The Man Whom Philosophy Leaves Cold, And

In History, We Are Concerned With What Has Been And What Is; In Philosophy, However, We Are Concerned Not With What Belongs Exclusively To The Past Or To The Future, But With That Which Is, Both Now And Eternally — In Short, With Reason.

History In General Is Therefore The Development Of Spirit In Time, As Nature Is The Development Of The Idea Is Space.

The Soul Is Presupposed As A Ready-made Agent, Which Displays Such Features As Its Acts And Utterances, From Which We Can Learn What It Is, What Sort Of Faculties And Powers It Possesses -- All Without Being Aware That The Act And Utterance Of What The Soul Is Really Invests It With That Character In Our Conception And Makes It Reach A Higher Stage Of Being Than It Explicitly Had Before.

Each Of The Parts Of Philosophy Is A Philosophical Whole, A Circle Rounded And Complete In Itself. In Each Of These Parts, However, The Philosophical Idea Is Found In A Particular Specificality Or Medium. The Single Circle, Because It Is A Real Totality, Bursts Through The Limits Imposed By Its Special Medium, And Gives Rise To A Wider Circle. The Whole Of Philosophy In This Way Resembles A Circle Of Circles. The Idea Appears In Each Single Circle, But, At The Same Time, The Whole Idea Is Constituted By The System Of These Peculiar Phases, And Each Is A Necessary Member Of The Organisation.

What Is Rational Is Actual And What Is Actual Is Rational. On This Conviction The Plain Man Like The Philosopher Takes His Stand,and From It Philosophy Starts In Its Study Of The Universe Of Mind As Well As The Universe Of Nature.