ABSTRACT
The divorce of science from philosophy, and the differentiation of science into a multiplicity of sciences, had not yet taken place at the beginning of the modern period. Knowledge was regarded as a whole; and the term philosophy was widely used to denote any kind of inquiry, whether scientific or philosophical, in the subsequent and narrower meanings of these terms. The classification of the sciences adopted in the present volume may possibly appear to some people as something of an anachronism. But it is justifiable on grounds of simplicity and orderliness. Mediaeval lack of interest in natural phenomena and disregard of individual judgment had their roots in the domination of a supernatural outlook, other-worldly mentality. The Earth was of little interest in comparison with Heaven, the present life was at best but a preparation for the life hereafter.
