406
PARTISAN REVIEW
tung)
are indeed standard works of the history of ideas-both of which
are omitted from the introductory text as well as from the Selected Pas–
sages, which, on the other hand, contain a badly organized choice of
fragmentary general ideas and reflections which appear today rather
antiquated.
A similar error in judgment seems to be that Hodges highly over–
rates Dilthey's influence on modern existential philosophers. He calls
Karl Jaspers a disciple of Dilthey and quotes in support of this thesis
the
Psychologie der Weltanschauungen.
As far as I can find out, Jaspers
quotes Dilthey but once among many other authors as one of his histori–
cal sources. It may have been easier to prove an influence on Heidegger
(whom Hodges does not name), for Heidegger expressly states
(in
Sein
und Zeit)
that his treatment of the problem of history has grown out
of an interpretation of Dilthey's work, although even in this case a
closer examination shows that it was rather York von Wartenburg's
letters to Dilthey than Dilthey himself which influenced Heidegger's
analysis.
The literature on Dilthey in Germany is tremendous and Hodges'
bibliography is a service to all students. From this literature, the few
pages which Hofmannsthal wrote on the occasion of Dilthey's death
convey best, in their carefully balanced briefness, the greatness of com–
prehension that was the hallmark of Dilthey's contemplation. Dilthey's
tremendous erudition was something more than extensive knowledge
and Hofmannsthal honors him rightly when he evokes the lines of
Goethe's
Lynkeus-lied :
Er schaut in die Ferne,
er sieht in die Naeh',
den Mond und die Sterne,
den Wald und das Reh.
HANNAH ARENDT
ARTIST AND SPOKESMAN
BLACK Bov.
By Richard Wright. Harper.
$2.50.
T
o
BE A
Negro in America is a full-time job. In the Negro artist we
have a striking demonstration of this tragic dilemma. The artist in
him is almost always in conflict with the more pressing demands of his
situation as a member of a minority group. The Negro writer's every
word has an importance beyond its mere literary effect; behind each
work of art there are the black millions for whom it must speak and the
hostile whites who cannot be treated as adults, who are, possibly, always
on the lookout for Negro corroboration of white prejudices. Functioning
as an individual artist has become almost impossible and this, no doubt,
