OF THE SPIRIT. 



269 



quately appreciated and treated by thinkers who stand 

 intentionally outside of the practical religious interest and 

 life of their day and country. In this respect we only 

 claim for such religious life and work the same recog- 

 nition which we claim in other departments, denying 

 e.g., the right of discussing philosophically mathematical 

 or legal problems to any one who has not moved to 

 some extent in the sphere of these respective interests. 

 This may make the task of the philosopher more diffi- 

 cult, but it is no reason to argue against the correctness 

 of the observation. 



For the development of philosophical thought the H. 

 divisions which all along existed in Germany, the some- a ? d dis - 



' advantages 



what rigidly defined landmarks of the sciences and their 

 sub-sections, have, however, been of considerable advan- 

 tage. As human thought, be it scientific or philosophical, 

 can only methodically advance through definitions and 

 limitations, always running the risk of forgetting or 

 losing the unity of its subject and the more comprehen- 

 sive or synoptic view, we find that more progress has been 

 made in Germany in dealing with our problem than either 

 in France or in England. In the former country, 1 till 

 quite recently, the religious problem was, for political 

 reasons, identified with the interests of the Eoman 



1 " En France, par exemple, la 

 politique dispose en grande partie 

 de la religion et de la philosophic ; 

 1'une ou 1'autre est en credit 

 suivant que la politique est a 

 1'espe'rance ou au decouragement. 

 De la vicissitudes des choses e"ter- 

 nelles." (Remusat, loc. cit., p. 3.) 

 The influence of the political 

 interest referred to in this passage 

 is quite as evident at the present 



day, but shows itself in a different 

 direction. The political secularisa- 

 tion of the whole of instruction in 

 the graded schools of the country 

 has provoked by contrast an enor- 

 mous literature dealing specially 

 with the ethical and the religious 

 problem, and this as much by 

 thinkers who aim at keeping the 

 two interests apart as by others 

 who think them inseparable. 



