OF SOCIETY. 585 



wherewith to comprehend historical phenomena. This 

 is to be analogous to, but different from, the well-estab- 

 lished logic of the exact or inductive sciences of nature. 

 If Lamprecht finds the task of history to consist more in 94. 



Contrast 



the description of circumstances, conditions, and institu- ^j^ 111 " 

 tions, Dilthey rather finds it in that of leading persons 

 and minds in which an ideal content has become living 

 and active. 



Neither of these two schools of thought has as yet 

 clearly told us what it understands under the some- 

 what vague term " ideas." Much of the best thought 

 in Germany moves in what to thinkers with the 

 logical mind of the French or the common-sense view 

 of the English must appear vague and unsatisfactory. 

 The causes which produce and maintain such a condition 

 of philosophical thought in Germany more that in other 95. 



Ultimate 



countries are manifold, but the principal one is probably conflict m 



the sphere 



to be found in the different position which the Church 

 and religion occupy in the three countries. In all three 

 countries the conflict of belief and unbelief is making 

 itself increasingly felt. It is most pronounced in France, 

 being accentuated through the recent conflict between 

 Church and State. Protestant thought has in that 

 country never become a national force, and the seculari- 

 sation of the schools has become the order of the day. 

 Here, then, the logical sense of the Frenchman demands 

 that the ideal factor in progress and culture should 

 acquire a distinct and well-recognised influence in the 

 great national work of popular and higher education. 

 In Germany the religious teacher is still an important 

 member of the educational staff. Eeligious instruction 



