IDEALISM IN GERMANY 



descent of all organic beings from a common 

 primeval ancestor is a thesis which is in con- 

 formity with the principle of mechanical devel- 

 opment in nature. But Kant deprecated such a 

 hypothesis as a " risky adventure of reason." 

 He was afraid of the logical application of the 

 very principle which he had established in his 

 cosmogeny. In other respects, however, this 

 work and his cosmological views may be read 

 with profit, even by modern proletarians. 



The thinker of the present day, with his vast 

 array of empirical facts, is apt to be too harsh 

 in his judgment of the shortcomings of his 

 predecessors in earlier centuries. But I cannot 

 blame Paul Ree for summing up Kant's philoso- 

 phy in these words : " In Kant's works you 

 feel as though you were at a country fair. You 

 can buy from him anything you want freedom 

 of the will and captivity of the will, idealism and 

 a refutation of idealism, atheism and the good 

 Lord. Like a juggler out of an empty hat, so 

 Kant draws out of the concept of duty a god, 

 immortality, freedom, to the great surprise of his 

 readers. True, these illegitimate children of 

 Kant's philosophy do not like to venture forth 

 into the light of day. They are somewhat 

 ashamed of their existence, more especially so, 



Rl 



