412 



PHILOSOPHICAL THOUGHT. 



67. 



Lotze and 

 English 

 Hegelian- 

 ism. 



in Germany by the historical school, under the in- 

 fluence of the idealistic in combination with the 

 critical spirit, attracted the attention of a few thinkers 

 in this country who did not approve of the grow- 

 ing mechanical philosophy. They instituted a search ! 

 for the rationale of that line of thought which had 

 produced abroad such an original and long -sustained 

 intellectual effort. It was natural that the interest 

 centred for a time in a study of Hegel, of that 

 system which was supposed to contain the most 

 mature expression of the logic of the mental and 

 spiritual, as distinguished from the mechanical and 

 naturalistic, movement of thought. 



The philosophy of Lotze, which became known in 

 England through the translations of the ' Microcosmus ' 

 (1885) and the 'System' (1884), came at an appro- 

 priate time to give to that current of thought which 

 was moving away from the lines prescribed by the 

 writings of Mill, a specific character somewhat different 

 from the stricter Hegelianism which for a time was 

 represented by Edward Caird and his school in 

 Glasgow. 2 The Logic of Lotze began to be studied 



1 The merit of having started on 

 this search belongs to J. Hutchi- 

 son Stirling, who published the 

 ' Secret of Hegel ' in the same 

 year (1865) in which Mill published 

 his ' Examination of Hamilton's 

 Philosophy.' This beginning of 

 a European, as distinguished from 

 the earlier exclusively German, in- 

 terest in Hegel's philosophy was 

 contemporaneous with that which 

 started independently in Italy, 

 mainly under the influence of 

 Vera." 



2 The study of Hegel led to two 



distinct developments of thought in 

 this country. We may distinguish 

 them as the historical and the 

 logical. Both were critical : the 

 former studied the origin and 

 genesis of Hegel's ideas, going back 

 to Kant and to earlier thinkers 

 notably those of classical antiquity. 

 The leading spirit in this move- 

 ment was Edward Caird, whose 

 Works on Kant mark an epoch 

 in British thought, casting some- 

 what into the shade kindred la- 

 bours such as those of Ferrier 

 and Martineau, who likewise in- 



