546 



PHILOSOPHICAL THOUGHT. 



taken as a whole and not merely in their scattered 

 phenomenal existence. Of these three problems, that 

 concerning the reality and the phenomena of the inner 

 life has been dealt with in the third chapter of this 

 section : that concerning spiritual phenomena will form 

 the subject of a later chapter : the present chapter will 

 deal with the problem of Nature as a whole or with the 

 cosmological problem. It will attempt to pass in review 

 the different positions which nineteenth century thought 

 has taken up to this problem in the three countries, 

 and the several answers which have been suggested. 

 3. Probably in no other department have the views put 



Changes in 



thethoughts forward been so numerous and varied, and the changes 



ot the age. o 



which have come over the thought of the age so rapid 

 and fundamental. The century itself opens with three 

 distinct and original departures, marking three distinct 

 interests in nature and things natural. With one of 



last - named subjects. This was 

 Lotze, whose Courses of Lectures 

 included, at regular intervals, and 

 with the aid of little encouragement. 

 Courses on Metaphysics and on 

 Philosophy of Nature. The latter 

 subject disappeared subsequently 

 altogether till it was revived, to- 

 wards the end of the century, by 

 Prof. Ostwald, who published in 

 1901 his lectures on 'Naturphil- 

 osophie,' and commenced a periodi- 

 cal with the title, ' Annalen der 

 Naturphilosophie,' of which the 

 present year (1912) sees the publi- 

 cation of the Xlth volume. Here, 

 however, more than in any other 

 direction, Lotze represents, con- 

 Bciously and almost alone, the 

 transition from the earlier to the 

 later philosophical thought of the 

 nineteenth century. As a sign of 

 the unsettlement of philosophical 



thought in Germany at the end of 

 the century it is interesting to 

 refer to two works, already fre- 

 quently mentioned, the 'Memorial 

 Volume ' (1904), dedicated to Kuno 

 Fischer, purporting to give a review 

 of the state of philosophy at the 

 beginning of the present century, 

 and the volume entitled ' System- 

 atische Philosophie ' (1907). Where- 

 as the latter deals in eight chapters 

 with the different philosophical 

 sciences, devoting separate treat- 

 ment to Metaphysics (Wundt) and 

 Philosophy of Nature (Ostwald), 

 but contains no chapter on Phil- 

 osophy of Religion, the former 

 work deals likewise in eight chap- 

 ters with separate philosophical 

 sciences but omits Metaphysics and 

 Philosophy of Nature, whilst it 

 contains a most valuable chapter on 

 Philosophy of Religion by Trbltsch. 



