GROWTH AND DIFFUSION OF CRITICAL SPIRIT. 179 



examined and laid bare. In fact, what Kant had 

 attempted to do, but only imperfectly performed, had 

 to be done on a larger scale and with more abundant 

 material. In addition to this, that province of $s. 



Return from 



philosophy which had been neglected in favour of metaphysics 



metaphysical constructions, the analysis of the human Hertart 



mind, had been cultivated afresh by Herbart and 



Beneke. Almost simultaneously, but independently, 



the modern science of empirical psychology took a fresh 



start in this country as well as in Germany. Shortly 



after this revival had taken place through Herbart in 



Germany, through Mill and Bain in England, a new 



impetus was given to these studies by the appearance, 



in 1860, of Fechner's "Psycho-physics," which seemed 59. 



Fechner's 



to hold out the prospect of introducing into philosophical psycho- 

 discussions that definiteness and methodical treatment 

 which had done so much for the natural sciences. It is 

 therefore not to be wondered at that about that time 

 the general cry arose for a " return to Kant." The 

 leader of this so-called Neo-Kantianism which, however, eo. 



Xeo-Kant- 



difiered as much from Schelling and Hegel as it did i? ni A sn } : 



F. A. Lange. 



from Plato and Spinoza among earlier, and from Lotze 

 among modern thinkers, may be considered to be 

 Friedrich Albert Lange, whose ' History of Materialism ' 

 appeared in many editions and was translated into 

 several languages. The tendencies of this line of 

 thought were strengthened by a general movement 

 which had its origin equally in historical, logical, and 

 psychological studies ; it was prepared independently in 

 England and in Germany, it resulted in the definition of 

 a new and independent philosophical discipline, termed 



