New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1852-07-27

ture'room,. when ne wishes To present ,s'y!lss
but what the hearers need for Their cy5 ss.sysAs
ton. In the Middle Ages, metaphysrs Lu,,sas
sovereignty OF the world-a sovereignty vS;.I -
Greek philosophers sought in vain Va -. ia u
the ideal of which they sketched IN their vi
image OF philosophers on the throne, seS ,
sophicsl teachers in Universities now. Us NA
no longer an idea to which the world i slse /
give it's attf ntion. b
The Royal Academies have indeed ne,..
themselves TO come IN contact with nes,saesH
but IN their way, they also testify 10 ~. ses-
Of general studies, since they are con,sss Seta
cruit their numbers from the most ords.hn
Of routine. me
The man who has now attained IN. -,
which in the Middle Ages belonged 10 ,Saas |
physician, is the engineer. All tie meta |
OF Europe put together cannot dream Of .,.In |
any portion OF the renown which has hap
for instance, by Paxton, the designer NJ M. "a
tai faiace, with fortunate throw Of n. IT
The engineer, VINO conducts the erection ~ we
pies, who improves the chemical laho,',..p hne'
mapuisctory, who conquers difficulties n ~. IA
of constructing bridge on bold plsn .. .1s sr
out the line of railroad on a larr. ,e.,. 2s<s
the man, whom the people now male 80 aeh
to whom they yield their confidence tn. ns
now wish TO bring nature into conplets 80 y,srs
to themselves-but they cannot be heln.S q .. .sa
by any philosopher with his system "a .- es
They WISH in order TO come nearer toc.t..a's
conquer time and sface-but they have NJ ),
any taste for listening to the disputes Of 80
pliers OH the abstract idea Of time aud .r,s. 's'
And the Governments Armies are ~, i,
losophical schools, which instruct the psocli
the only prevailing system Of order and tr,s..ss
lily. They tolerate the teachers Of the "a ~.
ahx ~,Rl,s a. n. If....-
ruin is tolerated at the side of a new sstslsa
ment, so long as there is as yet nc time :, !.
removal.
When the Austrian Government, during e.n.
winter, deposed philosophical teacher. h ~
nounced the Hegslian system which he tss,s,
an obscure product OF the creative nnasis.t.s
hitherto no Government had expressed itssli "a
equal aversion and contempt on any philosovsr,l
system.
When the Government Of Louis Napoleo. -
Gently depcsed Quinet and Mchelet, (~ho ~.
not even metaphysicians, but only littsrateunl
newspaper inquired, as an apology for the on
whether it could be expected of the peopk u
salary philosophers, who made il businss a
controvert their faith-with equal curtnew All
hippancy the question on the position tf phile..
ply has not yet been answered.
When year and half ago Austria thresteuel
Prussia with. a war, q Croatian Journal state
that it was now high time for Germany 10 be n
formed, and especially for her Universities to N
freed from their abstract theories--this Slayast
dictum does not stand alone, il expresses nAs
the universal opinion Of Europe in regard ten
lssophy.
And Europe is right; il thus expresses only as
same thing, which was declared by Gemn
crticism ten years ago.
Europe has entirely turned it's back upon nsn
he. tha do of ma nhp al h. -
forever de stroy ed by the German critical palos
ophy-no man will henceforth establish ust
ply steal system that is to say, one which vii
take any place in the history Of cultiyatnu.-
quite as little as any one will be capable Of con.
posing a symphony after Beethoven, that il a
actual symphony Of profound character uj
Of artistic value,-quite as little as any one
can erect church in Gothic style which viii
compare with the ecclesiastical structures Of the
Middle Ages-or quite as little as any one can
create a statue which shall equal the sculpture Of
antiquity.
The critical movement has directed its attacks
against two pointsbut they were the vital pciats
Of philosophy systematic unity and ts tns-
formation Of all reality into mere object Of
thought.
When in the Middle Ages the two schools d
Realism and Nominalism cOntended with each
other, that is, when the question ia dispute Wn
whether ideas were realities existing in then.
selves, or whether they had existence pursJn
the thought, the victory which toward the end
of the Middle Ages was gained for the latter spa
ion, that is for Nominslism, was still too eidy.
What was the advantage of this decision, WIN
Immediately after great part OF the world VS.
first discovered, and the researches took pr,
which first discovered Law in the infinitely sna
as well as in the Universe at large. That nct9J
xxitlout frut atuca at the mo ava un,I
when Calico first gave to the European wal
the sublime view Of the law, which governed ~
celestial motions as well as the terrestrial stm-
sphere, the question, which the Middle iys
thought was decided, again returned. II vs.
asked whether this law was a mystic, real, ~
existing force or the interior relation Of the r-
ity, which in this form exists only in thouh
Spnosa, as il is well known, answered this qast
ton in the mystical sense, asserting, that ass
the only actual substance. This answer a.
umphed, and maintained its ground until the ~
philosopher Hegel, who gave the finishing pEa
to this my stlcism, and claimed for Ideas the ul J
reality and efficiency in the Universe.
As that victory Of the medieval NomuLsn
was premature and superficial, SO also wu be
great and celebrated method which Descartap-
piled against the coherent mOnotheistic gstR
OF Christian metaphysics only an Intermediates
not yet decisive expedient. fe cut the scholar
metaphysics through and and through, semnsl
ply sizes from ethics, submitted the latter to b
dominion of metaphysics, and applied to the otk
the mechanical explanation. Benefcent O. ~
the operation Of this bold revolution, il could
permanently satisfy the modern sentiment OF ell
hood, which not in vain has psryaded the scls
OF Monotheism, and the longing for unity has ss
MADE itself ielt in more powerful manner. Ses
ora satisfied 1t, WHEN be again reduced the tN
worlds OF thought and extension to substances al
Hesel fsncied that he offered the highest and mo.
complete satisfaction when he extended the e.
pre- OF Ideas over the whole world Of the peno
al sell hood, and over the whole history Of IN
world as we'll as over nature.
E.. BUT tins completion Of metaphysics 10 its ni
its catastrophe.
IL iares with metaphysics ia victory as witht
modern heroes, who think that formula give
Them the key 10 all questions or the scepterda
elusive sovereignty.
The wealth Of life mocks at absoutism, uw
as at constitutional metaphysics in like uans
the infinite extension Of detail mocks at tho hrc
unity, to which philosophy would subject il
the infinite inner life Of the individual mocksstp
UNIFORM domination Of an idea. Thus thinssr
act under the leadings of research against the .
soiutlsm OF IDEAS, as society has to pass thrcq1