The Achievement of Santayana

THE ACHIEVEMENT OF SANTAYANAI G. S. BRETT GEORGE SANTAYANA attained popular recognition when he became a novelist. Before that time Santayana had been known to a more selec-t audience as a man of letters and a philosopher . To suggest any striking contrast between the earlier alld the later work is perhaps a little unfair to the author. As philosopher he was never quite exempt from the accusation of being sensitive about refinements of style and contemptuous about the kind of profundity which a Frenchman or a Spaniard is accustomed to damn with the adjective Teutonic: on the other hand, as a novelist Santayana preserved very definite traces of philosophic caution and described The Last Puritan as A Memoir in the Form oj a Novel. That Santayana's novel should become a best-seller was in no way contrary to the nature of things. In spite of the opinions commonly held, experience has proved more than once that there is still a large class of readers who can appreciate the language of intelligent reflection: for philosophy in its more technical form such readers may have little enthusiasm, but the combination of philosophy and literature'achieved by Santayana was abundantly welcomed. The time was obviously approaching when a book on the life and work of ,Santayana would be useful, and now it has appeared. Mr George W. Howgate has spared no pains to make his volume a complete and adequate account of Santayana's achievement; as a biographical and literary record it has the field to itself, and probably will continue to have it for some time to come. After the necessary record of Santayana's life, the author divides his book into four parts, discussing the work of Santayana as poet, as moral philosopher, as critic and essayist, as metaphysician . This list of rubrics shows the variety of Santayana's published works and Howgate has treated them all fairly and adequately. As Santayana's books appeared in succession there, has been a corresponding flow of reviews and critical articles: the more important contributions to this literature of the subject are listed in the bibliography and various judgments are quoted in the IGeorge Santayana, by G. W. Howgate. University of Pennsylvania Press, 1938. 22 THE ACHIEVEMENT OF SANTAYANAI G. S. BRETT GEORGE SANTAYANA attained popular recognition when he became a novelist. Before that time Santayana had been known to a more selec-t audience as a man of letters and a philosopher . To suggest any striking contrast between the earlier alld the later work is perhaps a little unfair to the author. As philosopher he was never quite exempt from the accusation of being sensitive about refinements of style and contemptuous about the kind of profundity which a Frenchman or a Spaniard is accustomed to damn with the adjective Teutonic: on the other hand, as a novelist Santayana preserved very definite traces of philosophic caution and described The Last Puritan as A Memoir in the Form oj a Novel. That Santayana's novel should become a best-seller was in no way contrary to the nature of things. In spite of the opinions commonly held, experience has proved more than once that there is still a large class of readers who can appreciate the language of intelligent reflection: for philosophy in its more technical form such readers may have little enthusiasm, but the combination of philosophy and literature'achieved by Santayana was abundantly welcomed. The time was obviously approaching when a book on the life and work of ,Santayana would be useful, and now it has appeared. Mr George W. Howgate has spared no pains to make his volume a complete and adequate account of Santayana's achievement; as a biographical and literary record it has the field to itself, and probably will continue to have it for some time to come. After the necessary record of Santayana's life, the author divides his book into four parts, discussing the work of Santayana as poet, as moral philosopher, as critic and essayist, as metaphysician . This list of rubrics shows the variety of Santayana's published works and Howgate has treated them all fairly and adequately. As Santayana's books appeared in...