,transcriber's ,notes ,obvious typographical errors have been silently corrected4 ,variations in hyphenation and accents have been standardised but all other spelling and punctuation remains unchanged4 ,footnotes are located at the end of the chapters4 ,italics are represented thus italic4 ,,an ,,ethical ,,philosophy ,,of ,,life ,,presented ,,in ,,its ,,main ,,outlines ,,by ,,felix ,,adler ,d4 ,,appleton ,,and ,,company ,,new ,,york ,,london #aibj ,,copyright1 #aiah1 ,,by ,d4 ,,appleton ,,and ,,company ,printed in the ,united ,states of ,america ,,preface ,this book records a philosophy of life growing out of the experience of a lifetime4 ,the convictions put in it are not dogmatic1 for dogma is the conviction of one man imposed authoritatively upon others4 ,the convictions herein expounded are submitted to those who search1 as the writer has searched1 for light on the problems of life1 in order that they may compare their experience with his1 and their interpretations of their experience with his interpretation4#a ,it is a great hope that some of the readers of this book may find the general world-view expounded congenial1 and for them also real and true4 ,it is believed that others may find the practical suggestions as to the conduct of life in which the theory issues helpful in part1 if not in whole1 as many of us accept from the teachings of the ,stoics1 or of other thinkers1 practical precepts1 without on that account adopting the philosophy from which these precepts are derived4 ,the book is divided into four parts3 the first an autobiographical introduction describing the various stations on the road by which the author arrived at his present position1 and offering incidental appreciations and appraisements of the ,hebrew religion1 of ,emerson1 of the ethics of the ,gospels1 of ,socialism and of other social reform movements4 ,the second part expounds the philosophical theory4 ,the third part contains the applications of the theory to the more strictly personal life1 under the captions of the ,three ,shadows of ,sickness1 ,sorrow and ,sin1 and also to the principal so-called ,rights to ,life1 ,property1 ,reputation4 ,the fourth part applies the theory to the social institutions1 to the ,family1 the ,vocation1 the ,state1 the ,international ,society1 and the ,church1 these institutions being considered as an expanding series through which the individual is to pass on his pilgrimage in the direction of the supreme spiritual end4 ,the principal problems considered are3 #a4 ,how to establish the fundamental ethical dictum that every human being ought to count1 and is intrinsically worth while4 ,this dictum has been denied by many of the greatest thinkers1 who assert the intrinsic inferiority of some men1 the intrinsic superiority of others4 ,the practice of the world also runs most distinctly contrary to it4 ,how then is it to be validated8 #b4 ,the problem of how to attach a precise meaning to the term 8spiritual10 thereby divesting it of the flavor of sentimentality and vagueness that attaches to it4 #c4 ,how to link up the world's activities in science1 art1 politics1 business1 to the supreme ethical end4 #d4 ,how to lay foundations whereon to erect the conviction that there verily is a supersensible reality4 ,for the repetitions that occur throughout the volume indulgence is requested4 ,in presenting an unfamiliar system of thought they may sometimes assist the reader in retaining the thread4 ,the work is conceived as a whole1 and should be read through before any part of it is more minutely examined4 ,the theory of ,part ,,ii especially should be read in the light of the applications submitted in ,parts ,,iii and ,,iv4 ,,contents ,,book ,i ,,autobiographical ,,introduction ,,chapter ,,page ,i4 ,,prelude #c ,,ii4 ,,the ,,hebrew ,,religion #ad ,,iii4 ,,emerson #bg ,,iv4 ,,the ,,teachings ,,of ,,jesus #cj ,v4 ,,social ,,reform #dc ,,vi4 ,,the ,,influence ,,of ,,my ,,vocation ,,on ,,inner ,,development #eh ,,book ,,ii ,,philosophical ,,theory ,i4 ,,introductory ,,remarks3 ,,critique ,,of ,,kant #gc ,,ii4 ,,critique ,,of ,,kant 7,continued7 #hb ,,iii4 ,,preliminary ,,remarks ,,on ,,worth1 ,,and ,,on ,,the ,,reasons ,,why ,,the ,,method ,,employed ,,by ,,ethics ,,must ,,be ,,the ,,opposite ,,of ,,that ,,employed ,,by ,,the ,,physical ,,sciences #ia ,,iv4 ,,the ,,ideal ,,of ,,the ,,whole #ajj ,v4 ,,the ,,ideal ,,of ,,the ,,whole ,,and ,,the ,,ethical ,,manifold #aad ,,vi4 ,,the ,,ideal ,,of ,,the ,,spiritual ,,universe ,,and ,,the ,,god-,,ideal #abe ,,book ,,iii ,,applications3 ,,the ,,three ,,shadows1 ,,sickness1 ,,sorrow ,,and ,,sin1 ,,and ,,the ,,right ,,to ,,life1 ,,property ,,and ,,reputation ,i4 ,,introduction #adg ,,ii4 ,,the ,,three ,,shadows3 ,,sickness1 ,,sorrow1 ,,sin #aed ,,iii4 ,,bereavement #afb ,,iv4 ,,the ,,shadow ,,of ,,sin #aga ,v4 ,,the ,,spiritual ,,attitude ,,to ,,be ,,observed ,,towards ,,fellow-,,men ,,in ,,general1 ,,irrespective ,,of ,,the ,,special ,,relations ,,which ,,connect ,,us ,,more ,,closely ,,with ,,some ,,than ,,others #agi ,,vi4 ,,the ,,meaning ,,of ,,forgiveness #bjb ,,vii4 ,,the ,,supreme ,,ethical ,,rule3 ,,act ,,so ,,as ,,to ,,elicit ,,the ,,best ,,in ,,others ,,and ,,thereby ,,in ,,thyself #bjh ,,viii4 ,,the ,,supreme ,,ethical ,,rule 7,continued7 #bbj ,,ix4 ,,how ,,to ,,learn ,,to ,,see ,,the ,,spiritual ,numen ,,in ,,others #bbc ,,book ,,iv ,,applications3 ,,the ,,ethics ,,of ,,the ,,family1 ,,the ,,state1 ,,the ,,international ,,relations1 ,,etc4 ,i4 ,,the ,,collective ,,task ,,of ,,mankind ,,and ,,the ,,three-,,fold ,,reverence #bda ,,ii4 ,,the ,,family #bdi ,,iii4 ,,the ,,vocations #bfj ,,iv4 ,,the ,,practical ,,vocations #bgj ,v4 ,,the ,,vocation ,,of ,,the ,,artist3 ,,outline ,,of ,a ,,theory ,,of ,,the ,,relation ,,of ,,art ,,to ,,ethics #bgg ,,vi4 ,,educational ,,vocations1 ,,or ,,vocations ,,connected ,,with ,,the ,,state #bhi ,,vii4 ,,the ,,state #cje ,,viii4 ,,the ,,national ,,character ,,spiritually ,,transformed3 ,,the ,,international ,,society1 ,,or ,,the ,,organization ,,of ,,mankind #cbd ,,ix4 ,,religious ,,fellowship ,,as ,,the ,,culminating ,,social ,,institution #cda ,x4 ,,the ,,last ,,outlook ,,on ,,life #ced ,,appendix ,,appendix ,i3 ,,spiritual ,,self-,,discipline #cfe ,,appendix ,,ii3 ,,the ,,exercise ,,of ,,force ,,in ,,the ,,interest ,,of ,,freedom #cfi ,,index #cge ,,book ,i ,,autobiographical ,,introduction ,,chapter ,i ,,prelude ,what this book offers is a system of thought and of points of view as to conduct1 as these have jointly grown out of personal experience4 ,it will be useful to introduce them with an autobiographical statement4 ,the ideas which follow are such as have been found by me1 the author1 to be fruitful4 ,certainly ,i claim for them objectivity2 but ,i do so because of what ,i have found them to mean in my own life4 ,he who has been scorched by lightning knows that the effects of the lightning will be felt by all who are exposed to the same experience4 ,i narrate my experience2 let others compare with it theirs4 ,there is1 however1 a serious1 and most embarrassing difficulty in the way of discussing the phases and vicissitudes of one's ethical development4 ,self-appraisement is necessarily involved in the narration4 ,the outstanding subject of ethics is the self and its relations4 ,the physicist1 the chemist1 the biologist1 however the methods they use may differ in other respects1 agree in the endeavor to eliminate the personal equation4 ,the psychologist likewise does his best to see the procession that moves across the inner stage like an interested but detached spectator4 ,in the case of ethics1 however1 the personal factor cannot be eliminated1 because the personal factor is just the ,alpha and the ,omega of the whole matter2 and if this be left out of account1 the very object to be studied disappears4 ,ethical standards are exacting1 separated often from performance by the widest interval4 ,to set up a standard1 therefore1 is to reflect upon oneself1 to expose oneself to the backstroke of one's own deliverances1 to be plunged perhaps into deep pits of self-humiliation4 ,how shall anyone have the courage to face so searching a test1 or the hardihood to discuss with a lofty air1 and to recommend to others ideals of conduct against which he knows that he daily offends8 ,how can anyone teach ethics or write about it8 ,the words of the ,sermon on the ,mount1 8,judge not that ye be not judged10 seem to apply very closely4 ,do not judge others1 do not lay down the law for others1 because in so doing you will be judged in the inner forum1 becoming a repulsive object in your own eyes1 or standing forth a whited sepulcher4 ,in brief1 to touch the subject of ethics is to handle a knife that cuts both ways1 to cast a weapon which returns upon him who sends it4 ,the difficulty then which confronts the ethical writer is that the attitude of detachment possible in other branches of investigation is found to be impossible when one attempts to sound the profundities of that kind of inner experience which is called ethical4 ,the self obtrudes itself at every point1 and it instinctively refuses to be humbled4 ,what may be denominated the struggle for self-esteem has indeed played a leading rle both in the outer and inner history of mankind4 ,this struggle1 whose immense importance is often overlooked1 accounts for even more interesting facts than the biological struggle for existence4 ,the desire to exercise power over others1 often ruthless in the means adopted1 is frequently nothing more than a miserable attempt to save self-esteem by covering up the inner sense of the weakness of the self4 ,but the same struggle penetrates also into the realm of theoretical ethics with which we are concerned4 ,here it tampers with the standards which mortify self-esteem1 by inventing such ethical theories as seem to make the problems of personality easy of solution1 and by blinking the tragic facts of guilt1 remorse1 etc4 ,various ethical systems that are in vogue at the present time are1 at least in part1 exemplars of this process--the theory for instance that ethics is nothing more than a calculus of self-interest1 or a matter of sympathetic feeling1 or a balancing of the more refined against the grosser pleasures4 ,the instinct of self-preservation1 in the shape of the preservation of self-esteem1 is quite incorrigible1 and against its insidious suggestion we have reason to be particularly on our guard in the discussion which we are entering4 ,are we then to refrain1 out of sheer regard for decency1 from touching on this subject at all8 ,is everyone who writes on ethics1 or attempts to teach it1 either a pedant or a hypocrite8 ,but we cannot avoid discussing it1 nor resist the impulse to teach and write about it1 for it is the subject on which more than any other we and others sorely need help and enlightenment4 ,and we shall get help in the endeavor to afford it to others4 ,this1 then1 is my position3 ,i do not presume to lay down the law for anyone4 ,i find that ,i can set forth the better standards which in the course of trial and error ,i have come to recognize4 ,i would not shamelessly expose mere private failures and failings after the manner of ,rousseau in the 8,confessions02 for there is a tract of the inner life which ought to be kept from publicity and prying intrusion4 ,i shall then deal with deflections only in so far as they can be traced to false standards or principles1 and as they tend to illustrate the flaw in those standards and principles4 ,what ,i state as certain is certain for me4 ,it has approved itself as such in my experience4 ,let others consult their experience1 and see how far it tallies with that which is here set forth4 ,a distinction1 however1 ,i wish to call attention to between the theory as expounded in the second part of this volume1 and the practical applications to be found in the third and fourth parts4 ,persons who are not trained in metaphysical thinking or interested in it1 may do well to omit the reading of the second part4 ,to those who are competent in philosophical thinking1 and who disagree with the positions there taken1 ,i may perhaps be permitted to suggest that one can dissent from a philosophy and yet find help in the applications to which it leads4 ,and1 after all1 it is the practice that counts4 ,with these preliminaries1 ,i now proceed to delineate briefly the stages of inner development which have led me slowly and with much labor to the system of thought described in the following pages4 ,one of the leading principles to which ,i early gave assent1 and to which ,i have ever since adhered as a correct fundamental insight1 is expressed in the statement that every human being is an end per se1 worth while on his own account4#b ,every human personality is to be safe against infringement and is1 in this sense1 sacred4 ,there is a certain precinct which may not be invaded4 ,the experience which served me especially as the matrix of this idea was the adolescent experience of sex-life1--the necessity felt of inhibiting1 out of reverence for the personality of women1 the powerful instincts then awakened4#c ,the fact that ,i had lived abroad for three years in frequent contact with young men1 especially students1 who derided my scruples1 and in the impure atmosphere of three capital cities of ,europe1 ,berlin1 ,paris and ,vienna1 where the 8primrose path0 is easy1 tended to make the retention of my point of view more difficult1 and at the same time to give it greater fixity1 also to drive me into a kind of inward solitude4 ,i felt myself in opposition to my surroundings1 and acquired a confidence1 perhaps exaggerated1 to persevere along my own lines against prevailing tendencies4 ,i ought next to mention the decay of theism which took place in my mind in consequence of philosophic reading4 ,already at an early age ,i had stumbled over the doctrine of ,creation4 ,i remember asking my ,sunday ,school teacher--,how is creation possible8 ,how can something originate out of nothing8 ,the answer ,i received was evasive1 and left me uneasy and unsatisfied4 ,on another occasion ,i ventured to suggest to the same authority--a revered and beloved authority--that the conception of ,god seemed to me too much like that of a man1 too much fashioned on the human model2 and he amazed me beyond words by replying that he himself sympathized more or less with the ideas of ,spinoza4 ,this chance remark set me thinking1 and seemed to open wide spaces in which my mind felt free to travel--though ,i never tended in the direction of ,spinoza4#d ,my thoughts were driven still further by reaction against the narrow theology of the lectures on ,christian ,evidences as taught at that time in ,columbia ,college1 where ,i was a student4 ,and all these influences came to a head in the atmosphere of the ,german university at ,berlin4 ,there ,i heard ,zeller1 ,duhring1 ,steinthal1 ,bonitz4 ,above all ,i came into contact with ,herman ,cohen1 subsequently and for many years professor of philosophy at the ,university of ,marburg1 and undertook to grapple in grim earnest with the philosophy of ,immanuel ,kant4 ,the net outcome was not atheism in the moral sense1--,i have never been what is called an atheist1--but the definite and permanent disappearance of the individualistic conception of ,deity4 ,i was attracted by the rigor1 the sublimity1 of ,kant's system1 and especially by his transcendental derivation of the moral law4 ,the individualistic basis of his ethics1 which is quite uncongenial to me1 ,i ignored1 and for a time simply accounted myself a follower of ,kant4 ,very often since then ,i have discovered that men1 unbeknown to themselves1 are apt to sail under false flags1 ranking themselves ,kantians1 ,socialists1 or what not1 because the system to which they give their adherence attracts them at some one outstanding point1 the point namely1 where it sharply conflicts with views which they themselves strongly reprobate2 and they are thus led to overlook other features no less important in which the system is really uncongenial to them4 ,thus a person who recognizes the evils of the present wage system may label himself a ,socialist1 simply because ,socialism is most in evidence as an adversary of the wage system1 while he may by no means agree with the positive principles that underlie ,socialism1 when he comes to examine them dispassionately4 ,i thought at that time of the ,moral ,law as that which answers to or should replace the individualistic ,god-idea4 ,i believed in an unknown principle or power in things of which the ,moral ,law is the manifestation1 and ,i found the evidence of the moral law in man's consciousness4 ,matthew ,arnold's 8the power that makes for righteousness0 is a phrase which at that time would have suited me1--though perhaps not entirely even at that time4 ,i have since come to see that 8making for righteousness0 is a conception inapplicable to the ultimate reality1 and is properly applied only to human effort2 since purpose implies that the end sought has not as yet been realized1 and non-realization and ultimate reality are contradictory ideas4 ,the power that only makes for righteousness cannot be the ultimate truth in things4 ,the utmost we can say is that the ultimate reality expresses itself in the human world as the power that inspires in men moral purpose4 ,to return to my personal experiences1 there fell into my hands1 while still a student abroad1 a book by ,friedrich ,albert ,lange entitled ,die ,arbeiterfrage 7,the ,labor ,question71 which proved epoch-making in my life4 ,bacon says in his essay ,of ,studies3 8,some books are to be tasted1 others to be swallowed1 and some few to be chewed and digested40 ,he might have added that there are books that make a man over1 changing the current of his existence1 or at least opening channels which previously had been blocked4#e ,die ,arbeiterfrage is not a great book4 ,in the literature of the subject it has long since been superseded4 ,yet it opened for me a wide and tragic prospect1 an outlook of which ,i had been until then in great measure oblivious1 an outlook on all the moral as well as economic issues involved in what is called the ,labor ,question4 ,my teacher in philosophy1 ,cohen1 once said to me sharply1 that if there is to be anything like religion in the world hereafter1 ,socialism must be the expression of it4 ,i did not agree with his statement that ,socialism spells religion1 and have not seen my way to this day toward identifying the two4 ,but ,i realized that there was a measure of truth in what he said1--and that ,i must square myself with the issues that ,socialism raises4 ,lange helped me to do this4 ,he aided me in other respects as well4 ,his ,history of ,materialism dispelled some of the fictitious glamor that still hung about the materialistic hypothesis at that time1--though the last chapter on the ultimate philosophy of life1 in which he identifies religion with poetry1 is distinctly weak4 ,i read his book on the ,labor ,question with burning cheeks2 no work of fiction ever excited me as did this little treatise4 ,it was ethical in spirit1 if not in its ruling ideas4 ,it favored productive co-operation1 and seemed to point a way to immediate action1 as ,socialism did not4 ,the upshot of it was that ,i now possessed a second object1 namely1 the laborer1 to whom ,i could apply my non-violation ethics4 ,i had always felt an instinctive1 idealizing reverence for women1 and this had its influence in the first practical outcome of the philosophy of life with which ,i started on my career4 ,i would go out as the minister of a new religious evangel4 ,instead of preaching the individual ,god1 ,i was to stir men up to enact the ,moral ,law2 and to enact the ,moral ,law meant at that time primarily to influence the young men with whom ,i came into contact to reverence womanhood1 and to keep inviolate the sacred thing1 woman's honor4 ,and now ,i had a second arrow in my quiver4 ,i was to go out to help to arouse the conscience of the wealthy1 the advantaged1 the educated classes1 to a sense of their guilt in violating the human personality of the laborer4 ,my mother had often sent me as a child on errands of charity1 and had always impressed upon me the duty of respecting the dignity of the poor while ministering sympathetically to their needs4 ,i was prepared by this youthful training to resent the indignity offered to the personality of the laborer1 as well as the suffering endured by him in consequence of existing conditions4 ,accordingly1 on returning from abroad1 my first action consisted in founding among men of my own or nearly my own age a little society which we ambitiously called a ,union for the ,higher ,life1 based on three tacit assumptions3 sex purity1 the principle of devoting the surplus of one's income beyond that required for one's own genuine needs to the elevation of the working class1 and thirdly1 continued intellectual development4 ,a second practical enterprise attempted was the establishment of a co-operative printing shop4 ,this having failed because of the selfishness actuating the members1 the ,workingman's ,school was founded1 with the avowed object of creating a truly co-operative spirit among workingmen4 ,i must1 however1 pause at this point to explain how the development described led me to separation from the ,hebrew religion1 the religion in which ,i was born1 and to the service of which as a ,jewish minister it was expected that ,i should devote my life4 ,,footnotes3 #a ,in view of the writer's connection with the ,ethical ,culture ,societies it is fitting to state expressly that the philosophical positions herein set forth are not to be taken as an official pronouncement on behalf of the ,ethical ,culture ,movement4 ,the ,ethical ,societies as such have no official philosophy4 ,see ,book ,,iv1 ,chapter #i4 #b ,though ,i must at once mention the first great error which accompanied the true insight1 the shadow which went alongside of the light1 namely1 my understanding of the above principle mainly in a negative sense4 ,my ethics was largely what may be called non-violation ethics4 #c ,the relation of chastity to the birth of the idea of personality among the ,hebrews ,i have touched upon elsewhere4 ,the ,hebrew people abhorred promiscuity1 or the dishonoring of oneself by indiscriminate mingling4 ,it is instructive that this did not stand in the way of polygamy4 ,those persons whom the ,hebrew received1 so to speak1 into the sphere of his personality1 did not imperil his sense of personal intactness4 ,and personal intactness seems to have been the determining motive in the severe attitude taken toward prostitution4 ,the fact that the worship of other gods1 the worst of crimes in the eyes of the ,hebrew legislator1 was described as 8whoring after other gods0 is particularly significant4 ,the sacred1 sensitive self1 the holy thing whatever it might be1 which the ,hebrew discovered within his own sex experience1 was thereafter attributed also to others1 and especially to those who had the same aversion to promiscuity as he4 ,hence perhaps the limited ascription of holiness to members of the ,hebrew people4 #d ,pantheism has always seemed to me the least satisfactory of theological or ethical solutions4 ,the system of thought which will be found later on in this volume may have a certain superficial resemblance to ,pantheism1 but in reality is as far from it in origin and purpose as pole from pole4 #e ,there are also passages in books that have the same revolutionizing effect 7,cf4 the passage quoted from ,st4 ,paul in ,st4 ,augustine's 8,confessions074 ,however1 it is curious to observe that the effect brought about may be quite out of proportion to the cause4 ,the book or the passage may prove to be of inferior value1 so far as its subject is concerned1 and may yet serve suddenly to call attention to the subject itself1 and give rise to trains of thought that eventually go far beyond the impetus that set them in motion4 8,ripeness10 says ,shakespeare1 8is everything10--ripeness to receive the impetus4 ,relatedness to the state of mind of the recipient is the decisive factor1 and this accounts for the astounding changes that result4 ,,chapter ,,ii ,,the ,,hebrew ,,religion ,the separation was not violent4 ,there was no sudden wrenching off4 ,there were none of those painful struggles which many others have had to undergo when breaking away from the faith of their fathers4 ,it was all a gradual1 smooth transition1 the unfolding of a seed that had long been planted4 ,i have never felt the bitterness often characteristic of the radical1 nor his vengeful impulse to retaliate upon those who had imposed the yoke of dogmas upon his soul4 ,i had never worn the yoke4 ,i had never been in bondage4 ,i had been gently guided4 ,and consequently the wine did not turn into vinegar1 the love into hate4 ,the truth is1 ,i was hardly aware of the change that had taken place until it was fairly consummated4 ,one day ,i awoke1 and found that ,i had traveled into a new country4 ,the landscape was different2 the faces ,i encountered were different2 and looking casually into a mental mirror1 as it were1 ,i perceived that ,i too had become different4 ,and ,i was sure also that ,i had gained1 not lost1 that into my new spiritual home ,i had taken with me1 not indeed the images of my gods1 like neas1 fleeing from ,troy1 but something for which those images had stood1 and which in other ways would remain for me a permanent possession4 ,it has been said that the science of today lives only in so far as it supersedes the science of yesterday4 ,whatever may be true of science 7and the statement is certainly not true without large qualifications--the science of ,newton and ,darwin has not been 8superseded0--and it may even come to pass that outreachings of a more ancient science frustrated at the time will hereafter be taken up anew with fairer results than formerly were attainable71 in religion at all events there is no such thing as the bare substitution of the new for the old4 ,the religions of the past1 at least the more advanced religions1 are not simply to be cast on the scrap heap1 or treated as exploded superstitions4 ,there is in all of them a certain fund of truth which may not be allowed to perish1 but should be rescued out of the wreck4 ,on the other hand1 even the most advanced religions contain a large admixture of error1 survivals of primitive taboos1 mythological elements having their root in polytheism1 while the very truths which ,i have just admitted to be infinitely precious require to be restated so as to fit them into a larger synthesis4 ,it is not easy to define my attitude toward the ,old ,masters1 ,i mean the ,old ,masters in religion1 the incomparably great religious teachers of the past1 who tower above us like giants4 ,my attitude is one of profoundest reverence--toward the ,hebrew prophets and ,jesus especially4 ,the ,hebrew religion first sounded the distinctively spiritual note4 ,zoroaster had emphasized the struggle of the powers of ,light and the powers of ,darkness1 but the conception of light in his system remained to a considerable extent materialistic4 ,buddha emphasized ,enlightenment in the sense of escape from ,illusion1 and in conjunction with it sympathy for all who remain under the spell of illusion4 ,confucius endeavored to walk1 and taught his followers to walk1 with equipoise in the ,middle ,path2 he emphasized what he thought to be the cosmic principle of balance or equilibrium4 ,plato1 taking his stand on the highest terrestrial platform1 caught1 or believed himself to have caught1 sight of transcendental beauty as the ultimate principle in things4 ,but the prophets of ,israel assigned to the ethical principle the highest rank in man's life and in the world at large4 ,the best thing in man1 they declared1 is his moral personality2 and the best thing in the world1 the supreme and controlling principle1 is the moral power that pervades it4 ,the predominance of the ethical principle in religion dates from the prophets of ,israel4 ,the religious development of the human race took a new turn in their sublime predications1 and ,i for one am certainly conscious of having drawn my first draught of moral inspiration from their writings4#f ,but nevertheless ,i found myself compelled to separate from the religion of ,israel4 ,now why was it necessary for me to take this step8 ,why not continue along the path first blazed by the ,hebrew prophets--smoothing it perhaps and widening it8 ,why not separate the dross from the gold1 the error from the truth1 explicating what is implicit in that truth1 and adapting it to the needs and conditions of the modern age8 ,the answer is that the truth contained in the ,hebrew1 and as ,i shall presently show1 in the ,christian religion1 is not capable of such adaptation4 ,it claims finality4 ,i have mentioned that there is an element of permanent value in both the ,hebrew and the ,christian religion1 and that it should be restated and fitted into a larger synthesis4 ,but this is impossible unless the ,hebrew or ,christian setting be broken1 unless the element to be preserved is taken out of its context1 and treated freshly and with perfect freedom4 ,a religion like the two ,i am concerned with is a determinate thing4 ,it is a closed circle of thoughts and beliefs4 ,it is capable of a certain degree of change but not of indefinite change4 ,the limits of change are determined by its leading conceptions--the monotheistic idea in the one case1 and the centrality of the figure of ,christ in the other4 ,abandon these1 and the boundaries by which the religion is circumscribed are passed4 ,the great religious teachers are men who see the spiritual landscape from a certain point of view1 including whatever is visible from their station1 excluding whatever is not4 ,the religion which they originate is thus both inclusive and sharply exclusive4 ,what they see with their rapt eyes they describe with a trenchancy and fitness never thereafter to be equaled4#g ,but in order to progress in religion it is necessary to advance toward a different station1 to reach a different1 a higher eminence1 and from that to look forth anew upon the spiritual landscape1 comprehending the outlook of one's predecessors in a new perspective1 seeing what they saw and much besides4 ,religious growth may also be compared to the growth of a tree4 ,to expect that development shall continue along the ,hebrew or ,christian lines is like expecting that a tree will continue to develop along one of its branches4 ,there is a limit beyond which the extension of a branch cannot go4 ,then growth must show itself in the putting forth of a new branch4 ,but let me now state with somewhat greater particularity the reasons that compelled me to depart from the faith of ,israel1 and to leave my early religious home1 cherishing pious memories of it1 but nevertheless firmly set in my course towards new horizons4#h #a4 ,the difficulty created by the claim that ,israel is an elect people1 that it stands in a peculiar relation to the ,deity4 ,this claim1 at the time when it was put forth1 was neither arrogant nor unfounded4 ,it was not arrogant because the mission was understood to be a heavy burden not a privilege3 or if a privilege at all1 then the tragic privilege of martyrdom1 a martyrdom continued through generations4 ,and the claim was not unfounded or preposterous at the time when it was put forth because the ,hebrews were in reality the only people who conceived of morality in terms of holiness4 ,it was not absurd for them to assert their mission to be the teachers of mankind in respect to the spiritual interpretation of morality1 since there was something1 and that something infinitely important1 which they actually had to teach4 ,moral thinking and moral practices of course had existed from immemorial times everywhere1 but the conception of morality as divine in its source1 as spiritual in its inmost essence1--this immense idea was the offspring of the ,hebrew mind4 ,on the other hand1 ,i asked myself1 has not the task of ,israel in this respect been accomplished8 ,have not its ,scriptures become the common property of the civilized nations8 ,and does not that teacher mistake his office who attempts to maintain his magisterial authority after his pupils have come to man's estate1 and are capable of original contributions8 ,the 8nations0 are not to be looked upon in the light of mere pupils4 ,the ethical message of ,israel so far as it is sane is universalistic4 ,it is founded on the conviction that there is a moral nature in every human being1 and that the moral nature is a spiritual nature4 ,and if this be so1 then the utterances1 the insights1 the new visions with which the spiritual nature is pregnant1 cannot be supposed to be restricted to members of the ,jewish people4 ,if the teaching function is to be maintained it must be exercised by all who have the gift4 ,if there is to be an elect body 7a dangerous conception1 the meaning of which is to be carefully defined71 it must consist of gentiles and ,jews1 of men of every race and condition in whom the spiritual nature is more awakened than in others1 peculiarly vivid1 pressing towards utterance4 #b4 ,aside from the spiritual interpretation of morality1 the mission of the ,jewish people has been said to consist in holding aloft the standard of pure monotheism as against trinitarianism4 ,but pure monotheism is a philosophy rather than a religion4 ,taken by itself it is too pure1 too empty of content to serve the purposes of a living faith4 ,the attributes of omniscience1 omnipotence1 etc41 ascribed to ,deity are highly abstract1 too abstruse to be even thinkable1 save indirectly1 and they certainly fail to touch the heart4 ,as a matter of fact it was the image of the ,father projected upon the background of these abstractions1 that made the object of ,jewish piety4 ,jahweh is the heavenly spouse2 ,israel is to be his faithful earthly spouse4 ,the ,children of ,israel are pre-eminently his children4 ,other nations likewise are his children1--some children of wrath to be cast out and destroyed like the rebellious son in ,deuteronomy1 others to be eventually gathered into the patriarchal household4 ,but this view comes back to the same general conception of the relations of ,israel to other nations which has just been discussed4 ,moreover1 the ,father image1 as representing the divine life in the world1 even when extended so as to include all mankind on equal terms1 is open to a serious objection4#i #c4 ,if1 nevertheless1 the ,jews have a mission1 is it perhaps this3 to rehabilitate the prophetic ideal of social justice8 ,is it not social justice that the world is crying for today8 ,were not the prophets of ,israel the great preachers of righteousness in the sense of social justice8 ,did they not affirm that religion consists in justice and in its concomitant mercifulness1 but above all in justice8 ,did not ,isaiah say3 8,when ye come to tread my courts1 who has demanded this of you8 ,go wash you1 make you clean4 ,put away the evil that is in your hands4 ,cease to do evil2 learn to do good40 ,and later on1 8,that ye let the oppressed go free1 and that ye break every yoke40 ,these are solemn1 marvelous words assuredly6 ,they have been ringing down through the ages1 and still find their echo in our hearts4 ,and yet the justice idea of the prophets is inadequate to serve the purpose of social reconstruction today4 ,to go back to it would mean repristination1 not renovation4 ,it is sound as far as it goes1 but it does not go far enough4 ,it is negative1 rather than positive2 it is based on the idea of non-violation4 ,what we require today is a positive conception1 and this implies a positive definition of that holy thing in man that is to be treated as inviolable4 ,to the mind of the prophets justice meant chiefly resistance to oppression1 since oppression is the most palpable exemplification of the forbidden violation4 ,the prophets in their outlook on the external relations of their people stood for the weak1 the oppressed1 against the strong1 the oppressor4 ,they stood for their own weak little nation1 the ,belgium of those days1 against the two over-mighty empires1 ,egypt and ,assyria1 that bordered it on either side4 ,in the internal affairs of ,israel they espoused the cause of the weak against the rich and strong3 8,woe unto them that add house to house and field to field1 that grind the faces of the poor40 ,ever and ever again the same note resounds1 the same intense1 passionately indignant feeling against violation in the form of oppression4 ,but this aspect of justice1 as ,i have said1 is the negative aspect1--inestimably important1 but insufficient4 ,where oppression does not occur1 have the claims of justice ceased8 ,is there not something even greater than mere non-infringement1 greater than mercifulness or kindness1 which in justice we owe to the personality of our fellows1 namely1 to aid in the development of their personality8 ,righteousness1 yes1 by all means1--but does the righteousness of the prophets of ,israel exhaust or begin to exhaust the content of that vast idea8 ,the universalistic ethical idea in the ,hebrew religion is bound up with and bound down by racial restrictions4 ,the issue between monotheism and trinitarianism is no longer a vital issue of our day4 ,the ,father image as the symbol of ,deity raises expectations which experience does not confirm4 ,the ideal of social justice as conceived by the prophets of ,israel is a valid but incomplete expression of what is implied in social justice4 ,these are weighty considerations that make it difficult to retain the belief in the elect character attributed to the people of ,israel4 ,there is one other1 of very deep-reaching importance1 that must be noticed4 ,an elect people is supposed to be an exemplary people1 one that sets a moral example which other nations are expected to copy4 ,but it has become more and more clear to me that the value of example in the moral life has been overestimated and misunderstood4 ,no individual1 for instance1 can really serve as an example to others so as to be copied by them4 ,the circumstances are always somewhat different1 the natures are different1 and the obligations1 finely examined1 are never quite the same4 ,in fact1 the best that anyone can do for another by his example is to stimulate him to express with consummate fidelity his different nature in his own different way4 ,i do not of course deny that there are certain uniformities1 chiefly negative1 in moral conduct1 but ,i have come to think that the ethical quality of moral acts consists in the points in which they differ rather than in those in which they agree4 ,the ideally ethical act1 to my mind1 is the most completely individualized act4 ,and what is true of individuals is no less true of peoples4 ,no people can really be exemplary for other peoples1 and in this sense elect4 ,every people possesses a character of its own to which it is to give expression in ways which ,i shall indicate in the last part of this work4 ,but the way rightly adopted by one nation cannot be a law or a model for its sister nations4 ,if the ideal of the modern ,zionists were realized1 if the ,jews were to return to ,palestine1 to speak once more the language of the ,bible1 to cultivate their distinctive gifts1 they would not therefore produce a pattern which could be copied in ,japan1 or among the #djj millions of ,china1 or in the ,united ,states1 or among the ,slavic or ,latin peoples4 ,in concluding these reflections1 ,i may not conceal from myself or from others that the objection to the function of exemplariness1 if sustained1 affects at the root both the theology and the ethics of the past4 ,if no individual can be in the strict sense an example to others1 neither can an individual ,deity be an example to be copied by men1 neither can ,christ be the perfect exemplar to be imitated4 ,there can be no single perfect exemplar4 ,virtues that bear the same name are not therefore the same virtues4 ,often it is only the name that is the same1 not the substance2 and where they are in a broad way the same1 yet there remains a difference of accent4 ,the natures of men are unlike4 ,their moral destiny is to work out the unlikeness of each in harmony with that of the others4 ,the moral equivalence of men1 rather than their moral equality1 is for me the expression of the fundamental moral relation4#aj ,at the early stage of my career to which ,i am still adverting it was urgently put to me that with all the changes that had taken place in my inner life1 ,i need not separate myself from the religion of the ,fathers1 nay1 that ,i might remain a servant and teacher of religion within the ,jewish fold1 gradually weaning away from the beliefs which they held those whom ,i might contrive to influence1 and drawing them up--such was the phrase used--to my own 8higher level40 ,but this advice was repelled by every inmost fibre of my being1 and could not but be utterly rejected4 ,i was to publicly represent a certain belief with the purpose of undermining it4 ,i was to trade upon the simplicity of my hearers in order to rob them of what they1 crudely and mistakenly perhaps1 considered their most sacred truth1 by feigning provisionally1 until ,i could alter their views1 to be in agreement with them4 ,would this be fair to them or to myself8 ,was ,i to act a lie in order to teach the truth8 ,there was especially one passage in the ,sabbath service which brought me to the point of resolution3 ,i mean the words spoken by the officiating minister as he holds up the ,pentateuch scroll1 8,and this is the ,law which ,moses set before the people of ,israel40 ,i had lately returned from abroad where ,i had had a fairly thorough course in ,biblical exegesis1 and had become convinced that the ,mosaic religion is so to speak a religious mosaic1 and that there is hardly a single stone in it which can with certainty be traced to the authorship of ,moses4 ,was ,i to repeat these words8 ,it was impossible4 ,i was certain that they would stick in my throat4 ,on these grounds the separation was decided on by me1 and became irremediable4 ,,footnotes3 #f ,i still go back to that fountain-head for refreshment and inspiration1 much as a modern poet may go back to ,homer1 without attempting to copy him1 or as a modern sculptor or architect may go back to the ,greek artists without relinquishing his right and his duty to help in producing a different kind of art1 which perchance may one day culminate in masterpieces like theirs1 though his own performance be but the poor beginning4 #g ,compare the ejaculatory deliverance of ,isaiah1 the ,sermon on the ,mount1 and the ,parables of ,jesus4 ,who can attempt in language to express what they saw as they did8 #h ,no seriously religious person will attempt to strike out into a new path unless he be under inward coercion to do so4 ,the advantages of what is commonly called historic continuity 7,i have just shown wherein real continuity consists1 that of growth along the trunk1 and not of growth along the branch7 are great4 ,there is for one thing the support derived from leaning on an ancient tradition1 the proud humility felt in passing on the torch that had been held by mighty predecessors1 the self-dedication to that which is larger than self1 i4e41 to an institution and ideas that existed in the world before one was born1 and will exist after one is gone4 ,there is the strength drawn from contact with a large and powerful organization1 powerful both in sustaining one's efforts1 and in restraining and correcting them when need be4 ,there are1 on the other side1 the perils of innovation1 the errors into which one is led for lack of restraint and correction1 the too great dependence on self1 the spiritual loneliness and the lack of many gracious and useful aids to the religious life such as a noble ritual1 majestic music1 the fit emotional expressions of religious feeling1 which are not to be had for the asking1 the fine embellishments that are precious in their way1 and that1 like the fruits in the ,gardens of the ,gods1 ripen slowly1 and may not be extemporized or anticipated4 #i ,see ,chapter ,,ix on the ,religious ,society in ,part ,,iv of this volume4 ,it gives rise to the belief that men as individuals or collectively are the objects of a special ,providence1 and that the universe is so arranged as to be adapted to man's needs1 not to say his wishes2 whereas the facts show that man must adapt himself to the universe1 and find his physical safety and his ethical salvation in so doing4 ,the belief in the ,father who allows not one hair of our heads to fall unnoticed raises expectations to which actual experience fails to correspond4 ,as to the issue between monotheism and trinitarianism1 it has long since become obsolescent1 if not obsolete4 ,the forward-looking men and women of our time are absorbed in far other issues--,is the mechanical theory propounded by science the ultimate account of things8 ,is the world in which we live a blind machine8 ,is man a chance product of nature1 like the beasts that perish8 ,not is ,god one in unity or is ,he a ,triune ,god1 but1 is there a ,god at all8 ,is there a supersensible reality8 ,is religion capable of a new lease of life1 and of giving a new lease of life to us who now are spiritually dead8 #aj ,of many ethical types of behavior no examples whatever as yet exist1 for instance1 of the ethically-minded employer or merchant1 ethically-minded in thought and in practice4 ,the standard of ethical behavior which we apply is at present higher and more exacting4 ,the standard itself indeed is in process of being defined1 and there are no illustrations of it1 or none but very imperfect ones1 on which to dwell with satisfaction4 ,but the same is true of other vocations4 ,we are very thankful for any examples that can be found4 ,they seem to prove that that which ought to be can be4 ,but we may not lean on them too hard4 ,they are never quite adequate1 even in their limited sphere2 and there is ever an ,ought-to-be beyond that which has been even partially realized1 beyond that which has even as yet been conceived4 ,to make too much of example is to check moral progress4 ,along with a due appreciation of past moral achievements1 there should be encouraged a spirit of brave adventure1 a certain intrepidity of soul to venture forth on voyages of discovery into unknown ethical regions1 taking the risks but bent upon the prize4 ,,chapter ,,iii ,,emerson ,i find on looking backward that my development proceeded with the help of a series of definitions fixing my attitude toward teachers who made a special appeal to me1 and toward great historic tendencies past and present4 ,i was helped both by what ,i was able to appreciate in them1 and1 where ,i diverged1 by what they forced me to think out for myself4 ,here let me acknowledge a passing debt to ,emerson4 ,as in the case of ,kant1 a strong attraction drew me toward ,emerson with temporary disregard of radical differences1--although the spell was never so potent or so persistent in the latter instance as in the former4 ,i made ,emerson's acquaintance in #ahge4 ,i came into touch with the ,emerson circle and read and re-read the ,essays4 ,the value of ,emerson's teaching to me at that time consisted in the exalted view he takes of the self4 ,divinity as an object of extraneous worship for me had vanished4 ,emerson taught that immediate experience of the divine power in self may take the place of worship4 ,his doctrine of self-reliance also was bracing to a youth just setting out to challenge prevailing opinions and to urge plans of transformation upon the community in which he worked4 ,but ,i soon discovered that ,emerson overstresses self-affirmation at the expense of service4 ,for a time indeed ,i reconciled in my own fashion the two contrary tendencies4 ,the divine power1 ,i argued1 flows through me as a channel--hence the grandeur which attaches to my spiritual nature4 ,but the divine power manifests itself in redressing the wrongs that exist in the world1 and in putting an end to such violations of personality as the sexual and economic exploitations which disgrace human society4 ,so for a time ,i continued to walk on air with ,emerson1 and had my head in the clouds1--the clouds in which ,emerson enveloped me4 ,out of this false sense of security1 this quasi-pantheistic self-affirmation1 the experiences of the next few years effectually roused me4 ,i came to see that ,emerson's pantheism in effect spoils his ethics4 ,be thyself1 he says1 not a counterfeit or imitation of someone else4 ,be different4 ,but why6 ,because the ,one manifests itself in endless variety4 ,penetrating below the surface1 however1 one finds that in this kind of philosophy the value of difference1 to which ,i attach essential importance on ethical grounds1 is nothing more than that of a foil4 ,according to ,emerson life is a universal masquerade1 and the interest of the whole business of living consists in the ever-renewed discovery that the face behind the different masks is still the same4 ,difference is not cherished on its own account4 ,and here1 as in the case of the uniformity principle of ,hebraism1 ,i found myself dissenting4 ,emerson is a kind of eagle1 circling high up in the ether--non soli cedit4 ,emerson with his oracular sayings might have served as a priest at ,dodona or led the mysteries at ,eleusis4 ,yet1 withal1 he is genuinely ,american1--a rare blend of ancient mystic and modern ,yankee1--a valued poet too1 but as an ethical guide to be accepted only with large reservations4 ,,chapter ,,iv ,,the ,,teachings ,,of ,,jesus ,at about this time ,i began to occupy myself more seriously than ,i had done before1 with the study of the ,new ,testament4 ,i had1 ,i think a great advantage in my approach to it1 for the very reason that ,i had not been brought up in the ,christian tradition4 ,i came from the outside1 with a mind fresh to receive first-hand impressions4 ,i had not had instilled into me from childhood the kind of hesitant awe that prevents impartial appraisement of excellences and of possible deficiencies4 ,on the other hand1 as a searcher ,i was deeply interested to ascertain what ,christianity could give me1 and to what extent it could further my spiritual development4 ,i had not the enforcedly apologetic attitude2 ,i did not come prepared to accept without question nor yet to find fault2 ,i came to test for my own use4 ,here am ,i1 with life and its problem before me--how can the teachings of ,jesus help me in my search1 in my dire perplexities8 ,i must say to begin with that ,i was particularly struck with the originality of ,jesus' teachings1 a quality in them which to my amazement ,i had found disputed1 not only by ,jews1 but by representative ,christians4 ,in ,jewish circles it is not uncommon to speak almost condescendingly of ,christianity as of a daughter religion commissioned to spread abroad the truths of ,judaism1 with such alloy as may be needed to suit them to the apprehension of the gentiles4 ,but ,christian teachers likewise--,i remember particularly a recent sermon to that effect--have taken the ground that ,jesus added nothing new to the ethical insight of mankind4 ,his work1 it is said1 consisted merely in supplying a sufficient motive for performing the duties which everyone knows1 but which1 lacking this motive1 we are supposedly impotent to practice4 ,this strange misapprehension of the intimate nature of ,jesus' contribution to ethical progress is largely due1 ,i take it1 to the poverty of our moral vocabulary4 ,language puts at our disposal only a few terms1 such as ,justice1 ,righteousness1 ,love1--which must needs stand for a great variety of moral ideas4 ,thus ,justice in ,plato's use of the word1 implies that 8a shoemaker shall stick to his last10 that those who perform the humble functions shall be content to perform them in due subservience to their superiors4 ,a very different meaning was attached to justice by the ,hebrew prophets as ,i have explained in the last chapter4 ,again1 a quite different conception of justice is framed and stressed by modern social reformers4 ,now it is this ambiguity of the moral vocabulary that conceals the novelty of ,jesus' precepts4 ,thus1 to mention only a single capital instance1 it has been asserted that the ,golden ,rule as taught by ,jesus is not original1 but substantially the same rule that had been laid down by ,confucius #ejj years before the time of ,jesus4 ,but on closer scrutiny it will be seen that the two ,golden ,rules are by no means the same4 ,as propounded by the ,chinese sage the rule appears to mean3 ,keep the balance true between thyself and thy neighbor2 illustrate in thy conduct the principle of equilibrium4 ,as impressed upon his disciples by ,jesus it means3 ,look upon thy neighbor as thy other self2 act towards him as if thou wert he4 ,to return to my point1 the impression of novelty which ,i received in reading the ,gospels was definite and striking4 ,the mythological idealization of ,jesus1 indeed1 ,i put aside as a thing that did not concern me4 ,on the other hand1 to say with certain modern liberals that he was just a man1 an infinitely gracious personality1 one who exemplified in his life the virtues of forgiveness and self-sacrifice1 did not satisfy me either4 ,buddha too had taught forgiveness3 8,for hatred is not conquered by hatred at any time2 hatred is conquered by love40 ,it could not then be the bare precept of forgiveness that lets light on the secret of ,jesus4 ,and self-sacrifice--8,greater love hath no man than this1 that he should lay down his life for his friend0--had been practiced within and without the pale of ,hebraism4 ,that he continued the work of his ,hebrew predecessors ,i made no doubt4 ,on the ,hebrew side he was a prophet1 or rather1 a saint in ,israel4 ,but ,i had just as little doubt that he took a step beyond his predecessors1 that his teachings bear upon them the signature of originality4 ,to put my thought briefly1 ,i came to conclude that the ethical originality of ,jesus consists in a new way of dealing with the problem of evil1 that is1 of evil in the guise of oppression4 ,the prophets1 his predecessors1 as we have seen1 identified injustice with oppression2 and in the first flush of their moral enthusiasm the more optimistic among them believed that justice as they conceived of it would presently triumph and that oppression would cease altogether--8,arise1 shine1 for thy light is come40 ,god would miraculously interfere1 and bring about on earth a state of righteousness4 ,but years and centuries passed by1 and oppression1 far from ceasing1 became under the ruthless administration of ,rome ever more grinding and terrible4 ,the yoke of ,rome weighed upon the ,jews as it did upon other peoples2 but perhaps1 because they were more independent in spirit1 it galled them more sorely4 ,the fiery zealots among the ,jews persisted in hoping that by supreme desperate efforts1 ,god coming to their aid1 they might yet succeed in shaking off this yoke--efforts which culminated in the horrors of the last siege of ,jerusalem4 ,jesus was not of their way of thinking4 ,he seems indeed to have believed that the end of the existing order was near4 ,it was too incredibly bad to last4 ,the world would be consumed by fire4 ,a new earth and a new heaven would appear4 ,but in the meantime how accommodate oneself to the intolerable fact of oppression8 ,jesus said1 ,resist not evil in the guise of oppression1 it is irresistible4 ,he mentions in particular three forms of intolerable oppression3 a blow in the face1 the stripping of a man of his garment1 and the coercing him to do the arbitrary bidding of another4 ,he says1 ,resist not evil1 resist not oppression4 ,shall then evil triumph8 ,is the victim helplessly at the mercy of the injurer8 ,shall he even be told that in a servile spirit he must accept the indignities that are put upon him8 ,no2 this is not the meaning4 ,quite a different meaning is implied4 ,and here the teaching of ,jesus takes its novel turn4 ,there is a way1 he says to the victim1 in which you can spiritually triumph over the evildoer1 and make your peace with irresistible oppression4 ,use it as a means of self-purification2 pause to consider what the inner motives are that lead your enemy1 and others like him1 to do such acts as they are guilty of1 and to so violate your personality and that of others4 ,the motives in them are lust1 greed1 anger1 wilfulness1 pride4 ,now turn your gaze inward upon yourself1 look into your own heart and learn1 perhaps to your amazement1 that the same evil streams trickle through you2 that you1 too1 are subject1 even if it be only subconsciously and incipiently1 to the same appetites1 passions1 and pride1 that animate your injurers4 ,therefore let the sufferings you endure at the hands of those who allow these bad impulses free rein in their treatment of you lead you to expel the same bad impulses that stir potentially in your breast2 let this experience fill you with a deeper horror of the evil1 and prove the incentive to secure your own emancipation from its control4 ,in this way you will achieve a real triumph over your enemy1 and will be able to make your peace with oppression4 ,there are other intolerable evils in the world besides oppression which nevertheless must be tolerated4 ,the method of ,jesus can be applied to these also4 ,this method ,i regard as a permanent contribution to the ethical progress of humanity4 ,a second original trait in ,jesus' teaching ,i found in his conception of the spiritual nature1 and of his doctrine of love as dependent on that conception4 ,the conception or definition is still negative as in the non-violation ethics of the ,hebrew prophets4 ,the spiritual element in man is hidden4 ,it cannot be apprehended as to what it is substantively4 ,the attributes ascribed to it are the effects in which it manifests itself2 this goes without saying4 ,to define the spiritual nature means to describe these effects1 these manifestations4 ,according to the ,hebrew predecessors of ,jesus the spiritual power is to be conceived of as that which prompts a man to respect the holy precinct of personality in others and in himself4 ,what the holy thing is remains unknown4 ,this view leads to acts of justice and mercy1 as above explained4 ,according to ,jesus the spiritual essence in man bids him expel the inner1 impure impulses that lead to external violations4 ,in brief1 the spiritual power is conceived of in terms of purity4 ,it is the pure thing in man that thrusts out as alien to itself whatever is impure--whatever is of the world1 the flesh1 and1 in mythological language1 whatever is ,satanic4 ,in this sense ,i say that the definition is negative4 ,it marks out1 indeed1 a definite line of conduct2 and it even leads1 as we shall presently see1 to active efforts in a specific direction4 ,a negative principle may have certain positive results4 ,but in the main1 nevertheless1 the teaching of ,jesus enlightens us as to what shall not be rather than as to what shall be4 ,from the ,hebrew prophets we learn that there shall not be violation of personality or injustice1 the positive concomitant being mercy2 from ,jesus' teachings we learn that there shall not be impurity in the inner forum1 the positive by-product being the doctrine of love4 ,taking over the ,hebrew heritage1 ,jesus affirmed that the spiritual nature exists in all human beings4 ,in every man there is presumed to be this inner power to reject the unclean admixtures1 to ward off and repel the carnal solicitations1 to withdraw from the 8world10 and to move upward toward the source of purity1 which is ,god4 ,the spirituality of man consisting of purity1 the ,father-,god1 the ,father of ,lights1 is likewise conceived as the absolutely pure1 in this sense as the most holy4 ,in every man there is a ray of the eternal light emanating from the eternal luminary1 and all men are one in so far as their rays converge at the focus of ,godhead4 ,to love men is to be conscious of one's unity with them in the central life1 and to give effect to this consciousness4 ,hence ,christian love1 the love that ,jesus taught1 is no earthly love1 no mere sentiment1 or outreaching of the human affections4 ,on the contrary1 the natural human ties are repeatedly set aside in the logia4 ,to love another is to love him in ,god4 ,later the current phrase became1 to love him in ,christ2 that is1 to think of him1 and act towards him1 as if he possessed the same capacity for purity with oneself4 ,the love of others in ,god or ,christ encouraged a particular kind of earthly beneficence1 and it especially inspired the followers of ,jesus with an unparalleled zeal in works of remedial 7though never of preventive7 charity4 ,this may at first sight seem paradoxical4 ,the young man is advised to dispossess himself of all he has1 and in the same breath is told to distribute his possessions among the poor4 ,why not rather scatter them to the winds8 ,why should not the poor too cease to toil and spin and take heed for the morrow8 ,for their simple necessities ,god would provide4 ,the two-fold attitude1 however1 is easy to understand if we remember that certain acts of helpfulness have a symbolic significance1 as attesting the value we set upon the person to whose needs we minister1 much as a flower offered to a beloved person emblematically intimates our sense of the beauty and worth of the one to whom the tribute is offered4 ,christian charity1 on its earthly side1 has a similar meaning and purpose4 ,it is intended to efface the indignity to which human beings are subjected when reduced to extreme indigence or allowed to suffer without relief1 for it is the disdain of the spiritual personality thus evinced which ,jesus disallows4 ,he bids his followers intimate by earthly tokens their consciousness of the super-earthly worth of their fellow-beings4 ,but the pursuit of riches as such he nowhere encourages--quite the contrary4 ,and it is certainly a mistake to represent ,jesus1 as has recently been done1 as a kind of precursor of modern ,socialism1 and to think of him as one who1 if he had lived in our time1 would have laid stress on equality of opportunity for all to gain earthly possessions4 ,he who advocated wealth for none could not be supposed to have sympathized with a social movement whose first object it is to secure wealth for all4 ,it is this interpretation of love that helped me to understand the interior meaning of the doctrine of the forgiveness of enemies as taught by ,jesus1 and to perceive wherein it differs from the apparently identical mode of behavior enjoined by ,buddha and the ,stoic ,seneca4 ,it plays a capital rle in ,jesus' teaching4 ,as illustrated by the proto-martyr ,stephen it probably effected the conversion of ,paul4 ,jesus says3 8,bless them that curse you40 ,but how is it possible to bless those that curse us8 ,how1 for instance1 was it possible for ,stephen to bless the men of blood at the very moment when they were crushing him under stones8 ,to bless them that curse you1 to bless them that despitefully use you1 means to distinguish between the spiritual possibilities latent in them and their overt conduct1 to see the human1 the potentially divine face behind the horrible mask1 and to invoke the influence of the divine power upon them in order that it may change them into their purer1 better selves4 ,with complete and eager appreciation of the points of excellence contained in these teachings1 with a reverence which it is impossible to express in words for their incomparable ,author1 and with a large sense of the beneficent influence which they have exercised on human history1 ,i still could not avoid the question1 so vital for me1 ,have these ethical teachings of the great ,master the stamp of finality upon them8 ,has ,jesus really spoken the last word in ethics8 ,is nothing left for us but further to expand and apply the truth which he laid down once and for all8 ,when theology goes1 the last stand of apologetic writers is apt to be made on the ethics4 ,the instinct to claim finality for the religion in which one has been brought up asserts itself in the claim that the moral teachings at least are unexceptionable and valid for all time to come4 ,the searcher who is in great moral perplexities and who seeks help for others and himself1 is bound to ask and will ask in no captious spirit1 is this so8 ,the decisive point is whether the ethical teachings of ,jesus supply a principle which enables us to work with zest in the world1 to take the keenest interest in all the manifold activities of human society1 to embrace the world with the view of penetrating it with a spiritual purpose and of thus transforming it4 ,do these teachings exhibit a way of making the world and the flesh instrumental to the spirit1 or do they serve to turn us away from the world and its interests1 to abandon the world in despair8 ,is the conception of spirituality as purity adequate8 ,purity is certainly one aspect of morality2 is it the sole or the principal factor in it8 ,the other-worldly attitude in the ,gospels is certainly clearly marked4 ,it is the background on which the ethical precepts stand forth4 ,tyrrel has argued as against ,harnack for the close connection between the thought of ,jesus and the apocalyptic vision4 ,i asked myself1 ,can the apocalyptic vision1 that is to say the other-worldliness1 be dissociated from the ethics1 or is the relation between them necessary8#aa ,if the world is speedily1 almost immediately1 coming to an end1 then it is justifiable to prefer celibacy to marriage1 to ignore the state1 to counsel disregard of the toiling and the spinning4 ,all of this is warranted on the assumption that the order of things in which these institutions and activities have their place is about to disappear4 ,but if this expectation is deceived1 if things continue in their ancient course1 if the world and the flesh persist1 taking on ever new and more baffling shapes1 how is a system of ethics which is based on the assumption of one state of things to be reconciled with a state of things exactly the opposite8 ,how shall an ethical person conduct himself in a world which his philosophy of life teaches him to reject1 but with which the necessities of his existence compel him to come to terms day by day and hour by hour8 ,there must then be compromise4 ,and the history of ,christianity up to the present moment is the record of such compromises4 ,monasticism was one of the earliest4 ,a distinction was made1 so to speak1 between perfect and imperfect ,christians1 between a class of men and women who lived in ascetic seclusion1 as if the world did not exist1 and another class1 the greater number1 who managed ethically as best they could1 dependent on the supererogatory merits of the real ,christians or saints to eke out their unholiness4 ,another species of compromise is illustrated1 especially in ,protestant countries4 ,it appears as a division between the contracted sphere of holiness and the circumambient sphere of the practical life1 in both of which1 however1 the same individual has his place4 ,chastity1 forgiveness of personal enemies1 and the like virtues are to be practiced in the contracted sphere of private life1 the ability to practice these virtues being derived from mystical identification with ,jesus4 ,in the ,christian's public life no such identification is possible1 and he is left to be consciously or unconsciously unholy4 ,as a politician1 as a competitor in the struggle for wealth1 he remains without ethical direction4 ,the ethical ideal of the ,gospels requires for its setting the apocalyptic vision4 ,it derives its cogency from the belief that the world is about to perish4 ,can it serve as a sufficient guide to those who must live in the world1 and affirm their ethical personality in dealing with it8 ,in politics1 in business1 in science1 in art1 must we not somehow see our way to the conception that these great interests are not alien to the spiritual nature1 introducing perchance impure admixtures into it1 but rather can be made subservient or instrumental to it8 ,yes2 but instrumental in what way8 ,at this point1 not only the ,christian system1 but every one of the systems of ethics that have arisen since then has failed4 ,and it is1 moreover1 perfectly evident that the instrumental function of the sex relation or of the pursuit of knowledge or of patriotism cannot be determined unless we first answer the one question which the ethical writers are in the habit of evading--,instrumental to what end8 ,what is the ethical end8 ,instruments are means to ends--how can the means be rightly appraised without a definite conception of the end8 ,and if the end be the affirmation of our ethical personality1 of our spiritual nature1 of that holy thing in us without which man loses his worth 7and without which the rule of non-violation itself falls to the ground1 since where there is nothing inviolable there can be no infringement71 it is plain that we must seek a positive definition of the spiritual nature which shall serve as a principle of regulation where the empty concept of purity has manifestly failed4 ,christian ethics has promoted the moral development of mankind in a thousand ways4 ,it has helped even by its mythological embodiment of a transcendental idea to place the individual more firmly on his feet4 ,it has emphasized the inner springs of conduct2 it has given prominence to certain principal virtues of the private life2 but1 like every product of the mind and aspirations of man1 it exhibits the limitations of the time and of the social conditions under which it arose4 ,the conditions have since changed4 ,society has become infinitely more complex1 and in consequence new moral problems have forced themselves upon men's attention2 and with the help of ,christianity itself the human race has advanced beyond the point of view for which ,christianity stands4#ab ,speaking again only for myself ,i could not assent to the position that finality appertains to the ethical teachings of the ,gospel1 that they or their ,author have spoken the last word in ethics4 ,i could not persuade myself that this is so because ,i failed to get from these teachings1 inestimably precious as they are1 an answer to the question that most pressed upon me--,instrumental in what sense1 instrumental to what end8 ,,footnotes3 #aa ,i am aware that a highly esteemed school of modern theologians maintain that the apocalyptic element is a secondary and even an embarrassing feature for ,jesus4 ,but ,i am unable to convince myself of the justice of this view4 #ab ,see the similes used in the previous chapter on the growth of the tree as manifested in the putting forth of a new branch1 and the ascent of an eminence which includes the part of the spiritual landscape previously seen1 but also that part which from the previous station was excluded4 ,,chapter ,v ,,social ,,reform ,my position at that time may be summarized as follows3 ,there is a divine power in the world1 not individual1 manifest in the moral law as revealed in human experience4 ,the moral law involves recognition of the presence of a something holy in each human being4 ,since the world presents innumerable examples of the grossest violation of human personality 7e4g41 prostitution and exploitation of laborers71 the business immediately in hand is to make an end of these violations4 ,there was as yet in my mind no positive definition of personality4 ,clarification and further development were promoted by the necessity of grappling with the problems of poverty and with the attempted solutions of the ,socialists and of other social reformers4 ,at this period1 the notion of personality in my mind being still without determinate content1 empirical matter intruded1 and a species of millennialism for a time vitiated my thinking4 ,in order to set up a goal for humanity1 ,i dallied with ,utopias1 and flattered my imagination with the vision of something like a state of ultimate earthly felicity4 ,the cheap cry of 8,let us have heaven on earth0 was also on my lips1 though the delusion did not last long and perhaps never penetrated very deeply4 ,the problem of poverty1 as mentioned above1 engrossed me early4 ,i acted as chairman of the meeting at which ,henry ,george was first introduced to the public in ,new ,york ,city4 ,but ,henry ,george's remedy1--a single draught of ,socialism with unstinted individualism thereafter--never attracted me1 while his descriptions of the misery of the poor1 eloquent as they were1 and fitted to awaken persons unacquainted with actual conditions1 conveyed to me no novel message4 ,i had before then been profoundly stirred by the chapters in ,karl ,marx's ,kapital in which he collects from the ,english ,blue ,books frightful evidence of the mistreatment of laborers and especially of children in the early part of the nineteenth century4 ,my errands in the tenement slums of ,new ,york had also made me fairly familiar with the bitter facts1 and throughout my life ,i have been in touch in a practical way with the appalling complexus of misery and wrong which we abstractly designate as the ,labor ,question4 ,i shall not here take time to discuss ,socialism or other social reform movements in detail4 ,my intention is to sketch a certain philosophy of life1 and to trace the steps by which ,i reached it4 ,my reaction against ,socialism and related movements1 however1 was a prime factor in this inner development2 and it is of this reaction and the causes of it that ,i must speak4 ,the evils inherent in poverty are1 in the first place1 obviously1 the privations entailed by it2 secondly1 the fact that the greater part of the life of the poor is consumed in efforts to provide the bare necessaries1 the mind being thus kept in bondage to bodily needs and prevented from rising to other interests more appropriate to rational beings2 thirdly1 the fact that the first two wrongs are caused1 not wholly it is true1 but yet in a large measure1 by fellow human beings4#ac ,the sting in poverty is not so much the hardships suffered1 as the contempt for the manhood of the poor1 exhibited by their exploiters1--the inequity being thus turned into iniquity4 ,now my reaction against ,socialism was and is that it neglects the third1 the moral evil1 and stresses only the first and second4 ,i am now speaking of ,marxian ,socialism1 with which in its rigid form ,i early acquainted myself4 ,the ,marxian ,socialist does not deny the pain felt in consequence of the inequity1 nor the desire of those who suffer to become the equals of their masters2 but he regards this desire as a fact of nature explicable on deterministic grounds1 a consequence of improvement in the technique or tools of industry4 ,he does not deny that there are so-called moral ideas1 but he considers them epiphenomena or by-products of economic development4 ,the tendency toward equilibrium of power in human society1 termed democracy1 is to him just a fact and nothing more4 ,the mere desire for it apart from the rightness of the desire is the efficient cause which leads to social readjustments4 ,but evidently this account of the matter will be persuasive only in case the efficient cause proves to be really efficient1 that is to say1 in case the desire for equilibration is on the point of effectuating itself4 ,if it is not1 if the desire of the masses for power is thwarted1 if the realization of their hopes is indefinitely postponed1 then the foundations of the theory are undermined4 ,hence ,marxian ,socialism has been coupled with and depends on a belief which is a kind of materialistic parallel of the apocalyptic vision of ,jesus1--the belief that the end of the present world 7the world of the wage system7 is close at hand1 only with the difference that the end is to be brought about not by divine interference but automatically by the acquisition of power on the part of the masses4 ,to me neither hunger nor the bondage of the mind to physical necessities nor the bare fact of inequity seem sufficient to justify the demand for social reconstruction1 apart from moral right4 ,if there be no such thing as morality1 or if morality be but an epiphenomenon of economic conditions1 what warrant have the hungry or the disadvantaged for complaining8 ,animals1 too1 hunger and sicken4 ,if man be like them a mere chance product of nature1 why should he not share their fate8 ,let the weak succumb6 ,surely the bald fact that the democratic masses today chafe under the yoke of their masters and demand a better state of things1 is no more a ground of obligation for the former than the tendency toward an ultimate equilibrium in nature of which scientists speak can be a ground of obligation4 ,the tendency will effectuate itself or not as the acting forces determine4 ,there is in truth no such thing as obligation from this point of view4 ,then why not fold our arms and wait for what will happen8 ,the notion of democracy currently held is obnoxious to the same criticism4 ,leave out the moral basis in the claim to equity1 and nothing remains but the brute fact that men1 being egotists1 fret under the exercise of superior power by their fellow egotists4 ,but let ,nietzsche or some one else demonstrate that certain higher values1 higher merely because subjectively relished as higher1 are incompatible with equilibrium of power1 and he will be justified at least in his own eyes in scoffing at equality and scourging the democratic dogs back to their kennels4 ,no one denies that the masses have the desire to be treated as the equals of their masters 7very inconveniently for the latter71 but it is quite another matter whether their desire ought to be gratified4 ,social reconstruction1 in other words1 must be motivated by other considerations than those by which according to ,marx the great change is to come about4 ,i have not stopped to consider whether the ,socialistic scheme is workable1 whether the run of mankind are capable of coperative effort on a large scale without the preminent leadership of master minds2 whether ,socialism1 if carried out1 would really breed1 as it is expected to1 the sentiment of ideal brotherhood2 whether the sentiment of brotherhood itself1 unless it be rooted in the closer family and national ties1 is morally sound1 whether the emotional forces that sweep through and overwhelm large aggregations of men1 can be bridled and sufficiently enlightened to promote the ends of ,socialism4 ,all such questions as these touch the feasibility of the ideal proposed2 my own reaction was and is against the ideal itself4 ,instead of pronouncing as some do that mankind are not yet ripe to carry out so high an ideal1 ,i found myself seriously challenging and finally rejecting the very ideal on the ground that it is not a genuine moral ideal at all4 ,it is ethically spurious1 because it omits the notion of right and substitutes for it that of power4 ,a different objection lies against certain modifications of ,socialism and against many of the social reform movements of our time4 ,in these movements the idea of personality is not absent as in ,marx's theory4 ,the inherent dignity of every human being is deeply felt1 and per contra the indignity of the present condition of the greater number4 ,man is worth while2 and for the sake of the worth in him1 the unfavorable circumstances which stifle the promise of his nature are to be changed4 ,my objection in this case is that the higher spiritual nature of man1 or the notion of personality1 is left indefinite and remains vaguely in the background4 ,it supplies indeed the initial motive for practical efforts2 but the instrumental relation of the goods of life to the supreme good is not apprehended positively4 ,and thus the door is left open1 as we shall presently see1 for corrupting influences to enter in4 ,there seems1 it is true1 at first sight1 considerable warrant for demanding certain instant reforms without troubling about ulterior spiritual ends4 ,we are confronted in modern society with evils which seem to require immediate abolition4 ,exploitation is palpably one of them4 ,it is the clearest possible case of trespass on personality4 ,why not then demand respect simply for personality in general1 without inquiring into the nature of personality8 ,is it not beyond all question dishonoring to human nature that some should be on the verge of starvation while others are even themselves injured by excessive possessions2 that the energies of children should be exhausted by premature toil2 that adults should be worked like beasts of burden8 ,why not leave in abeyance the definition of the supreme end1 and concentrate effort on the removal of these incontestable evils8 ,my answer to this is1 in the first place1 that we cannot gain the best leverage even for these initial reforms without a high and defined conception of man as a spiritual being4 ,efforts directed toward improving even material conditions are apt to be fluctuating1 spasmodic1 and are ever in danger of dying down1 unless material improvement is seen in its relation towards something else that commands the highest respect--implicit respect4 ,sympathy alone is altogether inadequate4 ,it often works grave harm2 it is notoriously intermittent1 at one time broadly expansive and then again contracting upon the nearest objects4 ,furthermore1 we can at best sympathize genuinely with only a very limited number of persons4 ,if anyone were to open his heart to the sufferings of all the millions of human beings at present engaged in conflict on the battlefields of ,europe2 if he were to try to realize the indirect consequences of this war2 if he were to take a still wider sweep and embrace in his imagination the populations of ,india1 ,china1 and the races of ,africa1 the effect upon him would be simply paralyzing4 ,the possible effect of one's sympathetic action upon this huge volume of human suffering would appear so insignificant as to make exertion on his part seem quite irrational4 ,we are assisted by sympathy in the matter of social reform by the narrowness of our horizons2 and even within these narrow boundaries the efficiency of the motive depends largely upon the transciency of the sympathetic mood4 ,sympathy as a permanent attitude would disintegrate the self4#ad ,the second answer is that by ignoring the ultimate end we install proximate ends in its place4 ,the reform movements of our day abstain from attempting to set up an ultimate good4 ,they are content1 as they say1 8to evaluate the tangible goods ready at hand40 ,in consequence these tangible goods inevitably usurp the place of the supreme good4 ,begin as we may with the high notion of personality1 we become materialists before we have proceeded very far1 and we infect the laboring masses with our materialism if we omit to define the relation of proximate ends to the ultimate aim4 ,for remember that the ultimate end is that which prescribes the limits within which the nearer aims are to be sanctioned1--the limit for each being the degree in which it conduces toward the highest end4 ,without a goal set up1 without an explicit conception of its regulative function1 the proximate ends abound1 and are likely to expand ad indefinitum4 ,this is evident1 for instance1 in the case of wealth-getting4 ,the poor have not enough wealth1 the rich have too much4 8,let us then redress the balance by at least securing enough for the poor4 ,the necessary limitations we can discuss after they shall have at least reached the limit of sufficiency40 ,but we are thus kindling the desire for wealth2 and this desire and its possible gratifications are boundless4 ,it is in the nature of desire to be prolific of new desire1 and to aim unceasingly at new satisfactions4 ,first1 a decent dwelling1 sufficient food1 education for the children1 are wanted1 then luxury1 then millions1 then multi-millions4 ,secondary motives take the place of primary ones4 ,wealth becomes a token2 the satisfactions it gives are no longer related to actual wants or needs1 but solely to a fantastic desire for preminence4 ,has not this been the actual history of many of those who have risen from poverty to great riches8 ,but the same desires are present1 though suppressed1 unsatisfied1 in the masses1 who look up to the few with admiration or envy4 ,and suppressed desires are often even more insidiously poisoning1 more contaminating in their effects than satisfied desires4 ,the psychological fact is that human volition as expressed in action is always determined by some end4 ,a means is never adopted without there being some object or purpose in view4 ,leave out the ultimate aim and the means become themselves the ends4 ,a decent subsistence should be treated as related to the ultimate end1-- a decent living1 for example1 as a means to fit the worker for the duties of fatherhood and citizenship4 ,it may again be urged that what has been said is true only of the ambitious minority1 and that the masses would be quite content with a decent subsistence if only that much could be assured them4 ,but the prevalence of cheap imitations of luxury among the poor points in the opposite direction4 ,at least in a democratic community1 the ambitions of the few are apt to be contagious4 ,and where this is not the case1 as in some of the older countries of ,europe1 a certain sordid ,philistinism is apt to manifest itself4 ,the life of the middle class in ,europe is without the restless brilliance that characterizes the upward-striving class in ,america1--is not daringly but meanly materialistic4 ,redeeming features are1 of course1 not wanting1 yet how anyone can conceive the social ideal as a state of things in which the laboring people shall be raised to the level at present occupied by the 8middle class0 is difficult for me to understand4 ,nor is it a sufficient rejoinder to say that the present complexion of the middle class1 its narrowness and ,philistinism1 are due to isolation from the social classes beneath them1 and that the broad sentiment of universal fellowship and fraternity1 when it shall have come to prevail1 will purify the atmosphere on the middle level4 ,i have sufficiently indicated my doubts as to the efficiency and soundness of what is called fraternalism4 ,in brief1 if we are to preserve a man's respect for himself as a moral being1 we must find a ground on which he can maintain his self-esteem apart from the material conditions in which he is placed1 and in the interval before the desirable material changes can possibly be accomplished4 ,this interval is certain to be long4 ,the betterment of social conditions is sure to be gradual4 ,the slum ought to be abolished immediately1 but until it goes we must find a reason to respect the man in the slums even now1 and a reason why he should respect himself even now4 ,this reason can only be derived from the spiritual nature of man1 from the spiritual end for which he exists2 and on this account1 above all others1 it is indispensable that the spiritual end be defined4 ,how painfully social reformers may be led into error by slighting this consideration is seen in the readiness with which some have subscribed to the amazing opinion that the issue between chastity and dishonor for the working-girl depends ultimately on the amount of her wages4 ,there are two fallacies that affect the social reform movements of today4 ,the substitution of power for right is one4 ,what ,i venture to call the fallacy of provisionalism is the second4 ,this is the fallacy of the opportunist movements4 8,lead the laboring classes provisionally up to the level of sufficiency1 or of decent existence1 and then we shall see40 ,but man does not act without ends1 and unless we define the ultimate end1 we give license to the proximate ends4 ,in other words1 we simply cannot act provisionally4 ,we cannot ignore our spiritual nature without offending against it4 ,we may start with the idea of serving it1 but without explicit definition of it we shall presently find ourselves disgraced in all sorts of idolatries4 ,what ,i am trying to show is how ,i came to perceive the inadequacy of the non-violation ethics4 ,its formula is3 8,admit the existence of personality2 do not infringe upon it4 ,in your actions for the good of others1 try to abolish the manifest infringements or violations4 ,since there must be some positive content to the idea of good1 accept the material or empirical goods as the provisional content with the general understanding that they are to be instrumental to the higher life but without troubling to define exactly how40 ,the aberrations to which this view leads on the side of action toward others ,i have pointed out4 ,a word now as to the injurious effect on self4 ,of these the following are the most important3 #a4 ,the leader in social reform is apt to be regarded by his followers and to think of himself as a kind of savior4 ,it is his sincere intention to save society from some of the glaring evils with which it is afflicted4 ,but if salvation is sought in the betterment of external conditions1 the social savior is apt to become the victim of a false sense of moral security4 ,he is likely to be off his guard at the weak points of his own character1 and to fall abruptly from high levels into the ditch4 #b4 ,the social reformer who adopts the fallacy of provisionalism is apt to be absorbed in the mechanical details of his work1--the settlement or the municipal reform society1 or the charitable association tend to become highly organized and efficient pieces of machinery4 ,but moral idealism declines in proportion as this kind of efficiency increases1--the salt loses its savor4 #c4 ,the social reformer who sets his heart on external changes is apt to become impatient to bring about those changes4 ,for since he attempts to work from without inwardly1 and not at the same time from within outwardly1 he has nothing to show for his pains unless the desired outward changes are actually effected4 ,in this way may be explained a certain dictatorial manner1 a certain arbitrariness sometimes observed in social workers of whose earnestness and devotion there can be no question1 the preposterous outcome being that in attempting to carry out plans of reform in a democratic community such reformers offend against the very principle of democracy by over-riding the personality of others4 #d4 ,the ,social reformer who concentrates his attention on external changes is apt to be ambitious of large results1 to measure betterment by statistical standards4 ,though quality be not overlooked1 quantity is likely to be over-emphasized4 #e4 ,the painful spectacle is sometimes presented of a leader in social movements who goes to pieces morally in his private relations 7becomes a bad father1 a worthless husband1 an unscrupulous sponge on his friends1 etc474 ,absorption in extensive public movements has this danger in it that it often tends to make men neglectful of the nearer duties4 ,facts of this kind1 which came repeatedly under my observation in the course of years1 drove home to my mind the conviction that the provisional method in social reform 7the method of working for external changes without definition of the end7 is morally perilous1 both in its effects on those who are to be benefited1 and in its reaction on the character of the reformer himself4 ,i parted company with opportunism in every one of its forms2 ,i became more and more imbued with the belief that no one can really help others who in the effort to do so is not himself morally helped1 i4e41 whose character is not improved in every respect1 who does not become a better father1 husband1 citizen1 a more upright man in all his relations in and because of his endeavors to benefit society4 ,i became convinced that the ethical principle must run like a golden thread through the whole of a man's life1 in a word1 that social reform unless inspired by the spiritual view of it1 that is1 unless it is made tributary to the spiritual1 the total end of life1 is not social reform in any true sense at all4#ae ,the fundamental question1 therefore1 echoed and re-echoed with ever intenser insistence3 8,what then is the holy thing in others8 ,what is the supreme end or good to which all the lesser goods should be subordinate and subservient8 ,and what is the holy thing in me8--for ,i may not spiritually sacrifice myself4 ,my own highest good must be achievable in agreement with that of others4 ,what definition of the essential end is possible that shall reconcile egoism and altruism by transforming and transcending them8 ,and if there be such end thinkable and definable1 how establish the applicability of this end to empirical man1 either in the person of others or in my own80 ,i shall have to dwell on this subject at length in the sequel4 ,here at the outset ,i cannot forbear expressing my sense of the obliquities1 the folly1 the meanness1 the cruelties which human nature often exhibits on the empirical side when dispassionately contemplated4 ,that there are also finer traits in people1 gleams of gold in the quartz1 ,i do not deny4 ,but even in the best exemplars of the race the alloy is not wanting4 ,and it is an open question how far any human being1 if his whole make-up and all the circumstances that influenced him be considered1 can be called predominantly good1 assuming that goodness is a matter of desert and not of chance4 ,how1 therefore1 a being that to actual1 impartial observation reveals himself as so dubiously worth while1 can be regarded as possessing the quality of transcendent worth 7which seems to be implied in the idea of personality as inviolable and precious7 will be the starting-point of my inquiry into the philosophical first principle in the second part of this volume4 ,,footnotes3 #ac ,i say caused1 but perhaps not deliberately intended1 although there are instances of the latter4 ,an act is diabolical when maliciously designed to inflict a wrong on another2 as rape for the purpose of dishonoring a family4 ,it is cruelly selfish but not fiendish when it springs from scorn of others as if they were only fractional human beings4 ,the ,brahmin's attitude towards the lower castes1 the attitude of the feudal lord toward the serf1 of ,shakespeare's nobility toward the common citizens1 and of some modern theorists toward the democratic multitude1 are instances in point4 ,in such cases the moral sense itself is astray1 but there is perhaps no deliberate sinning against the light4 #ad ,i have not touched upon the further question to what extent we can really compass the happiness1 except at rare moments1 even of a single human being4 ,the altruistic philosophy is apt to confound the removal of manifest evils with positive benefaction4 ,but the removal of one kind of evil lets in new kinds2 and wherein then consists the gain so far as happiness is concerned8 #ae ,to ward off the most serious misunderstanding1 ,i must remind every reader of the chapter on ,social ,reform1 as well as on the ,hebrew religion and on the ethics of the ,gospels1 that ,i am narrating the phases of my own development4 ,i am not attempting to do justice to all that is excellent in those great religions and in these great social movements2 ,i am trying to show at what points1 despite those excellences1 ,i myself felt compelled to diverge from them1 to push beyond them4 ,in regard to ,socialism ,i recognize the immense service it has performed in awakening the conscience of modern society to the sufferings of the working class4 ,and in pointing out the dangers of opportunism1 the fallacy of provisionalism1 ,i am speaking of dangers from which ,i felt that ,i must escape1 not casting a slur on the noble personalities that have appeared in the field of social reform during my own time and among my friends and acquaintances4 ,such personalities1 because of their inbred fineness1 may be immune against tendencies which yet undeniably exist1 and which therefore require to be explicitly apprehended4 ,,chapter ,,vi ,,the ,,influence ,,of ,,my ,,vocation ,,on ,,inner ,,development ,the present chapter deals with my inner development as ,i believe it to have been furthered by my connection with the ,society for ,ethical ,culture4 ,the functions intrusted to me in this connection were1 first1 various forms of so-called philanthropic activity4 ,the effects of the experience gathered in them has been described in a preceding chapter2 they may be summed up in the formula3 littleness in the external results achieved1 consciousness of moral danger to self4 ,secondly1 the ministerial function of offering 8edification0 in public addresses to ,sunday assemblies1 the solemnizing of marriages1 and the conducting of funeral services1--while in addition a large part of my vocational life consisted in the building up of an educational institution4#af ,the ,public ,addresses4 ,edification1 or building up1 as ,i understood it1 involved the profoundly difficult task of supplying a working philosophy of life without traveling into the field of metaphysics1 teaching the practicable counterpart of a connected system of thought concerning the problems of life1--the system being so firmly knit as to make the appropriate feelings and impulses more or less natural to its exponent4 ,in my case1 not having fallen heir to such a system1 the task of edification became doubly difficult4 ,it meant from the beginning unceasing self-edification1 with a view to edifying others4#ag ,setting out with a general scheme along ,kantian lines1 ,i proceeded to fill in the outline in the course of my public teachings1 with the result that the content filled in eventually disrupted the scheme1 and compelled a thoroughgoing reconstruction4 ,the ,holiness conception had been my starting point4 ,i never gave it up4 ,i was attracted to ,kant because he affirmed it4 ,i broke with him because he does not make good his affirmation4 ,i began with ,kantianism1 which is predominantly individualistic1 and ,i found that in dealing with the problems of the family1 with the labor question1 and in the attempt to reach an ideal of democracy beyond the materialistic conception of it which is at present current--,i was introducing into my initial sketch elements incompatible with individualism1 and necessitating formulation in social terms4 ,and since ,i retained and stressed the notion of personality1 ,i had to seek a way of interpreting the term ,social spiritually1 as ,kant had undertaken to interpret the term individual spiritually4 ,i certainly could not fall in with ,darwinism or other evolutionary interpretations of sociality1 inasmuch as they all leave out the concept of inviolable personality1 the indefeasible factor in my ethical thinking4 ,these things are here alluded to in order to emphasize the influence of the public ,sunday addresses delivered by me regularly for more than forty years in stimulating1 ,i had almost said forcing1 my ethical growth4 ,to care for anyone else enough to make his problem one's own is ever the beginning of one's real ethical development4 ,to care for a group of people in the sense of being challenged to suggest to them ideas and ways of behavior that shall really be of use to them in the storm and stress of life1 is the most searching incentive to self-development imaginable4 ,it is more powerful than the desire to get truth for one's own sake4 ,the closet philosopher may be serious enough in his search for truth1 and he may succeed in constructing a symmetrical system which at the time seems complete4 ,will it stand wear and tear8 ,will it in the bitter moments of his life hold together8 ,if not1 he has failed2 but then he only is the loser1 it is only his ship that has gone down4 ,but the situation is different when a company of people venture with you on the same voyage1 and trust to you as in a way their pilot4 ,the challenge that comes from the expectant eyes of those who are in trouble1 of those whose relations to their friends or the members of their family have become tangled1 the challenge that comes from the larger public towards which every public speaker has a certain ethical duty--all these challenges press home the question3 are the things that you believe true1 so true that you may confidently expect them to be confirmed by the experience of those who in some measure depend upon you8 ,are they genuinely of use8 ,there is also another kind of challenge that in a way is even more taxing and searching3 the silent appeal that comes from those who are spiritually dead1 from those who are sunk in sloth or sensuality1 or who waste their precious days in the pursuit of trivial1 frivolous ends1 and from the insensitive consciences of the self-righteous and the self-complacent4 ,in the ,bible we read that the prophet ,elisha once threw himself on the body of a dead child1 in order with his own life to kindle there the life that seemed extinct4 ,in some such way in public addresses1 in which it is not the word but the personality behind the word that counts1 the speaker is bound to throw himself body and soul1 as it were1 upon those who are spiritually numbed1 and to enhance the life within himself in order to stir up life in them4 ,all of which means that the task of edifying others involves continuous efforts at self-edification4 ,the ,solemnizing of ,marriages4 ,in solemnizing marriages ,i had the experience that some of those at which ,i had officiated ended disastrously1--there had been no real marriage at all4 ,though such instances were not numerous in my own experience1 yet the statistics of divorce prove that the number of unfortunate marriages in this and other countries is very large1 and is increasing4 ,what are the foundations of a permanent relation such as would tend to the development of personality in and through marriage8 was the question urged upon me4 ,here is a social tie in which two individuals1 and later the offspring1 are combined in the closest propinquity4 ,how can an ethical theory of marriage be reached1 that is1 a theory dependent on the idea of the joint realization of the highest end of life by the members of the family group8 ,this ethical theory of marriage will be set forth in a subsequent part of this volume4 ,here ,i wish again to mark the retroactive effect of the function ,i was called upon to exercise in the ,ethical ,society on the development of theory4 ,the most incisive effect of my practical experience1 however1 was the being compelled to encounter the effect of frustration4 ,how reluctant is the natural man to face this fact6 ,how he shrinks1 and puts up screens between his face and the head of ,medusa6 ,in my earliest marriage addresses ,i remember how ,i used to describe the relation as one in which each of the partners receives the cup of happiness at the hands of the other4 ,the second time ,i performed the ceremony1 the bride was the only child of excellent friends1 whose life was completely wrapped up in their one daughter4 ,she was a charming young girl1 and the bridegroom was a fine-grained person entirely devoted to her4 ,that marriage feast ,i shall never forget4 ,a little less than a year after1 the young wife having died in child-birth1 ,i was called in to speak at her bier4 ,where1 then1 was the exchange of happiness8 ,how suddenly had the house of bliss fallen into ruins6 ,a similar experience that touched me even more deeply was that of a friend1 the first one among my associates who believed with me in the possibility of a religious society without a dogmatic creed4 ,the course of love in his case had not run smooth4 ,the marriage between himself and the lovely young woman he wedded was the happy culmination of many trials1 a haven of peace after storms4 ,hardly more than two years elapsed when he suddenly developed a fatal form of mental disease1 and lingered for ten years in a long1 slow1 degrading decline4 ,i thus became acquainted with frustration in one of its most woeful shapes4 ,i remember how the poor young wife1 during those ten years1 widow in all but name1 sought alleviation in various directions for her intolerable grief4 ,work to occupy her mind was one2 caring for the needs of the poor another4 ,i remember also how futile these devices seemed4 ,she had lived 8on the heights02 she must now descend to lower levels2 she had had first best1 she must now put up with second or third best4 ,gladly indeed would she have exchanged places with some of the poor women whom she assisted1 could she have kept her husband at her side as they had theirs4 ,it was well enough for her to try to alleviate the troubles of these people1 but what were their sorrows compared to hers8 ,and to keep the mind occupied by work1 what was it at best but a temporary anodyne8 ,when the work was over1 in the still1 lonely hours of the night1 the storm of grief would break with all the greater violence4 ,i had not taught these my friends a really valid spiritual conception of the purpose of marriage3 ,i had failed in that3 and when they were in need of it they did not have it to support them4 ,they had looked on marriage as a scene of felicity2 they had not been taught to make allowance for the frustration4 ,i had not made preparation for the palpable frustrations just mentioned1 nor yet for others1 for the discovery that the beloved person is faulty1 that the nimbus of divine personality does not coincide with the character4 ,and especially did the lack of any explicit idea of personality prove fatal in those cases where the frustration is most serious1 where real or apparent incompatibilities appear1 or where actual degeneration occurs1 and the hope of regeneration becomes remote4 ,bereavement was the second shape in which the fact of frustration most often came home to me4 ,hundreds of times ,i have spoken to people in the moment of the last leave-taking4 ,the usual consolations1 aside from those that depend on mythological beliefs1 are3 ,submit to the inevitable2 clinch your teeth and face the storms of fate4 ,remember the debt you owe to the living4 ,there is work that remains for you to do4 ,see to it that you do not by excessive grieving destroy your capacity for work4 ,instead of indulging in sorrow for your own loss1 take upon yourself the sorrows of others4 ,in particular it is uplifting for one who has been more severely afflicted to take upon himself the sorrow of those whose burden is lighter4 ,be grateful for what you have possessed4 ,think not so much of what you have lost1 as of what you were privileged for a season to call your own4 ,make the virtues of those who are no longer living a force for good in your own life4 ,paint the portrait of your friend incessantly4 ,retouch it4 ,eliminate what was of merely transient value in him4 ,remember him in the light of his best qualities1 and live so as to be able to endure his purified glance4 ,or1 in the case of those whose lives were stained1 seek to expiate their faults in your life4 ,purify and perpetuate them in this way in yourself4 ,memory is not a mere passive receptacle1 it is rather a creative faculty4 ,let it play upon the lives that are no longer sensibly present1 and thus maintain the connection with them4 ,a friend living across the sea1 whom you will never see again1 may yet be a living presence for you if you continue by the aid of memory to be in communication with him4 ,in the case of the departed1 likewise1 their effectual influence may remain none the less real4 ,these various modes of consolation have each a certain value4 ,to the one last mentioned ,i attach the greatest value4 ,bereavement is a challenge for a fresh start in spiritual development4 ,it should not mean putting up with the second best1 but reaching out toward first best4 ,the object to be achieved by the ethical teacher on such occasions is to help the bereaved to tie anew the threads that have been sundered1 or rather to substitute a more ethereal but firmer tie for the contacts mediated by the senses4 ,but this task of the reweaving of ties1 spiritually1 not sensibly1 depends entirely for its success upon a spiritual conception of personality4 ,and if this be lacking1 the attempt is hopeless4 ,frustration itself must be recognized as partial if it is to lead beyond itself4 ,there must be found in man that which cannot be defeated if the defeat is not to be accepted as final4 ,a third kind of frustration was brought home to me by the problem of specialization1 as it presented itself in the course of my efforts to work out an ethical theory true to the facts of life4 ,to discharge competently my own special function1 ,i saw that ,i ought to be acquainted with the best ethical thought of the past4 ,this meant an exhaustive study of the philosophical systems of which the ethical thought of the philosophers is the fruit4 ,i ought further to be familiar with the great religions1 in which so much of the ethical insight of mankind is incorporated4 ,i ought to acquaint myself with the moral history of mankind in so far as it is accessible1 including that of the primitive races4 ,i ought to gain a survey of the variations of moral opinion that have so staggered belief in the possibility of ethical truth4 ,i ought to master at least the general principles of the physical and biological sciences1 since it is impossible that the first principles of ethics should not be related to the governing principles that obtain in other departments of knowledge4 ,i ought in addition to master in their ethical aspect the economic and political problems of the present day1 as well as the psychology of individual and social life1 in order to be able to apply with some degree of competence the directives of ethics to actual conduct4 ,there are in addition other subjects1 such as jurisprudence1 poetry and the fine arts1 that have ultimate relation to ethics1 and that may not safely be neglected4 ,behold1 then1 the problem of specialism in one of its most appalling forms4 ,for how can any one individual hope to adequately fill out such a programme8 ,and what ,i have said is but my own personal illustration of a general problem that more and more besets every reflective person in our time4 ,and it is a problem that has direct bearings upon the question of human personality4 ,the personality is not a detached and isolated thing4 ,it is a center that radiates out in every possible direction1 and depends for the release of its energy on the influences received in turn from all directions4 ,on the one hand1 to have a footing at all in reality one must be a specialist1 and the fields of specialism are becoming more and more restricted4 ,to know one thing well is the indispensable condition of the sense of mastery1 yes1 of self-respect4 ,and yet it seems to be becoming increasingly clear that one cannot really master a single specialty without knowing of other specialties whatsoever is related to one's own4 ,narrowness1 and loss of power1 and consequent decay of the special function itself1 seems the one alternative4 ,dilettantism1 the other4 ,but again ,i ask1 who can actually fill out such a programme8 ,the frustration of effort thus appears1 in its intellectual guise1 as one more manifestation of that general fact of frustration which we meet with wherever we turn4#ah ,on the side of character the same reflections occur4 ,unity in the direction of distinctiveness or uniqueness is the end and aim4 ,but instead of unity of character1 conflict of inner tendencies1 ever-recurrent rupture of provisional harmonies1 a duality of self or multiplicity of selves1 are the facts attested by one's inner experience4 ,and frustration here1 at the core of a man's being1 is perhaps more painful and more seemingly contradictory of the very ideal and purpose of ethical development than in any of the forms previously recorded4 ,the last instance of frustration that ,i will mention appears in connection with the cosmic relation of our race4 ,the thought of the death of the individual may be overcome by the idea of perpetuity in the lives of successors4 ,the death of the human race1 its eventual extinction1 is capable of no such assured compensation4 ,we are ethical beings1 committed to the pursuit of an ideal end1 yet the cosmic conditions are such as to make the end unattainable within the limits of a finite world4 ,this unattainableness of the end it is true is the very ground and foundation of the supersensible interpretation of ethical experience4 ,yet this thought itself can only be made good by a positive interpretation of personality 7of the spiritual nature71 which we are yet to seek4 ,as viewed empirically1 the human generations are but accidents of nature1 waves on the sea of life1 passing shadows4 ,and viewing ourselves in this manner our self-respect goes to pieces4 ,the idea of obligation vanishes4 ,man's claim to infinite worth is bitterly mocked4 ,unless we can reach the spiritual view of life1 the frustration of purpose in the large1 that is1 of humanity as a whole1 is final4 ,these then1 summarily stated1 are the problems with which an ethical philosophy of life has to deal4 #a4 ,how to remedy the belittlement of man1 the infinitesimal insignificance of him as a creature of time and space1 when compared with the immensities of the world around him--its spatial and temporal immensities4 ,what is man in the presence of these myriads of worlds1 of this unending procession of time that he should attribute to himself significance1 nay1 worth8 ,is he perhaps an infinitesimal member of an ,infinite8--preserving in this way the sense of his littleness1 and of the vastness that bears down upon him1 and yet maintaining himself irrefragably at his station1 as indispensable to the perfection of the whole4 #b4 ,how to discover a way of retaining the connection between man and the lower forms of life that preceded him1 not doing violence to the facts which the evolutionists have brought out1 and yet at the same time assuring man's spiritual distinction8 ,does he perhaps possess in his ethical nature a window1 so to speak1 through which he can catch at least a glimpse of the ultimate reality1 of the infinite life which is the real life1 behind the picture screen of sea and mountain1 plants and animals8 #c4 ,how to overcome the various types of frustration mentioned above3 frustration on its intellectual side1 or the reconciliation of specialist efficiency with breadth and relatedness2 frustration on the character side4 ,frustration in the social relations1 as in marriage1 or as in the case of defective children4 ,frustration through bereavement1 or the privation suffered by the going out of our life of lives with which we are inseparably connected by ethical as well as affectional ties4 ,frustration in the attempt to carry out projects of social betterment2 on what moral ground to assert the possible moral value of life in the slums today1 and at the same time to put forth and to stimulate the most assiduous efforts to abolish the slum2 on what grounds to affirm that the best life is possible under the worst conditions1 and yet not to cease or for an instant relax the effort to change the conditions4 ,the problem of how to support and console the wretched multitudes of mankind in the interval that must elapse before the reform of conditions can take real effect2 the problem of support and consolation in fatal sickness1 on the deathbed1 and in the harrowing recollection of irremediable and irrevocable wrong done to others2 the problem raised by the prospective extinction1 or the possible old age and degeneration before extinction of mankind--all these problems should be taken together1 not one1 for instance the so-called social problem1 accentuated1 leaving the rest out of sight4 ,from one peg they all hang1 on one cardinal idea they all depend--the idea of personality as positively defined1 of the holy thing as not merely inviolable without regard to its content1 but inviolable because of a certain positive content4 ,the ascription of worth to man1 in this sense1 is the fundamental problem of all1 and to the full discussion of this we shall turn in the constructive part of the volume which is now to follow4 ,,footnotes3 #af ,see the published accounts of the ,ethical ,culture ,school4 #ag ,the word 8edification0 as commonly used has a sentimental flavor4 ,it does not as a rule convey the idea of constructiveness at all4 ,it frequently suggests a kind of warm1 moist1 semi-tropical atmosphere for the emotions of the hearer to simmer in4 ,but in its genuine meaning of 8building up0 it is too valuable a word to lose4 #ah ,a new conception of culture is needed1 based neither on exclusive specialism1 nor on the ambition to know everything after the manner of ,goethe in his early days1 and such a conception of culture must supply the foundation of an educational philosophy4 ,,book ,,ii ,,philosophical ,,theory ,,chapter ,i ,,introductory ,,remarks3 ,,critique ,,of ,,kant ,i begin my statement of the ethical ideal with a critique of ,kant4 ,the reason for this is that ,kant stands forth preminent among all philosophers as the one who emphatically asserts that the attribute of inviolability attaches to every human being1 in his formula that every man is to be treated as an end per se1 and never to be used as a mere tool by others4 ,the formula as thus worded by him is subject to grave objections which will be dealt with later on4 ,but the grand conception of the moral worthwhileness of all men is specially connected with the name of ,kant4 ,did he succeed1 on the basis of his system1 in establishing this conception8 ,he seems to make it the corner-stone of his ethics4 ,is the corner-stone secure8 ,referring again to my individual development1 ,i should find it difficult to express how much ,kant's ,metaphysik der ,sitten and ,kritik der praktischen ,vernunft at one time meant to me4 ,the one ethical fact of which ,i was so to speak perfectly assured1 the 8inviolability0 so often mentioned in previous chapters1 is extremely hard to justify to the thinking mind4 ,the empirical school of philosophers scoff at the very notion of it4 ,the practice of the world is a perpetual1 painful evidence of the small attention paid to it1 and even idealistic philosophers from ,plato down have found it quite possible to construct quasi-ethical systems based on the idea1 not of human equality1 but of the inferiority of the greater number4 ,in ,kant1 however1 one encounters an epoch-making philosopher who not only accepts as a fact the idea of inviolability1 and of the kind of equality that goes with it1 but who undertakes to set it forth in such a manner as to command the assent of the reason4 ,for a long time ,i believed that he had succeeded in his great enterprise2 and it was only after years of discipleship1 not indeed without suppressed misgivings1 that ,i began to see that ,i had been mistaken4 ,my eyes were opened when ,i realized certain extremely questionable moral consequences to which his doctrine led him3 for instance1 his unspeakable theory of marriage1 his defense of capital punishment1 the stiff individualism of his system1 and his failure to establish an instrumental connection between the empirical goods1 of wealth1 culture1 and the like1 and the supreme good or supreme end as defined by him4 ,i was forced by these unsound conclusions to ask myself whether the foundations of the system are sound4 ,surely if it is true of any system of thought1 it is true of an ethical system that it must be judged by its fruits4 ,the ,kantian system is indeed vastly impressive1 and even sublime in some of its aspects4 ,we travel on the road along which ,kant leads with a certain sense of exaltation1 but when at the end of our journey we find that we have reached a goal at which we cannot consent to abide1 it is imperative to inquire whether the point of departure was well taken4 ,the point of departure in ,kant's exposition is the existence in all men of a sense of duty4 ,moral relations subsist only between moral beings4 ,all men possess a sense of duty1--therefore all men are moral beings1 therefore all are morally equal1--therefore no one may be used as a mere tool for the benefit of others1 but is to be treated as worth while on his own account4 ,thus runs the argument4 ,the sense of duty is the consciousness of being bound to render implicit obedience to a categorical imperative4 ,our rational nature tells us categorically what is right to do4 ,our rational nature issues absolute commands4 ,the sense of duty is man's response to them4 ,kant does not for a moment imply that either he or anyone else has ever adequately obeyed4 ,the moral dignity1 the moral equality of men1 does not depend on the obedience but on the consciousness of the obligation to obey--on acknowledged subjection to the command4 ,the actual moral performances of some men are certainly better than those of others2 but of no one1 not even of the best of men1 can it be shown that the moral principle in its purity1 that is1 unadulterated by baser incentives1 was ever the actuating motive of his conduct4 ,the different members of the human species differ morally in degree1 but are of the same moral kind1 being distinguished from the lower animals not because they obey the moral law1 but because they recognize the obligation to obey it4 ,this sort of consciousness may be dim in some1 but it exists in all4 ,the most brutal murderer is dimly aware of the holy law which he has transgressed4 ,the great dictum of the universal moral equality of mankind is thus made to depend on an assumed fact4 ,if this fact can be successfully disputed1 the dictum itself is imperilled4 ,it has been disputed1 not flippantly1 but most seriously1 and it is in my opinion obnoxious to fatal objections4 ,i do not indeed believe it possible to establish the negative1 to wit1 that the sense of duty does not lurk somewhere1 is not latent somewhere in the consciousness of persons morally the most obtuse2 but ,i hold it to be impossible to prove the affirmative1 to wit1 that a sense of duty does exist in all human beings1 even in the most degraded4 ,kant's dictum of equality depends on making good the affirmative proposition1 but this he has failed to do4 ,one circumstance especially which at first sight seems favorable to ,kant's contention turns against him4 ,he has been assailed on the ground that his categorical imperative is a fiction1 that no such an imperative plays a rle in the actual experience of men4 ,on the contrary1 the actual experience of men is replete with categorical imperatives4 ,nothing in the life of man plays a greater rle than these imperatives4 ,the danger that threatens ,kant's demonstration is due to the number of rival categoricals that compete with his1 and from which the one he sets up is not with certainty distinguishable4 ,to put the matter simply1 what is called in technical language a categorical imperative is nothing else than a way of acting somehow felt by the individual to be obligatory upon him1 whether he likes it or dislikes it4 ,it is a constraint in which he is bound to acquiesce1 a public rule of some sort which overrides his private propensities4 ,constraints of this sort are numerous4 ,many of them no one would think of designating as moral4 ,some are distinctly antimoral4 ,i will mention a few3--for instance1 the rules of behavior derived from the tabu notion4 ,certain kinds of food may not be eaten2 certain objects like the ,ark of the ,covenant in ,david's time may not be touched4#ai ,strict tabus obtain in regard to marriage such as the rules of endogamy and exogamy4 ,certain persons may not even be looked at4 ,a feeling of horror is felt toward those who transgress these rules2 and the transgression of them is often considered far more reprehensible than a moral sin4 ,it would evidently be absurd to characterize a ,hottentot or a ,fiji ,islander as the moral equal of a civilized man on the ground that1 like the latter1 he possesses the sense of duty1 consisting in his case of an unquestioning acknowledgment of the categorical imperative of tabus4 ,gang loyalty is another instance in point4 ,in one of our prisons a certain convict is at present paying the penalty of a crime which was really committed by one of his pals4 ,he could have got off scot free if he had 8squealed40 ,but 8squealing0 is contrary to the honor code of the gang and he preferred to sacrifice his liberty rather than prove recreant to the claims of gang loyalty4 ,there are some writers who hold that this is an instance of morality1 genuine as far as it goes1 but restricted within too narrow a circle4 ,the fact that it is restricted within too narrow a circle1 that fidelity to a few is compatible with violent hostility against the community at large1 seems to me to prove that the moral quality is absent4 ,morality is either universal or nothing4 ,gang loyalty is a social phenomenon1 but not an ethical phenomenon4 ,the distinction between the two terms will be enforced later on4 ,in any event the sense of constraint is manifest4 ,the moral character of the constraint ,i deny4 ,another example of an imperative which is categorical enough but at the same time non-ethical is furnished by ,darwin's well-known explanation of the original of conscience4 ,he assumes that certain ways of behaving which our ancestors found to be socially useful1 have become registered as it were in our organisms1 and constitute a kind of race-consciousness which persists in each individual4 ,this latent consciousness is potent as a tendency1 though often not masterful enough to repress the recalcitrant egoistic impulses4 ,a conflict ensues4 ,the deep ingrained tendency makes itself felt4 ,and as social beings we are aware that we ought to side with it4 ,but the egoistic impulses break out on the surface of consciousness and vehemently urge us in the opposite direction4 ,the feeling of obligation1 and thereafter of remorse1 are the record of the inner struggle4 ,i do not here undertake to discuss at length the truth of ,darwin's theory4 ,there are a number of weak spots in it1 to which ,i shall merely allude in passing4 ,first1 he speaks of acts found to be socially useful in primitive communities4 ,is it possible to show that the same or similar acts retain their utility in a developed industrial society like that of the present day8 ,is not the term 8socially useful0 extremely vague1 and can the notion implied in it be expanded without the assistance of a truly ethical principle8#bj ,then again1 why should the thing called social utility overawe the individual mind and thwart individual purpose8 ,why should not the daring egotist affirm his right to be and flourish in the present hour1 in the teeth of social utility8 ,it will be said that the claims are insistent1 that the tendency is ingrained1 that it has become instinctive in him1 and that he cannot release himself from the control it exercises over him4 ,but instincts can be weakened and in time extinguished1 like the fear of the dark1 when the absence of an objective cause is recognized4 ,why should not the altruistic impulse likewise1 by the method of ,freudian analysis1 if you please1 be exposed to the light1 and the egotist thereby be enabled to disembarrass himself of the interference of dead ancestors in his life purposes1 and to proceed on his way undisturbed by any inward qualms8 ,these examples serve to illustrate the point with which we are here concerned1 namely1 that the presence and operation of undoubted constraints does not establish the existence in all men of the sense of duty on which ,kant founds universal moral equality4 ,kant would indeed object that all these so-called constraints or imperatives are hypothetical1 and not really categorical4 ,by an hypothetical imperative he understands one in which the command depends upon an 8if0--if there be invisible spirits such as primitive men imagined1 then the rules of tabu follow4 ,if the safety of the gang is an object of commanding interest1 then gang loyalty is obligatory4 ,if the preservation and prosperity of human society in general 7a society superior to that of ants and of bees indeed but like them a product of nature and not radically distinct from them7 be regarded as the supreme end of desire and endeavor1 then the rules of social behavior are to be obeyed4 ,but1 he would say1 none of these objects are fit to rank so high4 ,they all are optional ends4 ,an hypothetical imperative is one in which the end pursued is optional1 the imperative extending only to the means4 ,if the end be desired1 then it is reasonable1 and in so far imperative1 that we adopt the means that lead to its attainment4 ,an imperative truly categorical1 however1 is one in which the obligation extends to the end proposed as well as to the means4 ,it is not left to our inclination to embrace or to refuse the end1 it being of such a kind as absolutely to constrain us to accept it4 ,but if this be so1 then in this first part of our criticism we turn upon ,kant and declare that he has nowhere given us reason to believe that the acceptance of an absolute end is implied in the kind of constraints to which the generality of men submit4 ,and again if such acceptance cannot be proved1 then the universal moral equality of men based by him on the presence in all of the sense of duty disappears1 and his lofty ethical structure breaks down at this point4 ,,footnotes3 #ai ,see ,,ii ,samuel1 ,,vi1 #f1 #g4 #bj ,primitive communities valued coperation because it was socially useful4 ,but there are different kinds of coperation4 ,which kind shall we of today adopt8 ,the mere idea of coperation affords no clue4 ,the self-sacrifice of the individual to the whole of which he is a part is socially useful4 ,but on what occasions and to what degree is it useful8 ,altruism is socially useful4 ,we are to serve others4 ,but what in them shall we serve8 ,their physical needs1 their intellectual needs1 all their needs together8 ,is that humanly possible8 ,here again an ethical principle is required to define the quality and the limits of the service4 ,the latent race-consciousness of which ,darwin speaks affords no light on the ethical problems proper4 ,the concept of social utility1 if not valueless1 is at best only of subsidiary value in any attempt to solve these problems4 ,so far from reading once and for all the riddle of conscience1 ,darwin has not read aright the terms of the riddle4 ,,chapter ,,ii ,,critique ,,of ,,kant 7,continued7 ,i now proceed to the second point of criticism1 which strikes at the heart of ,kant's ethics4 ,man according to ,kant is worth while on his own account 7an end per se71 never to be used as a mere tool or thing4 ,he is a person1 an object towards whom we are bound to evince absolute respect4 ,yet ,kant immediately goes on to say that there is no object in all the world1 neither man nor any other1 that is worth while on its own account1 that deserves such respect4 ,kant's views of actual human nature are tinged with somber pessimism4 7,compare the chapter on ,radical ,evil in his ,religion ,within the ,limits of ,pure ,reason47 ,a strange paradox is thus presented to us4 ,man is to be accepted as a worth while object1 and yet there is no worth while object4 ,how does ,kant seek to escape from this predicament8 ,he says1 not the man primarily1 but something that happens in the man1 is supremely significant3 certain acts are worth while on their own account1--the agent only in so far as he performs such acts 7or1 let us add with a sigh1 as he tries to perform them7--namely1 acts which have as their sole motive respect for universal law4 ,then he informs us that similar processes occur in other agents1 in fellow human beings1 or1 more precisely1 that these others are capable of trying to act as ,i myself feel bound to try to act4 ,consider how far fetched is the argument1 on what wavering foundations has been placed the ethical pronouncement of human worth and human equality in which our interest is so profoundly engaged4 ,we do wish to be assured of this cardinal truth4 ,no other truth is practically and theoretically of greater importance4 ,as against the iniquitous practices of the world1 as against the exploitation of labor1 as against the degradation of woman1 as against political tyranny whether exercised by kings or by mobs1 we raise up for our shield the indefeasible worth of men--not of some men but of all men4 ,and now1 behold6 the thinker to whom we owe the forcible expression of this truth seems to have left it in the air4 ,i scrutinize my neighbors1 and find in their behavior no sure sign of real worth4 ,i fall back on myself and ,i discover what8 ,the idea of an act which1 if ,i could perform it1 would stand on its own merits 7would be self-justified74 ,i then find that ,i am bound to try to perform such acts4 ,i cannot affirm that in a single instance ,i have ever performed such an act4 ,i next infer--on what tenuous ground has been shown in the last chapter--that my fellow-beings have the same inner experience as mine4 ,and it is for this reason that by a circuitous inference ,i declare them to be worth while objects4 ,that ,kant has formulated a truth of the utmost importance for mankind 7that no man is to be treated as a mere tool71 seems to me incontestable4 ,that he has not made good his own proposition is my contention1 and that the whole problem must therefore be taken up de novo4 ,it will assist us in doing so to expose the flaw in his categorical imperative1 or the formal principle of universality and necessity applied to human actions1 which in his view imprints upon them the character of absolute rightness4 ,note that ,kant approaches the problems of ethics from the side of physical science1 and with the bias of the physical scientist4 ,the ethical principle he sets up1 the bare idea of universal necessity or of law in general1 is derived by way of abstraction from the particular laws of nature4 ,it is a physical principle in disguise4 ,to understand ,kant's system1 it is simply indispensable to keep this point in mind4 ,he was pre-occupied during the major portion of his life with profound speculations on scientific subjects4 ,the title of the ,critique of ,pure ,reason might not be inappropriately changed into 8,a treatise on the fundamental assumptions of science1 as handled by ,newton and his successors40 ,he was undeniably interested in ethics4 ,his ultimate aim was to clear the way for the confident holding of ethical principles4 7,see the ,preface to the ,critique of ,pure ,reason47 ,but he could not divest himself of the prejudice of his temperament and of his lifelong pursuit4 ,he is not singular in this respect4 ,to borrow the first principle of ethics from some other field is a common and apparently ineradicable error4 ,mechanics1 sthetics1 and recently biology1 have been laid under contribution for this purpose4 ,a consistent attempt to study ethical phenomena on their own ground1 to mark off what is really distinctive in the data of ethical experience1 and then to search for some principle which shall serve to give a coherent account of them1 has to my knowledge never yet been undertaken4 ,always ethics has been treated as an annex to some other discipline4 ,always we behold the attempt to assimilate before the distinctive traits and characteristics have been carefully investigated4 ,never yet has the independence of this wonderful aspect of human nature been truly acknowledged4 ,kant indeed freed ethics from its long tutelage to theology2 but he left it still in subjection1 subject to his own favorite study1 physical science4 ,but though the notion of necessity1 together with that of universality1 which he derived from physics was employed by him as a fundamental principle of rightness in conduct1 the principle itself insensibly1 and as it would seem unbeknown to himself1 underwent a remarkable change in the course of his undertaking to give it a new application4 ,the following brief comments will serve to elucidate this point4 ,in physics1 whenever an antecedent phenomenon has been exactly described1 and a sequent phenomenon is defined in the same fashion1 the connection is pronounced to be necessary--as for instance the transformation of mechanical energy into heat1 and conversely4 ,a single carefully guarded experiment may suffice to establish the necessary nexus between two phenomena4 ,and after having established the necessity1 we are confident of the universality4 ,if exceptions should occur and contravene the supposed law1 the calculations or the observations are to be corrected4 ,but never in physical science do we start from universality and predict necessity therefrom4 ,kant in his ethics invariably couples together the two terms ,universal and ,necessary4 ,but he reverses the procedure of science1 he begins with the universality and thereupon affirms the necessity4 ,universality is for him the test of moral necessity4 ,if an act can be universalized1 the performance of it1 according to him1 is morally necessary4 ,for instance1 the question is asked1 ,is it right to kill8 ,look at the act of killing1 says ,kant1 and see whether it can be universalized1 that is to say1 whether if everybody felt at liberty to kill1 the act of the murderer would or would not be self-defeating8 ,he kills in order to affirm his life at the expense of another's4 ,if his action were to be generally imitated1 his own life would be forfeit1 or at least in danger1 and he would be annulling what he intends to affirm4 ,hence murder is morally wrong3 to sacredly respect the life of others is right4 ,but not only is the order reversed1 so that necessity follows on the heels of universality1 but the very meaning of the term necessity is altered4 ,a logical necessity is substituted for a physical necessity4 ,the idea of necessity as handled by physical science denotes the connection between one thing and something else4 ,it is not the thing itself but its relation to some other thing that is necessary4 ,it is not the phenomenon ,a nor the phenomenon ,b1 in the case of a cause and its effect1 that is declared to be necessary1 but the sequence of ,b on ,a1 the circumstance that ,b is tied up to ,a1 must follow in its wake4 ,but the term ,necessity as used by ,kant in his ,ethics1 denotes a relation of a thing to itself4 ,it is in fact equivalent to self-consistency1 which is a logical notion derived from the principle of self-identity4 ,a is ,a1 and it is not thinkable that it should be non-,a4 ,similarly ,kant says3 ,if a man desires to affirm his life1 that is1 to be self-preserving1 it is not thinkable1 it would not be rational or logical on his part1 to perform an act which would be self-defeating4 ,kant does not say that a man might not irrationally take another man's life1 regardless of the consequences to himself2 he says that as a rational intelligence acting on purely logical motives he could not do so4#ba ,to repeat1 then1 physical necessity is a relation of one thing to another thing3 the logical necessity involved in self-consistency is a relation of a thing to itself4 ,my next contention1 and this touches the root of the matter1 is that the notion of end is incompatible with self-consistency as the paramount principle in ethics4 ,for a self-consistent rational being is a being in harmony with himself1 one who if this harmony should in some unaccountable way ever be broken would by his own endeavor seek to return to himself4 7,kant declares that the morality of any one man cannot be affected by his fellows1 by any influence from the outside2 it must be his own act47 ,but an end presupposes some outside object as a means3 means and ends are inseparable correlatives4 ,on the other hand1 an entity which merely affirms itself1 or if somehow alienated from self endeavors without assistance from beyond its sphere to return to itself1 is no true end at all1 and cannot be designated as such4 ,it is no end because it employs no means4 ,what warrant then has ,kant for introducing the foreign notion of end into a world of pure self-consistency8 ,when we use the term ,necessity in relation to physical phenomena1 as of cause and effect1 we assert unalterable sequence1 unity of temporal and spatial differenti4 ,when we use the same term as ,kant uses it1 we assert the unity of a thing with itself4 ,but this in the nature of the case does not admit the intrusion of the alien concept of the outside4 ,the spiritual society or pattern to which human society ought to be conformed1 is according to ,kant a society of ends1 of ends per se4 ,this is his great pronouncement4 ,but the very idea on which he lays so much stress1 the idea of end1 on closer scrutiny of his premises disappears4 ,the entities composing that society are self-sufficing1 and moreover intrinsically unrelated to each other4 ,rational self-preservation is the only character that can be predicated of any of them4 ,i have laid stress on the fact that ,kant derived his ethical principle from his physics4 ,the passage in which he speaks of the ethical order as a universal and necessary order like that of nature is to my mind conclusive4 ,i now urge in addition that this sort of second nature superimposed upon existing nature would not have to our contemplating minds a dignity superior to that of physical nature4 ,the moral order as thus exhibited would not possess the worth we attribute to it as exalted above what is called the natural order4 ,the falling stone is a perfect illustration of physical necessity4 ,necessity passed through human consciousness1 or bathed in human consciousness1 is not on that account a more eligible principle4 ,nay1 since human consciousness interferes and causes contingent actions1 due to passion1 appetite1 etc41 the moral order constructed by men should be even less worth while than the physical order of nature1 if indeed necessity be the touchstone of worth4#bb ,to summarize3 according to ,kant man as an object is unfit to warrant the claim of unconditional obligation on the part of others toward himself4 ,an abstract principle must be sought4 ,this principle is universality1 and necessity based on universality4 ,respect for this purely abstract notion is that which alone imparts a moral quality to so-called moral acts4 ,we start1 according to ,kant1 with the declaration that man is an end per se4 ,but we reject him as an object1 and take refuge in a formal principle4 ,we then assume that every human being is conscious of the working within himself of this formal principle and acknowledges his subjection to it1 whether he is able to analyze it out or not4 ,and thus indirectly we derive out of emptiness a ray of glory which we allow to fall upon each and every man4 ,the question now is1 since this approach to the ethical problem manifestly fails1 must we not begin at the opposite end1 and take the attribution of worth to men1 however unworthy they may actually be1 as our starting-point8 ,,footnotes3 #ba ,he also assumes a society not only of rational intelligences determined by the same rational motives1 but equal in ability to carry out their motives4 7,see my article in ,mind new series1 ,vol4 ,,xi1 ,no4 #db1 p4 #afb1 reprinted in the volume dedicated to ,william ,james1 by the ,philosophical ,faculty of ,columbia ,university47 #bb ,surefootedness1 or certainty in thinking and in acting seems to have been the chief desideratum at which ,kant aimed4 ,as against scepticism or mere empirical groping this element of the inner life is obviously of exceeding value4 ,but it is far from being the only element to be taken into account4 ,,chapter ,,iii ,,preliminary ,,remarks ,,on ,,worth1 ,,and ,,on ,,the ,,reasons ,,why ,,the ,,method ,,employed ,,by ,,ethics ,,must ,,be ,,the ,,opposite ,,of ,,that ,,employed ,,by ,,the ,,physical ,,sciences ,the moral equality of men is a corollary of the attribution of worth to all men4 ,did we not ascribe worth to them1 there is no reason why we should not make servile use of them4 ,but there are admittedly formidable difficulties in the way of attributing worth to human nature4 ,the first and most obvious of these is the existence of repulsive traits in human beings1 such as sly cunning1 deceit1 falsehood1 grossness1 cruelty3 homo homini lupus6 ,secondly1 there is the prevalent error of employing ethical terms1 like good and bad1 to denote the merely attractive and repellent traits4#bc ,attractive traits1 such as gentleness1 sweetness1 kindness1 a sympathetic disposition1 are1 in those fortunate enough to possess them1 pleasing accidents of nature4 ,we delight in them1 but have no reason to ascribe the superlative quality of worth to those who possess them4 ,if the evil that men do revolts us1 the so-called good in them does not give us the right to surround their heads with the nimbus of worth4 ,thirdly1 and perhaps even more deterrent than the ever-present spectacle of evil and the inadequacy of so-called goodness1 is the commonplaceness1 the cheapness of men4 ,it must be admitted that1 with rare exceptions1 our estimates of others are apt to be low rather than lofty4 ,can we ascribe worth to those whom we hold cheap8 ,the reason of our habitual under-estimation of fellowmen ,i think is that we regard them from the standpoint of the use to which we can put them1 and do not see them from the inside1 as it were1 in the light of the marvelous energies of which human nature is the scene4 ,the grossest matter1 the most ordinary physical happenings1 reveal to the instructed eye of the scientist the play of forces which it taxes the most powerful intellects in some measure to apprehend and describe4 ,yet these miracles escape the dull senses of those of us who deal with the forces of nature from the point of view of their immediate use4 ,we turn on the electric light1 but have little more than a crude surmise of the things that the word electricity meant to ,faraday1 ,clerk ,maxwell1 or ,hertz4 ,and as we turn on the electric light1 so we turn on our fellowmen1 as it were1 to use them4 ,the thought of the poet--8,what a piece of work is man1 how infinite in faculty60 occurs to us only at scattered moments4 ,and yet things transpire in the inner life of human beings far more marvelous than the chemical processes or the flux of electric waves1 did we but attend to them4 ,there is in particular one kind of energy to which the quality of worth may well attach itself4 ,it is unlike the physical forces2 it is not a transformed mode of mechanical energy4 ,it is sui generis1 underivative1 unique2 it is synonymous with highest freedom2 it is power raised to the ,nth degree4 ,it is ethical energy4 ,to release it in oneself is to achieve unbounded expansion4 ,morality1 as commonly understood1 is a system of rules1 chiefly repressive4 ,ethical energy1 on the contrary1 is determined by the very opposite tendency2 a tendency1 it is true1 never more than tentatively effectuated under finite conditions4 ,and because the energy is unique1 it points toward a unique1 irreducible1 hence substantive entity in man1 from which it springs4 ,this entity is itself incognizable1 yet the effect it produces requires that it be postulated4 ,the category of substance1 which is almost disappearing from science1 is to be reinstalled in ethics4 ,ethics cannot dispense with it4 ,this1 as a prelude1 may suffice to indicate the path along which we shall proceed4 ,the ,reason ,why the ,method of ,ethics ,must ,be the ,opposite of the ,method ,employed by the ,physical ,sciences ,physical science begins from the bottom and builds upwards4 ,it analyzes phenomena into their elements1 and thereupon seeks to combine these elements into structures that shall correspond to experience4 ,in this business it never comes to a finish4 ,its analysis of the elements is provisional4 ,every element is hypothetical4 ,indeed it is plain in the nature of the case that no element can be ultimate4 ,an element is a unit1 and every empirical unit necessarily conceals in its bosom a plexus of which it is the unification4 ,the very idea of unit requires for its complement a manifold of some kind4 ,in hypothetical units1 or ideal constructs that have for their purpose to lead to the discovery and arrangement of real phenomena1 science abounds4 ,atoms1 electrons1 energy conceived as a substance by ,ostwald1 ,spencer's physiological units1 are examples4 ,the results achieved by science are never more than approximations in the sense that the units1 the bricks with which the house is built1 are liable to be rejected1 and the constructions achieved are subject to revision4 ,the point however which ,i wish to emphasize is that the scientist is satisfied of the truth1 the reality of its partial results4 ,newton1 for instance1 in formulating the law of gravitation has1 so to speak1 marked off a strip of reality4 ,the ground covered cannot be lost2 when some natural law is enunciated1 the proper conditions for its discovery and verification having been observed1 a sure footing in reality has been gained1 science standing to this extent on terra firma1 though beyond the domain within which the law applies the phenomena may be heaving and billowing like the sea4 ,now the question ,i am intent upon is1 ,why is it possible for science to be content with partial acquisition8 ,why does it profess to know positively a part without knowing the whole8 ,and why can ethics not take a step without an ideal of the whole8 ,kant's chief purpose in the ,critique of ,pure ,reason was to vindicate the certainty of the physical knowledge of a part as being compatible with total ignorance of the whole4 ,the older metaphysics was engaged in the attempt to supply the whole1 to sketch it out in order to give certainty to the part that is within the reach of science4 ,the older metaphysics said to science3 ,you have in hand the conditioned1 but remember the conditioned depends on the unconditioned4 ,unless1 therefore1 you round out what you possess1 with the help of the unconditioned1 the certainty you seem to have within the field of the conditioned disappears4 ,again1 science traces causes1 and the older metaphysicians insisted that the whole chain of causes hangs in air unless it be attached to a first cause4 ,now ,kant's ,critique of ,pure ,reason really amounts in nuce to this3 you do not require the whole in order to explain the part4 ,link the partial phenomena together in a certain way1 a way dependent on the joint action of the space and time intuitions and the categories1 and you will gain the desired certainty4 ,the certainty is in the linkage4 ,we may add link to link of the chain of reality without troubling to consider by what piers it is supported or on what shore the piers rest--if indeed there be piers and shores at all4 ,the bridge hangs over the ,river of ,time and we can safely travel on it4 ,how we get on to this bridge we do not know1 and where we shall leave it we cannot know either4 ,it is a mistake to speak of ,kant as a rationalist pure and simple4 ,when he expelled the older metaphysics he antagonized pure rationalism4 ,the older metaphysics held that the mere existence of the conditioned proves the existence of the unconditioned1 requires the unconditioned4 ,in ,kant's answer to this lies the gist of his enterprise in philosophy3 ,you are quite right1 he says1 that the idea of the conditioned requires the idea of the unconditioned1 logically1 rationally4 ,but observe well1 nature is not just logical or rational4 ,there is an irrational element in it1 namely1 extended manifold and temporal sequence4 ,juxtaposition and sequence are irrational1 because1 if ,i interpret him rightly1 in the case of each the relation presented to the mind is that of parts outside each other--in the one case alongside1 in the other before and after2 while in the logical or rational relation the parts are implicit in the whole as in the case of the premises of a syllogism and the conclusion1 the relation of a genus to the species1 the universal to the particular4 ,we have in nature1 according to ,kant1 a partnership between the irrational and the rational factors4 ,and thereupon he proceeds to argue that we impose laws on nature1 understanding thereby that we get hold of reality or objectivity in so far as we are able to imprint the rational element upon the irrational4 ,the positing of the thing per se1 which has proved a stumbling-block to many1 is no more than a confession that we shall never succeed entirely in this business of subjecting the irrational to the rational factor4 ,the thing per se is the ,x that remains over when the rational function has done its utmost4 ,a thing1 a real object1 is that which is imprinted with1 penetrated with1 rationality4 ,the manifolds of space and time1 of juxtaposition and sequence are incapable of completely receiving this imprint1 that is1 of completely responding to our quest for reality1 and this their incompetency is expressed in the notion of the thing per se4 ,to return to the main question as to the difference between the method by which science proceeds and the reverse method prescribed to ethics1 ,i ask1 ,why is absolute knowledge of nature impossible8 ,the answer is1 ,because absolute knowledge would mean the completely rational construction of nature1 and this is prevented by the irrational element existing in it4 ,but why has the relative knowledge we possess the character of certainty8 ,why are we sure of the law of gravitation8 ,why are we justified in saying that science within certain limits plants her foot on terra solida8 ,because at certain points the sense data do coincide with the rational requirements4 ,there are recurrent phenomena of such a kind1 coupled together in such a way1 that each is capable of mathematical measurement1 and that the sequence of the one after the other can therefore be predicted4 ,nature might have been arranged quite otherwise4 ,the time spans might have been so long1 as to prevent our observing the recurrences4 ,a day-fly cannot observe the periodicity of the earth's revolution around its axis4 ,the fact however that there is this partial correspondence between human rationality and the unknown nature of things is a bare fact1 incapable of explanation4#bd ,the answer1 then1 ,i take it1 is3 our knowledge of nature is relative1 which means incompletely rational1 because of the foreign element in nature unamenable to the operation of the rational1 the synthetic1 function4 ,this relative knowledge is none the less certain1 that is1 in some sense absolute1 because of the partial coincidence of the phenomena of nature and the synthetic processes of the mind4 ,with this degree of certainty we must perforce content ourselves1 in dealing with outside nature4 ,in trying to understand and interpret that which is not ourselves1 we hit upon barriers which cannot be transcended1 upon a foreign factor which opposes itself to our endeavors4 ,but it is otherwise in the sphere of conduct4 ,here1 if there is to be certainty at all1 in regard to right as distinguished from wrong1 if there is to be such a thing as right in the strict sense1 we cannot content ourselves with the paradoxical1 relative-absolute just described4 ,for here we not merely interpret but act1 and we must possess an ideal plan of the whole if we are to be certain of our rightness in any particular part of conduct4 ,for in conduct there is no such partial coincidence between the rational and the irrational as in the case of physical law4 ,there is not a single partial rule of conduct1 neither 8,thou shalt not kill0 nor 8,thou shalt not lie10 nor any other that1 taken by itself1 is of itself ethically right4 ,it may be right1 it may be wrong4 ,it takes its ethical quality from the plan of conduct as a whole1 and without reference to the whole it is devoid of rightness4#be ,i have thus indicated the ground of the distinction between the method of science and the method of ethics1 a distinction1 it is true1 to which ,kant himself did not adhere4 ,partial coincidence of the rational with the irrational is expressed in physical law2 absence of such concurrence destroys any attempt to build up an ethical theory on the empirical method4 ,we cannot plant our feet on the part1 gaining there the sense of certainty3 we must creatively conceive the ideal of the whole and educe every partial mode of ethical conduct from that4 ,but how shall we proceed in the construction of such an ideal1 for it is obvious that knowledge1 in the scientific sense of the word1 is entirely out of the question8 ,,footnotes3 #bc ,see the more extended remarks on this subject in ,book ,,iii4 #bd ,in ,kant's view the rational element is projected on the irrational4 ,in this way spatial juxtaposition is ideally transformed into a spatial continuum4 ,in the same manner temporal sequence is ideally changed into a uniform temporal flux4 ,without the former1 geometry could not have established its propositions2 without the latter ,galileo could not have measured the fall of the stone4 #be ,the ethical character of acts depends on the worth of the agent and the object4 ,is it right to kill or to enslave a fellowman8 ,we do not hesitate to kill an animal1 or to harness horses to vehicles1 or to use them as beasts of burden4 ,why not kill men1 or use them as beasts of burden in like manner8--,only because they possess a worth which gives them a different standing4 ,is it on grounds of sympathy that ,i should observe the so-called moral rules8 ,but if ,i am not sympathetic by nature1 why should ,i be subject to censure in case ,i refrain from displaying a tenderness which ,i do not feel8 ,why should ,i sympathize with the pleasures and pains of fellow human beings any more than with the pleasures and pains of inferior sentient creatures1 unless men have worth8 ,and worth1 as will appear in the subsequent chapters1 signifies indispensableness in a perfect whole4 ,no detached thing has worth4 ,no part of an incomplete system has worth4 ,worth belongs to those to whom it is attributed in so far as they are conceived of as not to be spared1 as representing a distinctive indispensable preciousness1 a mode of being without which perfection would be less than perfect4 ,so that morality depends on the attribution of worth to men1 and worth depends on the formation in the mind of an ideal plan of the whole--or instead of a complete plan let me say more precisely a rule of relations whereby the plan is itself progressively developed4 ,,chapter ,,iv ,,the ,,ideal ,,of ,,the ,,whole ,to recapitulate and at the same time to enlarge somewhat the points thus far covered in ,book ,,ii3 ,kant proclaims man an end per se4 ,this promises a philosophic basis for an ethical world-view4 ,the promise is not kept4 ,kant takes as his point of departure absolute obligation1 and attempts to deduce out of an empty formula a worthwhile object4 ,kant's formula is3 ,treat man never merely as a means1 but also as an end per se4 ,but how far man may be treated as a means1 and what the relation of the means to the end may be is left undetermined4 ,an upper crust of morality is formed1 as it were1 upon the empirical flood of passions1 desires1 etc4 ,a straight line is drawn beyond which the under world in every man may not emerge4 ,but a truly instrumental view of the means as related to the end is not established4 ,this is one of the great gaps in ,kant's system4 ,note the almost puerile reason given for culture3 we should cultivate our talents weil sie zu allerhand ,zwecken ntzlich sein mgen4 ,kant's ethical order is a duplicate of the physical order4 ,the notion of law is taken from physics1 and expanded into the concept of law in general4 ,ethical behavior is represented as behavior motivated by the notion of lawfulness4 ,law is characterized by universality and necessity4 ,chapter ,,ii1 however1 shows that in physics universality is predicated on the ground of an ascertained necessary connection4 ,in physics1 necessity has its true meaning as pertaining to a relation between one thing and another4 ,if the linkage can be established1 the universality follows4 ,in ,kant's ethics1 on the contrary1 necessity is taken as the consequence of the universality and the proper meaning of necessity is lost4 ,self-consistency takes the place of the relation to something else4 ,the ideal society1 as described1 would therefore be a society of self-preserving rational intelligences1 ethically solipsistic4 ,next we began the investigation into the idea of worth4 ,why do men hold themselves and others cheap8 ,they regard each other from the point of view of the use to be made of others and of their own life1 and not from the point of view of the energies deployed4 ,the turning on of electric power was used as an illustration4 ,nevertheless1 even exceptional men1 men regarded as illustrating in the highest degree the mental energies implicit in human nature1 would not possess the quality of worth1 that is1 of being ends per se1 merely on the score of their scientific or their artistic activities4 ,we cannot say that the world would be less perfect if there were no scientists to discover its laws4 ,there is a supreme1 a unique energy and it is to this that the quality of worth belongs4#bf ,the ethical quality called worth is the supreme good1 and must be accessible to all1 even to those to whom the lesser goods are denied4 ,ethics is a system of thought which stands or falls with the contention that while the better may be within reach only of the exceptional few1 the best is within reach of all4 ,in attempting to approach the task of building up a world-view based on ethical experience1 it became unavoidable to consider the method by which the approach might be made1 and for this purpose to contrast the methods of science and the methods of ethics4 ,science1 as we have seen1 collects its bricks and builds its house by composition4 ,science analyzes phenomena into units1 which it then combines4 ,the mystery is how science can achieve certainty in respect to certain phenomena of nature without previous knowledge of the whole of nature4 ,kant's answer is that there is partial congruity between the mental functions and the data that come to us from the unknown4 ,kant's ,critique of ,pure ,reason faces in two directions4 ,it expels the older metaphysics which assumed that the empirical world is rational throughout1 or rationalizable1 and which thence argued the existence of the unconditioned as necessarily implied in the existence of the conditioned1 and of a first cause as actually implied in the chain of causes and effects4 ,kant contends that there is an irrational element1 namely1 bare juxtaposition 7part outside part71 and bare sequence 7part before and after part71 while the logical or rational relation implies that the part is to be conceived as implicit in the whole4 ,juxtaposition and sequence1 therefore1 can never be completely rationalized4 ,on the other hand1 ,kant undertakes to prove that whatever of reality we know is traceable to the projection of the rational factor upon the irrational4 ,one might even say that1 according to ,kant1 the mind itself produces the irrational factor1 since the intuitions of space and time are according to him1 functions of the mind itself--the mind setting up a manifold so constituted as to receive sense impressions4 ,at any rate the capital point to which we were led up was that science puts her foot on terra firma in a restricted area1 without reference to what lies beyond1 while if we are to proceed in ethics at all1 we must begin with some ideal plan of the whole1 since in ethics we are not interpreting a foreign nature1 but act upon natures similar to our own2 and since1 in the case of conduct1 there is no such partial concurrence of the rational and irrational as in physics1 no one of the so-called moral modes of behavior being moral when taken separately4 ,hence the conclusion that there is no possibility of establishing the conception of worth unless we have some ideal of the whole in which and in relation to which the incomparable worthwhileness of a human being can be made good4 ,we need hardly again remind ourselves that this conception of worth1 or of man as end per se1 is not a mere abstraction1 and that our interest in it is not academic4 ,every outcry against the oppression of man by man1 or against whatsoever is morally hideous1 is but the affirmation of the cardinal principle that a human being as such is not to be violated1 is not to be handled like a tool1 but is to be respected and revered as an end per se4 ,but what do we mean by end per se1 and how account for this notion8 ,does it come into our mind like a bolt from the blue1 or is it revealed as prefigured in the human mind when we follow it into its intimate constitution8 ,our knowledge of the world we live in is extremely limited--in its details it is confined to the planet we live on1 extending to the myriads of celestial bodies beyond us only by means of scant generalizations4 ,if we have knowledge of only so small a portion1 how can we frame an ideal of the whole8 ,at the same time we must remember that the world we actually know1 this earth and yonder starry myriads1 is in very truth our world1 the world as it exists for us1 a world which with the help of data coming to us from the unknown1 we ourselves have built up on certain constructive principles2 and that these principles have been found1 within certain limits1 availing4#bg ,i say availing within certain limits4 ,the defeat they meet with beyond those limits is due to the intractable elements of juxtaposition and sequence1 of the time and space manifolds1 which in themselves are incapable of being completely rationalized4 ,now the ideal of the whole is a plan or scheme in which the constructive principles of the mind are conceived as having untrammeled course and unhindered application1 and the task of world-building1 or rather universe-building1 is in idea carried out to completion4 ,the attempt to present an ideal forecast1 or outline of the whole of reality1 as it would satisfy a mind constituted like ours1 an ideal landscape of this sort1 is not at all to be confounded with the arrogation of a priori knowledge4 ,a priori knowledge is supposed to be a kind of knowledge1 and knowledge of the whole is utterly and confessedly beyond our reach4 ,the phrase a priori1 too1 is objectionable and unfortunate for two reasons4 ,first1 as just said1 because it has been supposed to be a kind of knowledge4 ,by some theologians men were supposed to possess a priori knowledge of ,god4#bh ,secondly1 because the word a priori suggests precedence in time1 and our knowledge of the human mind and of its irreducible capacities comes out only in the course of experience4 ,much that has been called a priori1 that is implicit in experience1 did not become explicit until after prolonged experience4 ,the ,greek thinkers before ,aristotle doubtless thought in terms of syllogism1 but it was not until ,greek science had attained a certain ripeness that ,aristotle was able to dissect out the logic which had previously been employed more or less unconsciously4 ,instead1 therefore1 of using the term a priori1 which gives rise to the two-fold misapprehension of an a priori knowledge and of temporal precedence1 and instead of throwing out the child with the bath1 that is1 of ignoring the independent part played by our mental constitution in building up experience1 and in affording us the conviction of certainty1 and of reality1 it is highly desirable that a new term be found to take the place of a priori4 ,the term 8functional finality0 suggests itself to me for this purpose4#bi ,my field is ethics4 ,i am entirely desirous of sticking to my own last1 that is1 dealing with such concepts as the data of my subject force upon me4 ,i do not wish to trespass1 or to seem to trespass1 on the domain of my neighbors4 ,hence in dealing with functional finalities ,i must deal with them primarily as they appear in the field of ethics1 that is1 in the domain of the actions and reactions of human beings upon one another4 ,irreducible principia of ethics are the functional finalities1 which prescribe rules for such intercourse1 or better which create a scheme of ideal intercourse whereby the conduct of men shall be measured and determined4 ,i must1 however1 glance for a moment at fields outside my own1 for the purpose not of controversy but of elucidation2 not to deal with the subject matter of my neighbors1 but to mark off my own more definitely4 ,what then1 ,i ask1 is the most general expression by which to designate the singularities of the human mind1 the principles on which it acts1 its immutable modes of behavior1 the invariants that recur amid all the complex varieties of its processes8 ,the principal invariants are the positing of a manifold of some kind1 and the apprehending of that manifold as coherent4 ,the manifold is not given1 but is posited by the mind4 ,the positing is a mental function1 just as much as the apprehending of the plurality as coherent is a mental function4 ,the particular manifolds of space and time experience are said to be given1 but they would not be received by the mind were not the function of manifold-positing prepared to apprehend them4 ,in recent physical science the notion of the manifold plays a conspicuous rle4 ,subtle speculations are employed to define the kinds of manifold which the physicist finds opportune1 and the kind of unity of which these manifolds are respectively capable4 ,the two terms mentioned are themselves the most abstract conceivable1 and naturally1 that which is here taken to underlie all the constructive1 world-building activity of the mind in every possible direction can only be expressed in the most sublimated language4 ,but the notions themselves1 or rather the acts of the mind1 the functions designated1 are rich and replete with concrete utility when applied to subject matter in the different fields4 ,wherever we turn we find that the assurance of reality depends on the joint use of the two principles mentioned1 the joint operation of the two kinds of mental action2 that is to say--on the positing of a manifold and on the simultaneous apprehension of the subject matter to which it relates as coherent1 as unified4 ,the simultaneity1 the inseparableness of the two mental acts or functions in regard to the same subject-matter is the essential point on which hangs the web of the argument here submitted4 ,thus in geometry space must be regarded as a continuum1 unbroken1 uninterrupted at any point1 and at the same time the same space must be treated as capable of puncture1 of linear and superficial delimitations2 that is to say1 of division4 ,that which is one must yet be apprehended as divided2 that which is divided1 or delimitated1 must yet be apprehended as one4 ,the difficulties that arise spring from the vain endeavor to separate the two inseparable acts--the act of apprehending the manifold of space sub specie pluralitatis1 and the act of apprehending it sub specie unitatis4 ,hence arises the puzzling question3 ,how can that which is continuous be divided1 how can chasms between the parts of space1 however infinitesimal1 be bridged8 ,witness the problem of ,zeno1 and the pragmatist solution of it by a demonstration that satisfies us indeed as to the fact 7which no one doubts71 but leaves the mental puzzle as before2 and also ,bergson's ,method of accounting for division by a comparison of the inner and the outer flux1 wherein he seems to overlook the difficulty that for the purpose of comparison two points must be fixed1 one in each flux1 that is to say1 the division in the flux must be regarded as already existing4 ,in the physical sciences we are compelled to assume on the one hand the atomic or granular constitution of matter1 in other words1 manifoldness4 ,on the other hand1 if 8action at a distance0 is to be escaped1 we are bound to assume a continuum of some sort like the ether4 ,again1 in the organic world there is the manifold of structures and functions1 and the unity of organism4 ,to whatever object of inquiry we give our attention1 we find ourselves not only restricted fundamentally to the two functions described1 but we discover that to their insunderable co-operation we owe whatever of truth we possess4 ,now the business of ethics is to define its own subject-matter1 that is to say the particular kind of manifold with which it deals1 and the kind of unity of which that manifold is susceptible4 ,but as ,i approach this first goal of my enterprise1 there is one obstacle which ,i must try to remove out of the way of the reader1 before ,i can hope to win him to a hospitable consideration of my conclusions4 ,the jointness or inseparableness of the two acts out of which certainty or reality issues has created all the difficulties4 ,the fact that the manifold must be regarded as remaining a manifold1 unaltered in its character as such1 not derivative from the ,one 7there is no such ,one71 and that the unity does not contrariwise result from the manifold in the sense of springing from or being derived from it2--in other words that we must see the same landscape of things and events both sub specie pluralitatis and sub specie unitatis--has been the stumbling-block4 ,the history of philosophy might be written under the two headings3 #a1 monistic systems that undertake1 collapsing in their futile effort1 to derive the world and its plurality from the ,one1 as if there were such an ,one1 out of whose bosom philosophy might evoke the many 7creational systems1 pantheistic systems1 emanation systems1 evolution systems72 #b1 pluralistic systems that essay1 with equal lack of success1 to explain the unity as somehow the offspring of the plurality4 ,why then have these systems flourished8 ,why are these vain undertakings still renewed8 ,the reason is that we cannot understand the joint action of the two functions1 and the very point where enlightenment is needed is for us to recognize that no fundamental truths can be understood by us1 that we can only look at them1 contemplate and accept them4 ,the point1 ,i say1 where enlightenment is needed is that the habit of trying to understand is due to a prejudice1 to what may be called the superstition of causality4 ,i shall have to explain this hardy assertion with some care to prevent misconception4 ,causality1 it will be objected1 is the one thread that leads us through the labyrinth of nature4 ,the search for causes enables us to become at home in our world by foreseeing events4 ,in what sense then can it be permissible to speak of the prejudice of causality1 nay1 of the superstition of it8 ,with what warrant prescribe a limit to the aspirations of the human intellect to push its inquiries to the farthest limit1 even so far as to understand the functional finalities themselves1 if such there be8 ,the answer1 succinctly put1 is this3 explaining or understanding things means tracing effects to their causes1 and this is only one mode1 a somewhat disguised mode1 of the joint functional activity of which ,i have spoken4 ,the manifold in this case is that of the temporal sequence of phenomena1 of differences due to change of position in time2 and the unity established between them 7as for instance energy1 of which the sequent phenomena represent the transformations7 is an ideal1 fictive unity1 mentally superimposed 7real despite its ideal or imaginary character1 because of the necessity we are under to view the sequent phenomena sub specie unitatis74 ,that there is nothing in the antecedent to compel the sequent to follow has been since the days of ,hume a commonplace in philosophy4 ,that nevertheless there is such a thing as the prediction of eclipses was made by ,kant the basis of his doctrine of synthesis a priori4 ,be the terms used what they may1 what counts is the fact that the joint action of two functions1 which itself is inexplicable1 not to be understood1 that is1 not to be referred back to a preceding cause 7as if there could be such a thing as a cause why we think in terms of causality7 is the foundation of all so-called understanding4 ,moreover causality is an incomplete example of the fundamental functional process4 ,we never do thoroughly understand2 we gain a certain relief1 a certain increased ease of mind by pushing the problem back a step4 ,and what ,i have called the prejudice of causality1 is the unwillingness on our part to acknowledge the fact that we are face to face1 in the case of causality1 with the inexplicable2 that that which helps us partially to understand 7and serves for practical purposes well enough7 is in its nature not to be understood1 one of the modes in which the joint action of the functional finalities manifests itself4 ,an ultimate principle has been defined as one which is presupposed in every attempt to account for it4 ,the functional finalities of which ,i speak bear the test of this definition4 ,the upshot of it all is that the constitutive principles of the human mind cannot be explained or understood1 but can nevertheless be verified4 ,and verification1 in the last analysis1 means exemplification4 ,if we look at these ultimate truths1 whether in geometry1 in physics1 or1 as we shall later see1 in ethics and sthetics1 as enunciated abstractly1 baldly1 we confront them blankly1 we are as it were dumbfounded in their presence4 ,they seem arbitrarily imposed upon us4 ,and why8 ,because we are endeavoring to understand them4 ,we have acquired the habit of trying to get hold of truth by referring back to some antecedent4 ,and therefore we are uneasy and disconcerted4 ,but the moment we see them exemplified1 as in the constructions of the geometer1 in the laws or uniformities established by the physicist1 etc41 we are convinced4 ,the subject-matter of ethics is different4 ,the kind of exemplification is likewise different4 ,but verification is exemplification in ethics as elsewhere2 and this will be found to mean that the life1 the ethical experience1 must lead to the certainty4 ,and now we have reached the point where a brief discussion of the ethical manifold and its mode of unification comes up in proper order4 ,,footnotes3 #bf ,to rate anyone as an end per se means that in a world conceived as perfect his existence would be indispensable4 ,the world we know may not be perfect1 is not perfect1 but we do conceive of an ideal world that is4 ,and to ascribe to anyone the quality of worth1 to denominate him an end per se1 is to place him into that world1 to regard him as potentially a member of it4 #bg ,for a creature endowed with different senses1 and having a mind unlike our own1 the world would be a totally different world4 #bh ,to deny such a priori knowledge of the object called ,god is not to deny that the production of this object is due to constructive principles of human thinking2 while1 in turn1 to assert the functional derivation of the ,god-idea is not to validate that idea itself as permanent and inexpugnable4 ,it may have owed its origin to a permanent disposition of the mind1 and yet be fallible because of the historical conditions under which it arose and the defective data in which it was expressed4 ,by way of illustration we might apply the same reflection to the ,ptolemaic astronomy4 ,the mathematical processes by which this astronomy was constructed may be traced to permanent singularities of human thinking1 yet the astronomical theory of ,ptolemy is not on that account a priori true4 #bi ,it must1 however1 be understood that the formula in which a finality is expressed is not itself a final formula4 ,the business of definition is precarious1 liable to error and dogmatic abuse1 and the formulas of finality are to be constantly subjected to revision4 ,possible and even probable abuse1 however1 does not warrant the negative attitude at present taken2 it does not justify the revulsion of feeling against ,a ,priorism which is just now general4 ,exasperation with absolutism does not of itself justify recourse to the opposite extreme of pragmatism4 ,,chapter ,v ,,the ,,ideal ,,of ,,the ,,whole ,,and ,,the ,,ethical ,,manifold ,the ethical manifold1 conceived of as unified1 furnishes1 or rather is1 the ideal of the whole4 ,the ethical manifold is the true universe1 not 8,universe0 in the sense in which the word is too laxly used at present to designate those fragmentary and in many respects unconnected lines of experience which might better by way of discrimination be called ,world4 ,the ideal of the whole1 as the terms imply1 must fulfill two conditions3 it must be a whole1 that is1 include all manifoldness whatsoever2 and it must be ideal1 or perfectly unified4 ,in such an ideal whole the two reality-producing functions of the human mind would find their complete fruition4 ,point #a4--,the totality of manifoldness must be comprised4 ,point #b4--,the connectedness must be without flaw4 ,from point one it follows that the ethical manifold cannot be spatial or temporal1 since juxtaposition and sequence lapse into indefiniteness1 abounding without ceasing1 but never attaining or promising the attainment of totality4 ,our first conclusion then is that the ethical manifold is non-temporal and non-spatial4 ,furthermore it is necessary and decisive for the theoretical construction here attempted to keep sharply in view1 that the manifoldness may not be derived from the unity1 or conversely4 ,the manifold remains forever manifold4 ,this means that in the ethical manifold each member#cj will differ uniquely from all the rest1 and preserve his irreducible singularity4 ,the member of the ethical manifold was not created by the ,one or any ,one4 ,he is not derived as effect from any cause4 ,causality does not apply to the ethical manifold1 being a category of spatial sequence4 ,the member of the ethical manifold1 or the ethical unit1 as we may now call him 7,i say him metaphorically and provisionally7 is unbegotten1 induplicable1 unique4 ,in the ethical manifold each infinitesimal member is indispensable1 inasmuch as he is one of the totality of intrinsically unlike differenti4 ,a duplicate would be superfluous4 ,inclusion implies indispensableness2 no member acquires a place within the ethical universe save on the score of his title1 as one of the possible modes of being that are required to complete the totality of manifoldness4 ,but the reality-producing functions of the mind are two1 and they act jointly4 ,the same manifold that is regarded as the scene of irreducible manifoldness1 is also regarded sub specie unitatis4 ,the immense practical importance of holding fast to diversity as indefeasible1 and at the same time stressing the unity1 will amply appear in the course of the third ,book4 ,it is this insistence on the two aspects jointly1 that distinguishes the theory here worked out from preceding ethical philosophies1 and will be found to open new ethical applications to conduct4 ,it is this insistence on the joint action of the two reality-producing functions that will enable us to see in the ideal of the whole a pattern traced1 and to derive from this pattern of relations a supreme rule of conduct4 ,if the differences that exist among the members of the manifold be slurred over1 if the indefeasible singularity of each member be overlooked1 if the many be derived from the ,one1 since the ,one is an empty concept1 we shall gain no light upon the conduct to be followed by each of the many4 ,it is true that our notion of the distinctive difference or the uniqueness of each ethical unit is also empty as far as knowledge goes4 ,the unique is incognizable4 ,yet we are able to apprehend1 and do apprehend1 a determinate relation as subsisting between the ethical units1 and this relation supplies us with an ideal plan of the ethical universe and a first principle and rule of ethics4 ,the relation is that of reciprocal universal interdependence4 ,consider that an infinite number of ethical entities is presented to our minds--each of them radically different from the rest4 ,in what then possibly can the unity of this infinite assemblage consist8 ,in this--that the unique difference of each shall be such as to render possible the correlated unique differences of all the rest4 ,it is in this formula that we find the key to a new ethical system1 in this conception we get our hand firmly on the notion of right1 and by means of it we discover the object which ,kant failed to find1 the object to which worth attaches1 the object which is so indispensable to the ideal of the whole as to authenticate unconditional obligation or rightness in conduct with respect to it4 ,it is as an ethical unit1 as a member of the infinite ethical manifold1 that man has worth4#ca ,in accordance with the above1 the first principle of ethics may be expressed in the following formulas3 ,a4 ,act as a member of the ethical manifold 7the infinite spiritual universe74 ,b4 ,act so as to achieve uniqueness 7complete individualization--the most completely individualized act is the most ethical74 ,c4 ,act so as to elicit in another the distinctive1 unique quality characteristic of him as a fellow-member of the infinite whole4 ,a and ,b are comprised in ,c4 ,i am taking three steps toward a fuller exposition of the meaning of the principle4 ,to act as a member according to ,a is to strive to achieve uniqueness as declared in ,b4 ,to achieve uniqueness as declared in ,c is to seek to elicit the diverse uniqueness in others4 ,the actual unique quality in myself is incognizable1 and only appears1 so far as it does appear1 in the effect produced by myself upon my fellows4 ,hence1 to advance towards uniqueness ,i must project dynamically my most distinctive mode of energy upon my fellow-members4 ,since the finite nature of man is a clog and screen1 clouding and checking the action of man viewed as an ethical unit1 it follows that no man will ever succeed in carrying out completely the rule which is derived from the ideal pattern4 ,he will invariably meet with partial frustration in his efforts to do so1 and yet in virtue of his ethical character he will always renew the effort4 ,while in physical science the recurrence of phenomena supplies the occasion for exemplification or verification1 in conduct1 or the sphere of volition1 not recurrence but the persistence of the effort after defeat is at least a help to verification1 arguing in one's self a consciousness1 however obscured1 of the relation of reciprocal interdependence and of subjection to the urge or pressure thence derived4#cb ,it is our own reality-producing functions1 exerted to their utmost1 to which we are delivered over4 ,hence the final formulation3 ,so act as to raise up in others the ideal of the relation of give and take1 of universal interdependence in which they stand with an infinity of beings like themselves1 members of the infinite universe1 irreducible1 like and unlike themselves in their respective uniqueness4 ,the simile that may be used is that of a ray of light which has the effect of kindling other rays1 unlike but complementary to itself4 ,each ethical unit1 each member of the infinite universe1 is to be regarded as a center from which such a ray emanates1 touching other centers1 and awakening there the light intrinsic in them4 ,or we may think of a fountain from which stream forth jets of indescribable life-power--playing out of it1 playing into other life1 and evoking there kindred and yet unkindred life-waves1 waves effluent and refluent4 ,whatever the symbolism may be1 inadequate in any case1 the idea of the enmeshing of one's life in universal life without loss of distinctness--the everlasting selfhood to be achieved on the contrary1 by means of the cross-relation--is the cardinal point4 ,i have here to answer one question4 ,by what warrant do ,i ascribe worth to any human being8 ,where is the head deserving that this ray that streams out from me shall light upon it8 ,what man or woman merits that he be invested with this glory8 ,does not the same objection opposed to ,kant hold with respect to my own view8 ,it is true that he found no object at all1 and sought indirectly to draw from the empty notion of obligation the inference that man is an end per se4 ,perhaps it will be admitted that the supremely worthwhile object has now been found1 the holy thing 7holy in two ways1 as being inviolable1 reverence-inspiring1 holding at a distance those who would encroach3 and intrinsically priceless as a component of the ethical manifold1 as indispensable in a perfect whole74 ,but this object1 you will say1 is in the air1 or in the heavens1 and how shall it be made to descend on empirical man8 ,my answer is that certainly ,i do not discover the quality of worth in people as an empirical fact4 ,in many people ,i do not even discover value4 ,judging from the point of view of bare fact1 many of us could very well be spared4 ,many are even in the way of what is called 8progress40 ,and the suggestion of some extreme disciples of ,darwin that the degenerate and defective should be removed1 or the opinion of others that pestilence and war should be allowed to take the unpleasant business off our hands1 is1 from the empirical point of view1 not easily to be refuted4 ,i can also enter into1 if ,i do not wholly share1 the pessimistic mood with regard to actual human nature expressed by ,schopenhauer and others4 ,to the list of repulsive human creatures mentioned by ,marcus ,aurelius in one of his morning meditations1--the back-biter1 the scandal-monger1 the informer1 etc4--might be added in modern times1 the white-slaver1 the exploiter of child-labor1 the fawning politician1 and many another revolting type4 ,and even more discouraging in a way1 than these examples of deepest human debasement--the copper natures1 as ,plato calls them1 or the leaden natures1 as we might call them--is the disillusionment we often experience with regard to the so-called gold natures1 the discovery of the large admixture of baser metal which is often combined with their gold4 ,it is imperative to acquaint oneself1 nay1 to impregnate one's mind thoroughly with these contrary facts1 if the doctrine of worth1 the sanest and to my mind the most real of all conceptions1 is to be saved from the appearance of an optimistic illusion4 ,the answer to the objection is that ,i do not find worth in others or in myself1 ,i attribute it to them and to myself4 ,and why do ,i attribute it8 ,in virtue of the reality-producing functions of my own mind4 ,i create the ethical manifold4 ,the pressure of the essential rationality within me1 seeking to complete itself in the perfect fruition of these functions1 i4e41 in the positing of a total manifold and its total unification1 drives me forward4 ,i need an idea of the whole in order to act rightly1 in such a way as to satisfy the dual functions within me4 ,my own nature as a spiritual being urges me to seek this satisfaction4 ,this ideal whole1 as ,i have shown1 is a complexus of uniquely differentiated units4 ,in order to advance toward uniqueness1 in order to achieve what in a word may be called my own truth1 to build myself into the truth1 to become essentially real1 ,i must seek to elicit the consciousness of the uniqueness and the interrelation in others4 ,i must help others in order to save myself2 ,i must look upon the other as an ethical unit or moral being in order to become a moral being myself4 ,and wherever ,i find consciousness of relation1 of connectedness1 even incipient1 ,i project myself upon that consciousness1 with a view to awaking in it the consciousness of universal connectedness4 ,wherever ,i can hope to get a response ,i test my power4 ,fields and trees do not speak to me1 as ,socrates said1 but human beings do4 ,i should attribute worth to stones and to animals could they respond1 were the power of forming ideas1 without which the idea of relation or connectedness is impossible1 apparent in them4 ,doubtless stones and trees and animals1 and the physical world itself1 are but the screen behind which lies the infinite universe4 ,but the light of that universe does not break through the screen where it is made up of stones and trees and the lower animals4 ,it breaks through1 however faintly1 where there is consciousness of relation3 and wherever ,i discover that consciousness ,i find my opportunity4 ,it is quite possible that the men and women upon whom ,i try my power will not actually respond4 ,the complaint is often heard from moral persons1 or persons who think themselves such1 that what they call the moral plan of rousing the moral consciousness in others will not work4 ,perhaps the plan they follow is not the moral plan at all1 but the plan of sympathy or of some other empirically derived rule4 ,but be that as it may1 the question is not whether we get the response but whether we shall achieve reality or truth ourselves2 in theological terms1 save our own life1 by trying to elicit the response4 ,and here one profoundly important practical consideration will come to our aid1 namely1 the sense of our own imperfection1 coupled indeed with the consciousness of inextinguishable power of moral renewal4 ,instead of attributing the lack of response to the hopeless dullness of the person upon whom we labor1 a sense of humility1 based on the knowledge of our own exceeding spiritual variability--best moments followed by worst moments1 imperfect grasp on our own ideals1 most imperfect fidelity in executing them--will lead us to turn upon ourselves1 and far from permitting us to despair of others1 will impel us rather to make ourselves more fitting instruments of spiritual influence than obviously as yet we are4#cc ,,footnotes3 #cj ,say not part or element1 but member1 to distinguish the components of the ethical manifold from such concepts as are used in mathematics and physical science4 #ca ,the distinction between value and worth must be stressed for it is capital4 ,value is subjective4 ,the worth notion is the most objective conceivable4 ,value depends on the wants or needs of our empirical nature4 ,that has value which satisfies our needs or wants4 ,we possess value for one another1 for the reason that each of us has wants which the others alone are capable of satisfying1 as in the case of sex1 of coperation1 in the vocation1 etc4 ,but value ceases when the want or need is gratified4 ,the value which one human being has for another is transient4 ,there are1 in the strict sense1 no permanent values4 ,the value which the majority have for the more advanced and developed members of a community is small2 from the standpoint of value most persons are duplicable and dispensable4 ,consider only the ease with which factory labor is replaced1 in consequence of the prolific fertility of the human race4 ,the custom of speaking of ethics as a theory of values is regrettable4 ,it evidences the despair into which many writers on ethics have fallen as to the possibility of discovering an objective basis for rightness4 #cb ,but the verification itself is the clearer and more explicit vision of the ethical relation1 as it ought to be4 #cc ,the term 8ethical unit0 used above should be found useful4 ,the chemists have found the concept of the atom useful1 though no one has ever seen an atom4 ,and all the sciences have recourse to similar inventions1--such as the electron1 or the ion1 or energy regarded as a substance1 and in mathematics the sublimated1 space-transcending concepts4 ,looking through the eyes of science1 we are taught to see1 underlying the grossest forms of matter1 imaginary entities which are well-nigh metaphysical in nature4 ,science starts from the realm of the sensible1 and constructs its super-rarefied devices on mechanical models4 ,then it leaves the field of the intuitively perceptible1 and rises by the path of analogy into realms where the notions with which it operates are no longer imaginable4 ,i do not wish1 in speaking of an ethical1 invisible1 and unimaginable entity1 to derive the postulation of this conception from science4 ,the ethical concept transcends wholly the field of sensible experience4 ,it is not discovered by way of analogy4 ,it is frankly and overtly supersensible4 ,it is not exemplified in the effects it produces in the world of volition as the most nearly metaphysical concepts of science are exemplified in the field of phenomena by the recurrences or uniformities which they serve to account for4 ,the ethical concepts are not verified by their results at all1 not by recurrences of phenomena1 but by the persistence of the effort to attain that which is finitely never attained1 and by the more explicit perception of the ideal itself which follows the persistent effort2 for as has been shown above1 when face to face with fundamental truth1 seeing is believing4 ,but ,i allude to these matters in order to show that the movement in ethical thinking represented by the system which ,i propose is not contrary to the present-day movement in science1 but in line with it1 though beyond it4 ,it does not ask leave of science2 it does not base its certainty on scientific precedent2 but neither does it expect a veto from the lips of science4 ,the worthwhileness of scientific endeavor itself depends at bottom on the sanction which the ideal of the complete carrying out of the reality-producing functions lends to their incomplete execution in the world of the space and time manifold4 ,,chapter ,,vi ,,the ,,ideal ,,of ,,the ,,spiritual ,,universe ,,and ,,the ,,god-,,ideal ,we have seen whence the ideal of a spiritual universe arises4 ,it is unnecessary to prove that the universe is moral4 ,what it is necessary to verify is that a universe exists2 for 8universe0 is an ethical ideal1 it is the ethical manifold1 or1 if we distinguish ethical as concerning relations between man and man1 then we may use the term 8spiritual0 to designate that infinite system of interdependence in which men as ethical units have their place4 ,we begin with the affirmation--,man is an end per se4 ,this wonderful affirmation1 which the democracies are darkly and confusedly trying to express in political and social arrangements1 constitutes the problem of all problems4 ,it is the great datum of ethics1 of which ethical theory must give an account4 ,all other data or problems that have been thrust into the foreground--freedom of the will1 responsibility1 altruistic self-sacrifice--are secondary1 in the sense that they depend for their solution on a right conception of man as end per se4 ,as possessing worth on his own account he is an ethical unit4 ,only as a member of the infinite spiritual universe does he possess the two-fold attributes implied in worth--inviolability with respect to outsiders and indefeasible1 intrinsic preciousness4 ,therefore ,i say that around the individual1 the ethical unit1 we build up as a necessary postulate the spiritual universe4 ,man ethically considered carries with him this infinite environment4 ,does this universe exist or is it a mere figment8 ,it is the product of the reality-producing functions in their ideal completion4 ,it is the necessary postulate required if the idea of right is to have validity1 and the idea of right is required by man in so far as he is an agent and not merely a spectator of life4 ,the ethical manifold1 the spiritual universe1 exists in so far as there is a right4 ,have we then reinstated the idea of ,god as existent8 ,not the idea of ,god as an individual4 ,we have on the contrary set aside that idea by affirming that manifoldness cannot be derived from unity1 that the positing of plurality is just as much a primary function of the mind as the positing of unity4 ,we have discarded the ,god-idea as the locus of unity1 since the unity subsists in the relation of the units4 ,strictly speaking1 we have replaced the ,god-idea by that of a universe of spiritual beings interacting in infinite harmony4 ,but at this point ,i must go back for a moment to ,kant1 using his ideas once more as a foil to make my own more explicit4 ,wilhelm von ,humboldt said of ,kant that some of the things he had destroyed would never be rebuilt1 and that some of the things he had built would never be destroyed4 ,for more than a hundred years the impression has prevailed that among the things forever destroyed by ,kant are the proofs of the existence of ,god4 ,he is represented as an intellectual giant whose blows have forever shattered the proofs on which the existence of a supersensible reality rested4 ,kant's mind was preminently scientific4 ,he was the philosopher who made explicit the principles underlying ,newtonian science as ,aristotle had made explicit the logic underlying the ,greek science4 ,his philosophy is essentially agnostic4 ,the use that he continues to make of the ,god-idea can be dissociated from his system with advantage to the latter4#cd ,but did ,kant indeed destroy the idea of a supersensible reality as existent1 or are we warranted in undertaking to build anew the supersensible world4#ce 8,du hast sie zerstrrt1 die schne ,welt1 ,in deinem ,busen baue sie wieder0--not indeed in the realm of mere feelings1 but in the sphere of will4 ,the spell of ,kant's shattering attack still rests upon the intellectual world today4 ,the notion of a supersensible reality1 if held at all1 is held timidly1 apologetically and is apt to be based on subjective emotional need4 ,the wish is more or less admitted to be father to the faith--the will to believe is defiantly asserted in despair of sound foundations4 ,a scientist like ,dubois-,reymond enumerates seven world riddles1 or mysteries that cannot be explained1 and after saying that they cannot be explained1 he seems to see that no alternative remains but to take refuge in resignation3 8,ignoramus1 ignorabimus60 ,that 8explanation0 is not the only avenue to truth1 that the referring of effects to their causes is not the highest operation of the reality-producing functions1 ,i have pointed out in a previous chapter4 ,but ,kant1 as has been said1 is supposed to have utterly annihilated the arguments intended to demonstrate the existence of ,god1 and it will clear up the matter at issue if we consider wherein he actually succeeded and wherein he quite failed4 ,as he himself declares1 his method is regressive2 he does not attempt the progressive method path4 ,he seeks to ascertain whether by going backward along the chain of effects and causes1 or of conditions1 he can somewhere find ,god as first cause or as unconditioned4 ,he does not look forward looking to the ideals of the will4 ,he does not enter into the realm of ends1 where the necessity of determining action in obedience to some universal plan or scheme of relations might have forced itself on his attention4 ,his approach1 like his habit of mind1 is scientific4 ,he is not primarily an ethicist4 ,proceeding in this manner he shows that the notion of a first cause is untenable1 and he attacks in particular the ontological argument by which every other argument supplements itself at the point where it breaks down4 ,did ,kant1 however1 annihilate the ,ontological ,argument8 ,yes1 in the scholastic form in which it was held4 ,no1 in a form1 based on the idea of the ethical manifold1 in which it can be restated4 ,in the scholastic form it runs3 8,there is such a thing as the idea of a perfect being4 ,existence is an element of perfection4 ,if the perfect being did not exist it would be less than perfect4 ,but the ens realissimum1 the perfect being1 is present as an idea in the mind4 ,therefore it exists40 ,the disproof of this amounts to the curt statement that what exists in the mind does not necessarily exist outside of it1 or1 as ,kant put it3 8,the idea of #ajj thalers in the head of a man is one thing1 lacking no element of conceptual integrity2 while the existence of the #ajj thalers in the man's purse is an entirely different matter40 ,the evidence of existence1 in other words1 depends on the synthesis of the data of sense as arranged in the space and time manifold in accordance with the categories of the understanding4 ,existence is temporal and spatial4 ,to prove that ,god exists we should have to prove that he exists in the world of the senses4 ,of any other kind of existence we are agnostic4 ,kant's disproof of the ,ontological ,argument thus depends on his agnosticism4 ,but suppose that on ethical grounds we find ourselves compelled to affirm that there is an object which has worth1 and that to account for the inviolableness1 indispensableness and preciousness of this object we are compelled to give free rein to the reality-producing functions1 and to place this object having worth as a member in a manifold not spatial and temporal but infinite3 and suppose we say that the existence of this worth-endowed object1 of this ethical unit with its compeers1 is as certain as the notion of rightness is certain1 have we not then without blame widened the conception of existence1 and placed the ,ontological ,argument where ,kant's disproof does not even touch it8#cf ,one more important remark is here in place1 suggested by ,kant's designation of ,god as the ideal of reason1 and by his designation of our highest nature as the rational nature4 ,is 8rational0 equivalent to intellectual8 ,if it be so1 then feeling must be classed as irrational1 and impulse likewise1 since neither feeling nor impulse is subject to logical rules4 ,and then the war will be on between the intellectualists or rationalists and the champions of irrational conceptions of life1 since feeling and impulse actually make up the major part of life1 and can neither be left out of account nor compressed into intellectualist formulas4#cg ,plainly1 there is a deep misunderstanding between the two parties4 ,an error is involved somewhere4 ,it appears to consist in assuming that objectivity can be supplied only by the intellect1 in overlooking the fact that the feelings and still more the volition possess intrinsic controls and norms of their own1 that ,science1 the work of the intellect1 and art and ethics1 spring from a common root1 namely1 the reality-producing functions4 ,the manifolds with which each of the three respectively deals are different1 the methods of synthesis are different1 but the root principle1 synthesis of the manifold1 is identical in all4 ,to describe our highest nature1 therefore1 as the rational nature is perilous1 since the word rational suggests intellectual4 ,either we must strain the signification of reason to include feeling and will1 which is contrary to common usage1 or we should select some other term1 such as spiritual1 to designate that nature within us which operates in science and art and achieves its highest manifestation in producing the ethical ideal4 ,finally1 if what has been said regarding the ethical manifold holds good1 then a genuine philosophy of life can only be reached by the ethical approach to the problems of life4 ,this has never yet been consistently attempted4 ,the approach has been made from the scientific or the logical side1 or as in the case of ,plato from the sthetic1 or as in modern times from the biological4 ,yet the ethical approach is full of promise4 ,a philosophy of physical nature may be feasible without it1 a philosophy of art may be possible without it1 but not so a philosophy of life4 ,it has not been tried because ethics has lain in the lap of theology1 which was itself corrupted by the attempt to apply to ethical problems the inadequate principle of causality in the form of creation theories1 while again in recent times1 by way of reaction against theology1 the solution of ethical questions is sought for in the empirical disciplines where a measure at least of objective certainty has rewarded the investigators4 ,even ,kant1 who asserted the independence of ethics1 actually made it dependent on ,newtonian science4 ,the great task now is1 strictly to carry out the idea of the independence of ethics1 not indeed as if its principles were unrelated to those of science and art1 but in the sense of independently investigating the problems peculiar to ethical consciousness4 ,i am well aware that the attempt made in this volume to take the ethical line of approach to a general philosophy of life1 is tentative and defective in a hundred ways1 nevertheless it is an attempt in a new direction4 ,in the next book ,i shall take up the practical consequences that follow from the theory here advanced4 ,having delineated the ethical ideal1 and discovered the invaluable fact that there is a structural plan contained in it1 we shall see that our actual human duties may be derived by applying this ideal scheme to the quasi-organic groups already existing in human society4 ,there are provocative correspondences to the ethical ideal in the social life of men2 otherwise it would be impossible to apply it4 ,there are human groups in which a quasi-correlative membership in a common life already exists4 ,in the case of each of these groups we find some sort of empirical multiplicity which must be studied scientifically1 and also an empirical motive which may be utilized in the interest of developing the ethical relation4 ,the family is the first of these groups which offers a footing in the world of experience for the ideal4 ,in the family natural affection is the motive2 in the vocational group1 the desire to express a talent or special gift2 in the state1 patriotism2 in the church1 the need felt to integrate all human ideals4 ,thus the things of earth are to be used as instrumentalities by which we are to become aware of the spiritual reality4 ,only that the disparateness of the physical world and the ethical universe should ever be kept in the foreground4 ,every effort to solve the riddle by somehow identifying the two has failed4 ,to account for the existence of a finite world of indefinite extensibility side by side with a universe ex hypothesi infinite is impossible4 ,instead of seeking to explain let effort go toward utilizing4 ,let the world be used instrumentally for the purpose of verifying the existence of universe4 ,for the average man1 and indeed for all men1 the test of the truth of a theory is in the practice to which it leads4 ,abstract metaphysical arguments appeal only to a few1 and even for them the formula in its abstract guise is unconvincing4 ,look at the mathematical figure1 and see whether the axioms hold good4 ,look at the sequent phenomena and see whether the so-called law of nature is exemplified4 ,and so with respect to conduct3 look at the ways of human behavior traced out in accordance with the plan of the ethical manifold1 and see whether such behavior wins the approval of the spiritual nature implicit within you4#ch ,,note ,i ,there are various points at which the system sketched in the text deviates from current opinion1 but in regard to the underlying proposition the reader's particular attention is called to the remarks on the 8prejudice of causality0 and to the statement that verification is exemplification4 ,how can ethical truth be verified8 ,how can we be sure that ethical ideals are more than fine wishes1 expressing subjective aspiration1 but having no counterpart in the ultimate constitution of things8 ,this is the dark doubt that haunts the minds of ethical writers1 as well as of the average man4 ,we ask to have the things we believe in1 the objects of our supreme aspiration1 verified4 ,how can they be verified8 ,i think that we shall see light in this matter once we have grasped the thought that verification1 both in science and in ethics1 is nothing more than exemplification4 ,in the case of causality1 in science1 verification does not consist in mere recurrence4 ,for if we find1 even by a single carefully guarded experiment1 that a given phenomenon ,a is the true antecedent of ,b1 then we take leave to predict that ,b will always follow ,a1 without regard to the repetition of the sequence in our experience4#ci ,indeed1 no amount of repetition would justify prediction4 ,the problem in the case of causality is to determine the true antecedent and the true consequent4 ,for at any moment there are innumerable phenomena that might possibly be antecedents of ,b4 ,how obtain certainty that ,a is the causal antecedent8 ,by the synthetic process4 ,we assume a unity1 say energy4 ,we assume that there are differenti1 say a certain mathematically determined quantum of mechanical energy in ,a1 and a determined quantum of thermal energy in ,b4 ,no sooner have these differenti been mathematically determined1 than in virtue of the assumed unity of energy underlying the differences1 we pronounce the nexus to be necessary4 ,we predict that ,b will always follow ,a4 ,causality1 therefore1 is an example of a synthesis which over-arches sequences4 ,the fact that the phenomena are sequent does not affect the principle involved4 ,whenever we contemplate an example of synthesis1 that is1 defined differenti of some sort1 and a defined underlying unity of some sort1 the mind affirms that reality exists4 ,there are degrees of reality4 ,the degree of completeness with which the synthetic function is carried out in any instance determines the degree4 ,ethical verification is likewise exemplification1 though in another sense4 ,when the ideal plan of ethical relations is presented1 the ideal plan being a synthesis not of sequences but of all co-existent entities whatsoever1 the mind assents to this ideal plan as representing the complete synthesis or the complete reality4 ,the more explicitly and definitely the relation between the ethical units is conceived1 the greater the conviction of reality resulting4 ,now frustration after partial achievement has the effect of making more explicit the idea of the plan of relations as it ought to be carried out in human life4 ,and in this sense ,i would have the reader understand the main practical argument of the book--that frustration is the condition of our intensified conviction as to the reality of the supersensible universe4 ,in virtue of the constitution of our minds we cannot help acknowledging as real that which is synthesized4 ,synthesized and real are synonymous terms4 ,hence the idea of the completed synthesis necessarily is the idea of the ultimate reality4 ,,note ,,ii ,the three principal respects wherein ,kant has failed to justify his affirmation that every human being is to be regarded as an end per se1 and not to be used as a tool1 are3 #a4 ,out of the bare experience of oughtness1 absolute constraint1 he seeks to derive personality4 ,out of the empty categorical imperative he seeks to draw a substantive entity--a being possessed of worth4 #b4 ,the society of ends per se described by him is not a true society1 but a collection of atomic individuals juxtaposed4 ,the capital flaw in his ethics is here4 ,he begins by detaching the individual4 ,he studies the individual1 and discovers1 or believes himself to have discovered1 that something happens in him 7the consciousness of absolute constraint7 which entitles him to be considered worth while on his own account4 ,next1 since the formula of university proposes imitability by others as the test of a moral act1 all others are called in as concomitants of the detached atom first considered4 ,each of the concomitants in turn is an atomic entity4 ,it is in this mechanical way that the conception of a kingdom of ends1 or a holy community1 is supposed to be validated4 ,kant's mistake is to assume that an individual regarded as an isolated being can be worth while1 can be an end per se4 ,the notion of end involves relation to others1 not mechanical juxtaposition1 but intrinsic connection4 ,no one is worth while by himself4 ,he has worth only as an organic member of a spiritual whole4 ,the unique quality which lends him incomparable distinction is the creative life which emanates from him and quickens cognate but diversely modified life in his associates4 #c4 ,kant's version of the ethical rule is strong on the side of interdiction1 but quite inadequate on the positive side4 ,he tells us that we are to look on others not merely as means to our own ends1 but also ends per se4 ,the vagueness is in the formula 8not merely 444 but also40 ,where the dividing line is to be drawn he does not tell4 ,i am at liberty to use the services of others in the prosecution of my own interests1 as they may use mine1 since we are social beings and dependent on one another4 ,but how far may ,i go in this direction8 ,on this point we are left wholly in the dark4 ,kant admits into his system the so-called natural ends1#dj such as wealth1 culture and the like1 gives them leave to abound1 only with the proviso that they may not overpass a certain limit1--the limit beyond which they would interfere with the rights of fellowmen4 ,an instrumental view of wealth1 science1 culture1 as positively promoting the ethical end of man1 he does not and cannot establish4#da ,but the instrumental view is precisely that in which modern society has most at stake1 on the working out of which the solution of our most pressing problems1--such as the labor problem1 the problem of the family1 the problem of patriotism and international relations--is entirely dependent4 ,if ,kant has failed at this point1 as ,i believe he has1 his usefulness as a guide in the reconstruction of modern life is seriously diminished4 ,what he had set out to demonstrate1 the inalienable worth of man1 remains2 but foundations other than his must be found4 ,for the formula 8not merely as a means but also as an end0 ,i would substitute3 ,treat every man as a spiritual means to thine own spiritual end and conversely 444 treat the extent and the manner in which we are to use one another as means being determined by the criterion that our exchange of services shall conduce to the attainment of each other's ends as ethical beings conjointly4 ,,note ,,iii ,i would also ask the reader to consider well the effect upon the philosophy of life of the position taken throughout this volume that there is no intellectual bridge between the finite order and the infinite order4 ,this involves dropping creation at the beginning and immortality in its usual sense at the end4 ,creation is an attempt to show how the world1 including man1 proceeded out of the infinite4 ,immortality is an attempt to express how man returns to the infinite4 ,in this volume man's dealings with the finite order are represented as having for their purpose the achievement of the conviction that there verily is an infinite life1 a supersensible universe4 ,creation systems1 pantheistic systems1 certain evolutionary systems1 also the ,hegelian system1 are futile attempts to explain the ,how4 ,but explanation is impossible2 for to explain means to understand1 and to understand means to trace an effect to its cause4 ,and causality is not the kind of synthesis applicable to a co-existent totality4 ,among practical consequences note the difference between the theistic attitude in fatal sickness and the spiritual attitude4#db ,the theist presupposes that there is a ,god to whose will he must patiently submit4 ,but theism is a principle of explanation1 the ,god-idea being employed to account for the finite order4 ,god is thus made responsible for the suffering of the sick as well as for all other evils in the world4 ,hence the very idea which is presupposed in order to produce patience raises up doubts and perplexities1 which imperil patience4 ,if ,god made the world why does he permit pain and evil8 ,the spiritual attitude1 on the contrary1 ethically interpreted1 does not presuppose the idea of a divine order as a dogma1 but offers it as the product of the experience of suffering itself4 ,the conviction that there is in man an essential spiritual self1 a holy thing1 and a spiritual universe1 a holy community1 are not gifts to which we fall heir at birth1 or by some sort of revelation borrow from the experience of ancient teachers2 they are a supreme good to be arduously worked out by ourselves4 ,and the interpretation given to the facts of suffering and frustration is that they can be used as the means of bringing to birth in us that supreme conviction4 ,in general it may be said that the purpose of existence1 both of the individual and of the race1 is so to work in the finite world as to become possessed with ever greater distinctness of the conviction of the reality of the wholly real world1 the infinite supersensible universe4 ,the attitude of the ,christian is other-worldly4 ,he shuns intimacy with the finite world and turns his face toward his 8true home40 ,the attitude herein described is that of hearty attack upon the business of life1 and close embrace of all the partial reality which finite experience contains1 with a view of thus acquiring in some measure an appreciation of the utter reality of which these partial realities are hints and glimmerings4 ,,note ,,iv ,in the case of any new theory1 it is true that one must live with it for a considerable time before acquiring the habit of thinking in accordance with it4 ,the older habits constantly crop up and interfere with the correct understanding of any new point of view4 ,this is especially so of a new attitude towards reality4 ,the world seems topsy-turvy to one who learns for the first time that grass and the leaves of trees are not really green apart from the eye that sees them1 that beings with different organs might interpret differently that which stimulates the human eye to its specific color reactions4 ,the heliocentric theory1 when first announced by ,copernicus1 outraged nave commonsense4 ,it exacted a new habit of thinking in regard to the relation of the sun to the earth1--the real relation1 apprehended by intercalated mental processes being the direct opposite of the apparent relation4 ,the sun evidently revolves around the earth1 nevertheless the truth is that the earth revolves around the sun4 ,modern science reveals behind the palpable world around us unimaginable fluids1 speeds1 and physical units which are so sublimated in thought as to be barely distinguishable from metaphysical entities4 ,the habit of penetrating with radium-like glance the concrete screen of things1 and of seeing behind the screen the company of atoms1 ions1 etc41 may be gradually acquired2 but the older habit of regarding the palpable and visible as the truly real continues to assert itself in conflict with the new habit4 ,the ethical unit in an ethical manifold postulated in the text as the closest1 though still symbolic1 reading of the ultimate reality1 makes a similar demand upon the reader1 and requires of him in like manner the formation of a new habit of thinking1 against which the older habits will doubtless continue to protest4 ,the most obstinate of the older habits that stand in the way has been dealt with in the note on causality1 namely1--the unscientific habit of ignoring the boundaries of science1 and of taking the method employed in the physical sciences as the sole method that leads to certainty4 ,the prejudice of causality is probably ineradicable1 just as the illusion that the sun revolves about the earth persists4 ,but we can at least reach the point of realizing that it is a prejudice1 and to this extent overcome it4 ,if it be synthesis1 or the employment in inseparable conjunction of the two functions mentioned1 that for the human mind spells reality1 then one kind of synthesis called causality1 that of sequent phenomena1 does not exclude the ampler1 though ideal synthesis1 which is carried out in the mental production of the ethical manifold4 ,so much ,i wish to add to the statements contained in the text in regard to the theory4 ,but there is also a new habit to be acquired in regard to the practical ethical consequences of the theory4 ,the chief of these is the prizing of distinctive difference above uniformity or sameness4 ,the ethical quality is that quality in which a man is intrinsically unique4 ,the ethical act is the most completely individualized act 7,i ought perhaps to say personalized1 but the completely individualized act is that of a unique personality74 ,in brief1 the emphasis is here put on that in which a man differs from all others1 and not on the common nature which he shares with the rest2 or rather1 since the common nature is not denied1 the stress is put on the intrinsically different mode in which the common nature is expressed in him4#dc ,the accentuation in current ethical discussion of the common nature of man1 and the fallacious assumption that the common interests are the pre-eminently moral interests1 that uniformity is the test of ethical quality1 is easy to understand4 ,it is the reaction of the modern world against feudalism1 a social system not yet entirely outgrown1 in which the empirical differences of rank and birth were made the basis of intolerably oppressive discriminations1 and in which it was an accepted axiom that some men are baked of better clay than others4 ,it is also a reaction against the capitalistic system that has taken the place of the feudal1 in which wealth is to a considerable extent made the standard of social appraisement4 ,it is against these false discriminations that the voice of humanity is now indignantly raised1 affirming the moral equality of all men4 ,but equality is mistakenly taken to mean likeness in the sense of sameness1 not in the sense of that fundamental likeness on the background of which the desirable unlikenesses stand forth4 ,and this notion of equality as identical with sameness leads to great practical aberrations4 ,thus1 for instance1 women are not only to be recognized as the equals of men1 but are to be the same as men1--their education patterned on that of men1 their specific functions1 as far as possible1 ignored4 ,for unlikeness is supposed to connote inferiority1 and inferiority is justly repelled as morally intolerable4 ,but aside from this one example1 the stressing of the common nature1 or of the basis of likeness at the expense of the outstanding unlikenesses1 leads to other leveling tendencies of which modern democracies furnish many unpleasing illustrations4 ,thus uniform popular opinion1 encompassing the individual on every side1 penetrates into his inmost thinking1 so that he hardly ventures to hold to his own judgment against the judgments of the majority4 ,and the impulses of the mass tend also to threaten his independence in action4 ,there is indeed a certain intoxication in the very sense of being submerged in a large whole1 a certain glad loss of self in great impersonal movements1 a certain strain of democratic pantheism1 as it were1 that takes the place with some of mystic absorption in ,deity4 ,but whatever the value that may attach to these upswellings of feeling1 it is counterbalanced by the circumstance that in proportion as indiscriminate devotion to society as a whole becomes the paramount motive1 the sub-organisms of society1 the family1 the vocation and the state1 in which the ethical personality is ripened1 are threatened with effacement4 ,instead of moral equality it were better to use the term 8moral equivalence40 ,the differences are to be stressed2 they are the coruscating points in the spiritual life of mankind4 ,that every man is the equal of his fellows means that he has the same right as each of the others to become unlike the others1 to acquire a distinct personality1 to contribute his one peculiar ray to the white light of the spiritual life4 ,,footnotes3 #cd ,i do not however agree with those who regard the shreds of theology remaining in his system as a concession1 not wholly ingenuous1 to orthodoxy4 ,he was brought up in the pietistic faith1 and had probably not entirely outgrown the emotional impressions of those early teachings4 ,the noumena1 however1 play a part in the system itself distinct from the theology1 and are not to be taken as supersensible realities4 ,they are limiting concepts intended to serve as incentives or lures1 winning the mind to continue without cessation its advance along certain paths within the field of experience2 but they are not supposed to give any clue as to what is beyond experience4 ,that which is beyond the field of experience is simply unknowable4 ,thus the noumenon called 8thing per se0 is notice given to the mind not to be deterred in its proper business of unifying the space and time manifold by the difficulties which arise when the time and space manifold is taken as an ultimate account of reality4 ,the thing per se is a welcome to science and not a bar set up in its path4 ,the noumenon of freedom is an incentive to man urging him to act as if he were capable of practicing the law of universality and necessity4 ,in fact the phrase 8as if0 plays a leading rle in the ,kantian philosophy4 ,the noumenon of ,god1 as will presently be shown1 is afflicted with this conditional 8as if0 character to even a higher degree4 ,we are to assume ,god in order to look upon the vast field of possible experience as if it were unified1 as if a being who himself stands for unity had been its creator4 ,this assumption is supposed to be necessary in order to encourage the scientist in his search for the thread of unity1 lest he flag by the way4 ,as a matter of fact scientists have contented themselves with the simple assumption of the uniformity of nature as necessary to the prosecution of their investigations1 and have as a rule troubled themselves little to hypostasize the notion of unity4 ,nor has recent progress in science been associated with and influenced by the belief in an individual ,deity4 ,the noumenon of ,god is unnecessary for science while in ,kant's ethical application of it it is positively harmful4 ,he introduces the ,god notion as an artificial device for linking together happiness and virtue1 a device quite inconsistent with the noble austerity of his ethical system1 whatever its other defects may be4 ,the noumena1 then1 are apparitions that appear at the end of certain paths in the field of experience1 far off where the sky and the ground seem to meet4 ,these paths run off in different directions4 ,at the end of each is one of these limiting apparitions1 and the society of noumena is disconnected internally3 there is no relation of unity between the unifiers4 #ce ,the difference between 8supersensible0 and 8supernatural0 is capital4 ,i do not encourage relapse into supernaturalism4 ,the supernatural is the opposite of the supersensible4 ,it is an attempt to represent in natural or sensible guise what is supposed to be beyond the senses2 and the naturalistic representation of the supersensible is then taken not metaphorically but literally4 #cf ,he allows indeed the ,ens ,realissimum to remain1 and calls it the ideal of the reason1 the ideal of unity hypostasized1 centralized in an individual1 and somehow harboring within itself all real properties whatsoever4 ,but it is quite impossible to conceive how all real properties can belong to a single individual4 ,for the properties as we know them are incompatible with each other4 ,surely an individual cannot be both great and small1 beautiful and ugly1 of all colors and sounds1 etc41 etc4 ,or again if all properties were somehow assembled in one individual1 since that individual is conceived of as an hypostasized unity1 it would be impossible to speak of a relation between them1 and yet upon the relation of the differenti depends the ethical utility of the idea of a supreme reality4 #cg ,compare1 for instance1 the anti-intellectualistic philosophy of ,bergson1 with its emphasis on planless spurts of energy1 the irrationalist philosophy of ,schopenhauer1 etc4 #ch ,the above exposition is not a transcendental derivation of ethics4 ,the ideal of the infinite society is a fulguration out of ethical experience1 to be ever renewed in it4 ,we build not only our world1 but our universe4 ,the ethical principle is not a working hypothesis1 like those provisionally used in science4 ,it is the outgrowth of the functional finalities4 ,it is a postulate4 ,the specific moral laws1 or expressions of the ethical principle indeed1 are changeable1 being the product of the principle with the varying empirical conditions of human society4 ,the fundamental principle is unchangeable4 ,the consciousness of universal interrelation is not to be described as mystical consciousness4 ,the identity of the self remains intact2 it is never lost in the ,one or the ,all4 ,the ethical consciousness includes indeed the consciousness of other selves related to our own1 in a kind of superindividual consciousness4 ,but this is reached along the sunlit path of action 7,so act1 etc471 and not along the dreamy flux of emotionalism or in the silent depths of quietism4 #ci ,the frequent recurrence gives us a sense of safety in expecting the consequent on the appearance of the antecedent4 ,but the sense of safety should not be confounded with the sense of the certainty4 ,we expect that day will follow night1 because it has followed innumerable times4 ,but no amount of repetition can warrant the assertion that it will and must do so4 ,the ,pragmatist view explains the sense of safety in expectation1 but does not appear to account for the certainty in prediction1 as for instance in the astronomer's prediction of an eclipse4 #dj ,a hybrid conception1 since in nature there are only happenings1 but no ends4 #da ,his efforts in some measure to remedy this defect in the ,doctrine of ,virtue are artificial and unconvincing4 #db ,see ,book ,,iii for a fuller development of this point4 #dc ,difference in the ethical meaning is not to be confounded with mere idiosyncrasy1 or originality1 not to say eccentricity4 ,it is the kind of difference which elicits correlated difference in all spiritual associates4 ,,book ,,iii ,,applications3 ,,the ,,three ,,shadows1 ,,sickness1 ,,sorrow ,,and ,,sin1 ,,and ,,the ,,right ,,to ,,life1 ,,property ,,and ,,reputation ,,chapter ,i ,,introduction ,three main thoughts should be kept clear3 the end to be realized1 the incongruity of the finite and the infinite order1 and hence1 thirdly1 the indispensable ministry of frustration in the realization of the purpose of life4 ,in regard to the so-called moral end of life1 there has been much variety and contrarity of teaching4 ,i shall touch only upon that aspect of the doctrine expounded in the previous book wherein it seems to resemble other doctrines1 and where a distinct statement of the difference is therefore imperative4 8,so act as to develop the faculties of thy fellowman0 is not the rule proposed4 8,so act as to develop the so-called good qualities in the man0 is not the rule proposed4 ,the rule reads1 8,act so as to bring out the spiritual personality1 the unique nature of the other40 ,now1 in putting the matter in this way1 we incurred the danger of seeming to concentrate attention on the individual as a detached being1 we seemed to have him only in mind1 though it is true1 in respect to what is intrinsic in him1 the irreducible ethical unit which he essentially is4 ,we must1 therefore1 constantly remind ourselves that the ethical unit1 while unique1 is at the same time an inseparable member of a society of differentiated units2 that its very distinctiveness consists in injecting1 as it were1 streams of dynamic energy into its fellow-beings4 ,or1 as ,i have elsewhere figuratively put it1 the distinctiveness of any ethical being consists1 so to speak1 in emitting a ray the color of which is nowhere else to be found1 the miraculous quality of which consists in acquiring this color at the very instant in which it causes counter or complementary colors to appear in its fellow-being4 7,i am using the words 8instant10 8miraculous10 8ray of light10 etc41 of course1 in a wholly figurative sense47 ,we have at last1 this is my belief1 achieved a positive definition of the spiritual nature4 ,the spiritual nature is that which forever is social in a supra-social sense1 as embracing not only human society1 but a universal society of spirits4 ,the spiritual nature is that of which the very life consists in starting up unlike but equally worthwhile life elsewhere1 everywhere4 ,the spiritual experience to get hold of1 therefore1 is the consciousness of this interrelation4 ,the moral end to be realized1 in accordance with the deductions of ,book ,,ii1 is 8,so to act upon another as to evoke in him1 and conjointly in oneself1 in the same movement and counter-movement the consciousness of the interlacedness of life with life1 the reciprocal1 universal1 infinite interrelatedness40 ,now1 as a fact1 we never realize this end4 ,if we did we should possess what alone is properly called freedom1--freedom in the positive sense being the exercise of power peculiar to ourselves1 welling up out of our veriest self1 and executing the totality of its effects4 ,freedom is marked by these two signs3 energy coming unborrowed out of self1 and producing the totality of its effects4 ,i am free when the thing ,i do is verily my own1 when the power released is the power of my essential self2 and when that power is nowhere checked1 inhibited or interrupted1 so that it produces its due1 that is1 its universal effects4 ,an ethical being in an ethical universe would be free4 ,the dynamic energy proceeding from it would be aboriginal4 ,and since it would radiate upon every other member of the infinite society1 it would also produce the unstinted plenitude of its effects4 ,each ethical unit1 at its station1 would be at once the producer and the recipient of the totality of life4#dd ,it is apparent from what has been said that the superlative1 sublime thing1 freedom1 is not realizable except in an infinite world4 ,and hence that the supreme end to be realized by man as a finite being cannot be the full release of unique power in himself4 ,but neither can the end be approximation4 ,in so serious a business as a philosophy of life we ought not to play with words1 nor delude ourselves with the implication of proximity seemingly contained in the word approximation4 ,for it being admitted that we cannot reach the ideal1 approximation seems to suggest that we come into its neighborhood4 ,but the truth is that the more we advance the less do we arrive in the immediate neighborhood of the ideal1 the distance at which it lies becoming ever more remote4 ,the moral end1 therefore1 for a finite nature1 like that of man1 is just to realize the unattainableness of the end4 ,there must be no heaven-on-earth illusions1 no resting in the development of our inadequate human faculties1 and no illusions as to approximation4 ,the unattainableness of the infinite end in the finite world by the finite nature is the ,alpha and ,omega of the doctrine1 as ,i propound it4 ,only after this truth has been fully faced and recognized1 shall we be in a position to take in the vast significance of the fact that we are nevertheless under a certain coercion to persist in our efforts to attain the unattainable1 and in inquiring into the source from which this pressure comes1 we shall be led to infer the influence in us of an infinite nature enshrined in this finite nature of ours4 ,in other words1 to admit the unattainableness of the end in a finite world by a finite being is the very condition of our acquiring the conviction that there is an infinite world1 and that we1 as possessing an infinite nature1 are included in it4#de ,i have now covered the points mentioned3 the end to be realized1 the incongruity of the two orders1 and the cardinal importance of frustration as a spiritual experience1 as a means of spiritual education4 ,from this point of view the whole question of how to deal with the frustrations of life assumes a new aspect4 ,lessing published his well-known essay on the ,education of the ,race towards the close of the eighteenth century4#df ,interest in the subject has since been obscured by the scientific movement1 and especially by the evolutionary philosophy4 ,the latter excludes the idea of education in the proper sense1 and substitutes for it a natural process1 a genetic unfolding4 ,the education of the human race1 and of the human individual from the spiritual point of view consists in a series of efforts never to be intermitted1 but not necessarily following each other in an orderly series1 aiming to embody the infinite in the finite4 ,both partial success and failure in these efforts are instrumental to the achievement of the task of mankind4 ,both serve to make more explicit the character and extent of the ideal1 while the ultimate inevitable failure painfully instructs man in the fact of the incongruity of the two orders4 ,the only outcome of human history that we can view with satisfaction on a large scale1 is the same as that which we should regard as the best outcome of an individual life1 namely1 the growing conviction and the clearer vision of the eternal spiritual universe as real4 ,we might say that that man had lived best who on his deathbed could declare with perfect truth3 8,i have achieved the certainty1 and in through the vicissitudes of my life1 that there is a universe40 ,i here emphasize again the distinction between universe and world4 ,to say that the universe is 8good0 is equivocal4 ,the term 8good10 as commonly used1 describes the moral striving of a finite nature1 and not the quality that belongs to the spiritual universe and its members1 thinking of them as ideally we must1 as freed from finite limitation4 ,of the spiritual universe1 we might use the term 8supra-good10 only we should then be careful to add that the 8beyond good0 is to be conceived as lying in the direction of the good1 while transcending it4 ,thereby we avoid the pitfall of ,nietzsche and of others who speak in a totally different sense of the 8beyond good and evil40 ,we read of a man blessing his children on his deathbed4 ,the highest type of man is the one who in articulo mortis can bless the universe4 ,the discrepancy of the finite and the infinite order appears on the physical and moral sides4 ,on the physical side it thrusts itself upon our attention in the circumstance that juxtaposition and sequence are incapable of being unified1 or totalized4 ,space and time and that which fills them1 matter1 are by nature incongruous with spirit4 ,on the moral side the incongruity appears in the deflecting forces of appetite and passion which hinder us in the attainment of the spiritual end and in the fact that our so-called higher faculties are in irreconcilable conflict with one another4 ,the harmonious union of all of them in any individual is a fiction4 ,it is impossible to be fully developed on all sides4 ,and in addition the social substrata in which the spiritual relation has to be worked out1 are themselves too deeply beset with internal contrarieties to serve their purpose adequately4 ,the sex relation1 for instance1 is to a certain extent favorable to the achievement of spirituality1 that is1 of living in the life of another2 yet on the other hand there are elements in it that defeat this very object4 ,i write1 therefore1 at the head of such words of counsel as ,i can hope to give in respect to the conduct of life1 the word ,frustration4 ,it is understood that this word is not used in the pathetic sense4 ,first because there is partial achievement1 moments in life at which the rainbow actually seems to touch the earth4 ,love and marriage1 the completing of a beautiful work of art1 the discovery of a new law of nature1 the emancipation of an oppressed class1 are examples4 ,but these partial successes are presently seen to be partial2 they are followed1 or even in the moment of triumph1 permeated1 with the sense of incompleteness and the foreboding of new obscurities and perplexities advancing upon the mind4 ,yet essentially the doctrine is not a melancholy doctrine1 because frustration1 though a painful instrument1 is yet a necessary instrument of spiritual development4 ,we are not open to the reproach of dampening the zest and relish for life of those who are setting out to try the hazard of their fortunes4 ,they shall put forth their best effort to succeed1 but let them be so guided herein that they may meet in the right attitude of mind the disillusionment which is the condition of the revelation4 ,the shadows will and must descend before they can be parted1 disclosing the landscape of the spiritual universe4 ,,footnotes3 #dd ,incidentally it may be remarked that in introducing the category of interrelation we remove the objection against freedom which remains unmitigable so long as freedom is supposed to be a kind of causality1 competing with natural causality4 ,causality is the unity of a temporal manifold of sequent phenomena4 ,the concept of interrelation is the concept of the unity of co-existent entities4 #de ,see some fine remarks on the unattainableness in ,tyrrel's ,christianity at the ,cross-roads4 #df ,die ,erziehung des ,menschengeschlechts4 ,,chapter ,,ii ,,the ,,three ,,great ,,shadows3 ,,sickness1 ,,sorrow1 ,,sin ,having concentrated attention upon the point that the end is not the development of any particular faculty or assemblage of faculties1 but the awakening in man1 in and through his development1 of the consciousness of interrelation1 of life in life1 we shall now turn to the three great shadows3 sickness1 sorrow1 sin4 ,in the case of sickness the suffering1 however acute1 must be made to pass over into action4 ,there is a certain work to be done1 something to be accomplished on the sick bed4 ,what is it8 ,i shall briefly review a few of the answers that have been given4 ,first1 the ,stoic says3 ,a man in pain is to resist the pain by an act of will1 thereby demonstrating that his essential self is inaccessible to bodily suffering4 8,if there is a pain in thy limb1 remember that the pain is in thy limb1 and not in thyself40 ,now the fortitude of the ,stoic is admirable as far as it goes2 his counsels are bracing and manly4 ,but1 because he is a materialistic pantheist1 the reason he gives for his defiance of pain is not convincing4 ,in effect his appeal is rather to the empirical than to the spiritual nature of man4 ,the spiritual nature is characterized by humility2 the appeal of the ,stoic is to pride4 ,fate with all its sledgehammer blows shall not crush him4 ,yet the ,stoic's pride when put to the supreme test does not avail1 and the proof of it is that at the last it breaks down in suicide4 ,we come to a second answer4 ,there is business in hand for the sufferer on the sick bed4 ,what is the business8 ,to hide the expression of his suffering1 so that the cloud which rests on him may not cast its shadow upon others1 obscuring their sunshine4 ,but1 we are bound to ask1 are others always worthy of such consideration8 ,is not our sympathetic regard for their pleasures1 their sunshine1 often misplaced8 ,are not their pleasures often selfish and frivolous8 ,the ,greeks believed that outcries in situations of great distress are perfectly legitimate1 since they seem to afford a kind of relief4 ,is it not cruel to forbid such outcries8 ,in our age the view prevails that it is a proof of moral grandeur to suppress the signs of suffering4 ,but the cynical question obtrudes itself whether it may not be the collective selfishness of the multitude that imposes this rule4 ,the common run of men desire to go on their way undisturbed by cries that emanate from the sick chamber1 and perhaps it is on this account that they impose a rule of behavior based1 not on the principle of human worth1 but on its opposite4 ,the individual forsooth is not to count2 the unhappiness of one is not to interfere with the happiness of the greater number6 ,there is1 however1 another view of the matter possible4 ,everyone carries his own particular burden4 ,when tortured by some painful malady1 we are apt to think that others1 because they wear a smiling exterior1 are therefore free from pain4 ,but often those who seem in sound health are in fact as great sufferers as we1 or even greater4 ,and physical pain is not the only kind of suffering4 ,why1 then1 should ,i1 for one1 add to the troubles of others by imposing my own upon them8 ,put in this way1 it is plain that there is an ethical element in the kind of behavior that is expected of a manly person4 ,but the reason assigned1 sympathy with the pleasures of others1 is unconvincing4 ,unless there be some good to which grievous suffering can be made instrumental1 there is no warrant for enduring it4 ,as for the ,stoics1 so for the philosopher of sympathy1 the logical end would be suicide1 at least when the pain is exceptionally intense4 ,there is a third answer4 ,something is to be worked out on the sick bed4 ,what is it8 ,to be purified in the furnace1 to learn patience and humble submission to the inscrutable will of ,god4 ,patience is the supreme virtue4 8,be patient1 ,oh1 be patient10 ,i once heard a dying man repeat with touching accents4 ,but patience for the sake of what8 ,there must be some object to be gained by the patience to make it commendable4 ,i can be patient in a storm at sea if ,i may entertain the hope of reaching port4 ,i can be patient in conducting a difficult scientific experiment if ,i may hope that it will issue in an important discovery1 or prepare the way for such discovery by others4 ,i can be patient in sickness if ,i have any reason to expect a return to health4 ,but patience for mere patience's sake is absurd4 ,well1 then1 the third answer is1--patience for the sake of manifesting your faith and trust in a wise and beneficent ,deity4 ,why he has sent this suffering1 why he has so made the world that it is replete with the agony of sentient creatures we do not know4 ,we cannot know4 ,but he knows4 ,trust him1 have faith in him3 8,though he slay me yet will ,i trust him40 ,here a genuine characteristic of the spiritual attitude has been expressed1 but the ground on which it is put is once more unconvincing4 ,how do ,i know that there is such a being as this wise and loving ,deity of whom you tell me8 ,by the evidence of his works1 by the testimony of the world he has created1 by the life for which ,i am indebted to him4 ,but the world is the playground of good and evil forces4 ,there is a semblance of design2 there is on the other hand apparently the wildest disorder4 ,the stars in their courses travel with incredible celerity in every direction1 but no astronomer has ever yet been able to discern a plan in their journeyings4 ,human life is full of sorrow as well as joy2 and whether there be more sorrow or more joy in the lives of most persons1 who will venture to say8 ,there is kindness1 but there is also cruelty4 ,there is coperation1 and there is merciless competition4 ,there is health and bloom1 and there is miserable physical decay4 ,at present1 in my case1 suffering and sorrow are in the ascendant4 ,the picture of the ,deity as fashioned from the evidence of experience is dark and bright1 cruel and kind4 ,if he be omnipotent1 why did he introduce the elements of discord and trouble into his creation8 ,why1 in particular1 does he at present torture me so cruelly8 ,in order that ,i may believe in him despite the evidence6 ,but how can ,i believe1 seeing that in my own case the evidence on the bad side preponderates8 ,thus the mind of the sufferer on his couch of pain gropes in the labyrinth of argument and counter-argument--for the intellectual processes are often preternaturally acute in times of physical suffering--and there is no outlet4 ,in a fine spiritual nature there is something which pleads that the counter-arguments ought not to prevail4 ,desperately1 by an act of faith1 a man lays hold on his ,god4 ,but presently his faith again relaxes1 his state of mind becomes confused1 and unless supported by strong impressions received in and retained from childhood on1 the third answer will not avail him4 ,there is business in hand on the sick bed4 ,what is it8 ,the fourth answer1 the answer as it appeals to me1 depends on the very incongruity of the finite and the infinite order4 ,every attempt to explain this incongruity breaks down1 every theodicy is a fiction4 ,to explain is to find the cause of effects4 ,but the notion of cause does not apply to the relation between the finite and the infinite4 ,and of the infinite order itself we possess only the plan or scheme of relations4 ,the members of this ideal world are related to one another in such a manner that the essential uniqueness of the one is to be provocative of the diverse distinctiveness of the others4 ,this1 as ,i think1 is a very fruitful formula1 furnishing a rule of conduct to be applied to our finite relations4 ,but it sheds no light on the uniqueness itself1 which is forever ideal4 ,what in its ultimate constitution our spiritual being may be1 remains unknown4 ,did we know1 were we capable of comprehending the infinite order1 and seeing things in that supersolar light1 we might then be able to solve the insoluble riddle1 the coexistence side by side of the finite and the infinite4 ,as it is1 the problem of finiteness especially in its human aspect of suffering and evil is impenetrable1 inexplicable4 ,but if we cannot explain suffering and evil1 we can utilize them for a definite spiritual end4 ,and that end is to achieve through the ministry of frustration and the persistence of the effort toward the unattainable1 the consciousness of the reality of the spiritual universe and of our membership in it4 ,the answer1 therefore1 which ,i should offer1 is based on this pivotal distinction between explaining and using4 ,and thus the business in hand1 the end to be gained1 is the intensified realization of our spiritual interconnectedness with others1 the life in life4 ,to this end we accept from the ,stoic1 though for a reason which he does not give1 resistance to pain1 and from the philosopher of sympathy the obligation of not clouding the life of others with our shadow1 and from the theologian the law of patience--and we take a step beyond all three4 ,let me carry this out somewhat more in detail4 ,to gain the consciousness of interrelation1 there must be an object outside of myself of supreme interest to me1 enabling me to transcend the ego4 ,now1 pain has the opposite effect1 that of concentrating attention on the ego4 ,pain builds a prison around us1 raises up high walls which shut us in4 ,anyone in great pain is incessantly reminded of his physical state4 ,in order that the mind may pass out of the prison cell and over the encompassing wall1 there needs to be some object beyond the wall appealing enough to solicit the outward movement4 ,this object is the spiritual self of my fellowmen4 ,it is my concern for their spiritual self which is their highest good1 it is my eager wish to reinforce what is best in them that works the transcendence of the ego and of its pains4 ,in such supreme moments the lesser values dwindle into relative insignificance4 ,and what is best in others is the same consciousness on their part of the interrelation4 ,it is this that ,i am to awaken in them1 to strengthen in them by the intensity with which ,i myself realize it4 ,in the case of loving kin and friends1 they1 too1 suffer with me4 ,in vain ,i try to hide my sufferings4 ,they divine what ,i try to suppress2 and the more ,i try to suppress it1 the more they suffer with me4 ,they suffer not only with the suffering1 but with the attempt to conceal the suffering4 ,i have seen this in the case of a mother at the bedside of her dying daughter4 ,they go with me to the brink of life4 ,they enter into the anxieties and forebodings that haunt my mind as ,i face death4 ,there may be young children that still need fostering care4 ,dangers to the family may arise after ,i am gone4 ,the more my life is implicated in the lives around me1 the more as ,i stand on the edge of life will my thoughts be occupied1 not with the obliteration of my empirical self1 but with the future of those that survive--that best future of theirs which ,i long to assure4 ,and they1 in turn1 if they are fine natures1 will pass through this inward experience with me4 ,thus ,i descend into the darkness and the depths1 and they descend with me2 and ,i am also to rise out of the darkness and the depths1 and am to gain the force to do this in order that ,i may lift them with me4 ,this is the business in hand4 ,i am to draw myself out of the depths1 to overcome the centralizing1 egotizing effects of physical and mental pain1 in order by my effort to make those around me realize the intensity with which ,i feel my interrelatedness with them1 and thereby to reveal to them the same spiritual power in themselves4 ,plans for the future education of the children1 counsels of peace1 by way of anticipation for the too lonely hours that await the most loving and the most beloved1--these things have value chiefly in so far as they are insignificant of the indissoluble interlacing of life with life4#dg ,,footnotes3 #dg ,i have spoken of the sick bed as surrounded by loving friends and near of kin4 ,there are sick beds where the situation is quite different1--in the poor wards of hospitals for instance4 ,nevertheless1 the loneliest person is never without certain human relations4 ,it may be the pauper in the next bed1 the nurse1 or the physician1 to whom his behavior will be of lasting meaning4 ,i would add a word as to the attitude of a person who is threatened with insanity1 and who is aware that the disease is approaching4 ,his last conscious act should be to honor the community to which he belongs by voluntarily putting himself out of the way of harming them4 ,not that the physical harm is itself the principal thing1 but that the wish not to harm physically is the sign of his sense of the ethical relation in which he stands to his fellows4 ,also a person threatened in this way ought to be willing to put himself in the keeping of others1 even of strangers1 as being no longer himself competent to judge rightly of what shall be done to him4 ,it is true that in accepting the judgment of strangers as a substitute for his own he is taking the risk of being treated with insufficient consideration1 and possibly even mistreated4 ,yet the jeopardy in which he thus puts his future1 the sacrificial act he performs1 is evidence of mental nobility at the very moment when mental night is about to set in for him4 ,,chapter ,,iii ,,bereavement ,when we reflect on what actually happens in cases of bereavement1 we shall find great diversity in different situations4 ,it may be that the deceased person has led a worthless life1 and that the grave is allowed to close over him without much regret4 ,nevertheless1 the honor due to worth that never appeared in him ought to be shown4 ,in the worst cases we may not treat human beings like animals4 ,besides1 there are generally one or more persons who seem to have an unreasoning natural affection for the wretched being1 and so he does not go wholly without the tribute of tears4 ,others1 like sufferers from cancer1 pass through days1 weeks1 months of acute pain before they die4 ,in their case it is said that death comes as a relief1 and often the final relief from the suffering obscures the loss4 ,again1 in most men's lives there is an upper and an under side4 ,though the public career of statesmen1 poets1 artists may be dazzling1 yet their faults or obliquities are probably well enough known to those who have seen them at close range4 ,obituaries are seldom truthful4 ,sometimes1 however1 the reverse happens2 men whose names are held up to public obloquy are not always as black as they are painted4 ,their worst side becomes known to the public1 yet they sometimes possess wonderfully fine traits4 ,very pathetic is the mourning for a baby1 and its unfulfilled promise1 or for a defective child1 long a burden1 yet strangely grieved for when its feeble little flame of life is extinguished4 ,the most poignant sorrow is that which cannot be communicated to others or shared by others1 because the tie severed by bereavement1 like that of husband and wife1 is between two only4 ,the loss by death of a beloved life companion is apt to lead to an inconsolable state of mind1 because in this relation1 when finely interpreted1 the empirical and the spiritual appear almost to coincide4 ,the ethical rule1 ,live in the life of another1 live so as to enhance to the highest degree the possibilities of another1 seems almost no longer a counsel of perfection but an actual experience4 ,hence the utter grief into which the sundering of the tie is apt to plunge the survivor4 ,on the other hand1 ,jonathan ,edwards said on his deathbed to his wife3 8,our relation has been spiritual1 and therefore is eternal40 ,and there is indeed an element of eternality in marriage1 only it is not the sex relation as such that is or can be conceived of as eternal4 ,it is not man and woman in their empirical form to which this attribute belongs4 ,marriage is the sign2 the spiritual relation that which is signified4#dh ,it may be objected that marriage being a tie strictly between two1 one can hardly think without repugnance of an equally intimate1 nay1 far more intimate1 relation with all spiritual beings whatsoever4 ,yet the spiritual relation is one in which the ethical being is conceived to be in touch with each of the infinite beings that comprise the spiritual universe1 pouring its essential life into them1 and receiving theirs in return4 ,is not then the sign incompatible with and contradictory to the thing signified8 ,but it is not of the multitude of mortal men and women surrounding us that we think when we speak of the eternal hosts4 ,from this surrounding swarm of mortals1 we retreat1 taking refuge in the inmost privacy which we share with one other only4 ,yet this very inmost intimacy1 so far as it is pure1 is the emblem of that pure intercourse of essential being with essential being in which we are related to all4#di ,following up the subject of bereavement1 we find the following consolations employed3 ,the first to be mentioned is1 8,bow to the inevitable40 ,i include this because frustration is inevitable1 on account of the discrepancy between the finite and the infinite order1 and because we are to use inevitable frustration for the purpose of experiencing the reality of the ideal4 ,but without this use in mind1 the inevitable presents itself as a mere blind necessity1 in which we can see neither right nor reason1 a hostile doom that simply crushes us4 ,the psychological effect of the thought of an event as inevitable1 it is true1 is in any case calming1 but the tranquillity thus induced is a heavy and hopeless one4 ,and those who accept the inevitable in this stupefying manner often become meaner in their way of living4 ,the light of life is for them extinguished4 ,they put up perhaps with creature comforts1 or with work that merely keeps the mind occupied1 and prevents it from fretting the wound1 thus allowing slow time to cicatrize it4 ,there is1 however1 a larger way in which a materialist may regard the inevitable4 ,the world in his view being a vast machine1 he may1 as it were1 identify himself with the machine1 and thereby rise in thought superior to the injury it inflicts on him4 ,but though we can imagine someone thus deadening his feelings when he himself is the victim1 we cannot well conceive of the same remedy applying when a beloved person1 say an only child1 is being crushed under the ,juggernaut car of the world-machine4 ,the great test of one's philosophy of life is whether it helps us in the case of those whom we love1 rather than in the case of the sufferings we experience in our own person4 ,a second consolation is3 ,remember the universality of sorrow4 ,look around you1 behold the vast multitude who are suffering like you2 remember the countless generations who have suffered in the past1 think of the generations to come that will suffer in like manner4 ,such are some of the consolations of the choruses in the ,greek tragedies4 ,latent perhaps in this mournful view of the facts of existence is another aspect of the matter1 namely1 the uprising from frustration toward ideal realization4 ,and in so far as this other uplifting view is indeed latent or suggested1 the thought of the universality of sorrow has an ennobling effect4 ,on the other hand1 without the explication of what may be regarded as implicit in them the consolations of the ,greek choruses are inexpressibly saddening4 ,a third and active variant of the former consolation is3 ,seek to mitigate the sorrow and trouble of thy fellow-sufferers4 ,appease the passion of thine own grief by compassion and the works to which it leads4 ,and by as much as activity of any kind is better than passivity1 or mere feeling1 by so much is this third kind of consolation better than the ones above mentioned4 ,but at bottom the same criticism applies to it4 ,it leaves still unanswered the question1 ,to what end this suffering both of others and of oneself8 ,not ,why8 is the question1 but ,to what end8 ,how bereavement may be used so as to bring it into relation with the final end of life8 ,a fourth consolation is the popular belief in immortality4 ,this is a resort to supernaturalism1 and the supernatural should ever be distinguished from the supersensible4 ,immortality as popularly held involves the continued existence in some empirical form of the essential1 central entity in man4 ,for the suggestion that new organs may replace the wornout terrestrial body does not alter the empirical character of the conception4 ,the new organs are still conceived in some vague fashion as similar to those with which we are acquainted4 ,finally1 my own interpretation of consolation may be set forth in contrast to all these4 ,again ,i say that for the bereaved1 as for the sick1 there is business in hand1 there is a task to be performed1 a work to be done4 ,what is it8 ,let me endeavor to explain4 ,the spiritual nature of man is incognizable1 only the plan of the relations between spirit and spirit being given4 ,yet to think of a relation at all we must think of entities or objects between which it subsists4 ,of the spiritual part of our fellow-beings1 therefore1 we are bound to fashion mentally a symbolic image1 one that shall stand for the real object1 the spiritual nature1 though we are well aware that it does not adequately express it4 ,when the beloved person is no longer visibly present1 the work we do upon the symbolic image of him is not to cease4 ,we are to review1 to summarize the whole existence of a departed friend1 as we have probably never done while he was with us4 ,we are to get the total perspective of his life1 to see the fine qualities standing out more distinctly2 to seize the net result of his existence so far as those character traits are concerned which in him were most analogous to spiritual traits4 ,this image we can now ideally contemplate with the advantage that none of the actual infirmities of his nature can mar it1 and that no future events can henceforth alter our impression4 ,the work of clarifying the image of our friend goes on unimpeded4 ,and our own activity in the process of purifying his image of all that was merely fallible in him benefits us in return4 ,the effect of this activity of ours on the datum of his life is our permanent gain4 ,thus both what he was and what he was not is stimulative4 ,while he lived we performed the function of elimination and concentration with a view of producing progress in him and in ourselves jointly4 ,progress1 induced by us1 so far as he is concerned1 for all we know is at an end4 ,progress so far as we are concerned is assured by the activity we continue to expend as long as we live on his memory4 ,and the memory1 or the image1 stands for the beloved person4 ,there is real mental intercourse wherever there is a movement of one mind towards the outgoings of another1 even though the retroactive relation be suspended4 ,the beloved person benefits me1 though ,i no longer benefit him1 except indirectly so far as in my own life ,i possibly expiate his shortcomings and in so far as ,i bestow on other living persons the advantage ,i receive from my mental intercourse with him4#ej ,what1 then1 is the business in hand8 ,what is the work to be done8 ,plainly to tie anew the threads that were broken1 to bring it about that the loss1 infinitely painful though it be1 shall lead to gain1 to substitute for the mixed relation of touch and sight the purely spiritual relation4 ,one more remark must be made in connection with the above4 ,there is at present a tendency to dishonor the past in comparison with the future4 ,interest seems to lie in what lies ahead4 ,hence a breathless1 forward-urging mood4 ,one consequence of this is that the dead are less honored than of old4 ,within a single generation1 for instance1 ,i have seen not a few eminent persons in the city of ,new ,york pass away who up to the time of their death and in their obituaries were greatly and justly praised4 ,i have hardly ever seen their names publicly mentioned since4 ,already they seem practically forgotten4 ,in our national history likewise only a few of the most eminent are remembered4 ,in like manner in families1 the names even of father and mother are seldom mentioned by their surviving adult children1 and ancestors at second remove are barely remembered4 ,now excessive reverence for the past1 as in ,china1 is a mark of stationariness4 ,a retrospective point of view is inconsistent with progress4 ,our face must necessarily be turned toward the future4 ,and yet forgetfulness of those human beings whom we have known1 and who represented to us while they lived much of the best that life had to give1 seems inhuman and incredible4 ,it is true that ,i have drawn a sharp distinction between the empirical selves and those spiritual selves which the former for a time enshrined4 ,the empirical selves have now disappeared4 ,the gleam of love in the eye1 the luster of beauty1 whether of form or of expression1 that touched for a season the sacred features1 have vanished4 ,on the other hand1 the spiritual self as a member of the spiritual universe is confessedly past knowing and past imagining4 ,on what object then shall memory dwell8 ,it may dwell on the empirical self in so far as it was the sign of the thing signified1 in so far as the being we knew and loved was to us convincing of the reality of that spiritual world which itself is incognizable by sense or mind4 ,the greatest boon any human being can confer on another is to serve him in attaining the end for which he exists2 and the supreme end for us all is the realization of our interrelation with the infinite community of spirits4 ,the woman whom we say we loved1 we loved precisely because she revealed to us that spiritual galaxy--because she was a ,beatrice1 ascending with us1 and opening to our sight the eternal expanses4 ,,footnotes3 #dh ,in the ,new ,testament1 despite the preference expressed for celibacy1 the relation of the bridegroom to the bride is used metaphorically to represent that of ,christ with the church1 and among the mystics the same figure represents the union of ,christ with the believing soul4 #di ,i call attention to the difference between the view here expressed and that of ,emerson in the last paragraphs of his ,essay on ,love1 where he says3 8,our affections are tents of a night4 ,our warm loves are clouds that pass over the firmament of mind with its overarching vault1 its galaxies of immutable lights4 ,in the personal relations we are put in training for impersonal submergence and absorption in ,god40 ,in my own view the infinite community of spiritual beings that takes the place of ,god consists altogether of personalities4 ,godhead1 if you choose to apply that name to this infinite society1 is not a person but a community of personalities4 ,personality is not drowned in the impersonal4 ,on the contrary1 the individual becomes a personality through his relation to his associates in the eternal life4 #ej ,i have real intercourse with ,aristotle and ,kant1 as the outgoings of their minds are still effectual in me--more vital intercourse than with many of those who surround me4 ,,chapter ,,iv ,,the ,,shadow ,,of ,,sin ,if any term in the moral vocabulary stands in need of strict redefinition1 it is sin4 ,three elements combine to complete the idea of sin3 first1 that the deed was one that ought not to have been done1 not so much because of its painful consequences to others or to self1 or to both1 or1 by repercussion on society as a whole2 but because it was opposed to what is intrinsically right3 in other words1 because it contravened the kind of interrelation which would exist in its purity in the ethical manifold4 ,secondly1 the idea of sin implies that the sinner himself is the doer of the deed1 or that there is to this extent freedom of the will4 ,i do not say that he is the cause of which the deed is the effect4 ,causality appertains to sequent phenomena4 ,as regards freedom of the will1 the distinction between the category of interdependence and that of causality is vital4 ,a long series of causes1 such as bad heredity1 bad environment1 etc41 may have led ,a to determine to murder ,b4#ea ,the notion of the freedom of the will as here viewed signifies that no matter what the causal series may have been which leads up to the act1 when the act itself is about to be performed1 when ,b is about to experience the effect of ,a as cause1 in that moment the relation of interdependence between ,a and ,b ought to arise before the mind of ,a and withhold him from completing his evil purpose4 ,thirdly1 it is characteristic of sin that the fuller knowledge that the harmful deed is sinful comes after the act1--that it is the ,fruit of the ,tree1 the enlightenment of the eyes4 ,as the serpent said3 8,if ye eat of the fruit ye shall be as gods40 ,many a man has done what is called evil1 and done it most deliberately1 knowing evil as evil4 ,remember the career of a ,csar ,borgia1 the extermination of the ,caribbean ,indians by the ,spaniards1 the outrages on women perpetrated during the present war1 the exploitation of human labor practiced on a large scale among the civilized nations4 ,that the blackest crimes may be committed with a full knowledge of the horrible consequences to the victims seems hardly to admit of doubt4 ,evil is known as evil4 ,but evil in its character as sin cannot be fully recognized prior to the act4 ,in this respect the ,greeks had a certain prescience of the truth when they asserted that no one can knowingly commit evil2 only they failed to distinguish between evil and sin4 ,a man can knowingly commit evil1 but cannot with full consciousness commit sin4 ,the knowledge of the sin is the divine elixir which may be distilled from the evil deed 78,ye shall be as gods071 and the object of every kind of punishment should be to extract that pain-giving but ultimately peace-giving elixir4 ,above ,i mentioned the criminal as the extreme type4 ,but evils in less formidable guise1 though not on that account less evil1 refined invasions of the personality of others1 spiritual oppressions1 sometimes deliberate1 often unwitting1 are included in everyone's experience4 ,and the process of expiation1 by which evil is transcended through the recognition of sin 7with its prostrating effect at first1 its strangely elevating effect later on7 is alike applicable to all4 ,the best of men have to go through this ordeal as well as the worst4 ,especially is unwitting transgression inevitable4 ,sophocles makes it the text of his philosophy in the dipus1 though the solution offered is that of ,greek enlightenment and not that of the more profound ethical consciousness4 ,we have next1 in close connection with sin1 to consider the tremendous question of responsibility1 interpreted from the point of view of our ethical principle4 ,responsible means answerable4 ,answerable to whom1 and in what sense8 ,as commonly understood1 it means answerable to ,god the ,law-giver1 to ,god regarded as the ,author of the moral law4 ,god is likened to a sovereign4 ,any infraction of his law is an offense against the sovereign4 ,answerable means subject to the pains and penalties which it suits the sovereign to annex to moral offences4 ,there is no intrinsic connection implied between pain and redemption4 ,the pain is supposed to break the will of the offender1 or to mellow him1 so that he will in future obey the mandates of the sovereign without a murmur4 ,again1 responsibility may mean responsibility to society4 ,crime is infectious4 ,a fissure opening at any one point in the dykes erected against crime may let in a flood4 ,the social order as a whole is threatened in every single violation of law4 ,the offender must answer for his defiance of the public will by being subjected to the pains or penalties which society annexes to his crime4 ,the object is the same as before1 to break him into submission1 to fit or force him into the social mould1 to make him harmless1 or if possible what is called a 8useful citizen40 ,no internal redemptive change in the nature of the evildoer is contemplated1 except as it may be necessary to lead him to a useful or at least a harmless life4 ,the antisocial attitude is to be replaced by the social attitude4 ,appeals to enlightened self-interest1 and to the sympathies are commonly thought sufficient for this purpose4 ,thirdly1 responsibility means responsible to oneself4 ,there is an inner forum1 a tribunal in which the spiritual self sits in judgment on the empirical self4 ,conscience1 the voice of this spiritual self1 pronounces the verdict4 7,cf4 the passages in ,kant in which this figure of speech is used47 ,these are metaphorical expressions4 ,to grasp the meaning of responsibility from the ethical standpoint1 we must lift into view the concept of the task of mankind as a whole1 and of the individual as a factor in the fulfilment of that task4 ,this introduces a momentous turn into the discussion of the subject4 ,the task of mankind is to arrive through its commerce with the finite world1 through its unremitting efforts to incorporate the infinite plan within the sphere of human relations1 at an increasingly explicit conception of the ideal of the infinite universe2 and through partial success and frustration to seize the reality of that universe4 ,responsibility means participation in this task1 sharing its doom1 and attaining in oneself1 in part1 its sublime compensation4 ,the evildoer is to achieve the knowledge that his evil deed is sin1 that is to say1 that it not only carries with it harm to others and indirectly to himself1 but that it is the defeat in him of the task which is set for the human race as a whole on earth4 ,instead of doing his share in fulfilling this task1 in gaining a footing in the finite world for the spiritual relation of living so as to enhance the life of others and thereby his own1 he has miserably sought to enhance his life at the expense of other life4 ,the knowledge that he has so acted sears his awakened soul like fire1 but it is also the beginning of healing4 ,the transgressor1 now sees what he did not see before4 ,he sees by way of contrast the holy pattern of relations which in his act he has travestied1 the holy laws which he has infringed1 and in imputing sin to himself for transgressing them1 he at the same time proclaims himself in his essential being holy1 that is1 capable of executing them1 or at least of striving unceasingly to do so4 ,it is thus that he opens within himself the sources of redemption1 unseals the deeper fountains of spiritual energy4 ,that man is responsible means that he is answerable to do his share in discharging the task of mankind4 ,and when he is inwardly transformed by the consciousness of the holy laws1 and of himself as intrinsically committed to holiness1 he does thereby advance the business of his kind on earth4 ,in him humanity does take a step forward on the spiritual road4 ,in him one other member of our race has been lifted out of evil1 becoming perhaps1 from the spiritual point of view1 a more advanced member of the forward-pressing host than those who have never passed through an experience like his1 who have not been overtly tempted1 who have remained conventionally moral1 who have not realized the evil that remains unexpurgated within them1 and have not passed through the cleansing process of self-condemnation and rebirth4 ,the incongruity between the finite and the infinite order is the basis of this doctrine of responsibility4 ,mankind is responsible for seeking to embody the infinite in the finite4 ,it fails to do so1 but gains its compensation4 ,the individual shares this responsibility1 but both mankind and the individual jointly take a step forward whenever an evil deed is recognized1 branded and expiated as sinful4 ,the object of punishment1 whether inflicted by society or self-inflicted1 is to promote this regeneration which is the expiation4#eb ,,note ,evil in its ethical meaning presupposes worth as attaching to human beings4 ,to do evil is to offend against worth4 ,to assert the worth of man is to view him as one of an infinite number of beings1 united in an infinite universe1 each induplicable in its kind4 ,of this spiritual multitude ideally projected by us as enveloping human society only our fellow human beings are known to us4 ,the moral law is the law which reigns throughout the infinite spiritual universe applied within1 the narrow confines of human society4 ,it is applied within those confines1 it is spiritual1 universal in its jurisdiction4 ,the task of humanity as a whole is to embody more and more the universal spiritual law in human relationships1 and thus to transform and transfigure human society4 ,in the ,new ,testament we read the expression3 8the light of ,god reflected in the face of ,christ40 ,the ideal here indicated may be expressed in the phrase1 ,the spiritual universe with its endless lights reflected on the face of human society6 ,the task of humanity is one which can never be completed1 one from which mankind may never desist4 ,to see evil as sin is to see it as contravening the collective task of mankind1 the task of weaving the human groups more and more into the fabric of the spiritual relations4 ,to see evil as sin is to see any single act or series of acts ideally in their infinite connections4 ,this is what ,i mean when ,i say that the knowledge of sin comes after the act4 ,i do not mean that there may not be before the act a vague consciousness of the ramified consequences of evil1 but that the fuller knowledge of it as sin is the fruit of the act4 ,nor do ,i mean that evil in its deeper significance is revealed to every guilty person4 ,the opposite is obviously true4 ,what ,i mean is that it is possible after having eaten of the ,fruit of the ,tree to gain the enlightenment1 in other words1 to become aware of the intrinsic holiness of our nature in consequence of our offense against the holy laws4 ,if anyone should ask 8,must ,i then do evil in order to gain the enlightenment80 the answer is that this question is an idle one4 ,no one can escape doing evil4 ,if not in its grosser forms1 then in ways subtler and more complex1 but not therefore less evil1 every one is bound to make acquaintance with guilt4 ,he need not go out of his way to seek occasion1 let him see to it that he improves the occasion when it comes1 as inevitably it will1 to his spiritual advantage4 ,,footnotes3 #ea ,the category of interdependence implies that the lines of energy between ,a and ,b cross1 so that ,a is subject to ,b's influence1 ,b subject to ,a's influence1 simultaneously4 ,the simultaneity of the relation distinguishes the category of interdependence from that of causality4 #eb ,this implies that the evil deed shall not be lost sight of1 simply forgotten4 ,compare the inadequate account of repentance as given by ,goethe in ,faust and elsewhere4 ,,chapter ,v ,,the ,,spiritual ,,attitude ,,to ,,be ,,observed ,,towards ,,fellow-,,men ,,in ,,general1 ,,irrespective ,,of ,,the ,,special ,,relations ,,which ,,connect ,,us ,,more ,,closely ,,with ,,some ,,than ,,others ,the ,right to ,life ,the thoughts presented above on the subject of sin naturally lead over to the next topic1 the obligations we are under regarding the life1 the property and the reputation of others4 ,the ancient moral laws unquestionably remain3 8,thou shalt not kill02 8,thou shalt not steal02 8,thou shalt not bear false witness40 ,but their application is extended and their significance intensified by the positive definition which has been given to the term ,spiritual4 ,so long as the mere inviolateness of the human personality is emphasized1 without any defined conception of what it is that is inviolate 7the inviolateness without the infinite preciousness71 there is danger that the physical part of man will be invested with the sacred character that belongs to the spiritual1 that the two1 the spiritual and the physical parts1 will be identified4 ,the result will be mischievous in two ways3 ,first1 while the act of killing will be reprobated1 a kind of tabu being attached to bloodshed1 the taking of the life of fellow-beings in more indirect ways1 or what may be called constructive murder1 will be lightly regarded4 ,the following case is mentioned by a recent writer4 ,the directors of a railroad refused to vote the sum of five thousand dollars to provide a certain safety appliance for their cars4 ,soon after an accident occurred1 in which a number of men were killed4 ,the accident might have been prevented had the five thousand dollars required for the installation of the safety appliance been voted4 ,now the men were undoubtedly killed by the directors of the company4 ,as to the difference in the degree of guilt in the case of direct and indirect murder1 there is room for casuistical debate4 ,the consequences it is true were not present to the directors' minds4 ,but are they not responsible for the very fact that the consequences were excluded from their view8 ,they were intent on their dividends1 and ignored the endangered lives4 ,but is not this the substance of their guilt8 ,does not moral progress lie in the direction of extending the sense of responsibility so as to cover the indirect taking of life8 ,similarly the use of poisonous substances in industry1 bad sanitation1 inadequate fire protection1 must be stigmatized as indirect murder4 ,the ,commandment 8,thou shalt not kill0 must extend over a far wider area than it has covered in the past4#ec ,secondly1 the positive definition of the spiritual nature enables us to perceive more distinctly that the physical part is the means and the spiritual part the end1 and to draw the necessary consequences4 ,that which is means is not to be cherished if to do so would defeat the end itself2 hence the physical life is not to be preserved if by preserving it we deny or defeat the very purpose which the physical part is to serve4 ,so long as men have the tabu feeling about bloodshed1 the fact that life ought of right to be taken in certain instances will seem a hopeless contradiction of the general rule against killing4 ,keeping in mind the spiritual end of existence on the other hand1 we affirm unhesitatingly that it is better that a man should die than commit a heinous crime4 ,it was better for the young girl mentioned in a well-known tale1 threatened with outrage1 and seeing no other possible way of escape1 to strangle herself with her own hair rather than submit4 ,according to the opinion of certain scholastic writers on ethics1 dishonor resides solely in the consent of the soul1 and where this is absent the mere physical infringement cannot leave a moral stain4 ,this is a helpful point of view in regard to the victims of the atrocities of war1 the inmates of certain ,belgian nunneries1 and the hapless objects of unspeakable brutality in certain ,polish villages4 ,the anguish of a pure-minded woman who becomes a mother under such circumstances is hardly conceivable4 ,and to discriminate between the infamy done to her and her own unpolluted soul is a plain duty1 as well as to relieve the innocent offspring of outrage from any participation in the guilt to which it owes its existence4 ,but the case to which ,i refer is different4 ,it is one in which the choice remains between voluntary death and submission to intended violation4 ,submission in such a situation argues a kind of consent1 or at least the absence of a sufficient revulsion4 ,it is right to kill an intending murderer supposing that there is no other way of preventing him from committing his crime1 whether the intended victim be oneself or someone else4 ,it is not only the life thus protected from attack that is saved1 but the murderer in a sense is saved as well1 so far as he can be saved1 by the intervention4 ,also the members of his family are saved1 humanity is saved from moral disgrace in his person4 ,the same reasoning applies to the position of the extreme non-resistants4 ,they will not1 they tell us1 do a wrong to prevent a wrong4 ,in their eyes to take the physical life of another is in every possible instance an absolute wrong4 ,they fail to take account of the instrumental relation between the physical and the spiritual parts4 ,and on the same grounds1 a defensive war1 a war to ward off aggression1 may be theoretically justified4 ,but here the application of the theory is dubious as well as dangerous4 ,exceptional cases of high-handed aggression that ought to be resisted occur1 but aggression is rarely1 if ever1 one-sided4 ,as a rule1 there is more or less wrong on both sides1 and the tangle of accusations and mutual recriminations is almost impossible to unravel4 ,very rarely1 indeed1 if ever1 is right altogether on one side1 and wrong on the other1 though predominant right may be on one side and predominant wrong on the other4 ,and aside from this1 the instruments of destruction in modern warfare have become so monstrous1 the efficiency notion applied to war has led to such ruthlessness1 the attempt to distinguish between the civilian population and the armed forces has so nearly broken down1 that right-thinking persons everywhere are now eagerly intent on how to prevent aggression before it can take effect1 rather than to resist it after it has occurred4 ,,note ,the casuistical question may be raised whether from this point of view we are not all murderers4 ,the amount ,i spend on my house1 food1 recreation1 might if divided prolong the life of many a child in the slums4 ,am ,i not then actually a parasite1 that is1 a murderer8 ,it is this shocking scruple that has led fine people to live among the poor1 and to try to equalize their mode of living with that prevailing in the environment4 ,the motive is noble1 though as a matter of fact they may never succeed in doing what they set out to do because they never actually touch bottom4 ,there are always depths of poverty to which they can not descend4 ,they may spend comparatively little1 yet that little is far in excess of the spending of the most indigent4 ,and had they stripped themselves of everything they would have been face to face with the reductio ad absurdum of their method1 for they would have abandoned civilization and degraded their human life to the level of the wayside tramp4 ,what is inspiring in their example is just the immense compassion1 the willingness to give up so much4 ,but the method itself is not a solution4 ,are we then murderers1 all of us8 ,perhaps a distinction may be drawn between acts which in themselves are hostile to the life of fellowmen1 like overtaxing the worker1 and acts which tend positively to maintain the higher values of life1--such as the providing of decent shelter1 support and education1 for the members of one's family4 ,it is true that1 as ,tolstoy warns us1 we easily slip into indefensible luxury under the pretence of maintaining the higher values4 ,but this does not affect the validity of the distinction itself4 ,and yet the distinction does not relieve us of what may be called our share of the social or collective guilt4 ,the exploiter is chargeable with individual guilt4 ,i who am trying to keep up the standard of civilized living within my little sphere am nevertheless conscious of participating in the social guilt1 the guilt of a society that has permitted and still permits such misery to exist4 ,well1 it does exist1 and ,i can do but a very little to change it4 ,can ,i then endure the contrast between my own lot and that of the greater number4 ,is it not true after all that if ,i give up the comforts1 or let me say the helps to the maintenance of the higher values1 ,i should be saving the lives of many children8 ,those children are dying because ,i am not dividing my possessions among the poor4 ,can ,i stand up and look at that fact1 at those deaths8 ,the only answer which it is possible to give at the point we have thus far reached in our exposition is3 push on1 perfect civilization1 a way will eventually be found to uplift the masses and make them partakers of the future civilization4 ,the other alternative1 that of ,tolstoy1 is stagnation4 ,yet ,i cannot disguise from myself the fact that in the meanwhile1 while we are trying to push on1 millions are perishing4 ,this is the true 8burden of world pain10 not the sentimental world pain due to the fact that one is not having oneself the best kind of a time in the world1 but the pain caused by the fact that while we are reaching forward to help the suffering masses1 those masses1 though composed of individuals morally as worth while as ourselves1 and many of them doubtless better1 if we only knew it1 are perishing before our very eyes1 and that we stand by and cannot save them4 ,i have said that in the meanwhile while we are trying to push on1 millions are perishing4 ,the actual moral problem so often overlooked is underlined in the words 8in the meanwhile40 ,there is one pathetic consolation4 ,envy is not the widespread vice which it is sometimes represented to be4 ,those who are in trouble take the will very largely for the deed4 ,people in the worst conditions are grateful to anyone who shows a real desire to help1 even if his actual performance does not go very far4 ,and there is a still finer trait in ordinary human nature1 namely1 the tendency to find a certain vicarious relief in the joy of the few1 provided that their joy be pure4 ,the ,right to ,property#ed 8,property10 according to ,blackstone1 8is the sole and despotic dominion which one man claims and exercises over the external things of the world in total exclusion of the right of any other individual in the universe40 ,orthodox jurisprudence1 like orthodox religion1 is characterized by the absoluteness of its formula4 ,it ignores the genesis of its concepts in the long line of antecedent historical development1 and it disdains to entertain the demand for modification1 though the circumstances of the time loudly call for it4 8,the sole and despotic dominion which one man claims and exercises10 etc41 may be a fact1 but it is not a right4 ,property can only be regarded as a right if shown to be subservient to the ethical end1--the maintenance and development of personality4 ,orthodox jurisprudence effaces the end1 and treats that which is or has been at one time a means as if it possessed a sanctity of its own4 ,on the other hand1 the empirical treatment of jurisprudence1 in dismissing the supposedly absolute means1 tends to leave out of sight the ethical end1 and to treat the social institutions as subservient to mere convenience4 ,the following propositions will indicate the changes in the conception of the right of property required by our ethical theory4 #a4 ,property is a relation between a person or persons and things4 ,there can be no property right in persons1 but only in things4#ee #b4 ,the right of property faces in two directions3 ,toward outside nature and toward fellow human beings4 ,we have a right over the external things of nature4 ,we have a right to the services1 though not to the personality1 of fellow human beings4 ,these two aspects of the right of property must be kept apart and defined4 ,it is sometimes held that the human race as a whole1 as over against nature1 has the right of dominion4 ,nature1 it is said1 is our quarry1 we can take out of it the stones we need to construct the edifice of civilization4 ,nature is our tool4 ,the laws of nature1 as science discovers them1 become our servants4 ,nature offers the raw material which we consume4 ,nature has no rights as against man4 ,but ,i hold that neither has man rights as against nature1 except in so far as he rightly defines the end in the interest of which he makes use of nature--the maintenance and development of personality4 ,to suppose that the right of property as the extension of personality over things is tenable without regard to its instrumental use1 to suppose that bare appropriation of nature as of 8treasure trove0 is a prerogative of man1 is to lend countenance to the false notion of occupation1 or first appropriation1 which has confused the ethics of the subject in the literature of jurisprudence1 and prevented a right understanding of it4 ,if bare appropriation be the foundation1 then the first comer has a right against his successors1 since the extension of personality over the thing has been actually accomplished by him1 and that is all there is to be said about it4 ,again1 on this view1 a case may be made out for vested interests1 that is to say1 for those who have successfully appropriated the earth1 yes1 and the fullness thereof1 and who having thus effectually extended their personality over things without regard to the uses they make of their possessions1 are then to be entitled to remain indefinitely in secure ownership of them4 ,without an ethical standard1 without the notion of an end to be subserved1 stubborn possession will always be able to resist modification1 and on the other hand attempts at modification will be haphazard4 ,neither the human species collectively nor the individual has a right simply to appropriate the things of the external world4 ,neither the first occupier nor the last is entitled to his goods unless he can make out a greater good in the interest of which he should be allowed to possess them4 ,but the case of primary occupation is academic4 ,it occurs on ,robinson ,crusoe's island and in legal fiction4 ,even when the white race invades ,africa1 it does not commonly take possession of unoccupied land1 but dispossesses the natives4 ,on what ground does it dispossess them8 ,is there an ethical standard by which the dealings of the civilized nations with the populations of ,africa can be measured8 ,is the introduction of the appliances of modern civilization1 the opening up to trade1 a sufficient ground for the subjection or the extermination of the inhabitants8 ,in this connection it becomes clear how urgent a more clarified conception of property rights is4 ,false ideas of this so-called right are to no small extent responsible for the massacre of the inferior races1 and the mutual slaughter of those who covet their lands4 ,a proclamation of the ,queen of ,england or of the ,emperor of ,germany1 or the signature of an irresponsible chief to a treaty the meaning of which he scarcely understands1 transfers millions of subjects and their territory to one or other of the ,european powers4 ,what right of property have these ,european powers in the territory and the peoples acquired by them in this fashion8 ,the last example shows that the right of ownership1 except in very rare instances1 is not in question in respect to the dealings of man with nature1 but comes into play chiefly in the relation of man to his fellows4 ,there are competitors to be outstripped1 thwarted4 ,there are weaker fellow-beings to be subdued4 ,the use of force and cunning in acquiring property is well nigh the general rule4 ,are there any ethical ideals which1 if they could be realized1 might disclose a better way1 might bring order into this frightful chaos1 and abate the conflicts8 ,from the ethical ideal as outlined in previous chapters this follows3 ,the extension of personality over things is a right in so far as things are employed to maintain and develop potential personality4 ,the use of the services of a fellowman is a right in so far as his services are used in such a manner as to preserve and develop his personality as well as that of the user4 ,in speaking of the use of the services of others we touch upon the social aspect of the property relation1 and here is the crux of the whole matter4 ,it is coming to be affirmed more and more that property is a 8social0 concept1 that it cannot be explained either as implying a relation of the individual to outside nature1 save exceptionally1 nor as a relation of the individual considered atomistically to other atomic individuals4 ,the social tie1 it is held1 is intrinsic4 ,the nature of man as such is social1 but the word 8social0 in current discussion is very ill-defined1 and is commonly understood to denote merely the fact of the interdependence of men upon one another1 without conveying the idea of a rule or standard by which the system of interdependence may be regulated4 ,vague notions1 such as that of social happiness1 are believed sufficient to take the place of such a standard4 ,let me then consider first the bare fact of interdependence1 and see what follows from it1 and how far it will take us4 ,every man has manifold wants for the satisfaction of which he depends on others4 ,his wants are legion2 his ability and opportunity to satisfy them exceedingly limited4 ,it is this cross relation that expresses the so-called social nature of man4 ,but the reciprocal dependence of men upon one another for the satisfaction of their wants by no means constitutes an ethical tie4 ,the tie between the ,greek master and the ,greek slave1 as described by ,aristotle1 was social1 but not ethical4 ,the same is true of the tie that united the ,southern planter to his negro slaves4 ,the relation was indeed far more social than that between the modern mill-owner and the operatives in his factory1 but still it was not ethical4 ,the reason is clearly stated by ,aristotle himself4 ,according to him the slave is a living tool3 the purpose of his existence is not realized in himself but in his master4 ,he fulfils the end of his being by setting free the higher functions exercised by his master4 ,but from the ethical point of view no man may be regarded as the tool of another4 ,each human being is an end per se1 and the highest object of his existence is to be fulfilled1 not in others1 but jointly in them and in himself4 ,i have just said that the social and the ethical views are not synonymous or coincident1 as the loose use of language in current literature would imply4 ,i go farther and say that the social and the ethical point of view are even on their face contradictory4 ,it cannot be denied that the natural system of interdependence resembles that of the body and its members4 ,a hierarchy of organs and of functions is apparent in the human body1 and likewise in the social body4 ,some men do the lowest kind of work4 ,their function appears to be to produce food1 clothing and shelter1 to satisfy the mere physical wants4 ,some are the hands1 so to speak1 of society1 while only a very few effectually represent the brain4 ,the simile has been carried out in detail by well-known writers1 in both ancient and modern times4 ,it is quite true that the artist and the scientist are dependent on the manual laborer1 just as he in turn is dependent on them4 ,but then1 consider the difference in the dignity of the services they render one another4 ,was not the ,greek1 who saw things dispassionately as they are1 right in asserting that1 taking society in the large1 the purpose of human life is fulfilled in the few1 and that the greater number exist in order that by their inferior services they may enable these few to express humanity in its highest terms8 ,it seems to me that the kind of social arrangement contemplated by the great ,greek philosophers1 and by some of the medival publicists1 as well as by certain modern thinkers1 is unquestionably social4 ,the fact of interdependence is stressed by them4 ,the ethical note of equality1 or1 as ,i should prefer to put it1 equivalence1 is left out4 ,i have endeavored in a recent book to indicate how the ethical system may be superinduced over the social system4#ef ,here ,i am concerned chiefly to mark as strictly as possible the distinction between the two terms social and ethical4 ,and ,i must1 therefore1 at once amend my previous statement that property is a social concept by saying that it is the concept of a social relation considered as the substratum in which is to be worked out the ethical relation4 ,the general consequences of the property concept as defined are these3 #a4 ,he who will not work1 neither shall he eat2 or better1 he who will not work if able-bodied shall be disciplined and trained in such a manner that he will work4 ,the fruits of nature do not fall into the lap of mankind4 ,we are not living in a state of ,paradise4 ,the human race is engaged in the arduous labor of constantly renewing the capital on which it subsists4 ,as a member of the race1 everyone is bound to do his part4 #b4 ,no one has a property right in harmful or superfluous luxuries1 since property is the control of external things for the maintenance and development of personality2 and luxury1 so far from maintaining1 undermines personality1 and hinders its development4 ,no one has ethically a right of property in great fortunes like those accumulated under the modern system of industry4 ,whatever is in excess of one's needs1 rightly estimated1 is not appropriate to one1 not proper to one1 not his property4 ,since the present system of ownership cannot be changed abruptly1 the idea of the stewardship of wealth has been suggested to quiet the consciences of those who have come to realize that they have no moral right to excessive wealth4 ,but the idea of stewardship should be held with fear and trembling4 ,it is at best a makeshift1 a bridge leading over to something more sound4 ,it may be so taught and received as to seem to justify by philanthropic use the possession of great fortunes4 ,but the power to dispose of vast funds for philanthropic uses may come to be itself a badge of superiority4 ,and even if this be not so1 if surplus wealth be used modestly1 and with a sincere intention to apply it in the best possible way1 there is yet no surety that any individual owner will have the breadth of vision1 the experience1 the insight1 to discharge adequately the function of distributor4 ,the defects of his early education1 habits ingrained in him in the course of his business career1 may lead him to bestow lavishly in one direction while turning a deaf ear to the appeal of other needs even more urgent and fundamental4 ,nothing short of the collective wisdom of the community1 the collaboration of the best1 can safely direct the surplus wealth available for social benefaction4 #c4 ,everyone is ethically entitled to a share of the products furnished by nature and worked up into usable shape by his fellows1 and also to the direct services of fellow human beings1 in so far as that share and those services are necessary in order to enable him to perform in the best possible way the specific service which he in turn is capable of rendering4 ,our ethical theory here supplies us with a principle which takes the place of remuneration4 ,there is no such thing as a just remuneration of labor1 there is no such thing as a fair wage1 if the wage be considered as the equivalent of1 or the reward for the work done4 ,it is not possible by any process of calculation to construct an equation between labor and reward4 ,the laborer is assuredly not entitled to the product of his labor1 as the current formula awkwardly puts it1 for it is an entirely hopeless undertaking to try to ascertain what the product of any man's labor is4 ,in the modern forms of industry1 the contributions of the different factors engaged in production are intimately intermingled1 play into one another1 and are inseparable4 ,neither the so-called workers alone are the producers of wealth1 nor the employers and capitalists1 nor yet both together irrespective of the labors of past generations of which they enjoy the usufruct4 ,the question1 what is a fair wage1 or a fair profit1 is badly posed4 ,there is no such thing as a fair wage or profit in the sense of a fair compensation for the work performed4 ,the proper payment of the human factors engaged in production is unascertainable genetically1 i4e41 if one goes back to the origin of the product4 ,it can only be approximately determined by fixing attention on the end to be served4 ,and the end in each case is the maintenance and development of personality4 ,in other words1 that is a fair wage which suffices to enable the different functionaries coperating in production each to perform his function1 or render his service1 in the most efficient possible manner4 ,the solution of the labor question must be along teleological not genetic lines4 ,adequate nourishment as to quantity and quality1 suitable dwellings1 educational opportunities1 etc41 are all indispensable to the rendering of service1 even by 8common laborers40 ,specific requirements come up for consideration with respect to the different special functions1 and those who perform them4 ,my intention in this chapter is to indicate the bearings of the ethical theory on living questions of the day4 ,nothing is more emphatic in the programmes of the working-class than this demand for social justice4 ,nothing is more discouraging than to see the futile efforts made to define social justice by extemporizing a notion of fair adjustment which goes to pieces in every serious labor controversy4 ,one more remark should be made in regard to what is meant by property as a relation between persons and things considered as a means of developing personality4 ,a convenient illustration is the use of a block of stone by a sculptor4 ,the sculptor's attempt at self-expression is an effort to combine two things in themselves uncongenial1 an ideal image1 and an external tangible thing1 the block of stone4 ,the mental image does not leap from the mind upon the stone and transform it magically into its own likeness4 ,the external thing1 the stone1 offers resistance1 and the resistance limits the artist's effort4 ,but the limitation itself becomes in time an indispensable aid4 ,for the ideal image as at first it started up in the artist's mind was vague1 and the limitations imposed by the intractable nature of the material compel him to articulate the image1 to grasp more firmly its complex details1 and thus to become more surely possessed of it4 ,the same is true of the mental thing which we call the relation of cause and effect in the mind of the scientist1 and of his endeavor to impose this mental relation on the sequence of phenomena observed by him4 ,and the same is again true of that supreme thing which we call the ethical ideal1 and of the effort to embody it in the social relations4 ,the attempt to express the ethical ideal in human society inevitably hits on limitations1 and leads to frustrations4 ,we have in our heads fine schemes of universal regeneration4 ,we find elements in human nature that resent and resist our ,socialisms1 our communisms4 ,we desire to enlarge men's moral horizon1 the field of their moral interest1 to lead out from the family to the nation1 to fraternity in general4 ,we presently discover that we are losing the benefit of the closer ties4 ,in the very process of building we seem to be in danger of destroying the foundations1 and to be building in the air4 ,in this way our formulations of the ethical ideal are tested4 ,we are compelled to recast them1 and the frustrations which we meet with become the means of clarifying and articulating the ideal itself1 and of enabling us to experience more vividly the coercive impulses that go out from it4 ,the ,right to ,reputation ,the ethical rule is to show a sacred respect for the reputation of others4 ,in the present discussion intellectual and moral reputation may be considered separately4 ,under the first head of intellectual reputation1 certain points suggest themselves1 one of them in regard to controversies concerning priority of scientific discovery4 ,what is the sense of such controversies8 ,what difference does it make whether the law of the conservation of energy was first enunciated by ,helmholtz or by ,robert ,mayer1 or whether the method of fluxions was invented by ,newton or ,leibnitz1--not to mention lesser contrarieties of claims8 ,would it not argue1 on the part of the scientists and their friends1 a more entire devotion to objective truth if they showed themselves indifferent to personal credit8 ,the discovery1 the invention1 it may be said1 is important1 not the reputation of the discoverer or the inventor4 ,nevertheless1 such controversies are carried on in a lively spirit4 ,and it is usually felt that something more than vanity is at stake1 that a man is entitled to be named in connection with the productions of his mind4 ,such controversies resemble a suit at law undertaken to determine a disputed title to some valuable property4 ,plagiarism is different4 ,it is barefaced intellectual theft4 ,the title to the property in this case is not disputed4 ,the plagiarist just steals an idea or a form of words in which an idea has been happily expressed1 and palms it off as his own1 hoping to escape with his stolen goods undetected4 ,in this case too1 it seems1 one might say the idea is important1 not the authorship4 ,nevertheless1 a profound resentment is felt1 not only by the author1 but by the general public1 against a plagiarist4 ,a rule is ethical when the conduct prescribed is instrumental to the development of personality4 ,respect for reputation is ethical because reputation is a help to the development of personality4 ,a man projects his mind outward1 so to speak1 into the productions of his mind4 ,as a thinking being he anchors himself in outside reality4 ,he transfers himself1 as it were1 into an external thing1--a discovery1 an invention1 the expression of an idea in apt language1--each a thing that goes on existing independently of himself4 ,to deny his connection with it is to infringe upon his personality1 to efface his personality in so far as his personality is enshrined in his mental product4 ,again1 a man's reputation as a scientist or scholar is a prop to his personality as a thinker4 ,a man can never be quite certain of the validity of his thinking until it is approved by the consensus of the competent4 ,to win that approbation is to know that as far as he has gone he is on sure ground4 ,he can thence proceed1 can turn toward new problems with a sense of power and a measure of self-confidence not previously attained4 ,to rob him of his reputation is to deprive him of this invaluable aid to further mental development4#eg ,coming next to moral reputation1 we find that the ethical rule requiring respect for the moral character of others is even more exacting1 and that any contravention of it deserves an even more strenuous reprobation4 ,the ,decalogue prohibits the bearing of false witness and this rule is extensible from courts of law to ordinary conversation1 since the principle involved is the same4 ,the ,sermon on the ,mount menacingly warns against judging others3 8,judge not that ye be not judged40 ,buddha enjoins his followers to refrain from malicious gossip1 and includes a prohibition to this effect among the principal pronouncements of his religion4 ,all the great teachers of ethics and religion insist on this point1 perhaps because the natural propensities of men constantly tend in the opposite direction1 and are so hard to restrain4 ,to stab one's neighbor in the back1 morally speaking1 to insinuate base motives1 to spread damaging reports about him1 to suggest as possibly and then as probably true rumors which one does not positively know to be untrue1 to allow private repugnance to take the place of evidence1--are infringements of the moral reputation of others with some of which notoriously many even of the so-called best people are chargeable4 ,i do not here speak of the grosser attacks1 attacks on character inspired by envy1 rivalry1 and greed4 ,the soundness of the rule is generally admitted1 though its violations are past belief and without number4 ,but is the rule itself as to moral reputation tenable8 ,there is a difference between intellectual and moral reputation at which we must at least cast a glance4 ,intellectual reputation is a fairly safe index of merit2 moral reputation is not4 ,a man's mind is reflected in his intellectual performances4 ,is the same true of his moral character8 ,is not the moral character an interior1 elusive thing8 ,the real character escapes the eye of the outside spectator and judge2 and if this be so1 why should it be so important a matter to safeguard a man's moral reputation1 seeing that the reputation he deserves is past finding out8 ,a public official1 for instance1 is accused of corrupt practices4 ,he is innocent1 and his friends and he are indignant at the damaging accusations brought against him4 ,but if not guilty of the palpable derelictions with which he is charged1 yet1 in view of his opportunities and education1 he may not be less blameworthy for other acts with which he has not been charged1 and in his heart of hearts he knows that this is so4 ,why then1 this outcry8 ,other examples might be adduced4 ,the honor of a young woman is attacked by the circulation of atrocious rumors1 and the reaction at this most sensitive point is certain to be extreme when the falseness of the accusation is exposed4 ,but is outward decorum1 correct behavior1 always a sure sign of inward purity8 ,there is this difference then between the intellectual and the moral character4 ,the one can be measured1 the other cannot4 ,but the reply to these sophistical objections is still the same as before4 ,the purpose of the ethical rule is to furnish aids in the development of personality4 ,the aim in view is not genetic1 but teleological1 not to determine how far in analyzing a man's character down to the bottom he may be found to be already admirable1 but to help him in attaining excellence1 by progressively advancing toward strength and virtue4 ,and moral reputation is a great help to this end4 ,it is a prop on which he can lean4 ,he who does right acts and has the credit for them1 is thereby encouraged to do other right acts4 ,and if the inner voice whispers1 as it is sure to do in the finer natures1 that the good opinion of his fellows1 founded on his correct deportment1 is undeserved1 the shame of it may lead him to more determined efforts to merit the character which1 on however insufficient evidence1 is attributed to him4 ,reputation is sacred because it is an almost indispensable means to further mental and moral progress4 ,,footnotes3 #ec ,vide note at the end of the ,chapter4 #ed ,a right is a claim of one person upon another or others1 and the justification consists in its relation to personality4 ,rights exist between persons for the sake of the maintenance and development of personality4 #ee ,animals1 for the purpose now in hand1 may be regarded as things1 being devoid of personality1 though certain modifications in the treatment of animals are prescribed by the fact that they are sentient creatures4 ,but there is no moral interdiction of the involuntary servitude of animals4 #ef ,see ,chapter ,,vii on 8,an ,ethical ,programme of ,social ,reform0 in ,the ,world ,crisis1 published by ,d4 ,appleton and ,company1 #aiae4 #eg ,a remark may here be in place regarding the erudition expended in determining which of the writings attributed to some great philosopher like ,plato are spurious1 and which genuine4 ,is the time and labor spent on such researches worth while8 ,the object in this case is not so much to clear or vindicate the reputation of the philosopher1 or to give him his due1 as to rescue for posterity1 free from corruptions1 a living and quickening thing to which he has given birth1 and which the world cannot afford to lose4 ,for the work of a great philosopher like ,plato is alive1 and is valuable because it is still quickening4 ,and it is quickening1 not because of any positive formulation of truth 7like a scientific law71 but because of the lan of the human spirit with which it is vibrant in attacking the eternal problems of life and destiny4 ,the same applies to the industry of modern critics in collecting material wherewith to facilitate the deeper understanding of some great poet like ,dante or ,goethe4 ,,chapter ,,vi ,,the ,,meaning ,,of ,,forgiveness ,in the last chapter we treated the imputation of evil to the innocent4 ,we must now consider the right attitude toward actual evildoers4 ,in discussing sin1 one of the points emphasized was that of the moral solidarity between the individual and society4 ,the moral interest of the individual is always identical with the moral interest of society2 and1 on the other hand1 the failure of the individual is a social failure4 ,the human race sags morally at the point of some particular member of it4 ,again1 we defined the task of humanity as the incessant endeavor to embody the ideal spiritual order in the finite sphere of human relations4 ,this effort meets both with partial success and with failure4 ,the gain derived by the human race from its experiences1 its labors1 its sufferings1 is that the spiritual universe in its unattainable elevation and sublimity is more and more revealed to the inner eye2 in other words1 that by way of effort and recoil1 and renewed effort and renewed recoil from the finite1 the infiniteness of the infinite world is realized4 ,the essential point is that the boon of realization must be gained both through partial success and failure4 ,now sin is failure2 everyone fails1 everyone is convicted of sin4 ,there is no exception4 ,in insisting on this point the ,christian account is exact4 ,only it should be remembered that sin or failure itself is one of the instrumentalities by which the end of human existence is achieved4 ,these preliminaries being understood1 certain propositions may be brought forward as to the treatment of sin1 and in particular as to repentance1 punishment and forgiveness4 ,repentance is recoil1 recoil not from the bad act and its painful consequences1 but from the principle underlying the act4 ,every kind of sin is an attempt in some fashion to live at the expense of other life4 ,the spiritual principle is3 live in the life of others1 in the energy expended to promote the essential life in others4 ,moral badness is self-isolation1 detachment4 ,spirituality is consciousness of infinite interrelatedness4 ,punishment1 rightly regarded1 is a name for the steps taken to lead the unrepentant up to the point of repentance1 i4e41 up to the recoil4 ,punishment is itself criminal when undertaken for any other object4 ,punishment on the vindictive lex talionis theory1 or on the bare deterrent theory1 is excluded4 ,reformatory punishment as commonly understood is no less inadequate1 because it restricts the idea of reformation as a rule to the externals of conduct4#eh ,the steps taken to lead the evildoer up to the point of repentance are to be criticised from this point of view4 ,transient or prolonged separation from ordinary society may be necessary4 ,severe discipline may be indispensable4 ,capital punishment1 however1 is wholly out of the question1 since the prevention of the crime now being impossible1 the achievement of the spiritual gain is the point to be aimed at4 ,but the most effectual aid in promoting repentance is faith in the better nature of the wrongdoer1 in that spiritual principle resident within him which no crime committed by him can wholly crush1 and which in the most apparently hopeless cases is still to be presumed4 ,but faith in the good that persists in those whom we call bad must go hand in hand with the acknowledgment of the bad that remains unexpurgated in those whom we call good4 ,the prison reformer who poses as impeccable and righteous himself can never win the confidence of the poor human derelicts with whom he has to deal nor effect in them the desired change4 ,he must share with them the conviction of sin if he would impart to them the power of the resilience which he experiences within himself4 ,faith in the potential power of goodness resident in the evildoer is often confounded with forgiveness4 ,the distinction between the two1 however1 should not be obliterated4 ,faith is help proffered from the outside to effectuate the inner change4 ,forgiveness is a record of the fact that the change has actually taken place1 and belief that it is likely to be permanent4 ,forgiveness1 in the mind of spiritually-minded persons1 takes place almost automatically when the conditions on which it depends are fulfilled4 ,so long as he remains unrepentant a man cannot be forgiven1 although we may have the conviction that it is in his power to repent and the earnest desire to bring about the change in him4 ,jesus on the ,cross says3 8,forgive them1 for they know not what they do40 ,perhaps 8open their eyes so that they may see the ,light0 may be the more just interpretation of the meaning--not 8forgive0 in the strict sense1 for forgiveness is not feasible while the heart of the offender remains closed4#ei ,both faith and forgiveness are factors in regeneration3 the one to assist in accomplishing the change1 the other to assist in making it permanent4 ,but both the faith and the forgiveness are exceptionally difficult in the case of our personal enemies4 ,enemies in the spiritual sense there are and can be none4 ,every human being1 even one who has done me the most cruel harm1 is yet1 from another point of view1 a fellow member of the spiritual society4 ,but to discriminate between the two relations in which the man stands to me--that in which he is my foe1 and the other in which he is my fellow--to be able to put aside as less important the harm he has done1 the suffering he has forced me to endure1 and to desire with perfect sincerity that the recoil1 the transformation1 may take place in him1 that is the most searching test of one's own ethical character4#fj ,the forgiveness of personal foes1 when complete1 establishes a strangely tender spiritual fellowship between the pardoner and the pardoned4 ,both have transcended their normal empirical selves1 both have become partners in a sublime transaction3 the one delivered from the clinging of his baser desires1 the other released from his first crude reaction against evil4 ,they will never forget what they thus owe to one another4 ,they will continue to walk hand in hand1 the one still leaning1 the other supporting and himself unspeakably strengthened by the support he gives4 ,finally1 to forgive is not to forget--quite the contrary4 ,to forgive is to remember the past action1 but to remember it as belonging to the past1 as the act of one who has since undergone the great change4 ,the miracle of the change of water into wine at the feast of ,cana would not have seemed so wonderful to the guests had they not remembered that what was turned into wine had before been water4 ,to forgive is to remember that what was water has become wine4 ,and he1 too1 who has been forgiven may not forget4 ,the remembrance of the past he will need as a warning and a safeguard4#fa ,not to see the essentially divine nature in others1 and thus also in one's self is the essence of the wrong4 ,to teach the guilty to see it is the object of punishment4 ,to forgive is to declare that what before was ignored is now seen and known4 ,,footnotes3 #eh ,i mean that it is usually considered sufficient1 for purposes of reformation1 to bring the wrongdoer up to the average standard of law-abiding citizenship1 to restore him to the bosom of society as a safe and industrious member4 ,whereas a person who has had the searching experience of deep guilt is a candidate for a higher station in the moral scale4 ,humanity having fallen in him1 he should be helped to rise to a higher than the average altitude4 ,this at least should be the aim4 ,consider the fact that ,jesus selected some of his most spiritual companions from among publicans and harlots4 #ei ,compare the words addressed by ,sir ,thomas ,more to his judges when sentence of death had been pronounced upon him--8,for though you have been my judges to condemnation1 may we meet merrily hereafter in everlasting salvation40 #fj ,everyone admires a disinterested prison reformer1 one who is able to see and to call out the good in a so-called bad man2 but it is one thing to be disinterested and generous towards men who have acted badly towards others1 and quite another thing to take the ethical attitude towards those who have acted wickedly towards oneself4 ,hence the touchstone of the character of the prison-reformer is to be found in the way in which he behaves and feels towards his personal enemies1 for instance1 towards those who malignantly attack him and interfere with the business of prison reform on which he has set his heart4 #fa ,perhaps ,i may add a word as to the forgiveness of those who1 by an extension of meaning1 may be called our intellectual enemies4 ,by intellectual enemies ,i understand those whose point of view is radically opposed to our own1 whose principles and premises1 if accepted1 would render the entire theory of life on which we act1 and on which we found our convictions1 untenable4 ,we are apt to be exasperated in listening to them1 or in reading the works in which they express their opinions4 ,we are apt to feel that there is no room in the world in which we live for such ideas as theirs1 that we and they cannot exist side by side4 ,the bitter feuds of rival religious factions1 the notorious odium theologicum1 and in more recent times the thinly veiled animus shown in the controversies of philosophical schools are all alike traceable to this source4 ,racial antagonisms1 too1 are partly to be accounted for on the same ground4 ,there are certain primary attitudes of mind1 modes of feeling and directions of impulse1 the correctness of which we cannot demonstrate just because they are primary1 and which we all the more vehemently assert when we find them disputed4 ,love your intellectual enemies1 may usefully be added to the stock of moral commandments2 keep an open and hospitable mind to opinions and ways of acting1 thinking and feeling which naturally repel you4 ,and it will help us to discipline ourselves in this difficult behavior if we reflect that the views most contrary to our own are nevertheless sure to contain some element of truth which we cannot afford to disregard1 and which will serve the purpose of correcting and supplementing such truth as we may ourselves possess4 ,,chapter ,,vii ,,the ,,supreme ,,ethical ,,rule3 ,,act ,,so ,,as ,,to ,,elicit ,,the ,,best ,,in ,,others ,,and ,,thereby ,,in ,,thyself#fb ,it is difficult to see the potentially divine nature in men when masked by the forbidding traits which human beings so often exhibit4 ,a number of vital considerations will now have to be emphasized as pertinent to the subject we are dealing with4 ,the first point is that the character of every person contains contrary elements4#fc ,let the two kinds of qualities be called the fair and foul1 or more simply still the plus and minus traits4 ,the bright qualities1 the plus traits1 are undoubtedly more predominant in some1 the dark or minus traits in others4 ,but potential plus qualities exist in the worst characters1 and potential minus traits may be surmised1 and on scrutiny will be found1 in those whom the world most admires4 ,a second point is mentioned as an hypothesis not indeed as yet verified1 but ,i believe verifiable1 namely1 that certain defined minus traits will be found to go with certain plus traits4 ,wherever bright qualities stand out we are likely to meet with corresponding dark qualities or dispositions1 and conversely4 ,there are1 ,i am persuaded1 uniformities of correspondence between the plus and minus traits1 and it would be of greatest practical help in judging others and ourselves if these uniformities could be worked out4 ,a kind of chart might then be made1 a description of the principal types of human character1 with the salient defects and qualities that belong to each4 ,extensive statistical treatment of a multitude of biographies would lay the foundation for such an undertaking2 also sketches of the prominent characteristics of nations1 like those furnished by ,fouille1 would be utilized4 ,also the study of the character traits of primitive races as partially carried out by ,waitz in his ,anthropology and the character types of animals1 so far as accessible to observation1 might be used for comparison4 ,instructed in this manner1 we should1 on coming into contact with others1 either on their attractive or repellent side1 be prepared to expect and to allow for the opposite traits4 ,and we should learn to see ourselves in the same manner2 we should see our empirical character as it really is1 the dark traits side by side with the bright4 ,the courage to wish to know the truth about one's self is rare1 and when the revelation comes or is forced upon us1 it often breeds a kind of sick self-disgust and despair4 ,the saint at such times in moral agony declares himself to be the worst of sinners4 ,he has striven to attain a higher than the average moral level1 and behold he has slipped into only deeper depths4 ,the minister of religion1 the revered teacher1 the political and social leader1 when abruptly shocked into self-examination by some evidence of grossness or deviousness in themselves1 no longer to be glossed over or explained away1 are fated to go through the same ordeal4 ,a profound despondency is the consequence4 ,it is not only the badness now exposed1 but the previous state of hypocrisy that seems in the retrospect intolerable4 ,some persons live what is called a double life in the face of the world4 ,but who is quite free from living a double life in his own estimate8 ,achilles said of himself 78cumberer of the ground074 ,many a man has echoed that cry with a bitterness of soul more poignant than that which ,achilles felt when he uttered the words4 ,now the principle of the duality#fd of character traits1 or as we may also designate it1 the principle of the polarity of character1 applies to our natural or empirical character1 and our empirical character is not our moral character4 ,the distinction between the two will serve1 as we shall presently see1 to rescue us from the state of moral dejection just described4 ,but first it is indispensable to fix attention on the natural character1 to recognize that we are composite1 each and every one of us1 and that the all-important thing to know is which of our plus qualities go with which of the minus4 ,here the psychologist can help us4 ,here a great field is open for a practical science of ethology4 ,this would give us a more adequate knowledge of the empirical character1 the substratum in which ethical character is to be worked out4 ,point three opens up a great enlightenment in regard to the whole subject4 ,it is that the distinction must be drawn1 and ever be kept in mind1 between the bright and dark qualities and the virtues and vices4 ,the bright qualities are not of themselves virtues4 ,the dark qualities are not of themselves vices4 ,to suppose that they are1 to confuse the bright with virtue and the dark with viciousness1 is the most prevalent of moral fallacies4#fe ,a person is found to be kind1 sympathetic1 gentle1 and on this score is said to be virtuous or good4 ,but gentleness1 kindness1 a sympathetic disposition1 while they lend themselves to the process of being transformed into virtues1 are not of themselves moral qualities at all1 but gifts of nature1 happy endowments for which the possessor can claim no merit4 ,and sullenness1 irascibility1 the hot1 fierce cravings and passions with which some men are cursed1 are not vices1 though it is obvious how readily they turn into vices as soon as the will consents to them4 ,the question becomes urgent3 ,what then is a virtue8 ,the fair qualities are the basis1 the natural substratum of the virtues1 the material susceptible of transformation into virtues4 ,in what does the transformation consist8 ,when does it take place8 ,the answer is1 when the plus quality has been raised to the ,nth degree1 and in consequence the minus qualities are expelled4 ,this result1 of course1 is never actually achieved4 ,the concept here presented is a concept of limits4 ,but in the direction defined lies growth and continuous development not of but toward ethical personality4 ,in public addresses ,i have often said3 ,look to your virtues1 and your vices will take care of themselves4 ,i can put this thought more exactly by saying3 ,change your so-called virtues into real virtues3 raise your plus qualities to the ,nth degree4 ,and the degree to which you succeed in so doing you can judge of by the extent to which the minus qualities are in process of disappearing4 ,one or two examples will illustrate the pivotal thought thus reached in the exposition of our ethical system with respect to its practical consequences4 ,to raise to the ,nth degree is to infinitize a finite quality1 or to enhance it in the direction of infinity4 ,i shall take two examples1 one self-sacrifice1 the other justice1 both viewed in their finite aspect as plus traits requiring to be subjected to the process of transformation4 ,the empirical motive of self-sacrifice may be egocentric or altruistic4 ,in egocentric self-sacrifice1 doing for others is a means of exalting the idea of self to the mind of the doer4 ,he uses others1 not as sacred personalities1 worth while on their own account1 but subtly exploits them by benefiting them4 ,he uses them as objects by means of which to achieve a finer self-aggrandizement4 ,he may indeed go to the utmost lengths of devotion for his friends4 ,he may perform for them the most repulsive offices4 ,he may give freely of his means1 denying himself meanwhile comforts and even necessaries in order perhaps to extricate them from pecuniary difficulties4 ,he may contribute in refined ways to their pleasure4 ,as a physician he may watch night after night at the bedside of the sick1 foregoing sleep though fatigued to the point of exhaustion in order to be at hand to mitigate the pains of the sufferer1 jeopardizing his own health in order to assist others in recovering theirs4 ,yes1 he may even give of his own blood to renew their ebbing life4 ,in all this he will look for no material compensation4 ,gratitude1 especially gratitude expressed in words1 is repugnant to him4 ,the lofty image of self which he strives to create would be marred if any such coarsely selfish motive were allowed to intrude4 ,all that he requires1 but this he does inexorably require1 is that his beneficiaries shall silently confess their dependence on him1 that he shall see the exalted image of himself mirrored in their attitude1 and that they shall move in their orbits as satellites around his sun4 ,the egocentrism is veiled and easily confounded with the purest moral disposition4 ,but it is there all the same1 and the proof of it is that the very same person who is thus friendly to his friends1 and an unstinting benefactor to those who pay him the kind of homage he exacts1 is capable of behaving with almost inconceivable hardness and even cruelty toward others who will not stand in this subordinate relation to him1 or who in any way wound his self-esteem4 ,sister ,dora1 serving enthusiastically in a small-pox hospital1 while neglecting the nearer duties at home1 intent on dramatic1 histrionic self-representation1 is likewise a palpable instance of egocentric self-sacrifice4 ,the self is precious on its own account4 ,the non-self1 the other1 equally so4 ,a virtuous act is one in which the ends of self and of the other are respected and promoted jointly4 ,it is an act which has for its result the more vivid consciousness of this very jointness4 ,egocentric self-sacrifice errs on the one side1 the personality of another being made tributary to the empirical self1 despite the actual benefits conferred4 ,altruistic self-sacrifice errs in the opposite way4 ,in it the personality of the self is effaced or made servile to the interests or supposed interests of another4 ,not1 let me add1 to the real interests1 for the spiritual interests are never achievable at the expense of other spiritual natures4 ,the wife or mother is an instance1 who slaves for husband or children1 obliterating herself1 never requiring the services due to her in return and the respect for her which such services imply1 degrading herself and thereby injuring the moral character of those whom she pampers4 ,an historic instance of the altruistic error on a larger scale is afforded by the ,platonic scheme of scientific breeding under state supervision1 a suggestion revived in modern times1 in which freedom of choice between the sexes1 and the integrity of the personality of those concerned1 is sacrificed to the supposed interests of the community4 ,nietzsche's doctrine may possibly be regarded as a compound of the two errors described1 the ,superman representing the egocentrism1 while altruistic self-sacrifice1 entire annulment of their personalities is expected of the multitude4 ,it is easy to distinguish the plus and minus qualities in the characters of the egocentrist and the altruist3 in the one case1 beneficence combined with hardness2 in the other1 service of others combined with absence of self-respect4 ,the second example to be briefly considered is the finite trait commonly mistaken for justice4 ,a typical illustration of this is presented by the merchant who ascribes to himself a just character on the ground that he is punctual in the payment of his debts1 that his word is as good as his bond2 or by the manufacturer who entertains the same opinion of himself because he pays scrupulously the wages on which he has agreed with his employees4#ff ,one wonders that so great and profound a notion as that of justice should be understood so superficially1 restricted to such narrow limits1 and that rational human beings should claim to possess so lofty a virtue on the score of credentials so inadequate4 ,the reason is that the empirical substratum of justice is mistaken for the ethical virtue itself4 ,this substratum may be described as an inborn propensity toward order in things and in relations1 a natural impatience of loose fringes1 a certain mental neatness4 ,hence insistence on explicitly defined arrangements and on simple1 over-simple formulas4 ,these are favored because they keep out of sight the complex elements which if considered might introduce uncertainty and possibly disorder into the situation4 ,thus a manufacturer1 impatient of looseness1 over-rating explicitness1 will be led to grasp at a formula of justice which reduces it to the bare literal performance of a fixed agreement1 no matter with what unfreedom1 owing to the pressure of want1 it was entered into by the wage-earners1 and no matter how deteriorating the effect of the insufficient wage may prove to be on their standard of living4 ,but it is a far cry from this empirical predisposition to the sublime ethical idea itself4 ,the idea of 8the just0 as exemplified in any act performed by me includes the totality of all those conditions which make for the development of the ethical personality of others in so far as it can be affected by my action4 ,to do a just act is to act with the totality of these conditions in view1 in order to promote the end in view1 which is the liberation of personality or at least the idea of personality in others and in myself4 ,it is thus evident that a just act--an ideally1 perfectly just act1--can be performed by no man4 ,first because the right conditions of human development are but very imperfectly known1 and are only brought to light by slow degrees4 ,secondly because even as to the known conditions of justice1 for instance the abolition of the evils of the present industrial wage system1 a single employer1 or even a group of well-intentioned employers can bring about the desired changes only to a very limited extent4 ,raising the finite quality underlying justice to the ,nth degree therefore means opening an illimitable prospect4 ,the ethical effort in this1 as in all other instances1 is destined to be thwarted4 ,it is an effort in the direction of the finitely unattainable2 the effort itself1 with the conviction it fosters as to the reality of that which is finitely unattainable1 being the ethically valuable outcome4 ,the just man1 therefore1 in any proper sense of the word1 is one who is convinced of the fact that he is essentially not a just man1 and a deep humility as to both his actual and possible achievements will distinguish him from the 8just man0 so-called1 who arrogates to himself that sublime attribute on the ground of the scrupulous payment of debts1 or the fulfilment of contracts4 ,humility in fact will be found to be the characteristic mark of those who have attained ethical enlightenment in any direction4 ,it is the outward sign from which we may infer that the finite quality in them is in process of being raised to the ,nth degree4 ,i have given these few specific illustrations of my meaning1 but what has been said applies equally to any of the plus qualities4 ,the plus qualities are the ones which are favorable for transformation into the infinitized ethical quality4 ,the ethical principle itself is one and indivisible4 ,any one of the plus qualities1 when ethicized1 will conduce to the same result4 ,from whatever point of the periphery of the ethical sphere we advance toward the center we shall meet with the same experience4 ,thus self-affirmation or egoism when in idea raised to the ,nth degree will reveal that the highest selfhood can be achieved only when the unique power of a spiritual being is deployed in such a way as to challenge the unique1 distinctive power that is lodged in each of the infinite multitude of spiritual beings that are partners with us in the eternal life4 ,and altruism1 or care for others1 at its spiritual climax1 will conversely involve the recognition that true service to others can only be perfectly performed when the power that is resident in ourselves is exercised in its most vigorous1 most spontaneous1 and most self-affirming mode4 ,and as the diverse empirical qualities which we observe in one another all appear to be modes of or cognate with these two principal tendencies--the self-affirming and the altruistic--the method of transfiguring empirical qualities which has been set forth may be found to apply in every instance4 ,,footnotes3 #fb ,or more exactly act so as to elicit the sense of unique distinctive selfhood1 as interconnected with all other distinctive spiritual beings in the infinite universe4 #fc ,the conception underlying ,robert ,l4 ,stevenson's sketch of ,jekyl and ,hyde is to be taken seriously1 and applied without exception mutatis mutandis to every human being whatsoever 7but see footnote p4 #gf74 ,it is not original with ,stevenson4 ,the ,french1 who are perhaps the keenest psychologists1 long ago invented the apercu that everyone has the defects of his qualities4 #fd ,the use of the term duality is not intended to exclude the possibility of multiplicity1 but only to call attention to one striking bifurcation of human character4 #fe ,stevenson falls into this error4 ,he confounds ,jekyl with the virtuous and ,hyde with the vicious side of character4 ,in reality the one should stand for the empirical plus traits1 the other for the empirical minus traits4 #ff ,contract-keeping is peculiarly the moral rule applicable to mercantile transactions4 ,to apply it without modification to the dealings of employers and wage-earners is to intrude the mercantile standard into the industrial sphere4 ,this is what we are now witnessing4 ,the industrial standard is only in process of development and clarification1 and the accepted mercantile standard is really in conflict with it4 ,among merchants it is of the very essence of their transactions that a contract shall not be invalidated1 despite the injurious consequences to one or the other party which it may turn out later on to involve4 ,the security of commercial transactions would be gone if revision of the contract should be permitted whenever consequent loss appears4 ,again1 and this is particularly important1 merchants are assumed to be on a footing of equality in dealing with one another1 equally free in accepting or rejecting a proposed contract1 equally competent to take care of their respective interests4 ,the relation of employers to wage-earners however is not that of economic equals1 but of the economically stronger with the economically weaker4 ,and this difference is of cardinal importance in determining the rule of justice as it should obtain in the industrial sphere4 ,i do not of course intend to imply that an agreement between employer and wage-earners once made should not as a rule be kept as scrupulously as that between merchant and merchant4 ,what ,i affirm is that in view of the greatness of the injury possibly inflicted upon the weaker1 the economically stronger party is bound at least to share the responsibility with the weaker for the essential fairness of the terms of the agreement before it is finally completed4 ,nay1 ,i would go a step farther1 and say that despite the indispensable condemnation of contract-breaking1 provision should be made for possible revision in cases where it can be shown that exceptional hardships have appeared1 unforeseen and unforeseeable at the time when the agreement was made4 ,,chapter ,,viii ,,the ,,supreme ,,ethical ,,rule 7,continued7 ,whatever the steps that have thus far been taken1 they are preliminary to the final step4 ,and the method of 8salvation10 the distinctive feature wherein this ethical system differs from others1 may now be briefly stated4 ,so act as to elicit the unique personality in others1 and thereby in thyself4 ,salvation is found in the effort to save others6 ,the difference in method consists in the joint pursuit of the two ends1 that of the other and that of the self4 ,the controlling idea is that the numen in the self is raised out of potentiality into actuality by the energy put forth to raise the numen in the other1--the two divinities greeting each other as simultaneously they rise into the light4 ,it is thus that both egoism and altruism are transcended4 ,to be egoistic is to assert one's empirical self at the expense of other empirical selves4 ,to be altruistic is to prefer the empirical selves of others to one's own4 ,it is not true that self-realization1 keeping to the empirical signification of self1 leads insensibly to altruistic conduct4 ,the life of the great 8self-realizer10 ,goethe1 may be cited in evidence of this4 ,nor is it true that preference for the empirical self of another necessarily involves maintaining the integrity of one's own empirical self4 ,in the empirical field egoism and altruism are conflicting and mutually contradictory4 ,it is in the spiritual field that they cease to be so1 because both disappear in an object of the will which includes them both and transcends them both4 ,if this be so1 it may be asked why does the formula we have adopted read3 ,so act as to elicit the unique personality in others1 and thereby in thyself8 ,why not conversely3--,so act as to realize the unique personality in thyself1 and thereby in others8--since in any case the ends in view are to be achieved conjointly4 ,the answer is that in the pure spiritual field1 in the world of ideal ethical units1 it would make no difference from which point of view the relation were regarded4 ,but when the spiritual formula is applied as a regulative rule to the mutual relations of empirical beings there is a difference4 ,thus applied1 it must necessarily be couched in such terms as will make the spiritual birth of the other the prime object1 and the spiritual birth of the self its incidental though inseparable concomitant4 ,this is so because ethics is a science of energetics1 which has to do with the potencies of our nature in their most affirmative efferent expression4 ,all our higher faculties are active1 and touch for good or ill the lives of those who surround us4 ,even the secret thoughts which seem only to affect our own individuality1 inevitably project their influence upon our associates4 ,now ethics is a science of right energizing4 ,and since as a matter of fact we do inevitably energize in such a manner as to affect others1 the fundamental question in ethics is3 how are we to regulate the incidences of our natures that fall upon other lives so that they shall be right8 ,since we cannot help acting upon them and influencing them1 how can we act rightly toward them and rightly influence them8 ,and the rule supplied by the ethical principle is3 ,act upon their empirical selves in such a manner as to draw from their empirical natures the hidden personality1 or at least the consciousness of it4 ,and the repercussion of the rule is3 in the attempt to do so you will convert your own empirical self into a spiritual personality1 or at least evoke in yourself the idea of yourself as a spiritual personality4 ,incontestably1 in the attempt to change others we are compelled to try to change ourselves4 ,the transformation undergone by a parent in the attempt to educate his child is an obvious instance4 ,no parent is a true parent at the outset4 ,as his perception deepens of the real needs of the child1 which is so entirely dependent on his self-control1 on his wisdom as well as his love1 he will realize more and more his own deficiencies1 and seek to remedy them4 ,the same is true of the professor in relation to his students1 of a leader and his followers1 of a religious teacher and those who look to him for advice and help4 ,in all such relations when rightly understood there is simultaneous growth on both sides4 ,in the ethical sphere there is a law of levitation1 the contrary of the law of gravitation that obtains in the realm of matter4 ,we actually tend to rise from a lower to a higher level in proportion as we bend downward to lift those still lower than ourselves4 ,,chapter ,,ix ,,how ,,to ,,learn ,,to ,,see ,,the ,,spiritual ,,numen ,,in ,,others ,we now have to consider how to acquire the faculty of seeing the light that in our fellowmen is often so deeply hidden4 ,we can love only that which is lovable4 ,if we could see holiness1 beauty concealed within our fellow-beings1 we should be drawn towards them by the most powerful attraction1 willingly living in their life1 and permitting them to live in ours4 ,we should then love all men1 for we should see in all what is unspeakably lovable4 ,but the empirical man stands between us and the spiritual man1 and the empirical woman between us and the spiritual woman2 and very often the former are most repulsive1 even when their ugly traits do not affect us personally1 even when as spectators merely we observe how they behave4 ,much more is it well-nigh insuperably difficult to worship1 in the sense of holding worthy1 those whose characteristic traits directly offend us1 or are perpetual thorns in our side4 ,we must somehow learn to regard the empirical traits1 odious1 harmful or merely commonplace and vulgar as they may be1 as the mask1 the screen interposed between our eyes and the real self of others4 ,we must acquire the faculty of second sight1 of seeing the lovable self as the true self4 ,and how without self deception we can possibly succeed in doing so is the question4 ,in the first place1 it is my own craving for resurrection out of that death in life to which ,i seem doomed that must impel me to penetrate to the essential life in others4 ,my own spiritual nature is in fetters1 and to burst the fetters1 to escape from the prison1 there is but one way4 ,the unique personality1 which is the real life in me1 ,i cannot gain1 nor even approximate to1 unless ,i search and go on searching for the spiritual numen in others4#fg ,the force which incites me to penetrate beyond the empirical traits of others1 to surmount the walls which surround the shrine in them1 is the consciousness that unless ,i do so ,i am myself spiritually lost1 ,i remain myself spiritually dead4 ,for it is only face to face with the god enthroned in the innermost shrine of the other that the god hidden in me will consent to appear4 ,the expression 8death in life0 means living1 even living passionately and in a way efficiently1 with a sense1 nevertheless1 underneath of the hollowness1 the futility of the objects of pursuit4 ,the death in life is the state of discontent that slowly gathers and augments in a man's mind as he pursues his customary ends1 as he reviews his intellectual achievement1 the books he has written1 the pictures he has painted1 the meager outcome of his schemes of social reform1 the uncertain result of his efforts at moral self-development4 ,it is the ensuing distaste for what he has actually accomplished1 the disallowance of it as in any way ultimately satisfying4 ,and yet this death in life is itself the well-spring of resurrection1 out of which is engendered an irrepressible yearning of the mind to attach itself to something greater than all ephemeral interests1 to something that has eternal worth1 and is of such a kind as to communicate of its eternal nature to him who touches it4 ,the god in the other1 the eternal personality in the inner sanctuary of the other1 is that object which must be sought and touched4 ,the cry of my own soul for salvation is the impulse that leads me on to search for that object4 ,without the previous discontent1 ,i shall not seek2 without the appraisement of the temporal ends and interests of man as in the last analysis unsatisfying1 ,i shall not set out on my quest4 ,enmeshed in the jungle of the empirical world1 ,i shall find no exit4 ,i shall remain the victim of the illusion that the peace ,i need can be found in the realm of temporal desire4 ,i shall commit what the theologians called ,original ,sin1 that is1 the preferring of 8the works of the ,creator to the ,creator himself40 ,but there is a second force that must act in conjunction with this keen desire for personal liberation or highest personal self-affirmation4 ,it is the sense of the dependence of others upon what ,i can do for them4 ,notoriously it is the dependence of the child that evokes in the parent the noblest qualities of which he is capable1 the self-denial1 the incessant willingness to labor for the good of the offspring4 ,it is the dependence of the student on the teacher1 of the disciple on the master that elicits the latter's best thought4 ,it is the dependence of the multitude on the religious teacher that puts him on his mettle4 ,but if the dependence of others upon oneself is to produce its appropriate results1 that dependence will have to be interpreted in a spiritual sense4 ,we shall have to think of others as dependent on us not only for the necessary empirical services we are bound to render them1 but those empirical services themselves will have to be regarded as instruments by means of which we may render them the highest spiritual service4 ,this leads to a more rigorous scrutiny of the notion of service than has hitherto been customary4 ,the question we must answer1 and it is one that has never been adequately met1 is3 ,what is it in the other that we are to serve1 what is the true object of our service8 ,man is worth while on his own account4 ,now no one can pretend that the welfare of the animal part of man is an object worth while on its own account4 ,to satisfy the hunger or the thirst of another1 or to promote his health is to serve his body4 ,but the body is the servant of a master4 ,and ,i am not bound to serve a servant4 ,if ,i am to serve the servant at all it must be for the sake of the master4 ,who then is the master8 ,the same argument applies also to the intellect4 ,human science is after all but a narrow littoral along the illimitable continent of nescience4 ,no one who compares the intellectual achievements of mankind with the problems that remain unsolved will pretend that the accomplishments of the intellect are worth while on their own account4 ,the mental no less than the physical part of us has a master4 ,there is an object higher than the acquisition of knowledge to be attained in the course of the mind's endeavors to acquire knowledge1 namely the growth of the scientist towards unique personality1 as will be shown in the chapter on the ,vocations in the last ,book4 ,analogous considerations apply to art and its achievements4 ,and if someone should say that neither the satisfaction of the body alone1 nor of the intellect1 nor of the sthetic sense1 nor of the affections1 but of all of them taken together1 is to be the object of our service1 the answer is that this would be merely serving a whole household of servants1 and still not serving the master4 ,this quite aside from the fact that the ideal of happiness as consisting in the harmonious gratification of the various elements enumerated is chimerical4 ,since some of the most indispensable elements of happiness1 such as freedom from disease and from bereavement1 are beyond our control4 ,while even the higher faculties are far from harmoniously coperating1 the one-sidedness of human nature being such that a marked development in one direction is actually incompatible with complete development in other directions4 ,unless1 then1 there be some master end in everyone's life1 one paramount to all others1 to which all others are subordinate 7the subordination and the renunciation involved being themselves means of spiritualizing one's nature7 there is no point to the notion of service4 ,that master end ,i have defined as the attainment of the conviction of one's infinite interrelatedness1 the consciousness of oneself as a member of the spiritual universe1 a #fh in the eternal life1 a source of energy induplicable in its kind1 which radiates out and touches at the center each one of the infinite multitude of spiritual associates1 and receives from them the effect of their aboriginally diverse modes of energizing in return4 ,i have mentioned two motives that impel me to search for the numen in others4 ,the one1 the craving for my own liberation from the death in life1 my own desperate outreaching toward salvation2 the other1 the sense of the dependence of others upon me4 ,yes1 but this dependence of theirs ,i must now interpret as spiritual dependence4 ,i must look for them also beyond the death in life to life itself4 ,i must have the courage and the truthfulness to look upon neighbor1 friend1 wife1 husband1 son1 daughter sub specie ternitatis1 that is1 as primarily spiritual beings1 and estimate any physical1 intellectual or emotional help ,i can give them by the consideration whether it does or does not advance them toward the master end of their being4 ,courage of this sort is rare1 because precisely the physical1 mental and emotional wants of those who depend on us are the most obvious and clamorous4 ,i do not of course mean that we should not attend effectually to their immediate wants4 ,how could we avoid doing so8 ,how could we neglect the health1 the education1 etc41 of our children8 ,what ,i say is that we should acquire the habit of looking upon the immediate ends as instrumental1 and keep in view the supreme end which they in turn are to serve1 and that we should beware of what ,i have called the fallacy of provisionalism--that of supposing that we are at liberty to provide for the lower immediate necessities first1 leaving the higher and the highest needs to be attended to later on4 ,the manner in which parents commonly plan for the future of their sons and daughters is perhaps the fittest illustration of the idea ,i am here seeking to exclude4 ,during the period of infancy they pilot the child through the dangers that beset its physical existence4 ,later on1 what is called education1 the preliminary mental training required to fit the young for the business of life1 is felt to be imperative4 ,then comes the selection of a vocation with a view of assuring the material basis of subsistence4 ,still later1 the advancement of the sons or daughters in their chosen vocations1 or their social success occupies perhaps the parent's mind4 ,thoughts of a happy marriage flatter the parent's imagination4 ,if the moral side receives attention1 the utmost that as a rule is demanded is that the young person shall not fall below the average moral standard that happens to prevail in the community4 ,and it is in such ways as these that we are apt to respond to the claims of those spiritual beings for whose essential future welfare we are to so large an extent responsible4 ,to widen this all too narrow conception of our responsibilities1 the following reflections may be found useful4 ,a father in the last decade of his life realizes acutely the brevity of his own past existence4 ,the curve of his life is now rapidly descending4 ,supposing him to be nearing seventy1 his adult sons and daughters may by this time have reached the age of thirty or forty4 ,looking back on the thirty or more years that separate him from them1 and remembering how like a dream the intervening years have glided by1 it may come home to him with sudden force how soon these1 his sons and daughters too1 though now in their prime1 will reach the point at which he has arrived4 ,the error of parents is to think of their grown sons and daughters only as moving on the upward curve of life4 ,they stop short in imagination there4 ,they look forward to marriage1 vocational success and the like1 as finalities for those who are still young4 ,we ought to remember that the upward curve in the lives of our children will presently descend just as ours has descended1 that the few decades which separate them from old age will pass as quickly for them as they have passed for us1--almost in the twinkling of an eye1--and we ought to ask on their behalf as we must on ours1--,what is to be the result of it all8 ,what does it all profit8 ,and it is this thought that will turn our attention for them as for ourselves to the spiritual end which should be dominant at all times1--in the morning1 at noon1 and in the evening twilight of a human existence4 ,all that has been said has to do with the arousing in us of the desire to see in others the god1 the numen1 the master end4 ,the wish to escape from our own death in life1 the sense of the dependence of others on us as interpreted1--these two are the means of stirring us up to go forth upon the quest1 and the seeking is already more than half the journey4 ,seek1 and ye shall find4 ,but what exactly is it that we are to seek8 ,what are we to see in the other8--,the spiritual nature4 ,but what is the spiritual nature8 ,i have frequently urged that the lack of a definite description of the spiritual nature is the chief defect in ethics up to the present time4 ,this defect ,i endeavor to supply4 ,the spiritual nature is the unique nature conceived as interrelated with an infinity of natures unique like itself4 ,the spiritual nature in another is the fair quality distinctive of the other raised toward the ,nth degree4 ,we are to paint ideal portraits of our spiritual associates4 ,we are to see them in the light of what is better in them as it would be if it were transfigured into the best4 ,we are to go on as long as we live painting these ideal portraits of them4 ,we are to retouch their portraits constantly4 ,we are not indeed to obtrude or impose upon others these sketches1 these mental creations of ours1 but to propose them diffidently1 reverently1 to hold them up as glasses in which our associates may possibly see themselves mirrored4 ,it is for them to accept in whole or in part our rendering of their inner selves or to reject it4 ,but we are not to desist from our labor in creating the ideal portraits1 for in this consists the spiritual artistry of human intercourse4 ,our friends we are to see in the light of these glorified sketches1--our friends and our enemies too4 ,for only thus can we win them1 and be essentially their benefactors4 ,there is no power so irresistible1 it has been said1 as love4 ,i do not quite accept the word ,love4 ,it signifies the feeling that goes with the ideal appreciation of others2 and mere feeling supplies no directive rule of conduct4 ,but it is true that the power of ideally appreciating others1 of seeing them in the light of their possible best1 and the feeling of love consequent on this vision1 is the mightiest lever for transforming evil into good1 and for sweetening the embittered lives of men4 ,no greater boon can anyone receive from another than to be helped to think well of himself4 ,flattery is the base counterfeit of appreciation4 ,spiritual appreciation1 appreciation of the inner self despite the mask1 is the greatest of gifts1 to manifest it is the greatest of arts4 ,in its supreme form it is the art of going down to the lowest of human beings--the man in the ditch1 the woman on the street--and making them think well of themselves because of possibilities in their nature they themselves hardly surmise4 ,it is also the art of making the most developed and advanced human beings realize in themselves something still higher and better than they have ever reached4 ,it is this art by which the supreme human benefactors have worked their spiritual miracles1 and it is an art which to the extent of our ability we must each acquire and practice1 if human society is to be redeemed4 ,there are specially two points to be remembered3 the one1 that of seeing the unattained excellence in those who are already in the way of excellence2 the other1 where there is or seems to be a complete absence of fine qualities or of the promise of development1 as in the case of backward children1 that we should still not abate one jot of hope or effort1 seeking to win even the smallest improvement1 in the conviction that the best possible under the circumstances is incalculably worth while4 ,for1 compared with the infinite ideal even the achievements of the most advanced and most developed fall infinitely short1 and what are they more than the best possible under the circumstances4 ,the best possible under the circumstances represents for us the absolute best4 ,now a word in regard to those who resist the better influence which we may seek to exercise over them1 for instance1 the so-called black sheep in families4 ,our chief concern should here be to prevent the resistance from infecting ourselves and provoking unethical reactions4 ,ethics is a system of relations4 ,the ethical point of view consists in seeing the relation between the offending person and ourselves as it ought to be1 in seeing with perfect objectivity the kind of conduct ideally required by the relation on both sides1 seeing it and thereby assisting the other to see it4 ,but we shall never succeed in doing this until we purge from our thoughts and speech every trace of private irritation4 ,if we can point out to the one who has gone wrong how he has hurt another1 and has spiritually hurt himself2 if while we do this we see the fineness that is possible to him and make him realize that we see it1 we shall not utterly fail4 ,i am aware that other methods should accompany the spiritual appeal4 ,in some cases1 a temporary separation is indicated1 in other cases1 a prolonged change of environment1 or the gradual formation of new habits of industry and application1 the awakening of interest in some pursuit that leads the mind away from egocentric pre-occupation4 ,psychology and experience crystallized1 into commonsense have valuable counsels to give4 ,but1 along with the technical aids1 the spiritual influence should never be lost sight of or relegated to the second place4 ,and finally two ideas should be mentioned which are pertinent to broken relations1 as for instance to the unhappy marriage relation and to interrupted friendships3 ,one that the break is never complete4 ,there remain certain threads unsundered1 which should be most sedulously preserved intact4 ,they may serve as points of attachment to weave the tie anew4 ,again1 and this is still more important1 thought that the break would never have occurred if the relation had been as finely conceived as it ought to have been on my side as well as on the others4 ,take friendship as an example4 ,a friendship of many years' standing is suddenly wrecked4 ,why8 ,what were the terms on which the friendship had been based8 ,what had friendship meant to me8--,a certain personal attraction1 mutual aid and comfort1 taking counsel together1 sympathy in joy and sorrow4 ,these are valuable elements of friendship1 but they do not even touch the essential point4 ,they do not describe the principal function which a friend has to fulfil4 ,the friend ideally is one who stands alongside another as the spectator of his spiritual development1 as one who appraises his friend's advance toward the master end of life disinterestedly1 and yet with deepest personal concern4 ,he is the mirror in which his friend may see the stages of his spiritual progress reflected4 ,now ,i have lost my friend4 ,why have ,i lost him8 ,because he was never a true friend to me1 and1 ,i must add1 because ,i was never a real friend to him4 ,i have not really lost him1 because ,i never really possessed him4 ,and on making this discovery ,i shall have a new light shed on what friendship might mean4 ,i may never be so fortunate as to find the actual friend1 but ,i shall know what he ought to be1 and what it is in me to be to him4 ,and when ,i say1 8what it is in me to be to him10 ,i think of resources of my inner being which have never been called out2 ,i think of the worth that belongs to me as a spiritual being capable of giving forth and receiving highest spiritual influence1 and ,i am thereby immeasurably aggrandized in my own esteem1 the self in me is lifted nearer as it were to its infinite counterpart in the eternal life4 ,i walk henceforth on a higher level1 ,i dwell amid serener presences4 ,and this aggrandizement of the self1 not on the ground of what ,i am but what ,i may be1 and of others too1 not on the ground of what they are1 but what they may be1 is the compensation derived from the bitter experience of broken relations4 ,and what has been said of friendship by way of example is true of frustration in marriage as well1 and of frustrations of every kind4 ,,note ,,to ,,book ,,iii ,i may mention a certain test case for trying out the proposed rule1 namely1 to idealize the fair quality in others1 and thereby achieve the concomitant transformation of the self4 ,i mean the case of the victims of a cruel race prejudice1 such as is entertained against the colored people of the ,south by the more brutal whites4 ,i remember a long evening which ,i once spent in the company of a leader among the colored people1 and one of the best men ,i have ever known4 ,i looked that night deep into a suffering1 sensitive human soul1 and ,i tried to put myself in his place4 ,i realized the hardships of his lot1 the anguish that ,i myself should suffer if ,i were in his position4 ,but would there be the spiritual equivalent8 ,would the way ,i had found in trials less poignant be the way of release8 ,to make the situation clear1 ,i selected two points in which the white man1 my supposed oppressor1 has the advantage1 two fair qualities of which he can boast4 ,his family life is purer on the average than that of a large number of the colored people4 ,and he has also learned in the case of white men to distinguish between the criminal and the innocent4 ,he will protect the latter1 and give up the former to justice4 ,now my own people1 putting myself in the place of the colored man1 are backward in both these respects4 ,in consequence of the long centuries of slavery their family relations are often unstable1 while they are apt to shield the colored criminal from the arm of the law4 ,in both respects ,i want to represent to myself the white man as he ought to act4 ,he ought to help me lift up my race1 first1 by making their family life purer and more stable4 ,but instead1 many of the whites debauch the women of my race1 while perhaps respecting those of their own race2 moreover1 by refusing decent accommodation on railroads they compel educated and refined colored women to travel in cars in which the coarsest men are herded together4 ,again1 how can ,i1 as a leader among my people1 teach them to distinguish between the criminal and the innocent of their race so long as mobs of white men indiscriminately lynch the innocent and the criminal of my race alike on the barest suspicion8 ,against their actual behavior ,i set up in my mind a picture of how the superior race1 superior in point of civilization1 but still morally backward1 ought to act4 ,i can but suggest this picture1 keep it in view as a constant protest1 or still better as an imperative model4 ,but ,i can do more4 ,i can turn upon myself1 and upon others of my own people who are in advance of the majority of them1 and presently ,i shall be compelled to admit that amongst ourselves something of the same pride of superiority exists1 something of the same prejudice against those who are lower in the scale4 ,for there is also a stratification and a hierarchy of higher and lower among the oppressed4 ,and the relatively higher are apt to behave toward the lower in the same fashion as their common oppressors behave toward them all4 ,we find the same tendency among other oppressed races1 as for instance in the attitude of certain of the ,spanish and the ,german ,jews toward the ,polish and the ,russian4 ,purge thyself1 therefore1 is the incisive monition2 purify thine own nature of that pride which hurts so cruelly when it is directed upon thee from without4 ,let the sin committed against thee be the means of purifying thee from the like sin4 ,this is the spiritual compensation1 this the thought that leads to inward peace6 ,,footnotes3 #fg ,in a previous chapter ,i remarked that the cheap estimate of others and of oneself is due to the habit of regarding human beings from the point of view of the use they can be put to1 ignoring the wonderful and mysterious energies and potencies which are exhibited day by day in every human being4 ,if the force stored in an infinitesimal particle of radium is calculated to excite admiration1 how much more the forces exhibited in man1 looking at him merely as the stage on which the spectacle of these forces is displayed4 ,consider the occurrence of such a thing as thought1 the sheer miracle of mentality1 the working of the constructive imagination in the artist1 etc4 ,if we sufficiently dwell on these inward facts about men1 instead of merely emphasizing their external utility to one another1 we shall thereby be put in tune1 as it were1 for the higher spiritual view of man4 ,the difference ,i have said is like that between understanding the theory of electricity and merely turning on electric power in the workshop or the home4 ,and yet the scientific contemplation of the miracles of human nature as seen from within1 while it serves as a propdeutic1 cannot actually bring us up to the ethical point of view4 ,for this sort of contemplation reveals only the working of impersonal forces or powers1 thought1 feeling1 impulse in their endless actions and reactions1 similar1 in so far as they are impersonal1 to the forces observed in nature4 ,the ethical point of view alone discloses a centrality1 an underivative1 irreducible core1 a substantive being1 personality4 #fh ,an expression occurring once only4 ,,book ,,iv ,,applications3 ,,the ,,ethics ,,of ,,the ,,family1 ,,the ,,state1 ,,the ,,international ,,relations1 ,,etc4 ,,chapter ,i ,,the ,,collective ,,task ,,of ,,mankind ,,and ,,the ,,three-,,fold ,,reverence ,the social institutions1 the family1 the organs of education1 the vocation1 the political organization1 the organization of mankind1 the ideal religious society are to be treated as a progressive series4 ,the individual is to pass successively through them1 advancing from station to station toward ethical personality4 ,in designating the social institutions as an ethical series1 care must be taken not to confound the terms of the series as now existent with the terms as they would be did they conform to their ethical functions4 ,for instance1 even the monogamic family is as yet only in part ethically organized4 ,school and university are adrift as to their ethical purpose4 ,the majority of mankind are engaged in occupations which it would be absurd to call vocations1 and the international group exists as yet barely in embryo4 ,hence when we speak of the social institutions as a progressive series through which the individual is to advance towards personality1 we are describing the aim of social reconstruction1 not the present state of things4 ,the spiritual nature of man must create for itself appropriate social organs4 ,it has been painfully engaged in the attempt to do so since the existence of our race on earth4 ,in each of the social institutions we are to distinguish between the empirical substratum and the spiritual imprint which it is to receive4 ,we find in each ready to hand some natural non-moral motive or set of motives of which we are to avail ourselves in the endeavor to evoke the spiritual result4 ,thus in the family the non-moral motive is affection due to consanguinity2 in the school sociality1 the school society being the first society into which the child enters2 in the vocation there is the craving for mental self-expression1 in the state1 patriotism1 or the feeling we have for the larger whole in which we are included on the basis of similarity of language1 historic tradition1 etc4 ,the natural basis of the international group of society is the empirical1 and as yet in no way ethical1 fact of the commercial and industrial interdependence of the different countries1 a fact used by ,m4 ,bloch and his more recent followers as an argument against war4 ,in popular literature the empirical substratum and the spiritual relation to be produced by means of it are constantly confused4 ,in any genuinely ethical system they must be carefully discriminated4#fi ,in each of the social institutions1 or1 as we may now call them1 the phases of life experience through which the individual must pass on the way toward personality1 the winning of the ethical result depends on observance of the three-fold reverence4 ,what ,i mean by the three-fold reverence must be explained in some detail1 especially as the reader might otherwise be led into identifying my view with that expressed by ,goethe in ,wilhelm ,meister4 ,the three modes of reverence mentioned by ,goethe in his sketch of the 8pedagogical province0 have for their background the poet's pantheism4 ,the view here set forth is based on ethical idealism4 ,in order to introduce my thought let me go back to the phrase repeatedly used in ,book ,,iii--8the task of humanity40 ,mankind as a whole1 the generations past1 present and to come1 have a certain work to do1 a task to accomplish4 ,a collective obligation rests on our race1 spanning the generations4 ,the spiritual conception of the collective task is the basis of the three-fold reverence4 ,the spiritual result1 as was said above1 is in every instance to be superinduced upon an empirical substratum4 ,the empirical substratum in this case is mankind considered as a developing entity1 which partially reproduces in the present the mental and moral acquisitions of ancestors1 partially increases the heritage and passes it on to the newcomers4 ,i1 as an individual1 am also inextricably linked up backward and forward with those who come before and those who are to come after4 ,i cannot take myself out of this web4 ,the task laid upon human society as a whole is also laid upon me4 ,i am a conscious thread in the fabric that is weaving1 conscious in a general way of the pattern to be woven4 ,but viewed empirically the development of humanity is haphazard4 ,much is preserved from the past that ought to be cast aside4 ,many traces of past error remain unexpunged in the life of the present4 ,a mixed stream1 compounded of good and evil1 passes through our veins into our successors'4 ,the empirical fact is simply the fact of partial reproduction1 partial augmentation and partial transmission4 ,the ethical conception of progress depends on the view that there is an ideal pattern of the spiritual relation in the mind of man1 destined to become more explicit as it is tested out and that the present generation ought to appraise the heritage of the past according to this pattern1 preserving and rejecting and adding its own quota in such a way as to enable the succeeding generations to sift the worthful from the worthless more successfully1 and to see the ideal pattern more explicitly4 ,the three-fold reverence has been described as reverence towards superiors1 equals and inferiors4 ,for this inadequate description ,i would substitute the following3 ,in place of reverence towards superiors1 reverence for the valid work of ethicizing human relations already accomplished in the past1 reverence for the precious permanent achievements and for those who achieved them1--the 8,old ,masters40 ,the human race has gained a certain ethical footing in the empirical sphere4 ,the general task has not to be begun ab initio4 ,in the act of separating what is worth while from what is worthless1 in the very process of revision and reinterpretation1 we manifest our reverence for the past4 ,it is thus that true historicity is distinguished from blind conservatism4 ,and besides1 by studying the old masters1 we acquire a certain standard of excellence4 ,since those who have contributed epoch-making advances in philosophy1 in religion1 in science1 inspire us by the grandeur of their attack on the great problems2 and the spirit of their attack1 is unspeakably stimulating to us1 even when we reject their solutions4 ,we cannot too humbly sit as disciples at the feet of the great masters if discipleship has this meaning4 ,reverence of the first type prescribes the same attitude towards preminent personalities among our contemporaries4 ,they rank with the great predecessors inasmuch as they are in a way for us predecessors4 ,they are in advance of us4 ,to revere them is to endeavor to come abreast of them1 to obtain the advantage of the forward movement which their superior capacity enabled them to initiate1 and to start where they leave off1 adding our small quota4 ,the second kind of reverence is directed toward those who are1 in respect to their gifts and opportunities1 approximately on the same level with us1 but whose gifts differ from and are supplementary to ours4 ,in our relation to them we may learn the great lesson of appreciating unlikeness1 and working out our own correlative unlikeness by way of reaction4 ,the third kind of reverence is directed toward the undeveloped1 among whom ,i include the young1 the backward groups among civilized peoples1 and the uncivilized peoples4 ,we are to reverence that which is potential in all of these individuals and groups1 and we do so by fitting ourselves to help them actualize their spiritual possibilities4 ,reverence of the third kind takes the highest rank among the three4 ,the spiritual life of the world is a deep mine as yet explored only near the surface4 ,the unrealized possibilities of mankind are the chief asset4 ,but in order to effectuate our purpose with respect to the undeveloped1 we must have reverence toward the great ,old ,masters1 to gain a certain standard of excellence2 and reverence towards unlikeness in others to become ourselves differentiated individualities1 and in order to respect the unlikeness which we shall presently likewise find in the backward and the young4 ,so that the three reverences play into one another and are inseparable from one another1 the first two being indispensable to the third4 ,they are in truth a 8trinity in unity40 ,but the third reverence is the supreme one4 ,the chief objective must be the undeveloped1 because our face must be turned toward the future1 because the task of mankind is as yet in its early stages4 ,the third reverence is supreme4 ,now it is only when we have grasped the meaning of the triple reverence that we can fully appreciate the significance of the family as the first matrix in which the reverential attitudes are to be acquired4 ,it is only then that we can rightly conceive of the organs of education1 and of the end upon which the activities of school and university should converge4 ,and similarly we shall find our interpretation of the vocation1 the state1 and the international society illuminated by this conception of the three-fold reverence4 ,in popular religious teaching the individual is thrust into the foreground4 ,his salvation as a detached entity is the principal object4 ,in positivism and evolutionalism society in its empirical aspect is exalted1 and the individual tends to be regarded as a stepping-stone4 ,in the spiritual interpretation of the collective task as outlined1 the individual remains integral and sacrosanct4 ,the spiritual society of which the image is to be imprinted on human society is a society of indefeasible ethical personalities4#gj ,the individual even now at his station in the present attributes to himself this lofty character and the various obligations which he already recognizes1 and which he endeavors to fulfil1 afford him ample opportunity to vindicate his spiritual selfhood4 ,if in addition he looks forward longingly to the future1 and to the greater spiritual fulfilment that may be expected among posterity1 this expectation is founded on the belief that what he already possesses in germ will then be more unfolded1 that the ideal of the indefeasible worth of man of which he is already conscious in himself will then be more completely recognized and its infinite implications be more fully understood4#ga ,,footnotes3 #fi ,thus the interdependence of nations in respect to their material interests is often erroneously expatiated on as if it constituted an actually ethical bond between them4 #gj ,while at the same time the ethical personality1 unlike the 8windowless monads0 of ,leibnitz is effectuated only in the cross-relations which subsist between each one and his spiritual associates4 #ga ,i may here point out the bearings of this general point of view on the much-mooted and confused question of the value of the study of history4 ,ranke holds that the aim of the historian should be to reproduce factually the occurrences of the past4 ,robinson insists on the uses of history4 ,but uses to what end8 ,the history of the past is fragmentary and full of gaps4 ,the data with respect to some of the most important periods are irrecoverable4 ,the attitude of the human race towards its own history1 ,i take it1 should be like that of an individual towards his past4 ,i cannot really resuscitate my past4 ,memory is treacherous4 ,much has been forgotten4 ,the events of my youth are discolored when seen in the perspective of later years4 ,i should try to know myself as far as ,i can1 but with a view of pressing on and realizing with such light upon myself as ,i have1 the ethical aim4 ,the same applies to mankind4 ,and the important point is in the review to disengage the ideas that controlled the principal social institutions in the past1 and to appraise these ideas from the standpoint of our present ethical insight4 ,thus1 in treating the history of the family1 we should single out the ideas that controlled the family relation1 the idea of the patria potestas1 the feudal idea1 or the connection of the family with landed property4 ,in writing the history of the organs of education1 we should bring into view priestly education as among the ,brahmins1 musical or sthetic education as among the ,greeks1 the idea of princely education1 the idea of preparation for the government of an empire1 which accounts for the system of the ,english universities1 the controlling idea of the ,german universities4 ,and then at the end of our survey we shall be in a better position to discern what is to be the ideal of school and university education in an ethical democracy4 ,the same applies to the controlling ideas of the state1 and of the remaining social institutions4 ,,chapter ,,ii ,,the ,,family ,the family is in process of change4 ,we should fix attention on the kind of change that is desirable4 ,the change desirable is the more perfect expression of the ethical ideal in the life of the family4 ,one striking fact is that in the past the family was never supposed to exist merely for the 8benefit0 of its individual members4 ,the latter view is an individualistic novelty of our age1 and1 as commonly understood1 it is radically false4 ,under the caste system the family subordinates the welfare of its members to the function of the caste4 ,society being stationary and stratified1 the family is the organ for the reproduction of a stratified social system4 ,a similar view prevails under feudalism4 ,we of today resent the idea underlying primogeniture4 ,from the modern point of view we ask why the eldest born should be preferred to his brothers4 ,primogeniture appears to us to assert the inequality of individual men2 but from the feudal point of view the eldest born was preferred1 not as an individual1 but as the steward of the family property4 ,the family had a fixed place in the social hierarchy1 and to maintain this place the estate was to remain undivided in the hands of one person4 ,now what is amiss with the modern family8 ,this is profoundly amiss--that the idea of the family as serving a larger purpose is disappearing1 and that the family is supposed to exist for the benefit of its individual members1 benefit meaning happiness4 ,frequent divorce and disintegration are the natural consequences of this view1 for if the tie exists solely for the happiness of those bound by it1 then it ought indeed to be dissolved when the relation entails suffering4 ,society has passed from status to contract1 and many seem to hold that contract is the last word1 the true expression of freedom4 ,we have passed from status to contract1 we must pass on from contract to organization1 and thus to true freedom4 ,status is based on the analogy of the animal organism4 ,the caste society and the feudal society1 ethically regarded1 are spurious organisms4 ,this spurious type of organization is no longer viable1 and now bald individualism is taking its place4 ,the malady with which the family is afflicted is individualism4 ,the desirable change is genuine organization on the basis of the spiritual equivalence of all functions4#gb ,the relation of the family to the general social task of organization is two-fold4 ,the family is the seminary in which shall be implanted the germinal principle of organization1 that principle which is destined to transform all the subsequent terms of the social series1 the instrumentality to be employed being the three-fold reverence4 ,again1 the family will reach its more perfect form in proportion as the succeeding social institutions1 the school1 vocation1 state1 shall themselves be essentially organized1 the influence of the later terms retroacting on the first term4 ,the family1 in the spiritual view of it which ,i am sketching1 differs from the family of other days1 and also from the modern family1 in two particulars4 ,it does not recruit some one social class or stratum4 ,it does not direct the offspring into a single specific vocation4 ,it is the vestibule that leads into all the different professions and vocations4 ,and secondly1 the family does not prepare the young to enter into a vocation for the purpose of securing happiness4 ,it does not regard the vocation as servile to the empirical ends of the individual1 but as a phase through which he is to pass on the road toward ethical personality1 the fulfilment of the objective aims of the vocation being the means of acquiring the ethical development which the vocation is competent to furnish4 ,thus we regain1 but on a much higher plane1 what the family possessed before it began to break down under the influence of modern individualism1 namely1 an ulterior greater purpose imbedded within itself and yet extending beyond itself4 ,when we have grasped this relation of the family to the subsequent terms of the social series1 and bear constantly in mind as we should that the three-fold reverence is the instrument by which organization is to be effected1 we shall then be able to give adequate reasons why the monogamic ideal alone is the true ethical ideal1 why the marriage relation1 if it is to be ethical1 must be permanent between two and exclusive of all others4 ,let me briefly point out the relation of the monogamic family to the three types of reverence4 ,the third type ranks highest4 ,the tie of consanguinity between parents and offspring supplies the empirical substratum4 ,to be interested in the undeveloped1 to surmise possibilities as yet wholly unapparent1 to go to infinite pains to nurture and educate an immature being like a child1 for all this natural affection is almost indispensable4 ,as a rule no one can so love a child as its own parents do4 ,the plan of state education for infants to replace home education is advocated by some on the ground that professional kindergartners and teachers are more competent to train the budding human mind than unpedagogical fathers and mothers4 ,the function to be performed by the scientific educator in co-operation with the home is doubtless not to be missed2 but taking children away from under the care of their parents1 assembling them in what would be equivalent to state orphan asylums1 is a procedure which precisely for pedagogical reasons would be preposterous4 ,for the parent supplies that concentrated love for the individual child1 that intimate cherishing which the most generous teacher1 whose affections are necessarily distributed over many1 can never give4 ,and the child needs this selective affection4 ,the love of the parent is the warm nest for the fledgling spirit of the child4 ,to be at home in this strange world the young being with no claims as yet on the score of usefulness to society or of merit of any kind1 must find somewhere a place where it is welcomed without regard to usefulness or merit4 ,and it is the love of the parents that makes the home1 and it is his own home that makes the child at home in the world4 ,it does not follow that parents in general do reverence the spiritual possibilities latent in their children4 ,the natural affection is there1 but the empirical substratum and the spiritual relation are not to be confounded4 ,the kind of reverence of which ,i speak is an ideal thing to be worked towards1 not something that as yet actually exists1 save in exceptional cases4 ,in the caste family and the feudal family the father incarnated1 as it were1 the social system so far as that stratum or class was concerned to which he belonged4 ,he inspired awe4 ,he demanded implicit obedience4 ,it was the existing social system that spoke from his lips4 ,but this system itself had an arbitrary character1 and the worship of the father was hardly ethical4 ,the modern family goes to the opposite extreme4 ,in it the relations between parents and children are loose1 and tend to become more and more so4 ,reverence is scarcely looked for by the parent1 and is not likely to be accorded4 ,on the individualistic theory the child at a very early age is treated as an equal1 and whether encouraged to do so or not is apt to assert its independence4 ,the members of the family are not joined in an organic connection1 but resemble a collection of atomic units that easily fall apart4 ,the ethical relation1 the real reverence must spring from the service the parent renders in bringing to light the specific individuality of the child with an eye to the transmutation which it is to receive in the later terms of the social series4 ,not only highest gratitude but genuine reverence are due to the parent who performs this office4 8,you have given me physical birth1 you are now giving me spiritual birth10 will be the child's response to the parent's efforts4 ,thus much may be said as to the reason why the marriage relation should be exclusive4 ,the principal reason why it should be lifelong1 is that the office of the parent in furthering the spiritual development of the children does not end when they reach the threshold of manhood or womanhood4 ,on the contrary1 the finest touches are often added to the work of education when the sons and daughters have become established in a business or profession1 and have founded families of their own4 ,the wisdom gathered from the experience of their elders1 the disinterested counsel inspired by love1 will then be of the greatest use to them4 ,the young mother1 especially1 confronted with the problems of child-rearing1 will naturally turn to her own mother for advice4 ,the son1 who comes to close quarters with the difficulties of life1 will find in the father1 who is detached from life and has the tranquil vision of old age1 his best friend4 ,in speaking of the third type of reverence ,i have already included all that need here be said of the first type4 ,the reverential relation is mutual4 ,the child will truly reverence the parent who on his side reverences the child's spiritual possibilities4 ,the child does not understand the word ,spiritual1 but is unconsciously affected by the thing itself which ,i am here describing4 ,a person who has the vision1 who has the gift of divining what is as yet unmanifested1 will convey to others the illumination of his vision4 ,the child will realize in his parent the presence of something higher1 and will revere it1 worship it4 ,certain looks1 certain expressions of the countenance1 certain gestures1 though not understood in their meaning at the time1 will be imprinted on memory to be recalled in later life and then understood4 ,but it is essential1 in order to evoke reverence in the young1 to have it oneself4 ,he who does not steadfastly revere something1 yes1 someone greater than himself1 will never elicit reverence in others4 ,the second type of reverence1 towards those who are unlike ourselves but none the less our equals1 can be inculcated in an elementary way in the family through the relations of brothers and sisters4 ,fraternal feeling is an empirical means whereby to produce or at least prepare the way for a very notable spiritual result--the willingness not only to respect difference in others1 but to welcome it4 ,in current teaching the emphasis in fraternity is placed on likeness4 ,it should rather be placed on the unlikeness4 ,these exist1 and are sometimes very marked between brothers1 and often cause discord and separation4 ,the novices in life should therefore be taught betimes to overcome their repugnance to those who are unlike themselves1 and the common relation of the brothers to their parents will be helpful to this end4 ,naturally we dislike the unlike4 ,alienness is ever productive of disharmony4 ,the fact1 however1 that the unlike person in the case of a brother is the child of the same parents draws us powerfully toward him despite the tendency to recoil4 ,i must not omit to mention that the triple reverence is most naturally and easily learned in the family1 because of the simplicity of the relations1 and the limited number of persons involved4 ,the question may be raised whether the single family should remain the primary social unit1 or whether a group of families united in close coperation would better fulfil the purposes for which the family exists4 ,the privacy and separateness of each family would not need to be disturbed1 coperation might be limited to specific objects1 such as simplifying the work of the household1 providing kindergarten education for the young children1 better play facilities1 separate study rooms for adolescents1 common entertainments for all1 and a service of song at the beginning or close of the day4 ,one obvious difficulty in constituting such a group would be3 the diversities of tastes and opinions1 particularly such as are not perceived at the outset1 but emerge on nearer acquaintance1 and as the younger members grow up and develop their idiosyncrasies4 ,one great advantage1 however1 would result if care were taken to include in the group persons belonging to different vocations--scientist1 scholar1 architect1 lawyer1 artist4 ,young persons as they mature would then have the benefit of contact with those who are intimately familiar with different lines of vocational activity1 and would be helped to know their own mind as to their future career better than they commonly do now4 ,personal contact with one who is engaged in a certain line of work is a far better instruction as to the nature of the work than reading about it or observation from a distance4 ,the ethical theory of marriage has been developed in my published addresses4#gc ,but certain topics not there treated ,i would at least allude to here in passing1 and among them the need of a more careful study of the causes that lead to infelicity in marriage4 ,kant mentions1 as an instance of the discrepancy between the natural and the moral order1 the fact that the sex passion is often at its height before the period when marriage may be wisely entered into4 ,there are other seemingly radical incongruities1 for instance1 that between the face1 the features of a person and his real character4 ,the one may be borrowed so to speak from some ancestor1 while the real nature is quite at variance with the impression created by the face1 so that one who thinks he marries ,a really marries ,b4 ,there are diversities also between partners in marriage that only show themselves in the latter part of life1 when the outlines of character are apt to stand forth bare4 ,besides1 there is assumed to be1 by some modern writers1 a certain fundamental sex antagonism4 ,the whole question of the characteristics of sex requires to be far more carefully investigated than it has been4 ,and here let me take the opportunity to express my positive appreciation of empirical science in connection with ethical theory4 ,the chief object of this volume is to work out the general plan of the ethical relations1 or the regulative principle in ethics1 and this ,i am deeply convinced is supersensible and non-empirical4 ,applied ethics1 however1 is dependent not only on the regulative principle but on empirical science1 that is1 on an extended and ever-increasing knowledge of physiology1 psychology1 and of the environmental conditions that influence human beings1 and ,i am keenly desirous to ward off the possible misunderstanding that the ethical theory here proposed is intended to replace the empirical science of man1 individual or social ,without the way there is no going4 ,without the truth there is no knowing2 says ,thomas ,kempis4 ,the way is the empirical knowledge1 the truth is the regulative principle4 ,the way itself1 as we proceed along it1 will shed additional light on the truth4 ,nevertheless1 without the outlines of the truth1 without a goal in view1 we should but be wandering blindly4 ,it is likely that the relations between persons in marriage will in future become more complex1 and the difficulties of adjustment more serious1 in proportion as under the influence of the new education the individualities of men and women become more developed4 ,problems hardly as yet envisaged will then become pressing4 ,but whatever the difficulties1 they can be overcome if the ideal purpose of marriage be kept in view1 namely1 that two beings of opposite sexes shall spend their lives in the spiritual reproduction of offspring4 ,the relation is triangular4 ,husband and wife are each to elicit the distinctive best in the other1 incited1 impelled to do so in order jointly to evoke the distinctive best in the young4 ,and the young represent posterity4 ,what the parents do for their own children they do for posterity1 since children are that portion of posterity which comes under their immediate influence4 ,and in this sense it may be said that marriage is an organ for the spiritual reproduction and advancement of the human race4 ,,footnotes3 #gb ,spurious or bastard organization was based on the empirical preminence of some function like that of the priest or the warrior4 #gc ,see ,marriage and ,divorce1 ,d4 ,appleton ,co4 ,,chapter ,,iii ,,the ,,vocations ,the next term in the series of social institutions is the school1 inclusive of its higher departments4 ,but for reasons which will sufficiently appear to anyone who carefully reads this chapter1 it is advisable to treat the vocations first4 ,a more ludicrous mistake cannot be conceived than that of taking the ideal for the fact1 the wish for the deed1 in matters touching the social institutions4 ,thus the term 8vocational guidance0 is often used1 as if the occupations of the majority of men already answered to what is implied in the idea of a vocation as if1 for instance1 industrial labor in a factory were a 8vocation0 into which the young only needed to be guided1 whereas guidance means1 in this case1 being directed into some mechanical occupation not already overcrowded1 or turned into other unvocational occupations when they happen not to be over-filled4 ,but what is true of monotonous1 mechanical labor in factories is true in a greater or less degree of all human occupations4 ,none of them at least are as yet vocations in the highest sense4 ,i dwell on this because1 in describing the vocation as the third term in the series1 ,i would not have the reader imagine that this third term exists in any adequate manner4 ,rather is it to be the task of what is often loosely called 8social reform0 to create the ethical series1--not only the third term 7the vocation71 but the whole series from beginning to end1 the family1 the school1 the state1 the international society1 the ideal religious society4 ,the phrase 8social reform0 is strictly correct only when used comprehensively in this way4 ,to confine its usage to the more equable repartition of wealth1 or to changes in economic conditions is unwarrantably to narrow its signification4 ,social reform is the reformation of all the social institutions in such a way that they may become successive phases through which the individual shall advance towards the acquisition of an ethical personality4 ,in sketching the ideals of the different vocations1 ,i have to consider in what way each contributes to the formation of an ethical personality4 ,there is an empirical side to each vocation4 ,every vocation satisfies some one or more of the empirical human needs2 but in the very act or process of doing so1 it ought1 in order to deserve the name of a vocation1 to satisfy also a spiritual need1 to contribute in a specific way toward the formation of a spiritual personality4#gd ,agriculture furnishes food4 ,the different trades minister to a great variety of wants4 ,the scientist extends our knowledge of nature4 ,with this empirical aspect of the vocations1 however1 ,i am not here concerned4 ,a scientific classification of the vocations is not a task to which ,i need address myself4 ,my task is an ethical classification of the vocations4 ,as this has never been undertaken1 the first attempt is difficult and perforce provisional4 ,i outline my topics as follows3 #a4 ,the theoretical physical sciences 7including mathematics7 considered from the point of view of the specific way in which the ethical personality may be developed by those who pursue them4 #b4 ,the practical counterparts of the theoretical sciences1 e4g41 engineering1 and the industrial arts in so far as they depend on and illustrate and use principles and methods furnished by science4 ,work in factories1 mines1 and also in the fields1 is to be regarded as the executive side of theoretical science4 #c4 ,the historical sciences1 those which have to do with mentally reproducing the life of the human race in the past1 including history proper1 philology1 archology1 etc4 #d4 ,the vocation of the artist4 #e4 ,the vocation of the lawyer and the judge4 ,the vocation of the statesman4 ,the vocation of the religious teacher4 ,the three last mentioned are classed together as educational vocations1 that is1 as vocations which1 in respect to their highest significance1 are branches of the pedagogy of mankind1 having for their object to educate the human race2 the ethical object of the lawyer being to educate society in the idea of justice2 of the statesman to educate society in the idea of the state2 of the religious teacher to educate society in the idea of the spiritual universe4 ,this conception of the lawyer1 the politician1 etc41 as primarily educators1 is a point to which particular attention is directed4 ,the significance of it will appear further on4 ,i shall now indicate in bare outline what ,i conceive to be the specific contribution of the vocations mentioned to the formation of a spiritual personality4 ,science ,conspicuously important in this connection is the question whether and by what means the pursuit of the physical sciences can be linked up to the supreme spiritual end of man4 ,the scientist may develop into a great thinker in the course of comprehensive and intricate investigations1 but he does not thereby necessarily develop into a personality4 ,his mind will become in this way a mirror of the orderly procession of nature's phenomena4 ,he will be the accurate recorder of what happens1 the knowing spectator of the play1 whose eye recognizes the actors1 the forces1 beneath their disguises4 ,the pursuit of knowledge of this kind for the sake of knowledge1 or it may be for the sake of exercising the faculty of cognition1 represents the purely scientific conception of the aim of science4 ,whatever moral qualities are exacted of the scientist1 such as accuracy or intellectual veracity1 self-abnegation1 scorn of mere vulgar pecuniary reward or celebrity1 and at least a provisional disregard of the practical benefits to be derived by mankind from scientific discovery--all these fine traits of character are prized as subordinate to the strictly scientific object4 ,the ethical character of the man himself is not regarded as the supreme end to be fostered by his scientific occupation1 but as instrumental to his occupation the aims of which are said to be purely impersonal4 ,there is thus a scientific conception of the aim of science2 on the other hand1 there is an ethical conception of it4 ,the former points in the direction of the indefinite extension of knowledge which never embraces a totality of the knowable1 never reaches a limit1 even in idea4 ,the latter points to the infinite1 not to the indefinite1 sets up an ideal of the infinite as the goal1 takes the man out of the flux1 centralizes his individuality into a personality by relating him to the infinite1 not as the mere spectator and scribe of nature1 but through his action or other potential spiritual beings like himself4 ,the scientist1 in brief1 like every one else1 becomes a personality by eliciting the potential spiritual nature in other human beings4 ,but be it noted that he is to perform this task as a scientist4 ,his particular occupation is to be the means of producing a particular spiritual result in others as well as in himself1 and by this means his occupation is to be converted into a vocation4 ,how8 ,through partial success and frustration4 ,partial success in the case of a scientist means for one thing1 increased mental grasp1 the power to hold before the mind ever more and more complex relations1--a faculty supremely serviceable in mastering complexities of relation in the economic1 in the political spheres1 in the sphere of international intercourse1 in the sphere of the social relations in general1 and wherever the ethical principle has to be applied4 ,the scientific occupation trains powers which are to be exercised so as to illuminate obscurities in the ethical field4 ,the frustration which the scientist meets with when he reflects in thoroughgoing fashion on the business he has in hand is the inevitable realization that ,alles ,vergngliche ist nur ein ,gleichniss1 that the sphere of the finite in which he labors1 though capable of indefinite extension1 is forever incapable of being rounded out to a true infinity1 and hence that the complete unification of the manifold 7in which alone the reality-producing functions of the mind can find repose and ultimate satisfaction71 can never be carried out in the manifold of juxtaposition and sequence with which1 as a physical scientist1 he deals4 ,he will thus be led to face in thought the limits of what is finitely attainable1 not only by him as an individual scientist1 but by physical science in general4 ,and in proportion as his spiritual nature is energetic it will then assert itself all the more resiliently after this defeat1 and turn in a new direction1 and towards another kind of truth1 the truth which is discovered in the realm of will1 in the sphere of intercourse with fellow human beings4 ,the propdeutic result of science with respect to ethical personality is the training of the more complex mental faculties4 ,the positive result following the frustration is the new turn toward the spiritual1 the escape from the spell wherewith the physical world enchains the mind1 the dissipating of the widespread illusion that the truths of physical science are the only kind of truth1 the more determined setting of the face towards a different kind of truth4 ,the scientist1 in brief1 is to travel along the paths of the finite in order to arrive and stand at the gate of the infinite4 ,i have said that the boon of personality is gained in intercourse with others1 through the influence which we exert on others4 ,how does the scientist as a scientist spiritually affect others8 ,the great specific service1 as ,i have just said1 which he is to render is to destroy the illusion that the material world is a finality4 ,and it is just he1 the scientist1 who works most successfully in the field of physical truth who must assist the rest of us in escaping from the spell to which we are all subject4 ,he is the one1 he who more than others succeeds in unifying the manifold of juxtaposition and sequence1 to whom we look to liberate others as well as himself from the deceptive belief that the reality-producing functions of the human mind can be satisfied in the temporal and spatial manifold4 ,not from the tyro1 not from the purveyor of 8popular science0 can we hope to learn the profoundest lessons as to the incapacity of physical nature to appease the spirit of man4 ,it is from the familiar friend of nature1 from one more deeply read than we are in her secrets1 that we are to obtain this great instruction1 to receive this boon4 ,ethics is a science of reactions4 ,each vocation reacts upon the others4 ,the general reaction of science ,i have mentioned4 ,in addition the work of the scientist reacts upon agriculture1 industry1 etc4 ,the industrial arts1 as has been stated1 are to be regarded as the executive auxiliaries of science1 receiving from it the knowledge of the uniformities of nature1 and in turn setting for science new problems by attention to which scientific theory is advanced4 ,the relations of science to art also need to be considered at greater length than is possible here4 ,i have in mind inquiries into the scientific basis of music like those of ,helmholtz1 the scientific theory of color and the like1 and also detailed studies of the return gift which art confers on science1 especially the value to the scientist of that cultivation of the imagination which is gained by the contemplation and study of works of art4 ,there are different kinds of imagination3 the purely artistic1 the scientific1 the mechanical imagination1 the ethical imagination4 ,the function of the imagination in advancing science has been discussed by ,tyndall and others1 but the subject is far indeed from being exhausted4 ,the scientist then may be defined as one who stands in reciprocal relations to all other departments of human interest and activity1 who gives to each from his specific standpoint as a scientist1 and receives from each1 from religion1#ge from art1 from the practical vocations1 etc4 ,ideally speaking1 every man participates in all the principal interests and activities of the human mind4 ,every man is something of an artist1 something of a practical or executive worker1 scientist1 religious being4 ,but in each individual the different interests are colored by his special pursuit1 and the influence he wields in return is modified in the same fashion4#gf ,there are three great tasks that occupy human life3 #a4 ,to build our finite world 7science and its adjuncts74 #b4 ,to create in the finite the semblance of the infinite1 or spiritual relation 7art74 #c4 ,to strive to realize the spiritual relation in human intercourse 7ethics and religion74 ,this discussion of science affords me the opportunity to give an exact definition of the word 8instrumental0 as ,i use it4 ,and the word 8instrumental0 is of decisive importance as to the entire ethical conception of life4 ,instrumental in what sense8 ,the finite ends of man are to be the means used in the pursuit of the infinite end4 ,but in what manner are they to be the means8 ,to be a cheerful world-builder1 to take an active and whole-hearted interest in the improvement of material conditions1 in political reforms1 in the embellishment of earthly life--how is it possible to do this and at the same time keep the spiritual end in view as the supreme end8 ,christianity in its pristine form1#gg abandons the task in dismay4 ,instead of seeking action in the finite world as a means1 it counsels renunciation and withdrawal4 ,modern social reform movements1 on the other hand1 are devoted to finite ends1 more or less ignoring the spiritual4 ,how is it possible to work in the world1 in the finite sphere1 for an end beyond the finite8 ,the answer1 as ,i have shown in the case of science 7and the same applies to all other vocations71 is to be found in the words 8partial success and frustration40 ,the finite1 lesser ends1 are means to the highest end in so far as we are partially able to embody the spiritual relation in the finite world1 and in so far as the inevitable defeat of our effort to do so serves to implant in us the conviction of the reality of the infinite ethical ideal4 ,the points contained in this chapter may be briefly summarized as follows3 ,what is the relation of science to the ethical end8 ,we are seeking to link up the world to spirit4 ,along what line can the connection be marked out in the case of science8 ,science is instrumental in founding more securely the empirical basis of self-respect1 inasmuch as it gives to man to a certain extent a sense of mastery over nature4 ,with the help of science he feels himself no longer the helpless sport of nature's forces4 ,the training in complex thinking afforded by science is favorable to the ethical reformer4 ,science also incidentally encourages the virtues of veracity1 and the like4 ,knowledge for knowledge's sake cannot be the final end of the pursuit of science1 since the world of space and time with which science deals is not only not as yet rationalized but is not ultimately rationalizable4 ,while in all the respects just mentioned the pursuit of science is indirectly instrumental to the spiritual end--instrumental to the instrument--it is directly instrumental to it in so far as1 at the hand of the supreme scientist1 man is conducted through the finite as far as the gate of the infinite4 ,,footnotes3 #gd ,just as the family is the organ of physical reproduction1 but in that very capacity is ethically required to bring to birth the spiritual nature of its members4 #ge ,all that ,i have said in the beginning as to the relation of the finite and the infinite belongs under this head4 #gf ,there is one point too obvious to be overlooked1 but perhaps it had better be expressly mentioned4 ,the scientist helps us to build our world1 the physical nest in which we live1 first by mastering nature's procedures1 then by making possible inventions1 which increase the security of our footing in the physical world2 dispense us from the brute task of pitting our merely physical strength against the forces of nature2 render communication between distant peoples feasible1 and thereby lay the first foundation for an international society4 #gg ,vide ,introduction to the ,first ,book4 ,,chapter ,,iv ,,the ,,practical ,,vocations ,medicine is the executive of the science of physiology1 and the others1 on which it depends4 ,the physician has a certain work to do1 a certain need to satisfy--the need of health1 the alleviation of pain4 ,in endeavoring to satisfy this need he uses the sciences that underlie his vocation and in turn promotes those sciences4 ,on the lower levels of agriculture and the industrial arts the same holds true4 ,our physical necessities vociferously demand satisfaction4 ,they cannot wait4 ,men must have food or they perish4 ,the agriculturist supplies the food they need4 ,but the spiritual view of life declares that man1 while engaged in satisfying his material wants1 shall in so doing assert his spiritual nature4 ,he is to hammer out his personality on the anvil of his empirical necessities4 ,even as human beings do not partake of food like animals1 but indicate by the manner in which they take it the superior worth of the being who is dependent on food1 so the agriculturist who raises the food should testify to his spiritual character4 ,he does so in part at least by his reaction on the sciences which he applies1 biology1 chemistry1 etc4 ,the same holds good of the industrial occupations4 ,the work a man does should be the means of promoting the development of his mental and sthetic nature1 and of his will4 ,the mental and sthetic development is acquired by mastering and reacting on the science and the art that enter into the trade4 ,the development of the will1 the most important of all1 depends on the organic relations of the industrial workers among themselves and to their chiefs4 ,this raises the problem of the right organization of 8industrial vocationalists0 from the ethical point of view1 and the following questions present themselves3 ,shall the present division into the two hostile camps of trade-unionists and employers continue8 ,or is it to be regarded as a makeshift1 perhaps necessary during the present period of transition1 but certainly untenable in the long run8 ,is the uniform arrangement contemplated by ,socialism desirable1 the government of every industry and indeed of every vocation by the representatives of the community as a whole8 ,shall what is called coperation be adopted1 that is1 the formation of independent groups of workers on the voluntary principle1 associated for the purpose of equably dividing the profits8 ,the three alternatives mentioned may be examined from various points of view4 ,here we consider them from the ethical point of view4 ,assuming that the ethical end of life is to be supreme1 what kind of industrial re-organization of society will be most in harmony with it8 ,all three plans are open to the ethical objection that they concentrate attention on the material gain to be derived from the industry instead of on the specific service which those who follow the industry as a vocation are to render4 ,collective bargaining between unions and employers is after all just bargaining4 ,socialism differs from trade-unionism not in the object so much as in the means4 ,instead of securing for the workers a larger share it would secure for them at once an approximately equal share4 ,coperation aims at the same result as ,socialism by voluntary association instead of by collective compulsion4 ,none of the three plans is ethically satisfying1 and a fourth arrangement should be contemplated4 ,its characteristics are the following3 #a4 ,the idea of service to be pre-eminent instead of the gain1 the wage or salary to be apportioned as the means of sustaining the worker in the best possible performance of the service4 #b4 ,the work done by the workers to be the means of developing them mentally1 sthetically and volitionally1 the educational features therefore to be pre-eminent4 #c4 ,the industrial group to be transformed into a social sub-organism 7in the ethical sense a sub-organ of the larger organism of the nation74 ,by this is meant that the employers cease to be employers and become functionaries1 while each worker in his place and in his degree likewise becomes a functionary4 ,a common social service group will thus be formed embracing the chiefs and the humbler workers4 ,the chiefs will be the executive and administrative functionaries1 and will be safeguarded in the due discharge of their proper functions4 ,the workers will not attempt to wrest from their chiefs as they do at present the directive functions which properly belong to the latter 7subject1 however1 to due control74 ,to each of the lesser functionaries in turn will be assigned a sphere within which a relative independence would be his4 ,the industry as a whole will be an organ of the corpus sociale1 and this its character will be expressed in its government4 ,the workers1 not required to render implicit obedience to rules imposed upon them by masters and superintendents1 will have a voice in the legislation of the industry1 in framing the policy of the industry1 in electing the chiefs1 and in this way the development of the will1 upon which ,i lay the greatest stress1 will be attained4 ,the will of the worker1 at present fettered1 will be liberated by the opportunity given it to become enlightened and effectual4 ,i am not here describing a scheme which is to be immediately launched in its completeness4 ,i am illustrating the ethical principle as ,i see it as applied to this particular vocation4 ,i am endeavoring to show how an occupation can be changed into a vocation4 ,the constitutional government of industries would be an intermediate stage between the present autocratic form1 in which more or less absolute power is vested in the employer1 and that organic constitution of industry which is ethically desirable4 ,thus far the following plans have been before the minds of social reformers3 ,a4 ,competition1 or life and death struggle4 ,b4 ,modified competition1 or raising the plane of competition1 as it is called1 that is1 doing away with the more ferocious and unscrupulous methods of competition4 ,c4 ,socialism4 ,d4 ,coperation4 ,i propose to add 7,e7 organization in the ethical sense4 ,the word 8organization0 is deplorably misused at present4 ,it is commonly employed as a synonym for aggregation1 which is the very reverse of organization4 ,thus 8organized labor0 really means aggregate labor1 labor acting en masse4 ,a further remark on the difference between industrial vocationalism as outlined and ,socialism may be of use in clarifying the main idea4 ,the relative independence of the social sub-organism is the salient point4 ,this kind of independence is based on the general conception underlying my entire ethical philosophy1 that the ethical quality resides in uniqueness in distinctiveness1 that ethical progress consists in driving towards individualization in the sense of personalization4 ,this as opposed to those philosophies of life that see the ethical quality in uniformity4 ,socialism is on the side of uniformity4 ,it is indeed an extreme expression of it4 ,if sometimes it is urged that the relative independence of the vocational groups might be recognized in the socialistic state1 the answer is that the tendency would be in the opposite direction4 ,and besides1 the all-important question is to what end the relative independence is to be used4 ,under socialism it would be used for the purpose of increasing the quantity of valuable products at the disposal of the community as a whole4 ,from the ethical point of view1 the independence of the organic group would be used to insure reciprocal relations1 and by means of these the development mentally1 sthetically and volitionally of the producers4 ,the distinction certainly is clear enough to its members1 whichever way the reader may incline4#gh ,the ,historical ,sciences ,i refer now briefly to historical science4 ,the ethical aim of history and its adjunct sciences is to redeem from oblivion as far as is possible the past of the human race1 its documents1 its monuments1 the knowledge of its political adventures1 its customs1 laws and institutions1 its religious beliefs4 ,in view of the lacunae in our knowledge a complete revival of the past is impossible4 ,we must therefore principally seek to understand the ruling ideas that have governed our ancestors1 in the family1 in the state1 etc4 ,the task of the historian is to present these ideas as seen in the light of their consequences1 so as to help us revalue them from the point of view of present experience and insight4 ,the historian will thus enable us to carry over from the past what is truly valuable1 for the business we have in hand4 ,there is just now a strong reaction against the kind of historical science which deals principally with wars and the actions of princes or of great leaders4 ,detailed attention is being given to the more obscure life of the people4 ,but it must be remembered that mere penetration into the lower strata of bygone societies1 the mere heaping up of facts concerning mass movements1 is as unprofitable as the more picturesque recitals with which works on history were formerly adorned4 ,the mass movements and the ideas which gave rise to them should be set clear as far as possible2 but without the evaluation and the revaluation1 or the ethical appraisement1 the voluminous knowledge of details is merely stupefying1 and leaves us as much at sea as ever4#gi ,many men have read many books on history1 and filled their minds with information on subjects like the ,protestant ,reformation or the ,french ,revolution1 without being in the least wiser themselves1 or more fitted to enlighten others in respect to the religious and ethical problems which were involved in these great movements1 and which still touch us so closely today4 ,as to the ordinary high school or college student1 what as a rule does he carry away from his study of past 8history08 ,,footnotes3 #gh ,the vocational group must be independent because the expert familiar with the conditions under which a service is performed is specially competent to decide on the improvements required to render the conditions more favorable to the development of human nature1 the service more adequate4 ,the representatives of the collective community1 that is of the inexpert1 outside mass 7inexpert in respect to this particular service7 can never perform the same office4 ,with regard to the present state of industry the gigantic obstacle in the way of improvement is obviously the subjection of the man to the machine4 ,the great hardship which the millions of factory operatives suffer is not only the insufficient wage1 it is the depersonalizing effect produced by the substitution of the machine for the hand and the blind subjection of adult workers to the arbitrary will of superiors4 7,compare what ,i have said on this subject in the chapter on 8,an ,ethical ,programme of ,social ,reform0 in ,the ,world ,crisis47 #gi ,think of ,mommsen1 the author of a thousand treatises1 whose knowledge of the facts of ,roman history was unsurpassed and probably unequalled4 ,yet is his judgment on ,csar or ,csarism helpful as an ethical appraisement8 ,,chapter ,v ,,the ,,vocation ,,of ,,the ,,artist3 ,,outline ,,of ,a ,,theory ,,of ,,the ,,relation ,,of ,,art ,,to ,,ethics ,the three great directions of effort are3 to work in the finite2 to create in the finite the semblance of the infinite2 to realize through effort the reality of the infinite4 ,the vocation of the artist is to create the semblance of the spiritual relation between the parts of an empirical object4 ,the object may be a vase or a lamp2 it may be a human figure1 it may be a group of dramatis personae4 ,by introducing into the discussion of art the idea that a semblance of the spiritual relation is to be produced by the artist1 we get rid at the outset of the barren formula of unity in variety4 ,let me endeavor to elucidate the main ideas that flow from this definition of the spiritual aim of art4 #a4 ,the two points to be discussed are3 ,what is meant by semblance8 and ,what is meant by the quasi-spiritual relation as subsisting between the parts of a work of ,art8 ,first1 then1 there is the semblance of totality4 ,the spiritual relation is characterized by the totality of the parts related4 ,that totality is realized only in the universal manifold4 ,but a semblance of totality is furnished in the case of colors by the circumstance that the chromatic scale is cut off at the bottom and top in consequence of our inability to perceive the colors below and above2 the musical scale likewise presents a quasi-totality1 and the human figure in its contours presents a thing cut off from its surroundings1 and in so far relatively complete in itself4 ,because the spiritual relation involves the idea of the perfect totality1 a relative totality1 due to the accidental limitations of our sensory organs and power of attention1 may become a semblance of the spiritual totality4 ,i say1 may become4 ,a certain relation must be established between the parts of the relative totality in order that the semblance shall result4 ,one thing is clear2 the subject of the work of art must possess relative completeness1 and be capable of being contemplated as circumscribed and separated off4 ,it must stand out like a tree1 or like an oasis encircled by the desert1 or like an island4 ,the subject of art cannot be a mere length of cloth cut off from the fabric of things as they reel unceasingly from the loom of time--the mistake of ,realism4 ,the point1 emphasized in our third ,book1 namely1 that an empirical substratum is to be spiritualized1 and that ethics consists in spiritualizing this physical and psychical substratum1 applies to art1 but with the difference1 that in the case of art the physical or psychical substratum cannot be spiritualized1 but is to be made to take on the semblance of spirituality4 ,now what is meant by this kind of transformation8 ,i can perhaps explain by using as an illustration the color scheme of a picture4 ,the transformation appears in the difference between the colors on the palette and the colors on the canvas4 ,the colors on the palette represent the empirical substratum1 the natural colors2 the colors seen on the canvas show the same natural tints after they have taken on a new or second nature4 ,the second nature1--in what does it consist8 ,in the circumstance that each color on the canvas1 by its juxtaposition and its relation to the rest1 is altered in tone and value1 and that all the rest are altered by it4 ,the spiritual relation is a give and take relation actually carried out4 ,the semblance produced in art is the illusive appearance of such a relation as seen by the beholder4 ,we have thus set down two points--the apparent totality1 and the apparent give and take relation between the parts 7the second nature assumed by the parts1 the illusory transformation of the substratum74 ,a third point involved in the second is that each part of a work of art shall remain invincibly individualized1 despite the closeness of the relation which connects it with the rest4 ,the individual member of a work of art may never be submerged in the whole1 may never merely convey the abstract idea of unity amid variation4 ,the 8unity in variety0 formula is not only empty but misleading1 based on the same misconception which we have noted in dealing with ,kant and with the ,pantheists4 ,the unity of a work of art consists in the reciprocal effect produced by the members on each other4 ,hence the more accentuated1 the more distinctive the members are1 always provided that the reciprocal relation is maintained1 the more artistically satisfying will be the result4 ,in this manner the work of art will be true to its essential character as a semblance of the spiritual relation4 ,i have thus far spoken of the form4 ,in regard to content ,i have only remarked that it must be capable of relative detachment4 ,it must also be capable of interior articulation4 ,the idea that an empirical substratum is to be transformed will here be found helpful in determining what is and what is not a fit subject for art4 ,a vase or a pitcher is a utensil4 ,as such it is a detached thing4 ,is it capable of articulation without destroying its utility8 ,if it is1 as the beautiful vases show1 it is a fit subject for art to treat4 ,the embellishment of utensils1 of tables1 chairs1 etc41 that is to say1 the giving of artistic form to objects with which we bodily come into contact1 is a means of casting the appearance of the spiritual relation over these objects1 and thus in a fine sense making them congenial to ourselves as spiritual personalities4 ,this justifies the time spent by artist artisans on their handiwork1 and also justifies our availing ourselves of their products 7provided that the store set by these symbolic reminders of the spiritual relation do not divert us from the main business of life1 which is to attempt to realize that relation in human intercourse74 ,the war song sung by a primitive tribe is a detachable1 empirical thing1 and possesses natural articulation4 ,it has its slow beginning1 its gradual rise1 its paroxysmic culminations1 its wild ecstasy1 its final dying down4 ,the love passion expressed in lyric form has for its basis the natural ups and downs1 dejections and transports characteristic of that passion4 ,the theme of a tragedy1 as ,aristotle says1 must have a beginning1 a middle1 and an end4 ,repetition 7always with a difference71 contrast1 apparent triumph1 defeat1 and somehow a triumph in defeat--whatever may be the elements with which the tragic poet deals1 the crude substance of them is furnished by the theme itself4 ,and the result becomes artistic when the articulation is such that each part becomes a member of an organized whole1 that is1 when each part exchanges its first nature for the second nature mentioned above in connection with painting4#hj ,the next point of interest to consider is whether beauty is to be regarded as the invariable object of art4 ,relative detachment and susceptibility to articulation in the manner described are indispensable4 ,but if tragedy is to be included1 beauty cannot be the exclusive object4 ,lear1 on the heath1 the harpy daughters1 ,lear and ,cordelia perishing together1 are not beautiful objects4 ,the task of the artist is to produce the semblance of the spiritual relation in any material which is capable of bearing that imprint4 ,in the great tragedies we are lifted into an exalted mood by the form of the work even though the subject treated evokes horror--perhaps because of the very contrast between the form and the subject-matter4 ,beauty1 on the other hand1 is produced when both subject-matter and form are satisfying to our needs or aspirations4 ,a vase is beautiful when perfectly adapted to its use and at the same time perfect in form4 ,for this reason any kind of embellishment1 for instance1 in architecture not structurally in place is offensive1 while on the other hand mere structural utility without the formal touch is mechanical4 ,it is not true that utility itself inevitably flowers into beauty4 ,it should be added1 however1 that the artistic expression even of unsatisfied desires may come within the scope of beauty4 ,the 8,lycidas0 is beautiful1 ,wordsworth's 8,laodamia0 is beautiful1 the ,gothic form of architecture is beautiful1 and so is ,keats' 8,ode to the ,nightingale10 and ,shelley's 8,ode to the ,west ,wind40 ,in such productions the adequate expression of the need itself affords relief and induces tranquillity4 ,the mind ceases to strive toward a beyond longed for1 and rests tranquillized in the longing itself4 ,that it should thus aspire and long1 in consequence of its higher nature1 and the assurance of the existence of this higher nature1 as evidenced by the longing1 is peace-giving4 ,but it is hardly possible to discuss even in the most cursory manner the subject matter or content of a work of art without drawing attention to the ideals which at various times have been expressed in art1 and to the function of art in respect to these ideals4 ,for here the grandeur of the great art as connected with the ultimate aim and purpose of life appears4 ,art in its fictions has endeavored to present to men the solution of the problem of life1 the things most worth striving for4 ,the ideals1 of course1 have varied4 ,in the ,greek epic the heroes contend around the walls of wind-swept ,ilion4 ,they themselves are wind-swept apparitions4 ,life is short2 presently they too will pass out of sight1 yet their names and deeds will live after them4 ,fate is inscrutable4 ,there is no ulterior meaning in things4 ,to glitter for a time in shining armor1 and then to be remembered in the song of the rhapsodists is alone worth while4 ,it is this ideal of life that ,homer records4 ,the romantic ideal of feudalism is reflected in the poems of chivalry4 ,the ideal of the ,english ,renascence is found in ,shakespeare4 ,the religious ideals are expressed in the ,hindu temples1 in the ,parthenon1 in the medival cathedrals1 and in the poems of ,dante and ,milton4 ,the ideals of the oriental monarchs are visibly embodied in the ,assyrian and ,babylonian palaces2 the ideal of the merchant class in the stones of ,venice1 in the architecture of the ,german and ,flemish cities1 etc4 ,the plastic arts especially owe their rise and prosperity to the princely and religious ideals--to the demand for temples1 churches and palaces suitable for monarchs or merchant princes to dwell and worship in4 ,the aim of the artificer is to furnish a splendid setting for princes and divinities4 ,mankind at different periods is in labor to give birth to ideals representing the purpose for which man exists1 or the things that make life worth while1 and art assists in bringing to the birth these ideals4 ,it seeks to express them1 and in the effort to do so it helps to develop and clarify them4 ,this1 and not merely to give pleasure1 is its grand function4 ,in an age like the present1 in which a new ideal is in the early stages of formation1 art is likely to become1 as in fact it has become1 uncertain of its function1 and hence apt to lose its direction1 either turning back to the servile reproduction of past art forms1 or seeking to achieve progress in the perfection of technical detail1 or in the ways of subjective impressionism4#ha ,the efforts of a serious artist today1 in so far as he undertakes to assist in bringing to the birth a new ideal by his endeavor to express it1 must necessarily be tentative1 if not crude4 ,but such as they are their worth1 if wholly sincere1 can hardly be overestimated4 ,in the vocation of the artist1 as everywhere1 the three-fold reverence is the capital point4 ,reverence for the great masters1 as shown not in slavishly copying them1 but in understanding the qualities that made them great1 and in delivering from past art the things that are to be reincorporated and to live on2 reverence for those who in different fields are intent on the problem of art today--all this to prepare the way for future artists1 for the greater art that is to come4 ,the relation of art to ethics1 or to the spiritual life1 is now sufficiently clear4 ,in general it is to produce the semblance of the spiritual relation1 and thereby to rejuvenate the world's workers1 to give them the joy of relative perfection1 and thus to stimulate them to persevere in the real business of life1 which is to approximate toward actual perfection4 ,the specific task of the artist at its height is to enshrine in his creation the ideals of the age with respect to the ultimate purpose of human existence1 and in the endeavor so to incorporate them as to assist in defining them4 ,the dangers of pre-occupation with art1 however1 must not be passed over4 ,just because it creates the illusion of perfection it is apt to encourage the indolence of our nature1 which ever prefers to content itself with illusion1 and to desist from effort4 ,it is on this account that periods in which art greatly flourishes are apt to lead to the halting of progress and eventually to decay4 ,a second danger is that the artist1 in applying the ideal of present perfection1 is in danger of selfishly subordinating other persons to himself 7cf4 ,goethe as a notable example71 or of setting up a special kind of morality for artists4#hb ,in a full account of the matter1 the different so-called fine arts should be specifically treated from the point of view of this chapter4 ,the particular contribution of each to the general purpose of art should be noted1 the distinctions marked between painting1 sculpture1 poetry1 etc41 and in each case the kind of art which is favorable to the spiritual development of man be discriminated from that which is hostile to it4 ,plato attempted to do this in the case of music4 ,to summarize3 ,what has been attempted in this chapter is a theory not of art but of the relation of art to ethics4 ,the dominating thought is this3 in a work of art each line1 color1 sound1 word1 must be irreplaceable1 and on that account convincing4 ,each member must be indispensable in its place and the connection with the rest inevitable4 ,substitute for line1 color1 sound1 etc41 a life--an ethical being1--conceive the members to be not a few but in number infinite1 and you have the spiritual ideal1 which is the reality whereof the art work is a semblance4 ,this is the relation of art to ethics--the quality which we call in art 8convincing10 in ethics we call 8worth40 ,,notes ,as one example architecture may be mentioned4 ,architecture furnishes the envelope for the social life1 the dwelling1 the nest of the family1 the workshops that house the vocational life1 the public buildings that provide a habitation for the political life1 the temples1 the churches that enshrine the religious life4 ,the relation of the enshrining dwelling to the inner social life should be the same as that of the body to the soul in sculpture4 ,that which goes on within should be significantly indicated externally4 ,the progress of architecture will depend on its holding fast to this idea1 and changing the outside as the inner life changes4 ,thus1 we have1 or are beginning to have1 a conception of the family very different from that which prevailed at the time when the princely mansions of the ,renaissance were built4 ,to reproduce these princely mansions because they beautifully expressed the princely idea is a mistake4 ,to provide a proper dwelling-place for the modern family the architect should clearly apprehend what functions go on in the family1 what the distribution of functions should be1 and the rank to be assigned to the different functions4 ,there is to be1 for instance1 in addition to the ordinary requirements1 provision for separate study rooms1 places of retirement1 refuges of intellectual solitude for the adult members2 a playroom for children1 a place of reunion for the household religion4 ,the formation of a number of families into a larger group 7vid4 supra7 would help in the solution of this problem4 ,in like manner the conception of what a religious society should be is changing4 ,the church-building1 the ,mosque1 the ,synagogue1 certainly no longer declare the spirit and the purpose that animate the new religious fellowships that are forming among us today4 ,the progress of architecture will thus depend1 not on the out of hand invention of new styles1 but on a thorough understanding of the new kind of life which is to be domiciled within buildings1 accepting this as the empirical substratum1 and articulating it in accordance with the spiritual relation of give and take between the parts2 and the architect will assist in clarifying the ideal of the new kind of life that is to be lived within the buildings by endeavoring to give it outward expression4 ,one more remark3 ,the limitations opposed to the artist1 for instance to the sculptor1 by the material in which he works1 are a helpful illustration of one of the most important ethical truths4 ,the material is found to be intractable to the idea4 ,the hardness of the stone1 the veins that run through the marble1 the unpropitious qualities of the wood1 are so many hindrances to execution4 ,the value of these hindrances is that they compel the artist to achieve a more definite grasp of the ideal itself4 ,before the attempt to carry it out into stone1 the idea is apt to be vague in the mind of the artist4 ,the same is true of every ideal conception--that of the author before he writes a book1 that of the social reformer before he attempts to carry his scheme into practice4 ,and it applies no less to the ethical ideal of life in general4 ,the empirical analogue or substratum is ductile to a certain degree1 else we could never achieve even partial success4 ,but it is also hostile and mutinous in many ways1 and the fact that it is so compels us to adapt our ideal to existing empirical requirements1 and to make it more explicit in the process of adapting it4 ,,footnotes3 #hj ,aristotle regards the dipus ,rex as the most perfect example of tragedy2 let it serve the purpose of illustrating the idea here proposed4 ,read the play and get the total impression of it4 ,analyze it into its parts4 ,synthesize after the analysis4 ,you will not fail to realize how every character1 every speech and act1 contributes to the total effect1 and how in turn every single factor in the play receives a new significance from its relation to the rest1 while still retaining its obvious meaning 7the meaning it would have when taken out of the context of the play74 ,take the first speech of dipus as an example4 ,he is the king solicitous for the welfare of his subjects1 to whom they look up with admiration and gratitude4 ,he is the father of his people4 ,read this speech again after you have taken in the entire play1 and note how its color is changed4 ,how the firmness1 the fatherly1 protective attitude is now seen to be the outward mask of a fugitive soul1 unsure of itself1 haunted by hideous fears4 #ha ,the use made of pageantry1 the revival of ,english and other folk-songs1 the morris-dances and the like1 the attempt to ennoble the leisure of the industrial workers by leading them back to forms of art which sprang up centuries ago in foreign countries1 is evidence of the keen desire for art rather than a step in a new direction4 #hb ,art1 like science1 is to be subordinate4 ,the relation between persons and persons is mankind's supreme concern4 ,the views above expressed differ radically from those of ,schiller4 ,see his sthetic ,education of ,man4 ,,chapter ,,vi ,,educational ,,vocations1 ,,or ,,vocations ,,connected ,,with ,,the ,,state ,every vocation on its ethical side is educational4 ,the reason for accentuating the educational aspect of the vocations connected with the state is that this educational significance is generally overlooked4 ,the vocations referred to are those of the lawyer1 the judge1 the statesman1 the teacher in the narrower sense of the word 7the teacher in schools and universities74 ,the ,vocation of the ,lawyer ,vocation1 as ,i use the term1 invariably means related to the spiritual end of life4 ,a profession or occupation becomes a vocation when he who follows it seeks to respond to the call of the latent spiritual possibilities in his fellowmen4 ,if this be not the common definition of calling or vocation1 yet ,i think it will bear scrutiny4 ,it is the vocation of the lawyer to be the teacher of justice to his clients1--,i mean of justice in so far as it is already embodied in law1--and at the same time to promote a desire for and a preliminary understanding of the justice which is not yet embodied in law4 ,the lawyer is commonly regarded as the learned alter ego of his client4 ,the lawyer is the client as he would be if he were versed in the law1 and skilled to employ it in his interest4 ,the client is supposed to be an egotist1 intent solely on securing his advantage to the fullest extent possible under the existing system of social regulations4 ,the lawyer is his expert substitute4 ,the judge appears on the scene as the impartial representative of the law4 ,from the vocational point of view the lawyer is an assistant to the judge1 the agent not so much of his client as of justice4 ,he is as much interested in the just issue of the suit as is his legal opponent4 ,his educational function is to teach his client to take the same point of view4 ,another point1 no less important1 is the following3 ,law is a system of general rules1 at best a rude social mechanics4 ,and even as such it is constantly deflected from its ostensible purpose by selfishness and prejudice4 ,the discriminations against women1 the conspiracy laws against combinations of laborers1 the laws enacted in the interests of landed aristocracies1 are ample evidence in point4 ,in every country the law as it stands is still largely infected with unfair discriminations1 and it is the special duty of those who follow the legal vocation to open the eyes of their clients and of the public to these defects and to suggest remedies4 ,every vocation has its special vice1 that is1 a kind of behavior the very opposite of that prescribed by the particular ethical function with which it is charged4 ,the vice of the lawyer is blind conservatism 7unless he is at the same time progressive and conservative he fails to fulfil his ethical function74 ,the judge1 too1 is a teacher1 especially in criminal cases4 ,the voice of the judge1 when he pronounces sentence on a criminal1 should reverberate throughout the whole of society1 awakening all men to the fact that society as such shares the guilt4 ,the ,vocation of the ,statesman ,what ,i have to say on this subject will find its proper setting in the next chapter4 ,in general1 it is the vocation of the statesman to teach the citizens a sublime conception of the state4 ,he is neither to be the obedient tool of the mass--the docile 8public servant0 in that sense--nor yet to impose his arbitrary will upon the people1 consulting only his own genius4 ,the one type is seen in the average ,american politician1 who is or affects to be a mere instrument executing the public will2 the other type is exemplified by the supermen statesmen of ancient and modern times4 ,the ethically-minded statesman is to evoke the spiritual conception of the ,state in the minds of his constituents1 and in the process of doing so to become more essentially a citizen himself4 ,the ,vocation of the ,educator ,it was unavoidable to discuss the vocations and their aims before considering the school1 college and university2 for these institutions are orientated towards the vocations1 are preparatory to the latter1 and the true aim of school and university cannot possibly be defined unless the vocational outlook be first distinctly spread before our eyes4 ,in dealing with the vocation of the teacher1 ,i shall necessarily be led to define the purpose of the social institution in which he labors and ,i shall for the sake of brevity use the word school to designate the social organs of education1 which cover the period of childhood1 adolescence and the beginning of manhood and womanhood4 ,the school is like the hundred-gated ,thebes4 ,it leads out into a hundred vocational avenues4 ,but note the following3 its aim is far greater than merely to prepare the student for that future vocation to which he is best suited4 ,it should no less supply the incentive for creating new vocations1 and for changing what are at present still occupations into vocations4 ,the school searches out the individuality of its pupils4 ,it undertakes to differentiate and to personalize individualities4 ,but when it has done its part1 it sends the pupils into a world where little account is taken of the finer differences of aptitude1 where occupations predominate and vocations are few1 and where most things1 ethically speaking1 are still in the rough4 ,the school cannot indeed transform society by merely raising its indignant voice and asking society to pay heed to the finer things which it has fostered1 and which often are subsequently crushed4 ,but it can at least contribute to the vocational evolution of society by reiterating its unsatisfied demands4 ,taking the three-fold reverence for my guide1 ,i lay it down in the first place that the school is an organ of tradition4 ,true conservatism has its place in the school4 ,in it are preserved the knowledges and the skills of the past4 ,the heir of today comes to his own by appropriating the products of past thinking and past labor1 and the school superintends the process of appropriation and assimilation4 ,at the same time it sifts in tradition what is clean from what is unclean1 what is true from what is false1 what is usable from what is dead4 ,reverence is shown in this very sifting process4 ,to revere the past is to make the past live again2 but only what is vital can go on living4 ,the teaching should be reverential in spirit4 ,the business spirit1 the drive towards mere efficiency1 cannot in the long run satisfy4 ,efficiency as commonly understood has in view the utilities of the moment4 ,it merely exploits the past for the sake of present interests1 and as a rule is unmindful of the future4 ,industrial efficiency1 in particular1 reverses the right ethical relation between work and personality2 instead of work being so contrived as to liberate personality1 it is mechanized so as to sacrifice personality4 ,the teacher should be reverent towards the great masters of his own craft1 his own art4 ,no one is reverenced by others who does not himself habitually revere someone4 ,the teachers should be acquainted at first hand with the master educators1 such as ,plato1 ,comenius1 ,pestalozzi and the others4 ,i pass on to speak of the second type of reverence4 ,this involves cordial reciprocally stimulating relations between the members of the teaching staff4 ,it is generally agreed that no other factor counts for more in shaping the character of the young than personal influence4 ,the best personal influence1 however1 is not unilateral1 like that which radiates from a single teacher upon his class4 ,the best is that which proceeds from cross-relations between a number of teachers4 ,just as in the home it is not the father singly1 nor the mother singly1 but the reciprocal relations between the two that touch child life to finer issues and create a spiritual atmosphere in the learner1 so also in the school the best spirit is created by the relations of reciprocal furtherance between the teachers1 each doing his work in such a way as to make easier and more successful the work of his colleagues1 with a strong sense of partnership in the common work of man-building4 ,the teachers as an organized body should also relate themselves to an organized body of parents4 ,home and school should not merely coperate but interpenetrate4 ,the interests and efforts of both are centered on the same young lives4 ,the home is supremely concerned in what goes on in the school1 and the school in the kind of influence that prevails in the home4 ,an organized conference of parents is in a position to render signal service to a school by appraising its ideals1 by keeping tally on the extent to which acknowledged standards are carried out1 and by joining in the unceasing endeavor to advance the standards4 ,schools must be backed by the interest and appreciation of the community4 ,parents whose children are pupils of a school are for that particular school the best representatives of the community4 ,the school is to prepare its charges1 not only for vocational life1 but for citizenship4 ,teachers must be good citizens4 ,they cannot give what they do not possess4 ,they must keep in living contact with the civic and social movements of the time4 ,the first and second types are instrumental to the third4 ,now here1 if anywhere1 a new departure in educational philosophy is called for4 ,for when we discuss this third kind of reverence1 the question of all questions is raised3 ,to what end do we educate8 ,what is to be the aim and outcome of all our effort8 ,and our answer to this question will depend on our philosophy1 and if our philosophy is ethical our answer must be distinctively ethical4 ,froebel was a pantheist1 and his pantheism colored his conception of the educational end4 ,pestalozzi was an eighteenth century humanitarian4 ,many modern writers on education are biological evolutionists4 ,others even expressly disclaim any general outlook1 and appear to be exclusively interested in perfecting the technique of schoolmastering4 ,reverence of the third type is reverence for the undeveloped human being1--for the new generation1 for our successors4 ,what is it that we are to revere in a child8 ,its spiritual possibilities1 its latent personality4 ,to bring to birth its personality is the supreme educational end4 ,we show our reverence for the child in the effort to personalize it4 ,let us consider in brief some of the practical consequences of this idea4 ,to personalize the individual the first step is to discover the empirical substratum in his nature4 ,there is ever an empirical substratum subject to ethical transformations4 ,the empirical substratum of personality is individuality6 ,individuality manifests itself in a leading interest of some kind1 a predominant bias which indicates the thing which the individual is fit to be and do4 ,to discover the bent or bias is the first step1 and the difficulties in the way of taking even this first step are admittedly great4 ,children and even adolescents often show no marked intellectual preferences whatever4 ,many adults too appear to be neutral so far as their mental life is concerned4 ,circumstances ran them perhaps into a certain mould--they might have been run into some other just as well4 ,it is the task of the educator to discover the predominant interest where it exists1 and to try to produce such an interest where it does not4 ,what nature has not done in such cases art must attempt4 ,when the leading interest is found it should next be made the means of creating interest in subjects to which the pupil is naturally indifferent or even averse4 ,i have illustrated the process here implied in a paper on the prevocational art school which is connected with the ,ethical ,culture ,school4 ,young persons devoted to art are often unwilling to take up subjects which seem to them unrelated to what they really care for1 like science and history4 ,they are obsessed by a single passionate ambition4 ,they are all eagerness to become artists--to draw1 paint1 model1 etc4 ,time spent on any other subject seems to them misspent4 ,if indulged in this one-sided activity1 the chances are that they will not even become competent artists4 ,in any case they will lack breadth and vision4 ,they will lack a cultural background4 ,they will be inferior as human beings4 ,they will not be personalized4 ,for personality1 on its mental as well as on its social side1 depends on relatedness1--depends not so much on what one does1 as on the interrelation between what one does and what other people do4 ,in order to expand the interest of the young art student1 the method employed in the school just mentioned is to present those subjects which appear to be alien in such a way as to bring out the art aspects of them1 the contact points between them and art4 ,thus in history special prominence is given to the age of ,pericles1 the age of ,rembrandt4 ,in science special attention is paid to the theory of color1 the chemistry of etching4 ,and all other branches of knowledge are treated similarly4 ,the aim is not indeed to exploit the other subjects in the interest of art1 but so to utilize the artistic interest as to lead the mind out to a larger comprehensive interest in other related branches on their own account4 ,or rather1 to put my thought precisely1 and thus to connect it with the underlying ethical theory1 the aim is to prepare the future artist for the give and take relation between his own pursuit and the activities of men in other vocations4 ,he should be helped to enrich his own life as an artist by drawing upon all that the sciences and the humanities can give him1 with a view to eventually returning with interest the profit he has derived4 ,what the artist can do for the scientist1 the religious teacher1 etc41 ,i have indicated in the previous chapter4 ,precisely the same cultural idea should be worked out in prevocational schools of commerce1 of technology1 of science1 etc4 ,in each case the paramount interest should be the starting-point1 the center from which lines of interest are to be made to radiate out into the correlated branches4 ,if this ethical idea is carried out the whole educational system will be remodeled4 ,the csura in education will then fall about the sixteenth year4 ,before that the task will be to lay the general foundations and to reconnoiter the individuality of the pupil4 ,after that there will be a system of prevocational schools4 ,the college1 a legacy which has come to us from a type of society unlike our own1 will disappear1 and the university will become an organism of vocational schools succeeding the prevocational4#hc ,i mentioned at the end of ,book ,i the problem of specialization1 the increased necessity of restricting oneself to a limited field in order to achieve anything like the consciousness of mastery1 and the inevitable fractionalizing of men which is the consequence of this very tendency toward specialization4 ,in the idea of outreaching radiations of interest and of the give and take relation there is the promise of liberation from the narrowness of specialism without the calamity of dilettantism4 ,that this idea cannot be fully realized1 that no one can actually extend his web of interest so far1 that his reactions at best will be feeble1 is perhaps a palmary instance of that law of frustration which fatally besets all human effort4 ,but the effort will be in the right direction1 and the effort counts4 ,the ,university ,in sketching the ethical or spiritual side of the ,university1 initial stress is to be laid on the meaning of the word universitas4 ,the term as at present used hardly suggests more than all-inclusiveness4 ,a modern university is an institution in which all the different schools1 the school of engineering1 the school of science1 the school of philosophy1 etc41 exist side by side1 under a single governing body1 and in which the various branches of knowledge are pursued without any visible systematic connection between them6 ,the spiritual ideal of a university is that of system1 of organic connection1 for this is what spiritual means4 ,in looking back on the history of the higher institutions of learning one cannot but be struck by the close correspondence of those institutions to the general ideals of life of the people among whom they flourished4 ,i call to mind the ,hindu education with its ,brahmanic background2 the ,mandarin education1 with ,confucianism as its inspiring principle2 the musical education of the ,greeks2 the theological education of ,jews and ,mohammedans2 then among the ,western nations1 the ,english university a seminary for training rulers of the ,empire2 the ,german university1 a training institution for the higher bureaucracy2 the ,french university1 visibly reflecting the logical tendency of the ,french mind4 ,we in ,america1 instructed by the survey of the past1 are bound to face the question3 ,in what way shall the ,american university differ from universities elsewhere8 ,what characteristic shape shall the ,american university take on8 ,how can the ,american university correspond to the ,american ideal of life8 ,at present our notions in this respect are in a formative1 not to say in a chaotic1 condition4 ,the college still survives--an institution designed for the education of gentlemen4 ,practical tendencies1 looking toward materialistic success1 prevail in many of our ,western universities4 ,the ,german research idea has come in as a third factor1 penetrating deeply in some of our institutions1 less deeply in others1 but inharmonious everywhere with the rival conceptions that still persist4 ,the principal circumstance that retards our university development doubtless is that the ideal of ,american life itself1 which the university is to express and to promote1 is as yet undefined in the minds of the ,american people4 ,but without presuming to anticipate what must be the outcome of gradual and prolonged growth1 it may still be serviceable to clear our minds as to the goal towards which we desire that the development shall tend4 ,the fundamental ideal of the ,american people is that of freedom6 ,the notion of freedom is crude as yet1 but is capable of being ennobled and refined4 ,to be free is to express power4 ,to be free in the highest sense is to express the highest kind of power4 ,the highest kind is that which is exercised in such wise as to elicit unlike yet cognate power in others4 ,a people is to be called free when all the different social or vocational groups of which it is the integrated whole spontaneously react upon one another1 and when in each group each member of it realizes some mental gift of his own4 ,a free people is not one which is merely released from the authority of autocrats4 ,that is only a condition of freedom1 not freedom itself4 ,a free people is not one in which strong individuals are permitted to thrive parasitically at the expense of the weak4 ,nor yet one in which merely equal opportunity is afforded to all in the race for material well-being4 ,a free people is one in which the essential energies of all effectuate themselves unhindered1 the life of each swelling the surrounding tide of life1 and being enriched in turn by the returning tide4 ,this to my mind is liberty1--the liberation of what is best in each4 ,this is freedom1--the free flow of life into life4 ,the ideal ,american ,university is one which expresses and promotes this ideal of freedom4 ,a university is a group of vocational schools4 ,a truly democratic university is an organic system of vocational schools1 one which in the relations that subsist between its schools affords a shining1 stimulating example of the kind of relations that ought to subsist between the vocational groups in the state4 ,the aim of an ,american university should be to furnish leaders for all the various groups who will undertake the great business of truly organizing democracy4 ,education for ,adults ,education should be continuous through life4 ,the ,university ,extension movement is endeavoring to meet this demand4 ,it has already to its credit a considerable extension of knowledge1 as well as the stirring up of interest in things of the mind among those whom it reaches4 ,but far greater tasks than it has yet attacked remain4 ,the academic method is not suited to the instruction of adults4 ,a method will have to be worked out for teaching a subject to mature minds different from that which is appropriate in introducing the subject to the relatively immature minds of students4 ,the student who has not yet entered vocational life needs to be put in possession of the principles by which he can lay hold of life4 ,a mature person who is deficient in theoretical education needs to be helped to interpret his vocational experience in such a manner as to find his way back to the principles4 ,in the one case there is the outlook and the emptiness2 in the other case the fullness of content without the comprehensive outlook4 ,secondly1 the stages of vocational development through which the worker has already passed in his vocation are to be borne in mind1 and the teaching adapted to the different stages4 ,i have suggested four divisions3 that of apprenticeship1 that of initial mastery1 that of more complete mastery1 and the emeritus stage4#hd ,thirdly1 it is getting to be increasingly difficult for a specialist in any one branch to keep abreast of the progress made in other branches4 ,popularization of the ordinary kind does not satisfy4 ,it means1 as a rule1 diluting the subject-matter1 not truly simplifying it4 ,provision should be made1 in any large and generous scheme of public education1 for enabling ripe minds to assimilate the ripest fruits produced by contemporary thinkers and writers who work in other fields4 ,,note ,a few outstanding points in regard to what is called ,moral ,education may be added to this chapter4 ,there should be ethical teaching in the universities4 ,the kinds of ethics taught should be adapted to the university period of life1 emphasis being put on the experiences of the student at that time of life1--on friendship1 the sex relation1 the vocational outlook1 etc4 be included in the programme for the education of adults4 ,systematic moral education in schools and high schools is advisable4 ,it is frequently criticised on the ground that it is apt to be schematic and unreal4 ,moral counsels given as the occasion arises are believed to be more effective4 ,they hit the nail on the head and drive it home4 ,the reply to this is that incidental moral advice and exhortation is not excluded1 but that it by no means adequately answers the purpose4 ,the occasions for giving the necessary guidance simply do not arise4 ,this kind of moral teaching is apt to be patchy4 ,in the next place1 ethical instruction1 when rightly planned1 has two objects3 the one to bring into clear relief the life axioms that underlie the entire home and school experience of the pupil1 and secondly1 to give to the pupil a provisional chart and compass or ethical outlook upon his future life4 ,ethical teaching conceived of and conducted in this manner is neither schematic nor artificial4 ,it does not drive home a nail here and there1 it constructs a mental house in which the mind of the pupil can be at home1--with windows in it1 looking out upon a large landscape outside4 ,the capital significance of right relations1 ethical relations1 between the members of the teaching staff has been noted in the text4 ,in every school clubs should be formed consisting of pupils specially interested in any one subject and of the special teachers of that subject3--or if not formal clubs1 then at least more intimate personal relations should exist between the special teacher and those selected pupils1 the object being through personal intercourse to introduce the young aspirant to a knowledge of the problems on which the older person is intent4 ,there is nothing nearly so educative for the young as to be taken into the counsels of their elders4 ,the more gifted pupils of the school should be invited to take a personal interest in helping the more backward students4 ,in every school1 high school and university there are social misfits1--shy1 sensitive1 solitary youths who fail to come into easy touch with their fellows1 and suffer acutely4 ,they are objects of the most delicate1 deferential charity1 and the task of bringing them into fellowship offers one of the finest opportunities for ethical education4 ,a vital system of self-government is to be used as a means of placing real responsibility upon the students under due advice4 ,to exercise responsibility is to acquire character4 ,self-government is particularly important so far as it relates to the administration of justice in a school4 ,cases of discipline should be used as means to create the right conception of punishment1 the right attitude towards those who have erred4 ,the relation between the adolescent boy and girl and the parents is of prime significance as illustrating in a way that young persons can understand the general conception of the ethical relation as reciprocal4 ,the youth should be shown that he can be not only the recipient but a giver of benefits1 that he can be a real help to his parents1 chiefly by sympathetically entering into the problems and difficulties with which they have to contend4 ,the parents1 instead of being regarded by the young as an earthly providence1 existing only for the purpose of bestowing benefits1 should be seen in their true light as struggling1 and often heavily burdened human beings4 ,at the same time the young son or daughter will in this way gain an invaluable preparation for comprehending the difficulties under which the effort to live must be carried on4 ,in regard to patriotism1 it is important that the errors and mistakes committed by one's nation in the past should not be overlooked or minimized4 ,the school should furnish to the students various outlets for social service such as they in their period of life are capable of rendering4 ,,footnotes3 #hc ,compare with the spiritual conception of culture here outlined ,matthew ,arnold's 8knowing the best which has been thought and said02 and a recent definition of culture by an eminent ,american as 8the knowing one thing well and a little of everything else10 without correlation of the little one knows of everything else with the one thing one is supposed to know extremely well4 #hd ,see the chapter on 8,ethical ,development ,extending ,through ,life0 in ,the ,world ,crisis4 ,,chapter ,,vii ,,the ,,state ,the leading theories of the state should be kept in view for comparison with the ethical theory here set forth--the theories of ,aristotle and ,plato1 ,st4 ,augustine and the medival schoolmen1 ,rousseau's contract theory1 and the ,german conceptions of the state propounded by ,kant1 ,fichte1 ,hegel4 ,moreover1 since the ideas actually embodied in governments1 in the ,persian monarchy1 for instance1 in the ,greek ,city ,state1 ,venice1 etc41 are not identical with the constructions of the philosophers1 the leading facts of the history of politics should be borne in mind as well as the leading theories4 ,the state has two aspects3 7#a7 ,it is the balance wheel of the vocational groups included within it4 7#b7 ,it is the political expression of the national character1 and its ethical purpose is to develop this empirical national character into a spiritual character4 ,i shall speak of the first aspect in this chapter4 #a4 ,the state exists in order to furnish increasingly from age to age the conditions under which the reactions between the groups described above can take place effectually4 ,in concentrating attention upon the vocational groups as the entities to be harmonized with one another1 account is taken by implication of the family and of the individual4 ,the sub-organisms are embraced within the superior organisms4 ,a more general statement would be that the state supplies the external conditions required for development towards ethical personality by those who pass through the institutions of the family1 of the vocation1 etc4 ,the state possesses a spiritual character in so far as it supplies these conditions1 and in as much as it has a spiritual character it is not merely justified but ethically required to use force4 ,force is spiritualized when employed to establish the conditions indispensable to spiritual life4 ,the conditions enforced must be such as in the opinion of the preponderant number of citizens indisputably make for the development of personality4 ,examples of such conditions are protection of life1 property1 reputation1 compulsory education1 the maintenance of the monogamic family1 protection against foreign invasion1 etc4 ,all the functions of the state commonly enumerated follow from the ethical principle4 ,but over and above the recognized ones1 new and nobler functions of the state will appear4 ,the redeeming thought with respect to the use of force by the state consists in regarding force as ethical discipline1 and in making the extent to which it is favorable to spiritual freedom the measure and test of its rightful use4#he ,when men are compelled to spend the major part of their time in the protection of bare life1 as was the case1 for instance1 in the early days of feudalism1 they are to that extent unfree4 ,freedom consists in energizing the highest and most distinctive human faculties4 ,the development of the state should proceed in two directions4 ,it should withdraw from many functions exercised by it in the past1 notably from such as properly belong to the sub-organisms4 ,at the same time1 it should lay its coercive hands upon new matters1 imposing new limitations on capricious freedom in the interest of spiritual freedom1 as soon as the pertinency of such limitations to the ethical end becomes clear4 ,for instance1 the state may1 and doubtless will1 interfere with marriage to a far greater extent than it has yet done4 ,it will forbid the marriage of the unsound4 ,if a study of character-types should ever become advanced enough--a hazardous conjecture--to make it predictable that the union of certain character-types will lead to infelicitous marriage1 the state will be justified in prohibiting such unions4 ,law1 ideally defined1 is the sum total of conditions1 capable of being enforced1 which are necessary or favorable to the development of personality4 ,the purpose of law is two-fold3 to maintain the more developed members of society at the level they have reached1 and1 by educative penalties1 to bring the backward up to the same level4 ,in the article on 8,force and ,freedom0 referred to above1 law is compared to such bodily actions as walking1 which at first are superintended by consciousness1 and then become automatic1 thereby setting consciousness free to attend to new and more important business4 ,similarly1 law is designed to render the conditions favorable to personality so explicit that their observance shall become automatic1 and that mankind shall be at liberty to discover new and more significant conditions which in their turn are again to become automatic4 ,because of the lack of the ethical point of view1 the exercise of force by the state has seemed purely arbitrary1 and has given rise to a perverted and disastrous conception of sovereignty4 ,the sovereignty of the state has two aspects3 the one internal1 the other external4 ,sovereignty means supremacy4 ,the state is sovereign1 within limits1 however1 with respect to its citizens4 ,the state is also sovereign1 within limits1 however1 with respect to other outside states4 ,with respect to the internal aspect of sovereignty some writers hold that citizens have no rights as against the state--only rights accorded by the state4 ,but this from the ethical point of view is a wholly untenable position4 ,there are rights of the individual1 rights of the family1 rights of the vocational group1 which the state does not create but is bound to acknowledge and which its power cannot properly infringe4 ,as against the state the individual has1 for instance1 the right which is commonly designated as 8the freedom of conscience40 ,the family has rights against the state2 the law cannot interfere with the intimacies of the marriage and parental relations4 ,the vocational group likewise is only partially subject to public reglementation4 ,i have defined law as the sum total of the conditions4 ,the state can prescribe the conditions1 but cannot trace the ways of freedom within the conditions4 ,the state prescribes the enforceable conditions2 it has no concern with unenforceable inner processes4 ,it thus appears that sovereignty or supremacy is an attribute not peculiar to the state1 although it looms up larger and more impressive when exercised by the state4 ,supremacy belongs to the individual in his private sphere1 to the family in its proper province1 to the vocation1 etc4 ,sovereignty or supremacy belongs to each of the social institutions within its precincts1 in so far as the supremacy within that precinct is requisite for the accomplishment of the ethical end to be therein attained4 ,but sovereignty is not absolute in any sphere2 neither in that of the individual1 nor of the family1 nor yet of the state4 ,the absolute conception of sovereignty is the result of the lack of an ethical conception of the social institutions4 ,the state is sovereign only so far as the exercise of its supremacy is necessary to the spiritual end of citizenship4 ,on this account and for this purpose it may rightfully constrain the sub-organisms within it1 and may also pronounce its noli me tangere as against the larger group of states encompassing it4 ,but so far as the spiritual ends to be achieved in the international relations are concerned1 the state with respect to these is subject to international sovereignty1--a new conception which mankind is striving to bring to the birth today4 ,the false notion of state sovereignty as arbitrary and absolute1 is admittedly today a chief stumbling-block in the way of the formation of an international organization of peoples4 ,the ,system of ,representation ,which ,is ,required to ,give ,expression to the ,organic ,idea of the ,state4 ,the ethical aim of political reformation and reconstruction may be put in a single word1 ,organization4 ,the state and especially the democratic state must be organized4#hf ,this means practically that the basis of representation shall be the vocational group1 that vocational representation shall replace representation by geographical districts4#hg ,the law-making body on this basis will consist of representatives or delegates of the agricultural1 the commercial1 the industrial1 the scientific group1 etc4 ,women belonging to these groups will exercise the franchise within them4 ,there will also be a distinct group of home-makers2 motherhood will be recognized as a vocation4 ,attention may be called to certain practical advantages of the proposed rearrangement of the representative system4 ,it will tend to bring forward in political life the best citizens1 instead of the mediocre or the base4 ,this is likely to come about because there is no distinction that men more ardently covet than that of being considered primus inter pares2 as1 for instance1 the first or one of the first of the city's merchants1 or one of the most eminent scientists1 or an artist whom his fellow-artists select as the fittest to represent them in the great council of city1 state1 or nation4 ,and if only this much can be gained by the new representative system1 that the law-making body shall consist of the most experienced1 the most enlightened1 the wisest1 the actual leaders in the various walks of life1 in brief1 that the elected shall be the elect1 certainly one of the principal evils with which individualistic democracy is afflicted will tend to be removed4 ,but other advantages will accrue4 ,this1 in particular1 that the constituencies1 instead of merely delegating their powers1 will share in the business of law-making1 will be in vital touch with their leaders or representatives1 while the latter conversely will politically educate the constituencies4 ,the mode of procedure under the system here sketched will be somewhat as follows3 ,take1 as an illustration1 the group of industrial laborers4 ,they will first meet in a primary assembly1 and discuss measures deemed by them important in the interests of their group4 ,the leader who represents them in the legislature will take part in the initial discussions1 and exercise no doubt a strong influence in bringing matter finally to a head4 ,he will then carry into the law-making body1--which consists of representatives of the various social groups1--the sifted-out demands of the laborers1 the measures which they desire to have enacted into law4 ,he will bring forward these measures in the legislature4 ,but there objections are likely to be raised4 ,the representatives of the other groups will discover what the laborers naturally failed to note1 that the proposed law or laws1 if enacted1 will have certain injurious effects on the interests of the other groups4 ,the sifting-out process1 therefore1 will now begin anew and be carried on on a higher level in the legislature4 ,the representatives of all the various groups will separate the wheat from the chaff in what is proposed by any one group4 ,the next stop will be that the representative of the laborers1 returning to his constituency1 will communicate to them the difficulties that were raised1 the decisions reached1 and will thus impart to them the wider vision which he himself gained in the discussions of the law-making body4 ,in this way he will be the instructor1 the political teacher of his constituents4 ,and the principle by which the value of any new measure will finally be judged will be simply this3 that the supposed interests of one group cannot be its true interests unless they are found to promote the interests of all the other vocational groups4#hh ,the law-making body should be a council of the groups4 ,it should not be a 8,parliament10 or 8talking body10 but a sifting body4 ,nor yet a body of mandatories commissioned to merely give effect to a public opinion or a public sentiment already existing4 ,in fact1 public opinion or public sentiment in the raw is apt to be a poor index of what is really for the public good4 ,public opinion is apt to be unripe1 haphazard1 impulsive rather than reflective4 ,besides1 it is often contaminated at its very source1 the facts on which the public depend for their opinions being deliberately falsified or placed in false perspective2 while the opinions furnished in newspaper editorials are almost inevitably biased4 ,only on great occasions1 when simple moral issues are presented1 can the common sense and moral sense of the people be wholly depended on4 ,but such occasions are episodical2 and the orderly business of government cannot be carried on by spurts4 ,government by public opinion may be and in some respects is better indeed than class government2 in other important respects it is worse4 ,a class at the head of the state at least as a rule knows what it wants1 and proceeds methodically to carry out its purposes4 ,public opinion1 on the other hand1 like all opinion1 is unsure1 unsafe1 as ,plato has long since made dialectically clear4 ,and public sentiment1 like all sentiment1 is fluctuating4 ,to build the state on public opinion and public sentiment1 as many of our writers on politics would have us do1 is after all a good deal like building a house on sand4#hi ,instead of 8public opinion0 and 8public sentiment0 let us say public reason and public will6--reason and will to discover in conjunction what the public good really is4 ,for what it really is no one as yet knows4 ,the 8public good0 is a problem to be approximately solved4 ,the public good will be consummated when the conditions are furnished necessary and favorable to the development of personality in each of the constituent groups of the social body4 ,to study these conditions is the office of the law-making body1 and therefore that body must be so constituted as to include these groups in their capacity as groups4 ,another advantage to be expected from vocational representation is that the different interests of society1--,i stress the fact that they are different1 and often temporarily conflicting1--will be compelled under this plan to come out into the open4 ,an industry1 for instance1 may require the assistance of a protective tariff1 in its infant stages1 and the agricultural group may rightly be asked to make the necessary sacrifices4 ,in the long run there will be compensation4 ,the agriculturists will eventually benefit by the diversification of the national life4 ,but 8in the long run0 means that the next generation will benefit1 not the present agriculturists1 a distinction sometimes somewhat cavalierly ignored4 ,the present generation will be called upon to make a sacrifice1 precisely as in the family some of the members may have to sacrifice a part of their income to provide for a weaker member4 ,but the circumstance that the sacrifice is recognized as a sacrifice will serve to put an end to the protection when the special need for it has ceased4 ,under the present system1 on the other hand1 the state is supposed to have no concern with the special interests of any group4 ,all the same1 there are the special interests1 and in consequence that which is for the interest of one group has to be advocated as if it were for the general interest of the entire community4 ,and since general interest is easily mistaken for perpetual interest1 the protection is apt to be continued long after its particular usefulness has ceased4#ij ,i am earnestly concerned that vocational representation shall not be regarded as a mere device in the mechanism of politics1 like the substitution of the long for the short ballot1 or the initiative and referendum4 ,innovations of the latter kind leave the prevalent conception of democracy untouched1 they are merely intended to improve the machinery by which that conception is to be worked out in practice2 they are mechanical contrivances1 not fundamental reconstructions4 ,vocational representation1 in my view of it1 is the appropriate expression of the organic idea of the state4 ,the state is the soul4 ,the soul must have a body4 ,vocational representation is that body4 ,two remarks may here be added4 ,one relates to a question which has given rise to considerable discussion1 namely1 the question where the state resides8 ,in a monarchy it seems to reside visibly in the person of the king4 ,louis ,,xiv is said to have declared 8,i am the state40 ,but where does it reside in a democracy8 ,the chief executive1 the law-making body1 and even the constituencies1 are organs of the state4 ,but where does the state itself have its habitation8 ,the state has no separate domicile4 ,so far as it truly exists at all it exists in the minds of the individuals who truly conceive of it4 ,the object of political life is to educate the citizen so that he may more and more truly conceive of the state1 so that he may give birth to the state idea within himself4 ,to do this is to pass through one of the necessary phases on the road to personality4 ,in the family the individual is in reactive relations with a few1 in the vocation with a larger number4 ,in the state or nation he may be one of a hundred millions or more4 ,yet it is not the numerical extension as such that constitutes the enlargement4 ,it is rather the diversity of the points of contact1 and the complexity of the relations by which the spiritual ideal is more fully illustrated in the finite world in proportion as the circle widens4 ,to engender the idea of the state in oneself is to place oneself ideally into reactive relations with the diverse groups embraced within one's nation4 ,and to do this is a spiritual achievement of no mean order4 ,i should prefer to use the word 8stateship0 instead of citizenship4 ,stateship is attained by one who brings to birth within himself the idea of the state1 and in whom that idea becomes a controlling ethical force4 ,a second remark concerns the perplexed subject of the conflict of duties4 ,the nearer duties are sometimes preferred to the more remote1 and at other times we are asked to sacrifice everything to the larger whole4 ,we owe our first devotion1 it is said1 to the members of our family2 but then again we must be willing to sacrifice life itself and the welfare of our family to our country when it calls upon us in its need4 ,largeness alone certainly does not serve as an ethical ground for preference4 ,the quantitative standard implied in such phrases as 8the greatest good of the greatest number0 is out of place when we deal with ethical relations1 which in their very nature are qualitative4 ,now the account of the social institutions given in previous chapters as successive stations on the road to the spiritual goal may throw some light on this difficult subject4 ,normally1 the claims of the anterior stations are to be preferred--the claims of the family for instance to those of the vocation1 because the family is the matrix of the three-fold reverence1 and the individual must pass under the ethical influence of family life before he is fit to use vocational life ethically to good purpose4 ,the anterior groups are not merely smaller1 they are germinal4 ,the training received in them is the condition on which spiritual progress depends later on4 ,on the other hand1 the later groups are the more complete and more explicated expressions of the spiritual ideal2 hence if the very existence of one of the later groups is threatened1 or is in danger of being denatured of its spiritual use1 then the later group is to be preferred to the earlier1 the terminus ad quem1 precisely because it is the terminus ad quem1 to the terminus a quo4 ,to give a familiar illustration4 ,in our time1 which is a time of transition and doubt1 many a religious teacher finds himself in sore straits to decide between the claims of the vocation and the family4 ,as a religious teacher he is pledged to teach only what in his heart of hearts he believes to be true2 he is especially under obligation to use words in such a way as to convey to others the same meaning that he attaches to them himself4 ,but this may mean exposing his family to serious privations4 ,the situation is full of perplexity and pain1 but the line of choice is plain enough4 ,the claims of his high vocation must in this case take precedence4 ,in like manner1 when the existence or the integrity of the state is at issue1 the claims of the state as the terminus ad quem override those of the vocation1 the family1 and the state1 and may even demand the sacrifice of the physical existence of the individual himself4 ,,notes #a4 ,the idea of democracy is often neatly put--all too neatly1 into the following formula3 ,in antiquity the individual existed for the sake of the state1 in modern democracy the state exists for the sake of the individual4 ,both of these statements as they stand are mischievous and misleading and require to be qualified4 ,it is not true that in antiquity the individual existed for the sake of the state in the sense that his separate existence was extinguished4 ,the citizen class in ,aristotle's state1 the rulers in ,plato's state1 and even a member of one of the inferior classes1 each in his own way fulfilled a distinct function4 ,he was not suppressed in the state1 he expressed his function by the action appropriate to his station4 ,the philosophic rulers might do the thinking and governing4 ,they were the head of the body politic--others the hands and feet4 ,the underlying conception was what may be called spuriously organic1 borrowed more or less from the animal type of organism4 ,the second limb of the formula is no less superficial4 ,in no modern nation does the state exist1 or at bottom is it supposed to exist1 for the benefit of the individuals who at any time compose it4 ,if this were the ruling conception1 how could the democratic state require its citizens to give up their lives in its defense8 ,if the state existed for the benefit of the individuals1 the state would be the means1 and the so-called good of the individual the end4 ,and in that case it would surely be irrational to sacrifice the end for the sake of the means1 in other words to put an end to one's life in defense of the state1 a mere instrument for the protection and prosperity of one's own life4 ,to reply that the state exists for the sake not of one individual but of all 7observe however that the formula says 8the individual10 and is ambiguous and slippery at this point71 nor even only for the sake of all the individuals now living1 but also for the sake of the millions yet unborn--to say this is once more to introduce an ideal entity which it was the very object of the formula as quoted to banish4 ,the formula was intended to give us1 in place of 8the metaphysical entities0 of the ,greeks and the ,germans1 a very palpable thing--the good of the individual4 ,the good of the individual seemed to be a palpable thing1 though in truth it is the most impalpable thing in the world4 ,and by defining the state in this wise we were supposed to come onto solid ground4 ,but now1 behold1 it is the good of unborn millions which is to be the object of our devotion1 and who can imagine what this good of unborn millions is likely to be8 ,the fact is that without ideal entities the conception of the state in any noble shape cannot be construed at all4 ,the organic conception must now take the place of the individualistic4 ,the organic conception indeed as it was worked out in antiquity1 or as it lived on in the theories of medival writers1 or as it survives in the works of certain ,german publicists1 who use it to defend the feudalistic structure of society1 has rightly fallen into discredit1--not because it is organic1 but because it is pseudo-organic1 that is1 based on the type of the animal organism4 ,the individualistic conception of the state at present current in ,america and in all modern democracies1 is a violent reaction against this false idea of organization4 ,the inestimable germ of truth individualism contains is that no such distinction can be allowed as between head and hands or feet in political life1 that all the multitudes of 8hands0 who work in the factories1 for instance1 must be respected as personalities having not only hands but also heads and hearts4 ,but individualism1 though it affirms this idea1 belies it in practice1 as the actual state of society in ,america and elsewhere abundantly proves4 ,and it is bound to do so1 because personality implies more than material well-being1 either for a single individual or for all individuals now living or for all future individuals4 ,personality implies truly organic relations to other fellow-beings--and this can only be achieved by organizing the society in which men live4 ,the way taken has been1 by reaction from pseudo-organization1 to extreme individualism and concomitant materialism4 ,the way out lies in the direction of genuine organization4 #b4 ,certain evils observable in the workings of ,american democracy may be traced to the following causes3 7a7 ,the people as a whole are still in the pioneer stage4 ,a country enormously rich in material resources stimulates wealth-production4 ,a host of immigrants escaped from poverty abroad are stung into wealth-getting here4 ,the frontier line is now far to the ,west1 but the influence of the pioneer movement still in progress flows back upon the ,eastern states4 7b7 ,more important still are the evils due to the crude individualistic idea of democracy just characterized4 ,if the state exists for the good of the individual1 and if the good of the individual is conceived to be the acquisition of wealth1 then private business will take precedence of the public business4 ,yet under the democratic system of frequent elections the public business demands constant attention4 ,in consequence1 a special class of professional politicians arises1 comprising a minority of disinterestedly patriotic men1 and a majority of persons whose private business is not sufficiently remunerative to divert them from the public service4 ,the appearance of the political dictator called 8boss0 is the inevitable outcome of these conditions4 ,this army of professional politicians1 and in particular the vulgar figure at their hand1 is the chief disgrace of the ,american democracy1 and has been the target of incessant invective by ,american writers4 ,but it is idle to stigmatize the effect and overlook the cause1 to squander invective upon the symptom and at the same time to leave the malady untouched4 ,the malady itself is the individualistic conception of democracy1 and until this is replaced by a better one1 the evil in question may be modified in form but will certainly not disappear4 ,a way must be found for the citizen to attend to his private business1 which is coming to be more and more exacting1 and to the public business at the same time4 ,the system of vocational representation offers an opportunity in this direction4 ,citizens will be voting in their vocational groups for measures intended to advance their vocational interests1 but will be taught to advance them in such a way that the related interests of other groups1 or the public interest1 shall be thereby promoted4 #c4 ,proportional representation1 which is at present being tested abroad1 and earnestly considered in ,france1 ,england and ,germany1 may be a bridge leading over from the present plan of geographical to that of vocational representation4 ,the proportional system itself1 it is true1 is still based on the individualistic idea4 ,it is a movement on behalf of submerged minorities4 ,it quarrels with the present arrangement for the reason that the will of the greater number of individuals1 but not of all individuals1 is brought to bear on public decisions4 ,but if adopted it may well offer1 without violent change1 a way for the collective representation of vocational groups4 #d4 ,citizenship should be graded4 ,a youth of twenty-one is scarcely prepared to exercise the duties of the citizen intelligently4 ,as long as the view prevails that the functions of the state are to be restricted to a minimum1 it is perhaps not wholly absurd to admit a mere stripling to a share in the conduct of government4 ,but the sphere of government is steadily enlarging1 and its problems are becoming more and more intricate4 ,twenty-five would certainly be a better minimum age4 ,under vocational representation there is likely to be an ,upper ,house consisting of members who have served in the ,lower ,house4 ,citizens who have attained the age of twenty-five might be empowered to vote for members of the ,lower ,house1 those who have attained the age of thirty-five for members of the ,upper ,house1 but these are details upon which it is unfitting to expatiate here4 ,the point ,i have in mind is that citizenship should be graded4 ,,footnotes3 #he ,vide ,appendix ,,ii1 on ,force and ,freedom4 #hf ,i use the word ,organize in its spiritual sense4 ,the empirical1 animal organism is commonly taken as the type upon which the notion of organism is modeled4 ,the animal organism1 however1 fails to express the implicit idea1 for the following reasons3 ,the number of members is limited2 the combination of organs is1 so far as we can know1 accidental1 and the relation is hierarchical1--there are inferior and superior organs4 ,the spiritual conception differs in each of these points4 ,the number of members is infinite2 the relation is necessary2 and they are equal1 that is1 of equal worth4 ,to distinguish the spiritual pattern from the animal type the term metorganic may be used for the former1 in analogy to such terms as metempirical1 metaphysical1 etc41 and the system of ethics expounded in this volume may be called the metorganic system of ethics4 #hg ,representation by geographical districts is the logical outcome of the individualistic conception of democracy4 ,where this prevails1 the state is supposed to take account only of the common interests1 those in respect to which all individuals are alike1 such as security of life and property1 those interests being ignored in respect to which the groups that constitute society1 the farmers1 the merchants1 the industrial laborers1 etc41 differ4 ,hence any convenient number of citizens1 pursuing their life purposes side by side within a certain geographical area1 may serve as a constituency4 ,the absence of regard for the real diversity1 and often the clash of interests1 between persons belonging to such constituencies1 is due to the atomistic1 individualistic notion of democracy just mentioned4 ,but sheer individualism is everywhere on the wane1 and is bound to become less and less dominant in the degree that the industrial evolution of society proceeds1 and the various groups stand out distinctly as different against one another in their functions and in the conditions subservient to those functions4 ,society is in fact not an aggregate of human atoms4 ,it is already an imperfect organism1 destined to become more and more adequately organized4 ,and the system of representation has got to be remodeled and adjusted to this fact and this ideal4 #hh ,by 8interests0 ,i understand fulfilment of the social function with which the group is charged4 #hi ,and1 as a matter of fact1 because this is so1 there is no state1 no democracy1 in which public opinion or public sentiment actually does rule1 save by fits and starts4 ,government is usually in the hands of more or less selfish coteries1 who operate behind the scenes1 who do know what they want and who1 like the ,piper of ,hamelin1 are past masters of the art of leading the political children whither they will4 #ij ,i am not of course discussing the merits or demerits of the protective tariff as such1 but am using it as illustration4 ,as such it will serve the purpose4 ,the practice of 8log-rolling0 may at first sight seem to resemble the proposed plan4 ,but1 in reality1 the two are diametrical opposites4 ,by 8log-rolling0 is meant the kind of concessions made by the shipping interests to the manufacturers by the manufacturers to the farmers1 or to the workingmen when the latter happen to be strong enough to enforce their demands4 ,each group persists in pursuing its selfish aims2 only1 in order to achieve them it makes concessions to the selfishness of the others4 ,each follows the path into the ,hades of egotism1 and throws the necessary sops to ,cerberus on the way4 ,the plan outlined in the text1 on the other hand1 has for its object the interlocking of the various social interests1 the fitting them reciprocally into one another2 or better1 the object is to cure each group as far as possible of its selfishness by so modifying its claims1 that the granting of them shall become beneficial to the rest4 ,,chapter ,,viii ,,the ,,national ,,character ,,spiritually ,,transformed3 ,,the ,,international ,,society1 ,,or ,,the ,,organization ,,of ,,mankind ,there is such a thing as a national character4#ia ,the national character is reflected in the language1 literature1 laws and customs1 arts1 institutions and religion of a people4 ,even when the religion professed by different peoples is the same in name it is strongly tinctured in the different countries by the national differences4 ,compare for example the ,christianity of ,prussia with that of ,france1 or that of ,england with that of ,russia4 ,the national character1 like that of the individual1 has its plus and minus qualities1 its excellent and its repellent traits4 ,the national character is to be spiritualized by raising the plus traits to the ,nth degree4 ,to this end1 as before1 the three-fold reverence and especially the third reverence is the means4 ,the backward peoples of the earth are the paramount object of reverence4 ,the more advanced peoples are to bring to light the spiritual life latent in the backward4 ,in order to do so1 they are to carry out the principle of reverence toward past civilization1 to sift out what is vital in the work of previous generations4 ,and further1 they are to conform to the second principle of reverence1 that toward contemporaries approximately on the same level1 i4e41 toward the other civilized nations4 ,no single nation is really competent to undertake the great task of awaking the stationary peoples of ,india and ,china1 of educating the primitive peoples of ,africa4 ,a union of the civilized nations should be formed in order that together they may jointly accomplish the pedagogy of the less developed4 ,the educational point of view once again appears as the ethical4 ,the relation of the less developed to the more advanced peoples should be analogous to that of the child towards the parents4 ,just as neither the father singly nor the mother alone can release spiritual life in the offspring1 so the different civilized nations1 each of which has its own gift1 its own plus traits1 are to interact for the purpose of jointly awakening the creative energies within the slumbering souls of the undeveloped peoples4 ,it follows that a nation cannot even be defined ethically except as a member of an international society1 and we begin to see the help afforded by the spiritual conception in solving at least ideally the problem of right international relations4 ,whereas hitherto the notion of the sovereignty of each nation has been a formidable impediment to the formation of an overarching world society1 the ethical conception not only permits this expansion of sovereignty1 but necessitates it4 ,a nation1 ethically defined1 is a unique member of the corpus internationale of mankind4 ,as unique it maintains of right its relative independence1 as a member it is bound by intrinsic ties to its fellow-members1 and is subject to the greater sovereignty including them all alike4#ib ,a nation indeed cannot even maintain its independence against other nations except by sheer might if it acknowledges none but capricious ties between itself and them1 such as treaties1 or ,hague ,conference agreements which can be dissolved at pleasure4 ,there must be recognized an inner ethical tie between nation and nation1 and it must receive legal formulation4 ,this ethical tie is the true vinculum societatis human and supplies what has hitherto been absolutely lacking1--an ethical basis for international law4 ,the ethical relation between nations is founded on the fact that each nation represents a significant type of humanity1 that each nation has certain plus and minus qualities1 that it is dependent on other nations to supplement its defects2 and more than this1 that it can expurgate1 as it ought1 its minus qualities only by striving to evoke the spiritual life in other peoples4 ,one salient point ,i must emphasize4 ,the national character with its plus and minus traits is empirical1 and the development of the empirical character is not itself the highest aim of the state4 ,the spiritual transformation of this empirical character1 as ,i must take pains to repeat1 is the aim4 ,and herein appears the difference between the point of view taken in this chapter and the political doctrine of the eminent ,swiss publicist ,bluntschli4 ,he too recognizes the development of the national character as the aim of the state2 and in so far as he does this he is in advance of writers who limit the state's functions to the protection of life and property1 to defense against foreign aggression1 promotion of prosperity1 and of power and prestige4 ,bluntschli has the insight to perceive that a nation is a collective entity1 having a certain defined character1 and the development of the distinctive national gifts is in his eyes the supreme purpose of national life1 the political organization of the state being a means to this end4 ,but he falls into a grave error by identifying the empirical with the spiritual character of the nation1 and setting up the former as an end worthy on its own account4 ,the empirical character of a collective entity is in this respect no more worthy of honor1 and no more fit to be a ground of obligation1 than the empirical character of the individual4 ,and the conclusions at which ,bluntschli arrives are a sufficient proof of the ethical inadequacy of his vision4 ,some nations1 a very few he thinks1 possess political capacity1 and they are to rule other peoples4 ,here we have the 8,white ,man's ,burden0--an obvious violation of the ethical principle of national independence4 ,further1 the world state1 which is to include all nations1 is to concern itself only with their common interests4 ,bluntschli thus accepts the uniformity principle in ethics1 excluding the idea of the reaction of differences which is of the very essence of the ethical relation2 while the ideal future as he sees it is that of nations coexisting peacefully side by side1 competing peacefully with each other1 and doubtless borrowing from one another the best fruits produced by each4 ,but it is idle to expect peaceful coexistence so long as the strong exist by the side of the weak without there being acknowledged an intrinsic spiritual tie between them2 and competition between peoples will result1 like competition between individuals1 in strife and exploitation2 while the mere borrowing by each of the fruits produced by the rest omits the vital point1 upon which ,i lay the greatest stress1 of the eliciting of the fruits in each by the spiritualizing influence of the rest4 ,surveying ,bluntschli's doctrine as a whole1 it is clear that his empirical conception of the state leaves it a purely secular institution concerned with externals1 and not really related to the inner life1 certainly not a station in the development of personality4 ,he practically acknowledges as much when he says that the state is man writ large1 and the church woman writ large2 that the state represents the masculine principle1 the church the feminine principle4 ,for the feminine1 according to him1 is the spiritual principle4 ,the state deals with externals2 to the church is reserved the prerogative of entering into and transforming the inner life4#ic ,but what shall be the motive force for the creation of an international society8 ,i hold that the sense of national sin1 or of national guilt1 must supply the motive force4 ,at present all the more advanced nations are to be censured because of their pride4 ,germany prides itself on its science and its efficiency1 ,england on its political liberalism1 ,france on its logical conception of equality1 ,america on its democratic individualism4 ,each of the great nations dwells complacently upon its fair traits1 and vaunts its special type of civilization as that which should rightfully prevail among mankind generally4 ,the national defects1 acknowledged perhaps by the critical few1 are glozed over4 ,indeed the consciousness of a collective national character though latent is not yet distinct4 ,it must be evoked4 ,national self-knowledge must be promoted by the leaders and teachers of mankind1 and with it must come1 as in the case of the individual1 the conscious recognition of deep defects--in the case of ,germany the narrowness of the conception of the expert3#id in the case of ,england the discrepancy between political liberalism as applied to the white inhabitants of the ,british ,isles and of the self-governing dominions on the one hand1 and the 8benevolent despotism0 exercised over the subject millions of ,india on the other2 in ,america the effacement of true individualism under the crushing pressure of mass opinion1 etc4 ,moreover not only will the defects be admitted1 but their detrimental influence on other peoples will have to be frankly avowed--every nation must cry its ,peccavi--the effect for instance on ,europe of the ,french love of glory1 the effect of the efficiency notion of the ,germans as it is at present penetrating all other nations1#ie and in the still wider view the effect of ,western civilization as a whole on the stationary civilization of ,china1 on ,egypt1 on the myriads of ,africa4 ,the civilized peoples of the earth have sinned their sins and are best seen when we consider3 ,a4 ,the spoliation and outrages perpetrated by the ,western nations1 for instance at the time of the entrance of the ,allies into ,pekin1 the wholesale destruction of human life and the mutilations of the natives on the ,congo4 ,it has been stated that some ten millions of the natives of ,africa perished as victims of the white race4 ,if these acts do not warrant our speaking of the sins of the civilized nations1 what kind of human behavior does deserve that name8 ,b4 ,the effect of ,european example in practically forcing the peoples of the ,orient to adopt militarism and navalism4 ,c4 ,the effect of ,western individualism in undermining the religious foundation in ,eastern civilization4#if ,the spreading of ,christianity itself1 despite the exemplary influence of the higher type of missionary1 must yet be classed1 in one important respect1 among the detrimental influences exercised by the ,west upon the ,east4 ,for ,christianity1 in the form in which it is usually taught1 tends to break up the sense of solidarity which is often strong among the less civilized peoples1 without supplying an adequate principle upon which solidarity might be restablished on a higher plane4 ,hence ,christian teaching in the ,orient and in ,africa1 however friendly and merciful in intention1 and however beneficent in many ways1 is yet a disintegrating influence4 ,the great problem of the spiritual education of the lower races will have to be taken up anew4 ,not only are individual missionaries of broader mental and moral horizons needed1 the civilized nations as such must reach a common understanding and establish a union among themselves1 the keynote of which shall be reverence for the undeveloped1 that is to say divination of what1 under right educational influence1 they1 the undeveloped1 may come to mean for humanity4 ,and a union of this kind1 consecrated to a noble object1 will at the same time be the means of leading the ,western world out of the chaotic condition in which it is at present weltering4 ,the object for which nations combine may not be their own peace1 their own prosperity4 ,the key to peace between the adult peoples is a common1 effectual resolve to win new varieties of spiritual expression from the child and adolescent peoples of the earth4 ,peace must come incidentally4 ,the common object must be disinterested1 spiritual1 because there is a duty on the part of the civilized towards the uncivilized to exercise a spiritual function4 ,the task of humanity in general consists in extending the web of spiritual relations so as to cover larger and still larger areas of the finite world4 ,the family is only partly spiritualized4 ,the vocations1 the state1 are not yet spiritualized4 ,the international society hardly exists4 ,but what ,i here endeavor to sketch is the human world as it would be in the light and under the influence of the spiritual ideal4 ,and ,i set down as the saving task of the civilized nations that of extending the spiritual realm so as to cover backward1 undeveloped peoples1 so as to embody them in the corpus spirituale of mankind4 ,some of the ,principal ,obstacles ,that ,stand in the ,way of the ,organization of ,mankind4 ,the first obstacle is to be found in the inadequate theories that underlie international law4 ,seventeenth and eighteenth century thinking is still1 strange to say1 the theoretical foundation4 ,grotius and ,vattel remain the chief authorities4 ,grotius's theory is a system of empirical individualism with ,christian individualism grafted upon it1 to mitigate its harsher features4 ,the right of conquest is admitted4 ,a nation is allowed to punish another1 punishment being taken in the crude sense1 while what has been permitted under natural law is subsequently modified by counsels of perfection derived from ,christian individualism4 ,vattel is the intellectual grandchild of ,leibnitz4 ,he derives from ,leibnitz through ,wolff4 ,vattel envisages the various states as so many individual entities without intrinsic ties4 ,peaceful coexistence and unhindered pursuit by each people of its own perfection or welfare with mutual aid to be voluntarily rendered are the ultimate conceptions beyond which this thinker does not venture4 ,and if the root principles are thus infertile1 small wonder that the fruit of the tree should be what it is4 ,in any handbook of international law1 the preponderant space is allotted to the laws of war1 and yet international law has proved impotent to restrain the passion of war1 or even to prevent its excesses4 ,international law binds the ,samson of war with green withes which the giant snaps in derision4 ,it is plain that we are still in the earliest stages1 not only of international practice1 but even of international thinking4 ,the problem of the right ethical relations between the nations has hardly been broached4 ,another conspicuous obstacle in the way of international progress is to be seen in false hopes4 ,among the false hopes ,i class3 ,a4 ,the hope that increased facilities of intercourse will automatically bring about more friendly relations4 ,to expect this is to forget that closeness accentuates repugnances as well as congenialities1 increases antipathy as well as amity4 ,when nations come within short range of each other they resemble antipathetical kinsmen who are compelled to live together4 ,the ,czechs and ,germans in ,bohemia would not hate each other as they do were they not such near neighbors4 ,spatial rapprochement1 for instance1 between ,east and ,west will not of itself guarantee moral rapprochement--far from it4 ,b4 ,the hope that science may be relied on to bring the nations together4 ,science is neutral4 ,science is subservient to evil as well as good4 ,science is at present distilling the poisonous gases used on the ,european battlefields as well as inventing the improved methods of surgery4 ,it has made possible instruments of destruction such as savages might have shrunk from using4 ,moreover1 scientific as well as artistic interests are partial manifestations of a people's life and the ethical relation is between peoples as totalities or collective entities--just as the ethical relation between man and man is between the whole man and the whole man1 and not between some partial aspect of the man and of his fellows4 ,hence it is easy to explain why the scientists and the scholars of the different belligerent peoples were swept away by the war passion like the rest1 and in their utterance have even carried animosity to greater lengths1 expressing it in language calculated to wound more deeply and to leave more permanent scars4 ,they felt that they belonged to the people as a whole1 and when the occasion came for them to choose between their scientific co-workers across the frontier and their fellow-nationals1 they sided with the latter4 ,c4 ,the hope that reliance can be placed on international trade to bring about ethical relations between nations4 ,but trade1 like science1 is ethically neutral4 ,in its own interest it is favorable to order and security in colonies and dependencies1 and when1 sufficiently enlightened1 to the impartial administration of justice4 ,the ,european nations abolished the slave trade in ,africa because it decimated the native population1 and decreased the supply of labor4#ig ,on the other hand ,england in the eighteenth century1 even at that time the most liberal country of ,europe1 did not hesitate to wage war with ,spain for the maintenance of the monopoly of the hideous slave-trade1 and the ,opium ,war occurred in the 8full light0 of the nineteenth century4 ,but the most striking example of the ethical neutrality of the commercial mind is to be found in the recent partition of ,africa between ,england1 ,france1 the ,congo ,free ,state and ,germany4 ,the methods which these four nations adopted in the 8scramble for ,africa0 were marked by a perfect disregard of the rights of the native populations of the ,african continent4 ,two devices were used--proclamations1 and treaties with native chiefs4 ,the ,queen of ,england proclaimed that a certain territory would thenceforth be a ,british possession1 as if proclamation could convey a right to the territory4 ,the ,german emperor indulged in the same fiction4 ,and there was a veritable race between ,french and ,english in the ,west2 between ,germans and ,english in the ,east1 as to which of the two could outdistance or outwit the other in treaty-making4 ,karl ,peters came in disguise with a stock of blank treaties in his pocket4 ,forty or fifty treaties were concluded by the ,french annually for several years in the ,west--as if a treaty with a native chief1 who might be bribed or coerced into lending his signature1 could be the foundation of moral right to the territory occupied by his tribe4 ,the ,european nations artfully employed the fictions of sovereignty in order to varnish their acts of plunder with a semblance of legality4 ,of course these proclamations and treaties were not intended to justify exploitation in the eyes of the natives--the natives were not consulted or regarded--but rather to base thereon the division of the spoils between the exploiters4 ,a proclamation or the conclusion of a treaty with a chief was notice given to rivals not to interfere with the spoils reserved for the nation that had issued the proclamation or secured the treaty4 ,it meant 8hands off0 to competing exploiters4 ,if it be asked whether this picture is not too dark8 ,whether the civilized nations of the twentieth century in their dealings with the helpless natives were merely selfish8 ,whether their motives are so sinister8 ,whether they are not animated by better1 more moral aims8 the answer is that the commercial mind1 and it is the commercial mind that chiefly rules the world today1 allays its scruples and justifies its aggressions by the fallacy that to extend trade is to spread civilization1 and to spread civilization is to contribute to the advancement of the human race4 ,the interests of trade and of civilization are simply identified4 ,to build railroads1 to stretch telegraph lines across the ,dark ,continent1 to launch steamboats on lakes that never heard the whistle of a steam engine before1 these are assumed to be the evidences of 8progress40 ,besides are not the natives disciplined in habits of industry1 are they not encouraged to cultivate the raw products needed by ,europe1 and in return to receive the overflow of ,european markets8 ,the instruments of civilization are thus confounded with civilization itself2 the means with the end2 while the real object1 veiled by sophistry1 is nevertheless the material benefit to be secured by the white race4 ,even the humane treatment of the natives1 where it is humane1 resembles somewhat too unpleasantly the fattening of the calf prior to its consumption by the owner4 ,furthermore1 the interests of ,trade being supposed to be paramount1 it is held that any country the people of which do not sufficiently cultivate the products desired by other peoples1 or who close their doors against the industrial surplus of ,europe1 may be annexed1 the land forcibly seized1 and the inhabitants subjugated1 and moreover that such action is right and proper and in the interests of humanity4 ,so long as this view obtains1 there will be no peace on earth4 ,the competition for foreign territories and foreign markets1 the scramble between the 8civilized0 exploiters1 will be indefinitely provocative of new wars4 ,the root disease that afflicts the world at the present day is the supremacy of the commercial point of view4 ,intercourse and exchange of products is no doubt desirable4 ,the education of backward peoples in agriculture and in industry for their own good and along their own line is indispensable4 ,the fallacy of the commercial mind consists in erecting the means into the paramount end1 in brusquing the love of independence which is so strongly entrenched1 even among many primitive peoples1 and in preventing their development in the direction prescribed by their own natures4 ,all this for the sake of the immediate increase of material wealth4 ,the white race shall have the lion's share of the wealth2 the native population are to be accorded a lesser share1 with which they must be content4 ,this is the extent of the concession to humanity4 ,this is1 in plain words1 what is signified by the haughty phrase--8the spread of civilization40 ,the commercial mind is neither benevolent nor malevolent--as little as science is4 ,it seems at times to be beneficent2 at other times it seems to be almost fiendish--as in the case of the atrocities perpetrated on the ,congo4 ,it is not fiendish1 it is simply ethically neutral or blind4 ,from this series of reflections1 certain conclusions may be drawn as to fundamental points of view relating to international law4 ,the main principle is respect for the total personality of peoples1 recognition of them as potential members of the spiritual body of mankind4 ,the territory of a people is to be regarded as the body of that people's soul4 ,their independence is to be strictly respected4 ,expropriation or annexation is to be characterized as outrage4 ,intrusion1 except for purposes of education1 is to be forbidden4 ,the conception which underlies the scramble for ,africa and for the ,far ,east--that the material interests of the advanced nations entitle them to force the backward to become receptacles of the industrial overflow of the ,west1 the producers of raw material for the factories of the ,west must be abandoned4#ih ,and now the main point may once more be stated4 ,the salvation of the civilized peoples1 their spiritualization in the effort to spiritualize the less advanced demands a new turn in the history of humanity4 ,union in a common sublime object will overcome the antagonisms and discords that prevail among the civilized nations themselves4 ,the sword will never be turned into a plow-share until the nations come to love the work of the plow--the work of spiritual tilth in the human field4 ,the strong peoples will never cease to harm the weak1 and in so doing to harm themselves1 until they see in the weak1 members of the corpus spirituale of mankind1 depositaries of potential spiritual life in liberating which they the strong themselves will find increased life4 ,and the task of uplifting the lower peoples will never be successfully prosecuted until it is seen to be part of the task of humanity in general1 which is to spread the web of spiritual relations over larger and ever larger provinces of the finite realm4#ii ,,footnotes3 #ia ,see ,fouille's ,esquisse psychologique des ,peuples europens1 also the ,chapter on ,german1 ,english and ,american ,ideals in ,the ,world ,crisis4 #ib ,each term in the series of social institutions is ethically defined by referring to the succeeding terms4 ,the family prepares for the vocation1 the vocation for the state or nation1 the nation for the international society1 and all the successive terms receive their ultimate definition from the infinite spiritual universe which includes them1 and broods over them and dwells in each1 so that the expanding ethical experience gained at the successive stations is spiritually the ratio cognoscendi1 not the ratio essendi4 #ic ,it is true that the state is concerned with those conditions of the spiritual reactions that are capable of being enforced1 but in instituting such conditions the spiritual content is inevitably kept in view4 ,and in the very process of fitting the body to the spirit1 the form to the content1 the content itself will be discerned more clearly and explicitly4 #id ,see the chapter in ,the ,world ,crisis4 #ie ,to myself as an individual ,i say3 look to your radiations1 consider the effects you produce on others2 if the effects are harmful trace them to faults in your character1 and let your desire and obligation to influence others beneficently be the spur to lead you to transform your own character4 ,the same each people should say to itself4 ,for instance the obvious faults of our democracy have retarded the progress of democracy in ,europe4 ,our failure in municipal government is constantly quoted abroad as an argument against democracy4 ,this should be a real incentive to rouse us out of our self-complacency4 #if ,cf4 ,lord ,cromer's remarks on this subject in his book on ,egypt4 #ig ,see1 however1 the importation of ,indian and ,chinese coolies1 and the surreptitious resurrection of the slave trade mentioned by ,sir ,charles ,dilke in his ,problems of ,greater ,britain4 #ih ,as to practical steps that might be taken to give effect to this conception of international law1 see my published address 8,the ,great ,rle of the ,united ,states ,after the ,war10 in which is discussed the creation of an international law-making body or a ,parliament of ,parliaments4 ,in connection with the latter1 ,i should attach particular importance to the institution of commissions which may serve as a link between the international legislature and the less civilized peoples--the commissions to study the needs and gifts of those peoples with a view to securing their development along their own lines4 ,in the case of civilized peoples that have until recently been stationary1 like the ,chinese1 the commission representing the ,western nations would sit in consultation with the most enlightened leaders of the ,chinese people themselves1 the common object being to discover the points of attachment in ,chinese civilization which may wisely be made the starting point of a more modern and progressive evolution4 ,for instance the filial piety of the ,chinese1 the rectitude of their merchants1 the absence of an aristocracy1 and their civil service resting on education 7despite its defects74 ,in this manner it may become possible to avoid the abrupt1 superficial1 and infinitely destructive substitution of modern ideas for the system at present existing1 and gradual development will take the place of intrusive and uncongenial change4 #ii ,i add that this conception will react on the internal life of democracy4 ,democracy is at present regarded as a relation between equals4 ,in fact1 we have in ,america the negro population1 the illiterate and backward immigrants4 ,a truer conception of democracy depends on our realizing that within each people as well as between people and people there is the distinction of the more advanced and the less advanced groups4 ,democracy rightly conceived will be found to consist in the effort spent by the more advanced in each vocational group to uplift the less advanced1 the more advanced themselves coming into possession of their spiritual worth in the degree that they realize this their task of leadership and its great responsibilities4 ,,chapter ,,ix ,,religious ,,fellowship ,,as ,,the ,,culminating ,,social ,,institution ,in this chapter ,i shall undertake to sketch the plan of a religious society as determined by the spiritual ideal herein set forth4 ,the religious society is the last term in the series of social institutions1 and its peculiar office is to furnish the principle for the successive transformation of the entire series4 ,it is to be the laboratory in which the ideal of the spiritual universe is created and constantly recreated1 the womb in which the spiritual life is conceived4 ,no single religious society can adequately fulfill this purpose4 ,the spiritual ideal itself must necessarily be conceived differently by different minds2 but the great general purpose will be the same1 despite variations in shades of meaning and points of view4 ,the fellowship of the religious society must be based on the voluntary principle2 membership must be a matter of free choice4#ajj ,in antiquity the boundaries of the political and religious organizations coincided4 ,the citizen was under obligations as a part of his civic duty to worship the divinities of the state4 ,in modern times a state church is still maintained in some countries and supported out of the public funds1 while dissenting and nonconformist bodies exist more or less on sufferance at its side4 ,but this arrangement is harmful1 especially so to those whom it seems to favor4 ,erastianism paralyzes religious spontaneity4 ,the state1 it is true1 is profoundly interested in the flourishing of ethical idealism1 and in the constant rebirth in its midst of spiritual ideals4 ,but it is not competent to determine what the character of these ideals shall be4 ,the moment they cease to be freely produced they lose their life-giving power4 ,the state within limits may enforce actions2 it may not even attempt to enforce beliefs4 ,on the other hand1 the 8secularization of the state0 has given rise to the deplorable impression that the state exists only for so-called secular purposes1 and has stripped the idea of the state of the lofty attributes with which the greatest thinkers of antiquity had clothed it4 ,it is the function of the religious society1 dwelling uncoerced in the midst of the state1 to reinvest the state with the sacred character that belongs to it4 ,i do not of course intend to exalt the state after the manner of ,hegel1 as if it were a kind of earthly god or to set it up as an object of religious or quasi-religious devotion4 ,the object of religious devotion is the infinite holy community1 the spiritual universe4 ,the function of the religious society is to generate the ideal of the infinite holy community1 of the spiritual universe4 ,the family1 the vocation1 the nation1 are sub-groups of this1 lesser entities4 ,even mankind itself is but a province of the ideal spiritual commonwealth that extends beyond it4 ,to concentrate worship upon the state or nation as some propose1 would be to usurp for the part the piety that belongs to the whole4 ,in describing a religious society three main aspects are to be borne in mind3 ,the teaching1 the organization1 the worship4 ,a4 ,the ,teaching ,in the religious society as here conceived there is to be worked out a body of doctrine1 and there is to be a body of specially designated teachers4 ,an ethico-religious society cannot ignore or dispense with a general philosophy of life and statements of belief4 ,it cannot restrict itself to encouraging practical morality without regard to what are called metaphysical subtleties4 ,a moral society of this kind would soon become ossified4 ,on the contrary1 an ethico-religious society should excel in the fertility with which it gives rise to new metaphysical constructions and original formulations of ethical faith4 ,the will cannot be divorced from the intellect4 ,the active volitional life cannot be successfully stimulated and guided without the assistance of the mind as well as of the imagination4 ,but the relation between philosophy and formulas of belief on the one hand and volitional experience on the other should be the reverse of what it has been in the past4 ,here there must be a new departure4 ,the doctrine1 the formulations1 whatever they may be1 must not be dogmatic but flexible4 ,growing originally out of ethical experience1 they must ever prove themselves apt to enlarge and deepen ethical experience4 ,by this test they will be judged and they must therefore ever be subject to revision and correction4 ,every dogma1 every philosophic or theological creed1 was at its inception a statement in terms of the intellect of a certain inner experience4 ,but then it claimed for itself eternal validity1 compressing the spiritual life within its mold1 and checking further development4 ,the body of doctrine which ,i desire and foresee will likewise be an interpretation of ethical experience1 intended to make explicit the fundamental principles implicit in ethical experience1 and thereby clarifying it1 and assisting its further unfolding4 ,but it is not and should never be allowed to become dogmatic4 ,the difference1 ,i take it1 is plain3 in the one case experience contracted in procrustean fashion into a rigid formula1 in the other case an elastic formula adapted to and subordinated to the experience4 ,thus much for the body of teachings4 ,there should also be a body of teachers4 ,a teacher in an ethico-religious society will retain something of the character of his predecessors--priest1 prophet1 rabbi1 pastor4 ,the priest is the mediator of grace2 the prophet is the seer of visions2 the rabbi is learned in the ,divine law1 and the pastor is the helper of the individual in securing his individual salvation4 ,but these functions will now be seen in an altered light1 and will be radically modified in their exercise4 ,the magical attribute of the priest disappears4 ,the confident prediction of future events1 based on the assumption that the moral order is to be completely realized in human society1 has ceased to be convincing4 ,the ,divine law is no longer identical with the ,law revealed in the ,scriptures and their commentaries1 and the salvation of the individual is to be accomplished by other means4 ,the religious teacher of the new kind is to resemble his predecessors in being a specialist4 ,the word specialist in this connection may1 perhaps1 awaken misgivings1 and these must be removed4 ,he is not a specialist in the sense of having a conscience unlike that of others1 or in being the keeper of other men's consciences4 ,nor shall he impose his philosophy of life or his belief authoritatively1 but propose it suggestively4 ,his best results will be gained if he succeeds in so stimulating those whom he influences that they will attain an individualized spiritual outlook of their own1 consonant with their own individual nature and need4 ,but specialists of this kind are indispensable4 ,the generality of men have neither the time nor the mental equipment to think out the larger problems of life without assistance1 and the attempt on their part to do so leads to crudities and eccentricities of which one meets nowadays with many pathetic examples among those who have severed their connection with the traditional faiths1 and have tried in their groping fashion to invent a metaphysic or a creed of their own4#aja ,the preparation of the ethical teacher for his special task consists in making himself thoroughly acquainted with the great religious systems of the past1 in which much that is of permanent spiritual value is enshrined4#ajb ,he is to fit himself to revitalize what is vital1 not to repristinate what is obsolete4 ,there is required of him a first-hand knowledge of the great ethical systems1 and of their philosophical backgrounds3 furthermore acquaintance1 so far as it is as yet accessible1 with the moral history of mankind1 as distinguished from the history of ethical thinking2 in addition1 he should intensively study the economic1 social and political problems of the time from the ethical point of view1 and the psychology both of individual and national character1 so far as that fascinating and difficult subject has been opened up by competent writers4 ,apprenticeship in the social reform movements of the day1 direct touch with the inner life of people1 on its healthful as well as on its sick side1 is also presupposed4 ,since no single person can be adequately prepared in these various subjects1 and since a variety of gifts and talents is demanded1 it follows that the teaching function shall be exercised by a body or group of teachers1 not by a single pastor at whose feet the congregation are supposed to sit4 ,some of the persons engaged in this work will excel as public speakers1 others as writers1 others as teachers of the young1 others as leaders of vocational groups4 ,but all these different functionaries must learn to work1 not only in harmony1 but in organic1 reciprocal support1 themselves illustrating in their group life the spiritual relation1 the knowledge and the practice of which they are to carry out into the world4 ,the guild or group idea must be applied to the religious teachers of the future4 ,b4 ,the ,organization ,every religion exhibits a certain form of organization peculiar to itself and derived from its controlling idea4 ,the organization of the ,buddhist fellowship is dependent on the ,buddhist ideal of preparation for absorption in ,nirvana4 ,the constitution of the ,jewish synagogue reflects the conception of the relation of the ,chosen ,people1 as an lite corps of the divinity4 ,the organization of the ,christian church is characterized by its bifurcation into an ecclesia militans and an ecclesia triumphans1 and further by the idea of incorporation into the body of ,christ1 a difficult mystical conception as of a typical divine individual including within his body a multitude of other individuals4 ,the organization of the ethico-religious society has been foreshadowed in the chapter on the vocations4 ,the society is to be divided into vocational groups4 ,in each vocational group is to be worked out the specific ethical ideal of that vocation4 ,in the groups the general ethical philosophy of life is to be applied1 tested and enriched4 ,the so-called ethical teachers will here come into fruitful contact with those who are in touch at first hand with actual conditions1 and are cognizant of the difficulties to be surmounted in ethicizing vocational standards4 ,the members of the groups in democratic fashion will contribute to the advancement1 not only of ethical practice1 but of ethical knowledge1 and thus become on their side teachers of the teachers4 ,the danger of the formation of an ethical clergy will be averted4 ,the teachers will be in certain respects the pupils of the taught1 and the relation be reciprocal1 that is1 ethical4 ,among the groups the vocational group of ,mothers will occupy the central place4 ,the influence of women1 especially of the mother group1 must penetrate the religious society through and through1 for the purpose of drawing the entire fellowship together into a coherent unity4 ,women henceforth will take a deeper interest in the ethical development of human society4 ,a main factor1 if not the only factor in the ethical development of human society1 is the elevation of the vocational standards4 ,the group of mothers will therefore be in close touch with the other vocational groups in order to gain a knowledge of the higher standards therein proposed1 in order to appraise them1 and to inspire the growing generation with the devoted purpose to carry these standards out in practice4 ,c4 ,the ,worship or ,public ,manifestation of ,religion ,the ideal of worship likewise must undergo transformation4 ,it has meant an act of homage toward a superior or supreme individual2 it has meant eulogistic affirmation of the power1 wisdom1 goodness1 of that individual2 it has meant prayer or petition for help from that individual4 ,it has also meant spiritual edification4 ,in all these various modes1 religious worship heretofore has focused attention on a single individual deity as one who embodies in himself the sum of perfection4 ,in thus presenting the ideal of perfection1 it has encouraged preference for unity at the expense of plurality4 ,the salient feature of the spiritual ideal sketched in this volume is the affirmation1 on ethical grounds1 that plurality is of equal dignity with unity1 and hence that the divine ideal is to be represented not as ,one1 but as manifold2 not as an individual1 however supereminent1 but as an infinite holy community1--every human being being in his essential nature a member of that community4 ,but can worship be offered to the members of a holy community8 ,in a certain sense one might say1 ,yes1 preminently so1 since worship may be taken to mean ,worthship1 and the worth intrinsic in our fellowmen is the object of our unceasing homage4 ,at the same time very different associations have gathered about the word4 ,public worship consists largely of eulogistic singing1 prayer1 adoration1 genuflexion1 and these are appropriate only to deity conceived as an individual4 ,we cannot even say with the ,psalmist 8the heavens declare the glory of ,god1 and the firmament showeth his handiwork40 ,for though the beauty and order apparent in ,nature is one aspect of nature on which we delight to dwell1 yet we cannot disingenuously suppress the counter evidence of disorder1 ugliness and suffering which ,nature no less obtrudes on our sight4 ,the argument from design implied in the ,psalmist's words is no longer tenable4 ,certainly we cannot any longer pray for material assistance as our forefathers did1 or invoke supernatural intervention in situations where human science and human helpfulness are impotent4 ,but worship also aims at ethical edification1 by holding up to the mind the moral ideal as an object of imitation1 and as a rebuke to man's shortcomings4 ,this indeed is its highest function4 ,nevertheless the moral ideal1 as we conceive it1 is incapable of being presented in the guise of an individual being1 no matter by what superlative language the limitation inseparable from individuality be concealed4 ,the bare attributes of omniscience and omnipotence are abstract and convey no positive meaning whatever4 ,in actual worship a concrete image is invariably associated with the notion of the individualized ,deity1 such as the ,father image or the ,christ image4 ,and as soon as this is done1 the vast ethical ideal tends to shrink to the dimensions of a human image2 and instead of the ideal in its fullness1 only certain selected but inadequate aspects of ethical excellence are presented to the worshiper4 ,and yet in an ethico-religious society also the public manifestation of religion is indispensable4 ,of what elements shall it consist8 ,first1 there are to be the public addresses by the teachers1 having for their main object to arouse or intensify a certain kind of spiritual distress1 and then as far as possible to appease it4 ,every religion in my judgment originates in a particular kind of anguish1 and is an attempt to assuage it4 ,the spiritual distress in which the ethico-religious society has its origin is the agonizing consciousness of tangled relations with one's fellow-beings1 and the inexpressible longing to come into right relations with them4 ,he is fit to be a public teacher of this religion who profoundly experiences this distress1 who desires nothing so much as to cease to be1 for his part1 a thorn in his neighbor's side4 ,we are that1 each of us1 inevitably4 ,the more this feeling is strong in him the more will he arouse similar feelings in others1 and thus awaken those who are spiritually asleep1 the self-righteous1 the self-satisfied1 and he will then indicate to the utmost of his power1 the way of relief4 ,the specific ethical ideals of life are also to be presented in public assemblies--the ideals of private ethics1 of marriage1 friendship1 and the rest4 ,these expressions of the specific ideals1 charged with feeling1 and taking on appropriate imagery1 will gradually attain a certain classical fitness--classical at least for a time--and may be used as public readings4 ,but is there a substitute for prayer8 ,among the advantages of prayer is often mentioned this3 that in it the soul reaches out towards its source1 and in so doing wonderfully recruits its spiritual energy4 ,it finds1 ethically speaking1 its second wind4 ,it reaches down beneath its utmost strength to find an increment of strength not previously at its disposal4 ,the question is whether this increment of strength cannot be obtained more surely and to better purpose in another way1 namely1 by concentrating attention on the spiritual need of the fellow-beings with whom we are in daily touch1 and by becoming aware to what an extent the finer nature imprisoned in them is dependent for its release upon our exertions4 ,the appeal of the ,god in our neighbor is the substitute for the appeal in prayer to the ,god in heaven1 the call of the stifled spiritual nature in the men and women at our side1 is to draw out of us our utmost latent force1 the strengths underneath the strength4 ,the common life we share with our fellow-members in the religious society demands expression in song and in responsive services4 ,the high wave of this common life welling up in us1 rising to the surface1 makes the glow of religious meetings1 gives them fervor1 and a touch of rapture1 not indeed the common life conceived as a uniform life1 but as the life we live in others1 and they in us4 ,the addresses that awaken and appease spiritual pain1 the presentation of the various modes of right living1 the songs that lift the individual above his private self and help him to live1 not indeed submerged1 but rather spiritually accentuated in the life of the whole1 these are the public manifestations of ethical religion as ,i see them4 ,they will contribute to make of the society itself the symbol of its ethical faith4 ,we shall not have an external symbol like the cross3 the fellowship itself will be our symbol4 ,there will also be festivals4 ,every religion must have its festivals4 ,in place of ,baptism the solemn taking of responsibility for the spiritual development of the child4 ,a festival of vocational initiation1 like the ancient assumption of the toga4 ,festivals of citizenship1 inspired by the ideal of the national character as one to be spiritually transformed4 ,festivals of humanity in connection with the commemoration of great events in the history of our race and of great leaders who were inspired in some degree by the ideal task of humanity4 ,festivals of the seasons1 deriving their significance from the spiritual interpretation of the corresponding seasons of human life1--youth1 middle age1 old age4 ,and a solemn though not mournful festival in commemoration of the departed4 ,the religious assembly should itself be organized2 the members of the different vocational groups should be allocated to different parts of the meeting hall1 as were the ,guilds in certain of the medival cathedrals4 ,besides the public manifestations1 the private religion will receive attention4 ,the religious society as a whole is to be the microcosm of the spiritual macrocosm1 a miniature model of the ideal society1 but care must also be taken for the private communion of the individual with the spiritual presences which the ideal evokes4 ,there should be a special breviary for the sick1 a ,book of ,consolation for the bereaved1 a ,book of ,friendship1 a ,book of direction for those who pass through the experience of sin1 and a book of preparation for those who face the end4 ,,footnotes3 #ajj ,among other ethical relations based on free election1 friendship is the most important4 ,in a separate ,book of ,friendship which ,i hope to publish1 ,i intend to review the ideals of friendship as they have arisen from time to time in the history of civilized mankind--the ideal of ,pythagorean friendship1 the ideals presented by ,aristotle1 ,kant1 ,emerson4 ,and ,i shall endeavor to show in each case the connection between the friendship ideal and the general philosophy of life4 ,i shall then set forth that ideal of friendship which is the corollary of the spiritual conceptions outlined in this volume3 the friend being in my view one who assists spiritual development as a spectator4 ,he is the faithful mirror of his friend's progress toward personality1 the benevolent yet incorruptible recorder and appraiser4 ,by this token friendship is distinguished from the interlocking relations such as that between partners in marriage1 vocational co-workers1 etc4 #aja ,in certain ,ethical ,societies abroad1 the fear of encouraging the rise of a new clericalism led to the plan of drawing for ethical teachers on professors of universities1 and others engaged in various lines of practical activity4 ,these persons could of necessity give only the leavings of their time and thought to the complex questions which they undertook to discuss2 and the experiment1 as might have been foreseen1 proved disastrous4 #ajb ,it has been said that the science of today lives only in superseding the science of yesterday4 ,whether this be true of science or not it is not true of religion4 ,the religions of the past are not merely superseded4 ,there is much in them that is to be reinterpreted1 and thus perpetuated4 ,,chapter ,x ,,the ,,last ,,outlook ,,on ,,life ,the view of life that man has on leaving it is the final test of his philosophy of life4 ,these are my thoughts3 ,it is time to detach thyself from this earth4 ,the shadows are lengthening4 ,look around you and note the strange changes that have taken place in the men and women of your acquaintance4 ,those that you once knew in their prime are now old and wrinkled1--and how many already dead6 ,as you survey the procession of life1 how many vacant places are there in it6 ,how many true and loyal comrades have been swept away6 ,or go into the busy streets of the city1 and look at the multitude passing through them4 ,you are still one of this multitude4 ,presently you will drop out4 ,there will perhaps be a little ripple on the surface1 and then the stream will flow on as before4 ,how curious is it to think that this frame of life which sustains such high faculties should crumble into a little heap of dust at the touch of the wand of death6 ,detach thyself1 therefore1 relax thy hold by anticipation as thou shalt soon relax it actually4 ,but detachment does not mean cold inattention or unnatural shrinking from the earthly scene1 like that of the monk in his cell4 ,relax thy hold on what is earthly in the earthly scene1 and fix thy loving attention all the more on what is spiritually significant in it4 ,regard with a friendly eye the beauty of the natural landscape around thee--yonder lake and yonder noble mountain summit4 ,they are earthly1 yet are they also hieroglyphs and symbols4 ,still more is this true of thy social relations4 ,detach thyself means relax thy hold on what is transient in those relations4 ,cling all the more firmly to what is spiritual in them4 ,the earth is thy foundation1 thou art ,antus as long as thou remainest in contact with the earth4 ,until the very last thou must lean for strength upon the earthly bases and substrata4 ,consider the drive of the human race through the time and space world1 and its net result4 ,thou standest now on a high tower4 ,lean over the parapet and peer as far out into the future as thou canst4 ,thou standest as did ,moses on ,mount ,pisgah4 ,strain thy eyes to catch sight of the ,promised ,land4 ,but remember that the ,promised ,land turned out to be a land still of promise1 not of fulfilment1--a land in which the prophetic soul of ,israel matured its visions of a fulfilment never on earth to be attained4 ,remember that as thou art linked to thy ancestry1 so art thou linked to posterity4 ,the future centuries of the human race are like the future years of an individual4 ,thou art keenly interested in what may happen hereafter to the race with which thou art interlinked4 ,but the race1 like the individual1 will be cut off and become extinct before ever the ideal is reached4 ,remember1 therefore1 that the purpose for which humanity exists is achieved at every moment in everyone who appropriates the fruits of partial success and frustration4 ,whosoever standing on the earth as a foundation builds up for himself the spiritual universe attains the purpose of human existence4 ,there is indeed progress in the explicitness with which the spiritual ideal is conceived1 and we are immeasurably interested in the greater light to be attained by our posterity4 ,but the essential fruition of the contact of the infinite that is in us with the finite world is achievable at every moment in every human being4 ,and this gives an entirely new meaning to the spiritual gains achieved in solitude1 which seem vain because there are no witnesses4 ,but neither will there be witnesses when the last human beings perish on earth4 ,the spiritual bravery of the shipwrecked man who sinks on the lonely ocean springs from the conviction that though the sea can overwhelm him there is that in him greater than ocean's immensity2 a conviction achieved through the experience of living in the life of others4 ,the same is the gain achieved by the sick man who lies in solitude like a helpless log in the darkened room4 ,the altruistic philosophy fails in accounting for the moral grandeur that attaches to the spiritual victories gained in silence and solitude4 ,face the terrors of life before you leave life4 ,be resolute to the last not to cherish illusions4 ,face the terrors of life1 the absence of observable design1 the cruelties1 the ferocities4 ,think of ,william ,blake's poem 8,the ,tiger03 8,did he who made the lamb make thee80 ,in your philosophy there is no question any longer of a ,creator4 ,creation is an attempt to explain the coexistence of the imperfect with the perfect1 to account for a lower stage in terms of a higher4 ,the ultimate inability of man to understand1 to explain1 is one of the principal frustrations he meets with1 is the crucifixion of man at the point of his intellect4 ,the radical incompetence of man to grasp with his intellect the world as a 8universe10 is to be faced by him and accepted without qualification4 ,it marks off this philosophy of life from those philosophies and theologies which have attempted to explain the universe1 and which1 while affecting humility1 are the dupes of an unwarranted self-confidence4 ,unqualified admission of the incompetence of the human intellect to resolve the world riddle is the determining factor in the more profound humility which characterizes the religion of ethical experience4 ,agnosticism on the intellectual side is the very condition of the transcending ethical conviction subsequently attained4 ,without intellectual agnosticism there is no ethical certainty4 ,consider now frustration and its supreme outcome1 or the various points at which man is crucified4 ,i have mentioned the intellectual crucifixion1 due to the incompetence of the mind to understand4 ,i must now speak of still more poignant experiences due to the incompetence of man adequately to fulfill the moral law1 or to carry out the spiritual relation in finite terms4 ,i have reached the bourne1 or am very near it4 ,the shadows lengthen1 the twilight deepens4 ,i look back on my life and its net results4 ,i have seen spiritual ideals1 and the more clearly ,i saw them1 the wider appeared the distance between them and the empirical conditions1 and the changes ,i could effect in those conditions4 ,i have worked in social reform1 and the impression ,i have been able to make now seems to me so utterly insignificant as to make my early sanguine aspirations appear pathetic4 ,i have seen the vision of democracy in the air1 and on the ground around me ,i have seen the sordid travesty of democracy--not only in practice but in idea4 ,i have caught the far outlook upon the organization of mankind1 the extension of the spiritual empire over the earth by the addition to it of new provinces1 and ,i do not find even the faintest beginnings1 or recognition of the task which the advanced nations should set themselves4 ,i scrutinize closely my relations to those who have been closest to me1--and ,i find that ,i have been groping in the dark with respect to their most real needs1 and that my faculty of divination has been feeble4 ,i look lastly into my heart1 my own character1 and the effort ,i have made to fuse the discordant elements there1 to achieve a genuine integrity there1 and ,i find the disappointment in that respect the deepest of all4 ,these are the various points of my life at which ,i have undergone the crucifixion4 ,i am like ,arnold ,winkelried1 who gathered the sheaf of spears into his breast1 and even pressed them inward1 to make a way for liberty4 ,so do ,i press the sharp-pointed spears of frustration into my breast to make way for spiritual liberty4 ,for these cruel spears turn into shafts of light1 radiating outward along which my spirit travels1 building its final nest--the spiritual universe4 ,consider the new and profounder humility4 ,in ethical experience is revealed the plan of the spiritual relations1 but the entities or substances which are thus related are incognizable1 unknowable4 ,did ,i know them ,i should be able to solve the riddle of the universe4 ,i should know how it is that the finite exists side by side with the infinite4 ,but ,i cannot know4 ,i cannot enter into the counsels of the multiform godhead4 ,there are the mighty powers that weave and interweave behind the veil1 but the veil between them and myself is down1 not to be lifted4 ,within the palace of light is the solemn and serene assembly of the gods3 ,i1 man1 stand at the gate4 ,the world as we know it is itself the veil1 the screen1 that shuts out the interplay1 the weavings and the interweavings of the spiritual universe4 ,but at least at one point1 in the ethical experience of man1 is the screen translucent4 ,the plan of the spiritual relation is there traced in outline4 ,it is this plan that conveys the certainty as to what verily exists beyond1 within1 beneath4 ,as to my empirical self1 ,i let go my hold on it4 ,i see it perish with the same indifference which the materialist asserts1 for whom man is but a compound of physical matter and physical force4 ,it is the real self1 of which the empirical was the substratum1 upon which ,i tighten my hold4 ,i do not assert immortality1 since immortality1 like creation1 is a bridge between the phenomenal and the spiritual levels4 ,creation is the bridge at the beginning2 immortality the bridge at the end4 ,were ,i able to build the bridge1 ,i should know4 ,i do not affirm immortality4 ,i affirm the real and irreducible existence of the essential self4 ,or rather1 as my last act1 ,i affirm that the ideal of perfection which my mind inevitably conceives has its counterpart in the ultimate reality of things1 is the truest reading of that reality whereof man is capable4 ,i turn away from the thought of the self1 even the essential self1 as if that could be my chief concern1 toward the vaster infinite whole in which the self is integrally preserved4 ,i affirm that there verily is an eternal divine life1 a best beyond the best ,i can think or imagine1 in which all that is best in me1 and best in those who are dear to me1 is contained and continued4 ,in this sense ,i bless the universe4 ,and to be able to bless the universe in one's last moments is the supreme prize which man can wrest from life's struggles1 life's experience4 ,i look back upon my life once more1 and am grateful for the eternal worth which it was permitted me in this frail vessel of my mortal existence to hold1 for the shimmer of the spiritual reality of things which ,i was permitted to see2 grateful especially to those who loved me1 and whom ,i was permitted to love1 and who were to me in some measure revealers of the eternal life4 ,consider lastly the peace that passeth understanding4 ,now1 if ever1 this peace should descend upon me4 ,there is a kind of peace that is accessible to the understanding1 and there is the peace that passeth understanding4 ,the peace that can be understood is that which consists in the relief of pain4 ,it arises in various ways4 ,after an acute attack of physical pain how like balm is felt the succeeding absence of pain4 ,after a prolonged sickness1 when the convalescent takes his first walk1 what a sweet tranquillity fills his mind6 ,there is also the mental relief that comes when some danger has been safely passed2 the peace of the sheltered fireside to one who has passed through a storm4 ,again1 there is the peace that follows pecuniary anxiety1 or the removal of some carking care1 as when an erring son is reclaimed1 or an estranged wife or husband is found anew4 ,but the peace that passeth understanding is that which comes when the pain is not relieved1 which subsists in the midst of the painful situation1 suffusing it1 which springs out of the pain itself1 which shimmers on the crest of the wave of pain1 which is the spear of frustration transfigured into the shaft of light4 ,it is upon those we love that we must anchor ourselves spiritually in the last moments4 ,the sense of interconnectedness with them stands out vividly by way of contrast at the very moment when our mortal connection with them is about to be dissolved4 ,and the intertwining of our life with theirs1 the living in the life that is in them1 is but a part of our living in the infinite manifold of the spiritual life4 ,the thought of this1 as apprehended1 not in terms of knowledge1 but in immediate experience1 begets the peace that passeth understanding4 ,and it is upon the bosom of that peace that we can pass safely out of the realm of time and space4 ,,appendix ,,appendix ,i ,,spiritual ,,self-,,discipline ,the preceding volume in its entirety and in every part is nothing else than a book of spiritual self-discipline4 ,every religion presents to its followers as real objects that the eye has not seen4 ,the certainty of the existence of these objects1 religious certainty1 religious conviction1 springs from one or other kind of need and distress4 ,the object that the eye has not seen is believed in because it corresponds to that need1 and relieves that distress4 ,furthermore1 the conviction is strengthened1 the certainty intensified1 by two methods3 7#a7 elaboration of the ideas presented2 7#b7 performing acts in the doing of which the existence of the objects is presupposed4 ,thus the idea of the ,heavenly ,father corresponds to the childlike need of protection4 ,the elaboration of this idea in theological systems strengthens its hold1 every idea being powerful as an active force in proportion as it is worked out in detail and linked up with other ideas4 ,and ceremonies1 prayers1 acts of worship in the doing of which the reality of the ,father-,god is presupposed1 strengthen the belief in him4 ,conduct is one of the chief sources of belief4 ,the more frequently a devout ,roman ,catholic prays to the ,virgin ,mary1 the more firmly will he be convinced that she exists and hears him4 ,these features are common to all religion3 unseen objects are presented as real2 the belief in their reality is augmented by elaboration of the ideas2 and above all their hold is reinforced by practice founded on and presuming the reality of the ideas4 ,the unseen object which the religion of spiritual experience presents is the unique personality4 ,the lines along which the ideas are to be elaborated have been sketched in the above4 ,conduct based on the presumption that the divine nature exists in every human being is the principal means of fortifying that conviction1 and this presumption itself rests on the fundamental fact of worth4 ,the difference in rank between the various religions depends on the kind of need which they seek to satisfy4 ,it may be physical1 as when the worshiper prays for large herds and fruitful crops4 ,it may be the urging of a passion1 as when a man prays for revenge on his enemies4 ,and it may be ethical4 ,and if ethical1 it may be purely ethical1 or ethical with non-ethical elements admixed4 ,a religion is neither approved nor condemned because it satisfies a need4 ,the judgment passed on it depends on the kind of need it undertakes to satisfy4 ,seek to raise the plus traits to the ,nth degree4 ,seek through spiritual sex interaction to release the spiritual life in the child4 ,bring to birth in thyself the idea of the state1 etc4 ,every chapter of this volume contains some direction as to the lines of conduct to be followed4 ,the principal self-discipline consists in the effort to follow these lines4 ,but experience tells us that the effort may be hindered or helped in certain ways4 ,i shall mention a few of the helps and hindrances3 ,physical and ,mental ,athleticism are helps to ,moral ,athleticism4 ,ethics is a science of energetics4 ,bodily and mental energy is favorable to ethical energizing4 ,by mental energy ,i understand especially the habit of vigorously attacking complex and difficult mental problems4 ,right ,asceticism is related to ,ethical ,development4 ,i exclude self-abnegation and self-repression practiced as drill apart from any particular occasion requiring them1 holding that self-repression should always be incidental to self-expression4 ,this applies especially to the hygiene of the sex passion4 ,a positive ideal of the sex relation1 as in marriage1 is an invaluable help in ennobling and thereby restraining the passion4 ,the ,ethical ,life is the supremely ,planful ,life4 ,there is a hierarchy of ends of which the ethical is the apex4 ,the ethical end is the supreme end to which all others are to be planfully subordinated4 ,the habit of conducting one's life planfully is favorable to ethical behavior4 ,i say planfully1 not pedantically1 due regard being always had to spontaneity4 ,among hindrances to ,ethical development may be mentioned the tendency to be satisfied with the minor perfections4 ,the better is the greatest enemy of the best4 ,the disproportionate value set on the embellishments of life is but one illustration of this point4 ,a great hindrance to the spiritual life is the necessity under which we lie of restricting our actual ethical relations to a few persons4 ,we cannot extend our influence to the millions of ,china and ,india4 ,we cannot even deeply influence a considerable number of our fellow citizens4 ,on ethical grounds we do acknowledge the claims of each individual1 of all these myriads of human beings4 ,yet as far as any actual good we can do them is concerned1 we are powerless1 and must leave them to their fate4 ,the tragic aspect of life comes home to us sharply at this point4 ,intensity must take the place of extensity4 ,intensive spiritual relations with a few will teach us at least to conceive worthily of those personalities whom we cannot directly affect1 and to invest them in idea with the honor which is their due4 ,intimate spiritual relations with a few will also counteract the unethical habit of labeling those with whom we come into casual contact according to the special functions they happen to exercise4 ,thus a letter-carrier is apt to be thought of as an animated machine to carry letters1 a stenographer as a kind of animated machine to take dictation1 the servant in the house a machine to render physical service4 ,the more complete our appreciation of personality is in the case of the few1 the more we shall be impelled to transfer the concept of personality1 at least in its outlines1 to all others4 ,in this way our friendships1 our close relations1 will not restrict our ethical horizon4 ,in the narrower circle we shall engender those ideas which in thought at least we can carry out to the farthest limits of human society4 ,but among the hindrances to ethical practice the two most conspicuous must not be omitted4 ,they are pity and terror1 pity for the pain suffered by others1 fear of pain for oneself4 ,aristotle regarded it as the high function of the tragic drama to liberate men from these disturbing factors4 ,the two are combined and in consequence exacerbated to an extreme degree in those situations where the pain suffered by another person is at the same time poignantly felt as one's own pain4 ,and the anguish felt in seeing the physical suffering of another is even exceeded in witnessing the moral degradation of another1 as of an erring son or an apparently irreclaimable husband or wife4 ,the doctrine of frustration as explained in this volume is intended to show the way of relief in such situations4 ,but it is only by not shirking the pain1 by permitting it fully to penetrate1 by uncovering the breast entirely to the entrance of the pointed spear that we shall have the experience of the transformation of it into the shaft of light4 ,,appendix ,,ii#ajc ,,the ,,exercise ,,of ,,force ,,in ,,the ,,interest ,,of ,,freedom ,force is a moral adiaphoron4 ,the stigma attaching to the use of force belongs rather to its abuse4 ,the employment of force is good or bad according as the ends for which it is used are good or bad4 ,the precept of non-resistance in the ,sermon on the ,mount is to be understood as a piece of ethical irony4 ,the right1 or to be more explicit1 the duty1 of society to coerce individual members of it rests on the same ground and holds within the same limits as the duty of the individual to coerce himself4 ,self-coercion depends on the difference in the quality of one's impulses1 on the choice one is bound to make between competitive ends4 ,self-coercion is of two kinds3 stimulative and repressive2 stimulative to overcome inertia1 repressive to subject wrong to right impulses4 ,he who denies the duty of self-coercion1 to be consistent1 must fall back on the position of the ,cynics4 ,for the ,cynics were indeed consistent4 ,they asserted not only the right of the individual to be free from outside compulsion1 but also the right of each individual moment of the individual's life to be lived without regard or subjection to future moments4 ,hence they rejected civilization and its tasks1 inasmuch as the prosecution of any task involves the subordination of the present to the content of some future moment4 ,but if the coercion of a man by himself be admitted1 it follows that the exercise of force upon a man by society must in principle be likewise admitted4 ,for we are social by nature2 we take an interest in the achievement by each one of his ends1 and we regard such achievement as a social-benefit4 ,as to the limits within which outside interference is to be permitted and welcomed1 these can best be ascertained by fastening attention upon the end to be attained4 ,and here the positive conception of freedom seems to be the most helpful1--freedom defined as the release in each one of his essential self1 that is1 of his distinctive gift and capability1 or of that in him which is unique or most nearly so4 ,a society in which such valuable contributions were elicited from each would be the ideal society4 ,stimulative and repressive social coercion are justified in so far as they provoke energy and check disturbing impulses1--always of course without discouraging spontaneity1 which is the very good to be secured4 ,the antithesis of reason and force common in discussions of this subject seems misleading and inadequate2 since reason is a faculty of inference and not of preference1 has to do with the adapting of means to ends1 and does not of itself afford guidance in the choice of ends4 ,the concept of freedom as defined is more illuminating4 ,let freedom and force be contrasted1 not reason and force4 ,the idea of law that would follow from what has been said may be illustrated by comparing the action of law with that of automatism in the human body4 ,the system of co-ordinations by which we learn to walk1 or acquire any kind of skill1 such as that of performing on a musical instrument1 is at first painfully and consciously acquired4 ,consciousness superintends every step in the process4 ,but after a time the sequences reel off automatically4 ,consciousness retires from the field1 ascends to a higher plane1 and devotes itself to more interesting and significant business4 ,law1 taking it in its broadest sense1 may be regarded as the automatic machinery of freedom4 ,it is the system of stimulations and repressions which the experience of mankind at any given time has found conducive to the attainment of the superior ends of life4 ,in the minds of the more advanced members of the community repressive laws like the prohibitions of murder1 theft1 etc41 have already become automatic4 ,such a thing as questioning or transgressing these laws never once in a lifetime occurs to them4 7,of the stimulative laws1 such as the requirement to pay taxes in support of the progressive interests of society1 the same is not yet true47 ,as regards the backward members of society1 however1 the repressive laws are educative4 ,just as in certain diseases the convalescent needs to acquire anew the art of walking1 which his neighbors exercise without thinking1 so the backward members of society have to learn painfully those habits of repression which for others have sunk below the threshold of consciousness4 ,social compulsion therefore may be defined as discipline in the interest of positive freedom4 ,we may expect that in future this salutary kind of compulsion will go to even much greater lengths than it has yet gone4 ,society as organized in the state has undoubtedly the right to interfere in the choice of the sexes by prohibiting the marriage of persons afflicted with infectious disease4 ,if the study of human character could ever be so far developed as to determine what kind of temperaments are radically incompatible with one another 7a bare throw in the air of course71 it would be within the province of the state to prohibit the conjugal union of such temperaments1 and thus to prevent the disastrous effects on real freedom which such incompatibilities are apt to cause4 ,i am well aware of the perils of this point of view4 ,there is a brutal factor in the action of society1 as in that of individuals4 ,a given community is apt to mistake its prejudices for principles1 its torpor for conservatism1 its superstitions for spirituality4 ,such apprehensions as those that weighed on the mind of ,john ,stuart ,mill as set forth in his ,essay on ,liberty are not to be lightly dismissed4 ,and yet the main trend of his argument was plainly determined by an individualistic conception of liberty which many of us no longer share4 ,it is safe to say that on the whole the benefits of coercion outweigh the detriments4 ,we have only to picture to ourselves a state of society in which these coercions should not exist to realize that this is so4 ,the dangers are real1 but are due to the abuse of force and not to the exercise of it under the controlling idea of positive freedom which is here proposed4 ,,footnotes3 #ajc ,a paper read before the ,fourth ,conference on ,legal and ,social ,philosophy at ,columbia ,university1 ,november1 #aiae4 7,reprinted from the ,international ,journal of ,ethics1 ,april1 #aiaf1 pp4 #dbj-dbc47 ,,index ,achilles1 #baj ,africa1 exploitation of1 #ahg;f1 #cce ,altruism1 #gi1 #bah1 #bbj1 #bef ,antus1 #cee 1 #bbh ,a priori knowledge1 #aje;f1 #aaa ,architecture1 #bhfn ,aristotle1 #aje1 #abg1 #afhn1 #aij1 #bha1 #cje1 #cai1 #cfe ,ark of the ,covenant1 #gg ,arnold1 ,matthew1 #aj1 #bih ,arnold von ,winkelried1 #ceh ,art1 relation to ,ethics1 #bgg;f2 limitations1 #bhgn2 students of1 #bif ,asceticism1 #cfc ,bacon1 ,on ,studies1 #aj ,baptism1 #cec ,beatrice1 #agj ,beauty1 #bha;f ,bereavement1 #fd1 #afb;f ,bergson1 #ajh1 #acan ,blackstone1 #ahe ,blake1 ,william1 #cef ,bloch1 #bdb ,bluntschli1 #cbg;f ,buddha1 #af1 #cb1 #aii1 #cdg ,csar ,borgia1 #agb ,cana1 feast at1 #bjf ,categorical ,imperative1 #ge;f2 and hypothetical1 #hj ,causality1 8prejudice of10 #aaj;f1 #acf1 #ada1 #aga ,christianity1 an estimate of1 #cj-db2 other-worldliness of1 #adj1 #bfh2 national1 #cba2 forced on the ,east1 #cca ,church1 #cdg ,citizenship1 #cbb ,confucius1 #af1 #ca1 #bii ,congo1 atrocities in1 #ccj1 #cce1 #cch ,conscience1 origin of1 #gh ,copernicus1 #ada ,creation1 doctrine of1 #aci1 #cef ,cromer1 ,lord1 #ccan ,crucifixion1 of man1 #ceg;f ,cynics1 #cff ,dante1 #aihn1 #bhc ,darwinism1 #ei1 #gh;f1 #abj 8,death in ,life10 #bbe ,decalogue1 #aih ,democracy1 ethical aspect of1 #abe1 #adc2 political1 #cain2 evils in1 #cba1 #ccjn2 new conception of1 #cdjn ,dependence1 #bbf ,dilke1 ,sir ,charles1 #ccen ,discipline1 #bdd;f ,duality1 of character traits1 #bjh;f ,duty1 in ,kant1 #ge;f2 conflicts of1 #cag;f ,education1 state1 #beb2 as vocation1 #bia;f2 for adults1 #cja;f2 moral1 #cjbn ,edwards1 ,jonathan1 #afc ,egoism1 #bbj ,elisha1 the prophet1 #fa ,emerson1 estimate of1 #bg-bi2 ,essay on ,love1 #afdn ,ends1 proximate and ultimate1 #ej-ea2 in ,kant1 #gd1 #hi2 instrumental1 #ach1 #aff1 #bbi;f1 #bfh2 unattainable in finite world1 #adi;f1 #aeh2 hierarchy of1 #cfc ,enemies1 #bje2 intellectual1 #bjgn ,erastianism1 #cdb ,ethical ,culture1 ,society for1 #eh1 #cdfn2 ,school1 #ehn1 #bgf ,ethics1 as non-violation of personality1 #g1 #ce1 #ed2 individuality of1 #bd2 as science of ends1 #dj1 #ej;f2 and social reform1 #dh2 relation to other subjects1 #ff2 ,kantian1 #gc;f2 an independent discipline1 #hd;f1 #acb;f2 energizing quality of1 #ic1 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