478 PHILOSOPHICAL THOUGHT. 



repeat again that these answers, which may nowadays 

 appear to us vague and unscientific, were not so for 

 an age which thought itself in possession of a new 

 inspiration, which had brought forth great creations in 

 many regions of thought, art, and life, which was in 

 fact conscious of having got hold of the underlying 

 ground and essence of the truly Eeal in a fresh and 

 original manner. In countries and times where this 

 inspiration has disappeared, the understanding of Hegel's 

 answers has disappeared likewise. That the problem 

 of Eeality acquired this foremost position in Hegel's 

 speculation, may be seen in innumerable utterances of 

 his in none more emphatically than in his well-known 

 so. saying : " What is rational is real," and " What is real 



Meaning of 



the identm- is rational. This statement has been variously mter- 



catipn of the 



theR na i and P re ^ e( ^- It nas been explained to mean that in all 

 reality we must look for a deeper sense and meaning, 

 and that this meaning is intelligible. It has been 

 criticised as implying that everything that exists is 

 justifiable, and as denying the existence of things or 

 relations which are to us not only unintelligible but 

 also irrational such as evil and sin. It is not 

 necessary at the moment to discuss what position 

 the Hegelian philosophy took up to these gravest 

 problems of human life ; it is sufficient to indicate 

 that this, like many other of Hegel's oracular sayings 

 through which his philosophy has become popular 

 and proverbial, can only be understood if we give to 

 the word Eeality a double meaning the twofold mean- 

 ing, in fact, which I have all through this chapter 

 tried to impress upon the minds of my readers, and 



