SPECULATION AND REVELATION IN MODERN PHILOSOPHY

For forty years Dr. Kroner has made basic contributions to philosophical literature, in the course of which he has moved from his native German to a facile English, and has taken a foremost position in American scholarship. With the maturity of a lifetime spent in teaching, study and writing, he began a massive survey several years ago which he entitled and Revelation in the History of Philosophy. Three volumes were necessary for this definitive study, and the title now in hand is the third of the trilogy. By analysis, comparison and interpretation, Dr. Kroner brings before us those philosophers who, following the Renaissance and the Reformation, first established the idea of autonomy and then wondered what to do with the problems thus created. When speculation and revelation want their separate ways, there was danger that speculation would compulsive ends, revelation would be deficient in rationale and both disciplines be last in epistemological chaos. After several centuries would come a synthesis under Hegel, and then a period of floundering as successive critics demonstrated the inadequacy of the Hegeilan formula. This is no book for beginners, but a must book for anyone who takes philosophy seriously. It will be standard to libraries. Better informed preachers will find it most helpful. Even at the college level it can be used by students wishing a solid and survey of philosophy. The three volumes together provide us with a definitive work in this field. Fortunately, their style makes them likely to be read.