OF THE SPIRIT. 263 



cult, and by some impossible, for thinkers of different 

 nationalities to understand each other thoroughly in this 

 innermost region of speculation. That this is so can be 

 shown in various ways and explained through various 

 causes. Among these it will be useful to take special 

 notice of two, leaving out other and minor influences 

 which have worked in the same direction. Of the two 

 points I wish to refer to, the first concerns the words 

 and terms of the language, the philosophical vocabulary 

 in which the speculations I am now dealing with have 

 found expression. The second is not concerned with the 

 medium through which philosophical thoughts have to 

 be communicated : it has to do with the actual historical 

 interests which, in the three different countries, have 

 formulated the problem in question. To give at least 5. 



Relation of 



a preliminary definition of what I mean, and to help us Philosophy 

 to fix our ideas, I may say that what I refer to is the ology * 

 relation which, in each of the three countries, has 

 existed between Philosophy and Theology, between 

 traditional belief and free inquiry. 1 



Now so far as the philosophical terms are concerned 

 through which in the three languages and literatures I 

 am dealing with, religious speculation has found expres- 

 sion, we have first of all to note that the word " spirit " 

 has no complete equivalent either in the French or in 

 the German language. The word " Geist " in German . 6 - . 



Geist, Spirit 



is used both in the sense conveyed by the word " mind " and Mind> 

 and in that conveyed by the word " spirit " in English. 

 Thus Hegel's use of the word in his system has been 

 variously translated by the two English synonyms. 



1 See supra, vol. iii. p. 466 n. 



