Elements of Psychophysics, Vol. I

VII

...in the first attempt at this, not everything is positioned correctly and does not yet have the right measure. Every subsequent attempt of this kind will be able to be more complete from one perspective, and shorter and more precise from the other.

No less than for formal deficiencies, I must surely ask for indulgence regarding factual errors that may have remained in this writing, especially in the treatment of so many subtle, difficult, and new questions, such as will present themselves even more in the following parts than in this one. In the long course of these investigations, while holding to general principles that have become increasingly firm, I have traversed so many wrong paths and obscurities in detail—for the entire field lay previously buried in obscurity—that I do not dare to hope I have left them all behind in the current revision revision (German: Redaction): the process of editing and preparing a manuscript for publication. But I would not be able to offer these investigations at all if I wanted to wait for complete certainty in this regard; and yet I hold the confidence that, since so much in this doctrine has gradually corrected and clarified itself, it will also be capable of further progress in this direction.

Ultimately, the only question is whether what is offered here, and how it is offered, provides a sustainable and fruitful beginning. Should this be found to be the case, one should not take the omissions and errors too seriously; it will at least be their merit to have provoked something better Fechner is humbly suggesting that even his mistakes will be useful if they inspire other scientists to find the correct answers..

In this, I am far from saying that what is presented in this writing is something absolutely new, and it would likely be a poor recommendation if it were. Rather, in order to do justice to rightful claims of priority German: Prioritätsansprüchen. Fechner is acknowledging that others may have had similar ideas before him and wants to ensure they receive proper credit. from the outset, and at the same time to show that something more than a subjective whim underlies this work, I will briefly touch upon a few historical points right here in the preface, which I will go into more detail in their proper place and finally in a special historical chapter.