Page:Philosophical Review Volume 2.djvu/127

No. 1.] Gautama was of the warrior class. He opposed the superstitions of the Brahmans, and taught, in popular style, a final beatitude in reach of all. Vardhamâna Jnâtaputra, the founder of the Jaina sect, was of the warrior class, as was also Krishna Vâsudeva, the founder of the Bhâgavatas, of North India. These latter held a monotheism quite parallel to Christianity, but original with them.

Tommaso di Campanella was born at Stilo, in Calabria, in September, 1568. In his fifteenth year he entered a Dominican convent. He devoted himself from early youth to the study of the occult sciences, magic, astrology, and the Kabbalah, as well as to the observation of nature. He became an eager opponent of scholasticism. Incurring the enmity of the clergy, he was prosecuted by the Inquisition and imprisoned at Rome. He was released and went to Florence and thence to Padua. Here he again gave offence to the Dominicans and was subjected to a short imprisonment. Meanwhile he was developing his philosophy. Convinced that human knowledge is founded on sense experience, he desired to get rid of all philosophical and ecclesiastical traditions and go straight to the study of nature. He cherished, however, a leaning to Neoplatonism and Pythagoreanism. He considered the world as living, attributing a soul to the universe, to the earth, and to the stars. Less original and less logical than Bruno, he failed to give his monism a scientific basis. There were in fact two sides to Campanella's character and work: on the one hand he belonged to the new order of things, often showing good sense and exactitude and acuteness in making observations; on the other hand he often loses himself in mediæval mysticism and occultism. He believed in the immediate coming of the millennium, that kingdom of God which he describes in the City of the Sun and the Monarchy of the Messiah. This dual tendency is not peculiar to Campanella, but belongs to the transition character of his age. Campanella tried to reconcile the contradictions of his philosophy by the concept of God, who gives man his sense knowledge and who governs human fate through both natural and supernatural channels. When the kingdom of God is perfected, all kingdoms and states will be under the wise rule of a pontiff, aided by the best men, and the world will be filled with knowledge and happiness. In 1598 he returned to Calabria, then groaning under the tyranny of Spain. Campanella's prophecies were eagerly listened to and created great excitement. The authorities suspected a conspiracy; Campanella as its supposed head was arrested. The trial lasted for