A Students' Manual of Ethical Philosophy. By G. von Gizycki.
(Sonnenschein.)—The name of ethical treatises and even of students' manuals of philosophy is, no doubt, legion, but Dr. Stanton Coit may be allowed to have done well to adapt this book from the German of Herr von Gizycki, even although the key-note may be found in such declarations—" conclusions," Herr von Gizycki prefers to style them—as that " morality is independent of theology, inasmuch as duty remains the highest whether there be a God or no God," and that "the moral law does not need a divine sanction." It is written in an interesting fashion, and by a man who has read all the recent authorities on the subject of ethics, more especially in its metaphysical and religious connections, from Fenerbach and Schopenhaeur to Emerson and Mill, and, in fact,
looks like the preparation for the writing of a book of the " Robert Elsmere " type. It is, moreover, admirably arranged. Herr von Gizycki goes straight to the heart of his subject, in his two first chapters on "The Standard of Morals," and then pro- ceeds to treat of its details under such beads as " The Right Aim of Life," " Duty," " Virtue," " Responsibility," " Ethics and Theology," and " Nature and Morality." It is a book which will stimulate thought, and that is as much as should be expected from any new work on a threadbare topic.
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