June 29, 1900.] 



SCIENGK 



1025 



irig, M.A., Principal of the Cambridge Uni- 

 versity Day Training College, and S. S. F. 

 Fletcher, B.A., Ph.D., Master of Method in 

 the same institution. Although the book is 

 written especially for teachers, it is not a book 

 on education, save indirectly and incidentally. 

 Only one chapter deals directly with Education, 

 and elsewhere throughout the book, even the 

 word education is rarely used. 



But it should be said at once that the book is 

 none the worse for that. There are many books 

 — books on psychology, ethics, hygiene, for ex- 

 ample — which do not deal specifically with 

 education, yet no teacher can afford to dispense 

 with a serious study of the subjects of which 

 they treat. Mr. Wei ton's ' Logical Bases of 

 Education ' is such a book. At the same time, 

 the title is somewhat misleading. The reader 

 who expects to find here a logical, i. e. , a well- 

 reasoned discussion of the fundamental princi- 

 ples of education — of the scope and mean- 

 ing of the education of children and youth for 

 individual development and for social service — 

 will be disappointed. So also will the reader 

 who expects to find an exposition of the appli- 

 cation of logic to the processes of education, in 

 detail — to teaching and governing. 



It is only fair to say that the author had no in- 

 tention of meeting such expectations. His pur- 

 pose is stated in the first paragraph of his 

 preface : ' ' The aim of this book is to set forth 

 the rational bases of all true educational work. 

 It is believed that such bases can only be found 

 in those modern developments of logical theory 

 which have marked the latter half of this 

 century." In accordance with this purpose, 

 Mr. Welton's book is an elementary treatise 

 on epistemology and logic. It consists of 

 chapters on the ' General Nature of Knowl- 

 edge'; 'Postulates of Knowledge'; 'Know- 

 ledge and Language ' ; ' Knowledge and Logic ' ; 

 ' Nature of Judgment ' ; ' Types of Judgment ' ; 

 ' Formal Relations of Propositions ' ; ' The 

 Method of Knowledge '; ' Deductive Inference, 

 Syllogism, Construction'; 'Outline of Induc- 

 tive Method '; ' Observation '; ' Testimony ' ; 

 'Hypotheses'; ' Direct Development of Hypoth- 

 eses'; 'Indirect Verification of Hypotheses'; 

 'Definition, Classification and Explanation'; 

 'Logic and Education.' And these chapters 



are followed by fourteen pages of ' Exercises in 

 Inference'. There is also a serviceable index. 



The author's discussion of the topics enumer- 

 ated is clear and interesting. His only claim 

 to originality consists in the form in which the 

 materials are presented. The sources on which 

 he has drawn for inspiration and guidance, and 

 even for much of his subject-matter — for quota- 

 tions abound — are referred to in footnotes, and 

 these footnotes are very numerous. At the 

 same time it is clear that he has an independent 

 command of his subject ; and he has generally 

 chosen his authorities well. 



When Mr. Welton comes to discuss specific- 

 ally, in the last chapter, the bearing of logic on 

 education, we find him, very properly, caution- 

 ing the teacher against expecting to derive de- 

 tailed rules of procedure from logic any more 

 than from psychology. "Both sciences give 

 general guidance only. Psychology investi- 

 gates the forms of actual mental activity com- 

 mon amongst men and children, and, therefore, 

 a study of psychology aids the educator by 

 suggesting to him the best ways of awakening 

 such activity. Logic, on the other hand, is 

 regulative, and helps the educator to determine 

 the general lines on which such activity should 

 proceed to attain the goal of knowledge. . . . 

 But the subject matter of the thought and the 

 consequent character of the knowledge gained 

 by the pupils can be determined neither by 

 psychology nor by logic. . . . Logic warns us 

 to insist on sufllcient evidence ; but logic alone 

 cannot decide when the evidence is sufiicient." 



So much, in brief, for logic. ' ' The function 

 of education," Mr. Welton tells us, "is to lead 

 the child to find his true place and his true 

 work in the universe." Without stopping to 

 comment on the adequacy or inadequacy of this 

 definition of the function of education, or on 

 its full meaning, as stated, particularly on the 

 phrases ' true place ' and ' true work,' we may 

 assume that the definition is intended to cover 

 an education broad enough and deep enough to 

 meet the needs of individuals, both as individ- 

 uals and as members of a democratic society. 



To fulfill this function education must enable 

 every one to understand ' the universe, ' at least 

 to some extent; and further, "the universe 

 which a child must learn to understand is a 



