Page:Philosophical Review Volume 3.djvu/135

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119
NOTICES OF NEW BOOKS.
[Vol. III.

and constant comparison with the original. In bulk the selections are only about one-third of the original, a material saving, if they prove satisfactory for class use. Since we have such an excellent cheap edition of the Treatise as that published by the Clarendon Press, would it not have been a good idea to indicate on the margin the pages of that edition where the selected passages are to be found? That would have enabled the interested student to keep in touch with the original with the least possible expenditure of labor, and would have had the further advantage of indicating the degree of condensation. The marginal page references in Professor Watson's Philosophy of Kant, which enable one to refer instantly to the original, are a prominent feature of that really helpful text-book. After all, a volume of selections is at best a necessary evil, and everything should be done to encourage the student to come into direct contact with the works of the philosopher whose system he is studying.

E. A.

Commentar zu Kant's Kritik der reinen Vernunft. Zum hundertjährigen Jubiläum derselben herausgegeben von Dr. Hans Vaihinger, a.o. Professor der Philosophie an der Universität Halle. Band II, gr. 8vo, Stuttgart, Berlin, Leipzig, 1892. Union Deutsche Verlagsgesellschaft.—pp. viii, 563.

Volume I appeared 1881-1882. It described, in an introduction of seventy pages, the historical and real significance of the K. d. r. V. as well as the relations between Dogmatism, Scepticism, and Criticism. The commentary was confined to the preface to the first edition and to the introduction (in the two versions). The second volume now before us is devoted again to only a small part of the Kritik, the Æsthetic, but is oftentimes not confined merely to the problems of this portion. For many of the principal questions which Vaihinger attempts to answer in independent discussions are of the greatest importance for the entire Kritik. The titles of these discussions are: The affecting objects, pp. 89-101: How is Kant's A priori related to the Innate? pp. 134-151: The possible views [with reference to the nature of space and time], pp. 253-261: Space as an infinite given quantity, pp. 275-286: Pure and applied mathematics, pp. 290-326: The controversy between Trendelenburg and Fischer, pp. 329-342; Methodological analysis of the Transcendental Æsthetic, pp. 422-436: The historical origin of Kant's doctrine of space and time, pp. 518-532: The paradox of symmetrical objects. These digressions are the most important and most interesting parts of the second volume. But the other less systematic expositions, although they often go too much into detail, are usually of great worth. They are characterized by penetrating and acute criticism and a wealth of judiciously handled historical material. The Commentary is an indispensible aid to every one who wishes to gain a scientific grasp of Kant's theoretical philosophy and will prove a source of fruitful suggestion.

E. Adickes.