New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1893-11-05
HEGEL AND DARWIN.
AN OBJECT LESSON IN THE HISTORY OF
PHILOSOPHY.

delband Professor OF Philosophy in the Uni mi,
By James H. tufts Ph D. Asss,sn,, Professor n
Of Philosophy s.s TPsc IL the V co.. Oh
HISTORY OF MODERN PHILOSOPHY: p pichn
Nicolas Of to the Present Time Sy IN 't the
S Of Eransen FIRST II
shs second German edition. Translated with
She e P ssnssSn BY in wesleyan
Pr. XIV S5 Henry Holt & Co. ,,,
AN HISTORICAL INTERPpR Pr ETA On XII XIII, SIS
O. p Putnam's Sons 49,,
DAEwN AN 81 p bEGF T Keh SAs1
. Ian Co.
It was Erdmann who pointed out tnat !" ~
cent wears the tendency of readers In phiiosop"s
had been to ignore current speculation in 1aVoI
NJ the history Of past speculation The moou
~ the learned world is scientific. 1t is opserV-
ant rather than meditative. For this TWO H'e"
are responsible Hegel and Darwin Inc io'i'e'
opened the way to the progressive un'iicauo"
of history the other furnished the most wice
reaching principle of correlation in ha'u'a'
science that has yet been attained Uitima'eiy
both Hegers thought and that OF Darwin ies'eu
upon the same foundation-the outspokeh or
tacit assumption of an aim in the WORTH Inv
German was frankly ready to CONFESS 'n's' III.
Englishman seemingly gave way 10 the iue'i y.
purpose with reluctance. But MS ooc'rihe VI
Natural Selection is incomprehensioic ""ho"'
th;s idea and I'm fact its workings cannot DE
described without the use of tehc phrases u
Is true OF Hegel as Professor Faickehpers sa''
in the excellent translation OF professor Ain-
strong: THE leading ideas Of his PHILOSOPHY
of history have so rapidly found 'he'r way
into the genera, scientific consciousness ina.
the view of history which obtained III 'he peru"
of tho illumination is well nigh incomprehensi-
&c -dax
Of history was the most brilliant of his achieve
ment, as a thinker and his most lasting worA
n was here that he anticipated nearly all that
n of Importance in the more recent theories VI
evolution 1t was his conception OF history
that dominated his philosophy as whole; or
to put II in the words of DR.. Windeioahu as
translated nv Professor Tufts: "Hegels phios-
onbv Is essentially historical. systematic
elaboration of the entire material of history he
rossessed both the necessary erudition and also
the combining power and fineness OF feeiihg
for the discovery of those logical relations
which were of Importance to him. The interest
In his philosophy lies less in the lnolVluuai
conceptions. which he took from the inteIiec'ua'
labors of two thousand years. than IN the s!s-
tematic combination which he brought ABOUT
between them; and just by this means ne knew
how to portray in mastery manner the mean
ing and significance of individual details, ana
TO throw a surprising light upon long-standing
structures of thought" OF course his IDEAL
ism. his method of discussing things as they
ought to be- logically. and not empiricaiiy' as
they present themselves to observation. must
subject him often to criticism and censure from
the side of the experimentalist But the test
of his plan and OF his thinking was in that
field where the matters in hand were beyond
;c
of philosophical treatment merely to reflect on
undoubted data, but not to give any account
of empirical reality"
As Liehntz had looked from the individual
outward so Hegei looked from the general or
the universal inward. In his conception OF MIS-
tory the Objective Spirit meant not something
wholly apart from individuals. but that unity In
which they were all contained 1t was not COL
Iective. for the body Of individuals did not make
IT, rather so far as their inner life was con-
cerned they emanated from it. Thus 1.-The state
Is the realization of the ethical idea; II Is the
spirit Of the people become visible 1t Is In It's
idea the living work Of art. in which the inward
ness Of the human reason comes forth into outer
manifestation But this idea. from which the
system of the forms and functions OF political
life derives. appears in the actual world only in
the individual structures Of states which arise
and pass away Its only true and full realiza-
ton is universal history, in which the peoples
enter SUCCESSFULLY to live out their spirit In the
work Of state formation and then retire from
the stage" Thus the order Of succession In the
tendencies of dominant civilizations was logi-
cally unalterable. To particular people In each
age was allotted. in the necessity Of the case
the spiritual predominance which made Its char
acteristics the sign Of the period. And II 1t Is
the task of history whole to understand
this connected order, then politics. too must
not suppose that it construct and decree
political life from abstract requirements That
Is to say, the spirit embodied in the entire hui
mainly Of the state was to be consulted rather
than the doctrinaire fancies of the individual.
This opposition to ndividualism necessarily
made Hegels psychology defective since the
tendency Of this science is to exalt even the
vagaries of the single mind TO a level Of high
Importance simply because they afford some
thing for the prevalent observant tendencies of
the world to work upon Nevertheless Hegel
saw a way In his doctrine of the subjective
spirit to a study Of processes as well Of the
completed thing
A further step in what those since Hege
would call the evolution of the spirit, though he
himself disked. the word, is taken when object
i've and subjective spirit united. and thus
united attain freedom from all contradictions
and a reconciliation within themselves. This
knowledge of the reconciliation of opposites Is
attained in art. In religion. in philosophy
Thus with Hegel. Professor Bascom says,
Evolution is an evolution OF thoughts. not Of
things" The process Of reconciliation between
the subjective and the objective spirit Is only the
highest type Of what goes on in the world as a
whole process which is the work of philoso-
ply and involves the Interpretation Of the
world as growing, changeablc product of
thought, as that which is constantly becoming
other and more than 1t is In whatever form
II may be stated. this view of the universe is the
one which has been vital in modern life. 1t Is
no wonder, therefore that Hegel still rules, even
though some Of his disciples may have become
mere Journalists and dealers in strange words
II Is on the ground that the world is growing