Excerpt from Lectures on the History of Ancient Philosophy, Vol. 1 of 2 The Lectures which I have undertaken to edit were delivered to the students of Trinity College, Dublin, from the newly-instituted chair of Moral Philosophy, of which Mr W. Archer Butler was the first occupant. In the interesting Memoir of the Professor, written by his friend and literary executor the Rev. Thomas Woodward, and prefixed to the volume of Sermons published in 1849, we are informed that this chair was first founded by Dr Lloyd the Provost in 1837, and that Mr Butler was appointed to fill it "immediately upon the expiration of his Scholarship." According to the data furnished by his biographer, this honourable distinction must have been conferred upon him before he had completed his twenty-sixth year, and it would seem that he entered without delay upon the duties of his office, which lie retained until his premature death, which took place in 1848. The present Lectures seem to have been delivered during the first four years of his professorial life, as we may infer from an interesting notice inserted in the Dublin University Magazine for 1842, in which Lectures on Aristotle (forming the last series in these volumes) are expressly mentioned. 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.