speak in detail — even if we felt competent to do justice to it. As to the philosophical content of the book, — it is in our opinion hardly possible, for the historian, to rationalize completely, as our author aims to do, the Socratic doctrine and life. The author has undoubtedly done just the right thing in emphasizing the testimony of Aristotle, and so ridding the name of Socrates of a large portion of the burden of vulgarity left upon it by the philosophically incompetent hands of Xenophon; but it seems a rather too violent abstraction from the conditions of Greek life and society at any period of their existence to make of Socrates all but a complete modern ethical rationalist. One cannot help admiring, however, the clearness and strength of the philosophical conviction which, in part at least, Herr Joël reads into the life and teaching of Socrates. Criticism would be more in place at this time if we had before us the promised second volume which is to deal with the individual and social ethics of the Memorabilia. We must note, however, that the present volume, which is (necessarily) very largely purely philological in character, would have been more serviceable for the philosophical student if the author had given in every section of it a careful summary of results obtained. We also note a certain degree pf diffuseness and unnecessary repetition, due in part, no doubt, as intimated in the author's preface, to the external circumstances of the composition of the work. On the whole, the work, though largely philological, merits careful attention from philosophical students.
This book consists of a course of fifty-three lectures given to begin- ners in philosophy in the university of Vienna. They extended over the whole academic year, and are apparently published exactly as they were delivered, without the excision either of the 'asides' in which the professional mind loves to dispose of the topics of the day, or of the witticisms which form so effective a KaOapo-is of the ennui which the gravity of the subject may have engendered in the hearers. Hence the book is distinguished by a greater lucidity and liveliness of style than we are wont to expect from a German work, while the defects of its qualities appear in the air of hasty dogmatism which the absence of fuller discussion, references, and notes sometimes gives to its summary treatment of very disputable points. It may be
