INTRODUCTORY. 47 



as they are indeed characteristic of all recent Thought 

 which is not purely scientific or mathematical. As this 

 points to a general feature of nineteenth century philo- f^u^^ f^'^^ 

 sophy, and has led to special doctrines of great import- Tii't'hou^ht 

 ance and widespread influence, it will be helpful to take century, 

 note of it in advance. 



Philosophical thought has acquired the general char- 

 acter I refer to, mainly under the influence of the 

 German mind. We owe it to that organisation for 

 abstract research which we find typified in the philo- 

 sophical faculty at the German universities. This is the 

 home and nursery of pure science in the broader sense of 

 the word, denoted by the term " Wissenschaf t " — i.e., 

 science and erudition combined. 



When the leaders and founders of the German 

 university system, at the end of the eighteenth century, 

 undertook to start afresh higher instruction in all 

 branches of knowledge, they found themselves face to 

 face with an enormous accumulation of erudition and of 

 philosophical doctrine. This had been brought together 

 by ancient and modern thinkers, by scattered research, 

 by no generally recognised method, and with no common 

 aim and purpose. It was the tradition, and constituted 

 the inheritance from former ages. More and more it 

 became evident that this great accumulation of know- 

 ledge, of learning, and of doctrine required to be put in 

 order and to be sifted, so that truth could emerge and 

 falsehood be discarded. Historical records had to be 

 traced to their sources, theories had to be followed up to 

 their origin or shown to be valid and consistent ; dogmas 

 bad to show the authority upon which they rested; in 



