846 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



of philosophers and their true relationship 

 to each other. The points of agreement, for 

 example, between Plato and Aristotle, as in- 

 dicated by the author, are very impressive. 

 The relations of pre-Socratic ethics to these 

 latter are well shown. The translation of 

 evSatfwvla by "well-being," instead of the 

 usual " happiness," gives us quite a differ- 

 ent conception of much of the Greek ethic- 

 al philosophy. The contrasts between Stoi- 

 cism and Epicureanism are sharply and 

 truthfully drawn. The influence of the Ro- 

 man jurisprudence upon ethical development 

 is exhibited in a manner indicating the au- 

 thor's knowledge and appreciation of the 

 work of scholars like Sir Henry Sumner 

 Maine. Mediaeval ethics and Christianity 

 are treated without leaving the reader's 

 mind in a state of hopeless confusion re- 

 specting the landmarks of progress and the 

 work of individuals with whose names we 

 are familiar, but of whose special value we 

 can ordinarily learn but little from philo- 

 sophical and religious histories. The chap- 

 ter on modern English ethics is conspicuous- 

 ly free from controversial matter and from 

 the animus of the partisan. All through, 

 we find new ideas which reveal critical acu- 

 men, and compel us, if not to change, at 

 least to reconsider our conclusions on many 

 special points of historical fact. For in- 

 stance, we are somewhat startled by the 

 opinion that in the latter part of Plato's life, 

 when he wrote the " Timaeus," he did not 

 believe in the immortality of the individual 

 soul. Again, the average reader will prob- 

 ably be somewhat surprised to learn that 

 Bishop Butler held self-love and conscience 

 to be independent principles, and so far co- 

 ordinate in authority that neither should be 

 overruled by the other ; if either were to 

 give way, it must be conscience. Also, the 

 importance of such works as Price's "Re- 

 view of the Chief Questions and Difficulties 

 of Morals" (1757), and Gay's "Essay," pre- 

 fixed to Law's translation of King's " Origin 

 of Evil" (1731), in the history of English 

 ethics, is seldom considered and nowhere 

 else saliently brought out. 



All these considerations awaken regrets 

 that the work before us is avowedly incom- 

 plete. The author says, by way of explana- 

 tion, that, since the foundation of this book 

 was an article written for the " Encyclopae- 



dia Britannica," after some hesitation he 

 concluded to retain his original plan, and 

 deal only with modern ethical systems as 

 they relate to English moralists. We think 

 this was decidedly a mistake. It detracts 

 very considerably from the usefulness of 

 the treatise. There is no utility, even for 

 English readers, in presenting the ethical 

 movements of Continental thought as an 

 appendage to English ethics. The French 

 and German systems have contributed pow- 

 erfully to form the principles of morals, and 

 very extensively to determine character and 

 conduct. The French Revolution was pri- 

 marily a political convulsion, but the ethical 

 influences contributing to bring it about, and 

 which it in turn generated, were very notice- 

 able and important. They ought to be fully 

 traced out in a history of ethics. So, too, the 

 Kantian philosophy is surely worthy of a 

 more thorough exposition and criticism than 

 that of a half-dozen pages at the end of the 

 volume. Again, the leading phases of Ori- 

 ental ethical development are of the highest 

 consequence in such a history. These de- 

 fects could have been supplied, not, indeed, 

 without enlarging the book ; but we think 

 the resultant advantage would have been 

 ample justification for the addition. 



Numbers Illustrated and Applied in Lan- 

 guage, Drawing, and Reading-Lessons. 

 By Andrew J. Rickofp and E. C. Davis. 

 New York: D. Appleton & Co. Pp. 

 160. Price, 42 cents. 



This is an arithmetic for primary 

 schools, and is the first in the series of 

 " Appletons' Standard Arithmetics." It is 

 the fruit of many- years of careful prepara- 

 tion, combined with extended research as 

 to the best methods now in use, and much 

 experience in class-room work and school 

 supervision. Its design is to familiarize 

 the child with numbers and their combina- 

 tions by some better and more lively method 

 than the mechanical and rote repetition of 

 the formulae of the addition and subtrac- 

 tion and other tables. Instead of this, it 

 attempts to provoke observation of the 

 things the numbers represent, and to lead 

 the pupil to the utterance of the formula 

 as a statement of his own experience. In 

 the earlier lessons, in the first part of the 

 book, the properties of numbers are illus- 

 trated by the aid of three series of pictures 



