124 



PHILOSOPHICAL THOUGHT. 



place in a comprehensive scheme of human interests first 

 presented itself in modern times with the revival of 

 philosophy and general literature in Germany during the 

 latter half of the eighteenth century ; that a series of 

 attempts to answer these questions was there made in 

 the course of the period which begins with Lessing and 

 Winckelmann, and ends in Germany with Lotze and von 

 Hartmann ; that after the latter period the interest in 

 these higher metaphysical questions has gradually dis- 

 appeared, giving way to details of psychological or psycho- 

 physical inquiry, and to attempts in criticism and matters 

 of taste such as had been dispersed through English and 

 French literature previous to, and outside of, the meta- 

 physical movement. Hand in hand with this descent 

 from the high philosophical platform has gone a greater 

 appreciation in Germany for the unsystematic writings of 

 French and especially of English authors. 1 



Whilst Germany has thus abandoned the metaphysical 



1 Both the philosophy and the 

 science of the Beautiful have, 

 wherever either or both existed 

 during the nineteenth century, pre- 

 served distinctive national colour- 

 ings. Not only has Esthetics been 

 in Germany pre-eminently meta- 

 physical, in England psychological, 

 and in France sociological, but the 

 relevant literature of the subject 

 has in none of the three countries 

 taken due notice of that of the 

 others. At the end of 'the cen- 

 tury this comparative exclusiveness 

 seems to be making way for mutual 

 appreciation, stimulated in Eng- 

 land, notably by the appearance of 

 Bosanquet's ' History,' and in Ger- 

 many through several influences, 

 among which that of the writings 

 of Wilhelm Dilthey is being more 



and more felt. Also the growing 

 interest abroad in the works of 

 Ruskin tnds in this direction, and 

 yet Vernon Lee, as late as 1904, 

 can still complain that the Esthe- 

 tics of M. Souriau, ' ' a most sug- 

 gestive psychologist, would have 

 been extraordinarily valuable if only 

 he had added a knowledge of con- 

 temporary German thought to his 

 own investigations on the subject " 

 (loc. cit., p. 432). Still more than 

 in general philosophy, as noted 

 before, German historians of Es- 

 thetics, like Lotze, Schasler, and 

 von Hartmann, take no notice 

 whatever of contemporary foreign 

 literature. Hoffding in the former 

 and Croce in the latter are still 

 unique examples. 



