It has been sought to escape from the judgment of Schopenhauer, that "those who, instead of studying the thoughts of a philosopher, make themselves acquainted with his life and history, are like people who, instead of occupying themselves with a picture, are rather occupied with its frame, reflecting on the taste of its carving, and the nature of its gilding." At the time of original publication in 1890, W. Wallace was Whyte's Professor of Moral Philosophy at Oxford University.