,the ,dale ,memorial ,lectures1 #aibb4  
,,the ,,decay ,,and ,,the ,,restoration 
,,of ,,civilization    ,,the            
,,philosophy ,,of ,,civilization        
,,part ,i    ,,by    ,,albert           
,,schweitzer    ,d4,,theol42 ,d4,,phil42
 ,d4,,med4 7,,strassburg7               
,,translated ,,by    ,c4 ,t4 ,,campion  
,m4,a4 7,,oxon47 7,,sometime ,,of       
,,merton ,,college1 ,,oxford7    ,a4    
,c4 ,,black1 ,,ltd4 #d1 #e  #f ,,soho   
,,square1 ,,london1 ,w4 #a #aibc        
,printed in ,great ,britain by ,,the    
,,whitefriars ,,press1,,ltd41 ,,london  
,,and  ,,tonbridge4            ,to      
,,annie ,,fischer ,,in ,,deepest        
,,gratitude          ,,author',s        
,,preface    8,the ,decay and the       
,restoration of ,civilization0 is the   
first part of a  complete philosophy of 
civilization with which ,i have been    
occupied  since the year #aijj4    ,the 
second part1 entitled 8,civilization and
 ,ethics01 will appear  immediately4    
,the third is called 8,the              

,world-,view7997 of ,reverence  for     
,life04 ,the fourth has to do with the  
civilized ,state4    ,that over which ,i
 have toiled since #aijj has been       
finally ripened in  the stillness of the
 primeval forest of ,equatorial ,africa4
 ,there1  during the years #aiad-ag1 the
 clear and definite lines of this       
philosophy of civilization have been    
developed4    ,the first part1 8,the    
,decay and the ,restoration of          
,civilization01 is a  kind of           
introduction to the philosophy of       
civilization4 ,it states the  problem of
 civilization4    ,entering on the      
question as to what is the real         
essential nature of  civilization1 ,i   
come to the pronouncement that this is  
ultimately  ethical4 ,i know that in    
thus stating the problem as a moral one 
,i pg  viii shall surprise and even     
disgust the spirit of our times1 which  
is accustomed to move amidst sthetic1   
historical and material  considerations4
 ,i imagine1 however1 that ,i am myself 

enough of an  artist and also of an     
historian to be able to comprehend the  
sthetic  and historical elements in     
civilization1 and that1 as a modern     
physician and surgeon1 ,i am            
sufficiently modern to appreciate the   
glamour of the technical and material   
attainments of our age4                 
,notwithstanding this1 ,i have come to  
the conviction that the sthetic  and the
 historical elements1 and the           
magnificent extension of our  material  
knowledge and power1 do not themselves  
form the essence of  civilization1 but  
that this depends on the mental         
disposition of the  individuals and     
nations who exist in the world4 ,all    
other things are  merely accompanying   
circumstances of civilization1 which    
have nothing  to do with its real       
essence4    ,creative1 artistic1        
intellectual1 and material attainments  
can only  show their full and true      
effects when the continued existence and
  development of civilization have been 

secured by founding civilization  itself
 on a mental disposition which is truly 
ethical4 ,it is only in  his struggle to
 become ethical that man comes to       
possess real value as  a personality2 it
 is only under the influence of ethical 
convictions  that the various relations 
of human society are formed in such a   
way  that individuals and peoples can pg
 ix develop in an ideal manner4  ,if the
 ethical foundation is lacking1 then    
civilization collapses1  even when in   
other directions creative and           
intellectual forces of the  strongest   
nature are at work4    ,this moral      
conception of civilization1 which makes 
me almost a  stranger amidst the        
intellectual life of my time1 ,i express
 clearly  and unhesitatingly1 in order  
to arouse amongst my contemporaries     
reflection as to what civilization      
really is4 ,we shall not succeed in     
re-establishing our civilization on an  
enduring basis until we rid  ourselves  
completely of the superficial concept of

 civilization which  now holds us in    
thrall1 and give ourselves up again to  
the ethical  view which obtained in the 
eighteenth century4    ,the second point
 which ,i desire should obtain currency 
is that of the  connection between      
civilization and our theory of the      
universe4 ,at the  present time no      
regard is paid to this connection4 ,in  
fact1 the period  in which we are living
 altogether misses the significance of  
having a  theory of the universe4 ,it is
 the common conviction nowadays1 of     
educated and uneducated alike1 that     
humanity will progress quite            
satisfactorily without any theory of the
 universe at all4    ,the real fact is  
that all human progress depends on      
progress in its  theory of the universe1
 whilst1 conversely1 decadence is       
conditioned  by a similar pg x decadence
 in this theory4 ,our loss of real      
civilization is due to our lack of a    
theory of the universe4    ,only as we  
again succeed in attaining a strong and 

worthy theory of  the universe1 and find
 in it strong and worthy convictions1   
shall we  again become capable of       
producing a new civilization4 ,it is    
this  apparently abstract and           
paradoxical truth of which ,i proclaim  
myself  the champion4    ,civilization1 
put quite simply1 consists in our giving
 ourselves1 as  human beings1 to the    
effort to attain the perfecting of the  
human race  and the actualization of    
progress of every sort in the           
circumstances  of humanity and of the   
objective world4 ,this mental attitude1 
however1  involves a double             
predisposition3 firstly1 we must be     
prepared to act  affirmatively toward   
the world and life2 secondly1 we must   
become  ethical4    ,only when we are   
able to attribute a real meaning to the 
world and to  life shall we be able also
 to give ourselves to such action as    
will  produce results of real value4 ,as
 long as we look on our existence in    
the world as meaningless1 there is no   

point whatever in desiring to  effect   
anything in the world4 ,we become       
workers for that universal  spiritual   
and material progress which we call     
civilization only in so  far as we      
affirm that the world and life possess  
some sort of meaning1  or1 which is the 
same thing1 only in so far as we think  
optimistically4    pg xi                
,civilization originates when men become
 inspired by a strong and clear         
determination to attain progress1 and   
consecrate themselves1 as a  result of  
this determination1 to the service of   
life and of the world4  ,it is only in  
ethics that we can find the driving     
force for such  action1 transcending1 as
 it does1 the limits of our own         
existence4    ,nothing of real value in 
the world is ever accomplished without  
enthusiasm and self-sacrifice4    ,but  
it is impossible to convince men of the 
truth of world- and  life-affirmation   
and of the real value of ethics by mere 
declamation4  ,the affirmative and      

ethical mentality which characterizes   
these  beliefs must originate in man    
himself as the result of an inner       
spiritual relation to the world4 ,only  
then will they accompany him as  strong1
 clear1 and constant convictions1 and   
condition his every  thought and action4
    ,to put it in another way3 world-   
and life-affirmation must be the        
products of thought about the world and 
life4 ,only as the majority of          
individuals attain to this result of    
thought and continue under its          
influence will a true and enduring      
civilization make progress in the       
world4 ,should the mental disposition   
towards world- and  life-affirmation and
 towards ethics begin to wane1 or become
 dim and  obscured1 we shall be         
incapable of working for true           
civilization1 nay1  more1 we shall be   
unable even to pg xii form a correct    
concept of  what such civilization ought
 to be4    ,and this is the fate which  
has befallen us4 ,we are bereft of any  

theory of the universe4 ,therefore1     
instead of being inspired by a  profound
 and powerful spirit of affirmation of  
the world and of life1  we allow        
ourselves1 both as individuals and as   
nations1 to be driven  hither and       
thither by a type of such affirmation   
which is both  confused and superficial4
 ,instead of adopting a determined      
ethical  attitude1 we exist in an       
atmosphere of mere ethical phrases or   
declare  ourselves ethical sceptics4    
,how is it that we have got into this   
state of lacking a theory of the        
universe8 ,it is because hitherto the   
world- and life-affirming and  ethical  
theory of the universe had no convincing
 and permanent  foundation in thought4  
,we thought again and again that we had 
found  such a basis for it2 but it lost 
power again and again without our  being
 aware that it was doing so1 until1     
finally1 we have been  obliged1 for more
 than a generation past1 to resign      
ourselves more and  more to a complete  

lack of any world-theory at all4        
,thus1 in this introductory part of my  
work1 ,i proclaim two truths and        
conclude with a great note of           
interrogation4 ,the truths are the      
following3 ,the basic ethical character 
of civilization1 and the  connection    
between civilization and our theories of
 pg xiii the  universe4 ,the question   
with which ,i conclude is this3 ,is it  
at all  possible to find a real and     
permanent foundation in thought for a   
theory of the universe which shall be   
both ethical and affirmative of  the    
world and of life8    ,the future of    
civilization depends on our overcoming  
the  meaninglessness and hopelessness   
which characterize the thoughts and     
convictions of men to-day1 and reaching 
a state of fresh hope and  fresh        
determination4 ,we shall be capable of  
this1 however1 only when  the majority  
of individuals discover for themselves  
both an ethic and  a profound and       
steadfast attitude of world- and        

life-affirmation1 in a  theory of the   
universe at once convincing and based on
 reflection4    ,without such a general 
spiritual experience there is no        
possibility of  holding our world back  
from the ruin and disintegration towards
 which  it is being hastened4 ,it is our
 duty then to rouse ourselves to fresh  
reflection about the world and life4    
,in 8,civilization and ,ethics01 the    
second part of this philosophy of       
civilization1 ,i describe the road along
 which thought has led me to  world- and
 life-affirmation and to ethics4 ,the   
root-idea of my theory  of the universe 
is that my relation to my own being and 
to the  objective world is determined by
 reverence for life4 ,this reverence    
for life is given as an element of my   
will-to-live1 and becomes  clearly pg   
xiv conscious of itself as ,i reflect   
about my life and  about the world4 ,in 
the mental attitude of reverence for    
life which  should characterize my      
contact with all forms of life1 both    

ethics and  world- and life-affirmation 
are involved4 ,it is not any kind of    
insight into the essential nature of the
 world which determines my  relation to 
my own existence and to the existence   
which ,i encounter in  the world1 but   
rather only and solely my own           
will-to-live which has  developed the   
power of reflection about itself and the
 world4    ,the theory of the universe  
characterized by reverence for life is a
  type of mysticism arrived at by       
self-consistent thought when persisted  
in to its ultimate conclusion4          
,surrendering himself to the guidance of
  this mysticism1 man finds a meaning   
for his life in that he strives to      
accomplish his own spiritual and ethical
 self-fulfilment1 and1  simultaneously  
and in the same act1 helps forward all  
the processes of  spiritual and material
 progress which have to be actualized in
 the  world4    ,i do not know how many1
 or how few1 will allow themselves to be
  persuaded to travel with me on the    

road indicated above4 ,what ,i desire   
above all things--and this is the crux  
of the whole affair--is that we  should 
all recognize fully that our present    
entire lack of any theory  of the       
universe is the ultimate source of all  
the catastrophes and  misery of pg xv   
our times1 and that we should toil in   
concert for a  theory of the universe   
and of life1 in order that thus we may  
arrive  at a mental disposition which   
shall make us really and truly civilized
  men4    ,it was a great joy to me to  
be afforded the opportunity of putting  
forward1 in the ,dale ,lectures1        
delivered in ,oxford1 the views on      
which this philosophy of civilization is
 based4    ,i would tender my deepest   
thanks to my friends1 ,mr4 ,c4 ,t4      
,campion1  ,m4,a41 now of ,grahamstown1 
,south ,africa1 and ,dr4 ,j4 ,p4 ,naish1
 of  ,oxford4 ,mr4 ,campion is the      
translator of this first part of the    
8,philosophy of ,civilization04 ,dr4    
,naish has seen the book through the    

press and translated this preface4      
,,albert ,,schweitzer4    ,strasbourg1  
,alsace4    ,february1 #aibc4           
pg xvi    ,,contents      ,,chapter ,i  
,how ,philosophy is ,responsible for the
 ,collapse of  ,civilization #a         
,,chapter ,,ii ,hindrances to           
,civilization in our ,economic and      
,spiritual  ,life #ae    ,,chapter ,,iii
 ,civilization essentially ,ethical in  
,character #ce    ,,chapter ,,iv ,the   
,way to the ,restoration of             
,civilization #fb    ,,chapter ,v       
,civilization and ,theories of the      
,universe #hj      pg xvii              
,,the ,,decay ,,and ,,the ,,restoration 
,,of ,,civilization          ,,chapter  
,i    ,,how ,,philosophy ,,is           
,,responsible ,,for ,,the ,,collapse    
,,of ,,civilization      ,our           
self-deception as to the real conditions
 of our civilization4 ,the  collapse of 
the theory of the universe on which our 
ideals were based4  ,the superficial    
character of modern philosophizing4     

,we are living to-day under the sign of 
the collapse of civilization4  ,the     
situation has not been produced by the  
war2 the latter is only a  manifestation
 of it4 ,the spiritual atmosphere has   
solidified into  actual facts1 which    
again react on it with disastrous       
results in every  respect4 ,this        
interaction of material and spiritual   
has assumed a most  unhealthy character4
 ,just below a mighty cataract we are   
driving along  in a current full of     
formidable eddies1 and it will need the 
most  gigantic efforts to rescue the    
vessel of our fate from the dangerous   
side channel into which we have pg #jjb 
allowed it to drift1 and  bring it back 
into the main stream1 if1 indeed1 we can
 hope to do so  at all4    ,we have     
drifted out of the stream of            
civilization because there was  amongst 
us no real reflection upon what         
civilization is4 ,it is true  that at   
the end of the last century and the     
beginning of this there  appeared a     

number of works on civilization with the
 most varied  titles2 but1 as though in 
obedience to some secret order1 they    
made no  attempt to settle and make     
clear the conditions of our intellectual
  life1 but devoted themselves          
exclusively to its origin and history4  
,they gave us a relief map of           
civilization marked with roads which men
  had observed or invented1 and which   
led us over hill and dale through  the  
fields of history from the ,renaissance 
to the twentieth century4  ,it was a    
triumph for the historical sense of the 
authors4 ,the crowds  whom these works  
instructed were filled with satisfied   
contentment  when they understood that  
their civilization was the organic      
product  of so many centuries of the    
working of spiritual and social forces1 
but no one worked out and described the 
content of our spiritual life4  ,no one 
tested its value from the point of view 
of the nobility of its  ideas1 and its  
ability to produce real progress4       

,thus we crossed the threshold of the   
twentieth century with an  unshakable   
conceit of ourselves1 pg #jjc and       
whatever was written at  that time about
 our civilization only confirmed us in  
our ingenuous  belief in its high value4
 ,anyone who expressed doubt was        
regarded with  astonishment4 ,many1     
indeed1 who were on the road to error1  
stopped and  returned to the main road  
again because they were afraid of the   
path  which led off to the side4 ,others
 continued along the main road1 but  in 
silence2 the understanding and insight  
which were at work in them  only        
condemned them to isolation4    ,it is  
clear now to everyone that the suicide  
of civilization is in  progress4 ,what  
yet remains of it is no longer safe4 ,it
 is still  standing1 indeed1 because it 
was not exposed to the destructive      
pressure which overwhelmed the rest1    
but1 like the rest1 is built upon       
rubble1 and the next landslide will very
 likely carry it away4    ,but what was 

it that preceded and led up to this loss
 of power in the  innate forces of      
civilization8    ,the age of the        
,illuminati and of rationalism had put  
forward ethical  ideals1 based on       
reason1 concerning the development of   
the individual  to true manhood1 his    
position in society1 the material and   
spiritual  problems which arose out of  
society1 the relations of the different 
nations to each other1 and their issue  
in a humanity which should be  united in
 pg #jjd the pursuit of the highest     
moral and spiritual  objects4 ,these    
ideals had begun1 both in philosophy and
 in general  thought1 to get into       
contact with reality and to alter the   
general  environment4 ,in the course of 
three or four generations there had been
  such progress made1 both in the ideas 
underlying civilization and in  their   
material embodiment1 that the age of    
true civilization seemed to  have dawned
 upon the world and to be assured of an 
uninterrupted  development4    ,but     

about the middle of the nineteenth      
century this mutual  understanding and  
co-operation between ethical ideals and 
reality  began to break down1 and in the
 course of the next few decades it      
disappeared more and more completely4   
,without resistance1 without  complaint1
 civilization abdicated4 ,its ideas     
lagged behind1 as though  they were too 
exhausted to keep pace with it4 ,how did
 this come about8           99       99 
99       99       99    ,the decisive   
element in the production of this result
 was philosophy's  renunciation of her  
duty4    ,in the eighteenth century and 
the early part of the nineteenth it was 
philosophy which led and guided thought 
in general4 ,she had busied  herself    
with the questions which presented      
themselves to mankind at  each          
successive period1 and had kept the pg  
#jje thought of civilized  man actively 
reflecting upon them4 ,philosophy at    
that time included  within herself an   
elementary philosophizing about man1    

society1 race1  humanity and            
civilization1 which produced in a       
perfectly natural way a  living popular 
philosophy that controlled the general  
thought1 and  maintained the enthusiasm 
for civilization4    ,but that ethical1 
and at the same time optimistic1 view of
 things in  which the ,illuminati and   
rationalism had laid the foundations of 
this  healthy popular philosophy1 was   
unable in the long run to meet the      
criticism levelled at it by pure        
thought4 ,its nave dogmatism raised     
more and more prejudice against it4     
,kant tried to provide the  tottering   
building with new foundations1          
undertaking to alter the  rationalistic 
view of things in accordance with the   
demands of a  deeper theory of          
knowledge1 without1 however1 making any 
change in its  essential spiritual      
elements4 ,goethe1 ,schiller and other  
intellectual  giants of the age1 showed1
 by means of criticism both kindly and  
malicious1 that rationalism was rather  

popular philosophy than real            
philosophy1 but they were not in a      
position to put into the place of  what 
they destroyed anything new which could 
give the same effective  support to the 
ideas about civilization which were     
current in the  general thought of the  
time4    pg #jjf    ,fichte1 ,hegel1 and
 other philosophers1 who1 for all their 
criticism of  rationalism1 paid homage  
to its ethical ideals1 attempted to     
establish  a similar ethical and        
optimistic view of things by speculative
  methods1 that is by logical and       
metaphysical discussion of pure being   
and its development into a universe4    
,for three or four decades they         
succeeded in deceiving themselves and   
others with this supposedly  creative   
and inspiring illusion1 and in doing    
violence to reality in  the interests of
 their theory of the universe4 ,but at  
last the natural  sciences1 which all   
this time had been growing stronger and 
stronger1  rose up against them1 and1   

with a plebeian enthusiasm for the truth
 of  reality1 reduced to ruins the      
magnificent creations of their          
imagination4    ,since that time the    
ethical ideas on which civilization     
rests have  been wandering about the    
world1 poverty-stricken and homeless4   
,no  theory of the universe has been    
advanced which can give them a solid    
foundation2 in fact1 not one has made   
its appearance which can claim  for     
itself solidity and inner consistency4  
,the age of philosophic  dogmatism had  
come definitely to an end1 and after    
that nothing was  recognized as truth   
except the science which described      
reality4  ,general theories of the      
universe no longer appeared as fixed    
stars2  they pg #jjg were regarded as   
resting on hypothesis1 and ranked no    
higher than comets4    ,the same weapon 
which struck down the dogmatism of      
knowledge about the  universe struck    
down also the dogmatic enunciation of   
spiritual ideas4  ,the early simple     

rationalism1 the critical rationalism of
 ,kant1 and  the speculative rationalism
 of the great philosophers of the       
nineteenth century had all alike done   
violence to reality in two ways4  ,they 
had given a position above that of the  
facts of science to the  views which    
they had arrived at by pure thought1 and
 they had also  preached a series of    
ethical ideals which were meant to      
replace by new  ones the various        
existing relations in the ideas and the 
material  environment of mankind4 ,when 
the first of these two forms of violence
  was proved to be a mistaken one1 it   
became questionable whether the  second 
could still be allowed the justification
 which it had hitherto  enjoyed4 ,the   
doctrinaire methods of thought which    
made the existing  world nothing but    
material for the production of a purely 
theoretical  sketch of a better future  
were replaced by sympathetic attempts to
  understand the historical origin of   
existing things for which ,hegel's      

philosophy had prepared the way4        
,with a general mentality of this       
description1 a real combination of      
ethical ideals with reality was no pg   
#jjh longer possible2 there was  not the
 freedom from prejudice which that      
required1 and so there came  a weakening
 of the convictions which were the      
driving power of  civilization4 ,so1    
too1 an end was put to that justifiable 
violence to  human convictions and      
circumstances without which the         
reforming work  of civilization can make
 no advance1 because it was bound up    
with that  other unjustifiable violence 
to reality4 ,that is the tragic element 
in  the psychological development of our
 spiritual life during the latter  half 
of the nineteenth century4              
,rationalism1 then1 had been dismissed2 
but with it went also the  optimistic   
convictions as to the moral meaning of  
the universe and of  humanity1 of       
society and of man1 to which it had     
given birth1 though  the conviction     

still exerted so much influence that no 
attention was  paid to the catastrophe  
which had really begun4           99    
99       99       99       99           
,philosophy did not realize that the    
power of the ideas about  civilization  
which had been entrusted to it was      
becoming a doubtful  quantity4 ,at the  
end of one of the most brilliant works  
on the history  of philosophy which     
appeared at the close of the nineteenth 
century  philosophy is defined as the   
process 8by which there comes to        
completion1 step by step1 pg #jji and   
with ever clearer and surer             
consciousness1 that conviction about the
 value of civilization the  universal   
validity of which it is the object of   
philosophy itself to  affirm40 ,but the 
author has forgotten the essential      
point1 viz41 that  there was a time when
 philosophy did not merely convince     
itself of the  value of civilization1   
but also let its convictions go forth as
  fruitful ideas destined to influence  

the general thought1 while from  the    
middle of the nineteenth century onwards
 these convictions had  become more and 
more of the nature of hoarded and       
unproductive  capital4    ,once         
philosophy had been an active worker    
producing universal  convictions about  
civilization4 ,now1 after the collapse  
in the middle  of the nineteenth        
century1 this same philosophy had become
 a mere  drawer of dividends1           
concentrating her activities far from   
the world  on what she had managed to   
save4 ,she had become a mere science1   
which  sifted the results of the        
historical and natural sciences1 and    
collected from them material for a      
future theory of the universe1  carrying
 on with this object in view a learned  
activity in all  branches of knowledge4 
,at the same time she became more and   
more  absorbed in the study of her own  
past4 ,philosophy came to mean          
practically the history of philosophy1  
but the creative spirit had  left her4  

,she became more and pg #jaj more a     
philosophy which  contained no real     
thought4 ,she reflected1 indeed1 on the 
results  achieved by the individual     
sciences1 but she lost the power of     
thought  about fundamental problems4    
,she looked back with condescending pity
 on the rationalism which she  had      
outstripped4 ,she prided herself on     
being able to trace her descent  through
 ,kant1 on having been shown by ,hegel  
the inner meaning of  history1 and on   
being at work to-day in close sympathy  
with the  natural sciences4 ,but for all
 that she was poorer than the poorest   
rationalism1 because she now carried on 
in imagination only1 and not  in        
reality1 the recognized work of         
philosophy1 which the latter had        
practised so zealously4 ,rationalism1   
for all its simplicity1 had been  a     
working philosophy1 but philosophy      
herself had now become1 for all  her    
insight1 merely a pedantic philosophy of
 degenerates4 ,she still  played1       

indeed1 some sort of rle in schools and 
universities1 but  she had no longer any
 message for the great world4    ,in    
spite of all her learning1 she had      
become a stranger to the world1  and the
 problems of life which occupied men and
 the whole thought of  the age had no   
part in her activities4 ,her way lay    
apart from the  general spiritual life1 
and just as she derived no stimulus from
 the  latter1 so she gave none back4    
,refusing to concern herself with       
fundamental pg #jaa problems1 she       
contained no fundamental philosophy     
which could become a philosophy of the  
people4    ,from this impotence came the
 aversion to all generally intelligible 
philosophizing which is so              
characteristic of her4 ,popular         
philosophy  was for her merely a review1
 prepared for the use of the crowd1     
simplified1 and therefore rendered      
inferior1 of the results given by  the  
individual sciences which she had       
herself sifted and put together  in view

 of a future theory of the universe4    
,she was wholly unconscious  of several 
things1 viz41 that there is a popular   
philosophy which  arises out of such a  
review2 that it is just the province of 
philosophy to deal with the primary1    
deeper questions about which            
individuals and the crowd are thinking1 
or ought to be thinking1 to  apply to   
them more comprehensive and more        
thorough methods of thought1  and then  
restore them to general currency2 and1  
finally1 that the  value of any         
philosophy is in the last resort to be  
measured by its  capacity1 or           
incapacity1 to transform itself into a  
living philosophy  of the people4       
,whatever is deep is also simple1 and   
can be reproduced as such1 if  only its 
relation to the whole of reality is     
preserved4 ,it is then  something       
abstract1 which secures for itself a    
many-sided life as soon  as it comes    
into contact with facts4    pg #jab     
,whatever of inquiring thought there was

 among the general public was  therefore
 compelled to languish1 because our     
philosophy refused either  to           
acknowledge or to help it4 ,it found in 
front of it a deep chasm  which it could
 not cross4    ,of gold coinage1 minted 
in the past1 philosophy had abundance2  
hypotheses about a soon to be developed 
theological theory of the  universe     
filled her vaults like unminted bullion2
 but food with which  to appease the    
spiritual hunger of the present she did 
not possess4  ,deceived by her own      
riches1 she had neglected to plant any  
ground with  nourishing crops1 and      
therefore1 ignoring the hunger of the   
age1 she  left the latter to its fate4  
,that pure thought never managed to     
construct a theory of the universe  of  
an optimistic1 ethical character1 and to
 build up on that for a  foundation the 
ideals which go to produce civilization1
 was not the  fault of philosophy2 it   
was a fact which became evident as      
thought  developed4 ,but philosophy was 

guilty of a wrong to our age in that it 
did not admit the fact1 but remained    
wrapped up in its illusion1 as  though  
this were really a help to the progress 
of civilization4    ,the ultimate       
vocation of philosophy is to be the     
guide and guardian of  the general      
reason1 and it was her duty1 in the     
circumstances of the  time1 to confess  
pg #jac to our world that ethical ideals
 were no  longer supported by any       
general theory of the universe1 but     
were1 till  further notice1 left to     
themselves1 and must make their way in  
the  world by their own innate power4   
,she ought to have shown us that we     
have to fight on behalf of the ideals on
 which our civilization rests4  ,she    
ought to have tried to give these ideals
 an independent existence  by virtue of 
their own inner value and inner truth1  
and so to keep  them alive and active   
without any extraneous help from a      
corresponding  theory of the universe4  
,no effort should have been spared to   

direct  the attention of the cultured   
and the uncultured alike to the problem 
of the ideals of civilization4    ,but  
philosophy philosophized about          
everything except civilization4 ,she    
went on working undeviatingly at the    
establishment of a theoretical  view of 
the universe1 as though by means of it  
everything could be  restored1 and did  
not reflect that this theory1 even if it
 were  completed1 would be constructed  
only out of history and science1 and    
would accordingly be unoptimistic and   
unethical1 and would remain for  ever an
 8impotent theory of the universe10     
which could never call  forth the       
energies needed for the establishment   
and maintenance of the  ideals of       
civilization4    ,so little did         
philosophy philosophize about pg #jad   
civilization that  she did not even     
notice that she herself and the age     
along with her  were losing more and    
more of it4 ,in the hour of peril the   
watchman who  ought to have kept us     

awake was himself asleep1 and the result
 was  that we put up no fight at all on 
behalf of our civilization4             
pg #jae    ,,chapter ,,ii               
,,hindrances ,,to ,,civilization ,,in   
,,our ,,economic ,,and ,,spiritual      
,,life      ,the unfree economic        
position of the modern man4 ,the        
undeveloped  condition of the modern    
man4 ,the modern man's want of humanity4
 ,the  lack of spiritual independence in
 the man of to-day4    ,even if the     
abdication of thought has been1 as we   
have seen1 the  decisive factor in the  
collapse of our civilization1 there are 
yet a  number of other causes which     
combine with it to hinder our progress  
in  this regard4 ,they are to be found  
in the field of spiritual as well as  in
 that of economic activity1 and depend1 
above all1 on the  interaction between  
the two1 an interaction which is        
unsatisfactory  and continually becoming
 more so4    ,the capacity of the modern
 man for progress in civilization is    

diminished because the circumstances in 
which he finds himself placed  injure   
him psychically and stunt his           
personality4    ,the development of     
civilization comes about--to put it     
quite  generally--by individual men     
thinking out ideals which aim at the    
progress of the whole1 and then so      
fitting them to the realities of  life  
that pg #jaf they assume the shape in   
which they can influence  most          
effectively the circumstances of the    
time4 ,a man's ability to be  a pioneer 
of progress1 that is1 to understand what
 civilization is and  to work for it1   
depends1 therefore1 on his being a      
thinker and on his  being free4 ,he must
 be the former if he is to be capable of
  comprehending his ideals and putting  
them into shape4 ,he must be free  in   
order to be in a position to launch his 
ideals out into the general  life4 ,the 
more completely his activities are taken
 up in any way by  the struggle for     
existence1 the more strongly will the   

impulse to  improve his own condition   
find expression in the ideals of his    
thought4 ,ideals of self-interest then  
get mixed up with and spoil his  ideals 
of civilization4    ,material and       
spiritual freedom are closely bound up  
with one another4  ,civilization        
presupposes free men1 for only by free  
men can it be  thought out and brought  
to realization4    ,but among mankind   
to-day both freedom and the capacity for
 thought  have been sadly diminished4   
,if society had so developed that a     
continually widening circle of the      
population could enjoy a modest1 but    
well-assured1 condition of  comfort1    
civilization would have been much more  
helped than it has  been by all the     
material conquests which are lauded in  
its name4 ,these  do1 indeed1 make pg   
#jag mankind as a whole less dependent  
upon  nature1 but at the same time they 
diminish the number of free and         
independent lives4 ,the artisan who was 
his own master becomes the  factory hand

 through the compulsion of machinery4   
,because in the  complicated business   
world of to-day only undertakings with  
abundant  capital behind them can       
maintain their existence1 the place of  
the  small1 independent dealer is being 
taken more and more completely by  the  
employee4 ,even the classes which still 
possess a larger or smaller  amount of  
property or maintain a more or less     
independent activity get  drawn more and
 more completely into the struggle for  
existence because  of the insecurity of 
present conditions under the economic   
system of  to-day4    ,the lack of      
freedom which results is made worse     
still because the  factory system       
creates continually growing             
agglomerations of people  who are       
thereby compulsorily separated from the 
soil which feeds them1  from their own  
homes and from nature4 ,hence comes     
serious psychical  injury4 ,there is    
only too much truth in the paradoxical  
saying that  abnormal life begins with  

the loss of one's own field and         
dwelling-place4    ,civilization is1 it 
is true1 furthered to a certain extent  
by the  self-regarding ideals produced  
by the pg #jah groups of people who     
unite and co-operate in defence of their
 similarly threatened  interests in so  
far as they seek to obtain an           
improvement in their  material1 and     
thereby also in their spiritual1        
environment4 ,but these  ideals are a   
danger to the idea of civilization as   
such1 because the  form which they      
assume is either not at all1 or very    
imperfectly1  determined by the really  
universal interests of the community4   
,the  consideration of civilization as  
such is held back by the competition    
between the various self-regarding      
ideals which go under its name4    ,to  
the want of freedom we have to add the  
evil of overwork4 ,for two or  three    
generations numbers of individuals have 
been living as workers  merely1 not as  
human beings4 ,whatever can be said in a

 general way  about the moral and       
spiritual significance of labour has no 
bearing on  what they have to do4 ,an   
excessive amount of labour is the rule  
to-day  in every department of industry1
 with the result that the labourer's    
spiritual element cannot possibly       
thrive4 ,this overwork hits him         
indirectly even in his childhood1 for   
his parents1 caught in the  inexorable  
toils of work1 cannot devote themselves 
to his up-bringing  as they should4     
,thus his development is robbed of      
something which can  never be made good1
 and later in life1 when he himself is  
the slave of  over-long hours1 he feels 
more and pg #jai more the need of       
external  distractions4 ,to spend the   
time left to him for leisure in         
self-cultivation1 or in serious         
intercourse with his fellows or with    
books1 requires a mental collectedness  
and a self-control which he  finds very 
difficult4 ,complete idleness1          
forgetfulness1 and diversion  from his  

usual activities are a physical         
necessity4 ,he does not want  to think1 
and seeks not self-improvement1 but     
entertainment1 that kind  of            
entertainment1 moreover1 which makes    
least demand upon his  spiritual        
faculties4    ,the mentality of this    
mass of individuals1 spiritually relaxed
 and  incapable of self-collectedness1  
reacts upon all those institutions      
which ought to serve the cause of       
culture1 and therewith of  civilization4
 ,the theatre takes a second place      
behind the pleasure  resort or the      
picture show1 and the instructive book  
behind the  diverting one4 ,an ever     
increasing proportion of periodicals and
  newspapers have to accommodate        
themselves to the necessity of putting  
their matter before their readers in the
 shape which lets it be  assimilated    
most easily4 ,a comparison of the       
average newspapers of  to-day with those
 of fifty or sixty years ago shows how  
thoroughly  such publications have had  

to change their methods in this respect4
    ,when once the spirit of            
superficiality has penetrated pg #jbj   
into  the institutions which ought to   
sustain the spiritual life1 these       
exercise on their part a reflex         
influence on the society which they     
have brought to this condition1 and     
force on all alike this state of  mental
 vacuity4    ,how completely this want  
of thinking power has become a second   
nature  in men to-day is shown by the   
kind of sociability which it produces4  
,when two of them meet for a            
conversation each is careful to see that
  their talk does not go beyond         
generalities or develop into a real     
exchange of ideas4 ,no one has anything 
of his own to give out1 and  everyone is
 haunted by a sort of terror lest       
anything original should  be demanded   
from him4    ,the spirit produced in    
such a society of never-concentrated    
minds is  rising among us as an ever    
growing force1 and it results in a      

lowered  conception of what man should  
be4 ,in ourselves1 as in others we look 
for nothing but vigour in productive    
work and resign ourselves to the        
abandonment of any higher ideal4        
,when we consider this want of freedom  
and of mental concentration1 we  see    
that the conditions of life for the     
inhabitants of our big cities  are as   
unfavourable as they could be4          
,naturally1 then1 those  inhabitants are
 in most danger on their spiritual side4
 ,it is doubtful  whether big cities pg 
#jba have ever been foci of civilization
 in the  sense that in them there has   
arisen the ideal of a man well and truly
  developed as a spiritual personality2 
to-day1 at any rate1 the  condition of  
things is such that true civilization   
needs to be rescued  from the spirit    
that issues from them and their         
inhabitants4           99       99      
99       99       99    ,but1 besides   
the hindrance caused to civilization by 
the modern man's  lack of freedom and of

 the power of mental concentration1     
there is a  further hindrance caused by 
his imperfect development4 ,the enormous
  increase of human knowledge and power1
 in specialized thoroughness as  well as
 in extent1 necessarily leads to        
individual activities being  limited    
more and more to well-defined           
departments4 ,human labour is  organized
 and co-ordinated so that specialization
 may enable  individuals to make the    
highest and most effective possible     
contribution4 ,the results obtained are 
amazing1 but the spiritual  significance
 of the work for the worker suffers4    
,there is no call upon  the whole man1  
only upon some of his faculties1 and    
this has a reflex  effect upon his      
nature as a whole4 ,the faculties which 
build up  personality and are called out
 by comprehensive and varied tasks are  
ousted by the less comprehensive ones1  
which from this point of view  are1 in  
the pg #jbb general sense of the word1  
less spiritual4 ,the  artisan of to-day 

does not understand his trade as a whole
 in the way  in which his predecessor   
did4 ,he no longer learns1 like the     
latter1 to  work the wood or the metal  
through all the stages of manufacture2  
many  of these stages have already been 
carried out by men and machines  before 
the material comes into his hands4      
,consequently his  reflectiveness1 his  
imagination1 and his skill are no longer
 called  out by ever varying            
difficulties in the work1 and his       
creative and  artistic powers are       
atrophied4 ,in place of the normal      
self-consciousness which is promoted by 
work into the doing of which  he must   
put his whole power of thought and his  
whole personality1  there comes a       
self-satisfaction which is content with 
a fragmentary  ability which1 it may be 
admitted1 is perfect1 and this          
self-satisfaction is persuaded by its   
perfection in mastering details  to     
overlook its imperfection in dealing    
with the whole4    ,in all professions1 

most clearly perhaps in the pursuit of  
science1 we  can recognize the spiritual
 danger with which specialization       
threatens  not only individuals1 but the
 spiritual life of the community4 ,it is
  already noticeable1 too1 that         
education is carried on now by teachers 
who have not a wide enough outlook to   
make their scholars understand  the     
interconnection of the individual       
sciences1 and pg #jbc to be  able to    
give them a mental horizon as wide as it
 should be4    ,then1 as if             
specialization and the organization of  
work1 where it is  unavoidable1 were not
 already injurious enough to the soul of
 the  modern man1 it is pursued and     
built up where it could be dispensed    
with4 ,in administration1 in education1 
and in every kind of calling  the       
natural sphere of activity is narrowed  
as far as possible by rules  and        
superintendence4 ,how much less free in 
many countries is the  elementary school
 teacher of to-day compared with what he

 was once6  ,how lifeless and impersonal
 has his teaching become as a result of 
all  these limitations6    ,thus through
 our methods of work we have suffered   
loss spiritually and  as individuals    
just in proportion as the material      
output of our  collective activity has  
increased4 ,here1 too1 is an            
illustration of  that tragic law which  
says that every gain brings with it1    
somehow or  other1 a corresponding loss4
           99       99       99       99
       99    ,but man to-day is in      
danger not only through his lack of     
freedom1 of  the power of mental        
concentration1 and of the opportunity   
for  all-round development3 he is in    
danger of losing his humanity4    ,the  
normal attitude of man to man is made   
very pg #jbd difficult for  us4 ,owing  
to the hurry in which we live1 to the   
increased facilities  for intercourse1  
and to the necessity for living and     
working with many  others in an         
overcrowded locality1 we meet each other

 continually1 and  in the most varied   
relations1 as strangers4 ,our           
circumstances do not  allow us to deal  
with each other as man to man1 for the  
limitations  placed upon the activities 
of the natural man are so general and so
  unbroken that we get accustomed to    
them1 and no longer feel our            
mechanical1 impersonal intercourse to be
 something that is unnatural4  ,we no   
longer feel uncomfortable that in such a
 number of situations we  can no longer 
be men among men1 and at last we give up
 trying to be  so1 even when it would be
 possible and proper4    ,in this       
respect1 too1 the soul of the townsman  
is influenced most  unfavourably by his 
circumstances1 and that influence1 in   
its turn1  works most unfavourably on   
the mentality of society4    ,thus we   
tend to forget our relationship with our
 fellows1 and are on  the path towards  
inhumanity4 ,wherever there is lost the 
consciousness  that every man is an     
object of concern for us just because he

 is man1  civilization and morals are   
shaken1 and the advance to fully        
developed  inhumanity is only a question
 of time4    ,as a matter of fact1 the  
most utterly inhuman pg #jbe thoughts   
have  been current among us for two     
generations past in all the ugly        
clearness of language and with the      
authority of logical principles4  ,there
 has been created a social mentality    
which discourages humanity  in          
individuals4 ,the courtesy produced by  
natural feeling disappears1  and in its 
place comes a behaviour which shows     
entire indifference1  even though it is 
decked out more or less thoroughly in a 
code of  manners4 ,the standoffishness  
and want of sympathy which are shown so 
clearly in every way to strangers are no
 longer felt as being really  rudeness1 
but pass for the behaviour of the man of
 the world4 ,our  society has also      
ceased to allow to all men1 as such1 a  
human value  and a human dignity2 many  
sections of the human race have become  

merely raw material and property in     
human form4 ,we have talked for  decades
 with ever increasing light-mindedness  
about war and conquest1  as if these    
were merely operations on a chess-board2
 how was this  possible save as the     
result of a tone of mind which no longer
 pictured  to itself the fate of        
individuals1 but thought of them only as
 figures  or objects belonging to the   
material world8 ,when the war broke out 
the  inhumanity within us had a free    
course4 ,and what an amount of          
insulting stuff1 some decently veiled1  
some openly coarse1 about the  coloured 
races1 has made its appearance during   
the last decades1 and  passed for truth 
and pg #jbf reason1 in our colonial     
literature and  our parliaments1 and so 
become an element in general public     
opinion6  ,twenty years ago there was a 
discussion in one of our ,continental   
parliaments about some deported negroes 
who had been allowed to die of  hunger  
and thirst2 and there was no protest or 

comment when1 in a  statement from the  
tribune1 it was said that they 8had been
 lost0  78eingegangen0 or 8crv071 as    
though it were a question of  cattle6   
,in the education and the school books  
of to-day the duty of humanity  is      
relegated to an obscure corner1 as      
though it were no longer true  that it  
is the first thing necessary in the     
training of personality1  and as if it  
were not a matter of great importance to
 maintain it as a  strong influence in  
our human race against the influence of 
outer  circumstances4 ,it has not been  
so always4 ,there was a time when it was
  a ruling influence not only in        
schools1 but in literature1 even down   
to the book of adventures4 ,defoe's     
hero1 ,robinson ,crusoe1 is  continually
 reflecting on the subject of humane    
conduct1 and he feels  himself so       
responsible for loyalty to this duty    
that when defending  himself he is      
continually thinking how he can         
sacrifice the smallest  number of human 

lives2 he is so faithful1 indeed1 to    
this duty of  humanity1 that the story  
of his adventures acquires thereby quite
 a  peculiar character4 ,is pg #jbg     
there among works of this kind to-day  a
 single one in which we shall find      
anything like it8           99       99 
99       99       99    ,another        
hindrance to civilization to-day is the 
over-organization of  our public life4  
,while it is certain that a properly    
ordered environment is the  condition   
and1 at the same time1 the result of    
civilization1 it is  also undeniable    
that1 after a certain point has been    
reached1 external  organization is      
developed at the expense of spiritual   
life4  ,personality and ideas are then  
subordinated to institutions1 when it   
is really these which ought to influence
 the latter and keep them  inwardly     
alive4    ,if a comprehensive           
organization is established in any      
department of  social life1 the results 
are at first magnificent1 but after a   

time  they fall off4 ,it is the already 
existing resources which are realized   
at the start1 but later on the          
destructive influence of such           
organization on what is living and      
original is clearly seen in its  natural
 results1 and the more consistently the 
organization is  enlarged1 the more     
strongly its effect is felt in the      
repression of  creative and spiritual   
activity4 ,there are modern ,states     
which cannot  recover either            
economically or spiritually from the    
paralysing effects  of a concentration  
which dates from a very early period of 
their  history4    pg #jbh    ,the      
conversion of a wood into a park and its
 maintenance as such may  be a step     
towards carrying out several different  
objects1 but it is  all over then with  
the rich vegetation which would assure  
its future  condition in nature's own   
way4    ,political1 religious and       
economic associations aim to-day at     
forming  themselves in such a way as    

will combine the greatest possible inner
  cohesion with the highest possible    
degree of external activity4            
,constitution1 discipline1 and          
everything that belongs to              
administration are brought to a         
perfection hitherto unknown4 ,they      
attain their object1 but just in        
proportion as they do so these  centres 
of activity cease to work as living     
organizations1 and come  more and more  
to resemble perfected machines4 ,their  
inner life loses  in richness and       
variety because the personalities of    
which they are  composed must needs     
decay in character4    ,our whole       
spiritual life nowadays has its course  
within organizations4  ,from childhood  
up the man of to-day has his mind so    
full of the  thought of discipline that 
he loses the sense of his own           
individuality  and can only see himself 
as thinking in the spirit of some group 
or  other of his fellows4 ,a thorough   
discussion between one idea and  another

 or between one man and another1 such as
 constituted the  greatness of the      
eighteenth century1 is never met pg #jbi
 with now4  ,but at that time fear of   
public opinion was a thing unknown4 ,all
 ideas  had then to justify themselves  
to the individual reason4 ,to-day it is 
the rule--and no one questions          
it--always to take into account the     
views  which prevail in organized       
society4 ,the individual starts by      
taking it  for granted that both for    
himself and his neighbours there are    
certain  views already established which
 they cannot hope to alter1 views which 
are determined by nationality1 creed1   
political party1 social  position1 and  
other elements in one's surroundings4   
,these views are  protected by a kind of
 taboo1 and are not only kept sacred    
from  criticism1 but are not a          
legitimate subject of conversation4     
,this kind  of intercourse1 in which we 
mutually abjure our natural quality as  
thinking beings1 is euphemistically     

described as respect for other  people's
 convictions1 as if there could be any  
convictions at all  where there is no   
thought4    ,the modern man is lost in  
the mass in a way which is without      
precedent  in history1 and this is      
perhaps the most characteristic trait in
 him4  ,his diminished concern about his
 own nature makes him as it is          
susceptible1 to an extent that is almost
 pathological1 to the views  which      
society and its organs of expression    
have put1 ready made1 into  circulation4
 ,since1 over and above this1 society1  
pg #jcj with its  well-constructed      
organization1 has become a power of as  
yet unknown  strength in the spiritual  
life1 man's want of independence in the 
face  of it has become so serious that  
he is almost ceasing to claim a         
spiritual existence of his own4 ,he is  
like a rubber ball which has  lost its  
elasticity1 and preserves indefinitely  
every impression that  is made upon it4 
,he is under the thumb of the mass1 and 

he draws from  it the opinions on which 
he lives1 whether the question at issue 
is  national or political or one of his 
own belief or unbelief4    ,yet this    
abnormal subjection to external         
influences does not strike  him as being
 a weakness4 ,he looks upon it as an    
achievement1 and in  his unlimited      
spiritual devotion to the interests of  
the community he  thinks he is          
preserving the greatness of the modern  
man4 ,he  intentionally exaggerates our 
natural social instincts into something 
fantastically great4    ,it is just     
because we thus renounce the            
indefeasible rights of the  individual  
that our race can neither produce new   
ideas nor make  current ones serviceable
 for new objects2 its only experience is
 that  prevailing ideas obtain more and 
more authority1 take on a more and  more
 one-sided development1 and live on till
 they have produced their  last and most
 dangerous consequences4    ,thus we    
have entered on a new medival period4 pg

 #jca ,the general  determination of    
society has put freedom of thought out  
of fashion1  because the majority       
renounce the privilege of thinking as   
free  personalities1 and let themselves 
be guided in everything by those who    
belong to the various groups and        
cliques4    ,spiritual freedom1 then1 we
 shall recover only when the majority of
  individuals become once more          
spiritually independent and             
self-reliant1  and discover their       
natural and proper relation to those    
organizations  in which their souls have
 been entangled4 ,but liberation from   
the  ,middle ,ages of to-day will be a  
much more difficult process than that   
which freed the peoples of ,europe from 
the first ,middle ,ages4 ,the  struggle 
then was against external authority     
established in the course  of history4  
,to-day the task is to get the mass of  
individuals to work  themselves out of  
the condition of spiritual weakness and 
dependence  to which they have brought  

themselves4 ,could there be a harder    
task8    ,moreover1 no one as yet       
clearly perceives what a condition of   
spiritual poverty is ours to-day4 ,every
 year the spread of opinions  which have
 no thought behind them is carried      
further by the masses1  and the methods 
of this process have been so perfected1 
and have met  with such a ready welcome1
 that our pg #jcb confidence in being   
able  to raise to the dignity of public 
opinion the silliest of statements1     
wherever it seems necessary to get them 
currently accepted1 has no  need to     
justify itself before acting4    ,during
 the war the control of thought was made
 complete4 ,propaganda  definitely took 
the place of truth4    ,with            
independence of thought thrown          
overboard1 we have1 as was  inevitable1 
lost our faith in truth4 ,our spiritual 
life is  disorganized1 for the          
over-organization of our external       
environment  leads to the organization  
of our absence of thought4    ,not only 

in the intellectual sphere1 but in the  
moral also1 the  relation between the   
individual and the community has been   
upset4 ,with  the surrender of his own  
personal opinion the modern man         
surrenders  also his personal moral     
judgment4    ,in order that he may find 
good what the mass declares to be such1 
whether in word or deed1 and may condemn
 what it declares to be bad1  he        
suppresses the scruples which stir in   
him4 ,he does not allow them  to find   
utterance either with others or with    
himself4 ,there are no  stumbling-blocks
 which his feeling of unity with the    
herd does not  enable him to surmount1  
and thus he loses his judgment in that  
of the  mass1 and his own morality in   
theirs4    ,above all1 he is thus made  
capable of excusing pg #jcc everything  
that is meaningless1 cruel1 unjust1 or  
bad in the behaviour of his  nation4    
,unconsciously to themselves1 the       
majority of the members of  our         
barbarian civilised ,states give less   

and less time to reflection  as moral   
personalities1 so that they may not be  
continually coming  into inner conflict 
with their fellows as a body1 and       
continually  having to get over things  
which they feel to be wrong4    ,public 
opinion helps them by popularizing the  
idea that the actions of  the community 
are not to be judged so much by the     
standards of  morality as by those of   
expediency1 but they suffer injury to   
their  souls4 ,if we find among men of  
to-day only too few whose human and     
moral sensibility is still undamaged1   
the chief reason is that the  majority  
have offered up their personal morality 
on the altar of their  country1 instead 
of remaining at variance with the mass  
and acting as  a force which impels the 
latter along the road to perfection4    
,not only between the economic and the  
spiritual1 then1 but also  between the  
mass of men and individuals1 there has  
developed a  condition of unfavourable  
action and reaction4 ,in the days of    

rationalism and serious philosophy the  
individual got help and support  from   
society through the general confidence  
in the victory of the  rational and     
moral1 which society never failed to    
acknowledge pg #jcd  as something which 
explained and justified itself4         
,individuals were  then carried along by
 the mass2 we are stifled by it4 ,the   
bankruptcy  of the civilized ,state1    
which becomes more manifest every       
decade1 is  ruining the man of to-day4  
,the demoralization of the individual by
 the  mass is in full swing4    ,the man
 of to-day pursues his dark journey in a
 time of darkness1 as  one who has no   
freedom1 no mental collectedness1 no    
all-round  development1 as one who loses
 himself in an atmosphere of inhumanity1
  who surrenders his spiritual          
independence and his moral judgment to  
the organized society in which he lives1
 and who finds himself in  every        
direction up against hindrances to the  
temper of true  civilization4 ,of the   

dangerous position in which he is placed
  philosophy has no understanding1 and  
therefore makes no attempt to  help him4
 ,she does not even urge him to         
reflection on what is  happening to     
himself4    ,the terrible truth that    
with the progress of history and the    
economic  development of the world it is
 becoming not easier1 but harder1 to    
develop true civilization1 has never    
found utterance4          pg #jce       
,,chapter ,,iii    ,,civilization       
,,essentially ,,ethical ,,in ,,character
      ,what is civilization8 ,origin of 
the unethical conception of             
civilization4 ,our sense of reality4    
,our historical sense4 ,nationalism4    
,national civilization4 ,our misleading 
trust in facts and organization4  ,the  
true sense for reality4    ,this        
question ought to have been pressing    
itself on the attention of  all men who 
consider themselves civilized1 but it is
 remarkable that  in the world's        
literature generally one hardly finds   

that it has been  put at all until      
to-day1 and still more rarely is any    
answer given4 ,it  was supposed that    
there was no need for a definition of   
civilization1  since we already         
possessed the thing itself4 ,if the     
question was ever  touched upon1 it was 
considered to be sufficiently settled   
with  references to history and the     
present day4 ,but now1 when events are  
bringing us inexorably to the           
consciousness that we live in a         
dangerous medley of civilization and    
barbarism1 we must1 whether we  wish to 
or not1 try to determine the nature of  
true civilization4    ,for a quite      
general definition we may say that      
civilization is  progress1 material and 
spiritual progress1 on the part of      
individuals  as of the mass4    pg #jcf 
,in what does it consist8 ,first of all 
in a lessening of the strain  imposed on
 individuals and on the mass by the     
struggle for existence4  ,the           
establishment of as favourable          

conditions of living as possible  for   
all is a demand which must be made      
partly for its own sake1 partly  with a 
view to the spiritual and moral         
perfecting of individuals1  which is the
 ultimate object of civilization4       
,the struggle for existence is a double 
one3 man has to assert himself  in      
nature and against nature1 and similarly
 also among his fellow-men  and against 
them4    ,a diminution of the struggle  
is secured by strengthening the         
supremacy  of reason over both external 
nature and human nature1 and making it  
subserve as accurately as possible the  
ends proposed4    ,civilization is then 
twofold in its nature3 it realizes      
itself in the  supremacy of reason1     
first1 over the forces of nature1 and1  
secondly1  over the dispositions of men4
    ,which of these kinds of progress is
 most truly progress in  civilization8  
,the latter1 though it is the least open
 to observation4  ,why8 ,for two        
reasons4 ,first1 the supremacy which we 

secure by reason  over external nature  
represents not unqualified progress1 but
 a  progress which brings with its      
advantages also disadvantages which may 
work in the direction of barbarism4 ,the
 reason why the economic  circumstances 
of our time endanger our civilization is
 to be sought  for partly in the fact   
that we have pressed pg #jcg into our   
service  natural forces which can be    
embodied in machines4 ,but with that    
there  must be such a supremacy of      
reason over the dispositions of men that
  they1 and the nations which they form1
 will not use against one  another the  
power which the control of these forces 
gives them1 and  thus plunge one another
 into a struggle for existence which is 
far  more terrible than that between men
 in a state of nature4    ,a normal     
claim to be civilized can1 then1 only be
 reckoned as valid  when it recognizes  
this distinction between what is        
essential in  civilization and what is  
not4    ,both kinds of progress can1    

indeed1 be called spiritual in the sense
  that they both rest upon a spiritual  
activity in man1 yet we may call  the   
supremacy over natural forces material  
progress because in it  material objects
 are mastered and turned to man's use4  
,the supremacy  of reason over human    
dispositions1 on the other hand1 is a   
spiritual  achievement in another sense1
 in that it means the working of spirit 
upon spirit1 i4e41 of one section of the
 power of reflexion upon  another       
section of it4    ,and what is meant by 
the supremacy of the reason over human  
dispositions8 ,it means that both       
individuals and the mass let their      
willing be determined by the material   
and spiritual good of the whole  and the
 individuals that compose it2 that pg   
#jch is to say1 their  actions are      
ethical4 ,ethical progress is1 then1    
that which is truly of  the essence of  
civilization1 and has only one          
significance2 material  progress is that
 which is not of the essential at all1  

and may have a  twofold effect on the   
development of civilization4 ,this moral
  conception of civilization will strike
 some people as rationalistic  and      
old-fashioned4 ,it accords better with  
the spirit of our times to  conceive of 
civilization as a natural manifestation 
of life in the  course of human         
evolution1 but one with most interesting
  complications4 ,we are concerned1     
however1 not with what is ingenious1    
but with what is true4 ,in this case the
 simple is the true--the  inconvenient  
truth with which it is our laborious    
task to deal4           99       99     
99       99       99    ,the attempts to
 distinguish between civilization as    
what the ,germans  call 8,kultur0 and   
civilization as mere material progress  
aim at making  the world familiar with  
the idea of an unethical form of        
civilization  side by side with the     
ethical1 and at clothing the former with
 a word  of historical meaning4 ,but    
nothing in the history of the word      

8civilization0 justifies such attempts4 
,the word1 as commonly used  hitherto1  
means the same as the ,german 8,kultur01
 viz41 the development  of man to a     
state of higher organization and a      
higher pg #jci moral  standard4 ,some   
languages prefer one word2 others prefer
 the other4 ,the  ,german usually speaks
 of 8,kultur01 the ,frenchman usually of
  8civilisation01 but the establishment 
of a difference between them is         
justified neither philologically nor    
historically4 ,we can speak of  ethical 
and unethical 8,kultur0 or of ethical   
and unethical  8civilisation01 but not  
of 8,kultur0 and 8civilisation04    ,but
 how did it come about that we lost the 
idea that the ethical has a  decisive   
meaning and value as part of            
civilization8    ,all attempts at       
civilization hitherto have been a matter
 of processes  in which the forces of   
progress were at work in almost every   
department of life4 ,great achievements 
in art1 architecture1  administration1  

economics1 industry1 commerce1 and      
colonization  succeeded each other with 
a spiritual impetus which produced a    
higher  conception of the universe4 ,any
 ebb of the tide of civilization made   
itself felt in the material sphere as   
well as in the ethical and  spiritual1  
earlier1 as a rule1 in the former than  
in the latter4 ,thus  in ,greek         
civilization there set in as early as   
the time of ,aristotle  an              
incomprehensible arrest of science and  
political achievement1  whereas the     
ethical movement only reached its       
completion in the  following centuries  
in that great work of education which   
was  undertaken in the ancient pg #jdj  
world by the ,stoic philosophy4 ,in  the
 ,chinese1 ,indian and ,jewish          
civilizations ability in dealing with   
material things was from the start1 and 
always remained1 at a lower  level than 
the spiritual and ethical efforts of    
these races4    ,in the movement of     
civilization which began with the       

,renaissance1  there were both material 
and spiritual-ethical forces of progress
 at  work side by side1 as though in    
rivalry with each other1 and this       
continued down to the beginning of the  
nineteenth century4 ,then1  however1    
something unprecedented happened3 man's 
ethical energy died  away1 while the    
conquests achieved by his spirit in the 
material  sphere increased by leaps and 
bounds4 ,thus for several decades our   
civilization enjoyed the great          
advantages of its material progress     
while as yet it hardly felt the         
consequences of the dying down of the   
ethical movement4 ,people lived on in   
the conditions produced4 ,by that       
movement without seeing clearly that    
their position was no longer a  tenable 
one and preparing to face the storm that
 was brewing in the  relations between  
the nations and within the nations      
themselves4 ,in  this way our own age1  
having never taken the trouble to       
reflect1  arrived at the opinion that   

civilization consists primarily in      
scientific1 technical and artistic      
achievements1 and that it can reach  its
 goal without ethics1 or1 at any rate1  
with a minimum of them4    pg #jda      
,public opinion bowed down before this  
merely external conception of           
civilization because it was exclusively 
represented by persons whose  position  
in society and scientific culture seemed
 to show them to be  competent to judge 
in matters of the spiritual life4       
99       99       99       99       99  
,what was the result of our giving up   
the ethical conception of  civilization1
 and therewith all attempts to bring    
reasoned ethical  ideals into effective 
relation with reality8 ,it was that     
instead of  using thought to produce    
ideals which fitted in with reality1 we 
left  reality without any ideals at all4
 ,instead of discussing together the    
essential elements1 such as population1 
,state1 ,church1 society1  progress1    
which decide the character of our social

 development and  that of mankind       
generally1 we contented ourselves with  
starting from  what is given by         
experience4 ,only forces and tendencies 
which were  already at work were to be  
considered4 ,fundamental truths and     
convictions which ought to produce      
logical or ethical compulsion we  would 
no longer acknowledge4 ,we refused to   
believe that any ideas  could be        
applicable to reality except those      
derived from experience4  ,thus ideals  
which had been knowingly and            
intentionally lowered  dominated our    
spiritual life and the whole world4     
pg #jdb    ,how we glorified our        
practical common-sense1 which was to    
give us such  power in dealing with the 
world6 ,yet we were behaving1 really1   
like  boys who give themselves up       
exultingly to the forces of nature and  
whizz down a hill on their toboggan     
without asking themselves whether  they 
will be able to steer their vehicle     
successfully when they come  to the next

 bend or the next unexpected obstacle4  
,it is only a conviction which is based 
upon reasoned ethical ideals  that is   
capable of producing free activity1     
i4e41 activity  deliberately planned    
with a view to its object4 ,in          
proportion as  ideals taken from the    
workaday world are combined with it1    
reality  influences reality4 ,but then  
the human soul acts merely as an agent  
of  debasing change4    ,events which   
are to produce practical results within 
us are worked  upon and moulded by our  
mentality4 ,this mentality has a certain
  character1 and on that character      
depends the nature of those             
value-judgments which rule our relation 
to facts4    ,normally this character is
 to be found in the reasoned ideas which
 our  reflection upon reality brings    
into existence4 ,if these disappear     
there is not left a void in which       
8events in themselves0 can affect  us1  
but the control of our mentality passes 
now to the opinions and  feelings which 

hitherto have been ruled and kept under 
by our reasoned  ideas4 ,when the virgin
 forest is cut down1 brushwood pg #jdc  
springs  up where the big trees were    
formerly4 ,whenever our great           
convictions  are destroyed their place  
is taken by smaller ones which carry out
 in  inferior fashion the functions of  
the former4    ,with the giving up of   
ethical ideals which accompanies our    
passion for  reality our practical      
efficiency is not1 therefore1 improved1 
but  diminished4 ,it does not make the  
man of to-day a cool observer and       
calculator such as he supposes himself  
to be1 for he is under the  influence of
 opinions and emotions which are created
 in him by facts4  ,all unconsciously he
 mixes with what is the work of his     
reason so much  of what is emotional    
that the one spoils the other4 ,within  
this circle  move the judgments and     
impulses of our society1 whether we deal
 with  the largest questions or the     
smallest4 ,individuals and nations      

alike1  we deal indiscriminately with   
real and imaginary values1 and it is    
just this confused medley of real and   
unreal1 of sober thought and  capacity  
for enthusiasm for the unmeaning1 that  
makes the mentality of  the modern man  
so puzzling and so dangerous4    ,our   
sense of reality1 then1 means this1     
that1 as a result of emotional  and     
short-sighted calculations of advantage1
 we let one fact issue  immediately in  
another1 and so on indefinitely4 ,as we 
are not  consciously aiming at any      
definitely planned goal1 our activity   
may  really be described as a kind of   
natural happening4    pg #jdd    ,we    
react to facts in the most irrational   
way4 ,without plan or  foundations we   
build our future into the circumstances 
of the time and  leave it exposed to the
 destructive effects of the chaotic     
jostling  that goes on amongst them4    
8,firm ground at last06 we cry1 and sink
  helpless in the stream of events4     
99       99       99       99       99  

,the blindness with which we endure this
 fate is made worse by our  belief in   
our historical sense1 which1 in this    
connection1 is nothing  else than our   
sense of reality prolonged backwards4   
,we believe  ourselves to be a critical 
generation which1 thanks to its thorough
  knowledge of the past1 is in a        
position to understand the direction    
which events are destined to take from  
the present to the future4 ,we  add to  
the ideals which have been taken from   
existing reality others  which we borrow
 from history4    ,the achievements of  
historical science reached by the       
nineteenth  century do1 indeed1 deserve 
our admiration1 but it is another       
question  whether our generation1 for   
all its possession of an historical     
science1 possesses a true historical    
sense4    ,historical sense1 in the full
 meaning of the term1 implies a critical
  objectivity in the face of far-off and
 recent events alike4 ,to keep  this    
faculty free from the bias of opinions  

and interests when we are  pg #jde      
estimating facts is a power which even  
our historians do not  possess4 ,as long
 as they are dealing with a period so   
remote that it  has no bearing on the   
present they are critical so far as the 
views of  the school to which they      
belong allow it4 ,but if the past stands
 in  any real connection with 8to-day01 
we can perceive at once in their        
estimate the influence of their         
particular standpoint1 rational1        
religious1 social or economic4    ,it is
 significant that while during the last 
few decades the learning  of our        
historians has1 no doubt1 increased1    
their critical objectivity  has not4    
,previous investigators kept this ideal 
before their eyes in  much greater      
purity than have those of to-day2 we    
have gone so far  that we no longer     
seriously make the demand that in       
scientific  dealings with the past there
 shall be a suppression of all          
prejudices  which spring from           

nationality or creed4 ,it is quite      
common nowadays to  see the greatest    
learning bound up with the strongest    
bias4 ,in our  historical literature the
 highest positions are occupied by works
  written with propagandist aims4    ,so
 little educative influence has science 
had on our historians that  they have   
often espoused as passionately as anyone
 the opinions of  their own people      
instead of calling the latter to a      
thoughtful  estimate of the facts1 as   
was their duty to their profession2 they
  have remained nothing but men pg #jdf 
of learning4 ,they have not even        
started on the task for which they      
entered the service of  civilization1   
and the hopes of civilization1 which in 
the middle of  the nineteenth century   
rested on the rise of a science of      
history1  have been as little fulfilled 
as those which were bound up with the   
demand for national ,states and         
democratic forms of government4    ,the 
generation that has been brought up by  

teachers such as these has  naturally   
not much idea of an elevated or active  
conception of events4  ,accurately      
viewed1 its characteristic feature is   
not so much that we  understand our past
 better than earlier generations        
understood theirs1  but rather that we  
attribute to the past an extraordinarily
 increased  meaning for the present4    
,now and again we actually substitute it
 for  the latter4 ,it is not enough for 
us that what has been is present in  its
 results in what now is2 we want to have
 it always with us1 and to  feel        
ourselves determined by it4    ,in this 
effort to be continually experiencing   
our historical process  of becoming1 and
 to acknowledge it1 we replace our      
normal relation to  the past by an      
artificial one1 and wishing to find     
within the past the  whole of our       
present1 we misuse it in order to deduce
 from it1 and to  legitimize by an      
appeal to it1 our claims1 our opinions1 
our feelings  and our passions4 ,under  

the very eyes of our historical learning
 there  springs up a manufactured       
history for popular use1 pg #jdg in     
which  the current national and         
confessional ideas are unreservedly     
approved  and upheld1 and our school    
history books become regular culture    
beds  of historical lies4    ,the misuse
 of history is a necessity for us4 ,the 
ideas and  dispositions which rule us   
cannot be justified by reason2 nothing  
is  left for us but to give them        
foundations in history4    ,it is       
significant that we have no real        
interest in what is valuable in  the    
past4 ,its great spiritual achievements 
are mechanically  registered1 but we do 
not let ourselves be touched by them4   
,still less  do we accept them as a     
heritage2 nothing has any value for us  
except  what can be squared with our    
plans1 passions1 feelings1 and sthetic  
moods of to-day4 ,with these we live    
ourselves by lies into the past1  and   
then assert with unshaken assurance that

 we have our roots in it4    ,this is   
the character of the reverence we pay to
 history4 ,blinded by  what we consider 
or declare to be past and done with1 we 
lose all  sense for what is to happen1  
so that of nothing can we say3 8,it is  
finished10 nothing now gets             
accomplished4 ,again and again we let   
what  is past rise up artificially in   
what is present1 and endow bygone  facts
 with a persistence of being which makes
 wholly impossible the  normal          
development of our peoples4 ,just as our
 sense of reality makes  us lose        
ourselves in pg #jdh present-day events1
 so does our  historical compel us to do
 the same in those of the past4         
99       99       99       99       99  
,from these two things1 our sense of    
reality and our historical sense1  is   
born the nationalism to which we must   
refer the external  catastrophe in which
 the decadence of our civilization finds
 its  completion4    ,what is           
nationalism8 ,it is an ignoble          

patriotism1 exaggerated till it  has    
lost all meaning1 which bears the same  
relation to the noble and  healthy kind 
as the fixed idea of an imbecile does to
 normal  conviction4    ,how does it    
develop among us8    ,about the         
beginning of the nineteenth century the 
course of thought  gave the national    
,state its rightful position1 starting  
for this from  the axiom that it1 as a  
natural and homogeneous organism1 was   
better  calculated than any other to    
make the ideal of the civilized ,state a
  working reality4 ,in ,fichte's        
addresses to the ,german nation the     
nation-,state is summoned to the bar of 
the moral reason and learns  that it has
 to submit in all things to the latter4 
,it gives the  necessary promise and    
straightway receives a commission to    
bring the  civilized ,state into        
existence4 ,it is given emphatically to 
understand  that it must recognize as   
its highest task the pg #jdi continuous 
and  steady development of the purely   

human element in the nation's life4  ,it
 is to seek greatness by representing   
the ideas which can bring  healing to   
the nations4 ,its citizens are urged to 
show their  membership of it not through
 the lower1 but through the higher1     
patriotism1 that is1 not to overvalue   
its external greatness and  power1 but  
to be careful to take for their aim 8the
 unfolding of what  is eternal and      
,godlike in the world10 and to see that 
their objects  coincide with the highest
 aims of humanity4 ,thus national       
feeling is  placed under the            
guardianship of reason1 morality and    
civilization4  ,the cult of patriotism  
as such is to be considered as          
barbarism2 it  does1 indeed1 announce   
itself to be such by the purposeless    
wars which  it necessarily brings in its
 train4    ,in this way the idea of     
nationality was raised to the level of a
  valuable ideal of civilization4 ,when 
civilization began to decline1  its     
other ideals all fell also1 but the idea

 of nationality maintained  itself      
because it had transferred itself to the
 sphere of reality4 ,it  incorporated   
henceforward all that remained of       
civilization1 and  became the ideal     
which summed up all others4 ,here1 then1
 we have the  explanation of the        
mentality of our age1 which concentrates
 all the  enthusiasm of which it is     
capable on the idea of nationality1 and 
believes itself to possess in that all  
moral and spiritual good  things4    pg 
#jej    ,but with the decay of          
civilization the character of the idea  
of  nationality changed4 ,the           
guardianship exercised over it by the   
other  moral ideals to which it had     
hitherto been subordinate now ceased1   
since these were themselves on trial1   
and the nationalist idea began a  career
 of independence4 ,it asserted1 of      
course1 that it was working in  the     
service of civilization1 but it was1 in 
truth1 only an idea of  reality with a  
halo of civilization round it1 and it   

was guided by no  ethical ideals1 but   
only by the instincts which deal with   
reality4    ,that reason and morality   
shall not be allowed to contribute a    
word to  the formation of nationalist   
ideas and aspirations is demanded by the
  mass of men to-day as a sparing of    
their holiest feelings4    ,if in       
earlier times the decay of civilization 
did not produce any such  confusion in  
the sentiments of the various nations1  
this was because  the idea of           
nationality had not then been raised in 
the same way to be  the ideal of        
civilization4 ,it was1 therefore1       
impossible that it  should insinuate    
itself into the place of the true ideals
 of  civilization1 and through abnormal 
nationalist conceptions and             
dispositions bring into active existence
 an elaborate system of  uncivilization4
    ,that in nationalism we have to do  
not so much with things as with the     
unhealthy way in which they pg #jea are 
dealt with in the imagination  of the   

crowd1 is clear from its whole          
behaviour4 ,it claims to be  following a
 policy of practical results            
7,realpolitik72 in reality it  by no    
means represents the uncompromisingly   
businesslike view of all  the questions 
of home and foreign policy1 but side by 
side with its  egoism displays a certain
 amount of enthusiasm4 ,its practical   
policy  is an over-valuation of certain 
questions of territorial economic       
interests1 an over-valuation which has  
been elevated to a dogma and  idealized1
 and is now supported by popular        
sentiment4 ,it fights for  its demands  
without having established any properly 
thought-out  calculation of their real  
value4 ,in order to be able to dispute  
the  possession of millions of value1   
the modern ,state loaded itself with    
armaments costing hundreds of millions4 
,meaning to care for the  protection and
 extension of its trade1 it loaded the  
latter with  imposts which imperilled   
its power of competing with its rivals  

much  more than did any of the measures 
taken by those rivals4    ,its practical
 politics were1 therefore1 in truth     
impracticable  politics1 because they   
allowed popular sentiment to come in1   
and  thereby made the simplest questions
 insoluble4 ,this style of politics  put
 economic interests in the shop window1 
while it kept in the  warehouse the     
ideas about greatness and conquest which
 belong to  nationalism4    pg #jeb     
,every civilized ,state1 in order to    
increase its power1 gathered allies     
wherever it could4 ,thus half-civilized 
and uncivilized races were  summoned by 
civilized ones to fight against the     
civilized neighbours  of the latter1 and
 these helpers were not content with the
 subordinate  rle which had been        
assigned to them4 ,they acquired more   
and more  influence on the course of    
events1 till they were at last in a     
position to decide when the civilized   
nations of ,europe should begin  to     
fight each other about them4 ,thus has  

,nemesis come upon us for  abandoning   
our wishes and betraying to the         
uncivilized world all that  we still    
possessed of things that were of        
universal value4    ,it was significant 
of the unhealthy character of           
nationalism's  8practical0 politics that
 it tried in every possible way to deck 
itself out with a tinsel imitation of   
idealism4 ,the struggle for power       
became one for right and civilization2  
the alliances for the promotion  of     
their selfish interests which various   
nations made with one another  against  
all the rest were made to appear to be  
friendships and  spiritual affinities4  
,as such they were dated back into the  
past1 even  though history had a great  
deal more to say about hereditary       
quarrels  than about spiritual          
relationships4           99       99    
99       99       99    pg #jec         
,finally1 nationalism was not content   
with putting aside1 in the sphere  of   
politics generally1 all attempts to     

bring into existence a really  civilized
 humanity2 it distorted the very idea of
 civilization itself  and talked of     
national civilization4    ,once there   
was what was known just simply as       
civilization1 and every  civilized      
nation strove to possess it in its      
purest and most fully  developed form4  
,in this respect nationality had in the 
idea of  civilization at that time      
something much more original and less   
spoilt  than it has in the same idea    
to-day4 ,if1 in spite of this1 there was
  no impulse among the nations to       
separate the spiritual life of each     
from that of its neighbours1 we have a  
proof that nationality is not  in itself
 the strong element in the people that  
demanded this4 ,such a  claim as is made
 to-day to have a national civilization 
is an  unhealthy phenomenon4 ,it        
presupposes that the civilized peoples  
of  to-day have lost their healthy      
nature1 and no longer follow instincts1 
but theories4 ,they percuss and sound   

their souls to such an extent  that     
these are no longer capable of any      
natural action4 ,they analyse  and      
describe them so continuously that in   
thinking of what they ought  to be they 
forget what they actually are4          
,questions of spiritual  differences    
between races are discussed so subtly1  
and with such  obstinacy and dogmatism1 
that the talk works like an obsession1  
and  the pg #jed peculiarities that are 
said to exist make their  appearance    
like imaginary diseases4    ,in every   
department of life more and more effort 
is devoted to making  clearly visible in
 the results which follow from them the 
emotions1  the ideas1 and the reasonings
 of the mass of the people4 ,any        
peculiarity preserved and fostered in   
this way shows that its natural         
counterpart has perished4 ,the          
individual element in the personality of
  a people no longer1 as something      
unconscious or half conscious1 plays    
with varying lights on the totality of  

the nation's spiritual life4 ,it        
becomes an artifice1 a fashion1 a       
self-advertisement1 a mania4 ,there  is 
bred in the nation a mass of thought1   
the serious results of which  in every  
department become more evident year by  
year4 ,the spiritual  life of some of   
the leading civilized nations has       
already1 in  comparison with earlier    
days1 taken on a monotonous tone such as
 makes  an observer feel anxious4       
,the unnatural character of this        
development shows itself not only in    
its results1 but in the part which it   
allows to be played by conceit1         
self-importance1 and self-deception4    
,anything valuable in a  personality or 
a successful undertaking is attributed  
to some special  excellence in the      
national character4 ,foreign soil is    
assumed to be  incapable of producing   
the same or anything similar1 and in    
most  countries this vanity has grown to
 such a pg #jee height that the         
greatest follies are no longer beyond   

its reach4    ,it goes without saying   
that there follows a serious decline in 
the  spiritual element in the national  
civilization4 ,the spirituality is1     
moreover1 only a kind of disguise2 it   
has in reality an avowedly  materialist 
character4 ,it is a distillation from   
all the external  achievements of the   
nation in question and appears in       
partnership with  its economic and      
political demands4 ,while alleged to be 
grounded in  the national peculiarities1
 nationalist civilization will not1 as  
we  should normally expect1 remain      
limited to the nation itself2 it feels  
called upon to impose itself upon others
 and make them happy6 ,modern  nations  
seek markets for their civilization1 as 
they do for their  manufactures6        
,national civilization1 therefore1 is   
matter for propaganda and for  export1  
and the necessary publicity is secured  
by liberal expenditure4  ,the necessary 
phrases can be obtained ready-made and  
need only be  strung together4 ,thus the

 world has inflicted on it a competition
  between national civilizations1 and   
between these civilization itself  comes
 off badly4    ,the nations of ,europe  
entered the ,middle ,ages side by side  
as the  heirs of the ,greco-,roman      
world1 and lived side by side with the  
freest  mutual intercourse through the  
,renaissance1 the period of the pg #jef 
,illuminati1 and of the philosophy of   
more recent times4 ,but we no  longer   
believe that they1 with their offshoots 
in the other  continents1 form an       
indivisible unit of civilization4 ,if1  
however1 in  this latest age1 the       
differences in their spiritual life have
 begun to  stand out more distinctly1   
the cause of it is that the level of    
civilization has sunk4 ,when the tide   
ebbs1 shallows which separate  bodies of
 deep water become visible2 while the   
tide is flowing they  are out of sight4 
,how closely the nations which form the 
great body of civilized  humanity are   
still interrelated spiritually is shown 

by the fact that  they have all side by 
side suffered the same decadence4       
99       99       99       99       99  
,with our sense of reality is bound up1 
further1 the false confidence  which we 
have in facts4 ,we live in an atmosphere
 of optimism1 as if  the contradictions 
which show themselves in the world      
arranged  themselves automatically so as
 to promote well-thought-out progress1  
and reconciled themselves in syntheses  
in which the valuable parts of  the     
thesis and the antithesis coalesced4    
,in justification of this optimism      
appeal is made1 both rightly and        
wrongly1 to ,hegel4 ,it cannot be denied
 that he is the spiritual father  of our
 sense of reality2 he is the first      
thinker who tried to be just  pg #jeg to
 things as they exist4 ,we have been    
trained by him to  realize the method of
 progress in thesis1 antithesis1 and    
synthesis as  they show themselves in   
the course of events4 ,but his optimism 
was not  a simple optimism about facts1 

as ours is4 ,he lived still in the      
spiritual world of rationalism1 and     
believed in the power of ethical  ideas 
worked out by reason2 that was why he   
believed also in the  certainty of      
uninterrupted spiritual progress4 ,and  
it was because this  was something upon 
which he could rely that he undertook to
 show how  it was to be seen in the     
successive phases of events1 and at the 
same  time how it made itself a reality 
in the stream of outward facts4 ,by     
emphasizing1 however1 the progressive   
purpose1 which he finds immanent  in the
 course of events1 so strongly that it  
is possible to forget the               
ethical-spiritual presuppositions of his
 belief in progress1 he is  preparing   
the way for the despiritualized optimism
 about reality which  has for decades   
been misleading us4 ,between the facts  
themselves there  is nothing but an     
endless series of contradictions4,the   
fresh mediating  fact in which they     
counteract each other so as to make     

progress  possible they cannot of       
themselves produce4 ,this fact can only 
assert  itself if the contradictions    
resolve themselves in a reasoned view in
  which there are ethical ideas about   
the condition of things which pg  #jeh  
it is sought to realize4 ,these are the 
formative principles for  the new       
element which is to arise out of the    
contradictories1 and it  is only in this
 reasoned ethical view that the latter  
cease to be  blind1 leading to no issue4
    ,it was because we assumed the      
existence of principles1 of progress1 in
  the facts1 that we viewed the advance 
of history1 in which our future  was    
being prepared1 as progress in          
civilization1 even though evolution     
condemned our optimism4 ,and even now1  
when facts of the most terrible         
character cry out loudly against it1 we 
shrink from giving up our  creed4 ,it no
 longer1 indeed1 gives us any real      
enlightenment1 but the  alternative1    
which bases optimism on belief in the   

ethical spirit1  means such a revolution
 in our mode of thought that we find it 
difficult to take it into consideration4
    ,with our reliance upon facts is    
bound up our reliance on  organizations4
 ,the activities and the aims of our    
time are penetrated  by a kind of       
obsession that if we could only succeed 
in perfecting or  reforming in one      
direction or another the institutions of
 our public  and social life1 the       
progress demanded by civilization would 
begin of  itself4 ,we are1 indeed1 far  
enough from unanimity as to the plan    
needed for the reform of our            
arrangements3 one section sketches out  
an  anti-democratic plan2 pg #jei others
 believe that our mistake lies in  the  
fact that democratic principles have not
 yet been applied  consistently2 others1
 again1 see salvation only in a         
,socialist or  ,communist organization  
of society4 ,but all agree in           
attributing our  present condition1 with
 its absence of true civilization1 to a 

failure  of our institutions2 all look  
for the attainment of such civilization 
to a new organization of society2 all   
unite in thinking that with new         
institutions there would arise a new    
spirit4           99       99       99  
99       99    ,in this terrible        
confusion are entangled not only the    
unreflecting  masses1 but also many of  
the most earnest amongst us4 ,the       
materialism  of our age has reversed the
 relation between the spiritual and the 
actual4 ,it believes that something with
 spiritual value can result  from the   
working of facts4 ,it was even expected 
that the war would  bring us a spiritual
 regeneration6 ,in reality1 however1 the
 relation  between them works in the    
opposite direction4 ,a spiritual element
 of  real value can1 if it is present1  
influence the moulding of reality so  as
 to bring about desired results1 and can
 thus produce facts in  support of      
itself4 ,all institutions and           
organizations have only a  relative     

significance4 ,with the most diverse    
social and political pg  #jfj           
arrangements1 the various civilized     
nations have all sunk to the  same depth
 of barbarism4 ,what we have            
experienced1 and are still              
experiencing1 must surely convince us   
that the spirit is everything  and that 
institutions count for very little4 ,our
 institutions are a  failure because the
 spirit of barbarism is at work in them4
 ,the best  planned improvements in the 
organization of our society 7though we  
are  quite right in trying to secure    
them7 cannot help us at all until we    
become at the same time capable of      
imparting a new spirit to our age4      
,the difficult problems with which we   
have to deal1 even those which  lie     
entirely in the material and economic   
sphere1 are in the last  resort only to 
be solved by an inner change of         
character4 ,the wisest  reforms in      
organization can only carry them a      
little nearer solution1  never to the   

goal4 ,the only conceivable way of      
bringing about a  reconstruction of our 
world on new lines is first of all to   
become new  men ourselves under the old 
circumstances1 and then as a society in 
a  new frame of mind so to smooth out   
the opposition between nations that  a  
condition of true civilization may again
 become possible4 ,everything  else is  
more or less wasted labour1 because we  
are thereby building  not on the spirit1
 but on what is merely external4    ,in 
the sphere of human events which decide 
the future of mankind  reality consists 
in an inner pg #jfa conviction1 not in  
given outward  facts4 ,firm ground for  
our feet we find in reasoned ethical    
ideals4  ,are we going to draw from the 
spirit strength to create new conditions
  and turn our faces again to           
civilization1 or are we going to        
continue  to draw our spirit from our   
surroundings and go down with it to     
ruin8  ,that is the fateful question    
with which we are confronted4    ,the   

true sense for reality is that insight  
which tells us that only  through       
ethical ideas about things can we arrive
 at a normal relation  to reality4 ,only
 so can man and society win all the     
power over events  that they are able to
 use4 ,without that power we are1       
whatever we may  choose to do1 delivered
 over into bondage to them4    ,what is 
going on to-day between nations and     
within them throws a  glaring           
illumination upon this truth4 ,the      
history of our time is  characterized by
 a lack of reason which has no parallel 
in the past4  ,future historians will   
one day analyse this history in detail1 
and  test by means of it their learning 
and their freedom from prejudice4  ,but 
for all future times there will be1 as  
there is for to-day1 only  one          
explanation1 viz41 that we sought to    
live and to carry on with a             
civilization which had no ethical       
principle behind it4          pg #jfb   
,,chapter ,,iv    ,,the ,,way ,,to ,,the

 ,,restoration ,,of ,,civilization      
,civilization-ideals have become        
powerless4 ,evolution and decay in the  
history of civilization4 ,the reform of 
institutions and the reform of          
convictions4 ,the individual as the sole
 agent of the restoration of            
civilization4 ,the difficulties which   
beset the restoration of  civilization4 
,the ethical conception of civilization1
 then1 is the only one that can  be     
justified4    ,but where is the road    
that can bring us back from barbarism to
  civilization8 ,is there such a road at
 all8    ,the unethical conception of   
civilization answers3 8,no40 ,to it all 
symptoms of decay are symptoms of old   
age1 and civilization1 just like  any   
other natural process of growth1 must   
after a certain period of  time reach   
its final end4 ,there is nothing1       
therefore1 for us to do1  so it says1   
but to take the causes of this as quite 
natural1 and do  our best at any rate to
 find interesting the unedifying        

phenomena of  its senility1 which       
testify to the gradual loss of the      
ethical  character of civilization4     
,in the thinking then which surrenders  
itself to our sense of reality1         
optimism and pessimism are inextricably 
intermingled4 ,if our optimism  about pg
 #jfc reality is proved untenable1 the  
optimism which thinks  that continuous  
progress evolves itself among the facts 
as such1 then  the spirit which from    
above contemplates and analyses the     
situation  turns without much concern to
 the mild pessimistic supposition that  
civilization has reached its ,indian    
summer4    ,the ethical spirit cannot   
join in this little game of 8,optimism  
or  pessimism80 ,it sees the symptoms of
 decay as what they really are1  viz41  
something terrible4 ,it asks itself with
 a shudder what will  become of the     
world if this dying process really goes 
on unchecked4  ,the condition of        
civilization is a source of pain to it1 
for  civilization is not an object which

 it is interesting to analyse1 but  the 
hope on which its thoughts fly out over 
the future existence of  the race4      
,belief in the possibility of a renewal 
of civilization is an  actual part of   
its life2 that is why it can no longer  
quiet itself  with what contents the    
sense of reality as it hovers between   
optimism  and pessimism4    ,those who  
regard the decay of civilization as     
something quite normal  and natural     
console themselves with the thought that
 it is not  civilization1 but a         
civilization1 which is falling a prey to
  dissolution2 that there will be a new 
age and a new race in which  there will 
blossom a new civilization4 ,but that is
 a mistake4 ,the  earth no longer has in
 reserve1 as it had once1 gifted peoples
 as yet  unused1 pg #jfd who can relieve
 us and take our place in some distant  
future as leaders of the spiritual life4
 ,we already know all those  which the  
earth has to dispose of4 ,there is not  
one among them which  is not already    

taking such a part in our civilization  
that its  spiritual fate is determined  
by our own4 ,all of them1 the gifted and
  the ungifted1 the distant and the     
near1 have felt the influence of  those 
forces of barbarism which are at work   
among us4 ,all of them are1  like       
ourselves1 diseased1 and only as we     
recover can they recover4    ,it is not 
the civilization of a race1 but that of 
mankind1 present and  future alike1 that
 we must give up as lost1 if belief in a
 rebirth of  our civilization is a vain 
thing4    ,but it need not be so given  
up4 ,if the ethical is the essential    
element in civilization1 decadence      
changes into renaissance as soon as     
ethical activities are set to work again
 in our convictions and in the  ideas   
which we undertake to stamp upon        
reality4 ,the attempt to bring  this    
about is well worth making1 and it      
should be world-wide4    ,it is true    
that the difficulties that have to be   
reckoned with in this  undertaking are  

so great that only the strongest faith  
in the power of  the ethical spirit will
 let us venture on it4    ,first among  
them towers up the inability of our     
generation to  understand what is and   
must be4 pg #jfe ,the men of the        
,renaissance  and the ,illuminati of the
 eighteenth century drew courage to     
desire  the renewal of the world through
 ideas from their conviction of the     
absolute indefensibility of the material
 and spiritual conditions  under which  
they lived4 ,unless with us1 too1 the   
many come to some  such conviction1 we  
must continue incapable of taking in    
hand this  work1 in which we must       
imitate them4 ,but the many obstinately 
refuse  to see things as they are1 and  
hold with all their might to the most   
optimistic view of them that is         
possible4 ,for this power1 however1 of  
idealizing with continually lowering    
ideals the reality which is felt  to be 
ever less and less satisfying1 pessimism
 also is partly  responsible4 ,our      

generation1 though so proud of its many 
achievements1  no longer believes in the
 one thing which is all-essential3 the  
spiritual advance of mankind4 ,having   
given up the expectation of this1  it   
can put up with the present age without 
feeling such suffering as  would compel 
it1 for very pain1 to long for a new    
one4 ,what a task it  will be to break  
the fetters of unthinking optimism and  
unthinking  pessimism which hold us     
prisoners1 and so to do what will pave  
the way  for the renewal of             
civilization6    ,a second difficulty   
besetting the work which lies before us 
is that it  is a piece of               
reconstruction4 ,the ideas of           
civilization which our age  needs are   
not new pg #jff and strange to it4 ,they
 have been in the  possession of mankind
 already1 and are to be found in many an
  antiquated formula4 ,we have          
fundamentally nothing else to do than to
  restore to them the respect in which  
they were once held1 and again  regard  

them seriously as we bring them into    
relation with the reality  which lies   
before us for treatment4    ,to make    
what is used up usable--is there a      
harder task8 8,it is an  impossible     
one10 says history4 8,never hitherto    
have worn-out ideas  risen to new power 
among the peoples who have worn them    
out4 ,their  disappearance has always   
been a final one40    ,that is true4 ,in
 the history of civilization we find    
nothing but  discouragement for our     
task4 ,anyone who finds history speaking
  optimistically lends her a language   
which is not her own4    ,yet from the  
history of the past we can infer only   
what has been1 not  what will be4 ,even 
if it proves that no single people has  
ever lived  through the decay of its    
civilization and a rebirth of it1 we    
know at  once that this1 which has never
 happened yet1 must happen with us1 and 
therefore we cannot be content to say   
that the reasoned ethical ideas  on     
which civilization rests get worn out in

 the course of history1 and  console    
ourselves with the reflection that this 
is exactly in  accordance with the      
ordinary processes of nature4 ,we       
require to know  why it has pg #jfg so  
happened hitherto1 and to draw an       
explanation1  not from the analogy of   
nature1 but from the laws of spiritual  
life4  ,we want to get into our hands   
the key of the secret1 so that we may   
with it unlock the new age1 the age in  
which the worn out becomes  again unworn
 and the spiritual and ethical can no   
longer get worn out4  ,we must study the
 history of civilization otherwise than 
as our  predecessors did1 or we shall be
 finally lost4    ,why do not thoughts  
which contribute to civilization retain 
the  convincing power which they once   
had1 and which they deserve on  account 
of their content8 ,why do they lose the 
evidential force of  their moral and    
rational character8 ,why do traditional 
truths cease to  be realities and pass  
from mouth to mouth as mere phrases8    

99       99       99       99       99  
,is this an unavoidable fate1 or is the 
well drying up because our  thinking did
 not go down to the permanent level of  
the water8    ,moreover1 it is not      
merely that the past survives among us  
as  something valueless2 it may cast a  
poisonous shade over us4 ,there are     
thoughts on which we have never let our 
minds work directly because we  found   
them ready formulated in history4 ,ideas
 which we have inherited  do not let the
 truth pg #jfh which is in them come out
 into active  service1 but show it      
through a kind of dead mask4 ,the worn  
out  achievements which pass over from a
 decadent civilization into the  current
 of a new age often become like rejected
 products of  metabolism1 and act as    
poisons4    ,granted that the ,teutonic 
nations received a powerful stimulus to 
civilization at the ,renaissance by     
reverting to the ideas of  ,greco-,roman
 thinkers1 not less true is it that for 
many centuries they  had been kept by   

that same ,greco-,roman civilization in 
a condition of  spiritual dependence    
which was wholly in contradiction to    
their native  character4 ,they took over
 from it decadent ideas which were for a
 long  time a hindrance to their normal 
spiritual life1 and thence came that    
strange mixture of strength and weakness
 which is the chief  characteristic of  
the ,middle ,ages4 ,the dangerous       
elements in the  ,greco-,roman          
civilization of the past still show     
themselves in our  spiritual life4 ,it  
is because ,oriental and ,greek         
conceptions which  have had their day   
are still current among us that we bleed
 to death  over problems which otherwise
 would have no existence for us4 ,how   
much  we suffer from the one fact that  
to-day and for several centuries past   
our thoughts about religion have been   
under the hereditary foreign  domination
 of ,jewish transcendentalism and ,greek
 metaphysics1 and1  instead of pg #jfi  
being able to express themselves        

naturally1 have  suffered continual     
distortion6    ,because ideas get worn  
out in this way1 and in this condition  
hinder  the thinking of later           
generations1 there is no continuity in  
the  spiritual progress of mankind1 but 
only a confused succession of ups  and  
downs4 ,the threads get broken1 or      
knotted1 or lost1 or when tied  up again
 get tied wrongly4 ,hitherto it has been
 thought possible to  interpret this    
up-and-down movement optimistically     
because it was  universally held that   
the ,renaissance and the age of the     
,illuminati  were quite natural         
successors of the ,greco-,roman         
civilization1 and it  was assumed       
further that1 as a permanent result of  
this1 renewed  civilizations would      
spring up in the place of exhausted     
ones1 and thus  continual progress be   
assured4 ,but this generalization cannot
  justifiably be drawn from such        
observations4 ,it was because new       
peoples came on the scene1 who had been 

only superficially touched by  the      
decadent civilizations and now produced 
others of their own1 that  it was       
possible to see this succession of ups  
and downs ending in an  ascent4 ,as a   
matter of fact1 however1 our newer      
civilization was not  in any organic    
connection with the ,greco-,roman1 even 
if it did take  its first steps with the
 help of the crutches which the latter  
provided2 it may be pg #jgj described   
more truly as the reaction of a  healthy
 spirit against the worn out ideas which
 were thus offered to  it4 ,the         
essential element in the process was the
 contact of what was  worn out with the 
fresh thought of young peoples4         
,to-day1 however1 all our thought is    
losing its power in its contact  with   
the worn-out ideas of our expiring      
civilization1 or--in the case  of the   
,hindus and the ,chinese--of our own and
 other expiring  civilizations4 ,the    
up-and-down movement will end1          
therefore1 not in  slow progress1 but in

 unbroken descent--unless we can succeed
 in giving  the worn out ideas a renewal
 of their youth4           99       99  
99       99       99    ,another great  
difficulty in the way of the            
regeneration of our  civilization lies  
in the fact that it must be an internal 
process1 and  not an external as well1  
and that1 therefore1 there is no place  
for  healthy co-operation between the   
material and the spiritual4 ,from the   
,renaissance to the middle of the       
nineteenth century the men who  carried 
on the work of civilization could expect
 help towards  spiritual progress from  
achievements in the sphere of external  
organization4 ,demands in each of these 
spheres stood side by side in  their    
programme and were pushed on            
simultaneously4 ,they were convinced    
that while working to transform pg #jga 
the institutions of public  life they   
were producing results which would call 
forth the  development of the new       
spiritual life4 ,success in one sphere  

strengthened at once the hopes and the  
energies that were at work in  the      
other4 ,they laboured for the           
progressive democratization of the      
,state with the idea of thereby         
spreading through the world the rule of 
grace and justice4    ,we1 who have     
lived to see the spiritual bankruptcy of
 all the  institutions which they       
created1 can no longer work in this way 
simultaneously at the reform of         
institutions and the revival of the     
spiritual element4 ,the help which such 
co-operation would give is  denied us4  
,we cannot even reckon any longer on the
 old co-operation  between knowledge and
 thought4 ,once these two were allies4  
,the latter  fought for freedom and in  
so doing made a road for the former1    
and1 on  the other hand1 all the results
 attained by knowledge worked for the   
general good of the spiritual life in   
that the reign of law in nature  was    
more and more clearly demonstrated1 and 
the reign of prejudice was  becoming    

continually more restricted4 ,the       
alliance also strengthened  the thought 
that the well-being of mankind must be  
based upon  spiritual laws4 ,thus       
knowledge and thought joined in         
establishing the  authority of reason   
and the rational tone of mind4    pg    
#jgb    ,to-day thought gets no help    
from science1 and the latter stands     
facing  it independent and unconcerned4 
,the newest scientific knowledge may be 
allied with an entirely unreflecting    
view of the universe4 ,it  maintains    
that it is concerned only with the      
establishment of  individual facts1     
since it is only by means of these that 
scientific  knowledge can maintain its  
practical character2 the co-ordination  
of  the different branches of knowledge 
and the utilization of the results  to  
form a theory of the universe are1 it   
says1 not its business4 ,once  every man
 of science was also a thinker who      
counted for something in  the general   
spiritual life of his generation4 ,our  

age has discovered  how to divorce      
knowledge from thought1 with the result 
that we have1  indeed1 a science which  
is free1 but hardly any science left    
which  reflects4    ,thus we no longer  
have available for the renewal of our   
spiritual life  any of the natural      
external helps which we used to have4   
,we are called  upon for a single kind  
of effort only1 and have to work like   
men who  are rebuilding the damaged     
foundations of a cathedral under the    
weight  of the massive building4 ,there 
is no progress in the world of          
phenomena to encourage us to persevere2 
an immense revolution has to  be brought
 about without the aid of any collateral
 revolutionary  activities4           99
       99       99       99       99    
pg #jgc    ,again1 the renewal of       
civilization is hindered by the fact    
that it is  so exclusively the          
individual personality which must be    
looked to as  the agent in the new      
movement4    ,the renewal of            

civilization has nothing to do with     
movements which  bear the character of  
experiences of the crowd2 there are     
never  anything but reactions to        
external happenings4 ,but civilization  
can  only revive when there shall come  
into being in a number of  individuals a
 new tone of mind independent of the one
 prevalent among  the crowd and in      
opposition to it1 a tone of mind which  
will gradually  win influence over the  
collective one1 and in the end determine
 its  character4 ,it is only an ethical 
movement which can rescue us from the   
slough of barbarism1 and the ethical    
comes into existence only in            
individuals4    ,the final decision as  
to what the future of a society shall be
 depends  not on how near its           
organization is to perfection1 but on   
the degrees  of worthiness in its       
individual members4 ,the most important1
 and yet  the least easily determinable1
 element in history is the series of    
unobtrusive general changes which take  

place in the individual  dispositions of
 the many4 ,these are what precede and  
cause the  happenings1 and this is why  
it is so difficult to understand        
thoroughly the men and the pg #jgd      
events of past times4 ,the  character   
and worth of individuals among the mass 
and the way they  work themselves into  
membership of the whole body1 receiving 
influences from it and giving others    
back1 we can even to-day only  partially
 and uncertainly understand4    ,one    
thing1 however1 is clear4 ,where the    
collective body works more  strongly on 
the individual than the latter does upon
 it1 the result is  deterioration1      
because the noble element on which      
everything depends1  viz41 the spiritual
 and moral worthiness of the individual1
 is thereby  necessarily constricted and
 hampered4 ,decay of the spiritual and  
moral  life then sets in1 which renders 
society incapable of understanding  and 
solving the problems which it has to    
face4 ,thereupon1 sooner or  later1 it  

is involved in catastrophe4    ,that is 
the condition in which we are now1 and  
that is why it is the  duty of          
individuals to rise to a higher         
conception of their  capabilities and   
undertake again the function which only 
the  individual can perform1 that of    
producing new spiritual-ethical ideas4  
,if this does not come about in a       
multitude of cases nothing can save  us4
    ,a new public opinion must be       
created privately and unobtrusively4    
,the  existing one is maintained by the 
,press1 by propaganda1 by  organization1
 and by financial and other influences  
which are at its  pg #jge disposal4     
,this unnatural way of spreading ideas  
must be  opposed by the natural one1    
which goes from man to man and relies   
solely on the truth of the thoughts and 
the hearer's receptiveness for  new     
truth4 ,unarmed1 and following the human
 spirit's primitive and  natural        
fighting method1 it must attack the     
other1 which faces it1 as  ,goliath     

faced ,david1 in the mighty armour of   
the age4    ,about the struggle which   
must needs ensue no historical analogy  
can  tell us much4 ,the past has1 no    
doubt1 seen the struggle of the         
free-thinking individual against the    
fettered spirit of a whole  society1 but
 the problem has never presented itself 
on the scale on  which it does to-day1  
because the fettering of the collective 
spirit  as it is fettered to-day by     
modern organizations1 modern            
unreflectiveness1 and modern popular    
passions1 is a phenomenon without       
precedent in history4           99      
99       99       99       99    ,will  
the man of to-day have strength to carry
 out what the spirit  demands from him1 
and what the age would like to make     
impossible8    ,in the over-organized   
societies which in a hundred ways have  
him in  their power1 is he destined to  
become once more an independent         
personality and pg #jgf to exert        
influence back upon them8 ,they will    

use every means to keep him in that     
condition of impersonality which  suits 
them4 ,they fear personality because the
 spirit and the truth1  which they would
 like to muzzle1 find in it a means of  
expressing  themselves4 ,and their power
 is1 unfortunately1 as great as their   
fear4    ,there is a tragic alliance    
between society as a whole and its      
economic  conditions4 ,with a grim      
relentlessness those conditions tend to 
bring  up the man of to-day as a being  
without freedom1 without                
self-collectedness1 without             
independence1 in short as a human being 
so  full of deficiencies that he lacks  
the qualities of humanity4 ,and they    
are the last things that we can change4 
,even if it should be granted  us that  
the spirit should begin its work1 we    
shall only slowly and  incompletely gain
 power over these forces4 ,there is1 in 
fact1 being  demanded from the will that
 which our conditions of life refuse to 
allow4    ,and how heavy the tasks that 

the spirit has to take in hand6 ,it has 
to  create the power of understanding   
the truth that is really true where  at 
present nothing is current but          
propagandist truth4 ,it has to depose   
ignoble patriotism1 and enthrone the    
noble kind of patriotism which  aims at 
ends that are worthy of the whole of    
mankind1 in circles where  the hopeless 
issues of past and present pg #jgg      
political activities  keep nationalist  
passions aglow even among those who in  
their hearts  would fain be free from   
them4 ,it has to get the fact that      
civilization  is an interest of all men 
and of humanity as a whole recognized   
again  in places where national         
civilization is to-day worshipped as an 
idol1  and the notion of a humanity with
 a common civilization lies broken to   
fragments4 ,it has to maintain our faith
 in the civilized ,state1 even  though  
our modern ,states1 spiritually and     
economically ruined by the  war1 have no
 time to think about the tasks of       

civilization1 and dare  not devote their
 attention to anything but how to use   
every possible  means1 even those which 
undermine the conception of justice1 to 
collect money with which to prolong     
their own existence4 ,it has to  unite  
us by giving us a single ideal of       
civilized man1 and this in a  world     
where one nation has robbed its         
neighbour of all faith in  humanity1    
idealism1 righteousness1 reasonableness1
 and truthfulness1  and all alike have  
come under the domination of powers     
which are  plunging us ever deeper into 
barbarism4 ,it has to get attention     
concentrated on civilization while the  
growing difficulty of making a  living  
absorbs the masses more and more in     
material cares1 and makes  all other    
things seem to them to be mere shadows4 
,it has to give us  faith in the        
possibility of pg #jgh progress while   
the reaction of  the economic on the    
spiritual becomes more pernicious every 
day and  contributes to an ever growing 

demoralization4 ,it has to provide us   
with a capacity for hope at a time when 
not only secular and religious          
institutions and associations1 but the  
men1 too1 who are looked upon  as       
leaders1 continually fail us1 when      
artists and men of learning show        
themselves as supporters of barbarism1  
and notabilities who pass for  thinkers1
 and behave outwardly as such1 are      
revealed1 when crises  come1 as being   
nothing more than writers and members of
 academies4    ,all these hindrances    
stand in the path of the will to        
civilization4 ,a  dull despair hovers   
about us4 ,how well we now understand   
the men of  the ,greco-,roman decadence1
 who stood before events incapable of   
resistance1 and1 leaving the world to   
its fate1 withdrew upon their  inner    
selves6 ,like them1 we are bewildered by
 our experience of life4  ,like them1 we
 hear enticing voices which say to us   
that the one thing  which can still make
 life tolerable is to live for the day4 

,we must1  we are told1 renounce every  
wish to think or hope about anything    
beyond our own fate4 ,we must find rest 
in resignation4    ,the recognition that
 civilization is founded on some sort of
 theory of  the universe1 and can be    
restored only through a spiritual       
awakening  and a will for ethical good  
in the mass of mankind1 compels pg #jgi 
us to make clear to ourselves those     
difficulties in the way of a  rebirth of
 civilization which ordinary reflection 
would overlook4 ,but  at the same time  
it raises us above all considerations of
 possibility  or impossibility4 ,if the 
ethical spirit provides a sufficient    
standing  ground in the sphere of events
 for making civilization a reality1 then
  we shall get civilization1 provided   
that we return to a suitable  theory of 
the universe and the convictions to     
which this properly  gives birth4       
,the history of our decadence preaches  
the truth that when hope is dead  the   
spirit becomes the deciding court of    

appeal1 and this truth will  in the     
future find in us a sublime and noble   
fulfilment4          pg #jhj            
,,chapter ,v    ,,civilization ,,and    
,,theories ,,of ,,the ,,universe        
,the regeneration of our theory of the  
universe and the restoration of         
civilization4 ,a reflective theory of   
the universe2 rationalism and           
mysticism4 ,the optimistic-ethical      
theory as a theory of civilization4     
,the regeneration of our ideas by       
reflection about the meaning of life4   
,the greatest of all the spirit's tasks 
is to produce a theory of the  universe 
7,weltanschauung799771 for in such a    
theory all the  ideas1 convictions and  
activities of an age have their roots1  
and it  is only when we have arrived at 
one which is compatible with            
civilization that we are capable of     
holding the ideas and convictions  which
 are the conditions of civilization in  
general4    ,what is meant by a theory  
of the universe8 ,it is the content of  

the  thoughts of society and the        
individuals which compose it about the  
nature and object of the world in which 
they live1 and the position  and the    
destiny of mankind and of individual men
 within it4 ,what  significance have the
 society in which ,i live and ,i myself 
in the  world8 ,what do we want to do in
 the world1 what do we pg #jha hope to  
get from it1 and what is our duty to it8
 ,the answer given by the  majority to  
these fundamental questions about       
existence decides what  the spirit is in
 which they and their age live4    ,is  
not this putting too high the value of a
 theory of the universe8    ,at present1
 certainly1 the majority do not1 as a   
rule1 attain to any  properly           
thought-out theory1 nor do they feel the
 need of deriving  their ideas and      
convictions from such a source4 ,they   
are in tune1 more  or less1 with all the
 tones which pervade the age in which   
they live4    ,but who are the musicians
 who have produced these tones8 ,they   

are the  personalities who have thought 
out theories of the universe1 and drawn 
from them the ideas1 more or less       
valuable1 which are current amongst  us 
to-day4 ,in this way all thoughts1      
whether those of individuals or  those  
of society1 go back ultimately1 in some 
way or other1 to a  theory of the       
universe4 ,every age lives in the       
consciousness of what  has been provided
 for it by the thinkers under whose     
influence it  stands4    ,plato was     
wrong in holding that the philosophers  
of a ,state should  also be its         
governors4 ,their supremacy is a        
different and a higher one  than that   
which consists in taking cognizance of  
laws and ordinances  and giving effect  
to official authority4 pg #jhb ,they are
 the  officers of the general staff who 
sit in the background thinking out1     
with more or less clearness of vision1  
the details of the battle which  is to  
be fought4 ,those who play their part in
 the public eye are the  subordinate    

officers who1 for their variously sized 
units1 convert the  general directions  
of the staff into orders of the day3    
namely1 that  the forces will start at  
such and such a time1 move in this or   
that  direction1 and occupy this or that
 point4 ,kant and ,hegel have  commanded
 millions who had never read a line of  
their writings1 and  who did not even   
know that they were obeying their       
orders4    ,those who command1 whether  
it be in a large or a small sphere1 can 
only carry out what is already in the   
thought of the age4 ,they do not  build 
the instrument on which they have to    
play1 but are merely given  a seat at   
it4 ,nor do they compose the piece they 
have to play2 it is  simply put before  
them1 and they cannot alter it2 they can
 only  reproduce it with more or less   
skill and success4 ,if it is            
meaningless1 they cannot do much to     
improve it1 but neither1 if it is  good1
 can they damage it seriously4    ,to   
the question1 then1 whether it is       

personalities or ideas which  decide the
 fate of an age1 the answer is that the 
age gets its ideas  from personalities4 
,if the thinkers of a certain period    
produce a  worthy theory of the         
universe1 then ideas pass into currency 
pg #jhc  which guarantee progress2 if   
they are not capable of such production1
  then decadence sets in in some form or
 other4 ,every theory of the  universe  
draws after it its own special results  
in history4    ,the fall of the ,roman  
,empire in spite of that empire's having
 over it  so many rulers of conspicuous 
ability1 may be traced ultimately to the
  fact that ancient philosophy produced 
no theory of the universe with  ideas   
which tended to that empire's           
preservation4 ,with the rise of         
,stoicism1 as the definitive answer of  
the philosophic thought of  antiquity1  
the fate of the world down to the       
,middle ,ages was decided4  ,the idea of
 resignation1 noble idea as it is1 could
 not ensure  progress in a world-wide   

empire4 ,the efforts of its strongest   
emperors  were useless4 ,the yarn with  
which they had to weave was rotten4     
,in the eighteenth century1 under the   
rule1 in most places1 of  insignificant 
rococo-sovereigns and rococo-ministers1 
a progressive  movement began among the 
nations of ,europe which was unique in  
the  history of the world4 ,why8 ,the   
thinkers of the ,illuminati and of      
rationalism produced a worthy theory of 
the universe from which worthy  ideas   
were spread among mankind4    ,but when 
history began to shape itself in        
accordance with these ideas1  the       
thought which had pg #jhd produced the  
progress came to a halt1  and we have   
now a generation which is squandering   
the precious  heritage it has received  
from the past1 and is living in a world 
of  ruins1 because it cannot complete   
the building which that past began4     
,even had our rulers and statesmen been 
less short-sighted than they  actually  
were1 they would not in the long run    

have been able to avert  the catastrophe
 which burst upon us4 ,both the inner   
and the outer  collapse of civilization 
were latent in the circumstances        
produced by  the prevalent view of the  
universe4 ,the rulers1 small and great  
alike1  did not nothing but act in      
accordance with the spirit of the age4  
,with the disappearance of the influence
 exerted by the ,aufklrung1             
rationalism1 and the serious philosophy 
of the early nineteenth  century1 the   
seeds were sown of the world-war to     
come4 ,then began to  disappear also the
 ideas and convictions which would have 
made  possible a solution on right lines
 of the controversies which arise       
between nations4    ,thus the course of 
events brought us into a position in    
which we had  to get along without any  
real theory of the universe4 ,the       
collapse of  philosophy and the rise and
 influence of scientific modes of       
thought  made it impossible to arrive at
 an idealist theory which should        

satisfy thought4 ,moreover1 our age is  
poorer in deep thinkers than  perhaps   
any preceding one4 ,there were a few pg 
#jhe strong spirits  who1 with varied   
knowledge1 and with devoted efforts1    
offered the  world some patchwork       
thought2 there were some dazzling       
comets2 but  that was all that was      
granted us4 ,their products in the way  
of world  theories were good enough to  
interest a circle of academic culture1  
or  to delight a few believing          
followers1 but the people as a whole    
were  entirely untouched4    ,we began1 
therefore1 to persuade ourselves that it
 was1 after all1  possible to get       
through without any theory of the       
universe4 ,the  feeling that we needed  
to stir ourselves up to ask questions   
about the  world and life1 and to come  
to a decision upon them1 gradually died 
away4 ,in the unreflective condition to 
which we had surrendered  ourselves1 we 
took1 to meet the claims of our own life
 and the  nation's life1 the chance     

ideas provided by our feeling for       
reality4  ,during more than a generation
 and a half we had proof enough and to  
spare that the theory which is the      
result of absence of theory is the  most
 worthless of all1 involving not only   
ruin to the spiritual life1  but ruin   
universal4 ,for where there is no       
general staff to think out  its plan of 
campaign for any generation its         
subordinate officers lead  it1 as in    
actual warfare so in the sphere of      
ideas1 from one  profitless adventure to
 another4    ,the reconstruction of our 
age1 then1 can begin pg #jhf only with a
  reconstruction of a theory of the     
universe4 ,there is hardly anything     
more urgent in its claim on us than this
 which seems to be so far off  and      
abstract4 ,only when we have made       
ourselves at home again in the  solid   
thought-building of a theory which can  
support a civilization1  and when we    
take from it1 all of us in co-operation1
 ideas which can  stimulate our life and

 work1 only then can there again arise a
 society  which shall possess ideals    
with magnificent aims and be able to    
bring  these into effective agreement   
with reality4 ,it is from new ideas that
  we must build history anew4    ,for   
individuals as for the community1 life  
without a theory of things  is a        
pathological disturbance of the higher  
capacity for  self-direction4           
99       99       99       99       99  
,what conditions must a theory of the   
universe fulfil to enable it to  create 
a civilization8    ,first1 and defined  
generally1 it must be the product of    
thought4  ,nothing but what is born of  
thought and addresses itself to thought 
can be a spiritual power affecting the  
whole of mankind4 ,only what has  been  
well turned over in the thought of the  
many1 and thus recognized  as truth1    
possesses a natural power of conviction 
which will work on  other minds and will
 continue to be effective4 ,only where  
there is a  constant appeal to the need 

pg #jhg of a reflective view of things  
are all man's spiritual capacities      
called into activity4    ,our age has a 
kind of artistic prejudice against a    
reflective theory  of the universe4 ,we 
are still children of the ,romantic     
movement to a  greater extent than we   
realize4 ,what that movement produced in
  opposition to the ,aufklrung and to   
rationalism seems to us valid  for all  
ages against any theory that would found
 itself solely on  thought4 ,in such a  
theory of the universe we can see       
beforehand the  world dominated by a    
barren intellectualism1 convictions     
governed by  mere utility1 and a shallow
 optimism1 which together throw a wet   
blanket over all human genius and       
enthusiasm4    ,in a great deal of the  
opposition which it offered to          
rationalism the  reaction of the early  
nineteenth century was right4           
,nevertheless it  remains true that it  
despised and distorted what was1 in     
spite of all  its imperfections1 the    

greatest and most valuable manifestation
 of the  spiritual life of man that the 
world has yet seen4 ,down through all   
circles of cultured and uncultured alike
 there prevailed at that time  a belief 
in thought and a reverence for truth4   
,for that reason alone  that age stands 
higher than any which preceded it1 and  
much higher  than our own4    ,at no    
price must the feelings and phrases of  
pg #jhh ,romanticism be  allowed to     
prevent our generation from forming a   
clear conception of  what reason really 
is4 ,it is no dry intellectualism which 
would  suppress all the manifold        
movements of our inner life1 but the    
totality of all the functions of our    
spirit in their living action and       
interaction4 ,in it our intellect and   
our will hold that mysterious           
intercourse which determines the        
character of our spiritual being4       
,these fundamental ideas which it       
produces contain all that we can feel   
or imagine about our destiny and that of

 mankind1 and give our whole  being its 
direction and its value4 ,the enthusiasm
 which comes from  thought has the same 
relation to that which rises from the   
cauldron of  feeling as the wind which  
sweeps the heights has to that which    
eddies  about between the hills4 ,if we 
venture once more to seek help from the 
light of reason1 we shall no longer keep
 ourselves down at the level  of a      
generation which has ceased to be       
capable of enthusiasm1 but  shall follow
 the deep and noble passion inspired by 
great and sublime  ideals4 ,this will so
 fill and expand our being that that by 
which we  now live will seem to be      
merely a petty kind of excitement1 and  
will  disappear4    ,rationalism is more
 than a movement of thought which       
realized itself  at the end of the      
eighteenth and the beginning of the     
nineteenth  centuries4 ,it is a         
necessary phenomenon in all normal      
spiritual life4  pg #jhi ,all real      
progress in the world is in the last    

analysis  produced by rationalism4      
,it is true that the intellectual       
productions of the period which we      
designate historically as the           
rationalistic are incomplete and        
unsatisfactory1 but the principle1 which
 was then established1 of  basing our   
views of the universe on thought and    
thought alone1 is  valid for all time4  
,even if the tree's earliest fruit did  
not ripen  perfectly1 the tree itself   
remains1 nevertheless1 the tree of life 
for  the life of our spirit4    ,all the
 movements that have claimed to take the
 place of rationalism  stand far below  
it in the matter of achievement4 ,from  
speculative  thought1 from history1 from
 feeling1 from sthetics1 from science1  
they tried to construct a theory of the 
universe1 grubbing at  haphazard in the 
world around them instead of excavating 
scientifically4 ,rationalism alone chose
 the right place for its  digging1 and  
dug systematically1 according to plan4  
,if it found only  metal of small value1

 that was because1 with the means at its
  disposal1 it could not go deep enough4
 ,impoverished and ruined as we  are    
because we sought as mere adventurers1  
we must make up our minds  to sink      
another shaft in the ground where       
rationalism worked1 and to  go down     
through all the strata to see whether we
 cannot find the gold  which must       
certainly be there4    pg #jij    ,to   
think out to the end a theory of the    
universe which has been  produced by    
thought--that is the only possible way  
of finding our  bearings amid the       
confusion of the world of thought       
to-day4    ,philosophical1 historical1  
and scientific questions with which it  
was  not capable of dealing overwhelmed 
the earlier rationalism like an         
avalanche1 and buried it in the middle  
of its journey4 ,the new  rational      
theory of the universe must work its way
 out of this chaos4  ,leaving itself    
freely open to the whole influence of   
the world of  fact1 it must explore     

every path offered by reflection and    
knowledge  in its effort to reach the   
ultimate meaning of being and life1 and 
to  see whether it can solve some of the
 riddles which they present4    ,the    
ultimate knowledge1 in which man        
recognizes his own being as a  part of  
the ,all1 belongs1 they say1 to the     
realm of mysticism1 by  which is meant  
that he does not reach it by the method 
of ordinary  reflection1 but somehow or 
other lives himself into it4    ,but why
 assume that the road of thought must   
suddenly stop at the  frontier of       
mysticism8 ,it is true that pure reason 
has hitherto called  a halt whenever it 
came into this neighbourhood1 for it was
 unwilling  to go beyond the point at   
which it could still exhibit everything 
as  part of a smooth1 logical plan4     
,mysticism1 on its side1 always         
depreciated pg #jia pure reason as much 
as it could1 to prevent at  all costs   
the idea from gaining currency that it  
was in any way bound  to give an account

 to reason4 ,and yet1 although they     
refuse to  recognize each other1 the two
 belong to each other4    ,it is in     
reason that intellect and will1 which in
 our nature are  mysteriously bound up  
together1 seek to come to a mutual      
understanding4 ,the ultimate knowledge  
that we strive to acquire is  knowledge 
of life1 which intellect looks at from  
without1 will from  within4 ,since life 
is the ultimate object of knowledge1 our
 ultimate  knowledge is necessarily our 
thinking experience of life1 but this   
does not lie outside the sphere of      
reason1 but within reason itself4  ,only
 when the will has thought out its      
relation to the intellect1 has  come1 as
 far as it can1 into line with it1 has  
penetrated it1 and in  it become        
logical1 is it in a position to         
comprehend itself1 so far as  its nature
 allows this1 as a part of the universal
 will-to-live and a  part of being in   
general4 ,if it merely leaves the       
intellect on one  side1 it loses itself 

in confused imaginings1 while the       
intellect1  which1 like the rationalism 
of the past1 will not allow that in     
order  to understand life it must       
finally lose itself in thinking         
experience1  renounces all hope of      
constructing a deep and firmly based    
theory of  the universe4    pg #jib     
,thus reflection1 when pursued to the   
end1 lead somewhere and somehow  to a   
living mysticism which is for all men   
everywhere a necessary  element of      
thought4    ,doubts whether the mass of 
men can ever attain to that level of    
reflection about themselves and the     
world which is demanded by a  reflective
 theory of the universe1 are quite      
justifiable if the man of  to-day is    
taken as an example of the race4 ,but   
he1 with his diminished  need of        
thought1 is a pathological phenomenon4  
,in reality there is given in the mental
 endowment of the average man a         
capacity for thought which to the       
individual makes the creation of a      

reflective theory of things of his own  
not only possible1 but under  normal    
conditions even a necessity4 ,the great 
movements of  illumination in ancient   
and modern times help to maintain the   
confident belief that there is in the   
mass of mankind a power of  thought on  
fundamentals which can be roused to     
activity4 ,this belief  is strengthened 
by observation of mankind and           
intercourse with the  young4 ,a         
fundamental impulse to reflect about the
 universe stirs us  during those years  
in which we begin to think              
independently4 ,later on  we let it     
languish1 even though feeling clearly   
that we thereby  impoverish ourselves   
and become less capable of what is good4
 ,we are  like springs of water which no
 longer run pg #jic because they have   
not been watched and have gradually     
become choked with rubbish4    ,more    
than any other age has our own neglected
 to watch the thousand  springs of      
thought2 hence the drought in which we  

are pining4 ,but if  we only go on to   
remove the rubbish which conceals the   
water1 the  sands will be irrigated     
again1 and life will spring up where    
hitherto  there has been only a desert4 
,certainly there are guides and the     
guided in the department of             
world-theories1 as in others4 ,so far   
the independence of the mass of  men    
remains a relative one4 ,the question is
 only whether the influence  of the     
guides leads to dependence or           
independence4 ,the latter brings  with  
it a development in the direction of    
truthfulness2 the former  means the     
death of that virtue4    ,every being   
who calls himself a man is meant to     
develop into a real  personality within 
a reflective theory of the universe     
which he has  created for himself4      
99       99       99       99       99  
,but of what character must the theory  
be if ideas and convictions  about      
civilization are to be based on it8     
,that theory of the universe is         

optimistic which pg #jid gives          
existence the preference as against     
non-existence and thus affirms  life as 
something possessing value in itself4   
,from this attitude to  the universe and
 to life results the impulse to raise   
existence1 in so  far as our influence  
can affect it1 to its highest level of  
value4  ,thence originates activity     
directed to the improvement of the      
living  conditions of individuals1 of   
society1 of nations and of humanity1    
from which spring the external          
achievements of civilization1 the       
lordship of spirit over the powers of   
nature1 and the higher social           
organization4    ,ethics is the activity
 of man directed to secure the inner    
perfection  of his own personality4 ,in 
itself it is quite independent of       
whether  the theory of the universe is  
pessimistic or optimistic4 ,but its     
sphere of action is contracted or       
widened according as it appears in      
connection with a theory of the first or

 the second type4    ,in the            
determinist-pessimistic theory of the   
universe1 as we have it  in the thought 
of the ,brhmans or of ,schopenhauer1    
ethics has nothing  whatever to do with 
the objective world4 ,it aims solely at 
securing  the self-perfection of the    
individual as this comes to pass in     
inner  freedom and disconnection from   
the world and the spirit of the world4  
,but the scope of ethics is extended in 
proportion pg #jie as it  develops and  
strengthens a connection with a theory  
of the universe  which is affirmative   
toward the world and life4 ,its aim is  
now the  inner perfection of the        
individual and at the same time the     
direction  of his activity so as to take
 effect on other men and on the         
objective  world4 ,it is true that in   
face of the objective world and its     
spirit  ethics no longer holds itself up
 to man as an aim in itself4 ,by its    
means man is to become capable of acting
 among men and in the world as  a higher

 and purer force1 and thus to do his    
part towards the  actualization of the  
ideal of general progress4    ,thus the 
optimistic-ethical theory of the        
universe works in  partnership with     
ethics to produce civilization4 ,neither
 is capable of  doing so by itself4     
,optimism supplies confidence that the  
world-process has somehow or other a    
spiritual-sensible aim1 and that  the   
improvement of the general relations of 
the world and of society  promotes the  
spiritual-moral perfection of the       
individual4 ,from ethics  is derived    
ability to develop the purposive state  
of mind necessary to  produce action on 
the world and society and to cause the  
co-operation  of all our achievements to
 secure the spiritual and moral         
perfection  of the individual which is  
the final end of civilization4    ,once 
we have recognized that the energies    
which spring out of a theory  of the    
universe1 and impel us to pg #jif create
 a civilization1 are  rooted in the     

ethical and the optimistic1 we get light
 on the question  why and how our ideals
 of civilization got worn out4 ,this    
question is  not to be answered by good 
or bad analogies from nature4 ,the      
decisive  answer is that they got worn  
out because we had not succeeded in     
establishing the ethical and optimistic 
elements on a sufficiently  firm        
foundation4    ,if we should analyse the
 process in which the ideas and         
convictions  that produce civilization  
reveal themselves1 it would be found    
that  whenever an advance has been      
registered1 either the optimist or the  
ethical element in the theory of the    
universe has proved more  attractive    
than usual1 and has had as its          
consequence a progressive  development4 
,when civilization is decaying there is 
the same chain of  causation1 but it    
works negatively4 ,the building is      
damaged or falls  in because the        
optimist element or the ethical1 or     
both1 give way like  a weak foundation4 

,no amount of inquiry will give any     
other reason for  the changes4 ,all     
imaginable ideas and convictions of that
 character  spring from optimism and the
 ethical impulse4 ,if these two pillars 
are  strong enough1 we need have no     
fears about the building4    ,the future
 of civilization depends1 therefore1 on 
whether it is  possible for thought to  
reach a theory of the universe which    
will have  a more secure and pg #jig    
fundamental hold on optimism and the    
ethical impulse than its predecessors   
have had4           99       99       99
       99       99    ,we ,westerners   
dream of a theory of the universe which 
corresponds to  our impulse to action   
and at the same time justifies it4 ,we  
have not  been able to formulate such a 
theory definitely4 ,at present we are in
  the state of possessing merely an     
impulse without any definite            
orientation4 ,the spirit of the age     
drives us into action without  allowing 
us to attain any clear view of the      

objective world and of  life4 ,it claims
 our toil inexorably in the service of  
this or that  end1 this or that         
achievement4 ,it keeps us in a sort of  
intoxication  of activity so that we may
 never have time to reflect and to ask  
ourselves what this restless sacrifice  
of ourselves to ends and  achievements  
really has to do with the meaning of the
 world and of our  lives4 ,and so we    
wander hither and thither in the        
gathering dusk  formed by lack of any   
definite theory of the universe like    
homeless1  drunken mercenaries1 and     
enlist indifferently in the service of  
the  common and the great without       
distinguishing between them4 ,and the   
more  hopeless becomes the condition of 
the world in which this adventurous     
impulse to action and progress ranges to
 and fro1 the more bewildered  pg #jih  
becomes our whole conception of things  
and the more  purposeless and irrational
 the doings of those who have enlisted  
under  the banner of such an impulse4   

,how little reflection is present in the
 ,western impulse to action  becomes    
evident when this tries to square its   
ideas with those of the  ,far ,east4    
,for thought in the ,far ,east has been 
constantly occupied in  its search for  
the meaning of life1 and forces us to   
consider the  problem of the meaning of 
our own restlessness1 the problem which 
we  ,westerners burke so persistently4  
,we are utterly at a loss when we       
contemplate the ideas which are         
presented to us in ,indian thought4 ,we 
turn away from the intellectual         
presumption which we find there4 ,we    
are conscious of the unsatisfying and   
incomplete elements in the ideal  of    
cessation from action4 ,we feel         
instinctively that the  will-to-progress
 is justified not only in its aspect as 
directed to  the spiritual perfection of
 personality1 but also in that which    
looks  towards the general and material4
    ,for ourselves we dare to allege    
that we adventurers1 who take up an     

affirmative attitude toward the world   
and toward life1 however great  and even
 ghastly our mistakes may be1 can yet   
show not only greater  material1 but    
also greater spiritual and ethical1     
contributions than  can those who lie   
under the ban of a theory of the        
universe  characterized by cessation    
from action4    pg #jii    ,and yet1 all
 the same1 we cannot feel ourselves     
completely justified  in the face of    
these strange ,eastern theories4 ,they  
have in them  something full of nobility
 which retains its hold on us1 even     
fascinates us4 ,this tinge of nobility  
comes from the fact that these          
convictions are born of a search for a  
theory of the universe and for  the     
meaning of life4 ,with us1 on the other 
hand1 activist instincts  and impulses  
take the place of a theory of the       
universe4 ,we have no  theory affirming 
the world and life to oppose to the     
negative theory  of these thinkers1 no  
thought which has found a basis for an  

optimistic conception of existence to   
oppose to this other1 which has  arrived
 at a pessimistic conception4    ,the   
reawakening of the ,western spirit must 
thus begin by our people1  educated and 
simple alike1 becoming conscious of     
their lack of a  theory of the universe 
and feeling the horror of their         
consequent  position4 ,we can no longer 
be satisfied to make shift with         
substitutes  for such a theory4 ,what is
 the basis of the will-to-activity and  
progress which impels both to great     
actions and to terrible deeds1 and      
which tries to keep us from reflection8 
,we must bend all our energies  to the  
solution of this problem4    ,there is  
only one way in which we can hope to    
emerge from the  meaningless state in   
which we are pg #ajj now held captive   
into one  informed with meaning4 ,each  
one of us must turn to contemplate his  
own  being1 and we must all give        
ourselves to co-operative reflection so 
as  to discover how our will to action  

and to progress may be  intellectually  
based on the way in which we interpret  
our own lives  and the life around us1  
and the meaning which we give to these4 
,the great revision of the convictions  
and ideals in which and for  which we   
live will only take place when1 by      
constantly proclaiming  them1 we have   
given currency among our contemporaries 
to ideas and  thoughts other and better 
than those by which they are dominated  
at  the moment4 ,only thus will the many
 come to reflect about the meaning  of  
life and to reorientate1 revise and make
 over again their ideals of  action and 
of progress1 asking themselves whether  
these have a meaning  in accord with    
that which we attribute to our life     
itself4 ,this  personal reflection about
 final and elemental things is the one  
and  only reliable way of measuring     
values4 ,my willing and doing have real 
meaning and value only in proportion as 
the aims which action sets  before      
itself can be justified as being in     

direct accord with my  interpretation of
 my own and of other life4 ,all else1   
however much it  may pass current as    
approved by tradition1 usage1 and public
 opinion1  is vain and dangerous4    ,it
 seems1 indeed1 a matter for scorn and  
derision pg #aja that we  should urge   
men to anything so remote as a return to
 reflection about  the meaning of life  
at a time when the sufferings and the   
follies of  the nations have become so  
intense and so extended1 when           
unemployment  and poverty and starvation
 are rife1 when power is being          
dissipated on  all sides in the most    
shameless and senseless way1 and when   
organized  human life is dislocated in  
every direction4 ,but only when the     
general  population begins to reflect in
 this way will forces come into being   
which will be able to effect something  
to counterbalance all this ruin  and    
misery4 ,whatever other measures it is  
attempted to carry out will  have       
doubtful and altogether inadequate      

results4    ,when in the spring the     
withered grey of the pastures gives     
place to  green1 this is due to the     
millions of young shoots which sprout up
  freshly from the old roots4 ,in like  
manner the revival of thought  which is 
essential for our time can only come    
through a transformation  of the        
opinions and ideals of the many brought 
about by individual and  universal      
reflection about the meaning of life and
 of the world4    ,but are we sure of   
being able to think out that affirmation
 of the  world and of life1 which is    
such a powerful impulse in us1 into a   
theory of the world and of life from    
which a stream of energy  productive pg 
#ajb of intelligible life and action may
 convincingly  and constantly proceed8  
,how are we to succeed in doing what the
 spirit  of the ,western world during   
past generations has in vain toiled to  
accomplish8    ,even if thought1 once   
more awakened1 should only attain to an 
incomplete and unsatisfying theory of   

the universe1 yet this1 as the  truth to
 which we have ourselves worked through1
 would be of more  value than a complete
 lack of any theory at all1 or1         
alternatively1  than any sort of        
authoritative theory to which1          
neglecting the demands  of true thought1
 we cling on account of its supposed    
intrinsic value  without having any real
 and thorough belief in it4    ,the     
beginning of all spiritual life of any  
real value is courageous  faith in truth
 and open confession of the same4 ,the  
most profound  religious experience1    
too1 is not alien to thought1 but must  
be  capable of derivation from this if  
it is to be given a true and deep       
basis4 ,mere reflection about the       
meaning of life has already value in    
itself4 ,if such reflection should again
 come into being amongst us1  the       
ideals1 born of vanity and of suffering1
 which now flourish in  rank profusion  
like evil weeds among the convictions of
 the generality  of people1 would       

infallibly wither away and die4 ,how    
much would  already be accomplished     
towards our salvation from our present  
circumstances if only we would all give 
up three minutes every evening  to      
gazing up into the infinite pg #ajc     
world of the starry heavens  and        
meditating on it1 or if in taking part  
in a funeral procession we  would       
reflect on the enigma of life and death1
 instead of engaging in  thoughtless    
conversation as we follow behind the    
coffin6 ,the ideals1  born of folly and 
suffering1 of those who make public     
opinion and  direct public events1 would
 have no more power over men if they    
once  began to reflect about eternity   
and mortality1 existence and            
dissolution1 and thus learnt to         
distinguish between true and false      
standards1 between those which possess  
real value and those which do  not4 ,the
 old-time rabbis used to teach that the 
kingdom of ,god would  come if only the 
whole of ,israel would really keep a    

single ,sabbath  simultaneously6 ,how   
much more is it true that the injustice 
and  violence and untruth1 which are now
 bringing so much disaster on the  human
 race1 would lose their power if only a 
single real trace of  reflection about  
the meaning of the world and of life    
should appear  amongst us6    ,but is   
there not a danger in challenging men   
with this question about  the meaning of
 life and in demanding that our impulse 
to action should  justify and clarify   
itself in such reflection as that of    
which we have  spoken8 ,shall we not    
lose1 in acceding to this demand1 some  
irreplaceable element of nave           
enthusiasm8    pg #ajd    ,we need not  
thus be anxious as to how strong or how 
weak our impulse  to action will prove  
to be when it shall have arrived1 as the
 result  of intellectual reflection1 at 
an interpretation of life4 ,only that   
has real meaning for life which is given
 as an element of our  interpretation of
 life4 ,it is not the quantity1 but the 

quality1 of  activity that really       
matters4 ,what is needed is that our    
will-to-action should become conscious  
of itself and should cease to  work     
blindly4    ,but perhaps1 it may be     
objected1 we shall end in the           
resignation of  agnosticism1 and shall  
be obliged to confess that we cannot    
discover  any meaning in the universe or
 in life4    ,if thought is to set out  
on its journey unhampered1 it must be   
prepared for anything1 even for arrival 
at intellectual agnosticism4  ,but even 
if our will-to-action is destined to    
wrestle endlessly and  unavailingly with
 an agnostic view of the universe and of
 life1 still  this painful              
disenchantment is better for it than    
persistent refusal  to think out its    
position at all4 ,for this              
disenchantment does1 at any  rate1 mean 
that we are clear as to what we are     
doing4    ,there is1 however1 no        
necessity whatever for such an attitude 
of  resignation4 ,we feel that a        

position of affirmation regarding the   
world and life is something which is in 
itself both necessary and  valuable4    
,therefore it is at least likely that a 
foundation can be pg  #aje found for it 
in thought4 ,since it is an innate      
element of our  will-to-live1 it must be
 possible to comprehend it as a         
necessary  corollary to our             
interpretation of life4 ,perhaps we     
shall have to look  elsewhere than we   
have done hitherto for the real basis of
 that theory  of the universe which     
carries with it affirmation of the world
 and of  life4 ,previous thought        
imagined that it could deduce the       
meaning of  life from its interpretation
 of the universe4 ,it may be that we    
shall  be obliged to resign ourselves to
 abandon the problem of the             
interpretation of the universe and to   
find the meaning of our life in  the    
will-to-live as this exists in          
ourselves4    ,the ways along which we  
have to struggle toward the goal may be 

veiled  in darkness1 yet the direction  
in which we must travel is clear4 ,we   
must reflect together about the meaning 
of life2 we must strive  together to    
attain to a theory of the universe      
affirmative of the  world and of life1  
in which the impulse to action which we 
experience  as a necessary and valuable 
element of our being may find           
justification1 orientation1 clarity and 
depth1 may receive a fresh  access of   
moral strength1 and be retempered1 and  
thus become capable  of formulating1 and
 of acting on1 definite ideals of       
civilization1  inspired by the spirit of
 true humanitarianism4                  
,,footnotes      99 ,weltanschauung4    
,translated #8theory of the universe'   
throughout the  first part and elsewhere
 in this preface4    99 ,translated     
8world-view0 throughout the second part 
of these  ,lectures4                    
,,transcriber',s ,,notes    ,the        
formatting of both the 4htm and 4txt    
files followed that of two  similar     

books1 ,the ,quest of the ,historical   
,jesus and ,the ,mystery of  the        
,kingdom of ,god1 already in ,project   
,gutenberg4    ,in the 4txt version ,i  
have used utf#h encoding and the        
following  markers3    #a4 italic text  
surrounded by   #b4 footnote references 
in the form  7number7    ,i have        
included page numbers in the format pg  
xxx for both 4htm and  4txt4    ,i made 
several hyphenation choices1 mostly     
forced by de-hyphenation at  the ends of
 lines3    #a4 world-theory  #b4        
overcoming  #c4 self-regarding  #d4     
never-concentrated  #e4                 
over-organization  #f4 over-valuation   
#g4 self-importance  #h4                
rococo-ministers  #i4 non-existence     
,in addition1 on page #e of the 4pdf    
file on ,internet ,archive1 the  display
 of this page was corrupted in my copy4 
,as pointed out by  an editor1 this has 
been corrected in the current version at
 ,internet  ,archive4    ,on page #hd   
the word 8not0 in the sentence3    8,the

 rulers1 small and great alike1 did not 
act in accordance with  the spirit of   
the age40    was changed to 8nothing    
but04 ,the original ,german is3    8,die
 kleinen und die groen ,regierenden     
taten nichts anderes1 als da  sie im    
,geiste der ,zeit handelten40    ,google
 ,translate 7#d_/be_/bjbe7 renders this 
as3    8,the small and the big rulers   
did nothing other than act in the spirit
  of the times40    ,the printed        
sentence in the book is either a typo or
 a mis-translation4  ,it does not fit   
the sense of the author who means that  
the rulers  themselves are not to blame 
for the collapse of civilization but    
rather  it is the fault of the 8spirit  
of the age04