ABSTRACT
The core of Taine's philosophy, and of his attempt at a science of criticism, is his search for the 'true abstraction', that is, for the natural type which is not merely a formal concept but is, in the fullest sense, concrete. These are the chief modifications introduced by a functional analysis of Substance; and similar revisions are implied for Taine's hierarchical principle by critique of Absolute Idealism. His version of scientific method is to start with the particular specimen, or perception of that specimen, and arrive, after a process of abstraction and elimination, at the presumed universal fact, such as the biological species or other natural type. The kind of type analysis which reveals relatively permanent causes, approximately true abstractions, and the best available scales and perspectives all these are necessary for value judgments which may be called critical and philosophical because grounded in true perceptions.
