RATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY. 
REALITY— WHAT PLACE IT SHOULD HOLD IN 
PHILOSOPHY. 
BY DPR. JAMES McCOSH, EX-PRESIDENT PRINCETON UNIVERSITY. 
THis is an important question. I regard it as the most important in 
philosophy in the present day. Scanty systems have arisen from the over- 
sight of it. 
1. 
In establishing my positions I remark that every one believes in realities. 
Every one believes in two kinds of realities. He believes in his own exist- 
ence. He believes, or rather knows, that he thinks and feels ; that he is 
liable to grief and joy, to hope and fear. He believes and knows things 
without him ; in that man or woman, in the various organs of his body, in 
shat wall or house, as also in that tree before him, in the greenness of its 
foliage, in the hardness of its trunk, and in the smell and taste of its fruit. 
We can appeal to the proper tests in justifying reality. First, the 
objects are self-evident. We know ourselves by simply looking within, 
and objects around by simply looking without. We need no further evi- 
dence. But secondly, this is confirmed by the circumstance that this 
selief or knowledge is necessary; we cannot be made to believe or know 
otherwise. We cannot be made to believe, by any argument or by any 
reasoning, that these objects do not exist. But all the while we have a 
belief or conviction which abides with us. Then, thirdly, this belief or 
knowledge is universal. Not only do I believe in these objects, but every 
man does the same. He is sure that he himself exists, and that certain 
objects around him exist. He carries this conviction with him wherever 
he goes. Philosophy which is an expression of our nature should do the 
same. 
[1. 
Reality cannot be established by syllogistic or mediate proof of any 
kind. No man can prove mediately his own existence, or the pains he 
feels in his own body, or the existence of that stone or plant which he sees 
and touches. To prove that there is life or mind, we must have life or 
mind in the premise. Without this, the alleged proof will evidently be 
logical. For it is acknowledged on all hands that in order to a right con-