Page:Philosophical Review Volume 2.djvu/221



In a work from the pen of Professor Paulsen we naturally look for the same qualities as those which characterized his former productions: speculative insight, breadth of knowledge, and a remarkable faculty of clear statement and apt illustration. All this the reader will find in this Introduction to Philosophy, as well as a moral enthusiasm which cannot but command his respect, whatever view he may take of the conclusions reached by the author. And if he believes that the great problem of philosophy at the present day is the reconciliation of science, philosophy, and religion, he will here find a man of like mind with himself, from whom he cannot fail to receive stimulation and help. For the author sees that no theory of the world can be satisfactory which does not enable us to reduce all the various phases of reality to unity ; and hence he refuses to admit that we must abandon speculation and limit ourselves to the "cultivation of our gardens." Each of the sciences deals with some aspect of reality, and the true meaning of this aspect will yield itself up only to one who contemplates it as a phase of the whole. In the prosecution of his task the author is led to consider (1) the nature of Reality, and its ultimate form, and (2) the relation of Knowledge to Reality, and the origin of Knowledge; and he prepares the way for his own theory by a careful criticism of the main doctrines which he is unable to accept. These criticisms seem to me the most valuable part of the book; but of course those who can be satisfied with the "idealistic monism" which he espouses will find the other part not less satisfactory.

The author shows in a very clear and convincing way the untenability of Materialism as an ultimate view of the real. The aim of the materialist is to show that psychical events do not differ in their nature from physical events. The inadequacy of this view is at once apparent when we distinguish the two very different formulae by which the reduction of mind to matter is supposed to be established. Rh