Paradoxical Philosophy : a Sequel to the Unseen Universe. (Mac-
millan.)—This may truly be called a " Symposium," and has this ad- vantage of the frequent " Symposia " that have lately been published— it is not " dry." It is absurd to string together a number of essays, even if these are connected with each other, and call the collection by such a name. The author of this volume has made no such mistake. He brings his characters before us, so to speak, in the flesh, and makes us feel that they have characters, which illustrate, and are illustrated, by their opinions. The philosophy of the book relates to the world of spiritual existence ; and the upshot of it is that a German thinker, who may be roughly described as a Materialist, is convinced of the error of his ways. The arguments are clearly set forth, and the common error of putting all the vigour into one side is avoided. Here and there we may note a carelessness of statement. It certainly can- not be said that " we know from the universal consent of all biolo- gists, that no organised being which we can recognise can be pro- duced except from an organised antecedent." The thesis is one which we thoroughly accept, but it is not accepted by all, unless, in- deed, a controversy which was being actively, not to say fiercely, carried on not many months ago, has become extinct much more speedily than such controversies commonly do. But the volume, as a whole, is well and carefully written.
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