New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1873-10-17
NEW PUBLICATIONS.
prprpwEys HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY.

~ sc seribncr, Armstrong, Co.
Tho study Of philosophy has of late years LOST
something of rs ancient repute, on account of the
abstract character of It's speculations and the vague
mess and uncertainty of It's conclusions. Not every
thinker Il is true, may accept the position of Mr.
George Henry Lewes who announces that all phi
losophy has died natural death and summons
Gle universe to listen to its funeral GRAFTON
fIom has lips, hut still there is general distrust
Of tue validity of philosophical research, and in many
quarters an absolute denial of the legitimacy OF
It's claims IL is pretended that the oTacles OF pm
loSophy are too ambiguous to be trusted; ulaO ho
truths obtained by consulting their authority; tti'
thoT reports IN age contradIcteu Dy tnose :"
another. But IL may he replied to this' that Tue
cCncluSons Of speculative philosophy are no inuie
uncertain shan those Of physical science Every oe
paTtmeut of thought is marked by perpetual change
There can he no permauence Of OPINION where there
is freedom Of investigation. The whole domain OF
science has assumed new aspect even within the
nres,ut half century No branch of metaphysics
Ias rresented more radical innovations on
received ideas thau the established theories of
physics The masters Of ancient science must 30
thTorch a new course of study IN order TO cOmpre-
bend the science Of the present day. IL would be a
more pertinent objection to philosophy, IN our
opinion. that 10 changes little with the lapse OF
time. II may be said that every apparent move
uiDHl ~ fiUNtufut I'D a ciltiCs w HattNfl NStN 10
sown in The Spring. the same old harvest is reaped
IN the Autumn. The most promising novelties only
reproduce the ancient ideas in another FORM But
however this may be, tie history of philosophy must
always present an attractive object TO the student
Of human nature. 1t affords the most sig
ntGcant illustration Of the scope and capabilities OF
the nuuau mind. The highest mental endOwmentS
in every age since culture became national habit
have been devoted TO ITS cultivation. No sphere of
intellectual activity can boast Of nobler list OF
workers th1n those who have made the study oftIst
principles the labor Of ther lives. In this point OF
view the present work must be regarded as one OF
the most important productions Of the day. The au-
thor was not only cousImmate master of the sub
ject but posseSsed a rare mower Of analysis and an
admirable gift Of expression, in the exposition of
philosophical systems For the time being, he became
one with the great thinkers whom he undertook
Ia represent. He WAS thus enabled not only 10
reproduce their line of thought but to clOthe their
opinions with freshness and vitality. The compre-
heEsion of his work, 10 he sure, requires profound
Ftudy instead of CursUy pernsal But 1t VIII
amply reward the most earnest labor that may he
gwen 10 its contents. The present volume, espec-
ally, which treats of the history Of modern philOs
ophy and is closely connected with the intellectual
movements of the age. affords fnnd of valuable
knowledge that is essential to the comprehension of
the antecedents and the development of modern
thought Ii distinguishes the landmarks Of progress
from The tombstones Of mortality, and guards the
reader from mstd6ing the light Of HeJeoIs for the
eternal starr.
In the exposition Of Rants philosophy, the author
NODES singular coincidence between certain ex-
pressons in the "Critique Of the Faculty Of Judg
meut7 and the subsequent speculatons of Lamarck
aud Darwin, which appears not to have attracted !
the attention OF most writer's the subject The !
language Of Kant is certainly remarkable, showing
that he had anticipated the theory OF evolution In
the animal creation as it's known that he had done !
in the planetary system. AsTendered by the author
lt gives the opinion OF Kant that the analogy !
At fern in the different classes Of organ !
isms points 70 The idea that they all
sprung from common Original germ. The sup
position that different species have been derived
from each other after long course of generations
for instance from wateI-animalS animals nhabiting
marshes and from these land-animalshe terms "
La2afGou, fancy Of the reason But he suggests the
hope that the study of the mechanism of nature,
without which no science of nature is possible, may
leaJ 20 sure results lie calls attention to the fact
ih.. tls form Of adaptation in the products Of the
:rinai and vegetable kingdoms requires that the
common original source Of these organisms should
Rave boon endowed with organization expressly
a1aiae6 totheir development. This, adds Kant, only
re .ses the quest on Of the origin of the organic
Uuii. degree further back. But this theory, he
lr.ts. dots not exclude the condition of final
csa.r.. We are obliged by the nature Of our Cogni-
i've faculty 60 conceive Of the mechanism of nature
=. .ae instrument Of a designing cause. But reason
oatuut comprehend the union of two different kinds
81 cau,aiiN. 1he explanation lies concealed in the
snpcTscpsibo substratum of nature, Of which moth
liz De affirmed except that 1t is the absolute es-
Ecnce Of which We know only the phenomenal mani
fcs;alions. In this last affirmation, we have the
ultimate conclusion and almost the language of Mr..
Herbert spencer with no less distnctDess than the
,rvoas foIcShadoWng Of the doctrine of evolution.
Of Tie SUCCESSORS of Kant and Hegel, large space
isdryoted to schleemacher and Schopenhauer, two
If the most prominent thinkers in the German phi
IosoIhy OF the last half century, although with no
resemblance Ia each other, except III the subtlety OF
their rcasOnngs, the bodness of their speculatiops,
and their freedom of speech 1t was the problem of
SohlccrmacheT to combine the real and ideal in the
system of Kant His mind had received profound
impression from the study of Plato many of whose
ideas be had transported to the region Of German
Wrought. In opposition to Kant Schleernacher
regarded space and time forms of the
istence Of things themselves, and not merely
Of our apprehension Of things. In ike manner, he
CONCEDED to the "eategOries" forms Of thought in
trinsic validity. The doctrine that the affection of
the senses is a condition Of knowledge is in logical
agreement with the whole of Schleiermacher's doc
tTine. Space time and causality are, with him,
not merely forms OF a phenomenal world existing
solely in the consciousness of the observer. but
also forms Of the real objective world which con-
itons his knowledge. In this theory of cognition,
Scheiermaoher avoids the narrowness of the
Jiegelian logic. The successive processes in nature
and mind constitute unity which is not of SUBJ
jectiye origin, but has positive reality, including