Browning as a Philosophical and Religious Teacher

Browning as a Philosophical and
Religious Teacher

The Project Gutenberg eBook, Browning as a Philosophical and
Religious
Teacher, by Henry Jones
This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or
re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net

Title: Browning as a Philosophical and Religious Teacher
Author: Henry Jones
Release Date: September 30, 2004 [eBook #13561]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BROWNING
AS A PHILOSOPHICAL AND RELIGIOUS TEACHER***
E-text prepared by Jonathan Ingram, Leonard Johnson, and the Project
Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team

BROWNING AS A PHILOSOPHICAL AND RELIGIOUS
TEACHER
by
HENRY JONES
Professor of Philosophy in the University of Glasgow

[Illustration: ROBERT BROWNING.]

THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED TO MY DEAR FRIENDS

MISS HARRIET MACARTHUR AND MISS JANE MACARTHUR.

PREFACE
The purpose of this book is to deal with Browning, not simply as a poet,
but rather as the exponent of a system of ideas on moral and religious
subjects, which may fairly be called a philosophy. I am conscious that
it is a wrong to a poet to neglect, or even to subordinate, the artistic
aspect of his work. At least, it would be a wrong, if our final judgment
on his poetry were to be determined on such a method. But there is a
place for everything; and, even in the case of a great poet, there is
sometimes an advantage in attempting to estimate the value of what he
has said, apart from the form in which he has said it. And of all modern
poets, Browning is the one who most obviously invites and justifies
such a method of treatment. For, in the first place, he is clearly one of
that class of poets who are also prophets. He was never merely "the idle
singer of an empty day," but one for whom poetic enthusiasm was
intimately bound up with religious faith, and who spoke "in numbers,"
not merely "because the numbers came," but because they were for him
the necessary vehicle of an inspiring thought. If it is the business of
philosophy to analyze and interpret all the great intellectual forces that
mould the thought of an age, it cannot neglect the works of one who
has exercised, and is exercising so powerful an influence on the moral
and religious life of the present generation.
In the second place, as will be seen in the sequel, Browning has himself
led the way towards such a philosophical interpretation of his work. For,
even in his earlier poems, he not seldom crossed the line that divides
the poet from the philosopher, and all but broke through the strict limits
of art in the effort to express--and we might even say to preach--his
own idealistic faith. In his later works he did this almost without any
disguise, raising philosophical problems, and discussing all the pros
and cons of their solution, with no little subtlety and dialectical skill. In
some of these poems we might even seem to be receiving a
philosophical lesson, in place of a poetic inspiration, if it were not for
those powerful imaginative utterances, those winged words, which
Browning has always in reserve, to close the ranks of his argument. If
the question is stated in a prosaic form, the final answer, as in the
ancient oracle, is in the poetic language of the gods.

From this point of view I have endeavoured to give a connected
account of Browning's ideas, especially of his ideas on religion and
morality, and to estimate their value. In order to do so, it was necessary
to discuss the philosophical validity of the principles on which his
doctrine is more or less consciously based. The more immediately
philosophical chapters are the second, seventh, and ninth; but they will
not be found unintelligible by those who have reflected on the
difficulties of the moral and religious life, even although they may be
unacquainted with the methods and language of the schools.
I have received much valuable help in preparing this work for the press
from my colleague, Professor G.B. Mathews, and still more from
Professor Edward Caird. I owe them both a deep debt of gratitude.
HENRY JONES.
1891.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER II.
ON THE NEED OF A PHILOSOPHY OF LIFE

CHAPTER III.
BROWNING'S PLACE IN ENGLISH POETRY

CHAPTER IV.
BROWNING'S OPTIMISM

CHAPTER V.
OPTIMISM AND ETHICS: THEIR CONTRADICTION

CHAPTER VI.
BROWNING'S TREATMENT OF THE PRINCIPLE OF LOVE

CHAPTER VII.
BROWNING'S IDEALISM, AND ITS PHILOSOPHICAL
JUSTIFICATION

CHAPTER VIII.
BROWNING'S SOLUTION OF THE PROBLEM OF EVIL

CHAPTER IX.
A CRITICISM OF BROWNING'S VIEW