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NEW BOOKS. 591 mysticism when it is present, or to create it when it is absent. Each individual should give himself up to his own (admittedly) subjective religion as to the contemplation of works of art or to the enjoyment of nature or of poetry ; but with a view to the good practical effect on him- self of belief in that conception of nature that he prefers ; and keeping in mind, whenever it is necessary, the true scientific interpretation of religious feeling. Prof. Baumann tells us, as the only fact that has been communi- cated to him with regard to the author, that by not detaching himself from " religious Protestantism " he furnished an example of that " doubleness of the practically immediate and theoretically reflective attitude towards religion " which (he goes on to remark) in India is not unheard of but is at present somewhat surprising in Germany. Ideule und Outer. Untersuchungen zur Ethik. Von Dr. G. CLASS, o. Professor der Philosophic in Erlangen. Erlangen : A. Deichert, 1886. Pp. vi., 188. The author aims at laying the groundwork of an " ethics " which shall be not merely a " moral philosophy " but a " philosophy of all spiritual life". Under ethics, in this extended sense, come as "subordinate disciplines" (1) philosophy of religion, (2) philosophy of law and morals, (3) philosophy of civilisation. The author's ethical theory is " in the widest sense a theory of the good ". " Good " consists in the regulation of life in accordance with commands embodied in religion (and derived from what- ever theory of the universe is held to be true), in human law, and in the requirements of civilisation (especially the requirement of the subordinated activity described by the term "work" in its economical sense). "Evil" consists in the attempt to attain freedom by revolt from any of these condi- tions. Besides this distinction, which marks off the ethical sphere from that which is outside ethics and opposed to it, there is a distinction within ethics itself that of "higher" and "lower". The "lower" or "natural" activities are those by which various " goods " are sought as means to personal satisfactions ; while the " higher " activities are those that are directed towards " ideals," which are ends-in-themselves. There are therefore two classes of ethical imperatives : (1) conditional imperatives that command the pursuit of " goods " ; (2) unconditional imperatives that command the pursuit of "ideals". "The object of ethics is accordingly the sum of internal and external work through which individual person- alities bring about the supremacy of the higher over the lower." The ultimate (never completely attainable) end of ethics is " an equilibrium of the spiritual life on its practical and theoretical sides ". On the practical side, that which is highest is a " pure ideal action" done for its own sake ; on the theoretical side, " pure thought ". Ideen zur praktischen Philosophic. Von RICHARD WALLASCHEK. Tubingen : H. Laupp, 1886. Pp. iv., 156. This book is divided into two sections, the shorter of which (pp. 1-44) deals with " Religion," the longer (pp. 45-156) with " Morals ". In the first section, from consideration of the history of religions, the author arrives at the conclusion that " Religion is nothing else than the sum of those primary germs which in their development and independence present them- selves to us as Art, the State, Morality and Law, Philosophy and Science ". The second section consists chiefly of criticisms of ethical doctrines, especially those of Locke, Kant, Herbart, Hegel and Lotze. The author argues against the retention of the term " freedom" in morals ; contending that, since morality implies constraint by something external, " freedom and morality are incompatible ". The most satisfactory outline of an