Chapter VII: Part 7

So too in the conflict between the metaphysics of ethics and the practical postulates, wherein the great philosopher displayed so much ingenuity, Professor Jodl is unable to distinguish Kant's position very sharply from that of the English intellectualists when in a similar plight. Not that the idea of the practical postulates is valueless; this Professor Jodl afterwards explains. Our historian merely shows that Kant had not yet gotten clear of the ancient conflict that had agitated the Schoolmen of the Middle Ages as well as the utilitarian and rationalistic theologians of more modern times. Yet despite the mysticism that inheres in Kant's argument for the practical existence of God, the kernel of the truth he emphasises in the alliance of ethics with religion still remains; namely that religious ideas are essentially ethical, that in this relation only have they meaning, and that religious ideas which are ethically valueless are to be uncompromisingly discarded.

Especial attention should be called to Professor Jodl's estimate of Feuerbach, whose merits have been strangely neglected. Feuerbach's ethical system, in perfect form, has not been independently set forth in his works, but is intermingled with the subjects dealt with in his religious treatises. Yet he left few of the fundamental questions of ethics untouched and his works contain a great store of most excellent and pertinent thoughts which must be characterised, says our author, in the widest sense of the term, as the real foundation in ethics of modern scientific empiricism.

With regard to the presentment of English and French ethical philosophy, Professor Jodl's work, it is claimed, is the first historical exposition in the German language of this special department of thought in its connection with the universal intellectual progress of these two countries. His analysis of Bentham and Mill is very accurate and full.

Professor Jodl exhibits an extensive acquaintance with English philosophical literature; indeed, he has even discovered the little book known as "Kant's Ethics," by Dr. Noah Porter, whom he calls the "Nestor" of American philosophy.

Unity of execution, and the skilful employment of historical perspective in dealing with the various phases of ethical thought, may be characterised as prominent merits of Professor Jodl's performance. In the books of its class it stands unique.

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ETHIK. Eine Darstellung der ethischen Principien und deren Anwendung
auf besondere Lebensverhältnisse. By Dr. _Harald Höffding_,
Professor an der Universität zu Kopenhagen. Unter Mitwirkung des
Verfassers aus dem Dänischen übersetzt von F. Benedixen. Leipsic:
1888.

Harald Höffding, Professor at the University of Copenhagen, is a representative thinker among ethical scholars. Unhesitatingly he takes his stand upon the real facts of life and attempts to construct a system of ethics which shall be a science among the other sciences. Professor Höffding says in his preface:

"If we see the snow-covered peaks of a mountain range from a far distance, they seem to hover in the air. Not until we approach do we discover plainly that they rest upon solid ground. It is the same with ethical principles. In the first enthusiasm one imagines that a place should be assigned to them above the reality of nature and life. On further reflection and after a longer experience, which must perhaps be dearly bought, we discover that the ethical principles can regulate life only if they have really proceeded from life."

Professor Höffding is in a certain sense a utilitarian. The influence of utilitarian systems upon his mode of thought can be traced throughout the whole work, and it is this influence perhaps to which the Danish Professor owes his positive standpoint as well as the scientific method of his procedure. Nevertheless he differs from the ordinary utilitarian school and prefers to characterise his system as an ethics of general welfare. He says:

"The so-called utilitarianism,—that ethical conception which has been founded mainly by Bentham,—has the merit of having for the first time energetically propounded the principle of welfare. Yet Bentham has detracted from his cause by proceeding from a psychological theory which considers consciousness as a sum of ideas and feelings, and dissolves society into a number of individuals. The import of pleasurable and painful feelings for the continuous and general welfare cannot be established by a mere process of calculation." (P. 37.)

Professor Höffding opens the first chapter of his work with the following sentence:

"Ethical judgments contain a valuation of human actions.... The criterion of the ethical valuation is the contents of ethics."

If life consisted of isolated sovereign moments, every one of them would have an equal right, and no one would be obliged to resign in favor of any other moment. No valuation, no discrimination would be required. But the life of each individual, as well as the life of society, makes up a "life-totality," and we possess a conception of this life-totality. "If the state of feeling in a single moment agrees with the conception of the life-totality, a new feeling arises which is determined by this mutual relation.... The ethical valuation is conditioned by this feeling." (p. 27.) Taking this ground, Professor Höffding defines good and bad in the following way:

"'Good' accordingly becomes that which preserves the life-totality and gives fulness and life to its contents; 'bad,' on the contrary, that which has more or less the tendency to dissolve or to limit the life-totality and its contents. Bad accordingly is the single moment, the separate impulse in its revolutionary isolation from the rest of life...." (P. 29.)

"The Bad, therefore, is egotism in its various degrees and various forms. And the verdict about it will be the severer the more conscious this egotism is."

Utilitarianism as a rule has been hedonistic. Utilitarians have proposed as the criterion of an ethical valuation the consequences of an act; if the consequences give more pleasure than pain, it is said to be good; if they are attended with more pain than pleasure, it is said to be bad. In the above quoted definitions by Prof. Höffding there is no trace of hedonism, and I should consider an ethical system based upon these definitions as being in strong opposition to hedonism. But Prof. Höffding appears to have been so strongly biased by the influence of hedonistic utilitarianism, that he introduces again its fundamental idea, which identifies the good with the pleasurable. Although he objects to employing the terms "utility" and "happiness," "because they are liable to lead to misunderstandings and have indeed done so"; although he declares that "momentary feelings of pleasure and pain are no sure criterion for the total state" (p. 37); although for such reasons he proposes the word welfare, saying, "by the word 'welfare' I think of everything which serves to satisfy the wants of human nature in its whole entirety": still Prof. Höffding again returns to hedonism by limiting the idea "welfare" to the hedonistic conception of goodness. He defines welfare as "a continuous state of pleasurable feelings." (P. 98.)

Thus we are presented with two definitions of what constitutes the criterion of an ethical valuation: (1) that which promotes the life-totality, and (2) that which produces a continuous state of pleasurable feeling.

These two definitions are in many respects harmonious, but on the other hand they may come into conflict; and if they come into conflict, which of the two is to be sacrificed? Supposing that a contemplation of the evolution of organised life should teach us that the development of a "life-totality" is not at all a pleasurable process; that on the contrary it is attended with excessive and innumerable pains. Inorganic nature so far as we can judge is free from pain. The isolated atom, we may assume, exists in a state of indifference. Supposing now that pain could be proved to increase, the higher we rise in the development of a life-totality; supposing that the growth of a life-totality had to be bought with pain, what would be the consequence? I will not here enter into the subject, but I may mention that this supposition is not at all without foundation. Assuming that it were so, would not, in such a case, the good be as Schopenhauer, Hartmann, and Mainlaender propose, that which destroys the life-totality of consciousness and with it the whole world of civilised humanity, built up of the innumerable consciousnesses of individuals?

Professor Höffding has seen this difficulty, which arises from a conflict of the two criteria of ethical valuation (1) the hedonistic principle and (2) the principle of progress, i. e., the constant evolution of a higher life-totality. He says:

"John Stuart Mill has declared that it is better to be a dissatisfied man than a satisfied pig, a dissatisfied Socrates than a satisfied fool. He bases this assertion upon the fact that even if the pig and the fool were of a contrary mind, their opinion would have to be rejected, since they possess no knowledge of the higher point of view from which man and Socrates consider life, whereas man knows the needs of the pig and Socrates fathoms the fool. We most be regulated by the judgment of those that know the two kinds of needs in question and that are consequently able to institute an estimation of the value of the same.

"But I feel obliged to put in a word for the pig and the fool. The difficulty is greater than Mill imagines. Man, it is true, knows all the wants of the pig, and it would not be difficult for a Socrates to comprehend those of the fool. But man does not have the wants of the pig, nor Socrates those of the fool, as his _sole and only dominant_ wants. And yet this is the very circumstance that determines the matter. Man cannot transform himself into a pig without ceasing to be a man, and a Socrates will hardly be able so to identify himself with a fool as to lose completely his Socratic wants. If, now, the pig can attain the _complete_ satisfaction of all _his_ wants, is not his happiness greater than that of man whose desires and whose longings are never wholly satisfied? And the fool, who does not nourish many thoughts and makes no great demands upon life, is he not happier than Socrates who spends his whole life in striving to know himself and to stimulate others, only finally to declare that death is really preferable to life?"

Professor Höffding's solution of the difficulty is summed up in the following paragraph:

"Welfare is an illusion if we understand by it a passive condition of things, created once for all. It must consist in _action_, work, development. Rest can only mean a termination for the time being, the attainment of a new level, upon which it is possible for a new course of development to proceed."

Thus it appears that Professor Höffding decides in favor of the second principle. The evolution of the life-totality is considered higher than a continuous state of pleasurable feeling. Nevertheless Professor Höffding adds:

"On that account, however, we are not obliged to retract our first definition of welfare as that of a continuous state of pleasurable feeling. That which must be rejected is only the notion of a passive state."

Truly, as Professor Höffding says, "the difficulty is greater than Mr. Mill imagined." The difficulty is great enough to undermine the whole basis upon which welfare is defined as "a state of continuous pleasurable feeling." If, as Professor Höffding declares, welfare is to be interpreted as activity, work, development; if this kind of active welfare is the greatest good, whatever admixture of pain and whatever absence of pleasurable feeling it may have; if the greatest amount of a state of continuous pleasurable feeling is not welfare in an ethical sense, what becomes of the utilitarian definition of welfare as pleasurable feeling? If, however, welfare is "the state of a continuous pleasurable feeling," how can we declare that the life of a pessimistic philosopher is preferable to that of a joyful fool?

Must not the ultimate reason of this conflict be sought in Professor Höffding's statement that—

"The proposition of a purpose presupposes in the subject which makes the proposition feelings of pleasure and displeasure." (P. 30.)

Should we not rather say that the proposition of a purpose presupposes an expression of _will_ in the subject which makes the proposition? Wherever there is will, there is also approval and disapproval, but approval is not always pleasurable and disapproval is not always attended with displeasure. Does it not often happen that we cannot help disapproving of things which please us?

We have mainly limited our review to some topics of the first division entitled "The Conditions of Ethics," because we have regarded them as most important in a representation of the ethical principles. The doubts we have raised as to the consistency of the author are less noticeable in the remaining chapters, which contain an unusual store of ideas presented with great lucidity. The doctrine of the freedom of will is excellently treated (chap. v.). Social ethics, family life, marriage, the position of woman, and the education of children are separately and exhaustively discussed, and there is no chapter which even if we cannot always give assent to the author's views, does not richly repay a careful perusal.

P. C.

KURZGEFASSTE LOGIK UND PSYCHOLOGIE. By _Dr. K. Kroman_. Translated from
the second edition of the Original by F. Bendixen. Leipsic: O. R.
Reisland.

Dr. Kroman is professor of philosophy at the University of Copenhagen. He has sought to present in this book of three hundred and eighty nine pages the elements of Logic and Psychology. The work was principally intended for the use of the general reader and the beginner, although its author hopes it will not be altogether without interest to the specialist, and that it will find its way into the schools of pedagogy (the subject of the art of education being also incidentally dealt with in its pages).

Dr. Kroman's method of presentation is concise and lucid; the elements of logic occupy but some one hundred and four pages, and form a good introduction to the common phases of that science.

But his psychology is, from our standpoint, more open to objection; or rather his philosophy. He says: "Unless we assume the law of causation, research is impossible; but assuming this, it is impossible to stop with states of consciousness, we must assume a subject and _real_ objects." What Dr. Kroman means by _real_ is seen from the following. "Our senses give us knowledge only of _properties_ of things, not of _things_. We do not perceive the apple, but only its form, color, etc. But all these sensations thus derived form an interconnected whole; and the law of causality forces us to the assumption of a _thing_ behind these sensory manifestations. Yet, our belief that we know this _thing in itself_ has only a practical value; in reality it is an unknown quantity. It is a single point, a nucleus, of which _direct and positive_ knowledge is unobtainable; yet exist it must if our assumption of the law of causation is to be upheld." Thus Dr. Kroman shows in an admirable manner how our everyday conceptual life _is_ formed; but it is the office of philosophy, in our view, to point out how this same conceptual life _should be_ formed. However, Dr. Kroman supplements this explanation—which we have much abbreviated—by considerations that lead one to believe that he seeks only to demonstrate the reality of existence and has collaterally accepted the doctrine of the independent, 'outside' thing in itself. We may refer our readers, regarding this question, to Prof. Mach's article in this number of _The Monist_.

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EINLEITUNG IN DIE PSYCHOLOGIE NACH KRITISCHER METHODE. By _Paul
Natorp_. Freiburg: J. C. Mohr.

In this exhaustive monograph Dr. Paul Natorp does not deal with psychology itself, but proceeding from a number of novel points of view he opens up the road by which the principles of psychology may be reached. The author frankly assumes that psychology even as yet has not absolutely and clearly defined its own _fundamental problem_, and that this is chiefly the reason why we still disagree concerning the significance and value of many of the results of psychology. Before we approach the solution of the special problems, psychology _itself_ must be laid down as a problem. The author, therefore, in the first part of his introductory task has sought to indicate the _objects_ of psychology,—namely, what it will and rationally can pursue; and in the second part, he points out, the only correct _method_ according to which psychology can accomplish its aims.

Since Descartes, says our author, real and possible consciousness constitutes the true limits of the province of psychic research, the fundamental problem of psychology, and the characteristic distinction between the old and new philosophy. But, in order to find out, whether this tendency of the new philosophy has been entirely successful, it will be necessary to examine more closely the nature of the fundamental psychic phenomenon, and the problem that it involves.

In the fact of consciousness we can distinguish several elements which really are inseparable, but which in the study of the problem ought to be separated. There is the content of which one is conscious, and secondly, the consciousness thereof, or its relation to the ego; and, by a further abstraction, this relation itself might be distinguished from the total fact of consciousness. The relation to the ego, in ever varied contents, is one and the same; it makes up both the common and specific element of consciousness, and as the third abstract element of consciousness (Bewusstsein) it might aptly be called self-consciousness (Bewusstheit). The ego, being a common point of relation to all contents of consciousness, cannot itself become the content of consciousness, because it represents a contrast to any idea of content. We do not correctly conceive consciousness as a thing, a cause, a force, an explanatory principle, but simply as a phenomenon—the fundamental phenomenon of psychology. We thereupon ask, what contains this phenomenon, and by what is it characterised? It is, above all, characterised by _subjective_ experience. This denotes, that it is _I_ who am conscious of a content. The reflective expression "I am conscious" implies a "subject" that is conscious. Without this reflective relation to the ego, consciousness no longer conveys any meaning. Consciousness denotes _self_-consciousness. This reflective relation is therefore the only distinctive mark of all conscious phenomena.

Content we call anything that can be related to the ego. In the language adopted by psychologists, a feeling or a desire can also be regarded as content of consciousness. But our investigation cannot proceed beyond this reflective relation. If we attempt a _representation_ of the ego, we should turn it into _object_, and we should have ceased to regard it as _ego_. The ego is never an object—not even to itself.

It is not denied, that in every consciousness there can be distinguished two elements—the existence of a content, and its relation to the ego; but it is denied, that this relation can be made objective, even to itself. This correctly describes the character of consciousness, as content and activity, and moreover, precisely delimits the domain of the psychical and determines the _positive_ task of psychology. Those, who assume a consciousness of consciousness, ought logically to admit the consciousness of a consciousness of consciousness, etc.; as indeed some metaphysicians have done.

It may be maintained, however, that the distinction of the activities of consciousness, of sensation, representation, and thinking, is indispensable in psychology; but, at any rate, there are no different _kinds_, or even degrees or stages of consciousness. The consciousness of any simple sensation in kind is not different from the consciousness of a world; the factor of consciousness in both is the same; the difference lies exclusively in the content. This also applies to clear and obscure consciousness.

In order to determine the positive task of psychology, we ought to discover in every content and in every repeated act of consciousness, a certain common characteristic. Perception, as such, does not constitute consciousness, but merely denotes the presence of a multiple content; apperception, on the other hand, indicates only consciousness in the definite sense of a "unity" of that multiple content. This unity of consciousness properly does not appear, or only appears in the connection of the contents. That peculiarity of consciousness which we call apperception, is psychologically only apparent in the contents of consciousness; it does not constitute an object of psychology, but forms only its extreme limits. The common characteristic of every content of consciousness is therefore really to be found in the _connection_ (Verbindung) in which the simple contents are represented in the repeated acts of consciousness. This connection exists only subjectively, irrespective of all objective meaning or value.

The existence of phenomena purely as phenomena, their subjective existence irrespective of object, constitutes their psychic existence or that side of the phenomenon from which it becomes an object of psychological research. Under this head come all those phenomena to which science denies an objective value: illusions of the senses, mental hallucinations, and the normal non-scientific representations of things, the creations of the imagination in music and in art, the entire subjective life of feeling and of aspiration, regarded only as a particularly characteristic association of representation, irrespective of all objective truth, which lies beyond the limits of psychology as such.

The characteristic, accordingly, is found in the _unity_ in which the content represents itself in the single or reiterated acts of consciousness. In each act of consciousness the content is simply present, and no time is distinguished. When we distinguish time, a plurality of consciousness also must be distinguished. It may seem difficult to understand how two or more original acts of consciousness are again united into one act; but in reality this takes place. The idea of unity is thus enlarged, and becomes the consciousness of a multiplicity, the necessary unity of a multiple, a successive connection in time, and a simultaneous connection. All consciousness (representation) depends on connection, as is indirectly shown by trying to discover whether the elementary contents of consciousness can be represented in absolute isolation.

Abstract consciousness is thus found to be the relation of given contents to an ego, and connection constitutes the manner in which a multiple content appears or is represented in the reiterated relation to one and the same ego. Connection is the _concrete expression_ of that relation itself, through which consciousness attains its definite and positive value. Abstract consciousness seems poor, but the multiplicity of a definite connection of contents affords a vast field of psychological research, for on that connection depends the concrete significance of the ego, which to us is not subject in general, but above all, is our own particular subject.

And finally at this point there spontaneously arises the question of a theory of the psychic phenomena. Every theory essentially presupposes an _objective_ tendency, while consciousness, as the expression of the purest _subjectivity_ of phenomena, cannot be rendered objective. It clearly follows, therefore, that the _method_ of psychology must be radically different from all methods of the objective sciences.

γνλν

DER GENIALE MENSCH. By _Cesare Lombroso_. German Translation
by Dr. M. O. Fraenkel. Hamburg: Verlagsanstalt und
Druckerei-Actien-Gesellschaft (vormals J. F. Richter).

The French edition of Lombroso's "Man of Genius" has already appeared. The work is introduced by a preface written by M. Charles Richet, which reviews the subject with great clearness. All in all, this is an admirable book, well stocked with interesting facts and incidents, and well adapted to obtain a large number of readers outside of scientific circles. There is necessarily a dearth of abundant and well-authenticated facts in this subject,—historians until lately not having occupied themselves with the psychological phases of life; and accordingly there is great danger in universal generalisation from those that we have. This, however, Prof. Lombroso has recognised.

Genius, the author claims, is a variety of psychosis, an instance of degeneration. Degeneration of certain parts is the condition of the acquisition of others; thus the loss of a number of ribs and muscles, of a tail, etc., has in man been compensated by the acquisition and development of the brain; and so in the genius the possession of very great intellectual or emotional faculties has been counterbalanced by the loss of equilibrium in the other parts. Moreover, there are no exceptions in nature; the occurrence of insanity, abnormalities, and eccentricities in a few cases leads us inevitably to the conclusion that there are correspondent defects in all others. And this we find to be true in all historical instances. Popular speech and tradition have identified genius and demency: in Hebrew and Sanskrit the words prophet and insane are synonymous; and so we have the proverbs—'Children and fools speak the truth,' 'Un fol avise bien un sage,' 'Saepe etiam est morio valde opportune locutus.' The line of demarcation between the two is hardly traceable. Genius is the exception, a deviation from the common type of humanity, and nature avenges the aberration by denying it permanency and inflicting upon it abnormality. Whether degeneration or progression, genius is unusual and unstable. But one thing distinguishes genius from mental alienation, and it is this—that genius possesses the power of inhibition, of concentration, of _critique_, and far-sightedness, while demency has no control of the ideas it has formed; both possess the swift and unerring power of origination; the one can command what it has originated, the other cannot.

It must be admitted that the method employed for the verification of this thesis, is not absolutely safe. Wherever an eccentricity in a man of genius is found, it is accredited to psychosis, even though the genius in question be upon the whole more normal than the average "normal" man; as, for instance, Goethe. If the same method were applied to all men, would not normality be the exception and abnormality the rule?

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DAS BEWUSSTSEIN UND SEIN OBJECT. By _Dr. Joh. Wolff_, Professor of
Philosophy at the University of Freiburg (Switzerland). Berlin:
Mayer & Müller.

This is a huge closely printed volume of six hundred and twenty pages. It is the enlargement and development of a treatise offered several years ago to the faculty of the University of Bonn, upon application by Dr. Wolff for a University instructorship, and contains the results of the author's thoughts and researches since that time upon the subject there dealt with.

Among many valuable isolated speculations and suggestions, we find fundamental theses with which it is impossible for us to agree. Thus, Dr. Wolff says that when he speaks of soul he means 'a substance, a substratum, a vehicle, a cause of psychical phenomena, and not a phenomenon or sum of phenomena'; and he says it is no more a pre-judgment or prejudice on _his_ part to begin with this thesis than it is on the part of those who hold a different view to begin with the opposed one,—in fact less so, since he starts from the notion which all men hold in common, while the others do not.

Does the mathematician, in propounding a new method, or a physicist in explaining an unsolved problem, proceed from the mathematical and physical notions all men hold in common? And if the soul is made an object of scientific research, why should an exception be made of _it_? It is not so much what we begin with as what we end with, and it is perhaps superfluous to say that Dr. Wolff has ended where he began—with the simplicity, the substantiality, the unity, and the permanency of the ego.

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PHILOSOPHY IN AMERICAN COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES.

We had originally intended, in this first number of _The Monist_, to present to our readers a comprehensive statement of the courses announced by American Universities in the departments of Philosophy, Ethics, and Psychology; first, in order to supply students proposing to pursue these studies and others interested, with information at first-hand, and secondly to give the non-academic world, which is considerable, an insight into what our higher professional schools are doing in these branches.

Since then _The American Journal of Psychology_ has published a very full and gratifying account of the state of psychological research in our Universities, made up of the reports of the professors at the head of these departments; and we therefore refer our readers for information regarding this branch to the article entitled "Psychology in American Universities," published in Vol. III, No. 2, of that ably-conducted magazine.

It was also difficult to obtain the required information: most of our professors, in the last few months, having been absent from the university towns.

But reports from the most representative universities in different parts of the country have been obtained. They are intended merely to exhibit the general nature and extent of philosophical instruction in America and do not profess to be complete.

* * * * *

A review of the Registers, Catalogues, and Programmes of a large number of our colleges has led us to the conviction that the acquiring in America of a broad philosophical training is not the fault of the _professions_ of our academical authorities. The courses offered are set forth in our college catalogues at very great length; they are very exhaustive; and their specification is accompanied with analyses of the work of the various departments and with bibliographical schedules that in point of thoroughness leave nothing to be desired. This fulness of exposition is noticeable in all the departments.

But under the obligatory system of study, the separate departments, or rather the professions of the separate departments, must certainly conflict: and the question arises in the mind of the observing outsider, To which is justice done?

And, except where a specialty is exclusively followed, wherein under the professed conditions, does the elective system differ from the obligatory? Only that in the one case, the student is made the author of his embarrassment, and in the other the victim of it. However, in the absence of a decided educational sentiment in our nation, and in the lack of a uniformity of opinion as to what must be _demanded_ of our schools instead of a submissive acquiescence in what they give us, the question whether a college has fulfilled what it has professed, must be left to the faithful individual student who is forced to devote the best years of his life to the solution of it. It seems impossible to determine it otherwise. And yet, except in the case of our foremost institutions, to which all of us cannot go, this is true.

We have observed, too, that the extension of the departments of philosophy proper is not keeping pace with that of many other departments—as, for instance, the departments of history and economics.

Perhaps this is inevitable; the last-mentioned sciences having been until of late very much neglected.

But the tendency threatens to overbalance the curriculum; and where pretensions to universality are made, it is not justified.

On the other hand, the firm hold that experimental psychology has obtained in some of our foremost schools, is gratifying; though enthusiasm may also lead too far in this direction.

Lack of co-operation in cognate branches is, with very few notable exceptions, universal. Preparatory training is not emphasised. At least, where so much is said of the character and method of instruction, and where the elective system prevails, we should expect some mention of it. But it is not found.

Philosophy would seem to be something that is to be obtained only in the lecture-rooms of the "philosophical department," and in most cases it is sought nowhere else. The study of Mathematics, Physics, Natural Science, and Philology, is greatly neglected. Philosophy becomes an aim and a means in itself, and the student at the close of his course often discovers himself in the quest of philosophy, but with no means of finding it.

This necessity of co-operation has been fully recognised, for instance, at Harvard. "When a student applies for Honors," says Professor Palmer, "we require from him not merely an acquaintance with technical philosophy but _also with the subjects most nearly adjacent to the special philosophical field he has chosen_."

And so it is in other of our advanced and enlightened schools. Yet in the majority of cases, the _foundations_ of philosophical culture are not insisted upon, but left to chance and the uncertainties of a universal elective curriculum.

Lastly, philosophy at some institutions exhibits a sectarian and theological complexion.

This, one thinks, might be left to the theological seminaries. But it is not.

We have Baptist Philosophy, and Presbyterian Philosophy, and denominational philosophies of divers other descriptions.

A president of a prominent Eastern University, (a gentleman to whom the philosophic spirit of this country is greatly indebted for inspiration and expansion,) has taken,—let it be remarked in this connection,—a much more liberal step, and urged the necessity of establishing a school of _American_ Philosophy.

This is laudable; and in harmony with the present resuscitation of American patriotism in——matters of learning.

It was this spirit that dictated the witty proposition of a Chicago gentleman to found a "school" of American _Geometry_.

* * * * *

We hope that the appended syllabuses of courses in philosophy will afford a general idea of the scope of philosophical teaching in America. The professors who have supplied us with the information we requested, we thank for their courtesy and obligingness.

UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN.

The Philosophical Courses of the University of Michigan may be conveniently classified under three heads:—

I. BEGINNING.

1. ELEMENTARY LOGIC, in which there are two courses, one general covering the rudiments of syllogistic and deductive logic in which Jevons is used as the basis, the other in inductive logic, intended especially for scientific students, in which Fowler is used.

2. ELEMENTARY PSYCHOLOGY. The main facts regarding modern scientific researches and methods, and the various attempts at their philosophic interpretation. Dewey's Psychology is the book used in connection with this course.

3. INTRODUCTION TO PHILOSOPHY. A course of lectures on the main problems and principles of the theory of knowledge and reality. Each of the foregoing courses is for one semester.

II. INTERMEDIATE COURSES.

1. HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY. Ancient and Modern. Lectures and readings designed to give information regarding both the historical development of thought, and the main problems developed in its course. The department of philosophy owns a large number of copies of the chief thinkers in modern philosophy, Locke, Descartes, etc., etc., and these are assigned to members of the class for readings and reports. Each student thus becomes acquainted with at least half-a-dozen of the leading writers at first-hand.

The course runs through the year.

2. ETHICS, THEORETICAL (one-half year) AND SOCIAL (Political Philosophy, one-half year also). The theoretical course attempts to arrive at an account of the ethical ideal by means of a critical consideration of the principal modern ethical theories, especial attention being paid to Utilitarianism, Evolutionary Ethics, and Kantianism. The second division of the course discusses the ethical basis and value of society and the state, law and rights, in connection with an account of the political theories of Plato, Aristotle, Grotius, Hobbes, Locke, Kant, Rousseau, Hegel, etc.

3. ÆSTHETICS. This course, like the previous one, unites the historical and theoretical treatment of æsthetic doctrines and results. It is designed largely to aid students in the interpretation and criticism of literature. It is a half-year course, and is followed by a half-year course (given in the English Department) on the Principles and Methods of Literary Criticism.

4. PHYSIOLOGICAL PSYCHOLOGY. Lectures, assigned readings and elementary experiments, and demonstrations. There is established, as yet, no separate psycho-physical laboratory, but the new-equipped physiological laboratory of the University is, through the courtesy of the Professor of Physiology, at the disposal of students in this line. Half-year course.

5. SCIENCE AND PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION. Lectures, readings, etc., designed to give an account of the chief methods employed and results achieved in the modern historical and comparative study of religions. And also an account of the principal theoretical interpretations of religion. Half-year course.

III. ADVANCED COURSES.

1. KANT'S CRITIQUE OF PURE REASON. A study of Kant's masterpiece at first-hand. This is accompanied by a shorter subsidiary course, treating of the development of the Kantian system, and criticisms upon it. Caird's Critical Philosophy of Kant, is read and discussed in connection with the latter course. Half-year course.

2. HEGEL'S LOGIC. A study of Wallace's translation of the lesser Logic of Hegel. Half-year course.

3. THE LOGIC OF SCIENTIFIC METHODS. A lecture course taking up the study of the Logic of Science, and intended to make the hearers acquainted with the standpoint and spirit of such authors as Lotze, Sigwart, Wundt, Mill, Jevons, Bradley, Bosanquet, and the modern movement in logic generally. Half-year course.

4. PROBLEMS IN HIGHER ÆSTHETICS. A brief course for graduate students in Æsthetics.

5. SEMINARY IN ETHICS. Discussion of the treatment of some main ethical problems by the chief modern ethical writers.

The Elementary courses are conducted mainly by text-books and recitations; the Intermediate courses by lectures and assigned readings, reports and essay-writings. The Advanced courses are pursued by class discussions, conversations, etc. on basis of work done independently by the student.

The teaching is carried on by John Dewey, J. H. Tufts, and F. N. Scott.

JOHN DEWEY.

HARVARD UNIVERSITY.

The courses at Harvard are, we believe, the most complete offered in any American University. They consist (for 1890-91) of four groups:

I. INTRODUCTORY COURSES.

IN LOGIC, METAPHYSICS, AND PSYCHOLOGY.

II. SYSTEMATIC COURSES

PSYCHOLOGY, COSMOLOGY, ETHICS, PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION, THE PSYCHOLOGICAL BASIS OF RELIGIOUS FAITH, AND THE CONTENT OF CHRISTIAN FAITH.

III. HISTORICAL COURSES.

Including lectures on COMPARATIVE RELIGION, GREEK PHILOSOPHY, DESCARTES-SPINOZA-LEIBNITZ, ENGLISH PHILOSOPHY FROM HOBBES TO HUME, THE MOVEMENT OF GERMAN THOUGHT FROM 1770-1830, CONTEMPORARY SYSTEMS AND APPLIED ETHICS.

IV. COURSES OF ORIGINAL RESEARCH.

Including the Psychological, Metaphysical, and Ethical Seminaries. These do not include the additional and auxilliary courses in other subjects, which are required for Honors.

"Holding that there is one best way for the young student to begin his philosophical study," says Prof. G. H. Palmer, "we have planned a single introductory course and have given it variety by setting three instructors to teach it. When these elementary matters have been mastered, we offer the student a choice among half-a-dozen dogmatic courses, or among as many more historical. These last two sets of courses are open alike to graduates and to undergraduates. For graduate specialists three or four lines of Seminary work are provided, with a view to giving the most advanced students ample opportunity to develop their individual powers.... But the chief aim of our Honors is to test powers rather than acquirement."

In Harvard there are six instructors engaged in the department of philosophy alone: Prof. G. H. Palmer, Prof. C. C. Everett, Prof. W. James, Prof. F. G. Peabody, Prof. J. Royce, and Dr. G. Santayana. A dozen or more courses of philosophical content are offered, and acquaintance with auxilliary branches is necessary to take Honors.

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA.

The instruction given in the various branches of philosophy at this institution is conducted according to the following scheme:

1. PROPÆDEUTIC TO PHILOSOPHY. Empirical psychology, including formal logic, deductive and inductive. Four times a week.

2. INTRODUCTION TO PHILOSOPHY. History of European philosophy, in outline. Four times a week.

3. ELEMENTARY ETHICS, INCLUDING CIVIL POLITY. Sketch of the history of ethical and political theories; critique of the conflict between perfectionism and hedonism, freedom and necessity, optimism and pessimism; investigation of the nature of a state, and of its bearing on the limits of liberty and allegiance. Four times a week.

4. FIRST ALTERNATING COURSE. Exposition of some principal movement or conflict in the history of philosophy, by a critical study of its leading participants; or the like, the subject being changed from year to year. Twice a week.

5. SECOND ALTERNATING COURSE. Some additional topic, similar to that of Course IV., and similarly changed, but drawn, preferably, from the field of practical philosophy. Four times a week.

6. GRADUATE COURSE. First-hand study of certain philosophic masterpieces, such as Plato's _Parmenides_, _Theætetus_ and _Sophist_, Aristotle's _De Anima_, Kant's _Kritiken_, or Hegel's _Phænomenologie des Geistes_; etc. Four times a week throughout the year.

Courses 1, 2, and 3, in this scheme are permanent, and are repeated from year to year in substantially the same form; Course 4 is continued throughout a whole year; the rest throughout a single term. Courses 4 and 5 are projected with the intention of furnishing a variety of topics, a new one being usually presented each year; though a subject is sometimes continued, if it proves to excite the special interest or meet the particular wants of the incoming Senior class. Course 6, provided for graduate students only, is sufficiently described in its sub-title.

The specific subjects for the ensuing year 1890-91, under these courses with varying topics, will be as follows:

Course 4. PHILOSOPHY FROM KANT TO HEGEL. The Development of Rationalistic Idealism, from its negative and partial to its complete and positive form. Twice a week.

Text-Books: (1) Watson's Philosophy of Kant; (2) Everett's Fichte's Science of Knowledge; (3) Watson's Schelling's Transcendental Idealism; (4) Caird's Hegel; (5) Hegel's Logic, translated by Wallace. With the standard works of reference.

Course 5. HIGHER ETHICS. Based on a criticism of Sidgwick and Martineau. Four times a week during the second term.

Text-Books: (1) Sidgwick's Methods of Ethics; (2) Martineau's Types of Ethical Theory.

Course 6. GRADUATE COURSE. The Dialektik and Methodenlehre in Kant's Kritik, followed by Hegel's Lesser Logic in Wallace's translation. Four times a week throughout the year.

From this statement it will be seen that some important text covering each topic is in the hands of each student. The object of this is to furnish an actual historical basis for the discussion of the subject, which is conducted by the professor's lectures. These proceed from a criticism, partly appreciative, partly destructive, of the texts chosen, to a constructive and positive presentation of the subject, according to the reasoned views of the lecturer.

The interest in philosophical studies is steadily increasing in this institution. The instruction in them was opened in the academic year 1884-85, and the growth of interest is well indicated by the fact that the number of students now annually electing these courses is more than double the number during the first and second year.

G. H. HOWISON.

UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

The Courses offered in Logic, Psychology, Ethics, and Philosophy, at this institution for the year 1890-91, are as follows:

UNDERGRADUATE COURSES.

1. A ELEMENTARY COURSE IN LOGIC. Two hours a week.

2. THE ELEMENTS OF PSYCHOLOGY. One hour a week.

3. SCIENTIFIC METHODS IN PSYCHOLOGY. Lectures with Laboratory Work. Two hours.

4. EXPERIMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY. Lectures with Laboratory Work. Two hours.

5. A COURSE IN ETHICS. Two hours.

6. A COURSE ON THE PHILOSOPHY OF ETHICS. One hour.

7. A COURSE ON THE HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY. Two hours.

8. A COURSE ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF IDEALISM. Two hours.

GRADUATE COURSES.

1. COMPARATIVE, SOCIAL, AND ABNORMAL PSYCHOLOGY. Two hours.

2. SPECIAL PSYCHOLOGICAL PROBLEMS. Lectures with Laboratory Work. Two hours.

3. ADVANCED PSYCHOLOGY. Two hours.

4. ETHICAL THEORIES. One hour.

5. HISTORY OF MODERN PHILOSOPHY. Two hours.

Each course of undergraduate lectures will extend through half the year. Courses 1, 2, 3, and 7, will be delivered during the first term; Courses 4, 5, 6, and 8 during the second. Of the graduate lectures, Courses 1 and 2 will be given during the first and second terms respectively. Courses 3, 4, and 5 will extend throughout the year. The psychological laboratory is open at all hours to students engaged in special researches.

In addition to these courses, mention may be made of those delivered on Physiological, Abnormal, and Comparative Psychology in the Biological and Medical Schools of the University; and of the numerous courses, more or less directly ethical, which are delivered in the field of Sociology. In several of these there is a purposed effort to bring out the significance for ethics of the subject treated.

GEO. S. FULLERTON.

CLARK UNIVERSITY.

From the well-classified and thorough courses offered at Clark University, (conducted by Dr. Hall, Prof. Donaldson, Dr. Sanford, Dr. Boas, Dr. Cook, Dr. Strong, and others,) we select, for its uniqueness, an account of the instruction at that institution in—

APPLIED ETHICS.

Under this head, come among others, the different forms of abnormal and pathological humanity. The most extreme form is treated of in Criminal Anthropology, which takes up the study of man as criminal. As an introduction, the acts that would be considered criminal in man's case, are investigated, as they appear in the whole realm of nature. This division we call Criminal Embryology.

The other divisions to be considered in the lectures are: the Anthropometry, Craniology, Physiognomy, Cerebrology, Psychology, Sociology, Teratology, and Prophylaxis of criminals; also criminality in relation to Psychiatry and Psychiatrical Anthropology. The general relation of Ethics to Criminal Anthropology, is one of degree; crime being an exaggerated form of wrong. We can illustrate the method of application in this way: If a nerve of a normal organism is cut, the organs in which irregularities are produced, are those which the nerve controls. In this way the office of a nerve in the normal state may be discovered. The criminal is, so to speak, the severed-nerve of society; and the study of him is a very practical way (though indirect) of studying normal men. And since the criminal is seven-eights like other men, such a study is also a direct inquiry into normal humanity.

The lesser degrees of abnormal and pathological cases will be discussed under the head of Charitology. These are represented by the different kinds of benevolent institutions, such as almshouses, asylums for the insane, imbecile, and epileptic; for the deaf, dumb, and blind; hospitals, dispensaries, and infirmaries; homes for truants, orphans, and for the friendless and aged.

The characteristics of inmates of such institutions and the methods of treatment and prevention, will be the main considerations. The facts gathered, and the principles underlying such institutions, will be utilised in an attempt to give a scientific basis to ethics. The problems of right, duty and freedom, will be carefully considered.

Accepting the sociological truism, that the community is more important than any individual in it, the ethical standpoint of the lecturer is: _that the idea of wrong depends upon the moral, intellectual, physical or financial danger or injury, which a thought, feeling, willing or acting, brings to humanity_.

The decision, as to what thoughts, feelings, actions, etc., are dangerous or injurious, will depend upon the results from the application of the scientific method to the different departments of knowledge.

The direct practical object of the course, will be the study of preventatives, based on a thorough diagnosis.

Visitations and practical investigations of charitable and penal institutions will be made as occasion shall offer.

The lectures will be delivered in the latter part of the year.

ARTHUR MACDONALD.

UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN.

Besides the comprehensive courses in psychology, the following are offered:

1. HISTORY OF GREEK PHILOSOPHY. A brief survey of the development of philosophical thought in Greece. Zeller's Hand-book of Greek Philosophy is the reference book. Twice a week. Elective. (Prof. Jastrow.)

2. THE HISTORY OF MODERN ENGLISH PHILOSOPHY. Three times a week. Elective. (Prof. Stearns.)

3. ETHICS. Four times a week. Elective. (Prof. Stearns.)

4. ÆSTHETICS. In addition to the study of the physiological and psychological basis of æsthetics an elementary knowledge of the history of art and the principles of art criticism is given by lectures and discussions. Five times a week. Elective. (Prof. Stearns.)

5. ELEMENTARY LOGIC, DEDUCTIVE AND INDUCTIVE. The analysis of arguments, the construction and elaboration of syllogisms; the symbolic and diagrammatic methods of representing logical operations, and modern and ancient systems of logic will form the main topics of the deductive logic; while in inductive logic special emphasis will be laid upon the methods of scientific reasoning, the logic of chance, the detection of fallacies, and the estimation of evidence. Daily in winter term. (Prof. Jastrow.)

6. ADVANCED LOGIC. Special attention paid to the logic of the sciences; to mathematical logic as introduced by Boole and developed by Venn, Peirce, Schroeder and others; to the theory of probabilities, and the history of logical doctrines. Twice weekly. Elective. (Prof. Jastrow.)

7. MILL'S LOGIC. A general course upon the philosophy of reasoning and the principles of inductive science. Killick's Handbook to Mill's Logic used. Three times weekly. (Prof. Jastrow.) Each course extends over a single term only.

In Ethics an effort is made to introduce the students to three phases of the subject, the historical, theoretical, and practical. The first is at present limited to a brief review, by lectures, of the chief English ethical theories. In the second Prof. Fowler's Progressive Morality is made the basis of the instruction. The third is pursued chiefly in the form of topics, relating generally to current ethical questions, which are assigned for special study to members of the class, and their presentation is, when desirable, made the basis of general discussion.

J. W. STEARNS.

BOSTON UNIVERSITY.

The following are the courses for the present year, at Boston University, under the direction of Prof. B. P. Bowne and Dean Huntington.

PSYCHOLOGY. Thought studied as a fact; its forms and laws investigated; Current Theories expounded and criticised. Five hours.

LOGIC. Thought studied not as a fact, but as an instrument of knowledge. Investigation of the laws, forms, aims, and methods of mental activity. Five hours.

THEORY OF KNOWLEDGE. The study of thought as a process supplemented by the study of knowledge as its product. Knowledge defined, and the conditions, subjective and objective, of its validity investigated. The claims of scepticism, agnosticism, etc., considered at length. Three hours.

METAPHYSICS. Modifications of ontological and cosmological ideas in the light of rational criticism. Four hours.

PHILOSOPHY OF THEISM. The logical value and foundation of Theism considered. Four hours.

HISTORY OF ETHICAL THOUGHT. Christian Ethics. Text-book and lectures. Five hours.

PHILOSOPHY OF ETHICS. Critical and constructive review of ethical theories. Psychological questions as to the nature and origin of moral faculty ruled out as irrelevant. Two hours.

HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY. From Descartes to the present time. Five hours.

The Philosophical Club, organised in 1886, has since that time maintained stated meetings for the furtherance of its members in philosophical studies.

Last year, under the auspices of the University, a special course of five lectures on Educational Psychology was given before large audiences by William T. Harris, LL. D. The topics treated were as follows:

1. Introspection contrasted with external Sense Perception.

2. Mental Pictures _versus_ General Ideas.

3. The Logical Constitution of Sense Perception.

4. Physiological Psychology.

5. The Psychology of Mathematics, Æsthetics, and Ethics.

The courses are for single terms only.

B. P. BOWNE.

JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY.

The Undergraduate instruction in philosophy provides five hours a week of required work for one year:

1) IN DEDUCTIVE AND INDUCTIVE LOGIC; 2) IN PSYCHOLOGY; 3) IN ETHICS.

The courses are unified and thorough. A voluntary course in the History of Philosophy is given; and advanced courses will be offered this year in Modern Philosophy from Descartes to Kant, and in English Ethics from Hobbes to Stephen. The instructors are Professors Griffin and Emmot.

PERIODICALS.

MIND. July 1890. No. LIX.

CONTENTS:

OUR SPACE-CONSCIOUSNESS. A Reply. By _Herbert Spencer_.

VOLKMANN'S PSYCHOLOGY (I). By _Thomas Whittaker_.

THE LOGIC OF THE ETHIC OF EVOLUTION. By _William Mitchell_.

THE ANTINOMY OF THOUGHT. By _Alexander F. Shand_.

MENTAL TESTS AND MEASUREMENTS. By Prof. _J. McK. Cattell_.

DISCUSSION: 1) The Evolution of Inductive Thought. By _Hiram M.
Stanley_.
2) The Genesis of the Cognition of Physical Reality. By _Julius
Pikler_.

CRITICAL NOTICES: "Fouillée's L'Avenir de la Métaphysique fondée
sur l'Expérience"; Tarde's "Lois de l'Imitation"; Bæumker's
"Das Problem der Materie in der Griechischen Philosophie."

SOME NEWLY-DISCOVERED LETTERS OF HOBBES. By the _Editor_.

_Our Space-Consciousness._ In this article Mr. Herbert Spencer replies to criticisms, by adherents of Kantian doctrine, of objections contained in §§ 326-335 of _The Principles of Psychology_. He objects that the disciples of Kant "cannot imagine how it is possible that our space-consciousness can have arisen out of that which was not originally a space-consciousness."

_Volkmann's Psychology._ Shows that the really important point in Volkmann's doctrine of "psychological mechanism" is its theory of the interaction of contemporaneous presentations, and of the existence among them of unconscious presentations. Herbartian psychology is strictly scientific system, but when its superfluous mechanism is cleared away, its explanations become those of associationism.

In _The Logic of the Ethic of Evolution_, Mr. William Mitchell points out that the two conditions of an ethical end are that it be the motive of individual action, and that it furnish a critical system of universal laws; and further that those conditions are fulfilled by the end variously propounded in the ethic of evolution only if it be represented, not as an external limit forcing itself on men, but as presenting a more desirable character and medium to the individual than any other. The end and means of moral progress given by the Ethic of Evolution are perfectly true, but they do not express the essence of the matter.

_The Antinomy of Thought._ This paper investigates an antinomy which infects all our thought of reality that is not intuitive. The source of error is the confusion of the judgment with the consciousness or intuition of reality.

In the article on _Mental Tests and Measurements_, Prof. J. McK. Cattell describes certain tests which are used in the Psychological Laboratory of the University of Pennsylvania, with the object of providing data for the discovery of the rules which govern the constancy of mental processes, their interdependence, and their variations under different circumstances.