Establishing a new philosophical school of thought in the course of
its development naturally generates the need for understandable
introductions. The new philosophical movement, initially known as “De
Wijsbegeerte der Wetdsidee” (the Philosophy of the Cosmonomic Idea),
is no exception. After its main contours took shape during the twenties
and thirties of the previous century, its innovating and penetrating
systematic analyses inspired first of all J.M. Spier to write such an
Introduction. The fourth edition of a largely expanded version appeared
in 1950 and the second edition of its English translation in 1976.