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SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXVII. No. 960 



and systems upon systems, moreover, into 

 limitless ages of tlieir periodic motion, its 

 origin and duration. The second begins with 

 my invisible Self, my personality, and repre- 

 sents me as standing in a world which has true 

 Infinity, but is accessible only to Eeason." 

 Each of these problems, in turn, splits into 

 several parts. Therefore, Dr. Merz proclaims : 

 " I am not primarily interested in expounding 

 the different philosophical systems, -but rather 

 in tracing the leading ideas which have sur- 

 vived these systems themselves and become the 

 common property of the philosophical mind at 

 the present day. ... As we saw that the scien- 

 tific activity of the century resulted in the 

 firm establishment of a small number of lead- 

 ing conceptions, so I shall now endeavor to 

 show how the huge and frequently conflicting 

 philosophical literature has left behind it a 

 small body of guiding ideas which form the 

 enduring bequest of nineteenth-century spec- 

 ulation " (pp. 39^1). Hence, "looking at the 

 different national interests which promoted 

 philosophical thought in the three countries 

 [i. e., England, Germany and France], we are 

 led to a first division of this great subject 

 which is given by the terms psychological, 

 metaphysical and positive" (pp. 45-46). Be- 

 sides this, there is the sphere of individual be- 

 liefs and convictions which " have quite as 

 much the right to be regarded as facts as any 

 more definite, scientific or historical knowl- 

 edge " (p. 53). The latter are to be treated in 

 Vol. IV., and again in six chapters: Of the 

 Beautiful; Of the Good; Of the Spirit; Of 

 Society ; Of Systems of Philosophy ; and " will 

 close with a summary of the general outcome 

 of Philosophical Thought during the Nine- 

 teenth Century" (p. vi). Of the former, now 

 before us, but one seems to call for further 

 comment, the rest are self-explanatory. In 

 these days, what does Dr. Merz mean by " Of 

 the Soul " ? He answers : " I have headed this 

 first chapter which deals with a definite philo- 

 sophical problem : ' Of the Soul.' I might 

 have chosen several other words which would 

 have equally introduced us into that portion 

 of philosophical literature with which I am 

 now concerned. . . . That I nevertheless pre- 



fer to speak of the soul and not of the human 

 mind or human nature, may be justified by 

 the fact that the word soul introduces us at 

 once to a historical discussion which took 

 place in the middle of the century in Ger- 

 many, and which may be considered to mark 

 one of the great changes that have come over 

 our way of regarding all questions connected 

 with the mental life. What was called at the 

 time ' Die Seelenfrage ' occupied the foremost 

 place in philosophical discussions carried on 

 both by philosophers and naturalists. . . . 

 It seems appropriate to start the history of 

 philosophical thought with an account of the 

 problems which center in the word soul " (pp. 

 196-199). 



Thanks to limits of space and to the fact 

 that technical criticism of philosophy is out of 

 place here, I must content myself with a few 

 summary remarks about the contents of the 

 book. The introductory chapter offers an ad- 

 mirable review of the temperamental differ- 

 ences between science and philosophy, and of 

 the conditions that governed reflective thought 

 throughout last century; while the chapter on 

 the critical spirit is the best synopsis of the 

 historical sciences within my knowledge. See- 

 ing that the scientific and critical movements 

 are the twin intellectual achievements of mod- 

 ern thought, and that the one can not be 

 understood apart from the other, this distilled 

 statement should prove most illuminating to 

 all workers in the physical and biological 

 fields. 



Turning to the philosophical chapters, the 

 point of view may be hinted. It is sufficient to 

 say, perhaps, that Dr. Merz deems Lotze the 

 most typical and discriminating thinker of 

 the age. Consequently, he tends to pivot 

 German thought upon the Gottingen professor 

 and, as a sequel, to lay much stress upon 

 Renouvier for French and Professor James 

 Ward for English philosophy. Seeing that 

 Renouvier has not dominated French thought 

 at any time, and that Dr. Ward has never 

 wielded such influence in Britain as Green, 

 the Cairds, Wallace and Bradley, this view 

 seems difficult to maintain. Despite Lotze's 

 failure to found a " school " in Germany, Dr. 



