OUR MONISTIC ETHICS. 371 



no means kept pace with life in general. The necessity 

 for a comprehensive reform of our schools is making 

 itself felt more and more. On this question, too, a 

 number of valuable works have appeared in the course 

 of the last forty years. We shall restrict ourselves to 

 making a few general observations which we think of 

 special importance. 



1. In all education up to the present time man has 

 played the chief part, and especially the grammatical 

 study of his language ; the study of nature was entirely 

 neglected. 



2. In the school of the future nature will be the 

 chief object of study; a man shall learn a correct 

 view of the world he lives in ; he will not be made to 

 stand outside of and opposed to nature, but be repre- 

 sented as its highest and noblest product. 



3. The study of the classical tongues (Latin and 

 Greek), which has hitherto absorbed most of the 

 pupil's time and energy, is indeed valuable ; but it 

 will be much restricted, and confined to the mere 

 elements (obligatory for Latin, optional for Greek). 



4. In consequence, modern languages must be all 

 the more cultivated in all the higher schools (German, 

 English, and French to be obligatory, Italian optional). 



5. Historical instruction must pay more attention 

 to the inner mental and spiritual life of a nation, and 

 to the development of its civilization, and less to its 

 external history (the vicissitudes of dynasties, wars, 

 and so forth). 



6. The elements of evolutionary science must be 

 learned in conjunction with cosmology, geology must 

 go with geography, and anthropology with biology. 



7. The first principles of biology must be familiar 

 to every educated man ; the modern training in 



