New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1905-09-06

o.usd "vernines against the study or philos-
ophy for they often make the subject hloeousiS
obscure Dr. Perry, who is an assistant pro
fessor at Harvard. has written oooh " 1i'o'
should make clear to all kinds OF reaoers' "''.
,he relation of philosophy to life. and second
the prevailing problems ana sSs'ei's VI ~
and present. He says:
The nresent book is written for the sake Of eiu,
make the reader more solicitousy aware , Ti ' to
philosophy fnat his IS own interests To this end
have sacrificed all else TO the taSS 81 Of the
Of iife ''S'ifii''e '-''N ~
The hook is divided into three parts: FIRST
Approach to the Problem of Philosophy; second
The Special Problems of Philosophy thllu'
Systems Of Philosophy. The author makes Tue
approach TO philosophy easy by beginning VIII
the philosophical implications OF such laliliii"i
subjects as business and amusement poetry dliu
-e,g,on and he devotes an interesting chapter
to the relation between natural science ana
philosophy. The second part of the book. which
Is not very coherent with the first part IS
virtually a descriptive inventory of the sew
eral rarts of the philosophical encyclopedia 1t
deals with metaphysics and epistemolosy' the
norrnative sciences and the problems OF relsloh'
The third part discusses systems or phlosophy
under 1he heads of naturalism. subjectivism,
absolute realism and absolute idealism Ihls Oh
vision is as the author intimates, not strictly
logical but it has provisional value, and FUR
nfshes a. rough outline, according to which the
principal tendencies in philosophy may be ar
ranged The exposition of these conflicting
systems is impartial, and there is only just
enough criticism to bring out the salient points
involved. In dealing with naturalism the author
explains the materialistic theories of the uni
verse. their metaphysics, psychology ana
ethics Under the head of subjectivism he dis
cusses Berkeley and Schopenhauer AS absolute
realists, he names Plato Aristotle, Spinoza ana
Leibnitz but strange to say, makes no reference
explicitly to any of the Scottish writers VINO
afford an excellent illustration Of his theme
In the chapter on absolute idealism he traces ad-
nirsbly the development in German thought
from Kant to Hegel. The concluding chapter
Is particularly valuable, giving an account OF
the chief tendencies in philosophy at the pres
ent time; but here again we notice an omission
in that nothing is said Of the later french
writer's ON philosophy who have contributed SO
much that is novel and interesting TO conteh-
porary metaphysics and psychology
The book will be of service to a large class
of readers who while seeking information ABOUT
the history and nature of philosophy, prefer an
informal to a technical and formal treatment
of the subject. DR.. Perry has a wide and &C
curate knowledge of the history OF Philosophy
and explains without pedantry some or It's most
puzzling phases, such, for example, as the eVolu-
tiol of the absolute. out of the critical PM
losophy We regret that he yielded to the temp
tation of remarking that Hume woke Kant from
his dosmatic slumber. but perhaps the beginner
has to have that told TO him, just as every
child r,,ust hear about Washington and the
cherry tree
The author modestly avows his debt to his
teachers and colleagues at Harvard ana ne
shows a marked sympathy with the thought OF
both Royce and James, but his own indepen-
dence of opinion is in many places discermple'
even in the absence of explicit polemic. AS an
example of this may quote his quiet crlt-
cism of the prevailing ''pragmatisn:
This doctrine is historically connected with
reason in which he maintained that the con-
eue insight 81 au' ha rs the RnOWede Of ebe
The current doctrine maintains that tno9ght "f be
viii which evnces and realizes such an interest Is
thinking defines such view attaches peculiar
the springs Of S Sogdues an9 IN s
as the true propedeutio and proof OF phll3sophy,
define special philosophical system, for it is the
very problem of philosophy 70 dispose tne parts o.
relation Of the psSas 06 qen be G
e0a asq these provinces and
ing the questions proper TO them
a very large part of the book is taken up with
discussions concerning the philosophical aspects
of religion and it is in this respect that the au-
thor appears to least advantage. He justly OBJ
serves that in defining religion men are prone TO
EXPRESS in the definition only the characters
sics of what they conceive to be the true re-
iigion And yet II is possible to make the dennl-
ton SO general and vague as TO rob the ioea Oh
precision. For example:
To be religious is to believe that a certain cor
relation OF forces moral and factual, IS IN real
ity operative, and that it determines the pro
priety and effectiveness of certain type OF Nv
ing Whatever demonstrates the rutlllty, van
IT. or seIf-deception of this living discredits
the religion. And per contra except as they oe-
fine or refute such practical truth, religion is
not essentially concerned with theoretical 1uas-
ments.
TT this be true in what may the Italian
peasant at the mass, the Methodist devotee
at 2 revival be said to be religious? So far
from not being concerned with theoretical judg-
ments q religion we should say. which was not
esta blshed upon such judgments would be
merely baseless sentiment, and quite unworthy
of the amount OF space which our author has
devoted to it. And so we are inclined to think
that DR. Perry would have done well TO have
omitted a large part of the rather homiletical
chapters which deal specifically with religious
questions. They are, no doubt, beautifully
written but they seem out Of place, and are i'm
pedrlents, not helps in the approach to philos-
ophy There is also something banal in the ex-
tended discussion Of Shakespeares many-sded
genius. of Wordsworth's attitude to nature. and
of Goethe's relation TO Spinoza.
In dealing with the nature of belief" the au-
thor shows plainly that he has walked with Pro-
fessor James And think that the attitude
t1,a,