< Page:Mind (Old Series) Volume 12.djvu
This page needs to be proofread.

NEW BOOKS. 309

indicated in the sub-title, it is preliminary to a constructive treatise on ^Esthetics. The author's objects are, (1) to trace modern aesthetic theories to their origin in Kant's Kritik der Urtheilskraft, and (2) to supplement former histories by accounts of some less-known German writers. In Kant he finds not only the origin of all scientific treatment of aesthetics, but also of each single direction of thought that has been followed up in Germany. Book i. (pp. 1-362) gives an account of the historical develop- ment of general aesthetic doctrine according to the author's scheme. Book ii. (" The Development of the most important Special Problems," pp. 363-580) is divided as follows:-!. "The Contrary and the Modifica- tions of the Beautiful," 1. "The Ugly," 2. " The Sublime and its Contrary," 3. "The Comic," 4. "The Tragic," 5. "The Humorous". II. "Disputed Questions," 1. " The Place of Architecture in the System of the Arts," 2. " Idealism and Formalism in the ^Esthetics of Music," 3. " The Significance of the Arts of Acting and Dancing," 4. " The Classification of the Arts," 5. " The Combination of the Arts ". Grundriss der Geschichte der Philosophie. Von KARL CHRISTIAN FRIEDRICH KRAUSE. Aus dem handschriftlichen Nachlasse des Verfassers herausgegeben von Dr. PAUL HOHLFELD und Dr. AUG. WUNSCHE. Leipzig : 0. Schulze, 1887. Pp. xiv., 481. This volume, composed in 1829, but now first published, is not the complete History of Philosophy projected by the author, but forms what was to have been the second part of his whole work. After an introduction (pp. 1-32) it is divided into three "chief Parts," the first (pp. 33-174) treating of ancient, the second (pp. 174-227) of mediaeval, the third (pp. 228-478) of modern philosophy. The present volume was to have been preceded by a general theory of history of philosophy and its place among the sciences, and followed by estimates of the philosophers whose systems are expounded. Of these first and third parts only some fragments are in existence ; but from the indications given we may infer what would have been the general character of the more extended treatment. Krause is dominated by the idea of human history as an organic whole in which the history of philosophy is included. History of philosophy, as well as general history, has certain stages of development that follow one another according to assignable laws. First there was a " golden age " in which philosophy and all the sciences formed an organic unity of knowledge. From this age a tradition has been handed down to later ages. It has been the problem of metaphysical systems to reconstruct the primitive unity of knowledge, but all have hitherto succumbed to scepticism. The problem itself, however, is not insoluble ; and it is only in relation to a system of " absolutist " metaphysics impregnable to scepticism that the systems of the past can be definitively judged. Krause's Wesenlehre claims to be such a system. The " pure history of philosophy," which alone has been completed, is, however, to be an impartial exposition of all systems, in- cluding the Wesenlehre itself. Die philosophische Weltanschauung der Reformationszeit in ihren Beziehungen zur Gegenwart. Von MORIZ CARRIERS. Zweite vermehrte Auflage. 2 Theile. Leipzig : F. A. Brockhaus, 1887. Pp. xi., 419 ; vii., 319. This standard work, which has long been out of print, now appears in a second and enlarged edition. While incorporating the results of later study, the author has avoided the kind of rewriting that would have tended to destroy the original character of the book (first published in 1846). In general arrangement, as well as in the estimates of particular figures, it remains substantially the same. Critical Notice will follow.

This article is issued from Wikisource. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.