ABSTRACT
History shows that the development of philosophy has been continually stimulated by interests outside its own special field. There are three such interests whose influence can be traced through the whole history of philosophy. The first is an interest in the natural world and in the sciences which investigate it. The second is an interest in moral and political questions and standards of judgement. And the third is an interest in religion and in the chief object of religion, or God. If any of these three strands were removed, the fabric of philosophy would be very different from what it is.
