Preliminary Statement

Abstract

This book is a study of the philosophy of William Ernest Hocking. It is an attempt to see the whole from a single perspective. As a rule such attempts run the risk of oversimplification, but the risk cannot be avoided. It seems to me that Professor Hocking’s philosophy is conducive to a study from a single perspective. It is his conviction that each individual has a personal vision of reality. This vision is expressed in the concrete life of the person and constitutes a unique contribution to the whole meaning of reality. The vision is a grasp of the whole, although the individual grasp does not exhaust the meaning of the whole. The vision is not clear or refined in most cases. The reflective man, and the philosopher in particular, is one who is bent upon clarifying his personal vision. Professor Hocking’s vision is that the Real is mind. He believes that mind becomes real to the extent that it actualizes itself concretely. Mind becomes mind as a will to power expressing a concrete purpose.