Influence of Science Upon German Literature. 
57 
century has been an endeavor to explain the origin of the universe 
and of animate and inanimate nature with their development from 
their primitive beginnings to their present state. In order to show 
the influence these investigations have exerted upon literature, it 
vill be necessary to review briefly the results at least of those in- 
vestigations and touch upon the theories advanced to explain world 
riddles. No opinion as to their value will he given, inasmuch as 
the influence of said theories will be about the same whether they 
themselves be true or false. (As this is only an abstract, this part 
will be omitted here, and will appear in the full article to be pub- 
lished later.) 
Thus the enigmas, according to Haeckel, are reduced to one, but 
a most important one, the problem of matter. What is nature or 
universe which the ideal philosopher calls matter or cosmos, and the 
pious believer, creator or God? Is the problem solved by science, 
or have we only moved a step nearer its solution? We (Haeckel et 
al.) concede that we stand today just as uninitiated into the mys- 
teries of the innermost essence of nature, just as ignorant as Anaxi- 
mander and Empedocles 2400 years ago, as Spinoza and Newton 
200 years ago, as Kant and Goethe 100 years ago. We may even 
confess that the real essence of substance becomes even more won- 
derful and enigmatical the deeper we penetrate into its attributes, 
matter and energy, the more profoundly we become acquainted with 
its innumerable phenomenal forms and their development. What the 
thing per se hidden behind the known phenomena is we do not even 
know today. The fact that matter is subject everywhere to a per- 
petual motion and transformation makes it a universal law of de- 
velopment. This leads to the universal unity of nature and to the 
eternal force of nature’s law. From the dark problem of matter 
the clear law of matter has been evolved. 
Thus concludes Haeckel and the problem of life, of soul, of the 
world, of God is still a problem to science. Faith alone has solved 
it in God, soul, immortality, which arise from no emotional needs 
of the religiously inclined, but from the rational need of the sci- 
entific man. For God as an idea belongs not in the sphere of religion, 
but of science. But since science has failed to satisfy our longings 
for a solution of these enigmas, let us turn to philosophy for hope 
and consolation. For it has worked hand in hand with science in 
its efforts to solve these world-enigmas and its contributions have 
not been at all insignificant. We have already mentioned Spinoza 
and Kant and will, therefore, only give a short summary of the 
various philosophers down to Nietzsche, referring to the fuller ar- 
ticle for a more extended account. 
