M. BOUTROUX'S LAST LECTURE

M. Boutroux delivered the last of the Hyde lectures on "French Contemporary Philosophy" in New Lecture Hall yesterday afternoon. He discussed the tendencies of French philosophy from the beginning of the new period in 1867, when Ravaisson published his famous "Rapport."

At that time Lachelier was awakening an ardor for metaphysical enquiry, while Taine and Ribot promoted experimental psychology. The followers of the former aimed to draw all the philosophical views from science that it would yield and still let philosophy retain its relative anatomy; the latter class intended merely to apply scientific treatment to philosophy, and so make philosophy one of the positive sciences. The former class comprises rationalists, contingentists and intuitionists, the latter was composed of men who treated the different parts of philosophy scientifically and of savants.

The problem which philosophy now has to solve is to find the true relation between the scientific statement of facts and the truly philosophical reflection upon the reality of the spiritual world.

Lecture Today in Emerson J.

M. Emile Boutroux will deliver the last of his lectures on "Contingence et Liberte" on "The Spirit of Life" in Emerson J this afternoon at 4.30 o'clock.