# Robert Lewis Dabney: Sensualistic philosophy defined



## Reformed Covenanter (Apr 20, 2020)

... The Sensualistic philosophy is that theory, which resolves all the powers of the human spirit into the functions of the five senses, and modifications thereof. It is the philosophy which finds all its rudiments in sensation. It not only denies to the spirit of man all innate ideas, but all innate powers of originating ideas, save those given us from our senses. It consequently attempts to account for every general and every abstract judgment, as an empirical result of our sensations, and consistently denies the validity of any _à priori_ ideas. Such was the philosophy which was dominant in France at the close of the eighteenth century; and which, untaught by the frightful results it produced there, is now striving again to establish its dominion among us towards the close of the nineteenth age. … 

For more, see Robert Lewis Dabney: Sensualistic philosophy defined.

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## jwright82 (Apr 20, 2020)

Reformed Covenanter said:


> ... The Sensualistic philosophy is that theory, which resolves all the powers of the human spirit into the functions of the five senses, and modifications thereof. It is the philosophy which finds all its rudiments in sensation. It not only denies to the spirit of man all innate ideas, but all innate powers of originating ideas, save those given us from our senses. It consequently attempts to account for every general and every abstract judgment, as an empirical result of our sensations, and consistently denies the validity of any _à priori_ ideas. Such was the philosophy which was dominant in France at the close of the eighteenth century; and which, untaught by the frightful results it produced there, is now striving again to establish its dominion among us towards the close of the nineteenth age. …
> 
> For more, see Robert Lewis Dabney: Sensualistic philosophy defined.


Nice quote! And he is right on where it led. How many materialists, atheists, today have those same views? It really led somewhere he couldn't have conceived, logical positivism. Their verifiability principle stated that "unless a sentence can be verified by the senses than it was meaningless (worse than false, at least a false statement makes sense)." The problem is that the principle itself cannot be verified by the senses, so it is by definition meaningless. It's autonomy.


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## NaphtaliPress (Apr 20, 2020)

The NP edition has the material and noted differences of both the 1875 and 1887 enlarged edition. Solid Ground Christian books bought most of the remaining stock of this and may be available there. The portrait is the one down at UT Austin; it was in a corner of the library with no name plate. Then it was moved. Not sure where it is now, and if it has suffered the same fate as General Lee's statue and other confederate memorials in Texas and elsewhere.

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