The Definition of the thing

"The following essay aims to accomplish three purposes: to examine the definition of philosophy in order to ascertain its proper subject matter and method; to employ this method in behalf of a specific problem which is the key problem of philosophy-the definition of the "thing"; and finally to illustrate the power of the resulting conclusions to provide deductive solutions for specific moot questions, if not for all questions which can pretend to be within the field of philosophic inquiry."