Are we to-day at the end of the era of
philosophy, as hitherto understood ; or is it only that but few have meta- physical minds ? These thoughts will surely be provoked by Professor Horatio Dresser's A History of Modern Philosophy (Allen and Unwin, 15s.) in the mind of the general reader, to whom it will be interesting chiefly as a record of human thought. It does now seem strange that able men could once try to interpret and define the Universe without even a preliminary attempt to investigate it. However, this encyclopaedic work should be extremely useful to the student, who has the time to master the terminology of the subject. With a glance at ancient and mediaeval philosophy, it starts in earnest with Bacon and goes on to the present day, giving a -summary of the life, faith, and influence of every philosopher of note. Their views are rather too condensed for easy reading, and the punctuation is illogical and puzzling. There is a very full bibliography.
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