Excerpt from The Science of Knowledge The object and general conception of the work, herewith submitted to the American public, is too clearly set forth in the Introduction which precedes it to require any additional explanation from me. Suffice it historically to state, that this its object was not achieved in Germany; and that the motive which inspired its translation was the hope that it might be achieved in America. Whether success would come at once or after many years, I did not choose to speculate upon; but the certainty has always been in my mind, that, sooner or later, the science of knowledge will be taught in every college and university of the land, as the science of all sciences, as the science which will, when once recognized, put a step to those stale and unprofitable metaphysical speculations, by indulging in which mankind has wasted time and energies enough to advance true culture beyond the most daring dreams. Not to encourage metaphysical studies, but henceforth and forever to silence them, and to lead mankind back to true life, has this work been written and translated. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.