PREFACE vii 



philosophy of the Organism and not a general philosophy. 

 For that reason problems of general philosophy and even 

 of the general philosophy of Nature are only shortly 

 alluded to. 



The general standpoint of this work is subjective- 

 idealistic ; but idealism is here nothing more than a method, 



and I no longer regard subjective idealism as final ; there 

 does exist the possibility of metaphysics, i.e. of at least a 

 certain knowledge about absolute reality. 



Once more I thank my friends in Aberdeen for their 

 great kindness. Once more I am indebted to my 

 anonymous English friend at Heidelberg for his very 

 reliable linguistic assistance, and to my publishers for their 



well-known courtesy. 



HANS DRIESCH. 



HEIDELBERG, 21th August 1908. 



