40 The Concept of Method 



form or mode ; and the third, the efficient or causal force which 

 enables the object to realise its end or function. 



Comenius is, therefore, very closely related to Bacon in the 

 universality of the aim which he set before himself. He resembles 

 Descartes in his starting-point, for " putting on one side the dis- 

 coveries, thoughts, observations, and admonitions of others," he 

 began " to investigate the matter thoughtfully, and to seek out 

 the causes, the principles, the methods, and the objects of the art 

 of teaching." (Didactica Magna: Greeting to the Reader.) He 

 finally, by his excellent organisation of the method of education, 

 prepares the way for the critical examination of experience which 

 was the chief work of Immanuel Kant. 



