INTRODUCTORY. 



39 



Of the eight volumes of Kuno Fischer's work, six si. 



Kuno 



treat of the philosophy of Kant and his successors. Fischer. 

 There is no doubt that many students of philosophy 

 owe their first introduction to this difficult subject to 

 the luminous pages of this foremost historian of modern 

 philosophy. The appearance of each of the successive 

 parts has marked a revival in the interest which has 

 been taken, not only abroad but also in this country, in 

 philosophy generally, and in the special systems which 

 it dealt with in particular. If I do not take this work 

 as a guide through the labyrinth of philosophical theories, 

 it is not for want of appreciation of its unique contri- 

 bution to the philosophical literature of the second half 

 of the nineteenth century, nor of gratitude for the in- 

 sight I myself have gained through it, but because I 

 am not primarily interested in expounding the different 

 philosophical systems, but rather in tracing the leading 

 ideas which have survived these systems themselves and 

 become the common property of the philosophical mind 

 at the present day. 1 



1 Kuno Fischer's History (latest 

 ed. in 9 vols.) may appropriately be 

 termed a history of modern Ideal- 

 ism ; which starts with Descartes 

 and develops through Spinoza, 

 Leibniz, Kant, Fichte, and Schel- 

 ling to its consummation in Hegel. 

 Other important movements in 

 philosophy, both German and for- 

 eign, are treated as side issues or 

 antitheses to the idealistic move- 

 ment. Of other writers full atten- 

 tion is given only to Schopenhauer. 

 Hegel's philosophy is looked upon 

 as the dominating philosophy of 

 the century, as its underlying 

 Thought ; its main characteristics 

 being that it is speculative and not 

 positive (Comte) ; that it is meta- 

 physical and not psychological 



(Beneke) ; that it is monistic and 

 not dualistic (Giinther and Hermes) ; 

 that it identifies Thought and Being 

 in contrast to their essential differ- 

 ence (Herbart) ; that it finds the 

 truly Real in logical thought or 

 reason, not in the unreasoning Will 

 (Schopenhauer) or the " Uncon- 

 scious " (v. Hartmann) (see vol. 

 viii., pt. 2, p. 1176 sqq. ) The only 

 promising further development of 

 the Hegelian scheme is seen by 

 Fischer in the philosophy of Lotze, 

 who, as I shall have occasion to 

 explain in the sequel, is historically 

 connected with Hegel through his 

 master, Ch. H. Weisse, and to 

 whom belongs, according to Fischer, 

 a position of unusual importance 

 among German philosophers ; his 



