finds himself in the Monument and
translates the Monument into himself. He is now
THE DEVELOPMENT 223
on the borderland between the ideal and the real
and at last translates himself into higher and nobler
life. Such a study of an object stirs up the pupil's
emotional nature and arouses within him a feeling
of effort to grow in thought and hfe. His total
life is made to feel the pulse-beat of the world and he
is inspired with all that is true, beautiful and good.
To Think the Class. — An individual object
cannot be thought without seeing it in relation to
a class. The class is ascertained from the world
of reality by observation, comparison, contrast,
abstraction and generalization. Classification is
an important element in mind development, for
we are able to master nature only by content
binding it into classes. The content of ^"'^ Extent
a class is the sum of the attributes found in the
individual composing it. The extent of a class is
the number of individuals found in the content.
It is impossible to think the content of a class
without thinking the extent. Content and extent
are dynamical relations. The greater the content
the less the extent, and vice versa. A good, mellow,
red apple has greater content, but less extent than
a red apple. There is an exact qualitative and
quantitative relationship existing between content
and extent. To think the qualitative is definition;
to think the quantitative is division. One is conno-
tation, the other, denotation; one, intension, the
other, extension.
Principle of Definition. — The process of denot-
ing the common qualities belonging to a class
224 THE EDUCATIONAL PROCESS
is definition. Every definition has a major genus
and differentia. In the definition — A triangle is a
polygon of three sides, '* polygon" is the major
genus, and ''of three sides," the differentia. Every
logical definition unfolds the essence of a notion
by using a universal and particular term. It is a
process of thought by which the mind unifies the
individual and universal. It should be adequate,
affirmative, perspicuous and not tautological..
Jevon gives the following rules:
1. A definition should state the essential attribute of the species
defined.
2. A definition must not contain the name defined.
3. The definition must be exactly equivalent to
Rules of ,1 • J £■J
Definition ^he species defined.
4. A definition must not be expressed in obscure,
figurative or ambiguous language.
5. A definition must not be negative where it can be affirmative.
Principle of Division. — To think the quan-
titative, the extent of a class, is division. It is a
process of thinking unity into diversity. The
mind cannot think extent without thinking content.
As the principle of division is so important in
teaching, in outlining subjects, and in classifying
facts, the following rules from Minto are given:
1. Every division is made on the ground of difference in some
attribute common to all the members of the whole to be divided.
2. In a perfect division the subdivisions or species are mutually
Rules of exclusive.
Division 3 -phe classes in any scheme of division should be
of coordinate rank.
4. The basis of division should be an attribute admitting of
important differences.
THE DEVELOPMENT 225
To strengthen the mind in this form of thought,
the pupil should be drilled in making outlines and
systematic subdivisions of an object. An outline
is the arrangement of notes in logical
order. It is valuable in making studies
systematic, in cultivating the power of classifica-
tion, in creating interest, and in aiding in original
investigation.
PRINCIPLES IN OUTLINING.
1. No heading without a coordinate topic.
2. Coordinates must be placed in a vertical column.