Lectures and Essays on Natural Theology and Ethics

Oxford University Press, 1898. First Edition. Hardcover. Good. Oxford, 1898. First edition. Blue Oxford cloth, light foxing to endpapers, engraved frontis and small closed tear at head of spine. Wallace was known in his day as a brilliant tutor and professor of philosophy and well known as a lecturer at Merton College and Oxford with significant insights into German Idealism, theology and ethics. Presented as Gifford Lectures, the review notes the biographical note from Edward Caird, which details his upbringing and interests in German philosophy, including his early translation of Hegel’s Logic, and biographies of Kant and Schopenhauer. Wallace argues for the unification of ethical thinking and religious ideas, and links both the political and ethical (in Aristotelian terms) to argue for a moral basis to civilization, uniting individual action with the wider political action of a state or group. Wallace shows his acumen and insight as a challenging and thoughtful expositor of both Nietzsche and Hegel as well as providing Idealist positions on issues such as Hedonism, Utilitarianism and the relationship of Hegel and Fichte to Socialism. Whilst engaging with these philosophical positions, Wallace retains a clear commitment to German Idealism, and the necessity of constructing a systematic philosophical framework.