Bain, F. W. On the Realisation of the Possible, and the Spirit of Aristotle. London: James Parker and Co., 1899. First Edition. [4750]
Green publisher's cloth, bright gilt spine titles, 9 x 6 inches, small previous owner's name label on front paste-down, xii., 275 unmarked pp., tight, with light foxing. Very good. Hardcover.
Francis William Bain (1863-1940), British author, professor of history at Deccan College in British India. Bain was known as a fantasy writer of stories he claimed to have translated from the Sanskrit. He also wrote nonfiction, including this book of philosophy.
"It has been a long time since we have read any philosophical work with so much pleasure as we have perused Mr. Bain's Realisation of the Possible. Even if we agreed less than we do with Mr. Bain we should still have enjoyed his vigorous polemic against Idealism and the trenchant manner in which he dismisses popular philosophers. 'To speculate is human; to define divine.' This is the keynote to this book. Speculation is only glorified ignorance and is the sources of innumerable errors. Definition alone is certainty, and until we can define we know nothing. This is where Aristotle comes in, according to Mr. Bain; the English are not partial to dreamers, though we have had our share, but the summum bonum of an Englishman is the realisation of the possible. 'You may epitomise the spirit of Aristotle and the soul of an Englishman in one and the same word - doing, action, energy...He is the true English philosopher; he is more English than Greek: and yet they have thrown away this royal eagle, for wallowing hogs or blinking night-owls.' The language is strong, but Mr. Bain's pages to some extent justify it." - The Westminster Review, vol. 151 (1899).