Whatever fate may be in store for philosophy, her history can hardly fail to present a twofold interest ; for philosophical ideas are symptoms of the direction in which the spiritual development of the age is tending, and they are attempts to solve the great problems which have their root in the theoretical and practical relations in which man stands to the Universe of which he is a part.

A History of Modern Philosophy, Book X, Philosophy In Germany 1850-1880, Chapter 4: Criticism and Positivism, Conclusion, p. 563