G. Adams & Co.). In an article entitled "On Certain Logical Paradoxes" (Philos. Rev., Jan., 1916), Th. De Laguna has criticized Russell's theory of types, and has attempted a solution of the classic contradictions by a reexamination of the nature of the logical copula. H. C. Brown's "Structural Levels in the Scientist's World" (Jour. of Philos., June 22, 1916) makes an interesting contribution to scientific methodology. finds the maxims of justice and liber- | lished a fair Text-book of Logic (R. ty to be ultimate and irreducible. W. M. Urban continues to be the principal American contributor to the important subject of "value.” In an article entitled "Value and Existence" (Jour. of Philos., Aug. 17, 1916), he reaches the conclusion that value possesses a unique sort of objectivity, to be distinguished both from being and from non-being. G. C. Cox, in an article entitled "Ethics as Science" (Jour. of Philos., April 13, 1916), pleads for an ethics that shall be empirical and experimental after the manner of the natural sciences. This aim is certainly realized to some extent in the book which attracted the most attention in this field during the last year. In his Freudian Wish and Its Place in Ethics (Holt), E. B. Holt has made an extremely interesting and successful application to morals of the most recent results of psychology. The central fact in mind, according to Professor Holt, is the "wish" or purpose or motor set, with its specific responsive tendency to some situation in the environment. The conflict among these wishes creates the moral problem. The solution of the problem is to be found not in the "suppression" or "frustration" of one of the conflicting motives, but in their "integration" into a higher purpose. Professor Holt reaches a new statement, in terms of the psychological conceptions of the day, of the Spencerian doctrine of "natural reactions" and the Socratic dictum that virtue is knowledge. History of Philosophy.-Prof. C. E. Vaughan of Leeds has brought out a timely edition of Rousseau's Political Writings, with introductions showing Rousseau's socialistic leanings. In a series of articles entitled "The Plot of Plato's Republic" (Mind, Jan., April and July, 1916), P. S. Burrell has attempted to prove that the Republic as a whole has unity, consecutiveness and artistic form. Three other scholarly pieces of historical research should be mentioned: "Kant's View of Metaphysics," by A. A. Bowman (Mind, Jan., 1916); Freedom and Purpose, an Interpretation of the Psychology of Spinoza, by J. H. Dunham; and "Doctrines of the Self in St. Augustine and in Descartes," by M. W. Kehr (Phil. Rev., July, 1916). Philosophy of Religion.-The most important recent event in this field is the translation of Durkheim's Elementary Forms of the Religious Life. Durkheim's application of primitive sociology to the interpretation of religion has already been widely adopted. Its influence is to be found, for Logic. In a book entitled The Prin- example, in W. K. Wright's "Justice ciples of Understanding, H. Sturt has and Sentiment in Religion" (Phil. presented an introduction to logic Rev., Jan. 1916). C. C. J. Webb's from the standpoint of "personal Group Theories of Religion and the idealism." It is an entertaining but Religion of the Individual (Allen & somewhat loose discussion of the art Unwin) is, on the other hand, a critiof thinking, in terms of a voluntaris- cism of Durkheim from the more tratic psychology. A. E. Davies has pub-ditional point of view. G. CARL HUBER Cytology. Cowdry (Am. Anat., xix) considers the general functional significance of mitochondria, which he defines as substances occurring in the form of granules, rods and filaments in almost all living cells, reacting positively to janus green and resembling phospholipins and to a lesser extent albumins (see also XXV, Zoology). Evidence is presented showing that mitochondria play an active role in cell activity, perhaps on the constructive side of metabolism. They play no clearly demonstrable part in histogenesis and there are at hand no conclusive observations showing that they do or do not play a role in heredity. In the study of pathologic conditions mitochondria may furnish an index of cytoplasmic activity. Scott (ibid., xx) reports on the behavior of the mitochondria in the pancreas cells in phosphorus poisoning, finding that they are the first constituents of the cytoplasm to show pathologic change. Shipley (Anat. Rec., x) has shown by means of vital staining with janus green that certain granules of trypanosomes are mitochondrial in nature; the kinetonucleus was found to stain like mitochondria. Rasmussen and Myers (Jour. Comp. Neur., xxvi) have studied the chromatolytic changes in the central nervous system of the woodchuck during hibernation, reporting that they could not detect any modification in the Nissl granules characteristic of hibernation, when compared with the non-hibernating state. Lewis (Anat. Rec., x) has investigated sea water as a medium for tissue culture. She finds that if the sea water is made isotonic with the plasma of the form from which cultures are to be made and ten parts of bouillon made from the muscle of the form in question is added, with 0.02 grams of died suddenly in the midst of his perimental Logic. The philosophical work, and at the height of his pow-world now awaits with interest a volers. Although the major part of his ume already announced under the tiachievement was in the field of psy- tle, Creative Intelligence (Holt). chology, he was a distinguished phi- This volume is a collection of papers losopher and one of the foremost rep- written by thinkers who have been inresentatives of the Fichtean school of fluenced mainly either by Dewey or idealism. by William James, and who represent the "instrumentalist" or pragmatist tendency in American philosophy. This field of investigation, the theory of knowledge or epistemology, still attracts the majority of philosophical writers. R. W. Sellars has written a book entitled Critical Realism (Rand, McNally), in which he defends a dualistic, naturalistic view of the relation of knowledge to its object, a view similar to that advanced by Külpe, and formerly by Bertrand Russell in his Problems of Philosophy. Two articles by H. G. Hartmann, "Science and Epistemology," and "A Revised Conception of Causality" (Jour. of Philos., May 11 and Aug. 31, 1916), are allied with the instrumentalist tendency; and R. B. Perry's "The Truth Problem" (Jour. of Philos., Sept. 14 and Oct. 12, 1916) illustrates the "new realism.” The same problems attract attention in England, where the Aristotelian Society continues to be the principal centre of philosophical activity. The presidential address delivered before this Society on Jan. 6 by Lord Haldane, entitled "Progress in Philosophical Research," dealt with the relations of the new realism, and the "new idealism;" while at the meeting of March 6, T. Percy Nunn read a paper on "Sense-data and the Physical Object," in which he defended their identity against the view that the physical object transcends experience. Bergson continues to be widely read and written on in America. Among the books on the subject special mention should be made of G. W. Cunningham's A Study in the Philosophy of Bergson (Longmans), in which the author examines the Bergsonian notion of intuition, and likens it to the Hegelian "notion." One of the best special investigations of the year is H. C. Warren's series of articles entitled "A Study of Purpose" (Jour. of Philos., Jan. 6 and 20 and Feb. 3, 1916), in which the author effects a reconciliation of purpose and mechanism. He The American Philosophical Association met in Philadelphia in December, 1915. The presidential address, afterwards published in the Philosophical Review for March, 1916, was | delivered by Prof. A. C. Armstrong. It dealt with "Philosophy and Common Sense," and showed that the philosophical generalizations of one epoch, such as the uniformity of nature, the dualism of mind and body, and evolution, are incorporated into the common sense of the next. Prof. A. O. Lovejoy was elected president for the ensuing year. With a solemn propriety that could not be appreciated at the time, the sessions of the Association were devoted chiefly to papers on Professor Royce's philosophy by his friends and former pupils. These papers have since been published in a single volume as the May number of the Philosophical Review. A paper by Professor Dewey dealt with "Voluntarism in the Roycean Philosophy." A group of papers by M. W. Calkins, W. A. Brown, G. P. Adams and B. W. Bacon, dealt with Royce's contributions to religious philosophy. The logical and epistemological aspects of his thought were discussed in W. H. Sheldon's "Error and Unreality," and in other papers by C. I. Lewis, E. G. Spaulding and M. R. Cohen. W. E. Hocking and E. A. Singer contributed studies of his ethics; and interesting biographical papers were contributed by Professor Howison, by Dr. Richard C. Cabot, and by Professor Royce himself in the remarks which he made at a banquet held in his honor. Royce's influence on contemporary scientists was indicated in the papers of E. E. Southard and L. J. Henderson. Dr. Benjamin Rand contributed a valuable bibliography of his works. Since the death of Royce, Prof. John Dewey remains as the most influential of living American philosophers. His recent scattering essays in epistemology have been published during the year under the title of Essays in Ex Ethics. Needless to say, the European War has brought about an increased interest in ethics and political philosophy. The meeting of the Western Philosophical Association, held in St. Louis, April 21-22, 1916, was devoted to a discussion of "the state, its meaning, its development, and its possibilities." The topics discussed were summarized in the report of the meeting as follows: (1) The meaning of individualism and the place of initiative in the Hegelian and other German conceptions of the state; especially, are liberty and progress possible in a state organized as a logically closed system? (2) Liberty in relation to democracy: what are the guarantees of freedom, and indeed what is the meaning of freedom in a democracy? (3) The relation of economic and political freedom, and the possibility of adjusting these without disrupting dem rejects the vitalistic conception of a | applies, but that it is necessary in "potent directive agency," but retains each case to justify the use of force purpose in the sense of "anticipation" by the standards of economy and effiand "fitness" in the bio-psychological ciency. H. J. Laski criticized the abrealm, and in the sense of "trend" in solutistic-monistic view of the state in a paper entitled "The Sovereignty the general cosmic process. of the State" (Jour. of Philos., Feb. 17, 1916), and S. P. Orth contributed a paper on "Law and Force in International Affairs" (Int. Jour. of Ethics, April, 1916). M. R. Cohen, who has done much to promote the Conferences in Legal and Social Philosophy, has published in the International Journal of Ethics for July a valuable review of "Recent PhilosophicalLegal Literature in French, German The periodical just mentioned has and Italian," covering 1912 to 1914. proved a useful forum for the discussion of the larger ethical questions growing out of the war, and in addition to the papers referred to above, has published valuable discussions of the basis and status of international law, especially with reference to the differences between this country and Germany and England. There have also appeared a number of papers on the problems of sex and marriage. Among these, two are especially worthy of mention. In the July number Bertrand Russell writes on "Marriage and the Population Question." The article attacks the divorce laws of England, and asserts that present opinion and usage results in the virtual sterilization of the better classes. He proposes radical measures of relief, including state aid for mothers. In an article entitled "Birth-control and Biological Ethics" in the October number, Warner Fite denies that there is any obligation to beget and rear large families. Such a supposed obligation rests upon biological, nationalistic or capitalistic reasons which are not cogent since the development and perfecting of the individual is a The real higher end than the increase of life, national power or wealth. argument for marriage and parental responsibility lies in the contribution which these make to the spiritual growth of the individual. ocratic institutions. (4) The definition of nationality: if race, language, religion, politics, do not make a nation, what is it? Among the papers read at this meeting which have since been published two are especially deserving of mention. In "Nature, Reason and the Limits of State Authority" (Philos. Rev., Sept., 1916), E. H. Hollands emphasizes the exclusively political function of the state, and urges that the cultural life of the nation should be left to free and private association, as a curb to the state and as a link be"Liberty tween nation and nation. and the Social System," by G. H. Sabine (ibid.), criticizes Bosanquet's conception of the organic unity of society, from the standpoint of liberalism, individualism and experimentalism. The fourth meeting of the Conference in Legal and Social Philosophy was held at Columbia University, Nov. 26-27, 1915, and produced several interesting papers on the general topic of the relations of law and force. Most of these have since been published. Professor Dewey, in a paper entitled "Force and Coercion" (Int. Jour. of Ethics, April, 1916), shows that there is no general formula which 671 Several theoretical books and articles on ethical topics deserve mention. In a book entitled The Theory of Abstract Ethics, Th. Whittaker has attempted a revival of intuitionism. He G. Adams & Co.). In an article entitled "On Certain Logical Paradoxes" (Philos. Rev., Jan., 1916), Th. De Laguna has criticized Russell's theory of types, and has attempted a solution of the classic contradictions by a reexamination of the nature of the logical copula. H. C. Brown's "Structural Levels in the Scientist's World" (Jour. of Philos., June 22, 1916) makes an interesting contribution to scientific methodology. finds the maxims of justice and liber- | lished a fair Text-book of Logic (R. ty to be ultimate and irreducible. W. M. Urban continues to be the principal American contributor to the important subject of "value." In an article entitled "Value and Existence" (Jour. of Philos., Aug. 17, 1916), he reaches the conclusion that value possesses a unique sort of objectivity, to be distinguished both from being and from non-being. G. C. Cox, in an article entitled "Ethics as Science" (Jour. of Philos., April 13, 1916), pleads for an ethics that shall be empirical and experimental after the manner of the natural sciences. This aim is certainly realized to some extent in the book which attracted the most attention in this field during the last year. In his Freudian Wish and Its Place in Ethics (Holt), E. B. Holt has made an extremely interesting and successful application to morals of the most recent results of psychology. The central fact in mind, according to Professor Holt, is the "wish" or purpose or motor set, with its specific responsive tendency to some situation in the environment. The conflict among these wishes creates the moral problem. The solution of the problem is to be found not in the "suppression" or "frustration" of one of the conflicting motives, but in their "integration" into a higher purpose. Professor Holt reaches a new statement, in terms of the psychological conceptions of the day, of the Spencerian doctrine of "natural reactions" and the Socratic dictum that virtue is knowledge. History of Philosophy.-Prof. C. E. Vaughan of Leeds has brought out a timely edition of Rousseau's Political Writings, with introductions showing Rousseau's socialistic leanings. In a series of articles entitled "The Plot of Plato's Republic" (Mind, Jan., April and July, 1916), P. S. Burrell has attempted to prove that the Republic as a whole has unity, consecutiveness and artistic form. Three other scholarly pieces of historical research should be mentioned: "Kant's View of Metaphysics," by A. A. Bowman (Mind, Jan., 1916); Freedom and Purpose, an Interpretation of the Psychology of Spinoza, by J. H. Dunham; and "Doctrines of the Self in St. Augustine and in Descartes," by M. W. Kehr (Phil. Rev., July, 1916). Philosophy of Religion.-The most important recent event in this field is the translation of Durkheim's Elementary Forms of the Religious Life. Durkheim's application of primitive sociology to the interpretation of religion has already been widely adopted. Its influence is to be found, for example, in W. K. Wright's "Justice and Sentiment in Religion" (Phil. Rev., Jan. 1916). C. Č. J. Webb's Group Theories of Religion and the Religion of the Individual (Allen & Unwin) is, on the other hand, a criticism of Durkheim from the more tra Logic. In a book entitled The Principles of Understanding, H. Sturt has presented an introduction to logic from the standpoint of "personal idealism." It is an entertaining but somewhat loose discussion of the art of thinking, in terms of a voluntaristic psychology. A. E. Davies has pub-ditional point of view. |