Page:Mind (New Series) Volume 15.djvu/132

 118 NEW BOOKS. Der KritiscJie Idealismus und die Reine Logik. Von Prof. WILHELM JERU- SALEM. Wien and Leipzig: Braumiiller, 1905. Pp. xii, 226. Gedanken und Denker : Gesammelte Aufsatze. Von Prof. WILHELM JERUSALEM. Wien and Leipzig : Braumtiller, 1905. Pp. viii, 292. London : Williams & Norgate. Dr. Jerusalem is a representative, perhaps somewhat eccentric and inde- pendent, of the Austrian school of the " Philosophy of Immanence," of which Mach is the best-known exponent. The present two volumes may be recommended as examples of the " Immamentist " at war and at peace respectively. The first is a vigorous polemic against the two tendencies of modern thought indicated by the title, Hermann Cohen and Husserl being the mam objects of attack. The scope of the work may be gathered from the subjects of the various sections : the Psychological Basis of Kant's Criticism of Knowledge, Critical Idealism, Pure Logic, the Func- tion of the Theory of Knowledge of the Present Day, the Function of Logic. The ground of Dr. Jerusalem's polemic is his view that Logic is or should be nothing more than a theory of the method of thought, as an instrument for the achievement of human well-being. Psychology analyses thought, History (in the wide sense) deals with its genesis and the development of complex out of simpler forms of thought : these two, then, form the only possible avenues of approach to Logic. In other words Logic is a purely empirical science, as it was with Aristotle him- self. In fact we may fairly reproduce Dr. Jerusalem's opinion by saying that Logic is simply an applied Psychology. The discussion revolves about two points, the possibility of transcending the consciousness of the individual (Theory of Knowledge), and the origin, meaning and validity of abstract ideas and universal judgments (Pure Logic). With regard to the first question, Dr. Jerusalem simply cuts the Gordian knot : we do, in fact, transcend our individual consciousness in every sensation, per- ception, thought, and every action assumes and verifies a reality inde- pendent of itself. He is able to drive his Critical Idealists into a corner where they must either confess to Solipsism, in fact " Instantaneous Solipsism," or recant their most cherished principles : their error lies in treating of knowledge as something ultra-human, and in detaching it from feeling and from will : it is the will that first gives to things (and to other selves) objective reality : knowledge springs not from know- ledge but from the will, the effort to live. In the same way the most abstract of conceptions and laws (e.g., those of Mathematics) derive their validity for all normal intelligences not from the nature of thought in itself, but from experience : they are the result of an adaptation, more and more perfect, of our thought to the environment : their origin is the same as that of concrete knowledge : the very meanings of words, treated by Logicians as a prius, are, on the contrary, products of evolution. " All talk of a ' consciousness in general,' of a ' universal consciousness,' of a ' Truth-in-itself ' (i.e., one which remains the same whether grasped by men or by Gods), is not criticism of knowledge, but uncritical, dogmatical, arbitrary and purposeless Metaphysics " (p. 140). Such is the conclusion of this modern Allen Zermalmender. The tone of the volume is aggressive to British ears, but the argument is skilful and deserves attention. " Thoughts and Thinkers " is a collection of papers of various dates (ranging from 1888 to 1905) and equally diverse topics written mostly for the " educated public ". Some are of general literary interest, as those on Grillparzer, on Naturalism in Literature, on Sophie Germain ; others philosophical in the wide sense, as on Philosophical Wonder, the Future of Philosophy, Wundt's Philosophy, etc. ; the remainder be- longing to Psychology and the Theory of Knowledge. The majority are