A First Book in Metaphysics

This book is a collection of philosophical essays by such famous American philosophers and representatives of the philosophical movement of New Realism as Edwin Bissell Holt, William Pepperell Montague, Edward Gleason Spaulding, Walter Boughton Pitkin, Ralph Barton Perry and Walter Taylor Marvin. In 1910, the authors published a short article entitled "The Program and First Platform of Six Realists", which indicated the direction in which, in their opinion, philosophical research should move. There, they argued that joint investigations would facilitate progress; and the development of the platform was the first attempt to confirm this belief. This volume continues on a larger scale the work begun in the article; and the authors hope that this volume will be followed by other collections of research. The introductory essay expresses their general opinions. Other essays do this only partially. It seemed to them that it was best to publish these essays without striving for complete unanimity, since their agreements significantly overshadowed their differences. They were written after lengthy conferences. Several important controversial topics are briefly discussed by dissenting members in the Appendix. This volume was published in 1912.