Czechoslovakia—and that the united action of a thoroughly capable leader and a trained and intelligent nation achieved the consummation of the national aspirations of centuries.
Prof. Masaryk’s contributions to the literature of his country began in 1876 with an article on “Theory and Practice,” his first philosophical essay being “Plato Jako Vlastenec" (Plato as a Patriot) published the following year.
A division took place in the university faculty relative to the methods of philosophy-whether it should be critical or encyclopedic. The first party contended that the work of the Czech scientists should be severely judged according to the strictest foreign standards. The others urged the systematization of all knowledge and its popularization. Thomas Masaryk solved the question for himself and followers by establishing a scientific-critical journal, the Athenæum (1883) and by planning the collecting of all known knowledge to be embraced in the monumental “Ottův Náučný Slovník” (Otto Encyclopedia). This encyclopedia up to 1910 had published over 150,000 titles on 28,912 pages and had employed 1100 literary co-workers.
Three branches of practical philosophy interested Masaryk chiefly: sociology, the philosophy of history and the philosophy of religion. To the period of study of these subjects belong his briefer psychological discussions: “Hypnotism” (1880), “Blaise Pascal” (1883), “A Theory of History According to the Principles of
