Without reigning in the schools as Spencer has done, a French philosopher, M. Fouillée, has greatly influenced law, politics, and education. In spite of the reign of positivism his flexible doctrine has attracted many Americans, and his works, such as the _Idée du Droit_ and the _Histoire de la Philosophie_, are coming into use as text-books in some universities. The theory of unavoidable ideas is well known; and thinkers and philosophers have been {278} inspired by this "philosophy of hope." By its noble idealism, by its admirable wealth, its serene rationalism, and its essentially Latin character, the harmonious system of M. Fouillée has won considerable popularity among the youth of America. We cannot separate his influence from that of the young poet-philosopher whom a premature death has consecrated: Guyau was the professor of idealism to two generations of America. In _Ariel_ José-Enrique Rodo has enlarged upon his finest metaphors; and a Peruvian thinker, Gonzalez Prada, has popularised the suggestions of this Platonic thinker upon death. Nietzsche also has disciples and commentators. Translated into Spanish and vulgarised, his doctrines are the Bible of exasperated egoism. Men saw nothing of his stoicism, his worship of heroic life and tragic adventures; "concussionary" ministers and half-breeds aspiring to power believe themselves Nietzschians, because in their immoral advancement they ignore all moral scruples. A generation above good and evil is practising opportunism--what the French call "arrivism"--disorganising philosophy and society, and forgetting the code of human dignity. Fouillée, Guyau, and Nietzsche have not supplanted the positivist philosophers; the superstition of science and the hatred of metaphysical construction is still prevalent. All the new doctrines are making their way: pragmatism, Bergsonism, the philosophy of Wundt and Croce, the philosophy of contingency: without, however, creating new tendencies. From this variety of imitations perhaps an American system will arise. To-day every intellectual novelty is passionately received and applied; an Argentine judge has even founded some of his judgments upon the teaching of Tarde. A reaction is setting in against dogmatic {279} positivism; the present is a period of dissolution and criticism. In accepting influences so various--English, German, and French--the old faith in science, in Comte and Spencer, is evaporating. Two young philosophers, Antonio Caso in Mexico and Henriquez Ureña in San Domingo, have contributed to this analysis. Inspired by the ideas of M. Emile Boutroux, they attack the narrow interpretation of scientific laws.