The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1901-01-20

1 parts and-just through their distinctions
| and their relations-binds itself into one
| individual reality. In this sense. every
| thing, far as 1t has an independent in
| dividual existence at ALL is an organ
| ism. Lastly. while thus conceiving the
| universe as organic. Hegel maintained
that it is not a natural. but a spiritual or
gansm. For the limited scope of nat
| Gral organism and its process cannot be
| regarded as commensurate with a uni
verse, which comprehends all existence.
| whether classed as organic or inorganic
| Only the conscious and self-conscious
unity of mind can Overreach and overcome
| such extreme antagolisms, and reduce
| them all to elements in the realization of
| its own life. We must, therefore think
| of the universe as organism which in
| cludes Nature, but nanifests It's ultimate
principle only in the life of man. We may
| add that in all this Hegel attempted to
show that he was only working out in the
sphere OF speculative thought what Chris
| tianity had already expressed for the CT
| binary consciousness. according to its
half-pictorial methods of representation.
While this is the general meaning of
was more successful in formulating these
ideas in their logical or metaphysical form
! than in applying them to the results of
| the special sciences of nature. which he
only knew at second hand: or even to the
different provinces of the spiritual life and
| history of man, which he had studied more
| thoroughly. In both cases his data were
very incomplete. and the scientific inter-
probation OF them had not then been car
ried far enough to prepare-as according
to Hegel himself 1t should prepare-for the
| final Interpretation of philosophy. There
| is another circumstance to be taken into
account, n circumstance which deeply af-
| fected Hegel and all the writers of his
time. In the slow process of human his
tory the new wine is always at first
poured into old bottles, and only when the
old bottles burst is an effort made to find
Hence the development of the new spirit
| in philosophy seemed often to go hand in
hand with movement of restoration in
politics and religion which was not easily
distingui snable from reaction. Just as the
politicians of the time could find for the
| newly awakened spirit of nationality no
| other embodiment than the institutions of
the ancient regime, and tried to revive the
old system destroyed by the Revolution,
| with only few repairs and additions, so
the great philosophical writers sought gen.
orally to Teanimate the old scheme of life
and thought by means OF the new Ideas,
| rather than completely to recast it in ac-
! cordance with Them Hence, although
Hegers principle of evolution was as hos
| tile to reaction as to revolution, as hos
tile to an authoritative system that de-
MED the rights of the individual as to
mere individualIsm. his particular doc
trines. both in politics and theology, took
a strongly conservative tinge. When we
look more closely we see that it is only as
restoration is at the same time reforma-
ton, as it makes the old forms the express
sion of a new life. that Hegel could logi-
cally defend them. But the form which
he gave to his ideas was perplexing; 1t
tended in many minds 10 identify the prin-
ciple of development Which means that
the future can only spring out of the
past and the present, with the defence of
the status quo in Church and State: and,
on she other hand, to confuse the forces
of progress with those of revolution. Thus
the medlating. reconciling power Of the
new doctrine was for time obscured, and
it's effect in raising mems minds above the
old levels of controversy was delayed.
III.
In other countries during the earlier dec
AIDES of the century similar movement
of thought Is discernible, though It was
not carried out anywhere with the same
philosophical thorOughness as in Germany.
In France the organic idea did not find
any very powerful representative till the
time of Comte. and even in his expression
of It there is a certain ambiguity. In his
well-known law of development, indeed,
he seems to reproduce the individualistic
doctrine of the eighteenth century, and to
deny the reality of the universal, both In
its theological and its philosophical form.
But already in the last volume of his
Positive Philosophy when he begins to
deal with human society, he maintains
that the individual man is an abstrac-
ton, and that there is nothing real but
humanity" and in his Positive Politics.
he treats this unity of mankind as not
only real. but divine. In that work. more
over, he makes another step. Rejecting at
once the distractions of the individualists
and those of the Socialists. he rises to the
conception OF a social organism, which
gives play to the competitive energy of in
dividuals. and yet binds them together in
its own more comprehensive life. In Eng
land, before the close Of the eighteenth
century, the same spirit had found a rep
resentative in Burke who rejected entirely
| the idea of a social contract and main
tanned that the State is based on an I'M
cor scious reason of society, which is far
Wiser than the conscious reason of even
the wisest individuals. In general. how
ever, the spiritualistic movement of the
earlier part of the century took. among
the English-speaking people. rather a pc
etic and literary than philosophical
form And the imperfect attempts of Cole
ridge to transplant German ideas into
E.ngland-attempts followed up with sig.
| nal energy by Frederic Denison Maurice
hardly constitute an exception to this
rule. In this connection, also, as one who
partly grasped the organic idea of social
life and its development, but who gave IL
a somewhat imperfect and even contradic-
| tory expression. l may mention a later
writer, Thomas Carlyle. whose magma
tive genius and moral enthusiasm did
much to breathe Il new life into history
Though not a philosopher in any techni-
cal sense. he was. like his friend Emerson
a vehicle of philosophical ideas. and he
contributed greatly to scatter the seed OF
idealism upon British soil. His Calvinis-
| git,,Ic ind