NEW BOOKS. 117 a precarious theory of knowledge, and in both cases the superstructure seems to rest loosely on the foundations, rather than to grow out of them. The Elements of Mind, being an Examination into the Nature of the First Division of the Elementary Substances of Life. By H. JAMYN BROOKS. London : Longmans, 1902. Pp. xviii., 312. Price 10s. 6d. net. This product of " a fortuitous train of thought " purports to be a new theory of mind, and is a tragi-comedy of good intentions. T. LOVEDAY. Histoire et Solution des Problemes Metaphysiques. Par CHARLES EENOUVIER. Paris : Alcan, 1901. Pp. ii., 477. In this volume the venerable doyen of French philosophers aims at giving in full his reasons for the judgments on the work of his predecessors and confreres which he expressed in his recent Dilemmes de la Metaphysique pure. It is not, therefore, a history of philosophy so much as a sugges- tive discussion of that history, intended to lead up to the formulation of the essential problems as M. Eeiiouvier conceives them, and to exhibit the necessity of the solutions he has offered in his Neocriticism. He has accordingly added a statement (in thirty pages) of his doctrine, and this will probably be found to be generally convenient for purposes of refer- ence, on account of its lucidity and brevity and the information it gives as to the historical development and philosophic affinities of the doctrine. One cannot read it without being impressed by the author's profound knowledge of the history of thought, by the pertinacity with which he seeks to draw attention to his solutions of difficulties to which philosophy after philosophy has succumbed, and by the noble faith in the victory of truth which the experiences of a long life do not seem to have uprooted. And yet M. Renouvier must be a disappointed man. For his doctrines have never yet received the attention which their intrinsic merits and his earnest advocacy of them deserved. The infinitism, the monism, the determinism, against which he has been arguing for fifty years, appear to be as uncritically rampant as ever in the utterances of professional philosophy, while theology seems as distracted as ever by the necessity of choosing between the incompatible doctrines of a Divine Personality and an all-dissolving All which it is dimly conscious must ultimately deny to the religious appetites any real satisfaction. Why, then, have M. Renouvier' s labours had so little effect ? is a question which his reader cannot but ask, and to which his book must surely contain the answer. It would not be sufficient to answer that M. Renouvier has adopted the alternative which is less popular with philosophers ; he has also pressed for a decision on questions of which no rational decision was desired. For the incompatible doctrines, between which humanity has halted with a patience surpassing that of the exemplary ass of Buridan, are at bottom emotional postulates, and as such will be held together so long as the conflicting desires sustain them. It is possible also that in this case the ass has not really had any but a slight and spasmodic appetite, nor has yet been convinced that a decision was really a vital necessity. But other reasons also may be adduced which are more closely connected with M. Renouvier's literary personality. He is not a brilliant writer, and style still counts for much, especially in France. He is free from pretensions ; he does not envelop his philosophy with the
