Literary Notices. clxxxv 



nently to our notice. That the task set is by no means an easy one 

 in view of the present meager knowledge of the actual development 

 of mental life either in the individual or in the race, every one will 

 admit. Even a small measure of success in this attempt should, then, 

 be commended. The discussion of perception, as carried on by this 

 method, leads the author to conclusions, some of which differ from 

 those expressed in his Physiological Psychology. For in- 

 stance, the intuitional or native element in space-perception is here 

 thrown into the back-ground in favor of a more empirical view. He 

 inclines to the belief that the incorporation of motor ideas into a given 

 sensation-complex is necessary before there can be any true localiza- 

 tion in space. 



Among the most noteworthy and perhaps in many respects the 

 most commendable passages in the book are those dealing with Will 

 and Character. To that conscious striving which is the most ele - 

 mentary of all mental processes we have seen that the author applies 

 the term conation, while volition is reserved for that more highly de- 

 veloped process which implies knowledge and feeling with reference 

 to means end ends. To will, then, is the result of a development ; it 

 is something which no one can do at the beginning of mental life, but 

 which all men learn to do in course of its unfolding. To exercise 

 " free will" — in any conceivable meaning of this term — is not a birth- 

 right; it is rather an achievement. 



Taking the volume as a whole, the most striking feature is cer- 

 tainly its extraordinary, and unrelieved conservatism, a conservatism 

 which is often thrust obtrusively forward, but which will nevertheless 

 serve a good purpose in counteracting many of the extreme views now 

 current. It is to be feared that in some cases this conservatism has 

 gone so far as to defeat its own ends. In any case, it serves to foster 

 a judicial spirit rather than to create and quicken enthusiasm. For 

 these reasons, among others, the work will probably be found more 

 useful as a book of reference for advanced students than as a text 

 book for beginners. 



c. j. H. 



Kuelpe's Psychology. 1 



Kiilpe's Outline of Psychology is a work of some 475 pages clearly 

 showing the influence of Wundt. The book deals with Psychology 

 as a science. Its data are experiences and the difference between 



'Grundriss der Psychologie auf Experimenteller Grundlage dargestellt, von 

 Oswald Kuelpe. Wm. Engelmann, Leipzig, i8gj. Price 9 Marks. 



