478 PHILOSOPHICAL THOUGHT. 



repeat again that these answers, which may nowadays 



appear to us vague and unscientific, were not so for 



an age which thought itself in possession of a new 



inspiration, which had brought forth great creations in 



many regions of thought, art, and life, which was in 



fact conscious of having got hold of the underlying 



ground and essence of the truly Eeal in a fresh and 



original manner. In countries and times where this 



inspiration has disappeared, the understanding of Hegel's 



answers has disappeared likewise. That the problem 



of Eeality acquired this foremost position in Hegel's 



speculation, may be seen in innumerable utterances of 



his — in none more emphatically than in his well-known 



30. saying : " What is rational is real," and " What is real 



theTdentifl- is rational." This statement has been variously inter- 

 cation of the 

 Rational and prctcd. It has bccu explained to mean that in all 



the Real. ^ ^ 



reality we must look for a deeper sense and meaning, 

 and that this meaning is intelligible. It has been 

 criticised as implying that everything that exists is 

 justifiable, and as denying the existence of things or 

 relations which are to us not only unintelligible but 

 also irrational — such as evil and sin. It is not 

 necessary at the moment to discuss what position 

 the Hegelian philosophy took up to these gravest 

 problems of human life ; it is sufficient to indicate 

 that this, like many other of Hegel's oracular sayings 

 through which his philosophy has become popular 

 and proverbial, can only be understood if we give to 

 the word Eeality a double meaning — the twofold mean- 

 ing, in fact, which I have all through this chapter 

 tried to impress upon the minds of my readers, and 



