THE STATE OF MENTAL PHILOSOPHY IN ITALY AND SPAIN DURING THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.-Vico-Muratori- Genovesi-Francesco Vincislao Barkovich-Giacomo Stellini -Boscovich-J. G. de Soria-Facciolati-Verney-Gre- gorio Bressari-J. B. Scarella-Fernando de Zavalos- Baldinotti-Appiano Buonafede-Mazzarelli-Arteaga- Pietro Tamburini Bresciano-Claudio Fromond-Giamma- ON METAPHYSICAL WRITERS IN GERMANY WHO IMMEDI- ATELY PRECEDED AND FOLLOWED KANT, TILL THE TERMINATION OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.-Paul Mako-John James Brucker-John Henry Lambert- K. L. Reinhold-Joh. Heinr. Abicht-Tennemann-Buhle -D. Tiedemann-J. G. C. Kiesewetter-Salomon Maimon -Gottlob Ernest Schulze-Fred. Henry Jacobi-J. G. Ha- mann-Frederic Novalis-Jacob Sigismond Beck-Irwing -E. Platner-Eberhard-T. N. Tetens-C. Garve-J. G. H. Feder-C. Meiners-J. H. Campe-C. W. Snell- F. W. Snell-J. C. G. Schaumann-F. G. Born-C. F. Schmidt Phiseldeck-J. Neeb-L. H. Jacob-J. H. Tief- trunk-C. F. Hungar-K. G. Fürstenau-J. C. Hoffbauer -T. G. E. Maass-H. Kunhardt-G. Hufeland-Th. Schmalz-A. Feuerbach-K. S. Zachariä-K. H. Groos- METAPHYSICAL AUTHORS OF FRANCE DURING THE LATTER PART OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.--Saint Martin- HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY, · ETC. ETC. CHAPTER I. CUMBERLAND, SHAFTESBURY, WOLLASTON, KING, AND BUTLER. THESE English writers belong to the class of theoretical moralists, rather than metaphysicians; and as such have generally been considered. Their several writings exercised a considerable influence over the current of philosophical thought in their own country, during the latter part of the seventeenth and the greater part of the eighteenth century. They were never, however, much read or consulted on the Continent; being of rather too controversial à cast, to render them palatable in that quarter. All these abstract moral speculations rested on a system of metaphysical knowledge. That system was, in all its leading features, of a common sense character. Its fundamental principles were, that man was constituted of two elements, mind and body; that the former was of a real, spiritual, and immortal nature; that it had innate powers of reflection, and notions of right and wrong, good and evil, irrespective of the influence of the senses, or the conventional rules and maxims of legislative enactments; that men had a constant and firm belief in the stability of the laws of nature, as developed in the movements of matter and the active principles of the mind; and that every thing we see around us is regulated by Infinite wisdom, and for given ends and purposes, of which, in our present state, we have only a very limited knowledge. These propositions lie at the root of all the writings of these authors; and their illustrations from the constitution of the universe, and of human nature, are characterized by great logical skill and ability. RICHARD CUMBERLAND. This author was Bishop of Peterborough, and the treatise which contains his metaphysical opinions, is entitled "De Legibus Naturæ," and was published in 1672. In the second chapter the author unfolds his views as to "Human Nature and Right Reason." The first principle in man's mental constitution is sensation. This holds a prominent and important station in the intellectual economy. It is solely from external objects acting upon our senses, that we are enabled to form ideas or notions of them. The Bishop divides the mind into two faculties, the understanding and the will; the former compre hending apprehension, comparing, judging, reason-. ing, a methodical disposition, and the power of recollecting all these things. To the will he refers the power of choosing and refusing, as well as the various moral affections and passions of our nature. The author maintains that the laws of Nature are supported by the same degree of evidence as mathematical propositions are. He says, "That the motion of a point does not more certainly produce a line, or the addition of numbers a sum, than that benevolence produces a good effect, to the person to whom we wish well, proportioned to the power and affection of the agent in the given circumstances. It is also certain, that keeping faith, gratitude, natural affection, &c., are either parts or modes of a most effectual benevolence towards all, accommodated to particular circumstances; and that they most certainly produce their good effects after the same manner, as it is certain that addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, are parts or modes of calculation, and that a right line, circle, parabola, and other curves, do express the various effects which geometry produces by the motion of a point." "Moral propositions in general derive their truths from the testimonies of the senses, which outwardly and by internal manifestations, indicate the truth of the proposition, as being in conformity with nature. Reason takes cognizance of all external impressions, and moulds them to her purposes. The inward nature of our mind, and its active powers, by which it determines the volun |