THE RATIONALE OF PHILOSOPHICAL THOUGHT. 753 



a whole, finding their rationale, and penetrating to the 

 frequently hidden principles which they unconsciously 

 employ. Such an attitude of thought implies, however, 

 a mode of procedure which was not congenial to Lotze's 

 mind, and which was just what was supplied by that 

 school of thought for which he had but scant apprecia- 

 tion. This school of thought was represented most 

 prominently in this country, though its antecedents 

 may be traced to various Continental thinkers of the 

 very first order. It may be defined as the study of 

 origins, and this in two directions viz., historically 

 and psychologically. Its watchword is Development or ie. 

 Evolution. It traces the genesis of things in Nature origins. 

 and the growth of ideas in the human mind. It does 

 so not without a tacit assumption that the truth and 

 value of any fact or idea depends on its history. Lotze 

 opposes this view by saying that validity is not dependent 

 upon historical but on logical evidence ; it must be 

 substantial, carrying its own credentials. Thus we may 

 say that Lotze's philosophy is pre-evolutionary. 



With the fuller recognition of this idea of development 

 we enter a new phase of nineteenth century thought; 

 and it is significant that this era was heralded by a 

 scientific version of this principle, and that it gave to 

 philosophy in this country a distinctly naturalistic bias. 

 This naturalistic bias had been prepared already by 17. 



Naturalistic 



the Association-psychology of Mill and Bain ; Bain, as j^ s ,? f h 

 well as Spencer and Huxley, was much influenced by pwioophy. 

 the independent physiological researches of the Con- 

 tinental school, headed by von Baer and Johannes 

 Miiller. The exponents of Naturalism in England never 

 VOL. IV. 3 B 



