September 17, 1886.] 



SCIENCE. 



265 



doctrine of evolution is, untU he has had an ob- 

 jective study in at least some narrow field of 

 research. 



The new questions and accessory principles 

 which are rapidly sprtuging up about the central 

 doctrines of evolution are pretty well set forth in 

 the seventh chapter, entitled ' More recent at- 

 tempts to explain evolution.' 



The last chapter is on the evolution of man, 

 and it is altogether unsatisfactory. It seems to 

 have been written as a logical complement to a 

 work on animal evolution, but it deals rather 

 more with moral and metaphysical speculations 

 than with the facts of the science. So far as it 

 treats of human evolution, aside from its specula- 

 tions, it refers simply to the animal man in his 

 zoologic relations. Human evolution, that is, 

 the development of those characteristics which 

 make man man, — the growth of human activi- 

 ties, — is ignored, and yet this is the largest sub- 

 ject in the literature of the world, embracing, as 

 it does, the evolution of arts, the origin and de- 

 velopment of institutions, languages, philosophies, 

 or opinions, and all modern scientific psychology. 



But a very small part of human evolution is 

 embraced in theories of man and monkey kinship. 

 The origin and growth of the humanities, i.e., 

 those things which characterize humanity, have 

 always been the subject of history ; and all his- 

 tory is now in process of reconstruction upon a 

 sounder theory than any which has hitherto ob- 

 tained, and every writer in his own field postu- 

 lates evolution by discussing the origin and devel- 

 opment of the art, the institution, the language, 

 the philosophy, or the psychic operation of which 

 he treats. J. W. Powell. 



SIDG WICK'S HISTORY OF ETHICS. 



This little book by Professor Sidgwick is a re- 

 print of his article on ethics in the ' Encyclopaedia 

 Britannica,' with considerable alterations and ad- 

 ditions. As originally published in the encyclo- 

 paedia, it was necessarily quite condensed in style, 

 and it still retains that character to a great ex- 

 tent, thus presenting a much greater quantity of 

 matter than is usually found in books of the same 

 size. 



The work is designed especially for students, 

 and it seems to us admirably adapted to its pur- 

 pose. The compression of the style is perhaps a 

 defect from a literary point of view, but this is of 

 little consequence in a text-book. The work is 

 divided into three parts, treating of Greco-Roman, 

 Christian, and modern ethics respectively. It is 

 evidently based, as the author himself says, on 



Outlines of the history of ethics for English readers. By 

 Hknry Sidgwick. London, Macmillan, 1886. 12°. 



a thorough study of the original authors, only 

 certain small portions, chiefly in part ii., being 

 written at second-hand. It is marked, too, by 

 almost perfect impartiality, — a merit of the first 

 order in an historical work, but at the same time 

 one seldom found in so high a degree. The author 

 has been engaged in controversy with many ethi- 

 cal writers, and it might have been thought that 

 a history of ethics from his pen would partake of 

 the same character. On the contrary, it is de- 

 voted almost exclusively to the work of exposi- 

 tion, with only occasional criticisms when they 

 seemed really required to point out serious defects 

 in the systems described. 



In the first part, attention is mainly directed to 

 the three great ethical philosophers of ancient 

 Greece, — Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle ; and, 

 though less than fifty pages are devoted to them, 

 their modes of thought, their leading doctrines, 

 and their relations to each other, are very clearly 

 brought out. The author also traces the connec- 

 tion betv^een aU the Greek ethical systems, and 

 shows in an interesting way "how, from the 

 spring of Socratic conversation, flowed the di- 

 vergent streams of Greek ethical thought." The 

 second part of the book is much shorter than 

 either of the others, as it should be ; for, whatever 

 may have been the influence of Christianity on 

 practical morality, it can hardly be said to have 

 contributed much to ethical philosophy. In treat- 

 ing of modern ethics. Professor Sidgwick confines 

 himself in the main to English philosophers, on 

 the ground that his work is intended for English 

 readers, and that English ethical thought has 

 developed itself, for the most part, independently 

 of foreign influence ; to which he might have 

 added, that English ethical philosophy is by far 

 the most important that has appeared in the world 

 in modern times. The doctrines of the various 

 English philosophers are briefly but clearly out- 

 lined, and special care is taken to point out the 

 positive contributions of each thinker to the ethi- 

 cal thought of the world. Professor Sidgwick's 

 book can be heartily commended to all who wish 

 for information on the important and fascinating 

 subject of which it treats. 



THE PSYCHOLOGY OF REASONING. 

 M. BiNET, a prominent member of the Society 

 of physiological psychology in Paris, has been 

 busy for many years in experimenting upon 

 hypnotic subjects, who seem to be so abundant 

 and interesting in France. He has formed one of 

 a small band of workers, with Charcot as their 



La psychologie du raisonnement, recherches experimen- 

 talesparVhypnotisme. Par Alfred Binet. Paris, Bailliere, 

 886. 12». 



