OF THE UNITY OF THOUGHT. 725 



several Keviews, contain interesting speculations on the 

 notion of Time and Memory, which he opposes as thp 

 characteristic feature of mental life in its continual change 

 to the spatial expansion and rigidity of the phenomena of 

 the outer world. It seems that his real position in phil- 

 osophical thought was not clearly understood through 

 his earlier writings. Against the Positivists he main- 

 tained strenuously a belief in the possibility and neces- 

 sity of metaphysics ; in his later work he has clearly 

 shown that he belongs to the Evolutionist movement of 

 thought, cherishing the desire of introducing into the 

 mechanical view of development a principle of progress. 

 It is, however, not easy to arrive at any clear conception 

 of his central idea and its workings. The attention which 

 it has aroused not only in French but also in German 

 and English philosophical literature will lead, through 

 criticism and discussion, to a better understanding. 



It is equally difficult to bring into a focus the 84. 

 teaching of Rudolf Eucken, whose writings, as well as 

 his academic teaching, have apparently gained a very 

 marked influence in German thought and literature. 

 That he defines his philosophy as "Activism" shows 

 that he belongs to that tendency of modern thought 

 which I am at present dealing with. The fact that he 

 refers back to Fichte proves that he inherits with him 

 that spiritual content which, as I have shown, both the 

 idealistic and the romantic schools of German philosophy 

 tried to rationalise. 



In a much more definite form, making it acceptable 

 to a much larger circle of thinking persons in many 

 countries, does this recent tendency of thought appear in 



