Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMIC PHILOSOPHY. CHAPTER I. SCOPE AND METHOD. 1. Definitions.—Philosophy is, in its root-ideas, the love or pursuit of wisdom. Iti modern usage it is the body of principles which give logical coherency and harmony to science, as distinguished from the body of facts constituting the science or branch of knowledge from which the principles are deduced. An economic philosophy would consist of the logical, coherent and harmonious body of principles which had been deduced from a sufficient observation, collation and comparison of economic facts. The body of economic facts would be, if systematically arranged and classified, the science. The body of principles which give logical coherency and harmony to these facts, would be the philosophy. The application of these principles and facts to any economic purpose would be the art or practice of economy. Economy consists hi getting away from poverty and toward wealth, whether it is attained by diminution of expenditure or increased production. It may occur to an individual, to society, or to the state. The term Political Economy has been applied indifferently to the science, the philosophy and the art of economy, whether as practiced by individuals, by society, or by the state. It has the convenience which arises from its capacity to take on several meanings. As most of these meanings will in turn form the topic of this treatise, it would be in no way improper to be content with the general name, Political Economy. As that name, by reason of the many uses to which it has been put, hasceased to be a precise designation of doctrine, it is thought proper to say that among the various works which are offered to the public on Political Economy, the present aims particularly to present the outlines of the eco...