436 



PHILOSOPHICAL THOUGHT. 



critical spirit revived, metaphysics being thrust into 

 the background. Theories of knowing became more 

 attractive than theories of being, Epistemology usurped 

 the place of Ontology. In spite of this reaction the 

 first half of the nineteenth century, and the systems 

 which succeeded Kant's doctrine, deserve the credit of 

 having elaborated certain views as to the problem of 

 reality which are of lasting value, having left their mark 

 on philosophic thought in the literature of all the three 

 countries. 



One of the reasons why Kant, whether he intended it 

 or not, became the leader in metaphysics as well as in the 

 theory of knowledge, may be found in a circumstance 

 on which I have had frequent occasion to lay stress. 

 Kant enriched our metaphysical vocabulary, 1 he coined 

 certain words to denote deeper -lying conceptions, he 

 defined what had been vague, and he brought into 

 currency terms which for a long time exerted an in- 

 fluence, not to say a spell, over philosophical reason- 



1 The Kantian vocabulary has not 

 only enriched philosophical thought 

 ever since, but it has also created 

 new difficulties and perplexities 

 and increased those that existed 

 before. Accordingly it has been the 

 subject of much writing and many 

 expositions. English readers will 

 find the best introduction to the 

 subject as least, so far as the 

 theoretical philosophy is concerned 

 in an excellent article on " Kant's 

 Terminology " in Baldwin's ' Dic- 

 tionary of Philosophy and Psy- 

 chology ' (3 vols., 1901, &c.) It is 

 written by Josiah Royce, who 

 contributes a similar article on 

 Hegel's Terminology. In that ar- 

 ticle will be found references to 



all the important German writers 

 on the subject, including Eucken's 

 little tract on ' History of Philo- 

 sophical Terminology,' referred to 

 above (see supra, p. 238 note ; also 

 vol. L p. 21). The analysis of 

 Kant's vocabulary began almost 

 immediately after the appearance 

 of his writings, the earliest work 

 to take up the task being Mellin's 

 'Dictionary' (6 vols., 1797). All 

 important later works on Kant 

 notably those of the Neo-Kantians 

 in Germany and of Edward Caird 

 in this country contain elaborate 

 explanations ; and yet Royce can 

 say that " a thorough history of 

 Kant's terminology is still to be 

 written." 



