LITERARY NOTICES. 



845 



bilities," was an extension and application 

 of the principles of the first treatise to 

 immediate practical questions and measures 

 which are occupying the general attention 

 of the public. That discussion led to the 

 present book on " Class-Interests," which, 

 indeed, was originally intended to be pub- 

 lished as a part of the volume on " Re- 

 forms," as a final application of his system- 

 atic views. 



Nevertheless, the author's original stud- 

 ies in the antagonisms of things, and the 

 limits to accomplishment which these an- 

 tagonisms imply, seem to have been wholly 

 insufficient to neutralize the bias of tem- 

 perament or the power of preconceived 

 convictions. lie avows that the results of 

 his studies bring him into " accord with 

 wide-spread movements of thought and ac- 

 tion in this country and in Europe " ; and 

 of these he refers, first and in particular, 

 to " the amplification of government func- 

 tions" — that is, he joins the swelling crowd 

 of those who are looking for salvation from 

 social evils to the politicians. For, say what 

 we will, the fact remains that what we have 

 actually to deal with as government is sim- 

 ply the men who have possession of politi- 

 cal power, and, under our representative 

 system, they are the selected and successful 

 demagogues of the community. Our legisla- 

 tors, as a mass, who constitute the working 

 power of government, are neither the wise 

 men nor the good men of society, but men 

 who are incompetent for their task — men 

 without knowledge of the subjects upon 

 which they are required to act, sordid and 

 ambitious self-seekers, in short, office-hold- 

 ers and politicians who have beat all rivals. 

 The "amplification of government func- 

 tions " means, therefore, simply committing 

 more and more the great interests of socie- 

 ty to incompetent and untrustworthy hands. 

 Our author condemns laissczfaire, and makes 

 the serious mistake, usual with the party of 

 interference, of affirming that it is a " do- 

 nothing " policy ; whereas that is the only 

 school we now have which aims to hold 

 government to its supreme work of admin- 

 istering justice in society. But that great 

 object is now so overlaid with added " func- 

 tions" as to be buried out of sight and for- 

 gotten, so that those who demand that, first 

 of all, government shall enforce it among 



citizens, are charged with being in favor of 

 "doing nothing." 



The present volume is profoundly sym- 

 pathetic with the needs of the masses of 

 the people, and it closes with a very valua- 

 ble essay on moral education in our primary 

 schools, which ought to be extensively read. 



Problems in Philosophy. Ey John Bas- 

 COM, author of " Science of Mind " : 

 " Growth and Grades of Intelligence." 

 New York : G. P. Putnam's Sons. Pp. 

 222. Price, $1.50. 



The more obscure and refractory prob- 

 lems in philosophy are here dealt with in 

 a series of essays, each of quite moderate 

 length. To the presumption, nowadays so 

 strong, that such collections of articles are 

 apt to originate in the idea of "gathering 

 up everything, that nothing be lost," the 

 author replies that in this case the work 

 is essentially new, as but one essay, that on 

 " Liberty," has appeared elsewhere, while 

 that has been somewhat modified. The 

 discussions have been kept within marked 

 limits of brevity, the writer assures us, with 

 the view of securing an explicit statement 

 of a few fundamental principles, and to 

 avoid the evils of excessive elaboration 

 which are so incident to systematic treatises 

 on philosophy. 



Dr. Bascom has here reviewed a con- 

 siderable number of the most knotty ques- 

 tions that have been held as at the foun- 

 dation of philosophy, and that have for 

 many ages exercised the ingenuity of specu- 

 lative inquirers. Among the problems con- 

 sidered will be found "The Relativity of 

 Knowledge," " Spontaneity and Causation," 

 "Freedom of Will," "Consciousness and 

 Space," " Universality of Law," " Being," 

 and " Final Causes." The author seems to 

 have but little sympathy with those who 

 hold that the human mind is shut out froiii 

 any final solution of these problems. He 

 belongs to the intuitionalist school of meta- 

 physics, which resists the efforts of the em- 

 pirical or scientific party to set limits to 

 knowledge and to the powers of the mind. 

 In his essay on " The Relativity of Knowl- 

 edge," while not at all denying the prin- 

 ciple, he condemns the sweeping conclusions 

 that many have been disposed to draw from 

 it, saying, " Relativity as a self-evident and 



