652 PHILOSOPHICAL THOUGHT. 



fundamental free and self-chosen manifestation of the 

 Absolute, of the Divine Spirit. Thus it becomes in- 

 telligible how Hegel, in a sense, could represent his 

 philosophy as exhibiting, and being founded on, the idea 

 of Freedom. And it is further evident how this identi- 

 fication of the Real with the reasoning process must 

 result in the assertion that " everything real is rational " 

 and that " everything rational is reaL" Such statements 

 have again led to much misunderstanding and to sense- 

 less distortions and misrepresentations of the truth which 

 is contained in Hegel's doctrine. 



This doctrine formed, as it were, the hist outcome of 

 the idealistic movement. It afforded a supreme unifica- 

 tion of thought and knowledge on the one side, and on 

 the other side it led to that point of view from which 

 the religious conception of a Divine Order of things 

 could be philosophically comprehended, from which the 

 spiritual unity could be understood and incorporated in 

 a scientific interpretation of things, in a reasoned Creed. 



In the system of Hegel we not only meet with the 

 final and greatest effort to solve the philosophical 

 problem on the basis of an idealistic or spiritual con- 

 ception, we also arrive at the true centre of modern 

 thought in which many new departures have their 

 origin. If we consider it in this light we are com- 

 pelled to regard Hegel's philosophy as one of the 

 greatest, if not the greatest, intellectual performance of 

 the century, and this in its immense suggestiveness as 

 well as in its gigantic failure. 



