Page:Mind (Old Series) Volume 11.djvu/591

 590 NEW BOOKS. religions formerly were. The author lays down as a condition of any successful attempt of this kind that it shall render possible an attitude towards the universe that combines the feelings of " dependence," " rever- ence " and " trust ". Man is not to be regarded as alien to nature but as a part of nature. The attempts examined are those of Comte, Mill, Feuer- bach, Nietzsche, Duboc, Diihring and W. M. Salter (of Chicago). Different elements of the complete conception are found in each writer ; but no attempt seems to the author quite successful as a whole. All the writers discussed regard themselves as seeking " a new religion " instead of " a substitute for religion". This last, however, is the correct name for the object of search. Again, each attempt has the limitations of the religions of the past in that it is directed too exclusively to an ethical ideal. The final conception that is to take the place of religion must be that of a com- plete, not merely an ethical, ideal, pursued for its own sake (as being the end of Nature, of which man is part) and not for the sake of the happiness to be attained. Ein neuer Paulus. Immanuel Kant's Grundlegung zu einer sicheren Lehre von der Religion, dargestellt von Dr. HEINRICH ROMUXDT. Berlin : Nicolaische Verlags-Buchhandlung (R. Strieker), 1886. Pp. viii., 30!). This " simplified and extended exposition of Kant's Religion within the limits of Pure Reason" is a sequel to the author's books on Kant's theoretical and practical philosophy (see MIND, Nos. 40, p. 626 and 41, p. 134). Here Dr. Romundt's object is to demonstrate Kant's essential agreement, in teaching the doctrine of "the justification of man, not by works but by practical faith in the archetype of morality in its complete perfection," with " the German Church reformers of the 16th century, and not only. with them but also with the apostle Paul ". The great achievement of Kant was to give Pauline Christianity a secure philosophical foundation. His religious doctrine is not open to the objection that it " remained mere morality," but it certainly begins with morality. The conclusion of Kant's whole philosophy of religion, in his own words, is " that it is not the right way to proceed from grace to virtue, but rather from virtue to grace " (p. 292). Religionsphilosophie auf modern-wissenschaftliclier Gruiidlage. Mit einem Vorwort von JULIUS BAUMANN, o. 6. Professor an der Universitiit Gottingen. Leipzig : Veit & Co., 1886. Pp. vi., 230. This posthumous work of an anonymous author is briefly introduced by Prof. Baumann, who points out that "all formal conditions of scientific investigation" are fulfilled in it, and at the same time draws attention to the original qualities which make it fit to act as a " ferment " in the present state of religious thought. The author's principle of explanation of religions is the disposition of man "to comprenend all things instinctively in analogy with himself". An examination of the nature of man, as re- vealed by "physiological psychology," shows how the religious interpreta- tion of nature took the different historical forms that it has actually taken. From the scientific point of view, the essentially subjective conception of nature that is characteristic of all religions has no significance. This does not mean, however, that it is valueless, but only that its value is of the " aesthetic-practical," not of the scientific, order. Just as we do not make the attempt to cease hearing sounds or seeing colours although we are con- vinced that they are there only in feeling, so the scientific view of religion must not be allowed to destroy religious ideas as they exist psycho- logically. To attempt to see the heavenly bodies in accordance with the Copernican instead of the Ptolemaic theory would be profitless, and indeed injurious ; and so it is for anyone to try to check the tendency to religious