 Fechner’s effort to harmonize the two sides of his nature came with his inductive metaphysics, i.e., the attempt to reach general metaphysical conclusions on the basis of the methods and results of the empirical sciences. Like other philosophers of his generation, viz., Lotze, Trendelenburg and Hartmann, Fechner rejected the synthetic methods of the German idealists (Fichte, Schelling, Hegel), who attempted to derive their conclusions by a priori methods. In his view, metaphysics should follow, not lead the empirical sciences, which are autonomous and stand on their own foundation independent of philosophy. The crucial question was whether general metaphysical principles really could be based on the empirical sciences, whose results are always piecemeal and tentative. 