Chapter VII 



Introduction to a translation of the chapter upon instinct in 

 Von Hartmann's " Philosophy of the Unconscious." 



I AM afraid my readers will find the chapter on instinct 

 from Von Hartmann's " Philosophy of the Unconscious," 

 which will now follow, as distasteful to read as I did to 

 translate, and would gladly have spared it them if I could. 

 At present, the works of Mr. Sully, who has treated of the 

 " Philosophy of the Unconscious " both in the Westminster 

 Review (vol. xlix. n.s.) and in his work " Pessimism," are 

 the best source to which English readers can have recourse 

 for information concerning Von Hartmann. Giving him 

 all credit for the pains he has taken with an ungrateful, 

 if not impossible subject, I think that a sufficient sample 

 of Von Hartmann's own words will be a useful adjunct 

 to Mr. Sully's work, and may perhaps save some readers 

 trouble by resolving them to look no farther into the 

 " Philosophy of the Unconscious." Over and above 

 this, I have been so often told that the views concerning 

 unconscious action contained in the foregoing lecture 

 and in " Life and Habit " are only the very fallacy of 

 Von Hartmann over again, that I should like to give the 

 public an opportunity of seeing whether this is so or no, 

 by placing the two contending theories of unconscious 

 action side by side. I hope that it will thus be seen that 

 neither Professor Hering nor I have fallen into the fallacy 

 of Von Hartmann, but that rather Von Hartmann has 

 fallen into his fallacy through failure to grasp the principle 

 which Professor Hering has insisted upon, and to connect 

 heredity with memory. 

 Professor Hering's philosophy of the unconscious is of 



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