PART II 



EVENING DISCUSSION 



INTRODUCTORY REMARKS ON THE ORIGIN OF THIS 

 DISCUSSION 



SEVERAL newspapers expressed disapproval of the 

 arrangements made for the discussion on February 

 18th. In order to remove the misapprehension 

 existing on the subject, I propose to begin by giving 

 a short account of the circumstances that led up to 

 the discussion, although I need hardly say that I 

 have no intention of hurting any one's feelings. 1 



I was induced to allow the discussion to take 

 place because Professor Plate, a member of the 

 German Monistic Association, refused otherwise to 

 sanction the programme of my Berlin lectures. It 

 was originally proposed merely to hold a discussion, 

 but gradually the proposal developed into a plan for 

 devoting a whole evening to it. On January 25th, 

 1907, the programme was published, and with the 

 assent of the Committee the following general 

 rules were laid down for the debate to be held on 

 the evening of February 18th : ' Those who have 

 previously given notice to the undersigned (i.e. the 



1 I gave a short account in the Umschau (1907, No. 17, p. 288) of what 

 led to the evening discussion. 



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