One of the most significant trends to emerge from the period of great philo- sophical activity in Germany in the early 20th century was the re-evaluation of the work of Kant, away from the developments of Fichte, Hegel, and Schelling along mystical, nationalistic, and Romantic lines, back toward a more rational interpretation of Kant's basic ideas. Foremost among these neo-Kantians was Leonard Nelson (1882-1927). Greatly influenced by Maimon and Fries, Nelson was particularly interested in the new light cast upon Kantian thought by modern developments such as non-Euclidean geometry. relativity, the work of Mach, and the foundations of mathematics.

This present volume is a collection of semi-popular papers by Nelson, ex- pressing his thought in a very lucid form, which can be read with profit by both philosophers and laymen.

This collection conveys the essence of Nelson's work as a philosopher: it re veals his emphasis on reflective self-examination and his deep concern with philosophy not merely as an abstract intellectual pastime but as a relevant and powerful force in daily living. The first essay, a lecture entitled "The Socratic Method," vividly describes his own teaching tenets and practices. The other essays included in this volume are: "The Scientific and the Esthetic Conception of Nature"; "The World-View of Ethics and Religion"; "The Art of Philosophizing"; "The Critical Method and the Relation of Psychology to Philosophy"; "Critical Philosophy and Mathematical Axiomatics"; and "The Impossibility of the 'Theory of Knowledge." In addition to purely philo sophic ideas, one element stressed here is Nelson's great concern with the educational process in philosophy and his attempt to create afresh the Socratic situation.

"I regard the philosophical writings of Leonard Nelson as among the foremost contributions of German philosophy in the Twentieth Century," Sidney Hook. "Nelson brings to the discussion deep understanding and many novel insights which should be of real value to American teachers and students of phi losophy as they conduct the current examination of the place of philosophy