,the ,dale ,memorial ,lectures1 #aibb4  
,,civilization ,,and ,,ethics    ,,the  
,,philosophy ,,of ,,civilization        
,,part ,,ii    ,,by    ,,albert         
,,schweitzer    ,d4,,theol42 ,d4,,phil42
 ,d4,,med4 7,,strassburg7    ,second    
,edition    ,,translated ,,by    ,c4 ,t4
 ,,campion    ,m4,a4 7,,oxon47    ,a4   
,c4 ,,black1 ,,ltd4    #d1 #e  #f ,,soho
 ,,square1 ,,london1 ,w4 #a    #aibi    
,first ,edition published ,november1    
#aibc    ,second ,edition 7revised71    
published in #aibi        ,to    ,,my   
,,wife    ,,the ,,most ,,loyal ,,of     
,,comrades      ,printed in ,great      
,britain4          ,,preface    ,,my    
subject is the tragedy of the ,western  
world-view47#a7    ,while still a       
student ,i was surprised to find the    
history of thought  always written      
merely as a history of philosophical    
systems1 never as  the history of man's 
effort to arrive at a world-view4       
,later1 when  reflecting on the current 
of civilization in which ,i found myself

  living1 ,i was struck by the strange  
and inexorable connexions which  exist  
between civilization and our view of the
 world as a whole4 ,next  ,i felt a     
still stronger compulsion to put to     
,western thought the  question what it  
has been aiming at1 and what result it  
has reached in  the matter of           
world-view4 ,what is there left of the  
achievements of  our philosophy when it 
is stripped of its tinsel of learning8  
,what has  it to offer us when we demand
 from it those elemental ideas which we 
need if we are to take our position in  
life as men who are growing in          
character through the experience given  
by work8    ,so ,i came to an unsparing 
reckoning up with ,western thought4 ,i  
recognized and admitted that it has     
sought for that world-view from  which  
alone a deep and comprehensive          
civilization can come4 ,it wanted  to   
reach a position pg vi of world- and    
life-affirmation and on that  foundation
 lay down that it is our duty to be     

active1 to strive for  progress of all  
kinds1 and to create values4 ,it wanted 
to reach an  ethical system and on that 
foundation lay down that for the sake of
  serviceable activity we have to place 
our life at the service of ideas  and of
 the other life around us4    ,but it   
did not succeed in grounding its world- 
and life-affirming  ethical world-view  
convincingly and permanently in thought4
 ,our  philosophy did nothing more than 
produce again and again unstable        
fragments of the serviceable world-view 
which hovered before its  mind's eye4   
,consequently our civilization also     
remained fragmentary  and insecure4     
,it was a fatal mistake that ,western   
thought never admitted to itself  the   
unsatisfying result of its search for a 
stable and serviceable  world-view4 ,our
 philosophizing became less and less    
elemental1 losing  all connexion with   
the elementary questions which man must 
ask of life  and of the world4 ,more and
 more it found satisfaction in the      

handling  of philosophic questions that 
were merely academic1 and in an expert's
  mastery of philosophical technique4   
,it became more and more the  captive of
 secondary things4 ,instead of real     
music it produced again  and again mere 
bandmaster's music1 often magnificent   
stuff of its  kind1 but still only      
bandmaster's music4    ,through this    
philosophy which did nothing but        
philosophize instead of  struggling for 
a world-view grounded in thought and    
serviceable for  life1 we came to be    
without any world-view and therefore    
without any  civilization4    ,signs of 
an awakening of thought on this point   
are beginning to be  visible4 ,it is    
admitted here and there that philosophy 
must again try  to offer a world-view4  
,this is generally expressed by saying  
that  people are encouraging it to      
venture once more on 8metaphysics10 that
  is to put forward definitive views    
about the spiritual nature of the       
world1 whereas hitherto it has been     

occupied with the classification  of    
scientific facts and in cautious        
hypotheses4    ,not only in philosophy1 
but in thought generally this pg vii    
awakening of the need for a world-view  
expresses itself as a need for          
8metaphysics40 ,fantastic systems of    
8metaphysics0 are sought for and        
offered4 ,individuals who believe that  
they have at their disposal  peculiar   
psychic experiences1 and assert that    
with their aid they can  look behind the
 actual nature of phenomena1 come       
forward as bringers  of a world-view4   
,but neither the cautious academic1 nor 
the much-claiming fantastic             
8metaphysics10 can really give us a     
world-view4 ,that the road to a         
world-view leads through 8metaphysics0  
is a fatal error which has  already     
enjoyed too long a span of life in our  
,western thought4 ,it  would be tragic  
if we renewed its vigour just now1 when 
we are faced  by the necessity of       
working our way out of that lack of     

world-view in  which our misery1 both   
spiritual and material1 is grounded4 ,no
 further  wandering along the           
traditional roads that lead nowhere can 
save us1  whether we advance as the     
successors of our fathers or on         
adventurous  lines of our own4 ,only in 
a deep conception of and experience in  
the  problems of world-view is there for
 us any possibility of advance4    ,that
 is why ,i am undertaking what has never
 been attempted in this way  before1    
viz4 so to pose the problem of the      
,western world-view as to  make the     
,western search for a world-view come to
 a halt and take  account of itself4    
,there are two points on which it must  
be clear  before it proceeds to further 
exertion4 ,the first is the overwhelming
  importance in the search for a        
world-view of the quality of the        
world-view sought4 ,what is it that we  
want8 ,we want to find the world-  and  
life-affirmation and the ethical system 
which we need for that  serviceable     

activity which gives our life a meaning1
 based on such  thought about the world 
and life as finds a meaning in them     
also4 ,if  our search for a world-view  
is once thoroughly permeated by the     
recognition that everything turns upon  
these two fundamental  questions1 it is 
thereby saved from betaking itself to   
by-paths1  thinking that by some happy  
disposition of fortune it can reach its 
goal along them4 ,it will then pg viii  
not search for a 8metaphysic10  thinking
 by means of it to reach a world-view1  
but it will search for  a world-view and
 accept with it anything 8metaphysical0 
that may turn  up4 ,from every point of 
view it will remain elemental4    ,the  
second task which the conscious search  
for a world-view must not  shirk1 is the
 consideration of what is the real and  
ultimate nature of  the process by which
 it has hitherto attempted to secure    
that  serviceable world-view which      
hovered before it4 ,reflexion on this is
  necessary that it may make up its mind

 whether further advance along  the road
 it has hitherto followed gives any     
prospect of success4 ,our  philosophy   
ought to have been philosophizing long  
ago about the road  along which it was  
going in search of a world-view4 ,it    
never did so1  and therefore was always 
running uselessly round and round in a  
circle4    ,the process by which        
,western thought has hitherto sought for
 a  world-view is doomed to be          
fruitless4 ,it consisted simply in      
interpreting the world in the sense of  
world- and life-affirmation1  that is1  
in attributing to the world a meaning   
which allowed it to  conceive the aims  
of mankind and of individual men as     
having a meaning  within it4 ,this      
interpretation is acted upon by all     
,western  philosophy4 ,a few thinkers   
who venture to be un-,western and       
resolutely  allow world- and            
life-negation and ethics to be made     
subjects of  discussion1 are            
side-currents which do not affect the   

main course of  the river4    ,that this
 process followed by ,western thought   
consists in adopting an                 
optimistic-ethical interpretation of the
 world will not be clear  without       
further explanation1 for it is1 indeed1 
not always openly  followed4 ,the       
optimistic-ethical interpretation is    
often to be found  imbedded in the      
results of investigations into the      
nature of  knowledge2 it often appears  
beneath a veil of 8metaphysics02 it is  
often so delicately shaded that it      
produces none of its usual effects4  ,it
 is only when one has clearly grasped   
the fact that ,western thought  has     
nothing else in mind than to establish  
for itself a world-view  based on world-
 and life-affirmation and ethical in    
character1 that  one can realize pg ix  
how in its theory of knowledge1 in its  
metaphysics1 and in all its movements   
generally in the game of life1  it is   
guided1 consciously or unconsciously1 by
 the effort to interpret  the world in  

some way or other and in some measure in
 the sense of  world- and               
life-affirmation and of ethics4 ,whether
 in this attempt it  goes to work openly
 or secretly1 skilfully or unskilfully1 
honourably  or craftily1 does not       
matter4 ,western thought needs this     
interpretation that it may be able to   
give a meaning to human life4  ,its view
 of life is to be a result of its view  
of the world4 ,no other  course was ever
 taken into consideration by it4    ,but
 this awakening of ,western thought will
 not be complete until that  thought    
steps outside itself and comes to an    
understanding with the  search for a    
world-view as this manifests itself in  
the thought of  mankind as a whole4 ,we 
have too long been occupied with the    
developing  series of our own           
philosophical systems1 and have taken no
 notice of  the fact that there is a    
world-philosophy of which our ,western  
philosophy is only a part4 ,if1 however1
 one grasps philosophy as being  a      

struggle to reach a view of the world as
 a whole1 and seeks out the  elementary 
convictions which are to deepen it and  
give it a sure  foundation1 one cannot  
avoid setting our own thought face to   
face with  that of the ,hindus and      
,chinese in the ,far ,east4 ,the latter 
looks  strange to us because much of it 
has remained even till now nave and     
embodied in myth1 while in other parts  
again it has spontaneously  advanced to 
refinements of criticism and to         
artificialities4 ,but this  does not    
matter4 ,the essential thing is that it 
is a struggle for a  world-view3 the    
form it takes is a secondary matter4    
,our ,western  philosophy1 if judged by 
its own latest pronouncements1 is much  
naver  than we admit to ourselves1 and  
we fail to perceive it only because we  
have acquired the art of expressing what
 is simple in a learned way4    ,among  
the ,hindus we encounter the world-view 
which is based on world-  and           
life-negation1 and the way in which it  

grounds itself in thought  is calculated
 to leave us not knowing what to make of
 our prejudice in  favour of world- pg x
 and life-affirmation1 which1 as        
,westerners1 we  are inclined to assume 
as something more or less self-evident4 
,the attraction and tension which in    
,hindu thought govern the relations     
between world- and life-negation and    
ethics1 afford us glimpses into  the    
problem of ethics for which ,western    
thought offers us no  comparable        
opportunities4    ,nowhere1 again1 has  
the problem of world- and               
life-affirmation1 both  in itself and in
 its relation to ethics1 been felt in so
 elemental and  comprehensive a fashion 
as in ,chinese thought4 ,lao-tse1       
,chwang-tse1  ,kung-tse 7,confucius71   
,meng-tse1 ,lie-tse1 and the rest1 are  
thinkers in  whom the problems of       
world-view with which our ,western      
thought is  wrestling1 encounter us in a
 form1 strange indeed1 but compelling   
our  attention4    ,discussing these    

problems with them means discussing them
 with  ourselves also4    ,that is why  
,i bade our search for a world-view seek
 to reach clear  ideas about itself1 and
 come to a halt in order to fix its     
attention  on the thought of mankind as 
a whole4    ,my solution of the problem 
is that we must make up our minds to    
renounce completely the                 
optimistic-ethical interpretation of the
  world4 ,if we take the world as it is1
 it is impossible to attribute to  it a 
meaning in which the aims and objects of
 mankind and of  individual men have a  
meaning also4 ,neither world- and       
life-affirmation nor ethics can be      
grounded on what our knowledge of  the  
world can tell us about the world4 ,in  
the world we can discover  nothing of   
any purposive evolution in which our    
activities can acquire  a meaning4 ,nor 
is the ethical to be discovered in any  
form in the  world-process4 ,the only   
advance in knowledge that we can make is
 to  describe more and more minutely the

 phenomena which make up the world  and 
their course4 ,to understand the meaning
 of the whole--and that is  what a      
world-view demands--is for us an        
impossibility4 ,the last fact  which    
knowledge can discover is that the world
 is a manifestation in  every way       
puzzling1 of the universal will-to-live4
    pg xi    ,i believe ,i am the first 
among ,western thinkers who has ventured
 to  recognize this crushing result of  
knowledge1 and who is absolutely        
sceptical about our knowledge of the    
world without at the same time          
renouncing with it belief in world- and 
life-affirmation and ethics4            
,resignation as to knowledge of the     
world is for me not a hopeless fall     
into a scepticism which leaves us to    
drift about in life like a  derelict    
vessel4 ,i see in it that effort of     
honesty which we must  venture to make  
in order to arrive at the serviceable   
world-view which  hovers within sight4  
,every world-view which does not start  

from  resignation in regard to          
knowledge1 is artificial and a mere     
fabrication1 for it rests upon an       
inadmissible interpretation of the      
world4    ,when once thought has become 
clear to itself about the relation in   
which world-view and life-view stand to 
each other1 it is in a  position to     
reconcile resignation as to knowledge   
with adherence to  world- and           
life-affirmation and ethics4 ,our view  
of life is not  dependent on our view of
 the world in the way that uncritical   
thought  imagines it to be4 ,it does not
 wither away if it cannot send its roots
  down into a corresponding world-view1 
for it does not originate in  knowledge 
although it would like to base itself   
thereon4 ,it can safely  depend upon    
itself alone1 for it is rooted in our   
will-to-live4    ,world- and            
life-affirmation and ethics are given in
 our will-to-live1  and they come to be 
clearly discerned in it in proportion as
 it learns  to think about itself and   

its relation to the world4 ,the rational
  thought of other times aimed at       
getting to know the world1 and at  being
 able in that knowledge to conceive of  
the highest impulses of  our            
will-to-live as purposive in view of the
 universe and its  evolution4 ,but that 
aim was unattainable4 ,we are not meant 
to unite  the world and ourselves in    
such harmony with one another4 ,we were 
nave enough to assume that our view of  
life must be contained in our  view of  
the world1 but the facts do not justify 
this assumption4 ,the  result is that   
our thought finds itself involved in a  
dualism with  which it can pg xii never 
finally settle4 ,it is the dualism of   
world-view and life-view1 of knowing and
 willing4    ,to this dualism all the   
problems with which human thought has   
busied  itself ultimately go back4      
,every fragment of the thought of       
mankind  which has any bearing on man's 
view of the world--whether in the       
world-religions or in philosophy--is an 

attempt to resolve this  dualism4 ,it is
 sometimes softened down1 but only to   
let a unitary1  monistic world-view be  
adopted in its place2 at other times it 
is left  current1 but is transformed    
into a drama with a monistic issue4     
,innumerable are the expedients which   
thought used in trying to get rid  of   
dualism4 ,everything it has undertaken  
commands respect1 even the  staggering  
navets and the meaningless acts of      
violence to which it  committed itself1 
for it was always acting under the      
compulsion of an  inner necessity3 it   
wanted to rescue a serviceable          
world-view from the  abyss of dualism4  
,but from this continuous mishandling of
 the problem no solution could  issue   
capable of satisfying thought4 ,we were 
to be taken over the  abyss on tottering
 bridges of snow4    ,instead of going  
on bridging this abyss with forced logic
 and  imaginative ideas1 we must make up
 our minds to get to the root of the    
problem and let it work upon us as it   

comes straight to meet us in the  facts4
 ,the solution is1 not to try to get rid
 of dualism from the  world1 but to     
realize it as something which can no    
longer do us any  harm4 ,that is        
possible if we leave behind us all the  
arts and the  unveracities of thought   
and bow to the fact that1 as we cannot  
harmonize our life-view and our         
world-view1 we must make up our minds   
to put the former above the latter4 ,the
 volition which is given in our         
will-to-live reaches beyond our         
knowledge of the world4 ,what is        
decisive for our life-view is not our   
knowledge of the world but the          
character of the volition which is given
 in our will-to-live4 ,the  universal   
spirit meets us in nature as puzzling   
creative power4 ,in our  will-to-live we
 experience pg xiii it within us as     
volition which is  both world- and      
life-affirming and ethical4    ,our     
relation to the world as it is given in 
the character of our  will-to-live1 when

 this latter seeks to comprehend itself 
in thought3  that is our view of the    
world4 ,world-view is a product of      
life-view1  not vice vers4    ,the      
rational thought of to-day1 therefore1  
does not hunt the phantom  of getting to
 know the world4 ,it leaves knowledge of
 the world on one  side as something    
unattainable by us1 and tries to come to
 clear ideas  about the will-to-live    
which is within us4    ,the problem of  
world-view1 then1 brought back to facts 
and tackled by  rational thought without
 assumptions being made1 may be put     
thus3  8,what is the relation of my     
will-to-live1 when it learns to think1  
to  itself and to the world80 ,and the  
answer is3 8,from an inner compulsion   
to be true to itself and to remain      
consistent with itself1 our             
will-to-live enters into relations with 
our own individual being and  with all  
manifestations of the will-to-live which
 surround it1 that  are determined by   
the sentiment of reverence for life40   

,reverence for life1 veneratio vit1 is  
the most direct and at the  same time   
the profoundest achievement of my       
will-to-live4    ,in reverence for life 
my knowledge passes into experience4    
,the  unsophisticated world- and        
life-affirmation which is within me just
  because ,i am will-to-live has1       
therefore1 no need to enter into        
controversy with itself1 if my          
will-to-live learns to think and yet    
does not understand the meaning of the  
world4 ,in spite of the negative        
results of knowledge ,i have to hold    
fast to world- and  life-affirmation and
 deepen it4 ,my life carries its own    
meaning in  itself4 ,this meaning lies  
in my living out the highest idea which 
shows itself in my will-to-live1 viz4   
the idea of reverence for life4  ,with  
that for a starting-point ,i give value 
to my own life and to all  the          
will-to-live which surrounds me1 ,i     
persevere in activity1 and ,i  produce  
values4    ,ethics grow out of the same 

root as world- and pg xiv               
life-affirmation1 for ethics1 too1 are  
nothing but reverence for life4  ,that  
is what gives me the fundamental        
principle of morality1 viz4 that  good  
consists in maintaining1 promoting1 and 
enhancing life and that  destroying1    
injuring1 and limiting life are evil4   
,affirmation of the  world1 which means 
affirmation of the will-to-live that    
manifests  itself all round me1 is only 
possible if ,i devote myself to other   
life4 ,from an inner necessity ,i exert 
myself in producing values and          
practising ethics in the world and on   
the world even though not  understanding
 the meaning of the world4 ,for in      
world- and  life-affirmation and in     
ethics ,i carry out the will of the     
universal  will-to-live which reveals   
itself in me4 ,i live my life in ,god1  
in the  mysterious divine personality   
which ,i do not know as such in the     
world1 but only experience as a         
mysterious ,will within myself4         

,rational thinking which is free from   
assumptions ends therefore in           
mysticism4 ,to relate oneself in the    
spirit of reverence for life to  the    
multiform manifestations of the         
will-to-live which together  constitute 
the world is ethical mysticism4 ,all    
profound world-view is  mysticism1 the  
essence of which is just this3 that out 
of my  unsophisticated and nave         
existence in the world there comes1 as a
  result of thought about self and the  
world1 spiritual self-devotion to  the  
mysterious infinite ,will which is      
continuously manifested in the          
universe4    ,this world-affirming1     
ethical1 active mysticism has always    
been  hovering as a vision before       
,western thought1 but the latter could  
never adopt it because in its search for
 a world-view it always turned  into the
 wrong road of optimistic-ethical       
interpretation of the world1  instead of
 reflecting directly on the relation    
which man assumes to  the world under   

the inner compulsion of the deepest     
characterisation  of his will-to-live4  
,from my youth onwards ,i have felt     
certain that all thought which  thinks  
itself out to an issue ends in          
mysticism4 ,in the stillness of  the    
primval forest in ,africa ,i have been  
able to work out this  thought and give 
it expression4    ,i come forward       
therefore with confidence as a restorer 
pg xv of that  rational thought which   
refuses to make assumptions4 ,i know    
indeed that  our time will have         
absolutely no connexion with anything   
that is in  any way rationalistic1 and  
would like to know it renounced as an   
aberration of the eighteenth century4   
,but the time will come when it  will be
 seen that we must start again where    
that century came to a  stop4 ,what lies
 between that time and to-day is an     
intermezzo of  thought1 an intermezzo   
with extraordinarily interesting and    
valuable  moments1 but nevertheless an  
unhappy and fatal one4 ,its inevitable  

end  was our sinking into a condition in
 which we had neither world-view  nor   
civilization1 and which contains in     
itself all that spiritual and  material 
misery in which we languish4    ,the    
restoration of our world-view can come  
only as a result of  inexorably         
truth-loving and recklessly courageous  
thought4 ,such  thinking alone is mature
 enough to learn by experience how the  
rational1 when it thinks itself out to a
 conclusion1 passes  necessarily over   
into the non-rational4 ,world- and      
life-affirmation  and ethics are        
non-rational4 ,they are not justified by
 any  corresponding knowledge of the    
nature of the world1 but are the        
disposition in which1 through the inner 
compulsion of our  will-to-live1 we     
determine our relation to the world4    
,what the activity of this disposition  
of ours means in the evolution  of the  
world1 we do not know4 ,nor can we      
regulate this activity from  outside2 we
 must leave entirely to each individual 

its shaping and its  extension4 ,from   
every point of view1 then1 world- and   
life-affirmation  and ethics are        
non-rational1 and we must have the      
courage to admit it4    ,if rational    
thought thinks itself out to a          
conclusion1 it comes to  something      
non-rational which1 nevertheless1 is a  
necessity of thought4  ,this is the     
paradox which dominates our spiritual   
life4 ,if we try to  come through       
without this non-rational1 the result is
 views of the  world and of life which  
are without life and without value4     
,all valuable conviction is non-rational
 and has an emotional  character1       
because it cannot be derived from pg xvi
 knowledge of the  world but arises out 
of the thinking experience of our       
will-to-live1  in which we stride out   
beyond all knowledge of the world4 ,this
 fact it  is which the rational thought 
that thinks itself out to a conclusion  
comprehends as the truth by which we    
must live4 ,the way to true  mysticism  

leads up through rational thought to    
deep experience of the  world and of our
 will-to-live4 ,we must all venture once
 more to be  8thinkers10 so as to reach 
mysticism1 which is the only direct and 
the  only profound world-view4 ,we must 
all wander in the field of knowledge  to
 the point where knowledge passes over  
into experience of the world4  ,we must 
all1 through thought1 become religious4 
,this rational thought must become the  
prevailing force among us1 for  all the 
valuable ideas that we need develop out 
of it4 ,in no other  fire than that of  
the mysticism of reverence for life can 
the broken  sword of idealism be forged 
anew4    ,in the disposition to         
reverence for life lies enclosed an     
elementary  conception of responsibility
 to which we must surrender ourselves2  
in  it there are forces at work which   
drive us to revision and ennoblement  of
 our individual social and political    
disposition4    ,it is the disposition  
to reverence for life1 too1 which alone 

is  capable of creating a new           
consciousness of law4 ,the misery       
prevailing  under our political and     
social condition consists to a great    
extent in  this1 that neither jurists   
nor laity have in their minds a living  
and  direct conception of law4 ,during  
the age of rational thought there was  a
 search made for such a conception1 and 
effort was made to establish            
fundamental laws which were held to be  
given in the nature of man1 and  to get 
them generally recognized4 ,later on1   
however1 this was given  up1 and laws   
passed at definite dates displaced      
natural law4 ,finally  we got to the    
stage of being satisfied with purely    
technical law4 ,this  was the intermezzo
 which followed the period of rational  
thought in  the sphere of law4    ,we   
have entered on a period in which the   
feeling for pg xvii law is  hopelessly  
bereft of force1 of soul1 and of sense  
of moral obligation4  ,it is a period of
 lawlessness4 ,parliaments produce with 

easy readiness  statutes which          
contradict the idea of law4 ,states deal
 arbitrarily  with their subjects       
without regard to the maintenance of any
 feeling  for law4 ,those1 indeed1 who  
fall into the power of a foreign nation 
are outlaws4 ,no respect is shown for   
their natural right to a  fatherland1 or
 freedom1 or dwelling-place1 or         
property1 or industry1  or food1 or     
anything else4 ,belief in law is to-day 
an utter ruin4    ,this state of things 
was in preparation from the moment when 
the  search for the natural conception  
of law1 grounded on rational  thought1  
was given up4    ,the only thing to be  
done1 then1 is to make a new connexion  
in the  sphere of law also1 at the point
 where the thread of the rational       
thought of the eighteenth century got   
broken4 ,we must search for a           
conception of law that is grounded in an
 idea which grows directly and          
independently out of a world-view4 ,we  
have to re-establish human  rights which

 cannot be infringed1 human rights which
 guarantee to each  person the greatest 
possible freedom for his personality in 
his own  national body1 human rights    
which protect his existence and his     
human  dignity against any foreign      
violence to which he may be subjected4  
,jurists have allowed law and the       
feeling for law to be ruined4 ,they     
could not help it1 however1 for there   
was no idea provided by the  thought of 
the time to which a living conception of
 law could have  anchored itself4 ,in   
the complete absence of any world-view  
law  collapsed entirely1 and it is only 
out of a new world-view that it can  be 
built up again4 ,it is from a           
fundamental idea about our relation to  
all that lives1 as such1 that it must   
flow in future1 as from a spring  which 
can never dry up and never become a     
swamp4 ,that spring is  reverence for   
life4    ,law and ethics spring up      
together from the same idea4 ,law is so 
much  of the principle of respect for   

life as can be embodied in an external  
code2 ethics are what cannot be so      
embodied4 ,the foundation of law is     
humanity4 ,it is pg xviii folly to wish 
to put out of action the  links between 
law and world-view4    ,in this way a   
world-view is the germ of all ideas and 
dispositions  which are determinative   
for the conduct of individuals and of   
society4    ,flying machines carry men  
to-day through the air over a world in  
which  hunger and brigandage have a     
place4 ,it is not in ,china only that   
one  recognizes the grotesque character 
of such progress3 it is almost  typical 
for mankind generally1 and such         
grotesque progress cannot be  changed to
 the normal till a general disposition  
prevails which is  capable of bringing  
order again into the chaos of human life
 through  ethics4 ,in the last resort   
the practical can be realized only      
through  the ethical    ,what a         
remarkable circle6 ,rational thought    
which thinks itself out  arrives at     

something non-rational and subjective   
which is a necessity  of thought1 viz4  
the ethical affirmation of world and    
life4 ,on the  other hand1 what for the 
purpose of moulding the conditions of   
existence for individual men and mankind
 as a whole is rational1 that  is to    
say1 what is objectively practical in   
this regard1 can only be  brought about 
by individuals perseveringly putting    
into action the  above-mentioned        
non-rational and subjective4 ,the       
non-rational  principle underlying our  
activity1 a principle which is provided 
for  us by rational thought1 is the sole
 rational and practical principle       
underlying all the happenings which are 
to be produced through human  action4   
,thus the rational and the non-rational1
 the objective and the  subjective      
proceed each from the other1 and return 
each into the other  again4 ,only when  
the play of this mutual interchange is  
in full  activity do normal conditions  
of existence arise for men and mankind4 

,let it be disturbed and the abnormal   
develops4    ,i have1 then1 in this book
 written the tragedy of the search for a
  world-view1 and have myself trodden a 
new path to the same goal4  ,whereas    
,western thought has not arrived at any 
goal because it would  not venture      
resolutely into the desert of scepticism
 about knowledge  of the world1 pg xix  
,i make my way through this desert with 
calm  confidence4 ,it is1 after all1    
only a narrow strip1 and it lies in     
front of the ever-green oasis of an     
elemental world-view which grows  out of
 thought about the will-to-live4 ,in my 
attempt1 however1 to  reach a world-view
 by this new method1 ,i am conscious of 
having done  no more than put together  
and think out to conclusions many       
gropings  after this new method which   
were made by other seekers during the   
period covered4    ,but ,i also put into
 this book my conviction that mankind   
must renew  itself in a new temper of   
mind1 if it is not to be ruined4 ,i     

entrust  to it1 further1 my belief that 
this revolution will come about1 if     
only we can make up our minds to become 
thinking men4    ,a new ,renaissance    
must come1 and a much greater one than  
that in which  we stepped out of the    
,middle ,ages2 a great ,renaissance in  
which  mankind discovers that the       
ethical is the highest truth and the    
highest practicality1 and experiences at
 the same time its liberation  from that
 miserable obsession by what it calls   
reality1 in which it  has hitherto      
dragged itself along4    ,i would be a  
humble pioneer of this ,renaissance1 and
 throw the belief  in a new humanity1   
like a torch1 into our dark age4 ,i make
 bold to do  this because ,i believe ,i 
have given to the disposition to        
humanity1  which hitherto has ranked    
only as a noble feeling1 a firm         
foundation  in a world-view which is a  
product of elementary thinking and can  
be  made intelligible to everyone4      
,moreover1 it has gained thereby a power

  of attracting and convincing which it 
has not had hitherto2 and is  capable   
now of coming to terms in energetic and 
consistent fashion  with our so-called  
reality1 and of proving its full value  
within it4    ,,albert ,,schweitzer4    
,july1 #aibc4    ,the two instalments of
 my ,philosophy of ,civilization which  
are now  ready--,the ,decay and         
,restoration of pg xx ,civilization and 
,civilization and ,ethics--will be      
followed by two others4 ,in the next1   
which will be entitled ,the ,world-view 
of ,reverence for ,life1 ,i  elaborate  
this world-view1 which so far ,i have   
only sketched for a  conclusion to my   
discussion of the search for a          
world-view1 as carried  on down to the  
present day4 ,the fourth and last will  
treat of the  ,civilized ,state4        
99       99       99       99       99  
,the translator offers his thanks to    
,mrs4 ,c4 ,e4 ,b4 ,russell1 now helping 
at ,lambarene1 who kindly reviewed the  
whole work before it went to the        

printers4 ,many of her criticisms and   
suggestions were adopted1 and  have     
helped to secure a better translation4  
,,contents      ,i4 ,,the ,,crisis ,,in 
,,civilization ,,and ,,its ,,spiritual  
,,cause  ,i      ,the material and      
spiritual elements in civilization ,i   
,civilization and world-view #f    ,,ii4
 ,,the ,,problem ,,of ,,the ,,optimistic
 ,,world-,,view #aa       ,the ,western 
and the ,indian conceptions of          
civilization#aa     ,the struggle for   
the optimistic world-view #ab           
,optimism and pessimism #ad             
,optimism1 pessimism1 and ethics #ag    
,,iii4 ,,the ,,ethical ,,problem #ai    
,the difficulties of ethical perception 
#ai     ,the importance of thought about
 ethics #ba     ,the search for a basic 
principle of morality #bb     ,religious
 and philosophical ethics #bd    ,,iv4  
,,religious ,,and ,,philosophical       
,,world-,,views #bg       ,the          
world-views of the world-religions #bg  
,the world-views of the world religions 

and that of ,western     thought #bi    
,v4 ,,civilization ,,and ,,ethics ,,in  
,,the ,,gr,,co-,,roman ,,philosophy #cb 
,the beginnings3 ,socrates #cb          
,epicureanism and ,stoicism4 ,the ethic 
of resignation #ce     ,plato's abstract
 basic principle of the ethical4 ,the   
ethic     of world-negation #dj         
,aristotle4 ,instruction about virtue in
 place of ethics #db     ,the ideal of  
the civilised ,state in ,plato and      
,aristotle #dg     ,seneca1 ,epictetus1 
and ,marcus ,aurelius #eb     ,the      
optimistic-ethical world-view of the    
later ,stoicism #eg    ,,vi4            
,,optimistic ,,world-,,view ,,and       
,,ethics ,,in ,,the ,,renaissance ,,and 
,,post-,,renaissance ,,periods #fa      
,belief in progress and ethics #fa      
,christian and ,stoic elements in modern
 ethics #fd    ,,vii4 ,,laying ,,the    
,,foundation ,,of ,,ethics ,,in ,,the   
,,seventeenth ,,and  ,,eighteenth       
,,centuries #ga       ,hartley1         
,holbach4 ,devotion as enlightened      

egoism #ga     ,hobbes1 ,locke1         
,helvetius1 ,bentham #ge     ,altruism  
as a natural quality4 ,hume1 ,adam      
,smith #hj     ,the ,english ethic of   
self-perfecting #hd     ,shaftesbury1   
,an optimistic-ethical nature-philosophy
 #hg    ,,viii4 ,,laying ,,the          
,,foundations ,,of ,,civilization ,,in  
,,the ,,age ,,of  ,,rationalism #ij     
,the mentality and the achievements of  
the ethical belief     in progress #ij  
,obstacles to the reform movement4 ,the 
,french ,revolution #ii     ,the        
undermining of the rationalistic        
world-view #ajb    ,,ix4 ,,the          
,,optimistic-,,ethical ,,world-,,view   
,,in ,,kant #ajf       ,kant's ethics1  
deepened1 but lacking content #ajf      
,kant's attempt to reach an ethical     
world-view #aaj    ,x4                  
,,nature-,,philosophy ,,and             
,,world-,,view ,,in ,,spinoza ,,and     
,,leibniz #aaf       ,spinoza's attempt 
to reach an optimistic-ethical          
nature-philosophy #aaf     ,leibniz's   

optimistic-ethical world-view side by   
side with     nature-philosophy #abb    
,,xi4 ,j4 ,g4 ,,fichte',s               
,,optimistic-,,ethical ,,world-,,view   
#abe       ,speculative philosophy and  
,gnosticism #abe     ,fichte's          
speculative founding of an ethic and of 
optimism #abf     ,fichte's mysticism of
 activity incapable of being carried    
through #aca    ,,xii4 ,,schiller2      
,,goethe2 ,,schleiermacher #acf         
,schiller's ethical world-view3         
,goethe's world-view based on           
nature-philosophy #acf                  
,schleiermacher's attempt at a          
nature-philosophy #ach    ,,xiii4       
,,hegel',s ,,supra-,,ethical            
,,optimistic ,,world-,,view #ada        
,ethics in ,hegel's nature-philosophy1  
and in his philosophy of     history    
#ada     ,hegel's supra-ethical         
world-view4 ,his belief in progress #ade
    ,,xiv4 ,,the ,,later                
,,utilitarianism1 ,,biological ,,and    
,,sociological  ,,ethics #aej           

,beneke1 ,feuerbach1 ,laas1 ,auguste    
,comte1 ,john ,stuart ,mill #aej        
,darwin and ,spencer #aec     ,the weak 
points in biological and sociological   
utilitarianism #aef     ,sociological   
ethics and socialism4 ,mechanical belief
 in     progress #afj    ,,xv4          
,,schopenhauer ,,and ,,nietzsche #afe   
,schopenhauer4 ,an ethic of world- and  
life-denial #afe     ,absorption of     
ethics in world- and life-denial #aga   
,nietzsche's criticism of current ethics
 #agd     ,nietzsche's ethic of higher  
life-affirmation #agg    ,,xvi4 ,,the   
,,issue ,,of ,,the ,,western ,,struggle 
,,for ,a ,,world-,,view #aha            
,academic thinkers3 ,sidgwick1 ,stephen1
 ,alexander1 ,wundt1 ,paulsen1          
,hffding #aha     ,the ethic of         
self-perfecting1 ,kant's successors3    
,cohen1     ,herrmann #ahc     ,the     
ethic of self-perfecting3 ,martineau1   
,green1 ,bradley1 ,laurie1     ,seth1   
and ,royce #ahe     ,nature-philosophy  
and ethics4 ,fouille1 ,guyau1 ,lange1   

,stern #ahf     ,nature-philosophy and  
ethics in ,eduard von ,hartmann #aid    
,nature-philosophy and ethics in        
,bergson1 ,chamberlain1 ,keyserling1    
,haeckel #aih     ,the death-agony of   
the optimistic-ethical world-view #bjb  
,,xvii4 ,,the ,,new ,,way #bje          
,why the optimistic-ethical world-view  
cannot be carried through to     the    
logical conclusion #bje     ,life-view  
independent of world-view #bjh          
,,xviii4 ,,the ,,foundations ,,of       
,,optimism ,,secured ,,from ,,the       
,,will-,,to-,,live #bab       ,the      
pessimistic result of knowledge #bab    
,the world- and life-affirmation of the 
will-to-live #baf    ,,xix4 ,,the       
,,problem ,,of ,,ethics1 ,,starting     
,,from ,,the ,,history ,,of ,,ethics    
#bba       ,an ethic of self-devotion1  
or an ethic of self-perfecting8 #bba    
,ethics and a theory of knowledge4      
,ethics and natural happenings4     ,the
 enthusiastic element in ethics #bbd    
,the ethic of ethical personality1 and  

the ethic of society #bbh     ,the      
problem of a complete ethic #bcj        
,,xx4 ,,the ,,ethic ,,of ,,devotion     
,,and ,,the ,,ethic ,,of                
,,self-,,perfecting #bcb       ,the     
widening of the ethic of self-devotion  
into a cosmic     ethic #bcb     ,the   
ethic of self-perfecting and mysticism  
#bce     ,abstract mysticism and the    
mysticism of reality4 ,supra-ethical and
     ethical mysticism #bda    ,,xxi4   
,,the ,,ethic ,,of ,,reverence ,,for    
,,life #bdd       ,the basic principle  
of the moral #bdd     ,the ethic of     
resignation4 ,an ethic of veracity      
towards oneself1     and an activist    
ethic #bea     ,ethics and              
thoughtlessness4 ,ethics and            
self-assertion #bec     ,man and other  
living creatures #bef     ,the ethic of 
the relation of man to man #beh         
,personal and supra-personal            
responsibility4 ,ethics and     humanity
 #bfb    ,,xxii4 ,the ,,civilizing      
,,power ,,of ,,the ,,ethic ,,of         

,,reverence ,,for ,,life #bfi           
,civilization as a product of reverence 
for life #bfi     ,the four ideals of   
civilization4 ,the struggle for a       
civilized     mankind in the machine age
 #bga     ,church and ,state as         
historical entities1 and as ideals of   
civilization #bgh     ,the moralizing of
 the religious and political community  
#bhj    ,,footnotes  ,,index #bhg       
,,civilization ,,and ,,ethics           
,,chapter ,i    ,,the ,,crisis ,,in     
,,civilization ,,and ,,its ,,spiritual  
,,cause      ,the material and spiritual
 elements in civilization    ,,our      
civilization is going through a severe  
crisis4    ,most people think that the  
crisis was produced by the war1 but that
 is  wrong4 ,the war1 with everything   
connected with it1 is only a  phenomenon
 of the condition of un-civilization in 
which we find  ourselves4 ,even in      
,states which took no part in the war1  
and on which  the war had no direct     
influence1 civilization is shaken1 only 

the fact  is not so clearly evident in  
them as in those which were hard hit by 
the consequences of its peculiarly cruel
 spiritual and material  happenings4    
,yet is there any real1 live thought    
going on among us about this  collapse  
of civilization1 and about possible ways
 of working ourselves  up out of it8    
,scarcely6 ,clever men stumble about in 
seven-league boots  in the history of   
civilization and try to make us         
understand that  civilization is some   
kind of natural growth which blossoms   
out in  definite peoples at definite    
times and then of necessity withers1 so 
that new peoples with new civilizations 
must keep replacing the  worn-out ones4 
,when they are called upon1 indeed1 to  
complete their  theory by telling us    
what peoples are destined to be our     
heirs1 they  are somewhat embarrassed4  
,there are1 in fact1 no peoples to be   
seen  whom one could imagine to be      
capable of even a portion of such a     
task4  ,all the peoples of the earth    

have been in large measure under the    
influence both of our civilization pg   
#jjb and of our lack of it1 so  that    
they share more or less our fate4 ,among
 none of them are to be  found thoughts 
which can lead to any considerable      
original movement of  civilization4     
,let us put on one side cleverness and  
interesting surveys of the  history of  
civilization1 and busy ourselves in a   
practical way with  the problem of our  
endangered civilization4 ,of what       
character is this  degeneration in our  
civilization1 and why has it come about8
    ,to begin with1 there is one        
elementary fact which is quite obvious4 
,the disastrous feature of our          
civilization is that it is far more     
developed materially than spiritually4  
,its balance is disturbed4  ,through the
 discoveries which now place the forces 
of ,nature at our  disposal in such an  
unprecedented way1 the relations to each
 other of  individuals1 of social       
groups1 and of ,states have undergone a 

revolutionary change4 ,our knowledge and
 our power have been enriched  and      
increased to an extent that no one would
 have thought possible4 ,we  have       
thereby been enabled to make the        
conditions of human existence           
incomparably more favourable in numerous
 respects1 but in our  enthusiasm over  
our progress in knowledge and power1 we 
have come to a  defective conception of 
what civilization is4 ,we value too     
highly its  material achievements and no
 longer keep in mind as vividly as is   
desirable the importance of the         
spiritual4 ,now the results are upon    
us1 and summon us to reflect4 ,they tell
 us in terribly harsh language  that a  
civilization which develops only on its 
material side but not  in corresponding 
measure on its spiritual side1 is like a
 ship which  with defective steering    
gear gets at a constantly accelerating  
pace  out of control1 and thereby heads 
for a catastrophe4    ,the essential    
nature of civilization does not lie in  

its material  achievements1 but in the  
fact that individuals keep in mind the  
ideals  of the perfecting of man1 and   
the improvement of the social and       
political conditions of peoples1 and of 
mankind as a whole1 and that  their     
habit pg #jjc of thought is determined  
in living and constant  fashion by such 
ideals4 ,only when individuals work in  
this way as  spiritual forces on        
themselves and on society is the        
possibility given  of solving the       
problems which have been produced by the
 facts of life1  and of attaining to a  
general progress which is valuable in   
every  respect4 ,whether there is rather
 more or rather less of material        
achievement to record is not what is    
decisive for civilization4 ,its  fate   
depends on whether or no thought keeps  
control over facts4 ,the  issue of a    
voyage does not depend on whether the   
vessel's pace is  somewhat quicker or   
somewhat slower1 but on whether it      
steers a  correct course1 and its       

steering gear keeps in good condition4  
,revolutions in the relations of life   
between individuals1 society1 and       
peoples1 as they follow in the train of 
our great material  achievements1 make1 
if they are to show real progress in the
 sense of  valuable civilization1 higher
 demands on the habit of thought of     
civilized people1 just as the increased 
speed of a ship presupposes  greater    
reliability in rudder and steering gear4
 ,advances in knowledge  and power work 
out their effects on us almost as if    
they were natural  occurrences4 ,it is  
not within our power so to direct them  
that they  influence favourably in every
 respect the relations in which we live1
  but they produce for individuals1 for 
society1 and for nations1  difficult and
 still more difficult problems1 and     
bring with them  dangers which it is    
quite impossible to estimate beforehand4
  ,paradoxical as it may seem1 our      
advances in knowledge and power make    
true civilization not easier but more   

difficult4 ,one can even say  that1     
judging by the events of our own and the
 two preceding  generations1 we are     
almost entitled to doubt whether in view
 of the  way in which these material    
achievements have been showered upon us1
  true civilization is still possible4  
,the most widespread danger which       
material achievements bring with them   
for civilization consists in the fact   
that through the revolutions in  the    
conditions of life men pg #jjd become in
 greater numbers unfree1  instead of    
free4 ,the type of man who once         
cultivated his own bit of  land becomes 
a worker who tends a machine in a       
factory2 manual workers  and independent
 trades-people become employees4 ,they  
lose the  elementary freedom of the man 
who lives in his own house and finds    
himself in immediate connexion with     
,mother ,earth4 ,further1 they no       
longer have the extensive and unbroken  
consciousness of responsibility  of     
those who live by their own independent 

labour4 ,the conditions of  their       
existence are therefore unnatural4 ,they
 no longer carry on the  struggle for   
existence in comparatively normal       
relations in which each  one can by his 
own ability make good his position      
whether against  ,nature or against the 
competition of his fellows1 but they see
  themselves compelled to combine       
together and create a force which can   
extort for itself better living         
conditions4 ,they acquire thereby the   
mentality of unfree men1 in which ideals
 of civilization can no longer  be      
contemplated in the needful purity1 but 
become distorted to  correspond with the
 surrounding atmosphere of struggle4    
,to a certain extent we have all of us1 
under modern conditions1 become  unfree 
men4 ,in every rank of life we have from
 decade to decade1 if  not from year to 
year1 to carry on a harder struggle for 
existence4  ,overwork1 physical or      
mental or both1 is our lot4 ,we can no  
longer  find time to collect and order  

our thoughts4 ,our spiritual dependence 
increases at the same pace as our       
material dependence4 ,in every          
direction we come to conditions of      
dependence which in former times  were  
never known in such universality and    
such strength4 ,economic1  social1 and  
political organizations1 which are      
steadily becoming more  and more        
complete1 are getting us more and more  
into their power4 ,the  ,state with its 
more and more rigid organization holds  
us under a  control which is growing    
more and more decided and inclusive4 ,in
 every  respect1 therefore1 our         
individual being is depreciated4 ,it is 
becoming more and more difficult to be a
 personality4    pg #jje    ,thus it is 
that the progress of our external       
civilization brings with  it the result 
that individuals1 in spite of all the   
advantages they  get1 are in many       
respects injured both materially and    
spiritually in  their capacity for      
civilization through those very         

advantages4    ,it is our progress in   
material civilization1 too1 which       
intensifies in  so disastrous a way our 
social and political problems4 ,through 
the  social ones we are involved in a   
class struggle which shakes and  throws 
into confusion economic and national    
relations4 ,if we go down  to           
rock-bottom1 it was machinery and world 
commerce which brought  about the world 
war1 and the inventions which put into  
our hands such  mighty power of         
destruction made the war of such a      
devastating  character that conquered   
and conquerors alike are ruined for a   
period  of which no one can see the end4
 ,it was also our technical             
achievements which put us in a position 
to kill at such a distance1  and to wipe
 out the enemy in such masses1 that we  
sank so low as to  push aside any last  
impulse to humanity1 and were mere blind
 wills  which made use of perfected     
lethal weapons of such destructive      
capacity that we were unable to maintain

 the distinction between  combatants and
 non-combatants4    ,material           
achievements1 then1 are not             
civilisation1 but become  civilization  
only so far as the mental habit of      
civilized peoples is  capable of        
allowing them to work towards the       
perfecting of the  individual and the   
community4 ,fooled1 however1 by our     
advances in  knowledge and power1 we did
 not reflect on the danger to which we  
were  exposing ourselves by the         
diminished value we put on the spiritual
  elements in civilization1 and we      
surrendered completely to a nave        
satisfaction at our magnificent material
 achievements1 and went astray  into an 
incredibly superficial conception of    
civilization4 ,we believed  in a        
progress which was a matter of course1  
because contained in the  facts         
themselves4 ,instead of harbouring in   
our thought ideals approved  by reason1 
and undertaking to mould reality into   
accordance with them1  we were fooled pg

 #jjf by a vain feeling for reality1 and
 wanted to  come through with lowered   
ideals which were borrowed from it4 ,by 
taking this course we lost all control  
over the facts4    ,accordingly1 just   
when the spiritual element in culture   
was necessary  in extraordinary         
strength1 we let it waste away4         
,civilization and ,world-,view    ,how  
could it come about that the spiritual  
element in civilization  became so lost 
to us8    ,to understand that1 we must  
go back to the time when it was at work 
among us in a direct and living way1 and
 the path thereto leads us  back into   
the eighteenth century4 ,among the      
,rationalists who approach  everything  
through reason1 and would regulate      
everything in life by  rational         
considerations1 we find expression given
 in elemental  strength to the          
conviction that the essential element in
 civilization  is a habit of thought4   
,it is true that they are already       
impressed by  modern achievements in    

discovery and invention1 and do allow to
 the  material side of civilization a   
corresponding importance4 ,but they     
nevertheless regard it as self-evident  
that the essential and valuable  element
 in civilization is the spiritual4 ,that
 interest is focused  first of all on   
the spiritual progress of men and       
humanity1 and in  that they believe with
 a mighty optimism4    ,the greatness of
 these men of the period of the         
8,aufklrung0 lies in  this1 that they   
set up as ideals the perfecting of the  
individual1 of  society1 and of mankind1
 and devote themselves to these ideals  
with  enthusiasm4 ,the force on which   
they count for the realizing of them is 
the general habit of thought2 they      
demand of the human spirit that it      
shall transform men and the relations in
 which they live1 and they  trust to it 
to prove itself stronger than the facts 
of life4    ,but whence came the impulse
 to set up such high ideals of          
civilization1 and their confidence of   

being able to realise pg #jjg  them8 ,it
 was from their view of the world       
7,weltanschauung74    ,the ,rationalist 
world-view is optimistic and ethical1   
its optimism  consisting in this1 that  
it assumes as ruling in the world a     
general  purposive adaptation which is  
directed to the perfecting of the world1
  and from this purposiveness the       
efforts of individual men and of        
mankind to secure material and spiritual
 progress derive meaning and  importance
 and a guarantee of success4    ,this   
world-view is ethical because it regards
 the ethical as something  in accordance
 with reason1 and on that ground demands
 from man that1  putting egoistic       
interests behind him1 he shall devote   
himself to all  ideals that are waiting 
for realization1 taking the ethical as  
in  everything the standard by which to 
judge4 ,a habit of humane thought  is   
for the ,rationalists an ideal which    
they can be induced by no  consideration
 to resign4    ,when at the close of the

 eighteenth century and the beginning of
 the  nineteenth the reaction against   
rationalism set in and criticism began  
to play upon it1 its optimism was       
reproached as being superficial and  its
 ethics as being sentimental4 ,but the  
good it did1 in spite of its  manifold  
imperfections1 by inspiring men with    
ideals of civilization  grounded in     
reason1 the spiritual movements which   
criticise it and  take its place cannot 
develop in the same way4 ,the energy of 
thought  about civilization decreases   
imperceptibly but steadily4 ,in         
proportion  as the world-view of        
rationalism is left behind1 the feeling 
for  actuality makes its influence felt1
 until at last1 from the middle of  the 
nineteenth century onwards1 ideals are  
borrowed no longer from  reason but from
 actuality1 and we therewith sink still 
further into a  state of uncivilization 
and lack of humanity4 ,this is the      
clearest and  the most important of all 
the facts which can be established in   

the  history of our civilization4       
,what has it to tell us8 ,it tells us   
that there is a close connexion  between
 civilization and world-view4           
,civilization is the product of an      
optimistic-ethical view of the world4 pg
 #jjh ,only in proportion as  the       
prevalent world-view is one which is    
world- and life-affirming and  at the   
same time ethical1 do we find ideals of 
civilization put  forward and kept      
influential in the habits of thought of 
individuals1  and of society4    ,that  
this inner relation between civilization
 and the world-view of  civilized       
peoples has never received the attention
 that it deserves1  is the result of    
there having been among us so little    
real meditation  on the essential nature
 of civilization4    ,what is           
civilization8 ,it is the sum total of   
all progress made by men  and mankind in
 every sphere of action and from every  
point of view1 so  far as this progress 
helps towards the spiritual perfecting  

of  individuals as the progress of all  
progress4    ,the impulse to strive for 
progress in all spheres of action and   
from  every point of view comes to men  
out of an optimistic world-view which   
affirms the world and life to be        
something valuable in themselves1 and   
consequently bears within itself a      
compulsion to raise to its highest      
possible value all that is1 so far as it
 can be influenced by us4  ,hence come  
will and hope1 and effort directed to   
the improvement of  the condition of    
individuals and of society1 of peoples  
and of  mankind4 ,this leads to a       
lordship of the spirit over the powers  
of  ,nature1 to the completion of the   
religious1 social1 economic1 and        
practical grouping of men1 and to the   
spiritual perfecting of  individuals and
 of the community4    ,just as the      
world- and life-affirming1 that is1 the 
optimistic  world-view is alone capable 
of stirring men to effort aimed at      
promoting civilization1 so in an ethical

 world-view alone is there  latent the  
power to make men1 when putting aside   
and giving up  altogether their selfish 
interests1 persevere in such effort for 
civilization1 and keep them always      
turned in the direction of the          
spiritual and moral perfecting of the   
individual as the essential  object of  
civilization4 ,bound the one to the     
other1 then1 world- and  pg #jji        
life-affirming world-view and ethics    
think out in harmony the  ideals of     
true1 complete civilization and set to  
work at realizing  them4    ,if         
civilization remains incomplete or its  
level falls1 this rests in  the last    
resort on the fact that either the      
world- and  life-affirmation of the     
world-view1 or its ethics1 or both of   
them  have remained undeveloped or have 
gone backwards4 ,and that is the case   
with us4 ,it is evident that the ethics 
required for civilization have  gone out
 of use4    ,for decades we have been   
accustoming ourselves increasingly to   

measure  with relative ethical          
standards1 and no longer to allow ethics
 to have  their say in all questions    
alike4 ,this renunciation of consistent 
ethical judgment we feel as an advance  
in practicality4    ,but our world- and 
life-affirmation also have become shaky4
 ,the modern  man no longer feels under 
any compulsion to think about ideals of 
progress and to will them4 ,to a large  
extent he has come to terms with        
actuality4 ,he is much more resigned    
than he admits to himself1 and in  one  
respect he is even outspokenly          
pessimistic4 ,he does not really        
believe any more in the spiritual and   
ethical progress of men and of  mankind1
 which is nevertheless the essential    
element in civilization4    ,this       
stunting of our world- and              
life-affirmation and of our ethics has  
its cause in the constitution of our    
world-view4 ,in regard to this we  have 
since the middle of the nineteenth      
century been going through a  crisis4   

,it is no longer possible for us to     
arrive at a conception of  the universe 
in which the meaning of the existence of
 men and of  mankind can be recognized1 
and in which1 therefore1 there are also 
contained the ideals which flow from    
thoughtful world- and  life-affirmation 
and from ethical volition4 ,we are      
falling more and  more into a condition 
of having no world-view at all1 and from
 our  lack of that comes our lack of    
civilization4    ,the great question for
 us is1 therefore1 whether we have to   
renounce  permanently the world-view    
which carries within it in all their    
strength the ideals of the perfecting of
 men and of mankind1 and of  ethical    
effort4 ,if we succeed pg #jaj in       
establishing again a  world-view in     
which world- and life-affirmation is    
given in convincing  fashion1 we shall  
become masters of the decay of          
civilization which is  in progress1 and 
shall reach again a true and living     
civilization4  ,otherwise we are        

condemned to see the wreck of all       
attempts to arrest  the degeneration4   
,only when the truth that renewal of    
civilization can  only come by a renewal
 of our world-view becomes a universal  
conviction1 and a new longing for a     
world-view sets in1 shall we find       
ourselves on the right path4 ,but this  
is not yet in prospect4 ,the  modern man
 is still without any correct feeling of
 the full  significance of the fact that
 he is living with an unsatisfactory    
world-view1 or without any at all4 ,the 
unnatural and dangerous  character of   
this condition must first be brought    
home to his  consciousness1 just as     
those persons who exhibit disturbances  
of the  stability of their nervous      
system have to be clearly told that     
their  vitality is threatened1 although 
they feel no pain4 ,similarly1 we have  
to stir up the men of to-day to         
elementary meditation upon what man is  
in the world1 and what he wants to make 
of his life4 ,only when they  are       

impressed once more with the necessity  
of giving meaning and value  to their   
existence1 and thus come once more to   
hunger and thirst for a  satisfying     
world-view1 are the preliminaries given 
for a spiritual  condition in which we  
become again capable of civilization4   
,but in order to learn the way to such a
 world-view we must see clearly  why the
 struggle undertaken by the ,european   
spirit to secure it was  for a time     
successful1 but during the second half  
of the nineteenth  century came to an   
unfortunate end4    ,because our        
thinking is too little occupied with    
civilization it has  been insufficiently
 noticed that the most important part of
 the  history of philosophy is the      
history of man's struggle for a         
satisfactory world-view4 ,regarded in   
this light1 the history unrolls  itself 
like a tragic drama4          pg #jaa   
,,chapter ,,ii    ,,the ,,problem ,,of  
,,the ,,optimistic ,,world-,,view       
,the ,western and the ,indian           

conceptions of civilization    ,,for us 
,westerners civilization consists in    
this1 that we work for the  perfecting  
of ourselves and of the world at the    
same time4    ,but do the activities    
that are directed outwards and inwards  
necessarily belong together8 ,cannot the
 spiritual and moral perfecting  of the 
individual1 which is the ultimate aim of
 civilization1 also be  secured if he   
works for himself only and leaves the   
world and its  circumstances to         
themselves8 ,who gives us any guarantee 
that the  course of the world can be    
influenced so as to promote the special 
aim  of civilization1 viz41 the         
perfecting of the individual8 ,who tells
 us  that it has any meaning at all     
which can be further developed8 ,is not 
any action of mine which is directed on 
the world a diversion of what  could be 
directed on myself1 though everything   
depends finally upon  the latter8       
,moved by these doubts the pessimism of 
the ,hindus and that of  ,schopenhauer  

refuse to allow any importance to the   
material and social  achievements1 which
 form the outward and visible part of   
civilization4  ,about society1 nation1  
mankind1 the individual is not to       
trouble  himself2 he is only to strive  
to experience in himself the sovereignty
  of spirit over matter4    ,this1 too1 
is civilization1 in that it pursues the 
final object of the  latter1 viz41 the  
spiritual and ethical perfecting of the 
individual4  ,if we ,westerners         
pronounce it incomplete1 we must not do 
so too  confidently4 ,do the outward    
progress of mankind and the inner       
completion of the individual really     
belong together as we imagine them  to8 
,are we not1 under an illusion1 forcing 
together things which are  pg #jab      
different in kind8 ,has the spirit in   
one kind of action  actually some gain  
for the other8    ,what we set up as our
 ideal we have not realized4 ,we lost   
ourselves in  outward progress1 allowing
 the moralization and inward deepening  

of  the individual to come to a stop4   
,so we have not been able to produce    
practical proof of the correctness of   
our view of what civilization  is4 ,we  
cannot1 therefore1 simply put aside that
 other narrower  conception1 but must   
come to terms with it4    ,there will   
come a time--it is already being        
prepared for--when  pessimistic and     
optimistic thought1 which have hitherto 
talked past  each other almost as       
strangers1 will have to meet for        
practical  discussion4 ,world-philosophy
 is just dawning4 ,it will shape itself 
in  a struggle as to whether its        
world-view shall be optimistic or       
pessimistic4    ,the struggle for the   
optimistic world-view    ,the history of
 ,western philosophy is the history of  
the struggle for  an optimistic         
world-view4 ,if in antiquity and in     
modern times the  peoples of ,europe    
have managed to produce a civilization1 
it is  because in their thought the     
optimistic world-view was dominant1 and 

held the pessimistic permanently in     
subjection1 although it was not  able to
 suppress it altogether4    ,the        
accessions of knowledge which have come 
in the course of our  philosophy have   
been nothing in themselves3 they always 
stand in the  service of one world-view 
or the other1 and attain only in it to  
their  real significance4    ,but the   
characteristic thing about the way in   
which the settlement is  made on each   
occasion1 is that it never is made      
openly4 ,the two  world-views are never 
brought face to face and the case of    
each heard4  ,that the optimistic alone 
is in the right is a conviction which is
  accepted as more or less self-evident4
 ,the only thing felt as a  problem is  
how to marshal all possible knowledge in
 the triumphal  procession of proof to  
defeat the other1 and to knock on the   
head  anything that may still wish to   
rise in its defence4    pg #jac         
,since the pessimistic world-view has   
never made its presence properly  felt1 

,western thought manifests a lofty      
unwillingness to understand  it1 though 
it has a splendid faculty for detecting 
it4 ,where it finds1  as in ,spinoza1   
too little interest for activity        
directed upon the  world1 it reacts     
immediately with rejection of it4 ,yet  
all objectively  thinking investigation 
of the reality of nature is disliked by 
it  because it may lead to the central  
position of the human spirit in the     
world being insufficiently emphasised4  
,it is because materialism seems  likely
 to be the last ally of pessimism that  
it carries on so  embittered a struggle 
against it4    ,in the discussion of the
 problem of the theory of knowledge from
  ,descartes to ,kant and beyond him it 
is really the cause of the  optimistic  
world-view which is being maintained4   
,that is why the  theoretical           
possibility of a depreciation or a      
denial of the world of  sense is        
attacked with such obstinacy4 ,by       
proving the ideality of  space and time 

,kant hopes to make finally secure the  
optimistic  world-view of rationalism   
with all its ideals and demands4 ,only  
so can  it be explained that the most   
acute examinations of the theory of     
knowledge are carried through with the  
most nave conclusions about  world-view4
 ,the great post-,kantian systems of    
thought1 however much  they differ from 
one another in their subject-matter and 
the process  of the speculation with    
which they deal with it1 are all united 
in  this1 that they crown the optimistic
 world-view in their cloud-castles  as  
the ruler of the universe4    ,to fit in
 the aims of mankind with those of the  
universe in a  logically convincing     
fashion1 that is the endeavour in which 
,european  philosophy serves the        
optimistic world-view4 ,anyone who does 
not help1  or who is indifferent about  
it1 is an enemy4    ,in its prejudice   
against scientific materialism          
philosophy was right4  ,materialism has 
done much more to shake the position of 

the optimistic  world-view than         
,schopenhauer has1 although it never    
proceeded against  it with outspoken    
hostility4 ,when1 after the collapse of 
the great  systems1 pg #jad it was      
allowed to seat itself at table with    
philosophy1 which had now become more   
modest1 it even exerted itself  to find 
out in what sort of tone the latter     
would like the  conversation to be      
carried on4 ,in dealing with ,darwin and
 others1  philosophizing natural science
 made touchingly nave attempts so to    
extend and stretch out the history of   
zoological development which led  up to 
man1 that mankind and with it the       
spiritual should appear again  as the   
goal of the world-process1 as in the    
speculative systems4 ,but  in spite of  
these well-meant efforts of the         
proletarian guest the  conversation     
could no longer be carried on in the old
 spirit4 ,of what  use was it for him to
 try to be better than his reputation8  
,he brought  with him more respect for  

nature and facts than was consistent    
with  the convincing establishment of   
the optimistic world-view4 ,he          
therefore shook it1 even when he did not
 intend to4    ,to such a disregard of  
nature and science as was shown by the  
earlier  philosophy we can never return4
 ,nor can we expect the return of a     
system of thought which makes it        
possible to discover in any  convincing 
way in the universe the aims and objects
 of mankind1 as was  allowed by the old 
methods4 ,the optimistic world-view     
ceases1  therefore1 to be self-evident  
to us1 or to be demonstrable by the arts
  of philosophy4 ,it must give up the   
idea of finding for itself a solid      
foundation4    ,optimism and ,pessimism 
,confusion is caused by the fact that   
the optimistic and pessimistic          
world-views seldom come forward in their
 purity in the history of  human        
thought4 ,their relations are usually   
such that the one is  predominant1 while
 the other treats with it without being 

officially  recognized4 ,in ,india a    
tolerated world- and life-affirmation   
maintains  for pessimism something of   
interest in the external civilization   
which  it nominally denies4 ,with us    
pessimism slips in and gnaws at the     
civilizing energies of the optimistic   
view1 the result being that  belief in  
the spiritual progress of pg #jae       
mankind has left us4 ,from  it1 too1    
comes the fact that we everywhere       
conduct the business of  life with      
lowered ideals4    ,pessimism is a      
lowered will-to-live1 and is to be found
 wherever man  and society are no longer
 under the pressure of all those ideals 
of  progress which must be thought out  
by a will-to-live that is  consistent   
with itself1 but have sunk to the level 
of letting  actuality be1 over wide     
stretches of life1 nothing but          
actuality4    ,it is where pessimism is 
at work in this anonymous fashion1 that 
it is  most dangerous to civilization4  
,it attacks then the most valuable      

ideas belonging to life-affirmation1    
leaving the less valuable ones          
untouched4 ,like some concealed source  
of magnetic power it disturbs  the      
world-view's compass1 so that it takes1 
without suspecting it1 a  wrong course4 
,thus the unavowed mixture of optimism  
and pessimism in  our thought has the   
result that we continue to approve the  
external  blessings given us by         
civilization1 things which to thinking  
pessimism  are a matter of indifference1
 while we abandon that which alone it   
holds to be valuable1 the pursuit of    
inner perfection4 ,the desire for       
progress which is directed to objects of
 sense1 goes on functioning  because it 
is nourished by actuality1 while that   
which reaches after  the spiritual      
becomes exhausted1 because it is thrown 
back upon the  inner stimulus which     
comes from the thinking will-to-live4   
,as the tide  ebbs1 objects which reach 
deep down are left stranded1 while what 
is  just on the surface remains afloat4 

,our degeneration1 then1 traced back to 
our world-view and what  resulted from  
it1 consists in true optimism having1   
without our  noticing it1 disappeared   
from among us4 ,we are by no means a    
race  weakened and decadent through     
excessive enjoyment of life1 and needing
  to pull ourselves together to show    
vigour and idealism amid the            
thunderstorms of history4 ,although we  
have retained our vigour in most        
departments of the direct activities of 
life1 we are spiritually  stunted4 ,our 
conception of life with all that depends
 on it has been  lowered both for       
individuals and for the community4 ,the 
higher forces  of volition and pg #jaf  
influence are impotent in us1 because   
the  optimism from which they ought to  
draw their strength has become          
imperceptibly permeated with pessimism4 
,a characteristic feature of the        
presence at the same time of optimism   
and pessimism as lodgers in             
8,thoughtless ,house0 is that each goes 

about in the other's clothes1 so that   
what is really pessimism gives  itself  
out among us as being optimism1 and vice
 vers4 ,what passes  for optimism with  
the mass of people is the natural or    
acquired  faculty of seeing things in   
the best possible light4 ,this          
illumination  of them is the result of a
 lowered conception of what ought to be 
now  and in the future4 ,a person ill   
with consumption is brought by the      
poison of the disease into the condition
 which is called ,euphoria1 so  that he 
experiences an imaginary feeling of     
health and strength4  ,similarly there  
is an external optimism present in      
individuals and in  society just in     
proportion as they are1 without         
realizing it1 infected  with pessimism4 
,true optimism has nothing to do with   
any sort of lenient judgement4 ,it      
consists in contemplating and willing   
the ideal in the light of a deep  and   
self-consistent affirmation of life and 
the world4 ,because the  spirit which is

 so directed proceeds with clear vision 
and impartial  judgement in the valuing 
of all that is given1 it wears to       
ordinary  people the appearance of      
pessimism4 ,that it wishes to pull down 
the  old temples in order to build them 
again more magnificently is by the      
vulgar optimism put down to its         
discredit as sacrilege4    ,the reason1 
then1 why the only legitimate optimism1 
that of volition  inspired by           
imagination1 has to carry on such a hard
 struggle with  pessimism is that it    
always has first to track the latter    
down in  vulgar optimism and unmask it4 
,that is a task which optimism has never
  finished1 for so long as it allows the
 enemy to emerge in any shape  there is 
danger for civilization4 ,when that     
happens1 activity in  promoting the     
special aims of civilization always     
diminishes1 even if  satisfaction with  
its material achievements remains as    
strong as  before4    pg #jag           
,optimism and pessimism1 therefore1 do  

not consist in counting with  more or   
less confidence on such or such a future
 for the existing  state of things1 but 
in what the will desires to have as the 
future4  ,they are qualities not of the 
judgement1 but of the will4 ,the fact   
that up to now that inadmissible        
definition of these qualities was       
current side by side with the correct   
one1 so that there were four  items to  
deal with instead of two1 made the game 
easier for the  unthinking by deceiving 
us about what true optimism is4         
,pessimism of  the will they passed off 
as optimism of the judgement1 and       
optimism of  the will they put aside as 
pessimism of the judgement4 ,these false
  cards must be taken from them1 so that
 they may not continue to  deceive the  
world in such a fashion4    ,optimism1  
,pessimism1 and ,ethics    ,in what     
relation do optimism and pessimism stand
 to ethics8    ,that close and peculiar 
relations do exist between them is clear
 from  the fact that in the thought of  

mankind the two struggles1 that for     
optimistic or pessimistic world-view and
 that about ethics1 are  usually        
involved in each other4 ,it is the      
general belief that when one  is being  
fought out the other is being fought as 
well4    ,this mutual connexion is very 
convenient for thought4 ,when a         
foundation for ethics is being laid1    
optimistic or pessimistic  arguments are
 unawares pressed into the service1 and 
vice vers  ethical arguments when       
optimism or pessimism have to be        
established4  ,in this process ,western 
thought lays most stress on justifying a
  life-affirming ethical system1 that is
 an activist one1 and thinks  that      
merely by doing so it has proved the    
case for optimism in its  world-view4   
,with ,indian thought the most important
 thing is finding a  logical foundation 
for pessimism1 and the justifying of a  
life-denying  ethical system1 i4e4 a    
passivist one1 is rather a derivative   
from  that4    ,the confusion which     

resulted from the two struggles for pg  
#jah  optimism and pessimism and for    
ethics not being kept distinct1 has     
contributed almost more than anything   
else to prevent the thought of  mankind 
from attaining to clarity4    ,it was an
 easy mistake to make4 ,the question    
whether it is to be  affirmation or     
denial of life and the world1 crops up  
in ethics in the  same way as in the    
dispute between optimism and pessimism4 
,things  which by their nature belong   
together feel themselves drawn together1
  so that optimism naturally thinks it  
can support itself on an  affirmative   
ethical system1 and pessimism thinks the
 same about a  negative one4            
,nevertheless1 the result has hitherto  
always been that  neither of these two  
closely-related entities could stand    
firm1  because neither of them chose to 
depend on itself alone4          pg #jai
    ,,chapter ,,iii    ,,the ,,ethical  
,,problem      ,the difficulties of     
ethical perception    ,,how came mankind

 to think about morality and to make    
progress in that  sphere of thought8    
,it is a picture of confusion that      
unrolls itself before the eyes of       
anyone who undertakes a journey through 
the history of man's search  for the    
ethical4 ,the progress made in that     
sphere of thought is  inexplicably slow 
and uncertain4 ,that the scientific view
 of the world  could be delayed in its  
rise and development is to a certain    
extent  intelligible1 for its advance   
depended more or less on the chance of  
there existing gifted observers1 whose  
discoveries in the realm of the  exact  
sciences and the knowledge of nature was
 needed first1 to  provide new horizons 
and to point out new paths for thought4 
,but in ethics thought is thrown back   
entirely on itself3 it has to do  only  
with man himself and his                
self-development1 which goes on by a    
process of causation from within4 ,why1 
then1 does it not make better  progress8
 ,just because man himself is the       

material which has to be  investigated  
and moulded4    ,ethics and sthetics are
 the step-children of philosophy4 ,they 
both  deal with a subject which is coy  
about submitting itself to reflexion1   
for they both treat of spheres in which 
man exercises his purely  creative      
activities4 ,in science man observes and
 describes the course  of nature1 and   
tries to penetrate its mysteries4 ,in   
practical matters  he uses and moulds it
 by applying what he has grasped of it  
outside  his own person4 ,but in his    
moral and artistic activities he uses   
knowledge and obeys impulses1 pg #jbj   
perceptions1 and laws which  originate  
in himself4 ,to establish these firmly  
and to create ideals  from them is an   
undertaking which can be successful to a
 certain  extent only4 ,thought lags    
behind the material on which it         
exercises  itself4    ,this is evident  
from the fact that the examples with    
which ethics and  sthetics try to work  
upon reality are usually not quite      

consistent  and are often foolish4 ,and 
how far from simple is whatever is laid 
down in either this or that6 ,how the   
assertions made contradict each  other6 
,the guidance that an artist can get for
 his activities from the  best works on 
sthetics is but small4 ,similarly1 a    
business man who  seeks in a work on    
ethics advice as to how1 in any given   
case1 he is  to bring the demands of his
 business into harmony with those of    
ethics1 can seldom find any satisfactory
 information4    ,the inadequacy in this
 respect of sthetics is not of great    
importance  for the spiritual life of   
mankind4 ,artistic activity is always   
the  peculiar affair of individuals     
whose natural gifts develop more by the 
actual production of works of art than  
by consideration of the  conclusions    
arrived at by sthetic theorizing4       
,with ethics1 however1 it is a matter of
 the creative activity of the  mass of  
men1 an activity which is largely       
determined by the principles  which are 

current in the general thought of the   
time4 ,the absence of  that progress    
which is still possible in ethics is    
something tragic4    ,ethics and        
sthetics are not sciences4 ,science1 as 
the description of  objective facts1 the
 establishment of their connexion with  
one  another1 and the drawing of        
inferences from them1 is only possible  
when there is a succession of similar   
facts to be dealt with1 or a  single    
fact in a succession of phenomena1 when1
 that is1 there is a  subject matter    
which can be reduced to order under a   
recognized law4  ,but there is no       
science of human willing and doing1 and 
there never  can be4 ,here there are    
only subjective and infinitely various  
facts to  be studied1 and their mutual  
connexion lies within the mysterious    
human ego4    ,it is only the history of
 ethics that is scientific1 and that pg 
#jba  only so far as a history of man's 
spiritual life is scientifically        
possible4    ,the importance of thought 

about ethics    ,there is1 therefore1 no
 such thing as a scientific system of   
ethics2  there can only be a thinking   
one4 ,philosophy must give up the       
illusion  which it has cherished even   
down to the present day4 ,as to what is 
good and what is bad1 and about the     
considerations in which we find         
strength to do the one and avoid the    
other1 no one can speak to his          
neighbour as an expert4 ,all that one   
can do is to impart to him so  much as  
one finds in oneself of that which ought
 to influence  everybody1 though better 
thought out perhaps1 and stronger and   
clearer1 so that noise has become a     
musical note4    ,is there1 however1 any
 sense in ploughing for the thousand and
 second  time a field which has already 
been ploughed a thousand and one times8 
,has not everything which can be said   
about ethics already been said by       
,lao-tse1 ,confucius1 the ,buddha1 and  
,zarathustra2 by ,amos and ,isaiah2  by 
,socrates1 ,plato1 and ,aristotle2 by   

,epicurus and the ,stoics2 by  ,jesus   
and ,paul2 by the thinkers of the       
,renaissance1 of the  8,aufklrung10 and 
of ,rationalism2 by ,locke1             
,shaftesbury1 and ,hume2 by  ,spinoza   
and ,kant2 by ,fichte and ,hegel2 by    
,schopenhauer1 ,nietzsche1 and  others8 
,is there a possibility of getting      
beyond all these so  materially         
contradictory convictions of the past to
 something new  which will have a       
stronger and more lasting influence8    
,can the ethical  kernel of the thoughts
 of all these men be collected into an  
idea of  the ethical1 which will unite  
all the energies to which they appeal8  
,we must hope so1 if we are not to      
despair of the fate of the human  race4 
,does thought about ethics bring more   
ethics into the world8 ,the  confused   
picture offered us by the history of    
ethics is enough to make  one sceptical 
about it4 ,on the other hand1 it is     
clear that ethical  thinkers like       
,socrates1 ,kant1 or ,fichte had a      

moralizing influence on  many of their  
pg #jbb contemporaries4 ,from every     
revival of ethical  reflexion there went
 forth ethical movements which made the 
contemporary generation fitter for its  
tasks4 ,if any age lacks the  minds     
which force it to reflect about the     
ethical1 the level of its  morality     
sinks and with it its capacity for      
answering the questions  which present  
themselves to it4    ,in the history of 
ethical thought we wander in the        
innermost circles  of world-history4 ,of
 all the forces which mould reality     
morality is  the first and foremost4 ,it
 is the determining knowledge which we  
must  wring from thought4 ,everything   
else is more or less secondary4    ,for 
this reason everyone who believes that  
he can contribute something  to help    
forward the ethical self-consciousness  
of society and of  individuals has the  
right to speak now1 although it is      
political and  economic questions that  
the present day prescribes for study4   

,for what  is inopportune is really     
opportune4 ,we can accomplish something 
lasting in the problems of political and
 economic life only if we  approach them
 as men who are trying to think         
ethically4 ,all those who  help forward 
in any way our thought about ethics are 
working for the  coming of peace and    
prosperity to the world4 ,they are      
engaged in the  higher politics1 and the
 higher rational economics1 and even if 
all  they can do is nothing more than to
 bring ethical thinking to the  fore1   
they have nevertheless done something   
valuable4 ,all reflexion  about ethics  
has as one result a raising and rousing 
of the general  disposition to morality4
    ,the search for a basic principle of
 morality    ,but however certain it is 
that every age lives by the energies    
which  have sprung from its thought     
about ethics1 it is equally certain that
  up to now the ethical thoughts which  
have become current have after a  longer
 or a shorter period lost their power of

 convincing4 ,why has the  establishment
 of an ethical system never met with    
more than a partial  and temporary      
success1 and never been a permanency8   
,why is the history  of the ethical     
thinking of pg #jbc mankind the history 
of  inexplicable stoppages and          
fallings-back8 ,why has there been in   
this  sphere no organic progress which  
allows one period to build upon the     
achievements of preceding ones8 ,why in 
the sphere of ethics do we live  in a   
town full of ruins1 in which one        
generation builds for itself  here1 and 
another there1 what is absolutely       
necessary8    8,to preach morality is   
easy1 to establish it is hard10 says    
,schopenhauer1 and that saying shows    
what the problem is4    ,in every effort
 of thought about ethics there is to be 
seen1  distinctly or indistinctly1 the  
search for a basic principle of         
morality1 which needs no support outside
 itself1 and unites in itself  the sum  
total of all moral demands4 ,but no one 

has ever succeeded in  really           
formulating this principle4 ,elements   
only of it were brought to  light and   
given out to be the whole1 until the    
difficulties which  emerged destroyed   
the illusion4 ,the tree1 however finely 
it sprouted1  did not live to grow old1 
because it was unable to send its roots 
down  into the permanently nourishing   
and moisture-giving earth4    ,the chaos
 of ethical views becomes to some extent
 intelligible as soon  as one sees that 
we are concerned with differing and     
mutually  contradictory views about     
fragments of the basic principle4 ,the  
contradiction has its foundation in     
their incompleteness4 ,there is  ethical
 matter in what ,kant objects to in the 
ethics of rationalism1  as also in what 
he puts in its place2 in that part of   
,kant's writings  where his conception  
of the moral is opposed by              
,schopenhauer1 as also  in what is to   
take its place in the ethical system of 
the latter4  ,schopenhauer is ethical in

 the points on which ,nietzsche attacks 
him1  and ,nietzsche is ethical in his  
opposition to ,schopenhauer4 ,what is   
wanted is to find the fundamental chord 
in which the dissonances of  these      
varied and contradictory ethical ideas  
unite in producing  harmony4    ,the    
ethical problem1 then1 is the problem of
 a basic principle of  morality1 which  
is founded in thought4 ,what is the     
common element of  good in the manifold 
goods which we feel to be such8 ,is     
there such a  universally valid pg #jbd 
conception of the good8 ,if there is1 in
  what does it consist1 and how far is  
it real and necessary for me8  ,what    
influence has it over my general        
disposition and my actions8 ,into  what 
relations with the world does it bring  
me8    ,it is1 then1 on the basic       
principle of the moral that the         
attention of  thought has to be fixed4  
,the mere giving of a list of virtues   
and  duties is like striking notes at   
random on the piano and thinking it  is 

music4 ,and when we come to discuss the 
works of earlier moralists1  it is only 
the elements in them which can help the 
establishment of an  ethical system that
 will interest us1 not the way in which 
any system  has been advocated4         
,otherwise there is no success for any  
attempt to bring order into  chaos4 ,how
 utterly at sea ,friedrich ,jodl7#b7 is 
in his history of  ethics1 the most     
important existing work in this         
department1 when he  tries to estimate  
the relative values of the various      
ethical  standpoints6 ,failing to judge 
them directly by their distance from an 
initial basic principle of morality1 he 
is unable to establish a  standard of   
comparison4 ,he gives us1 therefore1    
only a survey of  ethical views1 and no 
history of the ethical problem4         
,religious and philosophical ethics     
,when we come to look for the           
fundamental principle of morality1 are  
we  concerned only with the direct      
attempts of philosophy to find it8 ,no1 

we are concerned with every kind1 those 
of religion as well as others4  ,we must
 trace out the whole experience of      
mankind in its search for  the ethical4 
,the raising of a dividing wall between 
philosophical ethics and  religious     
ethics is based on the mistaken idea    
that the former are  scientific and the 
latter non-scientific4 ,but neither of  
them is  either3 they are both alike    
merely thought2 only one has freed      
itself  from acceptance of the          
traditional religious world-view1 while 
the  other still maintains its connexion
 with it4    pg #jbe    ,the difference1
 however1 is merely relative4 ,religious
 ethics appeal1  indeed1 to a           
supernatural authority1 but that is     
rather the form which  they assume4 ,as 
a matter of fact1 however high they     
rise1 they still  seek to find an       
independent basic principle of morality4
 ,in every  religious genius there lives
 an ethical thinker1 and every really   
deep  philosophical moralist is in some 

way or other religious4    ,how         
indeterminate is the border-line is     
shown by ,indian ethics4 ,are  they     
religious1 or are they philosophical8   
,originating in the thought  of the     
priests1 they claim to be a deeper      
exposition of the demands of  religion1 
but in essential nature they are        
philosophical4 ,with the  ,buddha and   
others1 they venture to make the step   
from pantheism to  atheism1 but without 
giving up their claim to be religious4  
,spinoza  and ,kant1 however1 who are   
counted among philosophical moralists1  
do1  if we judge by the general         
direction of their thought1 belong at   
the  same time to the religious ones4   
,it all depends on a relative difference
 in methods of thought4 ,the one  group 
works towards the basic principle of    
ethics by a more intuitive  process1 the
 other by a process which is more       
analytical4 ,it is the  depth1 not the  
method of the thought1 which decides the
 matter4 ,the  more intuitive thinker   

produces his ethical thought like an    
artist who  with the production of an   
important work of art opens up new      
horizons4  ,in deep-reaching moral      
sayings like the beatitudes of ,jesus   
the basic  principle of morality shines 
out4 ,there comes progress in the       
recognition of what is moral1 even if   
the provision of a foundation  for it   
fails to advance in the same way4    ,on
 the other hand1 the searching for the  
basic principle of the moral  by the    
process of critical analysis may lead to
 an impoverished system  of ethics1     
because there runs through it the effort
 to take into  account only what is     
connected with the idea that seems to be
 what is  being sought for4 ,that is why
 philosophical ethics are as a rule so  
far behind practical ethics1 and have so
 little direct influence4  ,while       
religious moralists in one mighty word  
can get down to the pg  #jbf waters     
flowing far below the surface1          
philosophical ethics often  dig out     

nothing but a slight hollow in which a  
puddle forms4    ,nevertheless1 it is   
rational thinking alone which is able to
 pursue  the search for the basic       
principle with perseverance and hope of 
success4 ,it must find it at last1 if it
 only goes deep enough1 and is  simple  
enough4    ,the weakness of all ethics  
hitherto1 whether philosophical or      
religious1 has lain in this1 that they  
have not shown individuals how  to deal 
directly and naturally with reality4 ,to
 a large extent they  merely talk 8about
 it and about40 ,they do not touch a    
man's daily  experience1 and therefore  
they exert no permanent pressure upon   
him4  ,the result is lack of ethical    
thought1 and mere platitudes about      
ethics4    ,the true basic principle of 
the ethical must be not only something  
universally valid1 but something        
absolutely elementary and inward1       
which1 once it has dawned upon a man1   
never lets him loose1 which as a  matter
 of course runs like a thread through   

all his meditation1 which  never lets   
itself be thrust aside1 and which       
continually challenges  him to come to  
an understanding with reality4    ,for  
centuries men who navigated the seas    
guided themselves by the  stars4 ,in    
time they rose above this imperfect     
method through the  discovery of the    
magnetic needle1 which by its natural   
principle of  activity pointed them to  
the north4 ,now they can tell where they
 are  in the darkest night on the most  
distant sea4 ,that is the kind of       
progress that we have to seek in ethics4
 ,so long as we have nothing  but an    
ethical system of ethical sayings1 we   
direct our course by  stars1 which1     
however brilliant their shining1 give us
 only more or  less reliable guidance1  
and can be hidden from us by rising     
mist4  ,during a stormy night they leave
 mankind1 as we know by recent          
experiences1 in the lurch4 ,if1 however1
 we have in our possession a  system of 
ethics as a principle which is a        

necessity of thought and  comes to      
clearness within ourselves1 there begins
 a far-reaching  ethical deepening of   
individuals1 and steady ethical progress
 in  mankind4          pg #jbg          
,,chapter ,,iv    ,,religious ,,and     
,,philosophical ,,world-,,views         
,the world-views of the world-religions 
,,in the world-religions we can see     
powerful attempts to establish an       
ethical world-view4    ,the religious   
thinkers of ,china1 ,lao-tse 7born #fjd 
,b4,c471 ,kung-tse  7,confucius1        
#ecg-dgi ,b4,c471 ,meng-tse 7#cgb-bhi   
,b4,c47 and ,chwang-tse  7fourth century
 ,b4,c471 all try to ground the ethical 
in a world- and  life-affirming         
nature-philosophy4 ,in so doing they    
arrive at a  world-view which1 because  
it is optimistic-ethical1 contains      
incentives to inward and outward        
civilization4    ,the religious thinkers
 of ,india also1 the ,brahmanic         
philosophers1 the  ,buddha 7#efj-dhj    
,b4,c471 and the ,hindus1 start1 like   

the ,chinese1 from  thought about the   
existing world1 i4e4 from               
nature-philosophy4 ,they  do not1       
however1 take a world- and              
life-affirming view of it1 but a  world-
 and life-denying one4 ,their world-view
 is pessimistic-ethical1  and contains1 
therefore1 incentives to inward         
civilization only1 not  to outward as   
well4    ,chinese religiousness1 and    
,indian1 recognize only a single        
world-principle4 ,they are monistic and 
pantheistic4 ,their world-view  has to  
solve the problem of how far we can     
recognize the original  source of the   
world as ethical1 and how far1          
correspondingly1 we  become ethical by  
the surrender to it of our will4    ,in 
contrast to these monistic-pantheistic  
world-views we find  dualistic ones in  
the religion of ,zarathustra 7sixth     
century ,b4,c471 in  that of the ,jewish
 prophets 7from the eighth century      
,b4,c4 onwards71  and in those of ,jesus
 and ,mohammed1 this last1 however1     

showing itself  to be in pg #jbh all    
points unoriginal and decadent4 ,these  
religious  thinkers do not start from an
 investigation of the existence which   
manifests itself in the universe1 but   
from a view of the ethical which  is    
quite independent of it4 ,they put it in
 opposition to natural  happenings4     
,accordingly they assume the existence  
of two  world-principles1 the natural   
and the ethical4 ,the first is in the   
world1 and has to be overcome2 the other
 is incorporated in an ethical          
personality which is outside the world  
and has been given the final  authority 
in this sphere4    ,if among the        
,chinese and the ,hindus the basic      
principle of morality  was life in      
harmony with the world-will1 so among   
dualists it is an  attempt to be        
something different from the world in   
harmony with an  ethical divine         
personality which is outside and above  
the world4    ,the weakness of dualistic
 religions is that their world-view1    

because  it rejects every kind of       
nature-philosophy1 is always nave4      
,their  strength lies in the fact that  
they have the ethical within            
themselves1 directly present and with   
undiminished force4 ,they have no  need 
to strain it and explain it1 as monists 
have to1 so as to be able  to conceive  
it as an effluence from the world-will  
which reveals  itself in nature4    ,the
 world-views of the dualistic           
world-religions1 taken as a whole1  are 
optimistic4 ,they live in the confident 
belief that ethical force  will prove   
superior to natural1 and so raise the   
world and mankind to  true perfection4  
,zarathustra and the older ,jewish      
prophets represent  this process as a   
kind of world-reform4 ,the optimistic   
element in  their world-view asserts    
itself in a quite natural way4 ,they    
have the  will1 and the hope of being   
able to transform human society and to  
make the races of the world fit for     
their higher destiny4 ,progress in  any 

department of life means for them       
something gained1 for they think  of    
inward and outward civilization         
together4    ,with ,jesus the value of  
the optimistic element in his world-view
 is  impaired by the fact that he looks 
forward to the perfected world as a     
result of a catastrophic end to the     
natural one1 and while with             
,zarathustra and the older pg #jbi      
,jewish prophets the ,divine            
intervention is to a certain extent only
 the completion of the human  activities
 which have been directed to the        
perfecting of the world1 it  is with    
,jesus the only thing which has to be   
taken into account4 ,the  kingdom of    
,god is to appear in a supernatural way2
 it is in no way  prepared for by any   
effort made by mankind to attain to     
civilization4    ,the world-view of     
,jesus1 because it is fundamentally     
optimistic1  accepts the ends aimed at  
by outward civilization4 ,being1        
however1  entangled in the expectation  

of the end of the world1 it is          
indifferent to all attempts made to     
improve the temporal1 natural  world by 
a civilization which organizes itself on
 lines of outward  progress1 and it     
busies itself only with the inward      
ethical perfecting  of individuals4     
,just in proportion1 however1 as the    
,christian world-view draws the         
consequences of the world's not coming  
to an end1 and accepts the idea  that   
the kingdom of ,god must be established 
by a process of  development which      
transforms the natural world1 it begins 
to  understand and be interested in the 
completing of social organization1  and 
in all such progress in outward         
civilization as contributes to it4      
,then the optimistic element in the     
world-view can again work  unhindered   
side by side with the ethical4 ,thus we 
get an explanation  of the fact that    
,christianity1 which in the ancient     
world showed  itself hostile to         
civilization1 seeks in modern times with

 more or  less success to conduct itself
 as the world-view which is for progress
  in every sphere of activity4    ,the  
world-views of the world-religions and  
that of ,western thought    ,the        
questions which press for an answer from
 the world-religions in  their struggle 
to reach an ethical and an              
optimistic-ethical  world-view1 are the 
same as those which present themselves  
to ,western  philosophy also4 ,the great
 problem is to think out a connexion    
between  the universe and ethics4    pg 
#jcj    ,the three types of world-view  
which show themselves in the            
world-religions1 recur also in ,western 
philosophy4 ,the latter1 too1  attempts 
to find an ethical code either in a     
world- and  life-affirming1 or in a     
world- and life-denying1                
nature-philosophy1 or  it attempts1     
rejecting more or less completely all   
nature-philosophy1  to reach a          
world-view which is in itself ethical4  
,only1 it at the same  time does its    

best to avoid acknowledging1 and indeed 
to conceal1 the  nave and dualistic     
element which is inevitably encountered 
when this  last method of procedure is  
followed4    ,the world-views1 then1 of 
the world-religions1 and that of        
,western  philosophy1 do not belong to  
different worlds1 but stand in close    
inward relations to one another4        
,further1 the distinctions between a    
religious world-view and a philosophical
 one is a quite superficial  one4 ,the  
religious world-view which seeks to     
comprehend itself in  thought becomes   
philosophical1 as is the case among the 
,chinese and  the ,hindus4 ,on the other
 hand a philosophical world-view which  
goes  really deep1 assumes a religious  
character4    ,although ,western thought
 does1 in principle1 approach the       
problem of  world-view without any      
presuppositions1 it has not been able to
 keep  itself entirely from being       
influenced by religious world-views4    
,from  ,christianity it has received    

impulses of a decisive character1 and   
the  attempt to convert the nave-ethical
 world-view of ,jesus into a            
philosophical one has cost it more      
attention and effort than it admits  to 
itself4 ,with ,schopenhauer and his     
successors the pessimistic monism  of   
,india finds expression1 and it enriches
 their reflexion upon the  nature of the
 ethical4    ,thus the energies of all  
the great world-views stream into       
,western  thought1 and through the      
co-operation of these varied forms of   
thought  and energy the latter is       
enabled to exalt into a universal       
conviction  the optimistic-ethical      
world-view which hovers before its mind1
 and  that too in a strength which it   
has never displayed in any previous  age
 or in any other part of the world4 ,and
 that is why ,western thought  has      
advanced farthest both in inward        
civilization and in outward4    pg #jca 
,to give a real foundation to the       
optimistic-ethical world-view ,western  

thought is indeed as little able as any 
of the world-religions were1  and       
because the ,west experiences the       
problem of world-view in its most       
universal and most pressing form it is  
the scene of the greatest  advances made
 by the civilized mind1 but also of its 
greatest  catastrophes4 ,it experiences 
portentous changes in its world-view1   
and  is familiar1 too1 with terrible    
periods when it has no world-view at    
all4    ,it is because our ,western     
thought is so sensitive in both these   
directions1 that it reveals most clearly
 the questions and  difficulties amid   
which the search for an optimistic      
world-view moves4    ,how far does the  
history of our thought give to us       
,westerners the  explanation of our     
fate8 ,what road does it indicate to us 
as the best  for our future search after
 a world-view in which the individual   
can  find inwardness and strength1 and  
mankind progress and peace8          pg 
#jcb    ,,chapter ,v    ,,civilization  

,,and ,,ethics ,,in ,,the               
,,gr,,co-,,roman ,,philosophy      ,the 
beginnings3 ,socrates4    ,,in the      
seventh century before ,christ the      
,greek spirit begins to free  itself    
from the world-view which underlay the  
traditional religion1  and undertakes   
the task of establishing another on a   
foundation of  knowledge and thought4   
,first there comes a nature-philosophy1 
the result of investigation of  ,being  
with reflexion upon what it really is4  
,then criticism begins its  work4       
,belief in the gods is found            
unsatisfying1 not only because the      
course of nature is not made            
intelligible by the rule of dwellers in 
,olympus1 but also because these        
personalities no longer answer to the   
demands of feeling which is thoughtful  
and moral4 ,these two elements1         
nature-philosophy and criticism1 are    
found united in ,xenophanes and         
,heraclitus in the sixth century ,b4,c4 
,in the course of the fifth century     

,b4,c4 ,sophists appear1 and begin to   
concern themselves critically with the  
accepted standards of value  current for
 social life and individual             
activities47#c7 ,the result  is         
annihilating4 ,the more moderate of     
these 8,enlighteners0 proclaim the      
overwhelming majority of these standards
 which pass for moral to be  merely     
claims made by society on its members1  
leaving open thereby the  possibility   
that a small remainder may be able to   
prove themselves to  rational           
consideration as moral in pg #jcc       
themselves4 ,but the  younger radical   
sophists maintain the position that all 
morality1 like  all current law1 has    
been invented by organized society in   
its own  interest4 ,hence the thinking  
man who is freeing himself from this    
tutelage will make his own moral        
standards1 and will follow in them      
nothing but his own pleasure and        
interests4 ,thus ,western philosophical 
thought about the problem of ethics and 

civilisation starts with a  shrill      
dissonance4    ,what was ,socrates      
7#dgj-cii ,b4,c47 able to contribute1   
when he came  forward to oppose this    
tendency8    ,in the place of the simply
 pleasurable he put the rationally      
pleasurable4    ,by rational            
consideration1 he asserts1 it is        
possible to establish a  standard of    
action in which the happiness of the    
individual1 rightly  understood1 is in  
harmony with the interests of society4  
,virtue  consists in right knowledge4   
,that the rationally moral is that which
 procures for the agent true  pleasure1 
or1 what means the same thing1 true     
profit1 ,socrates draws  out into the   
most diverse applications in the simple 
everyday  discussions which ,xenophon   
has transmitted to us in his            
,memorabilia47#d7 ,the dialogues of     
,plato show him going beyond  this      
primitive utilitarianism1 and seeking a 
conception of the good  which has been  
made something inward and aims at the   

well-being of the  soul2 which stands1  
too1 in relationship with the           
beautiful47#e7  ,how much of these more 
advanced views are the ,master's own1   
and how  much of his own thoughts his   
pupil has in this way put into his      
mouth1  cannot now be decided4    ,that 
,socrates spoke of an inner1 mysterious 
voice1 the 8daimonion01 as  being the   
highest moral authority in man is indeed
 certain1 for it is  mentioned in his   
indictment4 ,his pg #jcd utilitarian    
rationalism is  therefore completed by a
 kind of mysticism4 ,an empirical ethic1
 that  is1 one established out of past  
experience and with a view to future    
experience1 and an intuitive ethic live 
in him side by side and  undistinguished
 from one another1 to be separated later
 and developed  in contrast to one      
another in his pupils1 the ,cynics and  
,cyrenaics on  the one hand1 and ,plato 
on the other4    ,was ,socrates at all  
conscious that with the bringing back of
 the moral  to that which is rationally 

pleasurable he builds the road only a   
short way further1 and stops exactly at 
the point where the real  difficulty    
makes its appearance1 viz4 that of      
defining the most  general content of   
the moral as given by reason8 ,or was he
 so simple  as to regard the general    
formula he had arrived at as the        
solution of  the difficulty8    ,the    
confidence which he displays in all his 
public life leads us to  suppose the    
latter4 ,in his unaffected simplicity   
lies his strength4 ,in  that perilous   
hour when ,western thought comes to the 
point of having  to philosophize about  
the moral in order to arrest the        
dissolution of  ,greek society which has
 been begun by a body of unstable and   
disputatious teachers1 the wise man of  
,athens shatters all scepticism  by the 
mighty earnestness of his conviction    
that what is moral can be  determined by
 thought4 ,beyond that general statement
 he does not go1  but he is the source  
of that serious spirit in which         

antiquity after  his day busied itself  
with the problem4 ,what would that      
ancient world  have become without him8 
,characteristic for this prologue to    
,western philosophizing about the  moral
 is the indifference with which         
,socrates stands outside the            
philosophic efforts to reach a complete 
world-view4 ,he troubles  himself       
neither about the results of natural    
science1 nor about  inquiries into the  
nature of knowledge1 but is busied      
simply with man  in his relation to     
himself and to society4 ,lao-tse1       
,confucius1 the  ,indian philosophers1  
the ,jewish prophets1 and ,jesus seek to
 comprehend  ethics as somehow or other 
derived from1 or pg #jce forming part   
of1  a world-view4 ,socrates gives them 
no foundation but themselves4 ,on  this 
stage1 which has no scenery to form a   
background1 there will  appear in       
succession to him the utilitarians of   
every age4    ,and here a remarkable    
prospect opens to us4 ,to all efforts to

  determine the content of the moral    
more help is afforded by the ethic      
which keeps clear of all connexion with 
a complete world-view than by  any      
other4 ,such an ethic is the most       
practical4 ,and yet this isolation  is  
unnatural4 ,the idea that ethics are    
rooted in a complete  world-view1 or    
must find their completion in one--that 
is1 the idea  that one's relations to   
one's fellow-men and to society are in  
the  last resort rooted in some relation
 to the world--never loses its  natural 
claim4 ,hence again and again--already  
in ,plato1 then in  ,epicurus and in the
 ,stoic philosophy--ethics feel the need
 of again  connecting themselves with   
world-view1 and the same process        
continues  in modern thought4 ,but the  
practical search for the content of the 
ethical remains the prerogative of those
 who are busied with ethics in          
themselves4    ,in ,socrates the ethical
 mysticism of devotion to the inner     
voice takes  the place of the complete  

world-view1 which was in future to be   
the  foundation of the ethical          
determination of mankind4               
,epicureanism and ,stoicism4 ,the ,ethic
 of ,resignation    ,three tasks were   
left by ,socrates to his successors3 to 
determine more  exactly the content of  
the rationally useful2 to give the world
 the  most universal general-notion of  
the good2 and to think ethics into a    
complete world-view4    ,what           
conclusions are come to by those who    
concern themselves with the  first      
question1 and seek to determine the     
rationally useful from a  corresponding 
experience of pleasure8    ,as soon as  
the notion of pleasure is brought into  
connexion with  ethics it shows         
disturbances1 as the magnetic pg #jcf   
needle does in  the neighbourhood of the
 poles4 ,immediate pleasure shows itself
 as  incapable in every respect of being
 reconciled with the demands of  ethics1
 and it is therefore given up4 ,lasting 
pleasure is called on to  take its      

place1 but this retreat does not        
suffice4 ,lasting pleasure1  interpreted
 seriously1 can be nothing but pleasure 
of the mind4 ,even  this position1      
however1 is not tenable4 ,reflexion upon
 the ethic which  is to produce         
happiness sees itself compelled at last 
to give up the  positive notion of      
pleasure in any form4 ,it has to        
reconcile itself to  the negative notion
 which conceives pleasure as somehow or 
other a  liberation from the need of    
pleasure4 ,thus the individualistic1    
utilitarian ethic1 also called          
,eudmonism1 destroys itself as soon as  
it ventures to be consistent4 ,this is  
the paradox which reveals itself  in the
 ethics of antiquity4    ,instead of    
coming to maturity in the following     
generations1 the  ethically-rational    
life-ideal put forward by ,socrates     
succumbs to an  incurable decline1      
because the notion of pleasure1 which   
lives in it1  denies itself as soon as  
it makes any attempt to think itself    

out4    ,aristippus 7c4 #dce-cee        
,b4,c471 the founder of the ,cyrenaic   
school1  ,democritus of ,abdera 7c4     
#dej-cfj ,b4,c471 the author of the     
atomic  theory1 and ,epicurus 7#cda-bgj 
,b4,c47 seek to retain as much as       
possible  of the positive notion of     
pleasure4 ,the ,cynic school of         
,antisthenes  7born c4 #ddj ,b4,c471 and
 the ,stoicism which originated with    
,zeno1 a  native of ,kittium in ,cyprus 
7c4 #ccf-bfd ,b4,c471 keep from the very
  beginning to the negative notion47#f7 
,but the final result is the  same with 
both4 ,epicurus sees himself compelled  
at last to exalt the  pg #jcg absence of
 desire for pleasure as being itself the
 purest  pleasure1 landing thereby on   
the shore of resignation where the      
,stoics  take their exercise4 ,the      
fundamental difference between the two  
great  philosophical schools of         
antiquity does not lie in what they     
offer to  men as ethical4 ,about what   
the 8wise man0 does and leaves undone1  

they  both frequently express themselves
 in the same way4 ,what separates  them 
is the world-view with which their ethic
 is combined4  ,epicureanism accepts the
 atomistic materialism of ,democritus1  
is  atheistic1 asserts that the soul    
perishes1 and is in every respect       
irreligious4 ,stoicism is pantheistic4  
,with ,epicurus and ,zeno ethics no     
longer trust themselves1 as with        
,socrates1 to maintain an independent   
existence4 ,they see the necessity  of  
attaching themselves to some sort of    
world-view4 ,travelling along  this     
road1 ,epicurus is guided solely by the 
effort after veracity4 ,he  leaves the  
talking to the purely scientific        
knowledge of the world1  not allowing   
ethics to join in the investigation of  
,being and  introduce into it what might
 be of advantage to itself4 ,how poor1  
or  how rich1 it will finally become is 
to him a matter of indifference4  ,the  
one thing he is concerned about is that 
the world-view be a true  one1 and      

therein lies the greatness of ,epicurus 
with its claim to our  respect4         
,stoicism seeks to satisfy the need for 
an inward1 stable world-view2  like the 
,chinese monists it tries to find a     
meaning in the world4 ,it  tries to     
widen out the ethical rationalism of    
,socrates into cosmic  rationalism4 ,the
 moral is to show itself to be conduct  
agreeable to  the pronouncements of     
world-reason4    ,stoicism has a vision 
of an optimistic-ethical affirmation of 
life1  grounded in the nature of the    
cosmos1 but it fails to reach it4 ,it is
  not untutored enough to acquiesce in  
the ethical simplicity of a             
nature-philosophy such as can be seen in
 ,lao-tse and in the older              
philosophical ,taoism4 ,it is ever      
struggling to discover in  world-reason 
the notion of purposive activity1 and is
 ever mercilessly  thrust back upon that
 of activity pure and simple4 ,hence the
 ethic  with which it is operating never
 has a sufficiently universalist pg     

#jch character to let it form a natural 
connexion with world-reason4  ,as might 
be expected from its origin1 it is      
dominated by the problem  of pleasure   
and not-pleasure1 and therefore no      
longer possesses any  efficacious       
instinct for effort4 ,its horizons1     
because still  determined by the        
questions arising out of ancient        
citizenship and the  ancient city-state1
 are narrow4 ,it is1 therefore1 not     
advanced enough  to engage in thought on
 nature-philosophic lines1 concerned    
with both  the world and man1 although  
it does feel the inner necessity for    
doing  so4    ,the vacillation which is 
characteristic of ,stoicism comes1 then1
 from  the fact that the results it     
attains to do not match its aspirations1
  but are much poorer than the latter4  
,the spirit of antiquity tries to  find 
an optimistic-ethical life-affirmation  
in nature-philosophy1 and  to find in it
 also the justification of those        
instincts for reliable  activity which  

it has possessed since the days when it 
was entirely  untutored1 but it cannot  
do so4 ,whenever it acknowledges what   
has  happened it sees clearly that      
thinking about the universe leads only  
to resignation1 and that a life in      
harmony with the world means quiet      
surrender to being carried along in the 
flood of world-happenings1  and1 when   
the hour comes1 sinking into it without 
a murmur4    ,stoicism talks1 it is     
true1 with deep earnestness of          
responsibility  and duty1 but since it  
cannot draw either from                 
nature-philosophy or  from ethics a     
well-established and living notion of   
activity1 it shows  us in these words   
nothing but beautiful corpses4 ,it is   
impotent to  command anything whatever  
that is bound up with voluntary activity
  which is conscious of its aim4 ,again 
and again evidence breaks through  that 
its thinking has been pushed aside on to
 the track of passivity4                
,nature-philosophy only provides the    

cosmic background for the  resignation  
to which ethics have come4 ,the ideal   
which gives life to  ,chinese ,monism1  
of the perfecting of a world through    
ethical and  ethically organized        
mankind1 is not really discerned1 much  
less  securely grasped4    ,one watches 
with dismay the shaping of the fate of  
pg #jci ancient  ethics in ,epicureanism
 and ,stoicism4 ,in place of the        
vigorous  life-affirming ethic which    
,socrates expects from rational         
thinking1  resignation steps in4 ,an    
inconceivable impoverishment takes place
 in  the representation of the moral4   
,the notion of action cannot be worked  
out to completion4 ,even so much of it  
as1 thanks to tradition1 still  survives
 in the simple thought-methods of the   
,greek world in general1  is lost4      
,the ancient ,greek was more citizen    
than man4 ,active devotion to the  cause
 of the community was to him a matter of
 course4 ,socrates  presupposes it4 ,in 
the conversations which ,xenophon hands 

down to us  in the ,memorabilia he is   
ever insisting on it that the individual
  must improve himself in order to      
become an active citizen4 ,the natural  
course would have been that the thought 
which originated with him  should deepen
 this mentality by setting before it the
 highest social  aims4 ,it was1 however1
 never at all in a position to maintain 
the  mentality as it received it4 ,more 
and more it leads the individual to     
withdraw himself from the world and from
 all that goes on in it4    ,by a       
never-ceasing process of change the     
ethics of ,greek thought  become in     
,epicureanism and ,stoicism ethics of   
decadence4 ,not being  capable of       
producing ideals of progressive         
development for collective  bodies1 they
 are also impotent to become really     
ethics of  civilization4 ,in place of   
the ideal of the man who works for      
civilization they set the ideal of the  
8wise man40 ,it is only the  inward     
individual civilization of refined and  

reflective  self-liberation from the    
world that now floats before its eyes1  
but  this in all its depth4    ,it is   
true that there is power in the         
preaching of resignation which  ancient 
thought1 now become knowing about life1 
allows to go forth to  mankind4         
,resignation is the lofty porch through 
which one enters upon  ethics4 ,but     
,epicurus and the ,stoics stop in this  
porch4 ,resignation  becomes for them an
 ethical world-view4 ,hence they are    
incapable of  leading ancient society   
from its untutored life- and            
world-affirmation  to one based on      
thought4    pg #jdj    ,the conception  
of the rationally pleasurable1 which was
 the legacy of  ,socrates1 is not       
productive enough to keep a world alive4
 ,it is  impossible to develop out of it
 the ideas of a utilitarianism directed 
to the welfare of the community1        
although he believed he found them in   
it4 ,ethical thought remains confined   
within the circle of the                

self-regarding4 ,every attempt to       
ennoble the rationally pleasurable  ends
 in life-affirmation changing into      
life-denial4 ,on this logical  fact was 
wrecked the ancient ,west1 which1 after 
the critical awakening  of the ,greek   
spirit1 could have been saved only by   
means of a  reflective                  
optimistic-ethical world-view4 ,it was  
able to develop  seriously what         
,socrates gave it1 but not to make it   
capable of  producing life and          
civilization4    ,plato's abstract basic
 principle of the ethical4 ,the ethic of
  world-negation    ,plato1 too         
7#dbg-cdg ,b4,c471 and ,aristotle       
7#chd-cbb ,b4,c471 the two great        
independent thinkers of antiquity1 are  
incapable of producing an ethic  of     
action1 and so giving civilization a    
firm foundation4    ,plato seeks the    
general notion of the ,good1 but he     
abandons the path  which was pointed    
out1 even if not followed to the end1 by
 ,socrates1  viz4 the determination of  

it by a process of induction4 ,he gives 
up  trying to arrive at the nature of   
the ,good by considerations of the      
kind1 the object1 and the results of    
action1 that is to say1 by its  content4
 ,he wants to establish it by a purely  
formal process1 by  abstract logical    
thinking4    ,in order to arrive at an  
ethic he uses a detour through the      
theory of  ideas4 ,all similar          
phenomena1 he says1 are to be conceived 
of as  varying copies of an original--to
 express which he uses the word  8idea40
 ,in trees there is to be seen the idea 
of tree1 in horses1 that  of horse4 ,the
 idea does not come to us1 as we are    
inclined to think1  by our abstracting  
from trees the idea of tree1 and from   
horses that  of horse4 ,we have it      
within us already4 ,it originates1 not  
in our pg  #jda experience of the       
empirical world but in the recollection 
which  our soul brought with it from the
 supra-sensuous1 pure world of ideas1   
when it began its existence in a body4  

,in the same way we have brought  with  
us the idea of the ,good4    ,thus in a 
tortured doctrine which is disfigured   
everywhere with  fancies and            
obscurities1 ,plato tries to found      
ethics on a theory about  the character 
of our knowledge of the world of sense1 
and he is  encouraged to this           
undertaking by the consideration that it
 is not  from reflexion that we obtain  
our conception of the ,beautiful1 which 
is closely allied with that of the      
,good3 we bring that conception also    
with us1 ready made4    ,plato is the   
first of all thinkers who feels that the
 presence of the  ethical idea in man is
 what it is3 something profoundly       
puzzling4 ,that  is his greatest        
distinction4 ,hence he cannot profess to
 be satisfied  with the attempt of the  
historic ,socrates to explain the ,good 
as that  which is rationally            
pleasure-giving4 ,it is clear to him    
that it is  something unconditional1    
with a compelling force of its own1 and 

to  preserve for it this character seems
 to him1 as later to ,kant1 to be  the  
great task of thought4    ,but what is  
the result of his undertaking8 ,a       
fundamental principle for  ethics which 
is devoid of content4 ,in order to      
secure its lofty  character it is       
allowed to be born of abstract          
considerations in the  country of the   
supra-sensuous4 ,it can1 therefore1     
never find itself at  home in reality   
and become familiar with it1 nor can any
 rules for  concrete ethical conduct be 
developed from it4 ,thus ,plato1 when he
  treats practically of ethics1 is      
compelled to abide by the chief         
virtues1 as popularly conceived4 ,in the
 ,republic he names four of  them3      
wisdom1 courage1 temperance1 and        
justice1 and he founds them not  on his 
general idea of the ,good1 but on his   
psychology4    ,but the characteristic  
ethic of ,plato has nothing whatever to 
do with  such virtues4 ,if the          
conception of the ,good is              

supra-sensible and the  immaterial world
 is the only real one1 then it is only  
thought and  conduct which deal with the
 pg #jdb immaterial that can have any   
ethical character4 ,in the world of     
appearance there is nothing of  value to
 be made actual4 ,man is simply         
compelled to be an impotent  spectator  
of its shadow-play4 ,all willing must be
 directed to enabling  oneself to turn  
away from this1 and get sight of that   
true activity  which goes on in the     
light4    ,the true ethic1 then1 is     
world-negation4 ,to this view ,plato was
  committed the moment he allowed the   
ethical to find its home in the  world  
of pure ,being4 ,thoughts of ascetic    
inactivity find expression in  him side 
by side with the ,greek feeling for     
reality1 and it is  confusing that he   
does not recognize the conflict between 
them1 but  speaks now in one sense1 now 
in the other4 ,his ethic is a chaos1 and
  he himself an expert in inconsistency4
    ,plato's ethic of world-denial is   

not an original creation2 he takes it   
over in the ,indian setting in which it 
is offered to him by ,orphism  and      
,pythagoreanism4 ,by what route there   
found its way into ,greek  thought this 
pessimism which has been thought out to 
a system and  provided with the doctrine
 of re-incarnation1 we do not know1 and 
shall probably never learn4 ,the        
presence side by side in ,greek thought 
of an artless optimism and a mature     
pessimism will always remain for  us the
 great puzzle of ,greek civilization4   
,but if the pessimism had  not been     
there1 ,plato must have introduced it4  
,the abstract basic  principle of       
morality which he adopts in order to    
preserve the  absolute character of     
morality which he was the first to      
pronounce to  be a necessity1 precludes 
any other content than that of the      
denial of  the sensible world and of    
natural life4    ,aristotle4            
,instruction about virtue in place of   
ethics    ,plato's fate alarms          

,aristotle4 ,he refuses to soar to the  
heights where  ,plato lost himself4 ,how
 then does he fare8    ,his object is   
the establishment of a serviceable ethic
 which is in  harmony both as to extent 
and content with reality4 ,what he      
accomplished lies before us in the pg   
#jdc so-called ,nicomachean  ,ethics1   
the comprehensive work which he composed
 for the benefit of  his son1           
,nicomachus4 ,the general thought of    
,socrates1 that ethics are  a striving  
after happiness1 he acknowledges4 ,but  
at the same time he  makes quite clear  
his opinion that the part played by     
activity in  ethics must be a much more 
important one than is given to it in    
,plato  or in the other post-,socratics4
 ,aristotle feels that the crux of the  
question is the conception of activity1 
and this he wants to save4 ,he          
therefore avoids ,plato's paths of      
abstract thinking1 and rejects the      
ethic of pleasure and not-pleasure over 
which the ,cyrenaics and ,cynics  work  

so hard4 ,in his ethical thinking the   
vitality of the ancient  world tries to 
find expression4    ,in magnificent     
fashion he lays down the                
pre-suppositions which are  necessary   
for the carrying through of his         
undertaking4 ,he finds the  motive to   
activity in the conception of pleasure1 
a thing he can do  because his whole    
philosophy has indeed for its aim and   
object the  conceiving of ,being as     
formative activity4 ,hence the essential
 element  in human nature also is       
activity4 ,happiness is to be defined as
  activity in accordance with the law of
 excellence4 ,rational pleasure  is     
experience of the perfecting of one's   
activity4    ,starting from the         
conception of pleasure which experiences
 itself as  activity1 ,aristotle is on  
the way to comprehend ethics as deepened
  life-affirmation1 and to attack the   
problem of leading the ancient  world up
 from a nave and unreflecting           
world-affirmation to a thinking  one4   

,but on the way he diverges from the    
high-road4    ,when he has to ask the   
decisive question as to what make       
activity  moral1 he shrinks from        
discussing the problem of the basic     
principle  of the moral4 ,ethics are not
 some sort of knowledge which gives a   
content to activity1 he says in         
opposition to ,socrates4 ,the content of
  the will is already given4 ,no        
reflexion and no knowledge can put      
anything new into it1 or alter it4      
,ethics consist1 then1 not in a guiding 
of the will by aims and objects  which  
knowledge puts before it1 but in the    
will's pg #jdd own  regulation of       
itself4 ,the right thing to do is to    
establish the  correct balance between  
the different elements in the given     
contents  of the will4 ,left to itself1 
the latter rushes to extremes4 ,rational
  reflexion keeps it in the correct     
middle path4 ,thus brought to a state   
of harmony1 human activity can be       
conceived as motived and ethical4       

,virtue1 therefore1 is readiness to     
observe the correct mean which is  to be
 acquired by practice4    ,instead of   
creating an ethic1 ,aristotle contents  
himself with a  doctrine of virtue4     
,this depreciation of the ethical is the
 price he  pays in order to reach an    
ethic which ends neither in the abstract
 nor  in resignation4 ,while he shirks  
the problem of the basic principle of   
the moral1 he still remains able to     
establish an ethic of activity1  though 
the latter contains indeed no live      
forces1 only dead ones4    ,aristotle's 
ethic is therefore an sthetic of the    
impulses of the  will4 ,it consists in a
 catalogue of virtues and in the        
demonstration  that they are to be      
conceived as a mean4 ,thus courage lies 
between  rashness and cowardice1        
temperance between sensuality and       
insensibility1 truthfulness between     
boastfulness and irony17#g7  liberality 
between prodigality and avarice1        
high-mindedness between  conceit and    

small-mindedness1 gentleness between    
quarrelsomeness and  characterless      
good-nature4    ,on this excursion      
through the field of the ethical1 there 
open up many  interesting views4 ,in an 
acute and living discussion ,aristotle  
lets  his readers survey the questions  
of the relations of man to his          
fellow-men and to society4 ,how much    
that is deep and true there is in  the  
chapter on moral excellence and in that 
on friendship6 ,how he  wrestles with   
the problem of justice6    ,no one can  
fail to feel the charm of the           
,nicomachean ,ethics4 ,there  is        
revealed in them a noble personality    
with abundant experience of  life1      
depicted with a magnificent simplicity4 
,but just in proportion  as the method  
followed pg #jde is advantageous        
technically1 it is  valueless in itself4
 ,the ethical is reconciled with reality
 without  having first tried to come to 
clear understanding of itself4 ,it is in
  this reconciliation that the          

understanding is to be found1 so        
,aristotle thinks1 but he is mistaken4  
,his mind is seduced through his  having
 observed that some virtues--but even   
these more or less under                
compulsion--allow themselves to be      
conceived as real means between two     
extremes1 and he is misled into         
developing on these lines the whole of  
his ethical system4    ,but a more or   
less natural quality1 which in ordinary 
speech is called  a virtue1 is one      
thing1 virtue in the really ethical     
sense is another4  ,the middle quality  
between prodigality and avarice is not  
the ethical  virtue of liberality1 out  
the quality of rational economy4 ,the   
middle  quality between rashness and    
cowardice is not the ethical virtue of  
courage1 but the quality of rational    
prudence4 ,the combination of two       
qualities only produces a single one4   
,but virtue1 in the ethical  sense1     
means a quality guiding itself by an    
ideal of self-perfection1  and being    

serviceable for some object which looks 
towards the  universal4 ,liberality as  
an ethical virtue means a process of    
spending  which serves some object      
recognized by the person practising it  
as  valuable in principle1 and in such a
 way that any natural tendency to       
prodigality1 should there be such in the
 giver1 plays no part1 while  the       
tendency to avarice is paralysed4       
,devotion of one's property or one's    
life to an object which is  valuable in 
principle is under all circumstances    
ethical1 while  prodigality and avarice1
 rashness and cowardice as simple       
qualities  not inspired by any higher   
aim have never any ethical character2   
they  are merely something natural4     
,whether the devotion of one's property 
or of one's life for an object valuable 
in principle is made more  completely   
than need be or exactly to the extent   
required by the  circumstances1 does not
 alter in any way the ethical character 
of the  decision and the action4 ,such  

excess or defect only shows how much or 
how little the ethical will has allowed 
pg #jdf itself to be at the  same time  
influenced by considerations of         
prudence4    ,aristotle's               
representation1 then1 rests on the fact 
that he allows  virtue in ordinary      
speech and virtue in the ethical sense  
to get mixed  up4 ,he smuggles in the   
really ethical1 and then offers it as   
the  resultant of two natural qualities1
 each of which is an extreme4    ,in the
 chapter on temperance--,ethics1 ,bk4   
,,iii41 #aj--;he has to allow  that the 
theory which makes the ethical a mean   
between two extremes  cannot be carried 
through completely4 ,the love of beauty1
 he says  plainly1 however strong it    
becomes1 remains what it is2 there can  
never be any question of excess4 ,he    
throws out this admission without       
seeing that he thereby undermines his   
feeble definition of the ethical  as the
 appropriate relative mean1 and1 like   
,socrates and ,plato1  acknowledges that

 there can be something which its       
content allows to  be reckoned as good  
in itself4    ,aristotle is so firmly   
resolved not to let himself be entangled
 in the  problem of the basic principle 
of ethics1 that he will allow nothing   
to lead him to the discussion of it4 ,he
 means to voyage along the  coast1 keep 
to facts1 and deal with ethics as if    
they were a branch of  natural science4 
,only he forgets that in science we can 
confine  ourselves to venturing from    
definite given happenings through       
hypotheses to the nature of the ,being  
which lies behind them1 while in        
ethics1 on the contrary1 we have to     
establish a basic principle  through the
 application of which we secure our     
happenings4    ,it is because he        
misunderstands their nature that        
,aristotle cannot  help ethics forward4 
,plato rides off over the head of       
,socrates and  loses himself in         
abstractions4 ,aristotle1 in order to   
maintain the  connexion with reality    

goes down below ,socrates4 ,he brings   
together  material for a monumental     
building1 and runs up a wooden shack4   
,among  teachers of virtue he is one of 
the greatest4 ,nevertheless1 the least  
of those who venture on the search for  
the basic principle of the  ethical1 is 
greater than he4    pg #jdg    ,ethical 
theory is no more ethics than cartilage 
is bone4 ,but how  strange is this      
inability to establish the basic        
principle of ethical  action which      
,socrates regarded as the certain1 and  
from the very first  sure and certain1  
product of thoughtful reflexion on the  
ethical6 ,why  do all the ancient       
thinkers who in succession to ,socrates 
search for  it1 always miss it8 ,why    
does ,aristotle cease to concern himself
 with  it1 and so condemn himself to a  
doctrine of virtue in which1 as a       
matter of fact1 there is hardly any more
 living ethical force than  there is in 
the abstract ethical system of ,plato or
 in the ethics of  resignation of the   

rest8    ,the ,ideal of the ,civilized  
,state in ,plato and ,aristotle    ,how 
little ,plato and ,aristotle are capable
 of establishing an ethic of  action can
 be seen from the way in which they     
sketch their ideal of  the civilized    
,state4 ,plato develops his in the      
,republic1 ,aristotle  his in the       
,politics4 ,at this very time1 ,mencius 
7,meng-tse7 is  putting before the      
princes of ,china a doctrine of the     
civilized ,state4    ,that the ,state   
must be something more than a union     
which regulates in  the most practical  
way the common life of a number of      
persons whom  natural conditions compel 
to depend upon one another1 is quite    
clear  to both of them4 ,they also agree
 in demanding that the ,state shall     
promote the true prosperity of its      
citizens4 ,this is1 however1            
unthinkable and impossible without      
virtue1 and the ,state must  therefore  
develop into an ethical institution4    
8,honourable and  virtuous conduct is   

the object which the political community
 aims at10  is the way ,aristotle puts  
it4    ,the ,state1 which is given by   
history1 is therefore to come under the 
influence of a representation of its    
nature as a political body which  is    
both ethical and rational4 ,in the      
,republic ,plato puts in the  mouth of  
,socrates the following sentiment3      
8,unless it happen that  either         
philosophers acquire the kingly power in
 ,states1 or those who  are to-day      
called kings and potentates cultivate   
philosophy truly and  sufficiently1 and 
thus political power and philosophy pg  
#jdh become  as one 4 4 4 there can be  
no deliverance from evil for ,states1   
nor  ever1 so ,i think1 for the human   
race0 7,bk4 ,v1 #dgc1 ,c and ,d74       
,when1 however1 it comes to a more      
detailed carrying out of the ideal  of  
the civilized ,state1 ,plato and        
,aristotle betray remarkable            
embarrassment4 ,first of all1 their     
vision of the ,state of the future  is  

not that of a community which embraces a
 whole nation1 but is  always just a    
copy of the ,greek city-republic with   
appropriate  improvements4 ,that they   
think out their ideal within such narrow
  limits is historically intelligible1  
but for the development of the          
philosophical idea of the civilized     
,state it is deplorable4    ,one result 
of these narrow limits is that both are 
anxiously concerned  to provide that the
 well-being of the city-republic shall  
not be  endangered by the increase of   
the population4 ,the number of the      
inhabitants is to be kept as far as     
possible always near the same  figure4  
,aristotle is not frightened by the     
proposal that weakly  children shall be 
allowed to die of hunger1 and that      
unborn children  shall be got rid of by 
intentional abortion4 ,that the ,spartan
 ,state1  on the contrary1 regards the  
increase of the population as desirable1
  and exempts a citizen from all imposts
 as soon as he has four  children1 does 

not seem to him to be reasonable4       
,again1 just as these two thinkers      
cannot work themselves up to a  general 
idea of a national ,state1 so they are  
unable to reach the idea  of mankind4   
,they make a strict line of division    
between the unfree on  the one side1 and
 the free on the other4 ,the former they
 regard merely  as creatures made for   
work1 who are to maintain the material  
well-being of the ,state4 ,what becomes 
of them as human beings is to  them a   
matter of very little interest4 ,such   
beings as they are not  meant to have   
any share in the growth towards         
perfection which is to  be brought about
 by means of the civilized ,state4      
,slavery was1 indeed1 attacked now and  
again by the ,sophists from their  point
 of view1 not1 however1 on the pg #jdi  
ground of humanity but  from a desire to
 raise doubts about the accepted        
justification of  existing institutions4
 ,aristotle defends it as a natural     
arrangement1  but recommends kindly     

treatment4    ,artisans1 and in general 
all who earn their living by the labour 
of  their hands1 are not to be allowed  
to be citizens4 8,one cannot  practise  
virtue1 if one leads the life of an     
artisan1 or of one who  labours for     
pay10 says ,aristotle4 ,an ethical      
valuation of labour as  such is still   
something unknown to him1 even though he
 conceives of  happiness as 8activity in
 accordance with the law of excellence40
  ,plato and he are still entirely under
 the influence of the ancient  view that
 only the 8free0 man can have full value
 as a man4    ,in details of the ideal  
of the ,state1 however1 the two part    
company1  and ,aristotle argues against 
,plato1 though1 unfortunately1 just     
those  parts of the ,politics in which  
he sketches his ideal ,state have not   
come down to us complete4 ,the main     
difference is that ,aristotle keeps     
closer than ,plato to the historically  
given4 ,he builds his ,state upon  the  
family2 ,plato makes the ,state into a  

family4 ,in his ,republic the  free men 
live with property1 wives1 and children 
owned in common4 ,they  are to possess  
nothing as their own1 so that they may  
not by private  interests be held back  
from working for the general welfare4   
,moreover1  the general welfare allows  
the ,state to breed its citizens        
systematically4 ,he prescribes the      
connections which men and women are  to 
form1 and permits only such as allow the
 expectation of a new  generation which 
is sound both in body and mind4 ,the    
offspring of  unions not approved by the
 authorities are either to be killed    
before  birth1 or got rid of by         
starvation4    ,aristotle contents      
himself with guaranteeing the quality of
 the  offspring by legal regulation of  
the age for marriage4 ,women may get    
married at eighteen1 men not till they  
are thirty-seven4 ,moreover1  marriages 
are to take place preferably in winter1 
and as far as  possible1 when the wind  
is in the north4    pg #jej    ,in what1

 then1 does the good consist which is to
 be realized by this  civilized ,state8 
,to this decisive question ,aristotle   
and ,plato have in  reality only the    
answer that it is meant to make it      
possible for a  number of its members1  
viz4 the 8free0 men1 to devote          
themselves  entirely to their own bodily
 and mental culture free from care about
  material things1 and to take the lead 
in public affairs4 ,it is not           
established with a view to the          
production of anything ethical in any   
deeper sense1 nor for the sake of an    
ideal of progress on lines which  could 
be described as in any sense great and  
noble4 ,nowhere do the  characteristic  
limitations of ancient ethics reveal    
themselves so  clearly as in the poverty
 of their ideal of the ,state4    ,the  
ethical valuation of man as man has not 
yet been reached4 ,hence  the ,state has
 for its object1 not the growth to      
perfection of all1 but  only that of a  
particular class4    ,the nation1 too1  

is not yet recognized as a great entity 
both natural  and ethical1 and therefore
 no consideration is given to the       
question  of uniting the various city   
communities for the joint pursuit of    
higher objects4 ,each remains isolated4 
,plato thinks he has satisfied  the     
claims produced by membership of the    
same nation by requiring that  in wars  
waged by ,greek ,states against one     
another the houses shall not  be        
destroyed nor the fields laid waste1 as 
if the war were against  barbarians4    
,the idea of humanity as a whole has not
 yet come in sight4 ,it is1  therefore1 
not possible for ,plato and ,aristotle  
to make their ,state  work in           
co-operation with others to promote the 
general progress of  mankind4    ,they  
therefore establish their civilized     
,state on a type which is  hemmed in in 
every direction by narrow horizons4     
,moreover1 the  political community     
which they adopt as the type is at the  
very time  when they are writing already

 a dying entity4 ,while ,aristotle is   
writing his ,politics1 his pupil1       
,alexander the ,great1 is founding an   
empire1 and ,rome is beginning to       
subject ,italy to her rule4    ,more    
important still than all external faults
 in their ideal pg #jea  of the         
civilized ,state is the fact that these 
two thinkers are unable  to introduce   
into the community the energies which   
are needed for its  maintenance4 ,the   
idea of the civilized ,state is present 
with the  vitality needed1 only when the
 individual is by the impulse contained 
in his world-view moved so far as to    
devote himself to organized  society    
with enthusiastic activity4 ,without    
civic idealism no  civilized ,state6    
,but to assume anything of that kind in 
the members of  their ,state is         
impossible for ,plato and ,aristotle1   
since both have  already reached the    
ideal of the wise man who withdraws     
himself  prudently and gracefully from  
the world4    ,plato admits this4 ,his  

wise citizens who are destined to be    
rulers  devote themselves to the service
 of the ,state only when their turn     
comes1 and are glad when they are set   
free and can again in retirement  busy  
themselves1 as wise among wise1 with the
 world of pure ,being4    ,aristotle1   
when he raises in the ,politics the     
question whether the  contemplative life
 is not to be preferred to that of      
political  activity1 decides in theory  
in favour of the latter4 8,it is a      
mistake10 he says1 8to value inactivity 
higher than activity1 since  happiness  
consists in activity40 ,but in the      
doctrine of virtue in the  ,nicomachean 
,ethics there is nothing which could    
lead the individual  to place his life  
at the service of the community4        
,plato and ,aristotle cherish           
undoubtedly the ancient conviction that 
the individual ought to devote himself  
to the ,state1 but they cannot  find a  
foundation for it in their world-view4  
,like ,epicurus and the  adherents of   

the ,porch1 they are under the spell of 
an ethic in which  there is present no  
will to attempt a transformation of the 
world4    ,how much greater than the two
 ,greeks is ,mencius1 when he is        
thinking  out the ideal of the civilized
 ,state6 ,he can make it as large as he 
likes and take men into its service with
 their best thoughts1 because  it       
results in the most natural way from a  
large-scale world-view of  ethical      
activity4    ,plato and ,aristotle1     
lacking such a world-view1 can do no    
more than  guess at the nature of a     
civilized ,state1 and invent one for    
themselves4 ,plato's ,republic is a mere
 pg #jeb curiosity4  ,aristotle's       
,politics is valuable1 not on account of
 the theory of  the civilized ,state    
which is there presented1 but only for  
his  magnificent practical analysis of  
the advantages and disadvantages of  the
 various ,state-constitutions1 and of   
their economic problems4    ,the        
decadence of antiquity does not begin1  

then1 with the suppression  of the      
individual by the ,empire1 and its      
destruction of the normal  mutual       
relations between the individual and the
 community4 ,it sets in  immediately    
after ,socrates1 because the ethical    
thinking which started  with him cannot 
really lead the individual beyond       
himself1 and set him  as an effective   
force in the service of the moralization
 and the  perfecting of social          
relations4    ,there is no middle term  
between the ethic of enthusiasm and that
 of  resignation4 ,but an ethic of      
resignation cannot think out1 much less 
bring into existence1 a system of social
 relations which can be called  really  
civilized4    ,seneca1 ,epictetus1 and  
,marcus ,aurelius    8,in imperial times
 ,stoicism shrivels up into a moralizing
 popular  philosophy0 is what we are    
usually told in treatises about ancient 
philosophy4 ,as a matter of fact what we
 have to deal with is by no  means a    
shrivelling up1 but a serious struggle  

for a living ethic  which begins        
unexpectedly in the later period of     
,grco-,roman thought1  and leads to an  
optimistic-ethical nature-philosophy4   
,the pillars of this movement are ,l4   
,annus ,seneca 7#d ,b4,c4--,a4,d4 #fe71 
,nero's teacher1 who at the command of  
his pupil had to open his veins2  the   
,phrygian slave1 ,epictetus 7born c4    
,a4,d4 #ej71 who in ,a4,d4 #id was  with
 all philosophers banished from ,rome by
 ,domitian2 the ,emperor  ,marcus       
,aurelius 7,a4,d4 #aba-ahj7 who1 brought
 up by pupils of ,epictetus1  defends   
the ,empire at a time of great danger1  
and writes his  philosophical           
,meditations while in camp47#h7    pg   
#jec    ,in their classical period      
,greek ethics offer us either egoistic  
considerations of advantage1 or cold    
doctrines of virtue1 or ascetic         
renunciation of the world1 or           
resignation4 ,in whichever direction    
they  turn1 they never lead men out     
beyond themselves4    ,in ,seneca1      

,epictetus1 and ,marcus ,aurelius1 they 
lose this  self-regarding character4    
,renouncing the spirit of the earlier   
time  they develop to an ethic of       
universal brotherhood1 and busy         
themselves  with the immediate1         
altruistic relations of man to man4     
,whence comes this understanding for    
humanity1 which is never seen in        
classical antiquity8    ,the older      
,greek moralists are concerned with the 
,state4 ,their interest  is absorbed in 
the maintenance of the organization of  
society which is  embodied in the       
city-republic1 so that the free citizens
 can continue  to live the life of      
freedom4 ,the type of complete manhood  
is to be  realized4 ,all around there is
 the activity of men who receive no     
consideration except so far as they are 
means to this end4    ,but amid the     
mighty political and social revolutions 
which lead to the  creation of the      
,empire this mentality ceases to be     
accepted as a  matter of course4 ,the   

fearful experiences it goes through     
cause  feeling to become more human1 and
 the horizons of ethics are widened4    
,the city-republic1 on which ethical    
thinking had been built up1 has         
disappeared1 but an empire now crushes  
men down just in the same way4  ,thus   
the individual man as such becomes the  
object of reflexion and of  ethics4 ,the
 conception of the brotherhood of all   
men appears4 ,a  disposition to humanity
 makes itself heard1 and ,seneca        
condemns the  gladiatorial shows4 ,nay  
more3 even the pg #jed inner            
relationship  between mankind and the   
animal world is recognized4    ,so now  
when they have caught sight of mankind  
as a whole and man as  such1 ethics     
reach such a depth and breadth as allows
 them to try to  comprehend themselves  
in a universal world-will4 ,henceforth  
nature-philosophy and ethics can work   
together4 ,stoicism had from the  very  
beginning a vision of this1 but had not 
been able to make it a  reality1 since  

it had not at its disposal the needful  
living and  universalist ethic4    ,but 
there is another reason why optimism and
 ethics can now in  nature-philosophy   
come into power4 ,the old school of the 
,porch was  crushed down into           
resignation just in proportion as it    
submitted to  the necessity for critical
 thinking4 ,but as time goes on1 the    
practical and religious instincts which 
were always present in its  world-view1 
gain in strength4 ,the antiquity which  
is passing away is  no longer critical1 
but either sceptical or religious1 and  
therefore  the later school of the      
,porch can let itself be guided by the  
ethical  demands of its world-view much 
more completely than the old one could4 
,it becomes at once deeper and more     
simple than the latter1 and1 like       
,chinese ethical monism1 rises to such  
freedom from limitations as to  be able 
to interpret the world-will as ethical4 
,so now ,stoics appear  who1 like       
,confucius1 like ,mencius1 and like     

,chwang-tse1 and indeed1  like the      
,rationalists of the eighteenth century1
 preach ethics as  something grounded in
 the nature of the universe and of      
mankind4 ,they  cannot prove the truth  
of this world-view any better than could
 ,zeno  and his pupils1 who also        
resorted to it1 but they announce it    
with an  inner conviction which the     
former could not command1 and produce   
their  results by means of an enthusiasm
 which was denied to their              
predecessors4    ,when the later school 
of the ,porch reaches the stage of      
exalting the  world-principle more and  
more to become a personal and ethical   
god1 it  is following laws which are at 
work also in ,hinduism4    pg #jee      
,yet the world-view of resignation1     
which it has inherited from the  older  
school1 it never succeeds in rendering  
entirely impotent4 ,in  ,seneca and     
,epictetus this is still strongly       
maintained side by side  with the       
ethical conception of the universe4 ,it 

is only in ,marcus  ,aurelius that the  
optimistic motives sound victoriously   
through4    ,stoicism was from the      
beginning a multiform elemental         
philosophy1 and  it is because it       
ventured to be this in such             
comprehensive measure  that the later   
,stoicism is so rich and so full of     
life4    ,moral ,sayings of ,seneca     
,no man is nobler than his fellow1 even 
if it happen that his spiritual  nature 
is better constituted and he is more    
capable of higher  learning4 ,the world 
is the one mother of us all1 and the    
ultimate  origin of each one of us can  
be traced back to her1 whether the steps
  in the ladder of descent be noble or  
humble4 ,to no one is virtue  forbidden2
 she is accessible to all2 she admits   
everyone1 she invites  everyone in3 free
 men and freedmen1 slaves1 kings1 and   
exiles4 ,she  regards neither birth nor 
fortune2 the man alone is all she wants4
    ,it is a mistake to think that the  
status of a slave affects the whole  of 

a person's nature2 the nobler part of it
 is not touched thereby4    ,every      
single person1 even if there is nothing 
else to recommend him1 ,i  must hold in 
regard1 because he bears the name of    
man4    ,in the treatment of a slave we 
have to consider not how much we can do 
to him without being liable to          
punishment1 but how much the nature of  
right and of justice allows us to1      
seeing that these bid us treat  gently  
even prisoners and purchased slaves4    
,although in the treatment  of a slave  
everything is allowed1 there is         
nevertheless something  which through   
the common right of every living being  
is stigmatized as  not permissible in   
the treatment of a man1 because he is of
 the same  nature as thyself4    ,this1 
in fact1 is the demand which is laid    
upon each man1 viz4 that he  works when 
possible1 for the welfare of many2 if   
that is  impracticable1 that he works   
for the welfare of a few2 failing that1 
for the welfare of his neighbours1 and  

if that is impossible1 for his  own4    
,it is through untiring benevolence that
 the bad are won over1 and  there is no 
disposition so hard and so hostile to   
loving treatment 444  as to refuse love 
to the good people whom it will in the  
end have to  thank again for something  
more4 8,not a word of thanks did ,i get6
 ,what  am ,i now to begin to do80 ,what
 the gods do1 4 4 4 who begin to shower 
benefits on us before we are aware of   
it1 and continue them even  though we do
 not thank them4    ,moral ,sayings of  
,epictetus    ,nature is wonderful1 and 
full of love for all creatures4    ,wait
 upon ,god1 ye men4 ,when ,he calls you1
 and releases you from pg  #jef service1
 then go to ,him2 but for the present   
remain quietly in  the position in which
 ,he has placed you4    ,you carry a god
 about with you1 and do not know it1    
unhappy one6 ,you  have him within      
yourself1 and do not notice it when you 
defile him  with unclean thoughts or    
foul deeds4    ,cultivate the will to   

satisfy yourself1 and to stand right    
before ,god4  ,strive to become pure1   
one with yourself and one with ,god4    
,think silence best2 say only what is   
necessary1 and say it shortly4  ,above  
all1 do not talk about thy fellow-men1  
either to praise them1 or  to blame     
them1 or to compare them with others4   
,do not swear2 never1 if  possible1 or  
at any rate as seldom as possible4 ,your
 bodily  wants--food1 drink1 clothing1  
housing1 service--satisfy in the        
simplest  way4 ,avoid unseemly joking1  
for there is always a danger of becoming
  vulgar1 and joking away the respect of
 your fellow-men4    ,as you are careful
 when walking not to tread on a nail or 
to sprain  your ankle1 so take care not 
to let your soul get hurt4    ,moral    
,sayings from the ,meditations of       
,marcus ,aurelius    ,everything that   
happens1 happens right1 and if you can  
observe things  carefully1 you will     
recognize that it is so4 ,i do not mean 
only in  accordance with the course of  

nature1 but much more that they happen  
in accordance with the law of           
righteousness1 and as if controlled by a
  ,being who orders all things according
 to merit4    ,if ,i am active1 ,i am so
 with due regard to the general welfare4
 ,if  anything happens to me1 ,i accept 
it and consider it in relation to the   
gods and the universal source from      
which1 in close connection1 come  all   
our happenings4    ,he who commits      
unrighteousness is godless1 for         
universal nature  created rational      
beings for one another2 to help each    
other where  there is need1 but never to
 injure one another4    ,love mankind2  
obey the godhead4    ,if thou art       
unwilling to get up in the morning1     
reflect thus3 ,i am  waking in order to 
go and work as one of mankind4    ,seek 
all thy joy and contentment in          
advancing1 mindful always of ,god1  from
 one generally useful deed to another4  
,the best way to avenge oneself on      
anyone is to avoid returning evil  for  

evil4    ,it is a privilege of man to   
love even those who do him wrong4 ,one  
can  reach this level by reflecting that
 all men are of one family with         
oneself2 that their shortcomings are due
 to ignorance1 and against  their will2 
that in a short time both of you will be
 dead4    ,what is good is necessarily  
useful1 and that is why the good and    
noble  man must be concerned about it4  
,nobody gets tired of seeking his own   
advantage4 ,but doing so procures  us an
 activity which is natural4 ,never get  
tired1 then1 of seeking  thine own      
advantage1 provided thou procurest thus 
the advantage of  others also4    pg    
#jeg    ,treat as befits a man endowed  
with reason1 that is magnanimously and  
nobly1 the animals which are not so     
endowed1 and indeed all creatures       
whatever that can feel but have no      
reason4 ,but other men1 since they  are 
endowed with reason1 treat with friendly
 affection4    ,thou has existed till   
now as a fragment of the universe1 and  

wilt some  day be absorbed in thy       
producer1 or rather1 thou wilt suffer a 
transformation and reappear as a new    
germ of life4    ,many grains of incense
 are destined for the same altar4 ,some 
fall soon  into the flame1 others later1
 but that makes no difference4    ,the  
,optimistic-,ethical ,world-,view of the
 later ,stoicism    ,in their           
optimistic-ethical world-view the later 
,stoics find those  impulses to effort  
which were not available for the ancient
 ethics of  the classical age4 ,marcus  
,aurelius is an enthusiastic utilitarian
 like  the ,rationalists of the         
eighteenth century1 because1 like them1 
he is  convinced that nature itself has 
bound up together what is ethical and   
what is advantageous to the individual  
and to the community4    ,that being so1
 the classical question of ancient      
ethics whether the  thinking man is to  
busy himself with public affairs or not 
must again  be discussed4 ,epicurus     
taught that 8the wise man has nothing to

 do  with ,state affairs unless         
exceptional circumstances arise40       
,zeno's  decision was that 8he will take
 part in the business of the ,state     
unless obstacles prevent it40 ,both     
schools leave the retirement into       
oneself to the decision of the ,wise    
man1 only one lets the grounds for  the 
decision be given somewhat earlier1 the 
other somewhat later4 ,the  thought of a
 devotion to the general good which is  
to be kept active  for its own sake and 
under all circumstances is outside the  
circle of  vision of their ethic4       
,with the later ,stoics it emerges1     
because the conception of 8mankind0  has
 come in sight4 ,man1 as ,seneca works  
out in his treatise on ,leisure  7,de   
,otio71 belongs to two republics4 ,one  
is a large and universal  one1 extends  
as far as the sun shines1 and embraces  
both gods and men2  the other is that   
into which through the fate assigned us 
by our pg  #jeh birth1 we have been     
adopted as citizens4 ,circumstances may 

bring  it about that the wise man cannot
 dedicate himself to the service of  the
 ,state1 but1 to escape the storm1 must 
8take refuge in the  harbour40 ,it may  
happen--and ,seneca has in mind his own 
time--that not  one of existing ,states 
is of such a character as to put up with
 the  activity of the wise man4         
,nevertheless1 the latter does not      
wholly  withdraw into himself1 but he   
serves the great republic by working to 
improve the general outlook of mankind1 
and to hasten the coming of a  new age4 
,in ,epictetus also this deepened and   
widened notion of duty is to be  found4 
,marcus ,aurelius does not even consider
 any impossibility of  taking part in   
public life4 ,in him there speaks the   
ruler who feels  himself to be the      
servant of the ,state4 ,his ideal is the
 citizen who  8from one activity which  
makes his fellow-citizens happier goes  
on to  another1 and undertakes with     
alacrity anything whatever that the     
,state  lays upon him40 8,do what is    

needed1 and what is bidden by the reason
  of a being who is destined by nature  
to membership of a ,state1 and do  it as
 it is bidden40    ,in the middle of the
 second century ,a4,d4 ancient thought  
arrives at an  optimistic-ethical       
world-view which holds within itself    
living ideals  of civilization1 and     
therefore anticipates those which later 
on in the  eighteenth century will bring
 into activity so mighty and universal a
  movement of civilization4 ,but for the
 men of the ,grco-,roman world it  comes
 too late4 ,it does not permeate the    
masses1 but remains the  private        
possession of an lite4    ,it cannot    
permeate the masses1 because there are  
forces at work among  them with which it
 cannot combine4 ,it is true1 indeed1   
that the ethic  of the later ,stoicism  
is so near akin to the universal charity
 of the  ,christian ethic1 that by the  
tradition of later times ,seneca is     
declared to be a ,christian1 and that   
the ,church father1 ,augustine1  holds  

up the life of the heathen emperor1     
,marcus ,aurelius1 as an  example for   
,christians4    ,yet the two movements  
cannot amalgamate1 but have pg #jei to  
fight  each other4 ,marcus ,aurelius is 
responsible for most terrible           
persecutions of ,christians1 and        
,christianity on its side declares war  
to the knife against the ,porch4    ,why
 this strange fatality8 ,because        
,christianity is dualistic and          
pessimistic1 the ethic of ,stoicism is  
monistic and optimistic4  ,christianity 
abandons the natural world as evil1 the 
later ,stoics  idealize it4 ,it helps   
not at all that their ethical teaching  
is almost  identical4 ,each appears as  
part of a world-view which is           
irreconcilable with that of the other4  
,all contradictions in the world  may be
 concealed1 but not that between two    
world-views1 and the  struggle ends with
 the annihilation of the                
optimistic-ethical  world-view of the   
,stoics1 which is defended by officers  

without an  army4 ,the attempt that was 
undertaken as the ancient world was     
coming  to an end1 to restore the       
,empire and make it an empire as wide as
  mankind1 was a failure4    ,the       
horizons of the philosophy of the       
ancient world had remained  narrow too  
long4 ,no ethical thinkers had appeared 
who at the right  time might have led   
that world to an ethical optimism about 
reality4  ,it was a calamity1 too1 that 
the natural sciences1 which had started 
in such a promising way1 came to a      
standstill1 partly through the  fault of
 fate1 partly because philosophy turned 
away from them1 before  mankind         
discovered the law of the uniformity of 
nature1 and obtained  thereby control   
over it4 ,hence the men of antiquity    
never acquired  that self-consciousness 
which in their descendants of modern    
times has  kept alive1 even through the 
darkest periods of history1 the belief  
in  progress--even though it be         
sometimes progress of the most          

superficial  kind4 ,this psychological  
factor is of great importance4    ,it is
 true that artistic ability1 which in   
the ,greek spirit meets us  in such     
abundant measure1 is also control over  
the material1 but this  creative power  
was unable to draw the man of antiquity 
up to a higher  life-affirmation and to 
belief in progress4 ,it served only to  
let him  express himself1 in words and  
in form1 in the antagonism between      
primitive pg #jfj world- and            
life-affirmation1 and thinking world-   
and life-denial4 ,it is the puzzling    
intermixture of serenity and  melancholy
 which produces the tragic charm of     
,greek art4    ,from every point of     
view1 then1 a strong ethical world- and 
life-affirmation is made difficult for  
the ancient world4 ,it therefore  falls 
more and more a prey to pessimistic     
world-views1 which draw its  thoughts   
away from reality1 and celebrate the    
liberation of the  spiritual from its   
bondage to the material in a succession 

of cosmic  dramas4 ,gnosticism1         
,oriental and ,christian1               
,neo-,pythagoreanism1 which  arose as   
early as the first century ,b4,c41 the  
,neo-,platonism which  originated with  
,plotinus 7,a4,d4 #bjd-bfi71 and the    
great  ,mystery-religions1 all come to  
meet the religious1 world-shunning      
disposition of the masses during the    
breaking-up of antiquity1 and  offer it 
that deliverance from the world of which
 it is in search4 ,in  this chaos of    
ideas ,christianity emerges victorious  
because it is the  most robust religion 
of redemption1 because as a community it
  possesses the strongest organization1 
and because beneath its  pessimistic    
world-view it has at its disposal living
 ethical ideas4    ,the                 
optimistic-ethical monism of the later  
,stoics is like a sunbeam  breaking     
through in the evening of the long1     
gloomy day of antiquity  while the      
darkness of the middle ages is already  
drawing on1 but it  has no power to     

waken any civilization to life4 ,the    
time for that is  past4 ,the spirit of  
antiquity1 having failed to reach an    
ethical  nature-philosophy1 has become  
the prey of a pessimistic dualism in    
which no ethic of action is any longer  
possible2 there can only be an  ethic of
 purification4    ,the thoughts of      
,seneca1 ,epictetus1 and ,marcus        
,aurelius are the winter  seed of a     
coming civilization4          pg #jfa   
,,chapter ,,vi    ,,optimistic          
,,world-,,view ,,and ,,ethics ,,in ,,the
  ,,renaissance ,,and                   
,,post-,,renaissance ,,periods          
,belief in ,progress and ,ethics        
,,the essential characteristic of the   
modern age is this1 that it thinks  and 
acts in the spirit of a world- and      
life-affirmation which has  never before
 shown itself with such active strength4
    ,this world-view breaks through in  
the ,renaissance1 first at the end of   
the fourteenth century1 and it arises as
 a protest against the  medival         

enslavement of the human spirit4 ,the   
movement is helped to  victory by the   
increasing knowledge of ,greek          
philosophy in its  original form which  
is the result of the migration to ,italy
 about the  middle of the fifteenth     
century of learned ,greeks from         
,constantinople4  ,among the thinking   
men of that time there arises the belief
 that  philosophy must be something more
 elemental and more living than         
,scholasticism made it4    ,but the     
thought of antiquity would not have been
 sufficient by itself  to keep alive    
this new world- and life-affirmation    
which appealed to  it4 ,it has not1 in  
truth1 the mentality required4 ,but     
another kind of  fuel is in time brought
 for the fire4 ,taking refuge from      
book-learning  in nature1 the men of    
that time discover the world4 ,as seamen
 they  reach countries whose very       
existence was not suspected1 and they   
measure the size of the earth4 ,as      
inquirers they press on into the        

infinite and the secrets of the         
universe1 and learn by experience that  
forces governed by uniform laws are at  
work in it1 and that man has  power to  
make them serviceable to himself4 ,the  
knowledge and power won  by ,leonardo da
 ,vinci 7#adeb-aeai71 ,copernicus pg    
#jfb 7#adgc-aedc71  ,kepler             
7#aega-afcj71 ,galileo 7#aefd-afdb71 and
 others are decisive for  the current   
world-view4    ,as a movement which     
draws its life solely from spiritual    
forces1 the  ,renaissance passes its    
bloom-time comparatively quickly1 and   
without  forming much fruit4 ,with      
,paracelsus 7#adic-aeda71 ,bernardino   
,telesio  7#aejh-aehh71 ,giordano ,bruno
 7#aedh-afjj71 and others1 an           
enthusiastic  nature-philosophy         
announces itself4 ,it does not1 however1
 reach full  growth4 ,the ,renaissance  
has not strength enough to bring to     
birth a  world- and life-affirming      
philosophy corresponding to their       
spirit4  ,here and there their thought  

surges for a time1 like a rough sea1    
against the world-denying world-view of 
the ,church4 ,then all is still4  ,what 
we know definitely as the philosophy of 
modern times begins  almost without any 
reference to the ,renaissance4 ,it      
springs not from  any nature-philosophy1
 but from the problem of the theory of  
knowledge  which was raised by          
,descartes1 and from that starting-point
 philosophy  has once more had          
laboriously to seek its way to a        
nature-philosophy4    ,it is not1 then1 
because it was enlarged during the      
,renaissance into a  fully thought out  
world-view that world- and              
life-affirmation made  good its position
 in the modern age4 ,if it was able to  
hold out right  into the eighteenth     
century1 when it triumphs against the   
world- and  life-denial which medival   
thought and ,christianity kept working  
in  opposition to it1 it owed this to   
the circumstance that progress in       
knowledge and power never ceased4 ,in   

them the new mentality had a  support   
which never gave way1 but became        
continually stronger4 ,since  the new   
scientific knowledge cannot be          
suppressed nor its progress  arrested1  
belief in the power of truth becomes    
firmly established4  ,since it becomes  
more and more evident that nature works 
with a  uniformity which never misses   
its aim1 there grows up a confidence    
that the circumstances of society and of
 mankind generally can be so  organized 
as to secure definite objects4 ,since   
man is ever obtaining  pg #jfc greater  
power over nature1 he takes it more and 
more as  self-evident that the reaching 
of perfection in other spheres also is  
only a question of a sufficiency of     
will-power and a correct way of         
grappling with problems4    ,under the  
steadily working influence of the new   
mentality the  world-view of            
,christianity changes1 and becomes      
leavened with the  leaven of world- and 
life-affirmation4 ,it gradually begins  

to be  accepted as self-evident that the
 spirit of ,jesus does not give up the  
world in despair1 but aims at           
transforming it4 ,the early ,christian  
conception of the ,kingdom of ,god1     
which was born of pessimism and1  thanks
 to ,augustine1 prevailed through the   
,middle ,ages1 is rendered  impotent1   
and its place is taken by one which is  
the offspring of  modern optimism4 ,this
 new orientation of the ,christian      
world-view1  which is accomplished by a 
slow and often interrupted process of   
change between the fifteenth century and
 the end of the eighteenth1 is  the     
decisive spiritual event of the modern  
age4 ,during this period  ,christianity 
takes no account of what is happening to
 itself4 ,it  believes that it is       
remaining unchanged1 whereas in reality1
 by this  change from pessimism to      
optimism1 it is surrendering its        
original  character4    ,the man of     
modern times1 then1 becomes optimistic1 
not because  deepened thought has made  

him understand the world in the sense of
  world- and life-affirmation1 but      
because discovery and invention have    
given him power over it4 ,this          
enhancement of his self-appreciation and
  the consequent strengthening of his   
will and his hopes1 determine his       
will-to-live in a correspondingly       
pronounced and positive sense4    ,in   
the ancient world man's natural         
disposition to world- and               
life-affirmation could not be worked out
 to a complete world-view of  the same1 
because at that time deep thought about 
the world and life  pressed resignation 
upon him as a necessity of thought4 ,in 
the man of  the modern age the mentality
 produced by discovery and invention    
unites with his natural disposition to  
world- and life-affirmation1  and       
establishes him in an optimistic        
world-view pg #jfd without  leading him 
to deeper thought about the world and   
life4    ,the spirit of the modern age  
is not the work of any one great        

thinker4  ,it wins its way gradually by 
reason of the unbroken series of        
triumphs  won by discovery and          
invention4 ,hence it is not a result of 
chance  that an almost unphilosophic and
 moreover somewhat antiquated           
personality like ,francis ,bacon1 ,lord 
,verulam 7#aefa-afbf71 is the man  who  
drafts the programme of the modern      
world-view4 ,he founds it upon  the     
sentence3 8,knowledge is power40 ,his   
picture of the future he  develops in   
his ,new ,atlantis1 in which he         
describes how the  inhabitants of an    
island1 through the practical           
application of all  known discoveries   
and inventions and all possible rational
 reflexion  on the purposive            
organization of society1 find themselves
 in a  position to lead the happiest    
possible lives47#i7    ,christian and   
,stoic ,elements in ,modern ,ethics     
,what is the relation between ethics and
 the mentality of belief in  progress1  
and how were they influenced by it8     

,when the ethical thought of antiquity  
wanted to come to clearness  about      
itself1 it fell a victim to resignation1
 because it tried to  determine the     
moral as that which is rationally       
profitable and  pleasurable to the      
individual4 ,it remained shut up within 
the circle  of the egoistic1 and never  
reached the thought of social           
utilitarianism4 ,from such a fate modern
 ethics are protected in  advance4 ,they
 have no need to produce from their own 
resources the  thought that the ethical 
is action directed to promoting the     
welfare  of others1 for they find it as 
something already accepted as true4     
,that is the gift of ,christianity4 ,the
 thought of ,jesus that the  ethical is 
the individual's active self-devotion to
 others has won its  way to acceptance4 
,ethics1 pg #jfe which are making       
themselves  independent of religion1    
keep1 as a result of their passage      
through  ,christianity1 a pronouncedly  
active and altruistic mode of thought4  

,what they have to do now is to provide 
this possession with a rational         
foundation4    ,it is extraordinarily   
significant that to meet modern ethics  
there  comes in the ,late ,stoicism a   
philosophical ethical system in which   
there appear1 as the result of rational 
thinking1 thoughts which run  side by   
side with ,christian morality4 ,there is
 now coming up for the  benefit of      
modern times the seed sown by ,seneca1  
,epictetus1 and ,marcus  ,aurelius4     
,cicero1 too1 counts with modern times  
for so much1 because  its thinkers find 
in his writings noble morality based    
upon thought4  ,the discovery of ,late  
,stoicism's ethic of humanity is for    
modern times  akin to their discovery of
 nature4 ,they identify it with the real
  ,christian ethic1 and contrast it with
 the scholastic1 in which ,jesus  is    
expounded according to ,aristotle4 ,it  
is through ,late ,stoicism that  modern 
times become aware that the moral is    
something direct4 ,because  ,seneca1    

,epictetus1 and ,marcus ,aurelius speak 
to such an extent just as  ,jesus did1  
they help to spread the conviction that 
the truly rational  ethic and the ethic 
of the ,gospels coincide with one       
another4    ,when antiquity came to an  
end1 ,late ,stoicism and ,christianity1 
in  spite of the identity of their moral
 teaching1 had torn each other to       
pieces4 ,in modern times they unite in  
order to produce together an  ethical   
world-view4 ,why is that now possible   
which before was  impossible8 ,because  
the chasm which lay between their       
respective  world-views has been        
bridged4 ,christianity now treats world-
 and  life-affirmation as valid4    ,but
 how could this volte-face of           
,christianity be brought about8         
,because of the fact that in spite of   
its pessimistic world-view it  upholds  
an ethic which1 so far as it touches the
 relation of man to  man1 is an activist
 ethic4 ,the pessimistic world-view1 if 
it thinks  itself out to a consistent   

conclusion1 must end with a purely      
world-denying ethic1 pg #jff divorced   
from action1 as it has in  ,india4 ,the 
peculiar character1 however1 of the     
world-view of ,jesus  which is          
determined by the expectation of the end
 of the world and the  coming of a      
supernatural kingdom of ,god1 together  
with the directness  of his ethical     
feeling1 entail his proclaiming of an   
ethic of active  devotion to one's      
fellow-,man in spite of his pessimistic 
attitude  towards the natural world4    
,this activist ethic is what is wanted  
to  provide the cardinal-point of an    
evolution from a  ,christian-pessimistic
 world-view to one of ,christian        
optimism4 ,the  modern age1 following   
its instinct1 assumes it as self-evident
 that an  ethic which deals with the    
active relations of man to man is       
pre-supposed to be an ethic which       
assigns a positive value to action  as  
such1 and1 further1 that such an ethic  
of action belongs to a  world-view which

 is optimistic and which wills and hopes
 for a  transformation of relationships4
    ,it is1 then1 the ethic of active   
self-devotion taught by ,jesus which    
makes it possible for ,christianity to  
do what is suggested by the  spirit of  
the modern age1 and modulate from the   
pessimistic to the  optimistic          
world-view4 ,this result finds          
expression in the way the new           
conception of ,christianity1 when it has
 to come to an understanding  with the  
old one1 contrasts itself as 8the       
religion of ,jesus0 with  8the          
,christianity of dogma40    ,a way is   
prepared1 then1 in ,erasmus and         
individual representatives of  the      
,reformation1 shyly at first but then   
more and more clearly1 for an           
interpretation of the teaching of ,jesus
 which corresponds to the  spirit of    
modern times1 an interpretation which   
conceives the teaching  as a religion of
 action in the world4 ,historically and 
in actual fact  this is a wrong         

interpretation1 for the world-view of   
,jesus is1 so far  as concerns the      
future of the natural world1 thoroughly 
pessimistic4  ,his religion is not a    
religion of world-transforming effort1  
but the  religion of awaiting the end of
 the world4 ,his ethic is characterised 
by activity only so far as it commands  
men to practise unbounded  devotion to  
their fellow-men if they would attain to
 that inner  perfection pg #jfg which is
 needed for entrance into the           
supernatural  kingdom of ,god4 ,an ethic
 of enthusiasm1 and therefore presumably
  focused upon an optimistic world-view1
 forms part of a pessimistic            
world-view6 ,that is the magnificent    
paradox in the teaching of ,jesus4      
,but the modern age was right in        
overlooking this paradox and in         
assuming in ,jesus an optimistic        
world-view which corresponded to an     
ethic of enthusiasm and met with a      
welcome the spirit of ,late ,stoicism   
and of modern times4 ,for the progress  

of the spiritual life of ,europe  this  
mistake was a necessity4 ,what crises   
the latter must have gone  through1 if  
it had not been able without            
embarrassment to place the  new         
world-view under the authority of the   
great personality of ,jesus6    ,the    
mistake was such a natural one that till
 the end of the nineteenth  century it  
was never seriously shaken4 ,when       
historical criticism1 at  the beginning 
of the twentieth century1 proclaimed its
 discovery that  ,jesus1 in spite of his
 activist ethic1 thought and acted under
 a  pessimistic world-view dominated by 
the expectation of the end of the       
world1 it aroused indignation4 ,it was  
accused of degrading ,jesus to a  mere  
enthusiast1 while it after all only put 
an end to the false  modernising of his 
personality47#aj7    ,what we at the    
present time have to do is to go through
 the critical  experience of being      
obliged to think as modern men under a  
world-view  of world- and               

life-affirmation1 and yet let the ethic 
of ,jesus speak  to us from out of a    
pessimistic world-view4    ,of this     
problem which is disclosing itself      
to-day the early period of  the modern  
age suspects nothing4 ,jesus and the    
moralists of ,late  ,stoicism together  
are its authorities for an ethical      
world- and  life-affirmation4    ,what  
the ,late-,stoic ethic is for the modern
 age is shown by ,erasmus of  ,rotterdam
 7#adff-aecf71 ,michel de pg #jfh       
,montaigne 7#aecc-aeib71  ,pierre       
,charron 7#aeda-afjc71 ,jean ,bodin     
7#aecj-aeif71 and ,hugo ,grotius        
7#aehc-afde71 and that whether their    
ideas run predominantly on  ,christian  
or on freethinking lines4 ,to the ,later
 ,stoics ,erasmus owes  it that he can  
understand the simple gospel of ,jesus  
which was being  discovered behind the  
,church's dogmas1 as being the essence  
of all  ethical philosophizing4 ,it is  
by finding support in them that         
,montaigne in his ,essays 7#aehj7 is    

saved from falling into complete        
ethical scepticism4 ,because he is      
inspired by the ,later ,stoics1 ,bodin  
in his work ,de la rpublique 7#aegg71   
puts forward an ethical ideal  of the   
,state to combat the ideas of           
,machiavelli's ,prince  7,principe7     
7#aeae74 ,because he draws from the same
 source1 ,pierre  ,charron in his work  
,de la sagesse 7#afja71 ventures to     
assert that  ethics are higher than     
traditional religion1 and can maintain  
themselves in an independent position in
 face of it without losing  anything of 
their essential nature or of their      
depth4 ,because the work  of ,marcus    
,aurelius has preceded him1 ,hugo       
,grotius is able in his  famous work1   
,de jure belli ac pacis 7#afbe7 to lay  
so securely the  foundations of natural 
and international law1 and thereby to   
champion  the claims of reason and      
humanity in the domain of jurisprudence4
    ,other considerations apart1 it     
would have been the first task of the   

rising power of natural science to      
restore to currency the world-view  of  
,epicurus1 and ,pierre ,gassendi        
7#aeib-afee77aa7 attempts it4 ,he       
fails1 however1 to accomplish his       
purpose4 ,by its inward belief in       
progress the mentality of the modern age
 is driven in elemental  fashion beyond 
scepticism and sceptical ethics4 ,what  
is great in  ,epicurus1 viz4 that in    
obedience to the deepest demands of     
truth he  tries to think ethically      
within a nature-philosophy which does   
not  interpret nature as embodying any  
purpose1 can neither be comprehended    
nor be put before his own age by the    
philosopher's all too clever  modern    
prophet4    pg #jfi    ,for the weighty 
questions of absolute truth that time is
 by no means  ripe4 ,its capacity is    
only that of the uncritical4 ,typical   
for its  spirit is ,isaac ,newton       
7#afdc-agbg71 who in his investigation  
of nature  is purely empirical1 and in  
his world-view remains simply           

,christian4    ,against the difficulties
 which crop up for ethics and world- and
  life-affirmation out of a             
nature-philosophy which works without   
any  presuppositions1 the ,renaissance  
and the ,post-,renaissance are secure4  
,the belief in progress which arises    
from the achievements of discovery  and 
invention1 and the joy felt in action   
itself are their world-view4    ,thanks 
to belief in progress1 new life streams 
into ethics4 ,the inner  relations      
between ethics and world- and           
life-affirmation begin to have  their   
effect4 ,the elementary impulses to     
activity which are embodied  in the     
,christian ethic are set free1 and the  
belief in progress gives  them an aim   
and object3 the transformation of the   
circumstances of  society and of        
mankind4    ,it is not any really deeper
 ethical thinking that brings the modern
  age in1 but the influence exerted by  
the belief in progress1 which  arose out
 of the achievements of discovery and   

invention1 on the ethic  which drew its 
life from ,stoic and ,christian thought4
 ,the cart is  drawn by the belief in   
progress1 and at first ethics have only 
to run  along beside it4 ,but as the    
cart gets heavier and the road more     
difficult to negotiate1 so that ethics  
ought to lend their strength to  help1  
they refuse1 because they have no       
strength of their own4 ,the  cart begins
 to run backward1 and carries belief in 
progress1 and  ethics with it1 down the 
hill4    ,the task before philosophy was
 to change the world- and               
life-affirmation which arose out of     
enthusiasm over the attainments in      
discovery and invention into a deeper1  
inner one arising out of  thought about 
the universe and the life of man1 and on
 that same  foundation to build up an   
ethical system4 ,but philosophy could do
  neither4    ,about the middle of the  
nineteenth century1 when it has become  
perfectly clear that we are living with 
a world- and pg #jgj  life-affirmation  

which has its source merely in our      
confidence in  discovery and invention  
and not in any deeper thinking about the
 world  and life1 our fate is sealed4   
,the modern optimistic-ethical          
world-view1 though it has done so much  
for the material development of         
civilization1 proves to be like a       
building erected already to a           
considerable height but on rotten       
foundations1 and has to collapse4       
pg #jga    ,,chapter ,,vii    ,,laying  
,,the ,,foundation ,,of ,,ethics ,,in   
,,the  ,,seventeenth ,,and ,,eighteenth 
,,centuries      ,hartley1 ,holbach4    
,devotion as ,enlightened ,egoism       
,,modern times find world- and          
life-affirmation so self-evident that   
they feel no need to give them a sure   
foundation1 and to deepen them1  by     
thought about the world and life4       
,pessimism they brush aside as          
reactionary folly1 without suspecting   
how deep down into thought it  has sent 
its roots4    ,they do1 however1 see the

 necessity of establishing the nature of
 the  ethical4 ,how do they proceed to  
do this8    ,that the ethical means     
action directed to promoting the common 
good is  their firm belief from the     
first1 and they are safe from the fate  
of  ancient thought1 viz4 sticking fast 
in the mud of resignation while  trying 
to give the ethical a proper foundation4
 ,instead of that they  have to answer  
the question how the unegoistic makes it
 appearance  beside the egoistic1 and in
 what inner relation they stand to each 
other4    ,a performance now begins like
 that which went on after the appearance
  of ,socrates1 only the task is        
proposed this time not by an individual 
but by the spirit of the time4 ,another 
attempt is made to consider the  ethical
 problem in isolation1 as if it         
consisted in reflexions on the  relation
 of the individual to himself and to    
society1 these having no  need to settle
 their position with regard to ultimate 
questions of the  meaning of the world  

and of life4 ,the ethical problem seems1
 too1 to  be a much easier one than it  
was then1 because world-affirmation and 
activity directed towards the general   
welfare no longer have to be  proved1   
but appear among the presuppositions    
which are taken for  granted4    pg #jgb
    ,there are three ways in which the  
relations between the egoistic and  the 
altruistic can be made clear4 ,either   
one assumes that the egoistic  in the   
thought of the individual is            
automatically converted into the        
altruistic by consistent meditation4 ,or
 one supposes the altruistic to  have   
its beginning in the thought of society 
and thence to pass over  into the       
convictions of the individual4 ,or one  
retires to the position  that egoism and
 altruism are both among the original   
endowments of  human nature4 ,all three 
explanations are attempted1 each with   
most  varied arguments4 ,they are not   
always carried to a conclusion without  
intermixture1 and with many thinkers    

there is interplay of one with  another4
    ,the attempt to deduce devotion to  
the common welfare from egoism by       
psychological considerations is made in 
the most systematic way by  ,david      
,hartley 7#agje-ageg77ab7 and ,dietrich 
von ,holbach  7#agbc-aghi747ac7         
,hartley1 a theologian who betook       
himself to the practice of medicine1    
claims to see in altruism a purposive   
ennoblement of original  selfishness    
which comes into play under the         
influence of rational  thought4 ,the    
much-reviled ,holbach ascribes its      
origin to the fact that  the individual1
 if he rightly understands his own      
interest1 will  always form his         
conception of it in connection with the 
interest of  society1 and therefore     
direct his activities to the latter as  
well4    ,both attempt to carry up their
 building1 so far as it goes1 with      
materialistic considerations and then to
 roof it with idealist ones4  ,but      
neither with the coarser nor with the   

finer considerations nor  with both     
together can the psychological          
derivation of altruism from  egoism     
produce any convincing result4    ,the  
coarser ones do not carry us very far4  
,it is acknowledged1 pg  #jgc of course1
 that the prosperity of society depends 
upon the moral  disposition of its      
members and that the better the moral   
condition of  society the better is the 
individual's expectation of prosperity4 
,but  it does not follow that the       
individual becomes more moral1 the      
better  he understands his own          
interests4 ,the mutual relation between 
him and  society is not of such a       
character that he derives benefit from  
the  latter just in proportion as he    
himself by his moral conduct helps to   
establish its prosperity4 ,if the       
majority of its members are with        
short-sighted egoism intent only on     
their own good1 then the man who  acts  
with wider outlook makes sacrifices from
 which there is no  prospect of gain for

 himself1 even if the best happens and  
they are  not lost without benefiting   
the community4 ,if1 on the other hand1  
through the moral conduct of the        
majority of its members the condition   
of society is favourable1 the individual
 profits by it even if he  fails to     
behave towards it as morality demands4  
,by conduct which  disregards both past 
and future1 he will carve for himself an
 unduly  big share of personal          
prosperity out of the prosperity of the 
community1 milking the cow which the    
rest feed4 ,the influence of the        
individual on the prosperity of the     
community and the reaction of  social   
prosperity on that of the individual do 
not stand in a simple  relation to each 
other which acts equally in both        
directions4 ,the  consideration1        
therefore1 that egoism1 rightly         
understood1 will oblige  the individual 
to resolve on activity which is directed
 to promoting  the common good1 is a    
ship which sails well1 but leaks4       

,the psychological derivation of        
altruism from egoism must1 then1 in     
some way or other1 make an appeal to the
 self-sacrifice of the  individual4     
,this it does by inducing him to        
consider that in happiness  there is a  
spiritual element as well as a material4
 ,man needs 7it is  said7 not only      
external prosperity1 but to be respected
 by others and  to be satisfied with    
himself1 and he can have this double    
experience  only when he concerns       
himself about the pg #jgd prosperity of 
others4  ,even ,holbach1 who tries to be
 inexorably matter-of-fact1 lets these  
considerations speak loudly4    ,the    
attempt is made1 therefore1 above the   
prolonged bass note of the  conception  
of happiness derived from ordinary      
egoism1 to modulate into  the           
spiritualized conception of it4    ,the 
path which this attempt has to follow   
runs parallel to that which  led the    
successors of ,socrates into the abyss  
of the paradoxical4 ,in  order to get   

from egoism into altruism and so think  
out to a  conclusion the ethic of the   
rationally-pleasurable1 the ,epicureans 
wished to use the same scale of values  
for spiritual and material  pleasure    
alike4 ,the only result was that their  
ethic transformed  itself into          
resignation4 ,now again1 in modern      
times1 and again for the  sake of       
ethics1 spiritual happiness is to be    
regarded as happiness in  the same way  
as material happiness is1 and here again
 the result is a  paradox4    ,material 
and spiritual happiness are not so      
related that the one can  find its      
continuation in the other4 ,if the      
second is for the sake of  ethics called
 in with the first1 it does not         
strengthen the first1 but  paralyses it4
 ,the man who does earnestly try to     
guide himself by the  light of spiritual
 as well as material happiness1 ends by 
finding that  the recognition accorded  
him by his fellow-men1 which at first   
seemed  to him to make almost the whole 

of spiritual happiness1 becomes more    
and more meaningless4 ,it is to him a   
miserable lump of solder which  drops   
down between material and spiritual     
happiness without being able  to fasten 
them together4 ,more and more           
exclusively he experiences  spiritual   
happiness as the condition in which he  
is at one with  himself and therefore   
can justifiably accord himself a certain
 amount  of self-appreciation4          
,spiritual happiness is sufficient unto 
itself4 ,either the man is led  to      
resolve on ethical conduct because he   
expects from it a moulding of  the      
outward circumstances of his being which
 will bring him profit and  pleasure2 or
 he chooses it because he finds his     
happiness in obeying  his inner         
compulsion to ethical action4 ,in the   
latter case he pg #jge  has left far    
behind him all calculations about the   
interdependence of  his morality and his
 material happiness4 ,the fact that he  
is a moral  man is in itself his        

happiness1 even though it land him in   
the most  disadvantageous situations4   
,but if spiritual happiness can never be
 welded into union with  material1 it is
 useless trouble to try to depict       
altruism as an  ennobling of egoism4    
,if the ordinary conception of pleasure1
 that it may be brought into  union with
 ethics1 is submitted to a process of   
refining1 it ends by  being refined     
away4 ,in ancient ethics1 in which the  
refining is done  under the influence of
 an ethical system which is definitely  
egoistic1  it transforms itself into the
 pleasure of being without pleasure1 and
  allows ethics to end in resignation4  
,in modern ethics1 in which the         
pleasure to be refined is under the     
influence of altruism1 it works  itself 
up into an irrational and               
immaterialistic enthusiasm4 ,in both    
cases there is the same paradoxical     
proceeding1 only that in one case  it   
goes in the negative direction1 in the  
other in the positive4    ,whenever1    

then1 thought wishes to conceive ethics 
as springing from  pleasure or          
happiness1 it arrives at resignation or 
enthusiasm1 at  spiritualised egoistic  
or at spiritualised expansive conduct4  
,there is no way in which natural       
pleasure can1 in really deep  thinking1 
be brought into connexion with ethics4  
,hobbes1 ,locke1 ,helvetius1 ,bentham   
,the explanation that altruism is a     
principle of action which the           
individual takes over from society is to
 be found expressed in  characteristic  
ways by ,thomas ,hobbes                 
7#aehh-afgi717ad7 ,john ,locke          
7#afcb-agjd717ae7 ,adrien ,helvetius    
7#agae-agga77af7 and ,jeremy  ,bentham  
7#agdh-ahcb747ag7    pg #jgf    ,hobbes 
represents the ,state as commissioned   
and empowered by the  majority of the   
individual citizens to engage the whole 
body in action  for the common          
advantage4 ,in this way alone1 he       
asserts1 is it  possible to realise the 
common good in which the egoism of      

individuals  finds the highest possible 
degree of prosperity4 ,left to          
themselves1  men would never be able to 
get free from their short-sighted       
egoism1  and would1 therefore1 miss     
prosperity4 ,their only possible course1
  then1 is to join in setting up an     
authority which will drive them into    
altruism4    ,with external means only1 
however1 organized society cannot engage
 the  individual in all the activities  
which are needed for the common good4   
,it must strive to ensure its power over
 him by means of spiritual  conviction  
as well4 ,locke takes this need into    
consideration4  ,according to him it is 
,god and society together who force     
altruism  upon the individual by        
appealing at the same time to his       
egoism4 ,these  two authorities have1   
that is to say 7as our reason enables us
 to  recognize71 so ordered the course  
of things that actions beneficial to    
society are rewarded1 and those         
injurious to it are punished4 ,god has  

at his disposal rewards and punishments 
of endless duration4 ,society  works in 
two different ways3 through the power   
given to it by the  criminal law1 and   
through the law of public opinion in    
which it uses  praise and blame as      
spiritual means of compulsion4 ,man     
being guided  both by pleasure and      
absence of it1 he manages to accommodate
 himself  to those rules which defend   
the general good so effectually1 and he 
thereby becomes moral4    ,in spite of  
all their differences on single points1 
,hobbes and ,locke  agree in having this
 external conception of ethics4 ,the    
essential  point of distinction between 
them is pg #jgg that with ,hobbes       
society  alone plies the whip1 while    
with ,locke ,god and society handle it  
together4    ,helvetius1 who belonged to
 a family which had migrated from the   
,palatinate into ,france1 is more       
refined and more inward4 ,in his life   
as a farmer of taxes and a              
property-owner1 he always tried1 along  

with  his noble-minded wife1 to act with
 kindness and justice as he explains    
them in his book4 ,it is clear to him   
that ethics means somehow or  other     
enthusiastic action1 that is1 action    
which springs out of  feeling47#ah7     
,society cannot1 therefore1 force these 
virtues into  the individual2 it can    
only educate him into them1 and it does 
in fact  apply all the means and devices
 which are at its disposal to influence 
his egoism in their direction4 ,above   
all it makes good use of his  striving  
to win recognition and fame4 ,the praise
 which it pours on  that which is 8good0
 in its own sense of the word is for the
 mass of  men the strongest inducement  
to take up work for its interests4      
,helvetius would perhaps have offered a 
less external conception of how  ethical
 action is realized1 if he had not1 with
 the best intentions1  taken so much    
trouble to depict morality as something 
which can be  taught4    ,in the view   
that morality is enthusiastic action to 

which the  individual is roused by      
society1 ,bentham agrees entirely with  
,helvetius1 but he carries it through in
 a much deeper way4 ,out of the         
,romanza he makes a hymn4    ,the part  
played by society in bringing morality  
into existence cannot1  according to    
,bentham1 be emphasized too strongly4   
,in vehement words he  opposes the view 
that the human conscience can decide    
between good and  evil4 ,nothing can be 
left to subjective feeling4 ,man is     
truly moral  only when he receives his  
ethics at the hand of society and works 
them  out with ardour4    ,but if       
society is to decide about ethics1 it   
must first bring order  into its own    
ethical views1 and therefore1 says      
,bentham1 must learn to  combine clear  
and definite notions pg #jgh with its   
presentation of  the general good4 ,that
 done1 it must make up its mind to apply
 this  principle with absolute          
consistency as a foundation for         
legislation  and the establishment of   

ethical standards1 excluding all        
considerations of a different character4
 ,a 8moral arithmetic0 should  be       
constructed which allows the calculating
 in correct utility values  of all      
decisions that have to be made4         
,dealing in a dry1 practical way with   
all cases of penal legislation1  and of 
establishment of standards by the moral 
law1 ,bentham then shows  that the      
principle of the greatest good of the   
greatest number is  applicable in all of
 them1 and guides us safely and         
accurately in  questions of good and    
evil4    8,moral philosophy1 in its     
general meaning1 is the theory          
underlying  the art of so directing the 
actions of men that there is produced   
the  greatest possible amount of        
happiness40    ,it is legislation that  
decides what moral actions the community
 can  order to be performed1 and if it  
is to exert an educative influence it   
must be humane through and through4     
8,but there are many actions which1     

though useful to the community1         
legislation may not command4 ,there are 
even many injurious actions  which it   
may not forbid1 although moral          
philosophy does so4  ,legislation is1 in
 a word1 a circle with the same centre  
as moral  philosophy1 but its           
circumference is smaller40    ,when law 
ceases to be available1 there is nothing
 that society can do  except be         
continually putting before the          
individual personally how  greatly he   
contributes to his own welfare by       
furthering that of  others4 ,bentham    
does not make it do this with educative 
guile as does  ,helvetius4 ,society     
appeals to his feeling for truth4 ,it   
throws itself  at his feet and entreats 
him for the sake of the general welfare 
to  listen to the voice of reason4 ,thus
 the dry way in which ,bentham  writes  
about ethics has in it something        
peculiarly impressive1 and  explains the
 powerful influence which this pg #jgi  
eccentric member  of the ,house which   

looks across the ,park at ,westminster  
has exercised  all over the world       
through the individuals who were        
inspired by him4    ,the most           
influential parts of his work are those 
in which he  intensifies the seriousness
 of men and sharpens their outlook by   
leading them to reflect not only on the 
immediate but also on the more  distant 
consequences of anything done or left   
undone1 and1 further1  not only on the  
material consequences but on the        
spiritual ones4 ,it  does one good to   
note the courage with which this fanatic
 for utility  ventures to represent     
material blessings as the foundation of 
spiritual ones4    ,bentham is one of   
the most powerful moralists who have    
ever appeared  in the world1 but his    
mistakes are as great as his insight4   
,the latter  is shown in this1 that he  
conceives morality as a kind of         
enthusiasm4  ,his mistake is that he    
thinks he must guarantee the rightness  
of this  enthusiasm by making it nothing

 higher than a judgement of society     
which is taken over by the individual4  
,this compels us to rank ,bentham with  
,hobbes1 ,locke1 and ,helvetius1        
although in other respects he stands    
high above them4 ,he1 like them1  makes 
morality arise outside the individual4  
,he1 like them1 in order  to find his   
explanation of the altruistic1 puts out 
of action the  ethical personality which
 is in man1 and1 to compensate for this1
  raises society to an ethical          
personality that he may then by a       
transmission of energy connect          
individuals with this central           
power-station4 ,the difference is only  
that with the other commonplace         
moralists the individual is a marionette
 directed by society on  ethical        
principles1 whereas in ,bentham he      
carries out with deep  conviction the   
movements suggested to him4    ,ethical 
thought falls from one paradox into     
another4 ,if1 as in  antiquity1 it      
thinks out a system in which the        

activity that must be  directed to the  
common good is not sufficiently         
represented1 it  arrives at ethics which
 are no longer ethics1 and ends in      
resignation4  ,if it assumes and starts 
from such an activity directed to the   
common  good1 pg #jhj it arrives at an  
ethic in which there is no ethical      
personality4 ,it is1 strange to say1    
unable to mark out the middle  course   
and let an activity which is directed to
 the promotion of the  common good      
spring out of the ethical personality   
itself4    ,altruism as a natural       
quality4 ,hume1 ,adam ,smith    ,the    
explanations of altruism as an ennobling
 of egoism which has a  spontaneous     
origin through the activity of reason1  
or which is brought  into existence     
through the influence of society1 are   
obviously  unsatisfying both            
psychologically and ethically4          
,utilitarianism must  therefore         
necessarily come to admit that altruism 
is somehow or other  given independently

 in human nature side by side with      
egoism4 ,it is  true that it always     
appears there as the backward           
twin-brother who can  be reared only    
with the most careful nursing1 and      
therefore the  upholders of the third   
alternative given above appeal to the   
considerations used for the first two4  
,they continually allow the  capacity   
for altruistic feeling to be exposed to 
the influence of  considerations which  
seem calculated to let egoism discharge 
its  waters into altruism4 ,the two     
first views are taken into service as   
wet-nurses for the third4 ,david ,hume  
7#agaa-aggf77ai7 and ,adam  ,smith      
7#agbc-agij77bj7 must be named here4    
,hume agrees with the other utilitarians
 in allowing that the principle  of     
seeking to promote the common good must 
be accepted as the dominant  principle  
of morality4 ,whether actions are good  
or bad is decided  solely by whether    
they are directed towards the production
 of general  happiness pg #jha or not4  

,there is nothing which is in itself    
ethical  or unethical4    ,to the idea  
that ethics can have as their object the
 self-perfecting  of the individual as  
little weight is given by ,hume as by   
the other  utilitarians4 ,like them1 he 
opposes asceticism and other            
life-denying  demands of ,christian     
ethics1 because he cannot discover in   
them  anything profitable for the       
general welfare4    ,but what makes men 
decide to work together for the common  
good8  ,consistent utilitarians answer3 
,reflexion about what the common good   
means4 ,of this one-sidedness ,hume is  
not guilty1 because he does not  find it
 to be in accord with psychological     
facts4 ,it is not out of  high-minded   
reflexion1 he asserts1 but out of direct
 sympathy that the  emotions and actions
 of benevolence arise4 ,the virtues     
which serve the  common good have their 
origin in feeling4 ,we can resolve on   
acts of  love only because there is in  
us an elementary feeling for the        

happiness of men1 and a dislike of      
seeing them in misery4 ,we become  moral
 through sympathy4    ,it would not have
 been a big step further to explain this
 sympathy as  a form of the egoistic    
need of happiness1 more or less through 
the  assumption that in order to be     
really happy a man must see happiness   
all round him4 ,but ,hume does not use  
such roads as that4 ,he does not  aim at
 constructive thought but at stating    
facts1 and it is enough for  him that   
direct sympathy with other men be proved
 to be a principle  inherent in human   
nature4 ,we have to stop somewhere or   
other1 he says  in one place1 in our    
search for causes4 ,in every science    
there are  certain general principles   
beyond which there is no more general   
principle still for us to discover4     
,among the elements which are effective 
in developing moral feeling1  ,hume     
attributes great importance to the love 
of fame4 ,this keeps us  considering    
ourselves in the light in which we wish 

to appear in the  eyes of others1 for   
the effort to secure the respect of     
others is a  potent educator in virtue4 
,on this point he thinks like ,frederick
 the  ,great1 from whom comes the       
sentence3 8,the love of fame pg #jhb is 
innate in noble souls2 you have only to 
arouse it and urge it on1 and  men who  
till then merely vegetated1 will seem to
 you1 when explained  by this happy     
instinct1 to be changed into            
demi-gods407#ba7    ,adam ,smith wishes 
to trace out the idea of sympathy in all
 its  manifestations1 and in doing so he
 discovers that our capacity for        
sympathy covers more than participation 
in the weal or woe of others4  ,it      
brings us1 he says1 to a community of   
thought with those who are  doing       
something4 ,we feel ourselves directly  
attracted or repelled by  the actions of
 others and the motives at the back of  
them4 ,our ethics  are the product of   
these sympathetic experiences4 ,we come 
in time to  take care that an impartial 

third party can justify and sympathise  
with the mainspring and the tendency of 
our actions4 ,innate sympathy  not only 
with the actions but also with the      
experience of others is  thus the       
beneficent regulator of the behaviour of
 men to one another4  ,this feeling ,god
 has implanted in human nature that it  
may keep men  faithful to work for the  
common good4    ,how far this somewhat  
artificial extension of the notion of   
sympathy  through the doctrine of the   
impartial third party really means a    
step  forward beyond ,hume we may leave 
undiscussed4    ,in his famous work1 ,an
 ,inquiry into the ,nature and ,causes  
of the  ,wealth of ,nations 7#aggf71    
,adam ,smith founds this prosperity     
purely  upon the entirely free and      
intelligent activity of egoism4 ,about  
the  part to be played by ethics in     
economic questions he says nothing4     
,economic development he leaves to be   
determined by its own internal  laws1   
and is confident that1 if these are left

 a free course1 the  result will be     
favourable4 ,adam ,smith1 the moral     
philosopher1 is also1  because he is    
endowed with a rationalistic optimism1  
the founder of  the laissez-faire form  
of economic pg #jhc doctrine1 that of   
the  ,manchester school1 as it is       
called4 ,he led industry and commerce in
  their struggle for liberation from the
 petty and injurious tutelage of        
authority4 ,to-day1 when economic life  
among all peoples is again  delivered   
over to the most short-sighted ideas of 
authorities who  never think in terms of
 economics1 we can measure the greatness
 of his  performance4    ,like ,adam    
,smith1 ,bentham also is an adherent of 
the principle of  freedom in economic   
life4 ,at the same time he has an       
ethical  conception of society1 and     
demands from it that in a spirit of     
progress it shall help to level out as  
far as possible the differences  between
 rich and poor4    ,what1 then1 do ,hume
 and ,adam ,smith mean for ethics8 ,they

 introduce  into the treatment of them  
the element of empirical psychology4    
,they  believe that through the value   
they give to the significance of        
sympathy they are giving a natural      
foundation to utilitarianism1  though in
 reality this psychology begins to      
correct it and to  undermine its        
position4 ,there hovers before the mind 
of utilitarianism  the great conception 
that ethics are a result of reflexion4  
,it thinks  to make men moral by keeping
 their attention fixed on the deep      
nature  of ethics and the necessity of  
the ends at which it aims4    ,this     
conception draws its life from the      
conviction that thought has  been given 
complete control over the will4 ,the    
absolute rationality of  the ethical is 
the foundation on which it builds1 and  
if it is not to  get quite bewildered   
about its own nature1 it cannot allow   
itself to  recognize as presuppositions 
of the ethical1 facts which are given it
  by psychology and cannot be verified  

independently4    ,with ,hume and ,adam 
,smith1 who trace ethics back to        
something given in  human nature which  
resembles instinct1 there crops up the  
problem how  ethics can be something    
natural1 and at the same time something 
subordinate to thought1 for that they   
are subordinate to thought has  to be   
assumed even by the champions of this   
psychological  utilitarianism4 ,if they 
were nothing but the exercise of an     
instinct1  they would not be capable of 
widening and pg #jhd deepening1 nor     
could they be imparted to all and sundry
 with convincing force4 ,yet  how is it 
conceivable that thought influences the 
sympathetic  instinct8 ,what have the   
two in common that the work of one can  
be  carried further by the other8    ,if
 ,hume and ,adam ,smith had suspected   
the far-reaching character of  this     
great problem of ethics which they      
brought into the field of  discussion1  
they would have had to go on and settle 
the extent and the  depth of this       

sympathy which they adopted in their    
scheme1 in order to  understand how it  
continues to function in the domain of  
thought4    ,but they fail to notice the
 far-reaching character of what they lay
  down1 and believe they have done      
nothing but give by means of  psychology
 an explanation of altruism which is    
superior to these  currents4 ,the spirit
 of the time1 in its wonderful capacity 
for  holding various ideas side by side1
 takes possession of their view1  and   
the popular utilitarianism now          
confidently appeals to it as  declaring 
that altruism is to be conceived as a   
rational ennobling of  egoism1 as a     
result of the influence of society1 and 
in addition as a  manifestation of a    
natural instinct4    ,it is1 really1    
only in appearance that the             
psychological conception of  ethics     
imparts new life to utilitarianism4 ,it 
is rather a consumption  germ which the 
latter absorbs4 ,the establishment of a 
natural element  in ethics1 when the    

consequences of it begin to make        
themselves felt1  can only end in its   
devouring rationalist utilitarianism1 as
 becomes  evident in the nineteenth     
century when biological thought becomes 
influential in ethics4 ,the funeral     
procession of rationalist               
utilitarianism begins to assemble with  
,hume and ,adam ,smith1 though it  is a 
long time before the coffin is taken to 
the cemetery4    ,the ,english ethic of 
self-perfecting    ,against the         
utilitarians1 who would derive from the 
content of the  moral the essential     
nature of it1 and the pg #jhe obligation
 to  morality1 the 8,intellectualists0  
and the 8,intuitionists0 enter the      
lists4 ,the empirical derivation of     
ethics seems to them to be an           
endangering of the majesty of the moral4
 ,morality--this is the thought  before 
their minds--is a striving after        
perfection1 and this develops  itself in
 us because it is implanted in us by    
nature4 ,action for the  common         

advantage does not by any means         
constitute ethics2 it is only a         
manifestation of the struggle after     
self-perfecting4    ,to this deeper and 
more comprehensive conception of ethics1
 however1  the ,intellectualists and    
,intuitionists do not give correct      
expression4  ,for that they are still   
too much entangled in a lifeless and    
semi-scholastic philosophizing4         
,their chief strength lies in their     
showing up of the weaknesses of the     
foundation which ,hobbes and ,locke give
 to ethics1 and to these they           
principally devote themselves1 bringing 
to their task a great deal  that is     
correct about the directly and          
absolutely binding character of  the    
moral law4 ,that the meaning of the     
moral is not to be found merely  in the 
useful character of the actions inspired
 by it but also in the  self-perfecting 
of the agent which is effected by them1 
and that  morality presupposes a moral  
personality1 is emphasized by them in   

many happy turns of expression4         
,when1 however1 the task before them is 
to describe exactly in what way  men    
carry in them the idea of the good as a 
force which works  effectively upon     
their character1 the ,intellectualists  
and the  ,intuitionists land themselves 
in a psychologizing which is sometimes  
ingenious1 but often artificial and     
commonplace4 ,they occupy  themselves   
with logical distinctions instead of    
investigating in a  practical fashion   
the nature of man4 ,instead of really   
developing the  problem in answer to the
 innovators1 they work at it with data  
taken  from an out-of-date philosophy4  
,they hark back largely to ,plato1 and  
again they argue largely1 anxiously or  
unconsciously1 not as  philosophers1 but
 as theologians4    ,on individual      
points they diverge from each other1 and
 pg #jhf attack  each other's positions 
according as they would have the        
foundations of  the ethical more        
intellectualist1 or more sentimental and

 mystical1 or  more theological4    ,the
 majority of these anti-utilitarians    
belong to the ,cambridge  ,platonizing  
school4 ,we must name here ,ralph       
,cudworth  7#afag-afhh717bb7 ,henry     
,more 7#afad-afhg717bc7 the ,rev4       
,samuel  ,clarke 7#afge-agbi717bd7      
,bishop ,richard ,cumberland            
7#afcb-agah717be7 and ,william          
,wollaston 7#afei-agbd747bf7            
,according to ,cudworth the truths of   
morality are just as evident as  these  
of mathematics4 ,for ,more the ethical  
is an intellectual power of  the soul   
meant for the control of natural        
impulses4 ,cumberland finds  the moral  
law given in the reason which has been  
bestowed upon man by  ,god4 ,clarke1    
living in the thought world of ,isaac   
,newton1 sees it as  the spiritual      
phenomenon which corresponds to the law 
of nature4  ,wollaston defines it as    
that which is logically right4          
,pressed back to their fundamental      
meaning1 these thinkers do nothing  but 

amplify the statement that the ethical  
is ethical4 ,they assert  that the      
utilitarian view of ethics is pitched   
too low1 but they do  not succeed in    
establishing1 in contrast to it1 a more 
exalted  principle in such a way that a 
higher and more comprehensive content   
of ethics can be derived from it4 ,as to
 content their ethic does not  really   
differ from that of the utilitarians4   
,it merely lacks the great  enthusiastic
 driving-force which shows itself in the
 latter4 ,to  establish a living ethic  
of self-perfecting is beyond the        
capacity of  the ,intellectualists and  
the ,intuitionists4    ,what is the     
inner connexion between the struggle for
 self-perfecting  and action for the    
common advantage8 ,that pg #jhg is the  
weighty  question of ethics which crops 
up in the settlement of differences     
between the utilitarians and their      
conservative opponents4 ,at first it    
remains veiled1 and it does not come to 
clear expression till we reach  ,kant4  

99       99       99       99       99  
,a peculiar position in the ethical     
thought of the eighteenth century  is   
held by ,anthony ,ashley ,cooper1 ,earl 
of ,shaftesbury  7#afga-agac747bg7 ,he  
opposes not only the utilitarians1 but  
the  ,intellectualists and the          
,intuitionists as well1 and tries to    
secure a  mediating position between    
them4 ,that the content of ethics is    
utilitarian he openly admits1 but he    
derives the ethical neither from        
considerations of usefulness nor from   
the intellect2 he places its  origin in 
feeling4 ,at the same time he           
emphasizes1 as does ,adam ,smith  also a
 few years later1 its relationship to   
the sthetic4    ,but the important thing
 is that he puts forward a living       
philosophy of  nature which connects    
itself with ethics4 ,he is convinced    
that harmony  reigns in the universe and
 that man is meant to experience this   
harmony in himself4 sthetic feeling and 
ethical thinking are for him  forms of a

 growing union with the divine life1    
which struggles to find  expression in  
the spiritual being of man as it does in
 nature4    ,with ,shaftesbury ethics   
descend from a rocky mountain range into
 a  luxuriant plain4 ,the utilitarians  
know as yet nothing of a world4  ,their 
ethic is contained in considerations    
about the relation of the  individual to
 society4 ,the anti-utilitarians have   
some idea of a  world1 but not a correct
 one4 ,they elaborate ethics with a     
formal  theology and a formal           
philosophizing about the ,all1 but      
,shaftesbury  plants ethical thought in 
the universe of reality1 which he       
himself  contemplates through an        
idealising optimism1 reaching thereby a 
direct  and universal notion of the     
moral4    pg #jhh    ,a mysticism based 
on a philosophy of nature begins to spin
 its magic  threads through ,european   
thought4 ,the spirit of the ,renaissance
 rules  again1 no longer1 however1 like 
a raging storm1 as in ,giordano ,bruno1 

but as a gentle breeze4 ,shaftesbury    
thinks pantheistically1 more            
pantheistically than he confesses to    
himself1 but his is not a  pantheism    
which throws his age into struggles     
about world-views1 and  comes into      
conflict with theism4 ,it is the        
pantheism which rules in  ,hinduism and 
in ,late ,stoicism also2 one which is   
not dangerous1 and  raises no question  
of principle1 desiring only to be       
regarded as a  vivifying of belief in   
,god4    ,shaftesbury exerts also a     
liberating influence on the spiritual   
life  of his time by giving ethics a    
much freer attitude towards religion    
than anyone had ventured to do up to    
that time4 ,religion1 according to  him1
 has not to give decisions about ethics1
 but on the contrary must  test its own 
claims to be true by its relation to    
pure ethical ideas4  ,he even ventures  
to represent the ,christian teaching    
about rewards and  punishment as not    
consistent with pure ethical            

considerations4  ,morality1 he says1 is 
pure1 only when good has been done      
simply  because it is good4    ,his     
optimistic-ethical philosophy of nature 
is offered by ,shaftesbury  only as a   
sketch4 ,he throws out his ideas without
 proving that they  are well founded1   
and without feeling any necessity for   
thinking them  out to a conclusion4 ,he 
steps with an easy stride across all    
problems4  ,what a difference between   
his philosophy of nature and ,spinoza's6
 ,yet  his meets the needs of his time4 
,he offers what is new to it1 and what  
inspires it3 ethics bound up with a     
living world-view4    ,the belief in    
progress now clothes itself in a living 
world-view which  really suits it4 ,this
 is the process which1 thanks to        
,shaftesbury1  began in the first       
decades of the eighteenth century and   
went on  developing till the end of it4 
,hence the appearance of his writings1  
which were immediately spread abroad    
through the whole of ,europe1 pg  #jhi  

is the great event for the spiritual    
life of the eighteenth  century4        
,voltaire1 ,diderot1 ,lessing1          
,condorcet1 ,moses ,mendelssohn1        
,wieland1 ,herder1 and ,goethe too1 are 
under his influence1 and he  dominates  
popular thought completely4 ,hardly ever
 has any man had so  direct and so      
powerful an influence on the formation  
of the world-view  of his time as the   
invalid whose life ended at ,naples when
 he was only  forty-two4    ,direct     
continuators of ,shaftesbury's ethic are
 found in ,francis  ,hutcheson          
7#afid-agdg77bh7 and ,bishop ,joseph    
,butler  7#afib-ageb717bi7 but they take
 from it just that soft  indefiniteness 
which gives it its charm and its        
strength4 ,hutcheson1  who strongly     
emphasizes theology's independence of   
ethics1 the  relationship of the latter 
to the sthetic1 and their utilitarian   
content1 stands nearer to his teacher   
than does ,butler1 who does not  go as  
far in his welcome of utilitarianism1   

and also opposes1 from the  ,christian  
standpoint1 the optimism of             
,shaftesbury's world-view4    ,but      
,shaftesbury's true successor is ,j4 ,g4
 ,herder 7#agdd-ahjc74 ,in his  ,ideas  
on the ,philosophy of ,human ,history   
7#d vols41 #aghd-agia71 he  carries the 
optimistic-ethical nature-philosophy on 
into a  corresponding philosophy of     
history4          pg #jij    ,,chapter  
,,viii    ,,laying ,,the ,,foundations  
,,of ,,civilization ,,in ,,the ,,age    
,,of ,,rationalism      ,the ,mentality 
and the ,achievements of the ,ethical   
,belief in ,progress    ,,thanks to the 
fully worked out optimistic-ethical     
world-view with  which the belief in    
progress surrounds itself in the course 
of the  eighteenth century1 these       
generations prove capable of thinking   
out  the ideals of civilization and     
advancing towards their realization4    
,the fact that all attempts to give     
ethics a foundation in reason have      
turned out on the whole unsatisfactory  

does not move them1 if indeed  they give
 the point any consideration at all4 ,by
 the conviction that  they have formed a
 rational conception of the world which 
gives it an  optimistic-ethical meaning1
 they are carried on over all the inner 
problems of ethics4 ,the alliance which 
belief-in-progress and ethics  have in  
the course of modern times contracted   
with one another is  sealed by means of 
their world-view1 and now they set to   
work  together4 ,rational ideals are to 
be realized4    ,the ethical and the    
optimistic come into power1 therefore1  
in the  world-view of the eighteenth    
century1 although they have not yet     
received any real foundation4           
,scepticism and materialism range around
  the fortress like hordes of           
unconquered enemies1 though at first    
without being dangerous2 as a rule they 
have themselves absorbed no  small      
amount of belief-in-progress and of     
ethical enthusiasm4 ,voltaire  is an    
example of the sceptic who stands under 

the restraint exercised  by the         
prevalent optimistic and ethical        
thought4    ,so far as its elements are 
concerned the world-view of rationalism 
hides itself under the                  
optimistic-ethical monism pg #jia of    
,kungtse  7,confucius7 and the ,later   
,stoics1 but the enthusiasm which       
supports it  is incomparably stronger   
than any felt by them4 ,the             
circumstances1  too1 amid which it      
appears are far more favourable1 and so 
it becomes  an elemental power          
throughout a whole people4    ,in a     
world-view which springs from a noble   
faith1 but is remarkable  also for the  
extent of its knowledge1 the men of the 
eighteenth  century begin to think out  
ideals of civilization and to realise   
them  in such measure that the greatest 
epoch in the history of human           
civilization now dawns4    ,the great   
feature of the mentality of this belief 
in progress which is  ever showing      
itself in works is its magnificent want 

of respect for  all existing things1    
whether belonging to the past or the    
present4  ,these are to it in all their 
various forms the imperfect1 which is   
destined to be replaced by a perfect4   
,the eighteenth century is thoroughly   
unhistoric4 ,in what is good as in  what
 is bad it cuts itself loose from       
whatever was or is1 and is  confident of
 being able to put in its place         
something that is more  valuable1       
because more ethical or more in         
accordance with reason4 ,in  this       
conviction the age feels itself so      
creative that it has no  understanding  
for creations of original genius4       
,gothic buildings1  early painting1 ,j4 
,s4 ,bach's music1 and the poetry of    
earlier ages1  are felt by these        
generations as art which was produced at
 a time when  taste had not yet been    
purified4 ,activity which follows rules 
in  accordance with right reason will1  
they think1 introduce a new art  which  
will be superior in every respect to any

 that has preceded it4  ,full of this   
self-confidence1 a mediocre musician    
like ,zelter in  ,berlin works over the 
scores of ,bach's ,cantatas4 ,full of   
this  self-confidence1 honourable       
poetasters re-write the texts of the    
wonderful old ,german chorales and      
replace the originals in the hymn  books
 with their own wretched productions4   
,that they so navely push forward right 
into the sphere pg #jib of  art the     
boundaries of the creative faculties    
with which nature endowed  them is a    
mistake made by these men for which they
 have often been  laughed at4 ,but      
mockery cannot do them much harm4 ,in   
those departments  of life in which the 
important matter is the shaping of      
things  according to ideals given by    
reason--and work done upon such things  
means for the establishment of          
civilization very much more than any    
work spent in the promotion of art--they
 are as creative as any  generation ever
 has been1 and as scarcely any will be  

in the future4  ,they are frightened by 
nothing which has to be undertaken in   
this  sphere1 and in every department   
they make the most astonishing  advance4
    ,they venture also to deal with     
religion4 ,that religion should be split
  up into various antagonistic          
confessional bodies is to them an       
offence  against reasonable reflexion4  
,only a relative1 not any absolute      
authority1 they maintain1 can be allowed
 to the belief which is handed  down in 
historical formulas4 ,finding expression
 in so many and such  varied forms it   
can1 of course1 be nothing but a more or
 less  imperfect embodiment of the      
ethical religion taught by reason1 which
  must be equally intelligible to all   
men4 ,the right thing is1  therefore1 to
 strive after the religion of reason1   
and to accept as  true only such parts  
of the various confessions as are in    
harmony with  it4    ,the churches1     
naturally1 put themselves on the        
defensive against this  spirit1 but     

against the strong general convictions  
of the age they are  unable in the long 
run to hold out4 ,protestantism succumbs
 first1  because the elements already   
within it allow such considerations to  
find easy access4 ,it carries within    
itself impulses to rationalism1         
inherited from ,humanism1 from          
,huldreich ,zwingli 7#adhd-aeca7 and    
from  the ,italians ,llius 7#aebe-aefb7 
and ,faustus ,socinus 7#aeci-afjd71 and 
these impulses1 hitherto suppressed1 now
 find themselves set  free47#cj7    pg  
#jic    ,catholicism shows itself more  
capable of resistance4 ,nothing in its  
past makes it inclined to enlist under  
the banner of the spirit of the  age3   
its strong organization serves as a     
protection against this4 ,yet  it1 too1 
has to yield considerably1 and to allow 
its doctrines to  pass1 so far as may   
be1 for a symbolic expression of the    
religion of  reason4    ,while          
utilitarian ethics are on the whole the 
product of the ,english  spirit1 the    

whole of ,europe takes part in the      
expounding of the  religion of reason4  
,herbert of ,cherbury 7#aehb-afdh71     
,john ,toland  7#affi-agbb71 ,anthony   
,collins 7#afgf-agbi71 ,matthew ,tindal 
7#afee-agcc71  ,david ,hume             
7#agaa-aggf71 ,pierre ,bayle            
7#afdg-agjf71 ,jean-,jacques  ,rousseau 
7#agab-aggh71 ,voltaire 7#afid-aggh71   
,denis ,diderot 7#agac-aghd71  ,hermann 
,samuel ,reimarus 7#afid-agfh71         
,gottfried ,wilhelm ,leibniz            
7#afdf-agaf71 ,christian ,wolff         
7#afgi-aged71 ,gotthold ,ephraim        
,lessing  7#agbi-agha71 ,moses          
,mendelssohn 7#agbi-aghf71 and a host of
 others1  whether standing nearer to or 
further from the ,church1 and whether or
  not going further than others in      
systematic criticism1 all bring  stones 
for the erection of the great building  
in which the piety of  illuminated      
mankind is to live47#ca7 ,the researches
 in the history  of religion made by the
 ,germans1 like ,johann ,salomo ,semler 

7#agbe-agia71 ,johann ,david ,michaelis 
7#agag-agia71 and ,johann ,august       
,ernesti 7#agjg-agha71 provide          
scientific data which throw light upon  
the division between eternal truths and 
the time-conditioned  convictions of    
religion4    ,the creed of the religion 
of reason is simply the                 
optimistic-ethical  world-view          
reproduced in a ,christian phraseology1 
that is in one  preserving within it the
 ,christian theism1 and the belief in   
immortality4 ,an all-wise and wholly    
benevolent ,creator has produced  the   
world1 and he upholds it in pg #jid     
corresponding fashion4 ,men  are endowed
 with free will1 and discover in their  
reason and their  heart the moral law   
which is meant to lead individuals and  
mankind to  perfection1 and to          
accomplish in the world ,god's highest  
purposes4  ,every man has within him an 
indestructible soul1 which feels his    
moral  life as the highest happiness1   
and after death enters a state of a     

pure1 spiritual existence4    ,this     
belief in ,god1 in virtue1 and in       
immortality was held to have  been      
taught in its purest form in previous   
ages in the teaching of  ,jesus1 but it 
was acknowledged that elements of the   
same beliefs were  to be found in all   
the higher religions47#cb7    ,if the   
eighteenth century attained to an       
optimistic-ethical world-view  which    
preached itself so confidently and was  
so widely accepted1 the  reason is that 
it was able to re-interpret             
,christianity--which had by  that time  
got rid of the world- and life-denial   
that was originally  inherent in it--in 
that sense4 ,jesus was to it a teacher  
who even in  his own age and then       
through all the intervening centuries   
had been  misunderstood1 and was now    
first rightly accepted as a revealer of 
the  religion of reason4 ,let anyone    
read a rationalistic ,life of ,jesus1   
such as those of ,franz ,volkmar        
,reinhard 7#agec-ahab7 or ,karl         

,heinrich  ,venturini 7#agfh-ahdi747cc7 
,they hold ,jesus up to admiration as   
the  champion of enlightenment and of   
blessings for the common people4 ,this  
transformation of the historical picture
 is made easier for them by  the fact   
that the chief component element of the 
,gospel narrative is  ethical teaching1 
while the late-,jewish pessimistic      
world-view which  it presupposes is     
hardly more than hinted at4    pg #jie  
,as an immediate result of the wiping   
out of confessional differences  the    
middle of the eighteenth century sees   
the beginning of a period of  tolerance 
in place of the persecution of all      
rejecters of orthodoxy  which had been  
common till then4 ,the last serious act 
of confessional  intolerance was        
expulsion of all evangelicals from the  
,salzburg  district by the ,archbishop  
of that town1 ,count von ,firmian1 in   
the  years #agca and #agcb4    ,about   
the middle of the century there begins  
also the movement of  opposition to the 

,jesuits1 who were recognized as the    
enemies of  tolerance1 and this led to  
the suppression of the order in #aggc by
  ,pope ,clement ,,xiv47#cd7    ,but the
 religion of reason fought superstition 
as well as intolerance4  ,in #agjd the  
philosopher and jurist of ,halle1       
,christian ,thomasius  7#afee-agbh71    
published his essays condemning trial   
for  witchcraft17#ce7 and about the     
middle of the century the law courts  in
 most of the ,states of ,europe refused 
to concern themselves any  longer with  
the crime of magic4 ,the last death     
sentence on a witch was  passed in #aghb
 at ,glarus1 in ,switzerland4    ,about 
the end of the century it became good   
form to detest anything  which had even 
a remote connexion with superstitious   
convictions4    ,again1 the             
will-to-progress of the eighteenth      
century deals with  nationalist         
prejudices in the same way as it deals  
with religious  ones4 ,above and beyond 
individual nations it points to mankind 

as the  great object towards which      
ideals are to be directed4 ,educated    
people  accustom themselves to see in   
the ,state not so much an organ of      
national feeling as a mere organization 
for legal and economic  purposes4       
,cabinets may carry on war with each    
other1 but in the  thought of the common
 people there grows up a recognition of 
the  brotherhood of nations4    ,in the 
sphere of law1 too1 the will-to-progress
 acquires pg #jif  strength4 ,the ideas 
of ,hugo ,grotius get accepted4 ,the law
 of reason is  exalted in the           
convictions of the men of the eighteenth
 century to a  position above all       
traditional maxims of jurisprudence4 ,it
 alone is  allowed to have permanent    
authority1 and legal decisions have to  
be in  harmony with it4 ,fundamental    
principles of law1 but principles       
equally  indisputable everywhere1 have  
to be deduced from human nature4 ,to    
protect these and to ensure to every    
human being a human value with an       

inviolable measure of freedom of which  
he can never be robbed1 is the  first   
task of the ,state4 ,the proclamation of
 8the ,rights of ,man0 by  the ,states  
of ,north ,america1 and the ,french     
,revolution1 do no more  than give      
recognition and sanction to what1 in the
 convictions of the  time1 had already  
been won4    ,the first ,state in which 
torture was abolished was ,prussia1 and 
this  was secured by an administrative  
order of ,frederick the ,great's in     
#agdj4 ,in ,france a certain amount of  
torture was practised down to the       
,revolution-- and somewhat later1 for   
the thumb-screw was used under the      
,directory during the examination which 
the royalist conspirators had  to       
undergo47#cf7    ,side by side with the 
fight against absence of law and the    
existence  of inhuman laws1 go efforts  
to adapt law to circumstances4 ,bentham 
raises his voice against laws which     
tolerate usury1 against senseless       
customs duties1 and against inhuman     

methods of colonization4    ,there dawns
 an age in which the purposive and the  
moral are the ruling  authorities4      
,officialdom acquires during these      
generations familiarity  with the       
notions of duty and honour1 which later 
become natural to it4  ,far-reaching    
beneficial reforms are introduced into  
administration  without any outcry4     
,the education of mankind in citizenship
 makes splendid progress4 ,the  general 
good becomes the criterion of pg #jig   
excellence both for the  commands of    
rulers and the obedience of their       
subjects1 while at the  same time a     
beginning is made of securing that      
everyone shall be  educated in a manner 
corresponding to his human dignity and  
the needs  of his personal welfare4 ,the
 war against ignorance is begun4    ,the
 way is prepared1 too1 for a more       
rational method of living4 ,houses  are 
built so as to be more comfortable1 and 
the land is better  cultivated4 ,even   
the pulpit uses its influence to promote

 improvements  of this kind4 ,the theory
 that reason has been given to man to be
 used  consistently and in every        
department of life plays at this time an
  important and beneficent part in the  
preaching of the ,gospel1 even if  the  
way in which this is done often makes   
queer demands on our belief4  ,sermons1 
for example1 often treated incidentally 
of the best methods  of manuring1       
irrigating1 and draining the fields4    
,that ,jenner's  discovery of           
vaccination was so readily adopted in   
many districts was  due to the          
enlightenment which was spread abroad by
 the clergy4    ,characteristic of the  
age of rationalism are the private      
societies  formed to promote the moral  
and utilitarian progress of mankind4 ,in
  #agag members of the higher ranks of  
society in ,london reorganize as  8,the 
,order of ,freemasons0 the brotherhood  
which in earlier times had  been built  
up by the union in a single body of the 
members of the  medival building-lodges1

 but was now in a state of decay1 and to
 this  new organization was assigned the
 duty of labouring to build up a new    
humanity4 ,about the middle of the      
century this order had spread all  over 
,europe1 and reached the zenith of its  
success4 ,princes1  officials1 and      
intellectuals alike joined it in great  
numbers1 and  were inspired by it to the
 achievement of a huge amount of reform4
    ,similar aims were pursued by the   
8,order of the ,illuminate0 7or         
enlightened7 which was founded in       
,bavaria in #aggf1 but was suppressed   
in #aghd by the reactionary ,bavarian   
,government1 which was still under  the 
influence pg #jih of the ,jesuits4 ,it  
is said to have been the  intellectual  
counterpart of the ,jesuit order1 on the
 model of whose  organization it was    
formed4    ,that private societies      
aiming at the rational and moral        
perfecting of  mankind should work      
effectively seemed to the men of the    
eighteenth  century so much a matter of 

course that they assumed them to have   
existed in earlier times4 ,in a series  
of rationalist descriptions of  the life
 of ,jesus it is assumed that the sect  
of the ,essenes1 near the  ,dead ,sea1  
of whom we learn from ,josephus1 the    
,jewish writer of the  first century    
,a4,d41 was such an order1 and that it  
was in touch with  similar brotherhoods 
in ,egypt and ,india4 ,jesus1 it is     
said1 was  trained by them1 and then    
helped by them to carry through the rle 
of the ,messiah1 in order that with the 
authority given by a holy yet  popular  
personality he might work to spread true
 illumination4 ,the  famous ,life of    
,jesus by ,karl ,venturini carries this 
assumption out  in complete detail4     
,according to him1 the miracles of      
,jesus were  staged by brothers of this 
secret association4    ,be that as it   
may1 the fact that the will-to-progress 
of the  eighteenth century created for  
itself in these private societies       
organizations which spread throughout   

,europe1 contributed much to its        
ability to influence the age4    ,it    
must be admitted indeed that the men of 
the rationalistic period  were smaller  
than their achievements4 ,true1 they all
 possessed  personality1 but it did not 
reach very deep4 ,it was produced by the
  enthusiasm which they found in the    
mentality of the time and which  they   
shared with all their contemporaries4   
,the individual imbibed  personality    
through the taking over of a ready-made 
world-view1 which  gave him firm        
standing-ground together with ideals4   
,his own  contribution was really       
nothing more than the capacity for      
enthusiasm4  ,that is why the men of    
this age are so remarkably like one     
another4  ,they all graze side by side  
in the same nourishing pasture land4    
,nevertheless1 the ideas of the         
purposive and the ethical pg #jii have  
never exercised so much influence over  
reality as they did among these  men of 
shallow optimism and sensitive morale4  

,no book has been written  yet which    
fully describes their achievements1     
doing justice to their  origin1 their   
character1 their number1 and their      
significance4 ,we can  then only really 
comprehend what they accomplished when  
we recognize  the tragic fact that the  
most valuable part of it is lost to us1 
while  we do not feel in ourselves any  
ability to reproduce it4 ,they were     
masters of the facts of life to an      
extent which we are to-day quite  unable
 to realize4    ,only a world-view which
 accomplishes all that rationalism did  
has a  right to condemn rationalism4    
,the greatness of that philosophy is    
that  its hands are blistered4          
,obstacles to the reform movement4 ,the 
,french ,revolution    ,the great work  
of reform is never completed1 partly    
because external  circumstances arise   
which check it1 but also because the    
world-view of  rationalism becomes      
convulsed from within4 ,in its          
confidence in the  enlightening power of

 all that is in accordance with reason  
the  will-to-progress was inclined to   
underestimate the resisting power of    
the traditional1 and to wish to carry   
through reforms where minds had  not    
been sufficiently prepared for their    
reception4 ,on these  unsuccessful      
advances followed reaction which        
permanently injured the  work4 ,this was
 the case in south-eastern ,europe4     
,joseph ,,ii4 of  ,austria1 who was     
emperor from #agfd to #agij1 is the type
 of the  reforming prince4 ,he          
discontinued the use of torture1 opposed
 the  infliction of the death penalty1  
abolished serfdom1 gave the ,jews full  
civic rights1 introduced a new method of
 legislation and a new system  of legal 
administration1 took away all class     
privileges1 contended for  the equality 
of all before the law1 protected the    
oppressed1 founded  schools and         
hospitals1 guaranteed the freedom of the
 ,press and freedom  of domicile1       
abolished all ,state monopolies1 and    

promoted the  development of agriculture
 and industry4    pg #ajj    ,but he is 
a ruler in the wrong place4 ,he decrees 
these reforms and  then similar shocks1 
one after another1 in countries which1  
being in  spiritual things still wholly 
under the dominion of the ,catholic     
,church of that time1 are not prepared  
for them1 and moreover in other  things 
as well display a specially backward    
attitude1 because they  belong to the   
zone in which the ,europe of that day   
passed over into  ,asia4 ,the ,emperor  
is therefore unable to count upon either
 any  willingness to make sacrifices in 
the classes which are to give up  their 
privileges1 or upon any understanding of
 his ideas in the common  people4 ,in   
his attempts to organize the monarchy as
 a unity and in an  effective way for   
practical purposes1 he comes into       
conflict with the  nationalities        
themselves of which it is composed4 ,the
 reduction in the  number of the        
religious houses1 which he undertakes   

out of economic  considerations1 with   
the introduction of the freedom of the  
,press and  of a system of ,state       
education1 bring on him the hostility of
 the  ,church4 ,finally1 because he is a
 ruler in the wrong place1 this noble   
reforming emperor dies of a broken      
heart1 while ,europe1 because the       
will-to-progress in ,austria can        
accomplish nothing even at the time of  
its greatest strength1 owing to         
unfavourable circumstances1 is          
condemned to a period of the deepest    
misery over the problems of that  huge  
,state1 which have in this way been     
rendered insoluble1 and over  the       
portion of ,asia beyond it along the    
southern ,danube4    ,in ,france1 too1  
the wrong men are in control4 ,there the
 spread of the  new ideas prepares the  
way splendidly for reform1 but the      
reforms are  not undertaken1 because its
 rulers cannot understand the signs of  
the  times1 and allow the ,state to     
collapse in ruin4 ,consequently the     

reform movement has to take the road of 
violence1 whereby it slips  away from   
the guidance of the educated1 and falls 
into the hands of  the mob1 from which  
it is taken by the powerful genius of   
,napoleon4  ,native of an island in     
which the ,europe of that day passed    
over into  ,africa1 and lacking all pg  
#aja deeper education1 he is            
uninfluenced  by the valuable           
convictions of his time4 ,guided solely 
by the force of  his own personality1 he
 decides what is to happen in ,europe1  
and hurls  it into wars through which it
 sinks into misery4 ,thus from ,east and
  from ,west alike disaster overtakes   
the work of the will-to-progress4       
,the ,french ,revolution is a snowstorm 
falling upon trees in blossom4 ,a       
transformation which promises great     
things is in progress1 but  everywhere  
softly and slowly4 ,extraordinarily     
valuable results are  being prepared in 
the thoughts of men4 ,provided that     
circumstances  remain even tolerably    

near the normal1 there stands before    
humanity in  ,europe an extraordinarily 
desirable development4 ,but in place of 
that  there sets in a chaotic period of 
history in which the  will-to-progress  
has to cease more or less completely    
from its work1  and becomes a bewildered
 spectator4 ,the first stage of the     
advance of  reforming thought1 thought  
bent with full consciousness of its aims
 on  securing the practical and the     
ethical1 comes to a complete stop4      
,an experience for which it was in no   
wise prepared now falls to the  lot of  
the will-to-progress4 ,up to this time  
it had always been a more  or less      
obsolescent reality with which it had   
had to come to terms4 ,in  the ,french  
,revolution1 however1 and in the        
following period1 it  becomes familiar  
with a reality which has at its disposal
 elemental  forces4 ,up to this time the
 only factor to be reckoned with had    
been  the force of originality exercised
 by rational thought4 ,in ,napoleon it  

has to learn to recognize as power a    
personality with creative genius  of its
 own4    ,by his reorganization of      
,france1 a magnificent work but         
concerned only  with the technical      
matters of administration1 ,napoleon    
creates a new  ,state4 ,his work1 too1  
has had the way prepared for it by the  
labour of  rationalism1 so far as this  
upset the equilibrium of the old and    
made  current the idea of something new 
but necessary4 ,but the new ,state      
which now comes into existence is not   
the ,state pg #ajb which is  ethical and
 in harmony with reason1 but merely the 
,state which works  well4 ,its          
achievements compel our admiration4 ,in 
the nursery garden  which the           
will-to-progress was laying out in order
 to plant it with  noble flowers an     
individual ploughs for himself a piece  
of ordinary  arable land which at once  
produces an excellent crop4 ,with the   
elemental creative forces of reality    
revealing their power in so  imposing a 

fashion1 the noble but unoriginal spirit
 of the age1 with  all its higher aims1 
finds itself in a state of instability  
from which  it never completely         
recovers4 ,hegel1 who saw ,napoleon ride
 past after  the ,battle of ,jena1 tells
 us that he then saw the ,world-spirit  
on  horseback4 ,in these words we can   
hear all the confused spiritual         
experience of that time expressing      
itself4    ,the undermining of the      
rationalistic world-view    ,there now  
sets in a development which works       
against the spirit of the  times1 and   
the hitherto unopposed authority of the 
rational ideal is  undermined4 ,forces  
in reality which are not guided by it1  
obtain  recognition4    ,while the      
will-to-progress remains an amazed      
spectator of events1  respect for what  
is historical recovers itself1 though it
 seemed to  have been banished for ever4
 ,in religion1 in art1 and in law1 men  
begin1 though at first only quite shyly1
 to look again with other eyes  on the  

traditional4 ,it is no longer reckoned  
as merely something which  is to be     
replaced1 but men venture to admit to   
themselves that it  conceals within     
itself original values4 ,the forces of  
reality1 which  had been taken by       
surprise1 now begin everywhere to act on
 the  defensive1 and a guerilla warfare 
develops against the  will-to-progress4 
,the various religious bodies revoke the
 abdications which they had  made before
 the religion of reason4 ,the law which 
has grown up in the  course of time     
begins to set itself in opposition to   
the law laid down  by reason4 ,in the   
atmosphere of passion produced by the   
,napoleonic  wars1 pg #ajc national     
thought takes on a new character1       
directing on  itself1 and beginning to  
absorb1 the universal enthusiasm for    
ideals4  ,the struggles carried on no   
longer by chancelleries but by whole    
nations are fatal to the ideals of      
cosmopolitanism and national            
brotherhood1 and by this awakening of   

national thought a whole series  of     
political problems affecting the whole  
of ,europe are rendered  insoluble4     
,just as the organization of ,austria as
 a unified modern  ,state has now become
 impossible1 so also has the civilizing 
of ,russia1  and the destiny of ,europe1
 viz4 to be shipwrecked over these      
territories which are in it but not of  
it1 begins to reveal itself4    ,at the 
close of the ,napoleonic era the whole  
of ,europe is in a  condition of misery4
 ,far-seeing ideas of reform can be     
neither thought  out nor worked out2    
only extemporized palliative measures   
suit the  time4 ,the will-to-progress is
 therefore unable to recover its former 
vigour4    ,it is fatally affected1 too1
 by the fact that everybody with any    
capacity for independent thought feels  
himself attracted by this new  valuation
 of things and facts1 and thereby drawn 
on to irritation at  the one-sided1     
doctrinaire character of the rationalist
 way of looking  at life4               

,nevertheless1 the position of the      
will-to-progress is far from being a    
critical one4 ,the first attacks are    
made by ,romanticism and the  feeling   
for reality1 but are mere               
outpost-skirmishes1 and for a long  time
 yet the will-to-progress remains master
 of the field4 ,bentham  remains still  
the great authority4 ,alexander ,,ii4 of
 ,russia1 ,tsar from  #ahja to #ahbe1   
instructs the legislative commission    
which he sets up to  obtain on all      
doubtful points the opinion of the great
 ,englishman4  ,madame de ,stal         
expresses the opinion that the fateful  
period she has  lived through will one  
day be called by posterity not the      
,napoleonic  age but the                
,benthamite47#cg7    ,the noblest men of
 the period still live in the unshaken  
pg #ajd  conviction that nothing can    
delay the speedy and conclusive victory 
of  the purposive and moral4 ,the       
philosophically minded mathematician and
  astronomer1 the ,marquis ,marie ,jean 

de ,condorcet 7#agdc-agid71 though  put 
by the ,jacobins upon the list of the   
proscribed1 writes1 while  living in    
concealment in ,paris in a dismal room  
in the ,rue des  ,fossoyeurs1 his       
,historical ,sketch of the ,progress of 
the ,human  ,spirit47#ch7 ,then1 having 
been betrayed1 he wanders about the     
,clamart quarries1 is recognized by the 
labourers1 in spite of his  disguise1 as
 an aristocrat1 and while confined in   
the prison of ,bourg  la ,reine1 puts an
 end to his life by poison4 ,the        
document in which he  gave his          
exposition of the ethical belief in     
progress concludes with a  forward      
glance at the time1 now soon to appear1 
when reason1 having  attained a position
 of permanent sovereignty1 will put     
every human  being in possession of the 
rights which belong to man as man1 and  
will  establish purposive and ethical   
relations in every department of life4  
,there is one thing1 it must be         
admitted1 which ,condorcet and those who

  share his views overlook4 ,their      
belief that the final result will be    
good might be considered justifiable if 
the will-to-progress had been           
endangered only through unfavourable    
outward circumstances1 the  revival1    
that is1 of the higher estimation of    
reality1 and the  romantic idealizing of
 the past4 ,but it is threatened far    
more  seriously by something else than  
it is by them4 ,the assurance  displayed
 by rationalism rests on the fact that  
it regards the  optimistic-ethical      
world-view as something proved to be    
correct4 ,but  it is not that4 ,it rests
 like the world-views of ,confucius and 
the  ,later ,stoics on a nave           
interpretation of the world4 ,all deeper
  thought1 therefore1 even if it is not 
directed against rationalism1 or  even  
if it aims at strengthening its         
position1 must in the long run  have a  
damaging effect upon it4 ,hence ,kant   
and ,spinoza mean doom to  it4 ,kant    
undermines it by his attempt to pg #aje 

provide a deeper  foundation for the    
essence of the ethical4 ,spinoza1 the   
thinker of  the seventeenth century1    
brings it to confusion when his         
nature-philosophy begins1 a hundred     
years after his death1 to occupy        
people's attention4    ,it is about the 
beginning of the new century1 the       
nineteenth1 just  when the pressure     
exerted by material and spiritual       
circumstances  alike begins to make     
itself felt1 that the optimistic-ethical
  world-view begins to suspect the      
existence of the serious problems  which
 are cropping up within it4          pg 
#ajf    ,,chapter ,,ix    ,,the         
,,optimistic-,,ethical ,,world-,,view   
,,in ,,kant      ,kant's ethics1        
deepened1 but lacking content    ,,so   
far as the general tendency of his      
thought goes ,immanuel ,kant            
7#agbd-ahjd7 lives entirely in the      
optimistic-ethical world-view of        
rationalism47#ci7 ,he has1 however1 a   
feeling that its foundations  are not   

deep and firm enough1 and he regards it 
as his task to put  them on ground which
 is in every respect more secure4 ,for  
this purpose  a deeper ethic1 and a less
 nave positiveness in assertions about  
world-view which touch upon the         
supra-sensible1 seem to him desirable4  
,like the ,english intellectualists and 
intuitionists1 ,kant is offended  by the
 idea that the ethic in which the modern
 age finds satisfaction  and its impulse
 to activity is rooted merely in        
considerations of the  universal        
advantage of morally good actions4 ,like
 them1 he feels that  it is something   
more than this1 and that in the ultimate
 analysis it  has its origin in the     
compulsion which men experience to      
strive for  self-perfecting4 ,but while 
his predecessors stick fast in the      
matter  provided by semi-scholastic     
philosophy and theology1 he attacks the 
problem along the lines of pure ethical 
thought4 ,it follows for him  that the  
fundamental origin and the exalted      

character of the moral can  be preserved
 only if we always consciously make it  
an end in itself1  and never merely a   
means to an end4 ,even if moral conduct 
prove itself  to be always advantageous 
and practical1 our motive to it must    
nevertheless always be a pg #ajg purely 
inward compulsion4 ,the  utilitarian    
ethic must abdicate before that of      
immediate and sovereign  duty4 ,that is 
the meaning of the doctrine of the      
categorical  imperative4    ,the        
,english anti-utilitarians had in common
 with the utilitarians the  thought that
 the moral law was related in its       
essence to empirical  natural law4      
,kant1 however1 asserts that it has     
nothing to do with the  order of nature1
 and has its origin in supra-natural    
impulses4 ,he is  the first since ,plato
 to feel1 like him1 that the ethical is 
the  mysterious fact within us4 ,in     
powerful language he proves in the      
,critique of the ,practical ,reason that
 ethics are a volition which  raises us 

above ourselves1 makes us free from the 
natural order of the  world1 and        
attaches us to a higher world-order4    
,that is his great  discovery4    ,in   
the development of it1 however1 he is   
not happy4 ,whoever asserts  the        
absoluteness of moral duty1 must also   
give the moral an absolute  and         
completely universal content4 ,he must  
specify a principle of  conduct which   
shows itself as absolutely binding1 and 
as lying at the  foundations of the most
 varied ethical duties4 ,if he does not 
succeed  in doing this1 his work is only
 a fragment4    ,when ,plato announces  
that ethics are something supra-natural 
and  puzzling1 his world-view provides  
him with a basic principle of the       
ethical which corresponds to these      
qualities1 and also has a definite      
content4 ,he is in a position to define 
ethics as a process of becoming  pure   
and free from the world of sense4 ,this1
 his own special ethic1 he  develops in 
the passages where he is consistent with

 himself4 ,then1  when he cannot        
complete his argument without an active 
ethic1 he has  recourse to the popular  
theory of virtue4    ,kant1 however1 as 
a child of the modern spirit1 cannot let
 world- and  life-denial rank as an     
ethic4 ,therefore1 since he can go only 
a part  of the way with ,plato1 he sees 
himself faced with the confusing task   
of letting a purposive1 activist ethic  
which is directed on the  empirical     
world originate in impulses which are   
not determined by any  adaptation to the
 empirical4    pg #ajh    ,he can find  
no solution of the problem thus set4 ,in
 the form which he  gives it it is in   
fact insoluble4 ,but he never even      
realises that he  has arrived at the    
problem of finding a basic principle of 
the moral  which is a necessity of      
thought4 ,he is content with formally   
characterizing ethical duty as          
absolutely binding4 ,that duty1 unless a
  real content is at once given to it1  
remains an empty concept1 he is         

unwilling to admit4 ,for the exalted    
character of his basic principle  of the
 moral he pays the price of having it   
devoid of all content4    ,beginnings of
 an attempt to establish a basic moral  
principle which  has a content are to be
 found in his treatise1 ,prolegomena to 
a  ,metaphysic of ,morals 7#aghe71 and  
again later in ,a ,metaphysic of        
,morals 7#agig74 ,in the #aghe volume he
 arrives at the dictum3 8,act in  such a
 way that you use every human being both
 in your own person and  in everyone    
else's always as an end1 never merely as
 a means40 ,but  instead of seeing how  
far the totality of ethical duties can  
be  developed out of this principle1 he 
prefers in the #agig treatise to  set   
before ethics two ends to be aimed at1  
viz4 the perfecting of  oneself and the 
happiness of others1 and to enlarge upon
 the virtues  which promote them4    ,in
 his investigation of the ethic which   
aims at personal perfecting1  he drives 
his gallery with sure instinct towards  

the recognition that  all virtues which 
contribute thereto must be conceived of 
as  manifestations of sincerity and of  
reverence for one's own spiritual       
being4 ,he does not1 however1 go the    
length of comprehending these two  as a 
unity1 just as little does he concern   
himself to make clear the  inner        
connexion between self-perfecting and   
effort directed to the  common good1 and
 in that way to dig down to the roots of
 the ethical  as such4    ,how far ,kant
 is from understanding the problem of   
finding a basic  moral principle which  
has a definite content can be seen from 
the fact  that he never gets beyond an  
utterly narrow conception of the        
ethical4  ,he persists obstinately in   
drawing the boundary of his ethic as    
close  pg #aji as possible1 making it   
concerned with no duties beyond those   
of man to man4 ,the relation of man to  
non-human existences he does not  draw  
within it4 ,it is only indirectly that  
he includes in it the  prohibition of   

cruelty to animals1 putting this among  
the duties of  man to himself4 ,by      
inhuman treatment of animals1 he says1  
sympathy  with their sufferings is      
blunted in us1 and thereby 8comes a     
weakening  of a natural disposition     
which is very helpful to our morality in
  relation to other men1 and it         
gradually dies out40    ,again as to the
 vandalism of the destruction of what is
 beautiful1 in  the form1 that is1 of   
natural objects which are viewed as     
entirely  without feeling1 this is said 
to be unethical only because it violates
  the duty of man to himself by         
undermining the desire--itself a support
  to morality--of having something to   
love without regard to utility4    ,if  
the sphere of the ethical is limited to 
the relations of man to  man1 then all  
attempts to reach a basic principle of  
the moral with an  absolutely binding   
content are rendered hopeless           
beforehand4 ,the  absolute demands the  
universal4 ,if there really is a basic  

principle  for the moral1 it must be    
concerned in some way or other with the 
relations between man and life as such  
in all its manifestations4    ,kant1    
then1 does not essay the task of        
developing an ethic which  corresponds  
to his deepened conception of the       
ethical4 ,on the whole he  does nothing 
more than put the current utilitarian   
ethic under the  ,protectorate of the   
,categorical ,imperative4 ,behind a     
magnificent  faade he constructs a block
 of tenements4    ,his influence on the 
ethics of his time is twofold4 ,he      
furthers it by  challenging it to       
profounder reflection on the nature of  
the ethical  and the ethical destiny of 
man4 ,at the same time he is a danger to
 it  in that he robs it of its          
simplicity4 ,the strength of the ethic  
of the  age of reason lies in its nave  
utilitarian enthusiasm4 ,it directly    
enlists men in its service by offering  
them good aims and objects4  ,kant makes
 it insecure by bringing this directness

 in question and  calling for an ethic  
which is derived from much less         
elementary  considerations4 ,depth is   
gained at pg #aaj the cost of vitality1 
because he fails to establish at the    
same time a basic moral principle  with 
a content1 a principle which compels    
acceptance from deep and yet  elementary
 considerations4    ,several times ,kant
 actually makes it his object to block  
the natural  sources of morality4 ,he   
will not1 for example1 allow direct     
sympathy  to be regarded as ethical4    
,the inner feeling for the suffering of 
another as if it were one's own is not  
to count as duty in the real  sense of  
the word1 but only as a weakness by     
which the evil in the  world is doubled4
 ,all help to others must have its      
source in a  reasoned consideration of  
the duty of contributing to the         
happiness of  others4    ,by taking from
 ethics their simplicity and directness1
 ,kant also  loosens the connexion which
 they and the belief in progress had    

formed  with one another1 and through   
which the two together had proved so    
productive of good4 ,the disastrous     
separation between them which later  on1
 in the course of the nineteenth        
century1 became complete1 was  partly   
due to him4    ,in consequence of his   
wishing to drive out the nave           
rationalistic  conception of the ethical
 in favour of a deepened one without at 
the  same time being in a position to   
establish a basic principle of it  which
 has been correspondingly deepened1 has 
a definite content of its  own1 and is  
directly convincing1 ,kant brings the   
ethics of his time  into danger4 ,he    
labours at the provision of new         
foundations without  remembering that   
the house will develop cracks1 if it is 
not propped  up sufficiently4    ,kant's
 attempt to reach an ethical world-view 
,kant passes by the problem of finding a
 basic principle of the moral  with a   
definite content1 because1 while        
attempting to deepen the  concept of the

 ethical1 he pursues an object which    
lies outside  ethics4 ,he wishes to     
bring ethical idealism into connexion   
with an  idealistic representation of   
the world which has its source in a     
theory of knowledge4 ,but pg #aaa from  
that source he hopes there will  come an
 ethical world-view able to satisfy     
critical thought4    ,why has ,kant with
 a rigorism which intentionally         
depreciates ordinary  moral experience  
ventured forward to the discovery that  
the moral law  has nothing to do with   
the natural world-order1 but is         
something  super-sensible8 ,because he  
refuses1 similarly1 to let the sensible 
world which is experienced by us in     
space and time be accepted as  anything 
more than a manifestation of something  
nonsensible which  makes up true        
reality4 ,the concept of a moral which  
contains none but  inward and spiritual 
duties is for him the expanding ladder  
which he  draws out so as to reach by   
means of it the region of ,being in     

itself4  ,he has no feeling of dizziness
 when in company with ethics1 he mounts 
above all empirical experience and all  
empirical aims and objects4 ,he  is     
determined to go right up with her1 and 
she can never be  sufficiently a priori 
for him1 because he sets up another     
ladder of  the same length1 that of     
epistemological idealism1 and tries to  
lean  one against the other1 so that    
they may give each other mutual         
support4    ,how does it come about that
 the theoretical assumption that the    
world  of sensible phenomena has a      
non-sensible world of ,being lying      
behind  it1 has any importance for      
world-view8 ,because within the notion  
of  absolute duty which man experiences 
at work within himself there lies  a    
fact of the world-order of that same    
non-sensible world4 ,hence  arises the  
possibility1 so ,kant thinks1 of raising
 to certainty by  means of ethics those 
great elements in the non-sensible world
 which  are of value for the            

optimistic-ethical world-view1 viz4 the 
ideas of  ,god1 of the ethical freedom  
of the will1 and of immortality1 which  
otherwise would always remain merely    
problematical4    ,so far as rationalism
 affirms unhesitatingly from the        
standpoint of  theoretical knowledge the
 ideas of ,god1 of the ethical freedom  
of the  will 7i4e41 of virtue71 and of  
immortality1 which make up its          
optimistic-ethical world-view1 it builds
 upon a foundation which  cannot bear   
the weight of critical thought4 ,kant   
wishes1 therefore1 to  erect the pg #aab
 optimistic-ethical world-view as a     
lake-dwelling  upon piles rammed into   
place by ethics4 ,these three ideas are 
to be  able to claim real existence for 
themselves as necessary postulates of   
the ethical consciousness4    ,this     
plan1 however1 of thus securing the     
position of the  optimistic-ethical     
world-view cannot be carried out4 ,it is
 only the  idea of the ethical freedom  
of the will that can be made a postulate

  of the moral consciousness4 ,to       
establish the ideas of ,god and         
immortality as equally 8postulates10    
,kant has to abandon all  honourable    
logic and argue with bold and ever      
bolder sophisms4    ,there is no way of 
uniting epistemological and ethical     
idealism1  however enticing the         
undertaking looks at first sight4 ,when 
they are  set side by side1 the         
happenings which take place according to
 a law  of causation subordinate to     
freedom1 and become conscious in man    
through the moral law1 become identified
 with the happenings which are          
universal in the world of things in     
themselves4 ,there ensues a  disastrous 
confusion of the ethical with the       
intellectual4 ,if the  sensible world is
 only a manifestation of an immaterial  
world1 then  all the happenings which   
come about in the space and time sphere 
of  causation produced by necessity are 
only parallel appearances of the  events
 which are brought about in the         

intellectual sphere of causation        
produced by freedom4 ,all happenings1   
therefore1 human activity just as  much 
as natural happening1 are1 according to 
the point of view1 at  once intellectual
 and free1 and at once natural and      
necessary4 ,if  ethical activity        
produced by freedom is represented as   
analogous with  the results of          
epistemological idealism1 then either   
everything that  happens in the world1  
conceived as intellectual happening1 is 
ethical1  or there is no such thing as  
an ethical happening4 ,because it has   
chosen to put side by side these two    
things1 human activity and  natural     
happening1 ,kant's way of looking at the
 question has to  renounce all ability  
to maintain the difference between them4
 ,but the  very life of ethics depends  
on this difference being there and      
effective4    pg #aac                   
,epistemological idealism is a dangerous
 companion for the ethical4 ,the        
world-order of immaterial happening has 

a supra-ethical character4  ,from the   
setting side by side of ethical and     
epistemological idealism  there can     
never result an ethical world-view3 it  
will always be a  supra-ethical one4    
,from epistemological idealism1         
therefore1 ethics have nothing to       
expect1 but everything to fear4 ,by its 
depreciation of the reality of  the     
empirical world the ethical world-view  
is not helped3 it is  injured4          
,ethics have materialist instincts4     
,they want to concern themselves  with  
empirical happenings and transform the  
circumstances of the  empirical world4  
,but if that world is only 8appearance10
 derived from  an intellectual world    
which functions within it or behind it1 
ethics  have nothing on which to act4   
,to wish to influence a self-determined 
play of appearances has no sense4       
,ethics can therefore allow validity  to
 the view that the empirical world is   
mere appearance only with the           
limitation that activity exerted upon   

the appearance does at the same  time   
influence the reality lying behind it4  
,but thereby they come into  conflict   
with all epistemological idealism4      
,kant is defeated by the same fate which
 rules in ,stoic1 ,indian1 and  ,chinese
 monism alike4 ,as soon as thought tries
 in any way to  comprehend ethics in    
connexion with the world-process1 it    
falls at  once1 whether it is conscious 
of it or not1 into the supra-ethical    
manner of regarding it4 ,fully to shape 
ethics to an ethical world-view  means  
letting them come to terms with         
nature-philosophy4 ,ethics are          
thereupon1 as a matter of fact1 devoured
 in one way or another by that          
philosophy1 even if they are in word    
saved from that fate4 ,the  coupling of 
ethical idealism with epistemological is
 only bringing  ethics and              
nature-philosophy into relation with one
 another in a  roundabout way by which  
it is hoped to outwit the logic of      
facts4 ,but  this logic cannot be       

outwitted4 ,the tragical result lies in 
the  identification which has been made 
of the ethical with the  intellectual4  
pg #aad    ,the ethical is not something
 irrational which becomes explicable    
when  we betake ourselves from the world
 of appearance to the region of         
immaterial ,being that lies behind it4  
,its intellectual character is of  a    
peculiar kind1 and rests upon the fact  
that the world-process1 as  such1 comes 
in man into contradiction with itself4  
,it follows that the  ethical will and  
ethical freedom of the will are not     
explicable by any  theory of knowledge1 
and cannot1 moreover1 serve as a support
 to any  such theory4    ,as a result of
 conceiving the moral law and empirical 
obedience to  natural law as in absolute
 opposition to each other1 ,kant finds  
himself on the road which leads to a    
dualistic world-view4 ,afterwards1      
however1 in order to satisfy the claims 
of the unitary and optimistic           
world-view which the spirit of the age  

prescribes to him1 he manages  with the 
stratagems which are provided for him by
 the combination of  ethical and        
epistemological idealism1 to work       
himself back on to the  road which leads
 to the monistic point of view4    ,kant
 is great as an ethical thinker1 great  
too with his theory of  knowledge1 but  
as shaper of a world-view he is not in  
the first rank4  ,by his deepened       
conception of the nature of the ethical1
 a conception  which lands him in       
dualistic thought1 the problem of the   
optimistic-ethical world-view is        
unfolded in an entirely new way4        
,difficulties reveal themselves which   
till then no one could have  imagined to
 exist4 ,but he does not deal with them4
 ,he is blinded by  his ambition to be  
the ,copernicus of the                  
optimistic-ethical  world-view1         
believing that he can show the          
difficulties inherent in  that view to  
be misunderstandings which explain      
themselves away as  soon as1 by means of

 his epistemological idealism1 actual   
circumstances and relations take the    
place of these which are apparent  but  
inexplicable4 ,in reality he does       
nothing but replace the nave            
optimistic-ethical interpretation of the
 world which was the basis of  action   
for the rationalists by an artfully     
contrived one4    ,he does not take the 
trouble to ask in what the optimistic pg
 #aae  ethical world-view consists1 to  
what final items of knowledge and       
demands it leads1 and how far these are 
confirmed by experience of the  moral   
law4 ,he takes it over without          
examination in the formula3 8,god1      
,freedom 7or ,virtue71 and              
,immortality10 which was supplied to it 
by  rationalism1 and wishes to raise it 
in this nave form to a certainty4       
,there is thus in ,kant's philosophy the
 most terrible want of thought          
interwoven with the deepest thinking4   
,new truths1 weighty in their  novelty1 
make their appearance in it4 ,but they  

get only half-way on  their journey4    
,the absoluteness of ethical duty is    
grasped1 but its  content is not        
investigated4 ,experience of the ethical
 is recognized  as the great secret by  
means of which we comprehend ourselves  
as  8other than the world02 but the     
dualistic thinking which goes with it   
is not worked out any further4 ,that the
 final items of our knowledge  of our   
world-view are assertions of the ethical
 will is admitted1 but  the consequences
 of this supremacy of the will over     
knowledge are not  thought out to a     
conclusion4    ,kant stimulates         
powerfully the men of his time1 but is  
unable to make  secure for them the     
optimistic-ethical world-view in which  
they have  lived4 ,his mission is1      
although both he and they are content to
  deceive themselves in the matter1 to  
deepen it1 and 444 to let it  become    
less secure than before4          pg    
#aaf    ,,chapter ,x                    
,,nature-,,philosophy ,,and             

,,world-,,view ,,in  ,,spinoza ,,and    
,,leibniz      ,spinoza's attempt to    
reach an optimistic-ethical             
nature-philosophy    ,,just when ,kant  
is beginning to influence men's minds1  
the entirely  different ideas of a      
thinker who had now been dead for a     
century1  ,baruch ,spinoza              
7#afcb-afgg717dj7 begin to interest     
those who are  searching for a          
world-view4 ,the ,critique of ,pure     
,reason appears in  #agha4 ,in #aghe ,f4
 ,h4 ,jacobi in his letters addressed to
 ,moses  ,mendelssohn1 ,concerning the  
,teaching of ,spinoza1 draws attention  
once more to the philosopher whom       
hitherto everyone had attacked  without 
making any effort to understand him4    
,spinoza desires to obtain an ethic from
 a real nature-philosophy4 ,he  makes no
 attempt to give an optimistic-ethical  
interpretation of the  universe1 or to  
refashion it with any theory of         
knowledge4 ,he accepts  it just as it is
 in every respect4 ,his philosophy is   

therefore  elementary nature-philosophy1
 but his method of expounding it is by  
no  means elementary4 ,acquiescing in   
the way ,descartes puts the problem  and
 the language he uses1 he makes his own 
thought about the universe  proceed 8in 
geometrical fashion0 in a series of     
axioms1 definitions1  precepts1 and     
proofs4 ,nature-philosophy is embodied  
in his  philosophizing in a magnificent 
way1 but it is as stiff as an  ice-bound
 landscape4    ,his chief               
work--published after his death1 because
 he could not venture  to publish it    
himself--he entitles ,ethics4 ,the pg   
#aag title is  confusing1 because the   
nature-philosophy in it is developed    
almost as  completely as the ethics4 ,it
 is only when the reader has shaken     
himself free of all nave conceptions in 
his thought about the  universe that he 
can be permitted1 according to ,spinoza1
 to begin upon  ethics4 ,the fact that  
ethics too are broken up into precepts  
which are  given as proved is very      

prejudicial to their exposition4    ,in 
his attempt to found ethics upon        
nature-philosophy1 ,spinoza  proceeds as
 follows4 ,everything that exists1 he   
says1 is given in that  infinite ,being1
 which may be called either ,god or     
,nature4 ,for us1 and  to us1 it        
presents itself in two forms3 as thought
 7spirit7 and as  corporeity 7matter74  
,within this divine nature everything1  
human  activity included1 is determined 
by necessity4 ,there is no such thing   
as doing1 there are only happenings4    
,the meaning of human life1  therefore1 
cannot consist in action1 but only in   
coming to an ever  clearer understanding
 of man's relation to the universe4 ,man
 becomes  happy when besides belonging  
to the universe naturally1 he also      
surrenders himself to it consciously and
 willingly1 and loses himself           
spiritually within it4    ,spinoza      
demands therefore a higher experience of
 life4 ,with the ,stoics  and the       
thinkers of ,india and ,china1 he       

belongs to the great family of  the     
monistic and pantheistic                
nature-philosophers4 ,like them1 he     
conceives of ,god merely as the         
sum-total of nature1 and accepts as     
valid only the notion of ,god which     
makes him in this way an  independent   
unity4 ,the attempts1 made in the       
interests of the ethical  world-view1 to
 allow ,god to be at the same time an   
ethical personality  standing outside   
the universe1 are to him an offence     
against thought4  ,their only object is1
 of course1 to obtain with the help of a
  confessed or unconfessed dualism a    
starting-point for an                   
optimistic-ethical world-view4 ,they are
 striving to reach along  nave-religious
 by-roads the goal for which the        
rationalistic  optimistic-ethical       
interpretation of the universe is making
 along the  direct1 but not less nave1  
main-road4    pg #aah    ,the tragic    
result of monistic thinking in the      
,stoic1 the ,indian1 and  the ,chinese  

philosophies is that nature-philosophy1 
when consistent1  arrives only at       
resignation1 not at ethics4 ,has        
,spinoza escaped this  fate8    ,like   
,lao-tse1 ,chwang-tse1 ,lie-tse1 and the
 ,chinese thinkers as a body1  ,spinoza 
champions an optimistic monism without  
suspecting that under a  far-away heaven
 and in a far-off age1 he had such great
  predecessors47#da7 ,his resignation is
 of a world- and  life-affirming        
character4 ,he conceives of infinite    
,being not as  something devoid of      
qualities1 as the ,indians do1 but as   
life with a  full content4 ,the         
self-perfecting1 therefore1 for which   
man is to  strive is not for him1 as it 
is for them1 in any way an anticipation 
of a state of death1 but a living out of
 life which is guided by deep           
reflexion4 ,an elegantly egoistic world-
 and life-affirmation speaks  through   
him1 as through ,chwang-tse4    ,the    
efforts of the man who refuses to       
deceive himself about himself  are not  

directed1 therefore1 to any sort of     
action which is recognized  as          
serviceable1 but are concerned with     
maintaining his own ,being and  giving  
it the fullest possible experience of   
life4 ,whatever good he  does to others 
he never does for their sakes1 but      
always for his own4    ,spinoza rejects 
the achievement of modern ethics as     
influenced by  ,christianity1 viz4 the  
regarding of altruism as something that 
belongs  to the essence of ethics1 and  
confines himself to the thought that in 
the last resort all ethical action aims 
at our own interests1 though  it may be 
at our highest spiritual ones4 ,in order
 to avoid thinking  anything which is   
not a necessity of thought1 he goes back
 of his own  free will into the         
captivity in which ancient ethics lived4
    ,if he could let himself go1 he     
would1 like ,chwang-tse1 conduct a      
campaign against the morality of love   
and duty4 ,but since he already  has as 
thoroughgoing opponents the pg #aai     

authorities1 the  theologians1 whether  
,jewish or ,christian1 and almost every 
philosopher1 he has to speak cautiously 
and offer mankind without  attracting   
notice the life-view which advocates    
profound and thinking  egoism4    ,just 
as ,god1 the totality of universal      
,being1 acts not with any aim or  object
 but from an inner necessity1 so also   
does the man who has  attained to       
insight4 ,he does only what contributes 
to complete  experience of life1 nothing
 else4 ,virtue is capacity for          
self-maintenance at the highest level1  
and this self-maintenance is  attained  
to when reason is the highest motive to 
action1 and efforts  after knowledge and
 freedom from passion take possession of
 the man  and make him free1 that is1   
allow his conduct to be determined by   
himself alone and on purely inward      
grounds4 ,the ordinary man is  unstable1
 moved hither and thither in all sorts  
of ways by outward  causes1 with no idea
 of his future fortune or his final     

fate1 like a  ship that is tossed about1
 now here1 now there1 on a stormy sea4  
,ethics1 therefore1 consists in living  
our life more in the form and  fashion  
given it by thought than in bodily      
actuality4    ,acting1 therefore1 with a
 deep1 enlightened egoism and purely    
from  intellectual impulses1 a man      
behaves nobly in every relation of life4
  ,he strives to requite hatred1        
indignation1 and contempt with love and 
noble feeling1 because he knows that    
hatred causes him discomfort4 ,he  seeks
 at any price to create around him an   
atmosphere of peace4 ,he  never acts    
deceitfully1 but always                 
straightforwardly4 ,he has no need  to  
feel sympathy4 ,since he lives entirely 
under the guidance of  reason1 he does  
good whenever the opportunity offers1 on
 principle1  and therefore does not need
 to be roused to noble feeling by any   
experience of discomfort4 ,in fact he   
avoids sympathy4 ,again and again  he   
makes it clear to himself that          

everything that happens is brought      
about by some necessity in the divine   
nature and in obedience to  eternal     
laws4 ,just as he finds nothing in the  
world which deserves  hatred1 mockery1  
and contempt1 so he finds in it nothing 
to evoke  sympathy4 pg #abj ,man must be
 ever striving to be virtuous and happy1
  and if he is conscious of having done 
good within the limits of what  is      
commanded him1 he can with an easy mind 
leave his fellow-men and  the world to  
their fate4 ,beyond the possibilities of
 his own immediate  activities he need  
have nothing to do with them4    ,the   
wise man who practises the higher       
life-affirmation possesses  power4 ,he  
has power over himself1 power over his  
fellow-men1 and power  over             
circumstances4 ,how very similar is the 
tone of ,spinoza's thought  to that of  
,lao-tse1 ,chwang-tse1 and ,lie-tse6    
,spinoza lives out his own ethic4 ,in   
contented independence he passes  his   
life1 till consumption brings it to an  

early close4 ,he declines an  invitation
 to be lecturer in philosophy at        
,heidelberg ,university4 ,he  is strict 
with himself1 but his resignation is    
lighted up by a mild  trait of          
considered humanity and friendliness4   
,the persecutions to  which he is       
exposed fail to embitter him4    ,intent
 though he is on thinking only in       
accordance with pure  nature-philosophy1
 ,spinoza does not concern himself so   
exclusively  with the two natural       
entities1 nature herself and the        
individual man1  as do many of his      
,chinese predecessors1 but maintains an 
interest in  organized society4 ,he is  
convinced that it betokens progress when
 men  change1 from the 8natural0 stage  
of society to the 8civic40 ,being       
formed for living with his fellows1 man 
is freer if he settles by  general      
agreement what belongs to each1 and what
 the relations are to  be between       
himself and society4 ,the ,state must1  
therefore1 have power  to issue general 

orders as to how people are to live1 and
 to secure  respect for its laws by     
means of penalties4    ,a real devotion 
of oneself to the common weal appears1  
however1 to  ,spinoza not to be called  
for4 ,according to him the perfect human
  society appears of itself just in     
proportion as its individual members    
live according to reason4 ,in contrast1 
therefore1 to his contemporary1         
,hobbes1 ,spinoza looks for the progress
 of society not to the pg #aba  measures
 taken by the authorities1 but to a     
growth towards perfection  in the       
dispositions of their subjects4 ,the    
,state is to educate its  citizens not  
to submissiveness1 but to the right use 
of freedom4 ,in no  way must it do any  
injury to their sincerity1 and it must  
therefore  tolerate all religious views4
    ,far as ,spinoza goes to meet the   
spirit of the age1 there is one point   
on which he cannot agree with it1 viz4  
that there are ethical aims and         
objects1 aims and objects practical and 

purposive1 to be realized in  the world4
    ,advancing far ahead of his         
contemporaries1 he reaches a universal  
notion of ethics1 and recognizes that   
from the standpoint of  consistent      
thinking1 every ethical relation is     
nothing but an  expression of the       
relation of the individual to the       
universe4 ,when1  however1 ethics have  
in this way become universal1 they are  
faced by  the question how the relation 
of the individual to the universe is    
conceivable as producing an effect upon 
the universe4 ,on the answer to  this   
question it depends whether a real      
activist ethic can be  established1 or  
whether the ethical is only so far      
present as  resignation can be explained
 as ethical4    ,that is the reef which 
threatens danger to all                 
nature-philosophy1 and  whenever a      
thinker imagines that with clever       
seamanship and a  favourable wind he can
 sail round it without coming to grief  
upon it1  he is nevertheless finally    

driven upon it1 as by submarine         
currents1  and suffers the same fate as 
his predecessors4 ,like ,lao-tse and    
,chwang-tse1 like the ,indians1 the     
,stoics1 and all self-consistent        
thinkers before him1 ,spinoza is unable 
to furnish what ethics demand1  viz4    
that the relation of man to the universe
 shall be conceived of as  not merely a 
spiritual relation1 but as active       
devotion to it in the  world of sense4  
,the opponents of this solitary thinker 
are  instinctively conscious that with  
the re-establishment of an  independent 
nature-philosophy there appears         
something which means  danger to the    
optimism and the ethics of their        
world-view4 ,hence pg  #abb we find in  
the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries
 everyone  uniting to suppress          
,spinoza's philosophy4    ,it is on     
behalf of optimism that the age is most 
troubled4 ,the  terrible earthquake     
which in #agee destroyed ,lisbon1 sets  
the mass of  men asking whether the     

world is really ruled by a wise and     
kindly  ,creator4 ,voltaire1 ,kant1 and 
many other thinkers of the age seize on 
the occurrence as a topic for           
discussion1 partly confessing their     
perplexity1 partly seeking new ways out 
of the difficulty for their  optimism4  
,leibniz's optimistic-ethical world-view
 side by side with  nature-philosophy   
,how little optimism and ethics have to 
expect from a real  nature-philosophy is
 shown not only in ,spinoza1 but also in
 ,gottfried  ,wilhelm ,leibniz          
7#afdf-agaf747db7 ,in his ,theodice     
7#agaj7 he  tries to be fair to the     
optimistic world-view4 ,he is helped in 
this by  the fact that his              
nature-philosophy is much more living   
and adaptable  than ,spinoza's4 ,he is  
also determined to employ every possible
 device  to attach an optimistic meaning
 to reality4 ,he nevertheless gets no   
further than a laborious establishment  
of the conclusion that the  actually    
existing world is the best of all       

possible ones4    ,moreover1 so much of 
optimism as he rescues is useless for   
his  world-view because it contains no  
energies which can be directed to       
ethical action upon the world4 ,when he 
is consistent with himself he  remains1 
like ,spinoza1 a prisoner within        
nature-philosophy4 ,all the             
difficulties for ethics which ,spinoza's
 deterministic  nature-philosophy       
contains within itself1 are to be found 
also in his4  ,owing to the fact that he
 does not put the union of thought      
7spirit7  and extension 7matter7 far    
away in the ,absolute1 but allows it to 
be  realized in countless tiny          
individualities pg #abc which in their  
totality constitute the universe--he    
calls them monads--his                  
nature-philosophy corresponds to the    
multiform character of reality  much    
better than ,spinoza's does4 ,he        
anticipates to a considerable  extent   
the modern nature-philosophy which is   
based on the cell-theory  of matter4    

,yet he1 too1 remains under the spell of
 the way the problem  is put by         
,descartes4 ,he does not allow the      
individualities in which  thought and   
extension are united1 to enter into     
living relations with  each other1 but  
limits their existence to being merely  
forces with  powers of conception4      
,their being consists in being conscious
 of the  universe1 more clearly some1   
more confusedly others1 but each        
independent of the rest4    ,in ,spinoza
 there is a possibility of reaching an  
ethic1 inasmuch as an  attempt can be   
made to give an ethical interpretation  
to the mystical  relation between man   
and the ,absolute4 ,leibniz bars this   
path against  himself in that he does   
not recognize such an abstract ,absolute
 as the  content of the universe4 ,it   
is1 therefore1 not the result of chance 
that he nowhere philosophizes           
searchingly about ethics4 ,in no way can
  an ethic be deduced from his          
nature-philosophy4    ,instead of       

admitting to himself this result and    
unfolding the problem  of the relation  
between ethics and nature-philosophy1 he
 weaves into  his philosophy traditional
 dicta about ethics1 and defines the    
,good as  love to ,god and man4    ,in  
nature-philosophy ,leibniz is greater   
than ,spinoza1 because he deals  with   
living reality more thoroughly than the 
latter does4 ,in the  struggle for a    
correct world-view1 however1 he is far  
behind him1  because ,spinoza1 a man    
with a simpler mental endowment than    
his1  recognizes the reconciliation of  
ethics and nature-philosophy as the     
central problem of world-view1 and      
proceeds to deal with it4    ,if        
,leibniz had remained consistent1 he    
would have ended in atheism1 as  does   
the ,indian ,samkhya philosophy1 which  
similarly makes the world  consist of a 
multiplicity of pg #abd eternal         
individualities4 ,instead  of that1 he  
introduces into his nature-philosophy1  
in order to rescue  for himself a       

satisfactory world-view1 a theistic     
notion of ,god1 and  by giving it an    
optimistic1 ethical1 and theistic       
expression1 he makes  it acceptable to  
the eighteenth century4 ,his philosophy1
 popularized  till it is almost         
unrecognizable by ,christian ,wolff     
7#afgi-aged71 helps  to lay the         
foundations of ,german rationalism4     
,but in spite of the treason of which he
 is thus1 though with the best          
intentions1 guilty against              
nature-philosophy1 ,leibniz cannot undo 
the  fact that thinking on              
nature-philosophy lines awoke at that   
time to  activity through him4 ,without 
wishing it1 he too contributes to making
  ,spinoza an influence4    ,but to let 
oneself be mixed up with                
nature-philosophy is for the  spirit of 
the time to step into the dangerous     
unknown4 ,it therefore  resists as long 
as possible4 ,at last1 however1 since   
,kant and ,spinoza  together are        
undermining the optimistic-ethical      

world-view of  rationalism which has    
been built upon the real world and so   
conveniently fitted up1 it has to make  
up its mind to rebuild1 and  attempt the
 process of arriving at a conception of 
optimism and ethics  by direct thinking 
on the essential nature of the world4   
,for the  carrying out of this          
undertaking the ,german speculative     
philosophy  offers its services4        
pg #abe    ,,chapter ,,xi    ,j4 ,g4    
,,fichte',s ,,optimistic-,,ethical      
,,world-,,view      ,speculative        
philosophy and ,gnosticism    ,,the     
vision of an optimistic-ethical         
philosophy cast in one mould  hovers in 
front of speculative philosophy1 which  
hopes to discover the  meaning of the   
world by the most direct route4 ,it will
 have nothing to  do with analysing the 
phenomena of the universe in order to   
deduce its  nature from them4 ,it       
proceeds deductively1 not inductively4  
,in pure  abstract thinking it hopes to 
learn for itself how the real world has 

evolved out of the notion of ,being4 ,it
 is imaginative  nature-philosophy in a 
logical dress4    ,the right to deal    
with the world in this fashion is       
derived by  speculative thought from the
 results of the theory of knowledge1    
according to which the world as we      
observe it is more or less our own      
representation of it4 ,we have1 somehow 
or other1 a creative share in  its      
coming into existence4 ,it follows that 
the logic which is the rule  with the   
finite ego is to be conceived as an     
emanation of that which  holds good with
 the ,absolute4 ,the individual is      
therefore entitled to  disclose in his  
own thinking the motives and the process
 of the  emanation of the empirical     
world out of the notion of ,being4      
,speculation1 or in other words         
constructive logic1 is the key to the   
secret door into knowledge of the world4
    ,generically1 speculative ,german   
philosophy is essentially related to    
the ,grco-,oriental ,gnosticism1 which  

in the first centuries of the           
,christian era advances its views       
concerning the emergence of the         
sensible world from the world of pure   
,being47#dc7 ,the ,gnostic  systems aim 
at establishing a world-view pg #abf of 
redemption4 ,they  concentrate on the   
question how the spiritual              
individualities which  find themselves  
in the material world came there1 and   
how they can  return from it into the   
world of pure ,being4 ,speculative      
,german  philosophy on the other hand   
tries to obtain such a knowledge of the 
world as shall give a meaning to the    
activities of the spiritual             
individualities in the world4           
,speculative thinking at the beginning  
of  the ,christian era is dualistic and 
pessimistic2 that at the beginning  of  
the nineteenth is monistic and          
optimistic4 ,in both cases1 however1    
the method of obtaining the world-view  
is the same4    ,among the              
representatives of the speculative      

philosophy the most  eminent are3       
,johann ,gottlieb ,fichte 7#agfb-ahad71 
,friedrich ,wilhelm  ,joseph ,schelling 
7#agge-ahed71 and ,georg ,wilhelm       
,friedrich ,hegel  7#aggj-ahca74 ,it is 
only ,fichte and ,hegel1 however1 who   
produce  world-views with a             
characteristic stamp of their own4      
,schelling gets  no further than a      
nature-philosophy1 and stands almost    
completely  aside from the struggle for 
an optimistic-ethical world-view with   
which his age is occupied4 ,kept in a   
perpetual state of flux1 his  thinking  
makes use of all possible               
starting-points one after another  and  
is now more concerned with natural      
science1 now more akin to  ,spinoza's   
thought1 and now to ,christian4 ,he     
never makes a definite1  conscious      
attempt to found an ethic4    ,fichte's 
speculative founding of an ethic and of 
optimism    ,fichte begins as the       
antipodes of ,spinoza47#dd7 ,he aims at 
extracting from the universe a          

confession that it is a purely pg #abg  
optimistic ethical one1 by thinking     
,kant's thoughts out to a  conclusion4  
,kant1 according to him1 made the       
mistake of not bringing his two         
discoveries1 viz4 epistemological       
idealism and the ethic of the           
categorical imperative into that inward 
connexion with one another in  which    
they really stand4    ,what is the      
meaning of the fact that the moral law  
and the sensible  world both become     
actual in me8 ,that is the              
starting-point of ,fichte's             
philosophizing4    ,through the         
categorical imperative ,i experience    
that my particular ego  is a            
self-determined will to activity4       
,correspondingly1 every 8thing  in      
itself0 which ,i assume to exist behind 
phenomena as the real on  which they are
 based1 is similarly a self-determined  
will to activity4  ,the essential nature
 of infinite ,being also can consist of 
nothing  else4 ,the universe is1        

therefore1 the phenomenal form of an    
infinite1  self-determined will to      
activity4    ,why does the absolute ,ego
 appear as a phenomenon in a sensible   
world8  ,why is ,being revealed as      
,becoming8 ,if ,i understand this1 ,i   
have  comprehended the meaning of the   
world and of my own life4    ,now the   
absolute ,ego1 because it is infinite   
will to activity cannot  persist in     
being merely an ,ego4 ,it establishes a 
non-,ego to be a limit  to itself in    
order that it may again and again       
overcome it1 and  thereby become        
conscious of itself as will to activity4
 ,this  proceeding takes place amid the 
multiplicity of finite rational  beings4
 ,in their power of intuition the       
sensible world becomes actual1  and in  
their overcoming of it they recognize a 
duty which makes itself  mysteriously   
felt within them and unites them with   
the world-spirit4  ,this is the meaning 
of the philosophy of the identity of    
,ego and  non-,ego4    ,it is not only1 

then1 that the world exists merely in my
 mental  creation of it3 it is1 further1
 only produced in me in order that ,i   
may have something on which my will to  
fulfilment of duty can exercise  itself4
 ,the phenomena of becoming and         
disappearing which ,i project out  of   
myself pg #abh exist only that ,i may   
through them comprehend  myself as an   
ethical being4 ,in this way             
epistemological idealism and  the       
categorical imperative1 when they act   
together and one climbs on  the         
shoulders of the other1 can look behind 
the curtain which hides  the secret of  
the world4    ,kant protests against the
 idea that ,fichte's system is to be    
considered the completion of his        
philosophy4 ,as a matter of fact1       
however1 ,fichte does with ingenious art
 continue the lines which were  begun in
 the ,critique of ,pure ,reason and the 
,critique of the  ,practical ,reason1   
and think out the ideas of the          
philosopher of  ,knigsberg to a         

self-contained world- and life-affirming
 ethical  world-view4 ,he presents them 
in a generally intelligible form in ,the
  ,destiny of ,man1 published in #ahjj4 
,this book is one of the most  powerful 
documents produced by the struggle for  
an ethical world-view4    ,fichte gives 
a content to the abstract1 absolute duty
 of ,kant1 making  it consist in this1  
that man1 as the instrument of the      
ever-active  absolute ,ego1 assigns to  
himself the destiny of working with the 
latter 8to bring the whole sensible     
world under the sovereignty of  reason40
    ,since his fundamental moral        
principle possesses a content1 ,fichte  
is  able to deduce particular demands   
from it1 but that content is so  general
 and vague that the code of duty which  
is drawn out from it has  but little    
vital force4 ,nothing can really be got 
out of this  fundamental principle      
beyond the demand that man shall in     
every  situation of life fulfil the     
duties which from time to time fall to  

him as a result of his destiny of having
 to help forward the  sovereignty of    
reason over nature4 ,fichte therefore   
distinguishes the  general duties which 
man1 as such1 has to fulfil1 and the    
special ones  which are incumbent on him
 according to his natural gifts1 his    
social  position1 and his profession4   
,the latter are emphasized as specially 
important4    ,by defining ethics as    
activity which aims at subjecting the   
sensible  world to reason1 ,fichte gives
 a cosmic formulation to the utilitarian
  ethic of rationalism1 and thus pg #abi
 produces a comprehensive and  deep     
foundation for the ethical enthusiasm   
which was a discovery of  his time4 ,in 
this matter also he carries through     
something which  hovered before the mind
 of ,kant4    ,thereby he opposes the   
representatives of the popular          
philosophy of  the ,illumination1 and in
 a polemical pamphlet he criticizes very
  severely ,christoph ,friedrich        
,nicolai4 ,at bottom1 however1 the only 

reproach he can level at them is that   
they wish to go on housing  ethics and  
belief in progress in the nave          
world-view arrived at by  the healthy   
human reason instead of accepting both  
of them from the  world-view produced by
 the union of epistemological idealism  
and the  categorical imperative4 ,to    
persist in imperfect rationalism when   
the  perfect has been made a reality by 
,kant and himself is1 in his  opinion1 a
 crime against truth4 ,to him the       
beginning of wisdom is  insight into the
 paradox that 8consciousness of the     
world of actuality  springs from our    
need of action and not1 vice vers1 our  
need of  action from our consciousness  
of the world40    ,the spirit of        
,fichte's world-view1 then1 is          
completely that of  rationalism1 only   
that it believes it has found itself at 
home with  him in the real nature of    
,being1 and now comes forward with still
  stronger conviction and a still more  
burning enthusiasm4 ,in ,fichte's       

writings1 men are positively driven with
 the lash to work for the  improvement  
of the world4 ,with impressive pathos he
 teaches them to  obey the inner voice  
which urges them on to activity1 and    
indicates to  them their definite duty  
whatever may be the special             
circumstances of  their existence1 and  
to recognize in so doing that they are  
thus  fulfilling the highest1 and indeed
 the only destiny of their lives4    ,it
 is as the result of this inner urge to 
activity that we long for a  better     
world than the one which we see around  
us1 and belief in that  better world is 
the food by which we live4 ,fichte makes
 confession of  unbounded optimism4     
8,all those outbreaks of untamed force  
before which  human power is            
annihilated1 those devastating          
hurricanes1 pg #acj  those earthquakes1 
those volcanic eruptions1 can be nothing
 else than  the last wrestlings of the  
wild mass of nature against the         
uniformly  progressive1 purposive1 and  

life-promoting course to which1 in      
opposition to its own tendencies1 it is 
being compelled40 4 4 4  8,nature is to 
become to us more and more transparent  
and capable of  examination even to its 
innermost secret1 and enlightened human 
power1  armed with its own inventions1  
is destined to master it without        
trouble1 and then to exploit peacefully 
its once for all made  conquest407#de7  
,here ,fichte gives us the triumphant   
pagan of the  belief in progress which  
the spirit of the modern age1 that lives
 on  the achievements of its knowledge  
and power1 has been composing since  the
 ,renaissance4 ,he is as thoroughly     
convinced as the staunchest  rationalist
 that nature is the buffalo which has   
remained refractory  so long1 but will  
at last be brought beneath the yoke4    
,that mankind will perfect itself and   
reach a condition of unbroken  peace1 is
 to him as certain as the perfection    
that nature will one day  arrive at4 ,at
 present1 it is true1 we are in a period

 of arrested  progress with temporary   
setbacks1 but when this is past1 and all
  useful things which have been         
discovered at one end of the world1 get 
known to and distributed to all1 then   
mankind1 using its powers in  complete  
co-operation and marching forward in    
step1 will raise itself                 
uninterruptedly1 without arrest of      
progress or setback1 to a culture  of   
which we can form no conception4    ,to 
the ,state ,fichte assigns in his early 
writings a not very important  rle1 but 
in his later ones a great one4 ,in ,the 
,foundations of the  ,law of ,nature    
7,grundlage des ,naturrechts7 7#agif71  
it is for him  only the maintainer of   
law and order4 ,in his work ,the        
,complete  ,commercial ,state 7,der     
geschlossene ,handelsstaat71 which      
appeared in  #ahjj1 he allows it to     
organize industry and to take over      
social  duties4 ,in his ,addresses to   
the ,german ,nation 7,reden an die      
deutsche ,nation1 #ahjh71 he makes it a 

moral educator and a protector  of the  
virtue of humanity4    pg #aca    ,the  
man who1 with the help of               
epistemological idealism1 has made his  
way through to the higher rationalism1  
is safe from losing his  optimism1 even 
though he goes through the cruellest    
experiences4 ,he  has grasped the fact  
that the sensible world is only the     
limit which  the infinitely active will 
has created on purpose to be overcome4  
,this  lends him inward independence in 
the face of all happenings4 ,he has no  
need to understand them individually4   
,he can let a large proportion of  them 
be put aside as puzzling to his finite  
spirit4 ,what is essential  he knows3   
viz4 that what is real in the world is  
not matter1 but  spirit only4           
,partaking of the eternally active      
spirit1 man is raised above the  world1 
and is eternal4 ,the sufferings he meets
 with afflict nature  only 8with which  
he is connected in a marvellous way10   
but not  himself1 the being who is      

exalted above the whole of nature4 ,of  
death  he has no fear4 ,he does not die 
to himself1 but merely to those who     
survive him4 4 4 4 8,all death in nature
 is birth4 4 4 4 ,nature is  throughout 
nothing but life4 ,it is not death which
 kills1 but the  living life which1     
concealed behind the old one1 now begins
 and  proceeds to develop4 ,death and   
birth are nothing but the struggle of   
life with itself in an effort to reveal 
itself more and more clearly  and more  
and more like its real self40 ,it is in 
similar words that the  ,chinese monist1
 ,chwang-tse1 announces that life is    
eternal and the  dying of an individual 
only means that one existence is being  
re-cast  to form another4 4    ,fichte's
 mysticism of activity incapable of     
being carried through    ,fichte's      
philosophy of absolute activity is the  
expression of his own  strong ethical   
personality1 which with impetuosity and 
self-sacrifice  takes problems in hand1 
and uses itself up in the strain        

involved4 ,but  even he is unable to    
make a genuine combination of           
epistemological  idealism and ethical so
 as to produce an ethical world-view    
which is a  pg #acb necessity of        
thought4 ,the impossibility of the      
undertaking  reveals itself everywhere4 
,in order to conceive ethics as a part  
of the normal course of                 
world-happenings1 ,fichte1 like all     
others who make the same attempt1  gives
 up as hopeless any differentiation     
between human action and                
world-happenings4 ,the world-spirit's   
impulse to activity1 he says1           
experiences itself in man as will to    
ethical action4 ,but1 indeed1 the  whole
 world is filled with this will to      
activity which is for ever  surging     
against the limitations it has set up   
for itself4 ,everything  that happens is
 only an expression of it4 ,what        
difference1 then1 is  there between     
natural happenings and ethical8 ,between
 activity in  itself and ethical        

activity8 ,purposive activity directed  
with  knowledge and intention to the    
subjection of the sensible world to     
reason is ethical1 decides ,fichte4 ,but
 what does that mean1 when  closely     
examined8 ,it means that the finite     
spirit becomes moral by  entering into  
and taking seriously the play of the    
infinite spirit  which aims at          
overcoming its own self-created         
limitations4 ,looking in  this way at   
,fichte's thought1 we see clearly that  
with the world-view  which results from 
the combination of ethical and          
epistemological  idealism1 ethics have  
no longer any meaning4    ,again1 what  
is the meaning of 8bringing the whole of
 the sensible  world under the          
sovereignty of reason08 ,this conception
 of the ethical  is not only too wide1  
but fantastic also4 ,to a limited extent
 man is  able to harness the forces of  
nature for his service1 and with a      
little stretching of language he can1   
with ,fichte1 describe such  action as  

not purposive merely1 but also in the   
widest sense ethical4  ,upon this       
terrestrial globe he has some           
8influence10 but upon the  world none4  
,that he gives names to the mighty      
heavenly bodies and can  calculate the  
orbits of many of them1 cannot mean that
 he brings them  under the sovereignty  
of reason4 ,upon deep-sea life1 too1 he 
exercises  no other influence than      
catching specimens of it and giving them
  names4    ,that he may be able to     
assert that there is such a thing pg    
#acc as  an ethical purpose in the      
world1 ,fichte falsifies the world's    
birth  certificate1 and gives it the    
categorical imperative for father and   
epistemological idealism for mother4    
,but this is of no use4 ,the  ethical   
purpose thus produced cannot satisfy    
ethical thought4    ,by conceiving the  
infinite spirit1 in which the finite    
spirit has a  share1 as will to         
activity1 ,fichte tries to make possible
 a world-view  of ethical world- and    

life-affirmation4 ,in reality1 however1 
this  takes him no further than a more  
emphatic world- and life-affirmation1   
into which1 with the help of speculative
 thought1 he smuggles the idea  of duty1
 thereupon proclaiming it to be ethical4
 ,it fares with him  just as with the   
,chinese philosophers1 who similarly    
exert themselves  in vain to produce an 
ethic out of world- and                 
life-affirmation4    ,absorption in the 
,absolute by means of action is1 as     
,fichte thinks1  something prodigious1  
but1 just like its counterpart1         
absorption in  the ,absolute which is   
effected by an act of thought1 it is not
 ethical  but supra-ethical4 ,the       
element which is needed by the mysticism
 of  absorption in the ,absolute to make
 it ethical cannot be secured either  by
 enhancing or by depreciating the will  
to activity4    ,fichte's mysticism of  
activity in which man lets loose his    
energy in  the world is related to the  
ethic of deed1 just as ,spinoza's       

mysticism  of knowledge in which man is 
absorbed in the world is related to that
  of self-perfecting1 but it is only    
very incompletely that either can       
develop itself into a real ethic4       
,the absorption in the ,absolute which  
comes into actuality in an act of       
thought lies nearer to nature-philosophy
 than that which completes  itself in an
 active deed4 ,the ,brahmans1 the       
,buddha1 ,lao-tse1  ,chwang-tse1        
,spinoza1 and the mystics of every age1 
have experienced  the becoming one with 
the ,absolute as a coming-to-rest in it4
 ,fichte's  mysticism of activity lies  
more in the path of dualistic thinking  
than  in that of real nature-philosophy4
 ,it is something which has been        
extorted by enthusiasm1 but ,fichte pg  
#acd is devoted to it1 and  rightly1    
because he has a feeling that the       
interests of an active  ethic are better
 guarded by it than by the other4       
,since1 however1 he  thus once and for  
all decides for a nature-philosophy1 he 

comes1  dominated though he is by the   
ideal of an active ethic1 more and more 
to the natural quietist consequences of 
a nature-philosophy4 ,he goes  through a
 process of evolution which brings him  
nearer to ,spinoza's  world-view4 ,in   
his ,instruction ,concerning the        
,blessed ,life1 which  appeared in      
#ahjf1 six years later than ,the        
,destiny of ,man1 it is to  him no      
longer the ethical which in itself is   
the highest1 but the  religious4 ,the   
ultimate meaning of life1 as he now     
recognizes1 is not  to act in ,god1 but 
to be merged in ,him4                   
8,self-annihilation is the  gateway into
 the higher life40    ,he believes1     
indeed1 that he is thereby merely       
deepening his  world-view without       
diminishing its ethical energy1 and he  
remains  himself1 right to the end1 the 
fiery spirit which consumes itself in   
activity for promoting the progress of  
the world4 ,but his thought has  bent   
under the weight of nature-philosophy4  

,without clearly admitting  it to       
himself1 he recognizes that out of      
nature-philosophy there can  be drawn   
only an intellectual1 not an ethical    
meaning for the world  and life4        
,spinoza observes with a smile how he   
retires upon the  thought beyond which a
 nature philosophy cannot advance4      
,fichte is the first philosopher to     
declare plainly that no world-view  is  
ethical which does not enable man to    
explain that an enthusiastic  active    
devotion to the universe is something   
grounded in the nature of  the world and
 of life4 ,but the road he takes in     
order to develop this  thought leads him
 astray4 ,instead of going more deeply  
into the  question how ethical          
happenings1 though coming from the      
world-spirit1  and directed upon the    
world1 are nevertheless different from  
normal  world-happenings1 and           
investigating the nature of this        
difference1 he  employs the trick1 which
 had been made possible by ,kant1 of    

declaring1  with the help of            
epistemological idealism1 that the      
ethical world-view  is a necessity of   
thought4 ,many of his contemporaries pg 
#ace believe  with him that it has      
thereby really reached a position of    
supremacy1  and even those who cannot go
 with him the whole length of the       
philosophy of the ,ego and ,non-,ego1   
are gripped by the force of the  ethical
 personality which speaks from ,fichte's
 writings4    ,the direct effect1 then1 
of ,fichte's philosophy is that the     
optimistic1 ethical spirit of           
rationalism maintains its position and  
becomes stronger and deeper4 ,his       
philosophy is a source of inspiration   
which produces a mighty impulse to      
ethics and civilization4 ,but the       
vessel in which1 with a magnificent wind
 behind him1 he starts with  his        
companions on a voyage over the sea of  
knowledge is a leaky one4 ,a            
catastrophe is only a question of time4 
,fichte's belief that he has obtained   

from the nature of the universe  the    
living compulsion to ethical duty and   
ethical work which he feels  within     
himself1 is an illusion4 ,the manner1   
however1 in which he  conceives the     
problem of the optimistic-ethical       
world-view1 and  perceives that for its 
solution the ordinary processes of life 
afford  no help1 so that more or less   
violent ones must be allowed to take    
their turn1 reveals him as a great      
thinker4          pg #acf    ,,chapter  
,,xii    ,,schiller2 ,,goethe2          
,,schleiermacher      ,schiller's       
ethical world-view2 ,goethe's world-view
 based on  nature-philosophy    ,,very  
important is the fact that the deepened 
optimistic-ethical  world-view of ,kant 
and ,fichte finds a champion in         
,friedrich von  ,schiller 7#agei-ahje71 
who brings it to the mass of the people 
with the  force1 added by poetical      
language4 ,he is himself philosophically
  gifted1 and undertakes in addition to 
develop it further4 ,he wishes to       

broaden the foundation of the ethical by
 showing its relation to the  sthetic4  
,in his ,letters ,concerning the sthetic
 ,education of ,mankind 7#agie71  he    
works out the idea that art and ethics  
belong together as far as  this1 that   
man maintains with the sensible world a 
relation which is  free and creative4   
8,the transition from the passive       
condition of  feeling to the active one 
of thinking and willing comes about in  
no  other way than through an           
intermediate condition of sthetic       
freedom4  4 4 4 ,there is no way of     
making the sentient man rational other  
than  first making him sthetic40 ,in    
what way the capacity for freedom which 
is built up in man by sthetic practice  
really disposes him to  morality1       
,schiller does not work out in further  
detail4 ,his treatise1  in spite of all 
the notice it attracted and deserves1 is
 more  rhetorical than substantial4 ,he 
has not gone to the bottom of the       
problem of the relations between the    

sthetic and the ethical4    ,in contrast
 to ,schiller1 ,johann ,wolfgang von    
,goethe 7#agdi-ahcb71  stands in almost 
as cold an attitude to the world-view of
 the deepened  rationalism as he does to
 that of ordinary rationalism4 ,to him  
it is  impossible to share pg #acg the  
confidence with which others1 looking   
around1 regard optimistic and ethical   
convictions as well founded4  ,what     
separates him from ,kant1 and ,fichte1  
and ,schiller1 is reverence  for the    
reality of nature4 ,nature is to him    
something in herself1 not  merely       
something existing with a view to       
mankind4 ,he does not require  from her 
that she shall fit herself completely   
into our  optimistic-ethical designs4   
,he does no violence to her either      
through  epistemological and ethical    
idealism or through presumptuous        
speculation1 but lives in her as a human
 being who looks at existence  with     
wonder and does not know how to bring   
her relation to the  world-spirit within

 any formula4    ,descartes led modern  
philosophy astray by cutting the world  
up into  objects which have extension   
and objects which think1 and by going   
on1  moreover1 to refuse to each of them
 the possibility of influencing the     
other4 ,following in his steps1 thinkers
 rack their brains over the  problem of 
these two parallel kinds of existence1  
and try to embrace  the world in        
formulas4 ,that the world is life1 and  
that in life lies  the riddle of        
riddles1 never enters their minds4      
,hence they overlook  in their          
philosophizing what is most important4  
,because ,descartes  preceded them1 the 
two great spirits who adhere to         
nature-philosophy1  ,spinoza and        
,leibniz1 cannot get further than a     
nature-philosophy which  is more or less
 dead4 ,being in the line of descent    
from ,descartes1  ,kant and ,fichte     
renounce all philosophizing over the    
real world4    ,descartes and the       
ethical belief-in-progress1 therefore1  

agree in a  common neglect of nature4   
,both alike overlook the fact that she  
is  living1 and that she exists for her 
own sake1 and it is because he  cannot  
join them in this that ,goethe dares to 
confess that he  understands nothing    
about philosophy4 ,his greatness is     
this3 that in a  time of abstract and   
speculative thought he had the courage  
to remain  elemental4    ,overwhelmed by
 the mysterious individual life in      
nature1 he persists  in maintaining a   
magnificently imperfect pg #ach         
world-view4 ,with the  spirit of an     
investigator he looks within into       
everything2 in that of  an inquirer he  
looks around upon everything4 ,he wants 
to think  optimistically4 ,shaftesbury's
 thoughts exercise their charm upon him 
also4 ,but in the chorus of optimism    
which makes itself heard so loudly      
around him1 he cannot join4 ,world- and 
life-affirmation is for him not  such a 
simple thing as it is for ,fichte and   
,schiller4 ,he strives to  reach an     

ethical world-view1 but admits to       
himself that he cannot  carry it        
through1 and he therefore does not      
venture to attribute a  meaning to      
nature4 ,to life1 however1 he will      
attribute one4 ,he seeks  it in         
serviceable activity4 ,to make the      
world-view of activity at home  in      
nature-philosophy is to him an inner    
necessity4 ,the conviction that         
activity provides the only real         
satisfaction that is to be found in     
life and that therein lies the          
mysterious meaning of existence is      
shown by him in ,faust as something     
which he has laboriously gained  during 
his pilgrimage through existence and to 
which he will hold  fast1 without being 
able to explain it completely4          
,goethe struggles to arrive at a        
conception of ethical activity1 but     
cannot reach one because                
nature-philosophy is unable to provide  
him  with any criterion of what is      
ethical4 ,what that philosophy had to   

refuse to the ,chinese monists and to   
,spinoza1 she cannot give to him        
either4    ,the range of this world-view
 of ,goethe's which deals thus with     
reality  remains hidden from his        
contemporaries4 ,its incompleteness     
alienates  their sympathies and         
irritates them4 ,for knowledge of the   
world and of  life which cannot be      
reduced to a system1 but sticks fast in 
facts1  they have no understanding4     
,they hold to their optimism and their  
ethic4    ,schleiermacher's attempt at a
 nature-philosophy    ,daniel ,ernst    
,schleiermacher 7#agfh-ahcd71 stands    
apart both from the  ordinary and from  
the deepened rationalism because he     
cannot free  himself from the influence 
of pg #aci ,spinoza47#df7 ,his life-work
  is directed to preaching the ,spinozan
 nature-philosophy as being1 as  far as 
he can make it so1 both an ethic and the
 ,christian religion4  ,hence he always 
dresses it up as one or the other of    
these4    ,the accepted ethical code1 in

 ,schleiermacher's opinion1 makes man   
merely run about the earth as an ethical
 individual bent on improving  the      
world4 ,living in this way1 in a        
constant state of enthusiasm1 he        
becomes in danger of losing himself and 
becoming unpersonal4 ,he  forgets that  
his primary duty is1 first of all to be 
alone with  himself1 to look within     
himself1 and1 instead of being a mere   
human  creature1 to make himself into a 
personality4    ,this renunciation of   
rationalism's enthusiasm for activity is
 to be  found in the ,monologues1 those 
splendid introspective meditations      
meant for the first ,new ,year's ,day of
 the nineteenth century4 ,one  seems to 
hear in them ,lao-tse and ,chwang-tse   
criticising the moralism  and the       
fanaticism for progress of ,confucius4  
,man's first task is1 according to      
,schleiermacher1 to realize his  oneness
 with the ,infinite and in the ,infinite
 to see the world4 ,only  that which    
results from this as action is really   

significant1 and has  importance for    
morality4    ,spinoza's ethic consisted 
in keeping oneself at the highest level 
and  living one's life more after the   
fashion of a life of thought than  after
 that of a life of corporeal existence4 
,schleiermacher's ethic  has the same   
objective except that he seeks to       
combine with it a more  comprehensive   
interest in the world than is to be     
found in ,spinoza4 ,he  is helped in    
this direction by his belief that       
progress is something  immanent4    ,we 
have1 he says1 no other perfecting to   
bring about in things than  that which  
is inherent in them4 ,ethics1 therefore1
 are not a setting  up of laws1 but the 
recognition and the description of the  
tendencies  working for perfection which
 appear in the world itself1 together   
with  behaviour pg #adj in accord with  
their spirits4 ,the moral law is not    
distinct from the law of nature and     
pursues no other aims than the  latter  
does4 ,it is only the law of nature     

arriving in man at the  consciousness of
 itself4    ,schleiermacher1 therefore1 
feels that his task is not1 as ,fichte  
conceived his to be1 the bringing of the
 universe under the  sovereignty of     
reason2 it consists solely in supporting
 the oneness of  nature and reason in   
the sphere of human action1 which is    
ever  striving to realize itself within 
that universe4 8,all ethical  knowledge 
is the expression of the ever-beginning 
but never completed  efforts of reason  
to become nature40 ,ethics are a        
contemplative  8science40 ,they revolve 
around the two poles of natural science 
and  human history4    ,the ethic which 
results from this fundamental conception
 is1 like  those of ,lao-tse and        
,chwang-tse1 so toned down that there is
 no longer  any real power in it4       
,however completely ,schleiermacher may 
try to  conceal this fact by his        
wonderful powers of description1 it     
plays  only a subordinate rle4 ,what    
gives a meaning to human existence is   

something which is independent of deeds2
 it is the oneness with the  ,infinite  
which is experienced in feeling4        
,with its clever dialectic1 but not in  
reality1 ,schleiermacher's ethic  shows 
itself finally to be superior to that of
 ,spinoza4 ,his world-view  is that of  
,spinoza1 only enriched by his belief in
 the immanence of  the power of         
progress4 ,hence his ethic is iridescent
 with somewhat  more brilliant colours4 
,thus do a living nature-philosophy in  
,goethe and a ,spinozan one in          
,schleiermacher undermine the ground on 
which stand the men of the now          
beginning nineteenth century1 whose     
thinking is so enthusiastically         
optimistic-ethical4 ,the crowd pays no  
attention to their dangerous            
proceedings4 ,it gazes at the fireworks 
which ,kant and ,fichte let off1  while 
,schiller recites his poetry4 ,and now  
there begin to rise bursts  of rockets  
which throw a peculiarly brilliant      
light4 ,the past-master  in the art of  

firework display1 ,hegel1 has come into 
action6          pg #ada    ,,chapter   
,,xiii    ,,hegel',s ,,supra-,,ethical  
,,optimistic ,,world-,,view      ,ethics
 in ,hegel's nature-philosophy1 and in  
his philosophy of history    ,,in his   
speculative philosophy ,fichte's first  
and chief interest was  ethical4 ,hegel1
 deeper and more objective than he1 aims
 at truth  before everything47#dg7      
,while using any helpful considerations 
which are provided by facts1 his aim is 
to discover the meaning of  ,being4 ,he 
therefore cannot join ,fichte in the    
violent procedure1  suggested by his    
ethic1 of giving the world the          
categorical imperative  for father and  
epistemological idealism for mother4    
,before going so  far as to write out a 
birth-certificate for the world1 he     
undertakes  some material               
investigations4 ,he studies the laws    
which govern events1  as they are       
revealed in history4 ,he then lays these
 as the foundation  for the constructive

 operations which are to explain the    
origin of the  world out of the notion  
of ,being4 ,his philosophy1 therefore1  
is a  philosophy of history become      
cosmic4 ,the building1 so far as one can
  measure it externally1 is solidly     
constructed4 ,that is why it is still   
convincing even where its lines lose    
themselves in infinity4    ,what1 then1 
does ,hegel discover to be the principle
 underlying the  course of events in    
history8 ,he discovers that every       
process of  becoming advances with      
natural progress1 and that this progress
  realizes itself in the occurrence of a
 consecutive series of  contradictions  
which invariably issue in               
reconciliation6 ,in thoughts  as in     
facts1 pg #adb every thesis evokes an   
antithesis4 ,then these  unite in a     
synthesis which preserves what is       
valuable in either of  them4 ,every     
synthesis that is reached becomes again 
a thesis for a new  antithesis4 ,from   
these there results again a new         

synthesis1 and so on  for ever4    ,with
 the aid of this scheme ,hegel can      
expound the course of history4  ,from it
 he is also able to develop the basic   
principles of logic4  ,hence he is sure 
that from it it must be possible to make
 intelligible  how the notional world   
which can be logically developed out of 
the  notion of ,being passes over into  
being the world of reality4 ,he  carries
 this fancy through to its conclusion in
 such magnificent  fashion1 that even   
we1 who are proof against its charm1 can
 understand  how it was possible to     
become intoxicated with it4    ,while   
,fichte seeks to give an ethical meaning
 to the expansion of pure  ,being into  
the world of reality1 ,hegel from the   
very outset takes his  stand upon the   
assertion that in its ultimate analysis 
the meaning of  the world can only be an
 intellectual one4 ,the ,absolute has no
 other  object in bringing a world into 
existence than to become conscious of   
itself4 ,it is infinitely creative      

spirit1 but not1 as in ,fichte's        
thought1 with the object of endlessly   
working1 but with that of  returning    
into itself by the road of its own      
creations4    ,in nature the ,absolute  
comprehends itself only very dimly4 ,it 
is first  in man that it really         
experiences itself1 and that in three   
ascending  stages4 ,in the man who is   
concerned merely with himself and nature
 it  is still subjective spirit4 ,in the
 communal spirit of men who  cooperate  
for the legal and ethical organization  
of human society1 it  expands to        
objective spirit and at the same time1  
on a basis of  notions provided within  
this spirit1 shows itself capable of    
being  creative4 ,in art1 in religion1  
and in philosophy it becomes conscious  
of itself as absolute spirit1 existing  
in and for itself and having  overcome  
the contradictions of subject and       
object1 thought and ,being4  ,in art it 
contemplates itself as such2 in         
religious devotion pg #adc  it presents 

itself as such2 in philosophy1 which is 
pure thought1 it  comprehends itself as 
such4 ,with the world represented as    
thought1 the  ,absolute experiences     
itself4    ,before the destiny to which 
,spinoza submits with a smile1 against  
which ,fichte and ,schleiermacher rebel1
 ,hegel bows in courageous  reverence   
for truth4 ,his world-view is           
supra-ethical mysticism4 ,the  ethical  
is to him only a phase in the           
development of intellectuality4         
,civilization he conceives not as       
something ethical1 but only as          
something intellectual4    ,for proof   
that the ethical is nothing in itself   
but only a phenomenon  of the           
intellectual1 ,hegel appeals to ,french 
usage4 8,the moral10 he  says1 8must be 
taken in the wider sense in which it    
signifies not the  morally good alone4  
#8,le moral' is in ,french opposed to   
the physical  and means the spiritual1  
the intellectual1 or the non-material in
  general407#dh7    ,the notion of the  

ethical with which ,hegel works is      
extraordinarily  wide4 ,it consists in  
8the will having for its objects not    
subjective1  i4e41 selfish1 interests1  
but a universal content407#di7 ,it is   
the business of thought to define this  
universal content in particular         
instances4    ,if ,hegel had fully      
explored the fact that the individual   
will comes to  assign itself universal  
objects1 and had felt this fact to be   
the  mysterious one that it is1 he could
 not have passed so lightly as he  does 
over the ethical problem4 ,he would have
 had to admit to himself  that the      
spiritual element which manifests itself
 in it is unique in  character1 and     
cannot be included in any higher one1 or
 classified  under any other at all4    
,the problem of the mutual relationship 
between  the spiritual and the moral    
would have been clearly posed4    ,but  
,hegel is so anxious to find some sort  
of shelter for his  speculative         
optimistic world-view that he estimates 

the birth of the  ethical in man not by 
and for itself1 but simply pg #add as a 
phenomenon of the rise of the           
supra-individual spirit4 ,instead of    
directing his thought to the question of
 how the individual spirit in  each     
several person can be at the same time  
supra-individual and  conscious of its  
oneness with the ,absolute1 ,hegel sets 
out to make  intelligible the higher    
experience of the individual by means of
 the  mutual relations between it and   
the universal spirit of the collective  
body to which it belongs4 ,he says it is
 presumption for the individual  spirit 
as such to seek1 as it does in ,indian  
thought1 to comprehend  its relation to 
the ,absolute4 ,becoming one with the   
,absolute is an  experience of the      
universal spirit of collective humanity 
when it has  reached its loftiest       
height4 ,only when it stands in         
connection with  this1 as a river with  
the waters of a lake through which it   
had  flowed1 can the individual spirit  

obtain experience of the ,absolute4     
,this is the fatal turning towards the  
general and supra-personal at  which the
 ,hegelian philosophy makes itself      
superficial4    ,ethics1 then1 for      
,hegel have at bottom only the          
significance that they  make possible   
the growth of a society in the          
collective spirit of  which the absolute
 spirit can come to a consciousness of  
itself4 ,man  becomes moral by          
submitting voluntarily to the demands   
which society  recognizes as expedient  
with a view to the creation of the      
higher  spirituality4    ,hegel has no  
ethic for the individual4 ,the deep     
problems of ethical  self-perfecting and
 of the relations between man and man do
 not  concern him4 ,when he does come to
 talk about ethics his subject is the   
family1 society1 and the ,state4        
,with ,bentham ethics complete law4     
,hegel works the two in together4 ,it   
is significant that he wrote no treatise
 on ethics4 ,all that he does  publish  

about ethics is to be found in his      
philosophy of law4    ,his first concern
 is to show that the ,state1 correctly  
conceived1 is  not merely a legal1 but a
 legal-ethical body4 ,fichte had made it
 the  ethical educator of the           
individual4 ,for ,hegel it is the       
essential  element in all moral         
happenings1 pg #ade 8the self-conscious 
moral  substance10 as he expresses it4  
,what is most valuable in the moral     
comes to actuality in it and through it4
 ,this overvaluing of the ,state  is a  
natural consequence of his low valuation
 of the spiritual  significance of      
individuality as such4    ,hegel's      
supra-ethical world-view4 ,his belief in
 progress    ,with ,fichte's idea1 which
 he found it impossible to work out     
completely1 of giving ethics a cosmic   
foundation in such a way that  its      
content might be the bringing of the    
world under the sovereignty  of reason1 
,hegel can have nothing to do4 ,his     
feeling for the real  debars him from   

anything so fantastic4 ,but that he     
altogether gives up  the cosmic notion  
of ethics is fatal4 ,instead of allowing
 ethics and  nature-philosophy to come  
to an understanding together in his     
speculative thought1 he makes a         
sacrifice of ethics from the start4 ,he 
refuses them the liberty 7which they    
enjoyed with ,spinoza1 ,fichte1 and     
,schleiermacher71 of trying to get      
themselves conceived as the relation  of
 the individual to the universe4 ,they  
are forbidden1 further1 to try  7as they
 can do with the ,chinese monists71 to  
get accepted as a  relation which forms 
part of the meaning of the universe4    
,they are  restricted to being a        
standard for the regulation of the      
relations  between individuals and      
society4 ,they may not be active as a   
formative  idea in the creation of a    
world-view upon a foundation of         
nature-philosophy4 ,they are simply     
built into the edifice as an  already   
shaped and dressed stone4    ,in        

consequence of ,hegel's allowing ethics 
no significance beyond that  of a       
preparatory motive to realizing the     
spiritual meaning of the  world1 his    
teaching becomes remarkably analogous to
 the ,brahmanic4  ,hegel and the        
,brahmans are akin because1 as          
consistent thinkers1 they  venture to   
admit that thought about the world and  
the ,absolute which  lies behind it can 
reach only an intellectual1 never an    
ethical  meaning in the union of the    
finite spirit pg #adf with the infinite1
  and therefore value ethics only as a  
preparatory motive thereto4 ,with  the  
,brahmans ethics prepare the individual 
for the intellectual act in  which he   
experiences the ,absolute in himself and
 himself dies in it4  ,with ,hegel they 
help in the formation of society1 in the
 communal  spirit of which the ,absolute
 first becomes capable of experiencing  
itself4    ,it is only a relative       
difference between ,hegel and the       
,brahmans that  the latter make their   

intellectualist mysticism individualist 
and  world- and life-denying1 while     
,hegel carries his through as world- and
  life-affirming1 and makes the         
intellectual act take place only when a 
society has produced the requisite      
spirituality4 ,the inner similarity  in 
character of the two world-views is not 
affected thereby4 ,one is  the          
complement of the other4 ,both give     
value to ethics only as a phase  of     
intellectuality4    ,with ,hegel1 as    
with the ,brahmans1 ethics are indeed   
given a shelter1  but they are not shown
 to be necessary4 ,for the production of
 the  consciousness of oneness with the 
,absolute the decisive element for  the 
,brahmans is1 in the last resort1 only a
 sufficient advance in  world- and      
life-denial1 and depth of meditation4   
,with ,hegel1 society1  which has to    
produce the spirituality in which the   
absolute spirit  experiences itself in  
the finite1 could come into existence   
just as  well by means of law alone1 as 

by means of ethics and law together4    
,his ethic is1 in truth1 only a species 
of law4    ,with the ,brahmans ethics   
are a colouring which their world- and  
life-denial takes on for a certain      
distance2 with ,hegel they are a        
similar mode of self-manifestation of   
his world- and life-affirmation4        
,hegel's world-view is in and by itself 
supra-ethical mysticism with  world- and
 life-affirmation1 just as that of the  
,brahmans is  supra-ethical mysticism   
with world- and life-denial4    ,that   
his world-view is this and nothing else 
,hegel admits in the fit  of brutal     
frankness under the influence of which  
he wrote on ,june  #beth1 #ahbj1 the    
famous ,preface to his ,philosophy of   
,law4 ,our task  7he there explains17 is
 not to pg #adg re-fashion reality in   
accordance with ideals which have arisen
 in our spirit1 but we have to  listen  
to the way in which the real world      
affirms itself1 and us  within itself1  
in its own immanent impulse to progress4

 8,what is  rational is real1 and what  
is real is rational40 ,the eternal which
 is  present under the form of the      
temporal and transient and is developing
  within this1 it is worth our while to 
recognize and thereby to become         
reconciled with reality4 ,it is not for 
philosophy to set up ideas  about what  
is to be4 ,her task is to understand    
what is4 ,she does not  produce any new 
age1 but is only 8her own age           
comprehended in  thought40 ,she always  
arrives too late to be an instructor as 
to what  the world ought to be1 and she 
begins to speak only when reality has   
completed its process of construction4  
8,minerva's owl does not begin  her     
flight till darkness is closing in40    
,beneficent peace will be  brought us by
 the sincere recognition of reality4    
,rationalism is an ethical belief in    
progress combined with an ethical       
will-to-progress4 ,it was as such that  
,kant and ,fichte had undertaken  to    
deepen it4 ,after passing through       

,hegel's mind it is only a belief  in   
progress 4 4 4 belief in a progress     
which is immanent in things4 ,it  is    
this alone that this powerful           
speculative thinker believes himself    
able to place upon a cosmic foundation1 
and in this he is in contact  with      
,schleiermacher4 ,on the whole1 and     
reduced to the simplest  possible       
expression1 his world-view and          
,schleiermacher's lie not very  far     
apart4 ,the secret feud in which the two
 thinkers lived with one  another had in
 reality no objective justification4    
,the extent of the strategical retreat  
on which ,hegel enters remains  hidden  
from his contemporaries4 ,they rejoice  
unreservedly at the  magnificent energy 
which his system displays1 and with the 
less  reservation because he himself    
only once1 viz4 in the ,preface to his  
,philosophy of ,law1 expresses himself  
freely about the final results  of his  
thinking4 ,the fact that with him the   
moon of ethics is obscured  does not    

evoke the excitement that might pg #adh 
normally have been  expected1 because1  
in compensation1 he allows the sun of   
the  cosmically founded belief in       
progress to shine all the brighter4     
,being  still under the influences of   
rationalism1 the men of that time are so
  accustomed to regard ethics and belief
 in progress as organically  connected  
that they look on the strengthening of  
optimism effected by  ,hegel as being   
also a strengthening of ethics4         
,hegel's formal assumption that progress
 comes about through a  succession of   
antitheses which are always finally     
reconciled in  valuable syntheses has   
kept optimism alive through most        
critical times  right on to the present 
day4 ,hegel is the creator of that      
confident  feeling for reality with     
which ,europe staggered into the second 
half  of the nineteenth century without 
becoming aware that ethics have at  some
 point or other been left behind4 ,and  
that being so1 he is able to  hold his  

optimistic philosophy of history out of 
which his world-view  grows1 only       
because he lives in a period when a     
general temper which  works with ethical
 energies of extraordinary strength is  
carrying  ,humanity forward in an       
extraordinary way4 ,whence the progress 
comes1  which he experiences all around 
him1 the great philosophic historian    
does not recognize4 ,he explains as     
produced through natural forces  what   
has originated from ethical ones4    ,in
 ,hegel's world-view the connexion      
between ethics and belief in  progress1 
in which the spiritual energy of modern 
times has always  rested1 is broken1 and
 with the separation both are ruined4   
,ethics  languish1 and the belief in    
progress1 now left to itself1 becomes   
spiritless and powerless because it is  
now only a belief in immanent  progress1
 and no longer a belief in progress of  
all kinds which is  produced by         
enthusiasm4 ,with ,hegel there rises the
 spirit which  borrows its ideals       

empirically from reality and believes in
 the  progress of ,humanity more than it
 labours to promote it4 ,hegel stands   
on the bridge of an ocean liner and     
explains to the passengers the  wonders 
of the machinery in the vessel that is  
carrying them1 and the  mysteries of the
 pg #adi calculation of its course4 ,but
 he gives no  thought to the necessary  
maintenance as before of the fires under
 the  boilers4 ,hence the speed         
gradually diminishes until the vessel   
comes  at last to a standstill4 ,it no  
longer obeys the helm1 and becomes a    
plaything of storms4          pg #aej   
,,chapter ,,xiv    ,,the ,,later        
,,utilitarianism4 ,,biological ,,and    
,,sociological ,,ethics      ,beneke1   
,feuerbach1 ,laas1 ,auguste ,comte1     
,john ,stuart ,mill    ,,the fact that  
speculative philosophy also is unable to
 establish the  optimistic-ethical      
world-view upon nature-philosophy is not
 felt with  all its weight in the       
intellectual life of ,europe4 ,in that  

philosophy  we have1 indeed1 a form of  
thought which flames out like a flash of
  lightning and vanishes as quickly1 but
 it is confined to ,germany4 ,the  rest 
of ,europe takes hardly any notice of   
,fichte and ,hegel1 just as1  indeed1 it
 paid scarcely any attention to ,kant4  
,it does not understand  that these     
adventurous advances in the struggle for
 the  optimistic-ethical world-view have
 been undertaken by leaders who see     
clearly that the battle is not to be won
 on the usual lines4 ,the  universal    
conviction is1 of course1 that the      
victory was won long  before1 and can no
 longer be disputed4 ,it is only later  
that people in  ,france and ,england see
 what ,kant1 ,fichte1 and ,hegel aimed  
at1 and what  their significance was in 
the struggle for world-view4    ,for the
 intellectual life of ,europe1 then1 the
 world-view of  rationalism still stands
 upright at a time when it has1 in      
truth1  already collapsed4 ,generally   
speaking a generation lives1 of course1 

less by the world-view that has been    
produced within it than by that  of the 
previous age4 ,the light of a star is   
still visible to us when  it has long   
ceased to exist4 ,there is hardly       
anything in the world  that clings so   
toughly to life as a world-view does4   
,it never becomes clear1 then1 to the   
popular utilitarian ethic that in  the  
course of the first half of the         
nineteenth century it is being          
gradually robbed of its world-view by pg
 #aea new modes of thought1  those of   
historical science1 romanticism1        
nature-philosophy1 and  natural science4
 ,certain that it is still in favour    
with the healthy  human reason1 it      
remains unmoved at its post1 and still  
does a  considerable amount of work4    
,whenever1 too1 it considers its future 
prospects1 it assumes that if it should 
ever have to give up all  connexion with
 rationalism1 it will be able to come to
 terms with  positivism1 that world-view
 which has been sobered by exact        

sciences4  ,as a matter of fact1        
rationalism does merge imperceptibly    
into a kind  of popular positivism4 ,the
 optimistic-ethical interpretation of   
the  universe is still relied on1 but   
less unreservedly and less              
enthusiastically than previously4 ,in   
this weakened form rationalism          
maintains itself till the end of the    
nineteenth century1 and even till       
somewhat later1 always working to       
produce the temper that desires         
civilization1 whether independently or  
accompanied by popular  religiousness4  
,while1 then1 ,kant1 ,fichte1 and       
,schleiermacher are struggling with the 
ethical problem1 ,bentham supplies the  
world with an ethic4 ,the  periodical   
entitled ,the ,utilitarian              
7,l',utilitaire7 is started in  ,paris  
in #ahbi to propagate his views4 ,in    
,england the ,westminster  ,review works
 for him4 ,in #ahcj ,friedrich ,eduard  
,beneke's translation  of his           
,principles of ,civil and ,criminal     

,legislation paved a way for  him in    
,germany4 ,at his death--which occurred 
in #ahcb1 a year after                  
,hegel's--,bentham could take to the    
grave with him the conviction that1     
thanks to him1 an ethic which provided  
enlightenment both for the  reason and  
for the heart had proved victorious     
everywhere4    ,all the earlier methods 
followed to establish utilitarianism    
continue  at work in the nineteenth     
century4 ,friedrich ,eduard ,beneke     
7#agih-ahed717ej7 the translator of     
,bentham1 pg #aeb and ,ludwig  ,andreas 
,feuerbach 7#ahjd-ahgb77ea7 take up with
 confidence the  attempts of ,david     
,hartley and ,dietrich von ,holbach to  
derive the  unegoistic directly from the
 egoistic1 and try hard to complete them
  in a deepened psychology4 ,beneke     
believes himself able to show how       
through the continuous influence of     
reason on the feelings of pleasure  and 
non-pleasure1 there builds itself up in 
man a capacity for moral  judgement     

which holds up before him as the highest
 goal for his  activity the all-round   
perfecting of human society4 ,feuerbach 
derives  altruism from the possession by
 man of an impulse to think himself     
into the personality of others and to   
put himself in their place4  ,thereby1  
he says1 his impulse to seek happiness  
loses its original  independence1 and   
suffers if the happiness of others is   
spoilt4 ,at  last1 under the influence  
of habit1 man forgets altogether that   
his  relation of helpfulness with his   
fellows was originally meant to  satisfy
 the impulse to seek his own happiness1 
and he conceives his  own care for their
 welfare as duty4    ,ernest ,laas      
7#ahcg-ahhe717eb7 repeats the view that 
ethics consist  primarily in the        
individual's acceptance of the rules    
laid down by  society1 an acceptance    
which from being a matter of habit      
becomes at  last unconscious and        
automatic4    ,in general1 however1 the 
utilitarianism of the nineteenth century

  props itself up with the assumption   
which is first made by ,david ,hume  and
 ,adam ,smith1 that from the very       
beginning the non-egoistic is given  in 
human nature side by side with the      
egoistic4    ,auguste ,comte            
7#agih-aheg77ec7 in his ,physiology of  
,society  praises as the greatest       
achievement of his time the then        
commencing  recognition of the          
fundamental social tendency in human    
nature4 ,the  future of mankind depends 
in his opinion on intelligence working  
correctly and perseveringly pg #aec on  
this endowment1 and so  rendering man's 
natural benevolence capable of achieving
 the noblest  and most beneficial       
objects4 ,if devotion to the universal  
good remains  at work in the multitude  
of individuals so as to provide the     
necessary  complement to their natural  
egoism1 there will arise out of the     
rational understanding between the two a
 society which is ever  bringing itself 
nearer to perfection in its economic and

 social  relations4    ,a great defender
 and developer of utilitarianism in     
,england was ,john  ,stuart ,mill       
7#ahjf-ahgc717ed7 who in this followed  
in the footsteps  of his father1 ,james 
,mill 7#aggc-ahcf74      ,darwin and    
,spencer    ,utilitarian ethics receive 
unexpected help from natural science4   
,biology declares itself able to explain
 by reference to its origin the         
devotion to others which thinkers had   
decided to accept as inherent in  man by
 the side of the egoistic1 but not      
further derivable from it4  ,the        
unegoistic1 so it teaches1 does as a    
matter of fact grow out of  the         
egoistic1 only it does not issue from it
 afresh on every occasion  as a result  
of conscious reflexion by the           
individual4 ,the change has  taken place
 in the species by a long and slow      
process1 and is now  revealed as an     
acquired faculty4 ,the conviction that  
the welfare of  the individual is best  
secured if the whole body of individuals

 is  also active in promoting the common
 good has been established by           
experience in the struggle for          
existence4 ,action on this principle has
  thus become a characteristic of       
individuals which develops more and     
more in the course of generations4 ,we  
possess this devotion to others  as     
descendants of herds which maintained   
themselves in the struggle  for         
existence while others succumbed in it1 
because the social  impulses were       
developed in them the most strongly and 
the most  universally4    pg #aed       
,this thought is developed by ,charles  
,darwin 7#ahfi-ahhb77ee7 in his         
,descent of ,man1 and by ,herbert       
,spencer 7#ahbj-aijc77ef7 in his        
,principles of ,ethics4 ,each of these  
thinkers refers to the other4           
,altruism is therefore now regarded as  
something natural and at the  same time 
as something which has come into        
existence through  reflexion1 and the   
relation subsisting between it and      

egoism as having  admittedly become     
rational4 ,on this judgement is founded 
at the same  time the conviction that   
the co-operation of these two impulses1 
as it  developed in the past1 will allow
 itself also to be perfected in the     
future4 ,more and more will these two   
impulses show clearly their  mutual     
dependence on each other4 ,from sporadic
 altruism1 developing in  the animal    
kingdom for the production and          
maintenance of new  generations1 we have
 advanced to a settled altruism which   
serves the  maintenance of the family   
and society4 ,to bring this to          
completion  must now be our aim4 ,we    
shall succeed if the compromise between 
egoism  and altruism continues to grow  
better adjusted and more purposive4 ,we 
must advance to the view which at first 
seems to be a paradox that 7to  use     
,spencer's language7 the general        
prosperity can be reached mainly        
through a corresponding struggle of all 
individuals for their own  prosperity   

and that of individuals1 on the other   
hand1 partly through  their struggle for
 the general prosperity4    ,comte's    
,physiology of ,society is thus given a 
foundation in natural  science by       
,darwin and ,spencer4    ,utilitarianism
 now continues on its way full of       
satisfaction at having  found itself    
conceived by modern biology and in the  
history of  evolution as something      
natural4 ,but it has not thereby become 
either  fresher or more capable4 ,it    
advances more and more slowly4 ,its     
breath  fails4 ,what is the matter with 
it8 ,its ethical energy leaves it       
because pg #aee it has conceived itself 
to be something natural4 ,the  fatal    
fact that ethics cease to be ethics in  
proportion as they are  brought into    
harmony with natural happenings1 is     
fulfilled not only  when ethics are     
developed out of nature-philosophy but  
also when they  are explained by        
biology4    ,ethics consist in this3    
that natural happenings in man are seen1

 on  the basis of conscious reflexion1  
to carry within them an inner           
contradiction4 ,the more this           
contradiction is removed into the sphere
  of that which goes back to instinct1  
the weaker do ethics become4    ,the    
origin of ethics is assuredly this3 that
 something which is  contained as       
instinct in our will-to-live is taken up
 through  conscious reflexion and       
further developed4 ,the great question  
is1  however1 what this last and most   
original element in the instinct of     
solidarity is1 this element which by    
thinking is developed far beyond        
everything instinctive1 and in what way 
this development is  accomplished4 ,by  
proclaiming developed herd-mentality to 
be ethics1  ,darwin and ,spencer show   
that they have not gone to the root of  
the  problem of the relation between    
instinct and thinking reflexion in      
ethics4 ,if nature wishes to have a     
perfect herd1 she does not appeal  to   
ethics1 but gives the individuals1 as in

 the ant- or the  bee-kingdom1 instincts
 by the force of which they are wholly  
merged in  the society4    ,but ethics  
are the putting into practice the       
principle of solidarity  on a basis of  
free reflexion1 and this practice1      
moreover1 directs  itself not only to   
individuals of the same species1 but to 
everything  living in general4 ,the     
ethics of ,darwin and ,spencer are a    
failure from  the first1 because they   
are too narrow and do not leave the     
irrational  its rights4 ,the social     
impulse which they put in the place of  
the  sympathy which is assumed by ,hume 
and ,adam ,smith is set at a lower      
pitch than the latter1 and is           
correspondingly less calculated to      
explain real ethics4    ,the transition 
from egoism to altruism1 then1 it is    
equally impossible  to carry through if 
one transfers the proceeding from the   
individual  to the species4 ,the fact   
that the process is thereby prolonged   
allows  numerous series of pg #aef most 

delicate transitions to be taken into   
account and their results to be summed  
up as inheritance of acquired           
characters4 ,nevertheless1 that does not
 explain truly ethical  devotion4 ,the  
fruits of ethics are hung upon the bush 
of social  impulse1 but the bush itself 
did not bear them4    ,the weak points  
in biological and sociological          
utilitarianism    ,the strength of      
utilitarianism lies in its simplicity4  
,bentham and  ,adam ,smith still show   
this quality4 ,they have society in     
their minds  as the sum of a number of  
individuals1 not as an organized body4  
,their  efforts are directed to inducing
 human beings to do as much good as     
they can to each other4    ,with ,john  
,stuart ,mill this simplicity           
disappears4 ,to him1 and then in  still 
stronger measure to ,spencer and others1
 it occurs that the ethic  of the       
conduct of an individual to his fellows 
cannot be carried  through as a matter  
of reasoning4 ,hence1 they conclude1    

8scientific  ethics0 has to do only with
 the relations between individuals and  
organized society as such4    ,bentham's
 simple utilitarianism puts before the  
individual an estimate  of the manifold 
ways in which society needs his devotion
 if it is to  see all its members       
prosperous1 and appeals to his          
enthusiasm4 ,the  utilitarianism which  
has become biological and sociological  
tries to  reckon up for the individual  
the correct balance between egoism and  
devotion4 ,it pretends to be            
social-science transformed to sentiment4
    ,adam ,smith keeps ethics and       
sociology still apart in such a way that
  he is not a sociologist when he speaks
 as a moralist1 and not a  moralist when
 he puts forward sociological theories4 
,now1 however1 the  two points of view  
are worked in together1 and indeed in   
such a way  that ethics are merged in   
sociology4    ,the ethic of the simple  
utilitarianism is concerned with actions
  produced by enthusiasm1 the           

biologico-sociological ethic with the   
conscientious employment of the         
complicated pg #aeg machinery of        
organized society4 ,in the former an    
occasional piece of ineffective  action 
means at worst a waste of power1 in the 
latter a disturbance of  the organism4  
,hence thorough-going utilitarianism    
comes to a  depreciatory estimate of the
 ethic of the individual which springs  
from ethical convictions in the         
individual and does not think           
biologically and sociologically4        
,that in the sphere of individual ethics
 there are no more discoveries  to make1
 passes with the later utilitarians for 
admitted4 ,they regard  them as an      
uninteresting hinterland1 to advance    
into which is not  worth while4 ,they   
therefore confine themselves to the     
fertile coast  land of social ethics4   
,they see1 no doubt1 that the streams   
which  water this lower ground come from
 the hinterland of individual ethics4   
,but instead of following them up to    

their sources their only care is  to    
make the lower ground safe from         
occasional inundations which may be     
caused by them4 ,they therefore lead the
 streams into such deep-lying  channels 
that the land gets parched4             
,scientific ethics undertakes the       
impossible1 viz4 to regulate devotion   
from outside4 ,it tries to drive        
water-mills without any head of water1  
and to shoot with a bow which is but    
half-bent4    ,how tortured are         
,spencer's disquisitions on absolute and
 relative  ethics6 ,for the natural1    
ethical point of view absolute ethics   
consists in this3 that a man experiences
 directly in himself an  absolute       
ethical 8must40 ,because absolute ethics
 thinks of devotion  without limits and 
would lead straight to a self-sacrifice 
which would  in some way or other       
suspend life and activity1 it has to    
come to an  understanding with reality  
and decide what measure of              
self-sacrifice  is to be made1 and how  

far that minimum of compromise can be   
allowed  which is necessary to ensure a 
continuation of life and activity4 ,in  
this origin out of absolute ethics of   
applied1 relative ethics the            
scientific1 biological point of view    
cannot acquiesce4 ,spencer  transforms  
the conception of absolute ethics and   
turns it into pg  #aeh the conduct of   
the perfect man in the perfect society4 
,we have no  need1 he says1 to picture  
to ourselves the ideal man except 8as he
  would exist in ideal social           
surroundings40 8,according to the       
evolution  hypothesis the two mutually  
condition each other1 and only where    
both  are to be found1 is such ideal    
action also possible40    ,the ethic    
which thereby comes into consideration  
is produced1  therefore1 from outside4  
,it is determined by the relation in    
which  society and the individual stand 
to one another in their mutual state  of
 imperfection4 ,into the place of the   
living conception of absolute  ethic    

there steps a fiction4 ,it is only      
relative standards1 subject to  the     
changes produced by time and relations  
with others1 that the ethic  of         
sociological utilitarianism provides for
 men4 ,that means that it  can only     
feebly rouse his will to the ethical4   
,it even reduces him to  a state of     
confusion because it takes from him the 
elementary  conviction that he has to   
exert himself without regard to what the
  given relations are in a state of     
perfection1 and must contend with       
circumstances from an inward compulsion1
 even without the certainty of  any     
result at all4    ,spencer is more      
biologist than moralist4 ,ethics are to 
him merely the  setting in which the    
principle of utility comes to us after  
it has  been worked up in the           
brain-cells together with the           
experiences it has  produced1 and after 
it has been passed on by heredity4 ,thus
 he gives  up all the inward forces by  
which ethics live4 ,the urge to attain  

to a  perfecting of the personality     
which has to be reached through ethics  
and the longing for a spiritual bliss   
which is to be experienced  within them1
 are deprived of their office4    ,the  
ethic of ,jesus and of the religious    
thinkers of ,india withdraws  itself    
completely from social to individual    
ethics4 ,the utilitarianism  which has  
become scientific ethics gives up       
individual ethics in order  that social 
ethics may alone have currency4 ,in the 
first case ethics  can survive because  
it keeps possession of the              
mother-country1 and has  sacrificed only
 its foreign possessions4 ,in the pg    
#aei other it  wishes to exert its      
authority in the foreign possessions    
while the  mother-country belongs to it 
no more4 ,individual ethics without     
social  ethics are imperfect1 but they  
can be very deep and living4 ,social    
ethics without individual ethics are    
like a limb with a tourniquet  round it1
 into which life no longer flows from   

the body4 ,they become  so impoverished 
that they really cease to be ethics any 
longer4    ,the reduction to impotence  
of scientific1 biological ethics shows  
itself not only in the fact that it     
finally makes all ethical  standards    
merely relative4 ,such ethics can no    
longer uphold the duty  of humanity as  
they ought to4    ,a sinister uniformity
 prevails in the evolution of ethics4   
,the ethics  of antiquity began to teach
 humanity after they had lost in the    
,later  ,stoicism their interest in     
organized society as they found it      
existing  in the ancient state4 ,modern 
utilitarianism1 conversely1 loses its   
sensitiveness to the duty of humanity in
 proportion to the consistency  with    
which it develops into an ethic of      
organized society4 ,it cannot  be       
otherwise4 ,the essence of humanity     
consists in this3 that  individuals     
never allow themselves to think         
impersonally in terms of  expediency as 
society does1 or to sacrifice individual

 existences in  order to attain their   
object4 ,the outlook which seeks the    
welfare of  organized society cannot do 
anything but compromise with the        
sacrifice  of individuals or groups of  
individuals4 ,in ,bentham1 with whom    
utilitarianism is still simple and      
concerns itself with the conduct of     
individuals to the multitude of other   
individuals1 the idea of  humanity has  
not been tampered with4 ,biological1    
sociological  utilitarianism is obliged 
to give it up as being sentimentality   
which  cannot maintain itself in the    
face of matter-of-fact ethical          
reflexion4 ,thus sociological ethics    
contribute not a little to the          
disappearance from the modern mind of   
any shrinking from inhumanity4  ,it     
allows individuals to adopt the         
mentality of society instead of  keeping
 them in a state of tension with regard 
to it4    pg #afj    ,society cannot    
exist without sacrifice4 ,the ethics    
which start from  individuals try to    

distribute this in such a way that      
through the  devotion of individuals as 
many as possible are voluntary          
sacrifices1  and that the individuals   
who are most severely hit are relieved  
of  their burden as far as possible by  
others4 ,this is the doctrine of        
self-sacrifice4 ,the sociological ethics
 which no longer reach back at          
individual ethics can only lay it down  
that the progress of society  advances  
according to inexorable laws at the     
price of the freedom and  prosperity of 
individuals and groups of individuals4  
,this is the  doctrine of being         
sacrificed by others4    ,if followed   
out consistently1 biological and        
sociological  utilitarianism arrives    
finally1 even if with hesitation1 at the
  conviction that in reality it no      
longer has for its object the  greatest 
possible happiness of the greatest      
possible number4 ,to this  object1 which
 was thus formulated by ,bentham1 it    
must now assign1 as  being sentimental1 

a place behind one which corresponds    
more exactly  to reality4 ,what is to be
 realized in the ever more complete     
development of the mutual relations     
between the individual and society  is  
not1 if one dares to admit it1 an       
increase in the welfare either of  the  
individual or of society but 4 4 4 the  
enhancing and perfecting of  life as    
such4 ,however much it may struggle     
against it1 utilitarianism1  as soon as 
it has become biological and            
sociological1 undergoes a  change in its
 ethical character1 and enters the      
service of  supra-ethical aims4 ,spencer
 still fights to keep it in the path of 
natural ethical feeling4    ,developed  
utilitarianism1 directed to the         
enhancing and perfecting of  life1 can  
no longer regard the claims of humanity 
as absolutely  binding1 but must make up
 its mind in certain cases to go outside
  them4 ,biology has become its master4 
,sociological ethics and socialism4     
,mechanical belief in progress    ,if it

 be granted that progress in the welfare
 of society depends on  the application 
of the conclusions of biology pg #afa   
and scientific  sociology1 it is not as 
a matter of course necessary to leave to
 the  good pleasure of the individual   
the corresponding conduct which is to   
be ethical4 ,it can be imposed upon him1
 if by economic measures and  measures  
of organization the relation between the
 individual and  society is determined  
in such a way that it automatically     
functions in  the most effective way4   
,thus by the side of social ethics      
socialism  makes its appearance4 ,henri 
de ,saint-,simon 7#agfj-ahbe717eg7      
,charles ,fourier 7#aggb-ahcg77eh7 and  
,p4 ,j4 ,proudhon  7#ahji-ahfe77ei7 in  
,france1 ,robert ,owen1 the mill-owner  
7#agga-aheh717fj7 in ,england1 and      
,ferdinand ,lassalle  7#ahbe-fd717fa7   
and others in ,germany1 prelude its     
appearance4 ,karl  ,marx                
7#ahah-ahhc77fb7 and ,friedrich ,engels 
7#ahbj-ahie7 put forward  in ,das       

,kapital its consistent programme1      
demanding the abolition of  private     
property and the ,state-regulation both 
of labour and of the  reward of labour4 
,das ,kapital is a doctrinaire book     
which works with definitions and        
tables1 but never goes very deeply into 
questions of living and the  conditions 
of living4 ,the great influence it      
exerts rests on the fact  that it       
preaches belief in a progress which is  
inherent in events1 and  works itself   
out in them automatically4 ,it          
undertakes to unveil the  mechanism of  
history1 and to show how the succession 
of different  methods of social         
organization--slavery1 feudalism1 the   
bourgeois  wage-system--tend towards the
 final replacement of private production
  by ,state-communistic pg #afb         
production as the logical crown of      
completed evolution4 ,through ,marx1    
,hegel's belief in inherent progress    
becomes1 if with a somewhat different   
interpretation1 the conviction  of the  

masses4 ,his optimistic feeling for     
reality takes the helm4    ,through the 
rise of socialism ethical utilitarianism
 loses in  importance4 ,the hopes of the
 crowd begins to centre no longer on    
what  can be accomplished in the world  
by an ethical temper which is  steadily 
growing stronger1 and working ever more 
and more effectively  in social matters1
 but on what is reached when free course
 is secured  for the laws of progress   
which are assumed to be inherent in     
things4    ,it is true that ethical     
utilitarianism still maintains itself as
 an  influential reforming temper among 
the educated4 ,in the competition  with 
socialism there even starts a strong    
movement which stirs  individuals1      
society1 and the ,state alike into      
effective action  against social        
distress4 ,one of its leaders is        
,friedrich ,albert ,lange  7#ahbh-ahge71
 the author of ,the ,history of         
,materialism 7#ahff74 ,in his  work ,the
 ,labour ,question in its ,significance 

for the ,present and the  ,future       
7#ahff7 he discusses the social tasks of
 the time and the  measures that will be
 effective for their accomplishment1 and
 appeals  for ethical idealism without  
which1 he says1 nothing profitable can  
be  accomplished47#fc7    ,christianity 
too supports the movement4 ,in #ahfd    
,bishop ,ketteler1 of  ,mainz1 comes    
forward1 demanding in his book ,the     
,labour ,question and  ,christianity the
 creation of a ,christian-social        
temper47#fd7    ,in ,england it is the  
clergymen1 ,frederick ,denison ,maurice 
7#ahje-ahgb7  and ,charles ,kingsley    
7#ahai-ahge71 who bid ,christendom adopt
 a social  temper4 ,the latter's pg #afc
 famous sermon ,the ,message of the     
,church  to ,working ,men was preached  
in the evening of ,sunday1 ,june #bbnd1 
#ahea1 before the workers who had come  
to ,london to see the first             
,international ,exhibition4 ,on account 
of the excitement it caused1 the        
,bishop of ,london inhibited him from   

preaching in his  diocese47#fe7    ,in  
,russia1 ,count ,leo ,tolstoi           
7#ahbh-aiaj77ff7 lets loose the force   
of the ethical thinking of ,jesus4 ,he  
does not1 like others1 interpret  his   
words as teaching a social idealism     
focused on the service of  systematic   
purposive effort1 but allows them to be 
the commands to the  absolute1          
uncalculating devotion which their      
author meant them to be4  ,in his       
,confessions1 which in the eighties were
 read throughout the  world1 the lava of
 primitive ,christianity pours itself   
into the  ,christianity of modern times4
    ,the social-ethical movement        
produces most result in ,germany1       
because  in that country the ,state     
welcomes it in the person of the        
,hohenzollerns4 ,in #ahhc and #ahhd the 
,reichstag passes1 in spite of the      
disapproving attitude of the ,social    
,democratic ,party1 laws for the        
protection of the worker which may be   
considered to be models of their  kind4 

,in the bosom of socialism itself       
thoughtful spirits like ,eduard         
,bernstein 7b4 #ahej717fg7 and others1  
come to see that even the  most         
effective measures taken for the social 
organization of society  cannot succeed 
unless there is a strong pg #afd ethical
 idealism  behind them as their driving 
force4 ,this is a return to the spirit  
of  ,lassalle4    ,there exists1 then1  
an active social-ethical temper4 ,but it
 is  nevertheless only a trickling      
stream of water in a big river-bed4     
,that  the reforms called for under the 
guidance of ethics can be realized is   
no longer a general conviction1 as it   
was in the age of rationalism4  ,the    
ethical temper which wishes to work for 
the future of mankind  becomes less and 
less appreciated4 ,in the victory1 so   
fateful for the  development of         
civilized mankind1 won by ,marxian      
,state-socialism over  the social ideas 
of ,lassalle which allow much more      
natural play to the  forces of reality1 

we see an expression of the fact that in
 the  mentality of the masses the       
belief-in-progress has emancipated      
itself  from ethics and has become      
mechanical4 ,confusion in the conception
 of  civilization and ruin of the       
civilized temper are the consequence of 
this disastrous separation4 ,the spirit 
of the modern age renounces  thereby the
 very thing which really constituted its
 strength4    ,how remarkable are the   
vicissitudes undergone by ethics6       
,utilitarianism refuses all contact with
 nature-philosophy4 ,it wishes  to be an
 ethic which is concerned only with the 
practical1 but it does  not therefore   
escape its fate1 which is to be wrecked 
upon  nature-philosophy4 ,in its attempt
 to secure a basis for itself and to    
think itself out completely1 it changes 
into biological-sociological            
utilitarianism4 ,next it loses its      
ethical character4 ,without becoming    
aware of it1 it has1 of course1 at the  
same time got entangled with  nature and

 natural happenings1 and has given      
cosmic problems a place  within itself4 
,although it pretends to be only the    
practical ethic of  human society it has
 become a product of nature4 ,it has    
been no good  removing all the distaffs3
 the ,sleeping ,beauty pricks her finger
  nevertheless4 ,no ethic can avoid     
coming to an understanding with         
nature-philosophy4          pg #afe     
,,chapter ,,xv    ,,schopenhauer ,,and  
,,nietzsche      ,schopenhauer4 ,an     
ethic of world- and life-denial    ,,as 
bad luck will have it1 the two most     
important ethical thinkers who  speak to
 us in the second half of the nineteenth
 century1 ,schopenhauer  and ,nietzsche1
 do not help the age in the search for  
what it needs1  viz41 a social ethic    
which is also true ethics4 ,concerned   
only with an  individualist ethic out of
 which no social ethic can be developed1
  they offer incitements which1 however 
valuable in themselves1 cannot  arrest  
the demoralisation in world-view which  

is in progress4    ,common to both is   
the fact that they are elemental        
moralists4 ,they  pursue no abstract    
cosmic speculations4 ,ethics are for    
them an  experience of the will-to-live4
 ,they are therefore1 from their very   
core1 cosmic4    ,in ,schopenhauer the  
will-to-live tries to become ethical by 
turning to  world- and life-denial2 in  
,nietzsche by devoting itself to a      
deepened  world- and life-affirmation4  
,from the standpoint of their own       
elemental ethics these two thinkers1    
who stand in such deep contrast to each 
other1 rise as judges of what  they find
 accepted as ethics in their time4      
,arthur ,schopenhauer 7#aghh-ahfj7      
begins to publish at the beginning of   
the century4 ,his ,the ,world as ,will  
and ,idea appears in #ahai47fh7  ,but he
 first obtains a hearing about #ahfj    
when the speculative  philosophy had    
definitely gone bankrupt1 and the       
unsatisfactory nature  of the ethic of  
pg #aff popular utilitarianism1 as also 

of that of  ,kant's successors1 was     
generally acknowledged4    ,the most    
important among the earlier of these is 
,johann ,friedrich  ,herbart            
7#aggf-ahda74 ,his importance lies in   
the department of  psychological        
investigation4 ,it is on a psychological
 foundation that  he tries to establish 
ethics in his ,general ,practical       
,philosophy  7#ahjh74 ,he traces the    
moral back to five direct and ultimate  
judgments1 which are not derivable from 
anything beyond themselves1  and which  
may be compared with sthetic judgments4 
,they are these3 the  ideas of inward   
freedom1 of perfection1 of benevolence1 
of right1 and  of equity4 ,by submitting
 itself to this mode of outlook1 which  
starts  from pure intuition and is      
confirmed as correct for human beings by
  the course of their experience1 the   
will becomes ethical4    ,instead1      
therefore1 of seeking one basic         
principle only for the moral  ,herbart  
accepts several ethical ideas which     

appear side by side4 ,this  anmic       
ethical theory possesses no convincing  
power4 ,in his teaching1  however1 about
 society and the ,state ,herbart does   
produce something  solid4    ,to the    
earlier successors of ,kant there       
belongs also ,immanuel ,hermann  ,fichte
 7#agig-ahgi71 a son of ,j4 ,g4 ,fichte1
 the so-called ,younger  ,fichte1 with  
his ,system of ,ethics 7#b vols41       
#ahej-ahec71 which in its  time enjoyed 
considerable repute4    ,schopenhauer is
 the first representative in ,western   
thought of a  consistent world- and     
life-denying ethic4 ,the suggestions    
which  brought him to it came to him    
from the philosophy of ,india1 which    
early in the nineteenth century began to
 be known in ,europe47#fi7  ,for the    
exposition of his world-view he starts1 
like ,fichte1 from  ,kant's             
epistemological idealism4 ,like ,fichte 
he defines the essence of  things in    
themselves 7which is to be accepted as  
underlying all  phenomena7 to be ,will1 

not1 however1 like pg #afg ,fichte as   
will to  action1 but more directly and  
more correctly as will-to-live4 ,the    
world1 he says1 ,i can understand only  
by analogy with myself4 ,myself1  looked
 at from outside1 ,i conceive as a      
sensible phenomenon in space  and time1 
but looked at from within1 as           
will-to-live4 ,correspondingly1         
everything which meets me in the        
phenomenal world is a manifestation  of 
the will-to-live4    ,what is the       
meaning1 then1 of the world-process8    
,simply that countless  individualities 
which are rooted in the universal       
will-to-live are  continually seeking   
satisfaction in aims which they set     
before  themselves1 in obedience to an  
inward impulse1 and finding none4 ,again
  and again they experience the         
disappointment that pleasure longed for1
  not pleasure attained1 is real        
pleasure2 they have continually to      
fight against hindrances2 their own     
will-to-live continually comes  into    

conflict with other wills-to-live4 ,the 
world is meaningless1 and  all existence
 is suffering4 ,the knowledge of this is
 attained to by  the will-to-live in the
 highest living creatures1 who are      
gifted with  the power of remaining     
always conscious that the totality of   
what is  around them1 outside           
themselves1 is merely a world of        
appearances4  ,surveying in this way the
 totality of existence1 the will is then
 in a  position to reach clarity of     
thought about itself and about          
existence4    ,that it must effect      
something in the world that is worth    
while is the  obsession with which the  
will-to-live has befooled itself in     
,european  philosophy4 ,when it has     
attained to knowledge of itself1 it     
knows that  optimistic world-affirmation
 is of no benefit to it4 ,it can only   
hurry  it on from unrest to unrest1 from
 disappointment to disappointment4      
,what it must try to do is to step out  
from the terrible game in which1        

bedazzled1 it is taking part1 and settle
 itself to rest in world- and           
life-denial4    ,for ,spinoza the       
meaning of the world-process is that    
supreme  individualities arise1 who find
 their experience within the ,absolute2 
for ,fichte that the urge to activity of
 the ,absolute comprehends  itself in   
supreme individualities as ethical2 for 
,hegel that the  ,absolute comes in     
supreme pg #afh individualities to      
adequate  consciousness of itself2 for  
,schopenhauer that in individualities   
the  ,absolute attains to knowledge of  
itself1 and finds deliverance from  the 
blind urge to life-affirmation which is 
within it4 ,the meaning of  the         
world-process1 therefore1 is always     
found in this3 that the ,finite  and the
 ,infinite blend their experiences of   
one another4 ,spinoza1  ,fichte1 and    
,hegel--and this is the weakness of     
their world-view--cannot  make it       
properly intelligible how far this      
experience in the ,finite  can be said  

to have really a meaning for the        
,absolute4 ,in  ,schopenhauer1 however1 
it has such a meaning4 ,in man the      
universal  will-to-live begins to turn  
from the path of unrest and suffering   
into  that of peace4    ,the transition 
from ,being to nothingness is           
introduced4 ,this  nothingness is       
nothingness1 it is true1 only to the    
will-to-live1  which is still filled    
with urge to life-affirmation and with  
its  conception of the world4 ,what it  
is in itself1 this ,nirvana of the      
,buddhists1 cannot be defined with our  
conceptions1 which come to us  through  
our senses4    ,that ,schopenhauer      
carries through his pessimistic-ethical 
world-view1  as ,fichte does his        
optimistic-ethical1 with the material   
provided by  epistemological idealism   
has not the importance that he himself  
attributes to this fact4 ,indian        
predecessors have made this connexion   
easier for him4 ,in itself1 pessimism   
can be developed just as well  without  

epistemological idealism4 ,the drama of 
the tragical experience  of the         
will-to-live remains the same whatever  
the decorations and the  costumes with  
which it is played4    ,although1       
therefore1 it makes its appearance in   
the dress of ,kant's  theory of         
knowledge1 ,schopenhauer's philosophy is
 elemental  nature-philosophy4    ,what 
then are the ethical elements in his    
ethic8    ,like that of the ,indians it 
appears in a threefold shape3 as an     
ethic  of resignation1 as an ethic of   
universal pity1 and as an ethic of      
world-renunciation4    ,about           
resignation ,schopenhauer speaks in     
forcible words4 ,in language  which     
rises to the level of poetry1 he pg #afi
 describes how the man  who is intent on
 his own self-perfecting does not meet  
the destinies  of his existence in      
childish resistance to what is hard1 but
 feels  them as incitements to become   
free from the world4 ,in the            
disagreeables which poison existence for

 him1 and in the misfortune  which      
threatens to crush him1 he suddenly     
feels himself lifted out of  everything 
on which he sets value1 and brought to  
the triumphant  feeling that nothing can
 any longer do him any harm4 ,the field 
of  resignation1 which the philosophical
 ethics of modern times had  allowed to 
lie fallow for generations1 is replanted
 by ,schopenhauer4    ,ethics are pity4 
,all life is suffering4 ,the            
will-to-live which has  attained to     
knowledge is therefore seized with deep 
pity for all  creatures4 ,it experiences
 not only the woe of mankind1 but that  
of all  creatures with it4 ,what is     
called in ordinary ethics 8love0 is in  
its  real essence pity4 ,in this        
powerful feeling of pity the            
will-to-live  is diverted from itself4  
,its purification begins4    ,how       
anxious ,kant and ,hegel and others are 
in their ethics to deprive  direct pity 
of its rights1 because it does not suit 
their theories6  ,schopenhauer takes the

 gag out of its mouth and bids it speak4
 ,those  who1 like ,fichte1             
,schleiermacher1 and others1 ground     
ethics on a  painfully thought out      
world-scheme1 expect man to run every   
time to  the topmost attic of his       
reflexions to fetch down his motives to 
moral  action4 ,according to the        
sociological utilitarians he should     
always  first sit down and calculate    
what is ethical4 ,schopenhauer bids him 
do  something never yet heard of in     
philosophical ethics--listen to his own 
heart4 ,the elemental ethical which has 
by the others been pushed into  the     
corner1 can now1 thanks to him1 takes   
its proper place again4    ,the others1 
in order not to get embarrassed with    
their theories1 have  to limit ethics   
exclusively to the conduct of man to    
man4 ,they  anxiously insist upon it    
that pity for animals is not ethical in 
itself1 but has importance only in view 
of the kindly disposition  which must   
ever be pg #agj maintained among men4   

,schopenhauer tears  down these fences1 
and teaches love to the most            
insignificant being in  creation4       
,the artificial and curious pleas1 too1 
which the rest produce to put  man into 
an ethical relation to organised society
 disappear in  ,schopenhauer4 ,fichte's 
and ,hegel's ethical over-valuation of  
the ,state  makes him smile4 ,he himself
 is left free from the necessity of     
dragging into ethics things of the world
 which refuse to be fitted  into them4  
,he can allow the conviction that ethics
 consist in being  different from the   
world to flame up in blinding clearness4
 ,he is  pledged to no concessions1     
since he does not1 like the others1     
represent an ethic which wishes to do   
something purposive in the  world4      
,because his world-view is world- and   
life-denying he can be an  elemental    
moralist when others have to renounce   
being such4 ,nor does  he need1 like    
them1 to sever all connexion with ,jesus
 and religious  ethics4 ,he can appeal  

as often as he likes to the fact that   
his  philosophy only establishes what   
has always been accepted by the piety   
of ,christianity and of the ,indians as 
the essential element in the  moral4 ,it
 is well-known that ,schopenhauer judged
 ,christianity to have  the ,indian     
spirit1 and to be probably1 in some way 
or other1 of ,indian  origin47#gj7      
,elemental ethics now obtain once more  
their right place in a thinking         
world-view1 and this explains the       
enthusiasm which ,schopenhauer  arouses 
when he at last gets known4 ,that it was
 possible to ignore for  nearly forty   
years the very significant matter which 
he gave to the  world remains one of the
 most remarkable events in the history  
of  ,european thought4 ,the optimistic  
world-view passed at that time for so   
self-evident that the man who laid hands
 upon it even in the directly           
illuminating thoughts upon ethics to    
which ,schopenhauer gave  utterance1    
could not obtain a hearing4 ,at a later 

period also many  attach themselves to  
,schopenhauer only because of his       
ethical maxims  with their natural and  
interesting appeal1 and refuse to accept
 pg  #aga his consistent world-view of  
world- and life-denial4 ,it is a  right 
feeling which guides them4              
,absorption of ethics in world- and     
life-denial    ,schopenhauer's          
world-view1 like that of the ,brahmans1 
because it  reveals itself as consistent
 world- and life-denial1 is in the last 
resort not ethical but supra-ethical4   
,even though through several  chapters  
of his ethics he can speak in more      
elemental fashion than  ,spinoza1       
,fichte1 ,schleiermacher1 and ,hegel1 he
 is nevertheless in  reality no more    
ethical than they are4 ,he ends1 as they
 do1 in the  frozen sea of the          
supra-ethical point of view1 only at the
 ,south ,pole  instead of at the ,north4
 ,the price which he pays for being able
 to  outbid them in elemental ethics is 
his world view of world- and            

life-denial4 ,but the price is a ruinous
 one4    ,with ,schopenhauer1 as with   
the ,indians1 ethics are only a phase of
  world- and life-denial4 ,they are     
nothing in themselves but merely what   
they are in the frame provided by that  
world-view4 ,and everywhere  there peeps
 through his ethically tinted world- and
 life-denial world-  and life-denial as 
such4 ,like a strange sun in the sky it 
devours  ethics1 just as the real sun   
devours a cloud from which men are      
vainly  hoping to get a refreshing      
shower of rain4    ,on the assumption of
 world- and life-denial all ethical     
action is  illusory4 ,schopenhauer's    
pity is merely deliberative4 ,of pity   
which  brings help he can have no real  
knowledge any more than the ,indian     
thinkers can4 ,like all will-to-action  
in the world1 such pity has no  meaning4
 ,it has no power to lighten the misery 
of the rest of  creation1 since that    
misery lies in the will-to-live1 which  
is  incurably full of suffering4 ,the   

one thing1 therefore1 that pity can  do 
is to enlighten the will-to-live        
everywhere about the delusion in  which 
it is held captive1 and bring it to the 
apathy and peace offered  by world- and 
life-denial4 ,schopenhauer's pity1 like 
that of the  ,brahmans and the pg #agb  
,buddha1 is at bottom merely            
theoretical4 ,it  can use as its own the
 words of the religion of love1 but it  
stands at  a far lower level than the   
latter4 ,obstructing the way to any real
  ethic of love it has before it1 as the
 ,indian thinkers also have1 the  ideal 
of absolute inactivity4    ,the ethic of
 self-perfecting also is present in     
,schopenhauer more in  word than in     
reality4 ,the attainment of inward      
freedom from the world  is really       
ethical only if the personality is      
thereby enabled to work  as a more      
direct force in the world1 but this     
thought is not to be  found either in   
,schopenhauer or in the ,indians4       
,world- and life-denial  is with them an

 end in itself1 and it continues to     
assert itself when  its ethical         
character has ceased4 ,higher than      
ethics1 says  ,schopenhauer1 stands     
asceticism4 ,everything which helps to  
deaden the  will-to-live1 is to him     
significant4 ,men and women who renounce
 love  and the hope of offspring so that
 there may be less life in the world1   
are to him in the right4 ,those who     
deliberately choose religious  suicide1 
and after employing every conceivable   
device for deadening  the will-to-live  
allow the lamp of life to be            
extinguished1 as the  ,brahmans do1 by  
withholding all nourishment from the    
body1 these  similarly act as truly     
enlightened4 ,only suicide as the       
outcome of  despair is to be rejected4  
,that is1 of course1 not a result of the
  true life-denial1 but is1 on the      
contrary1 the act of a life-affirming   
will1 which is only discontented with   
the conditions in which it finds        
itself47#ga7    ,with ,schopenhauer1    

then1 ethics reach only so far as world-
 and  life-denial has willed and is in a
 position to declare itself ethical4    
,they are only an introduction to1 and a
 preparation for1 liberation  from the  
world4 ,it is1 at bottom1 by an         
intellectual act that the  suspension of
 the will-to-live is consummated4 ,if ,i
 have won my way  through to the        
understanding that the whole phenomenal 
world is  delusion and misery1 and that 
my will-to-live has no need to take     
seriously the world and itself1 then ,i 
am released4 ,how far and to  what      
extent ,i then take part in pg #agc the 
game of life with the  consciousness    
that ,i am but a player in it1 has no   
importance4    ,schopenhauer does not   
think out the pessimistic world-view in 
the  great and calm manner of the wise  
men of ,india4 ,he behaves under its    
influence like a nervous and ailing     
,european4 ,while they1 on the  ground  
of the liberating knowledge they have   
reached1 advance with  majestic gait    

from the ethical to the supra-ethical1  
and leave behind  them good and evil as 
two things1 over both of which they have
 equally  triumphed1 he reveals himself 
as a miserable ,western sceptic47#gb7   
,incapable of living out the world-view 
which he preaches1 he clings to  life as
 to money1 appreciates the pleasures of 
the table as well as  those of love1 and
 has more contempt than pity for        
mankind4 ,as though  to justify himself 
in this1 he in ,the ,world as ,will and 
,idea1 where  he has just been speaking 
about the deadening of the will-to-live1
  rebels against the notion that anyone 
who teaches a saintly course of  life   
must also live like a saint4 8,it is    
indeed10 so runs the famous  passage1 8a
 strange demand to make of a moralist   
that he shall  recommend no other virtue
 than those which he himself possesses4 
,to  sum up in a series of conceptions  
the whole essence of the world1 in      
abstract terms1 in general terms1 and   
with clearness1 and to offer it  thus as

 a reflected copy in permanent rational 
conceptions which are  always ready to  
hand2 that and nothing else is          
philosophy407#gc7    ,with these        
sentences ,schopenhauer's philosophy    
commits suicide4 ,hegel  has a right to 
say that philosophy is not imperative   
but only  reflective thinking1 for his  
own philosophy does not claim to be     
anything more4 ,but ,the ,world as ,will
 and ,idea protests with  illuminating  
language and in a tone of urgent        
entreaty against the  will-to-live4 ,it 
ought therefore to be the life-creed of 
the man whose  voice it is4    pg #agd  
,the fact that ,schopenhauer can for a  
moment so far forget himself as  to     
express himself sceptically about ethics
 has its own deep-reaching  explanation4
 ,it belongs to the essence of world-   
and life-denial1  which he wishes to    
proclaim as ethics1 that it cannot be   
thought out  consistently to a          
conclusion1 and that it cannot be put   
consistently  into practice4 ,even with 

the ,brahmans and the ,buddha it keeps  
itself  alive by inadmissible           
concessions to world- and               
life-affirmation4 ,but  with            
,schopenhauer it goes so far in that    
direction that he can no  longer make   
any attempt to bring theory and practice
 into harmony1 but  must move about     
resolutely in an atmosphere of          
unveracity4    ,schopenhauer does       
succeed in letting the ethical          
appearance which  world- and life-denial
 can assume1 shine out in brilliant     
colours4 ,but  of really producing an   
ethic out of world- and life-denial he  
is as  little capable as the ,indians4  
,nietzsche's criticism of current ethics
    ,friedrich ,nietzsche 7#ahdd-aijj7  
in the early period of his activity is  
under the spell of ,schopenhauer47#gd7  
,one of his ,old-fashioned  ,reflexions 
bears the title3 8,schopenhauer as      
,educator40 ,later on he  goes through a
 development which leads him to         
recognise as the ideal a  scientifically

 deepened ,positivism and               
,utilitarianism4 ,he is his real  self  
first when1 starting with ,joyous       
,science1 he tries to establish  his    
world-view of the higher                
life-affirmation1 and thereby becomes   
anti-,schopenhauer1 anti-,christian1 and
 anti-,utilitarian4    ,the criticism he
 passes upon the philosophical and      
religious ethics  which he finds        
accepted is passionate and spiteful4    
,but it goes deep4  ,he casts at them   
two reproaches1 viz4 that they have made
 a pact with  unveracity1 and that they 
do not allow men to become              
personalities4 ,in  pg #age this he says
 only what had long been due4 ,sceptics 
had  already made public many such      
complaints4 ,but he speaks as one who is
  searching for the truth1 and who is   
concerned about the spiritual  future of
 mankind1 thus giving such complaints a 
new tone and a wider  range4 ,whereas   
the current philosophy believed that it 
had in the main  solved the ethical     

problem1 and was united with biological 
and  sociological utilitarianism in the 
conviction that in the department  of   
individual ethics there were no more    
discoveries to be made1  ,nietzsche     
turns the whole game upside down1 and   
shows that all ethics  rest upon those  
of the individual4 ,the question about  
the essential  nature of good and evil  
which was generally accepted as settled1
 he  puts forward again in elemental    
fashion4 ,the truth that ethics in      
their essential nature are a process of 
self-perfecting shines out in  him1 as  
in ,kant1 although in a different light4
 ,hence his place is in  the first rank 
of the ethical thinkers of mankind4     
,those who were torn  from their false  
certainty when his impassioned writings 
descended on  the lowlands of the       
thought of the outgoing nineteenth      
century1 as the  south wind sweeps down 
from the high mountains in spring1 can  
never  forget the gratitude they owe to 
this upheaver of thought1 with his      

preaching of veracity and personality4  
,accepted ethics are deficient in       
veracity1 according to ,nietzsche1      
because the conceptions of good and evil
 which they make current do  not spring 
out of man's reflexion on the meaning of
 his life1 but have  been invented in   
order to keep individuals useful to the 
majority4 ,the  weak proclaim that      
sympathy and love are good1 because that
 is to  their advantage4 ,thus led      
astray1 all men try to force themselves 
to  the opinion that they fulfil the    
highest destiny of their existence by   
surrender of themselves and devotion to 
others4 ,but this opinion never  becomes
 with them a real inward conviction4    
,they live out their lives  without any 
thought of their own as to what makes   
their life valuable4  ,they join the    
crowd in praising the morality of       
humility and  self-sacrifice as the true
 morality1 but they pg #agf do not      
really  believe in it4 ,they feel       
self-assertion to be what is natural1   

and act  accordingly without admitting  
the fact to themselves4 ,the public     
ethical respect paid to humility and    
self-sacrifice they do not  question2   
they help to maintain it1 from fear that
 individuals  stronger than themselves  
might become dangerous to them1 if this 
method of taming men were abandoned4    
,current ethics1 then1 are something    
with which mankind as a whole is        
deceived by means of traditional views1 
and with which individuals  deceive     
themselves4    ,with indignant          
statements like these ,nietzsche is so  
far in the right1  that the ethic of    
humility and self-sacrifice does as a   
matter of  principle avoid coming to a  
clear and practical understanding with  
reality4 ,it lives by leaving quite     
undetermined the degree of  life-denial 
which is involved in it4 ,in theory it  
proclaims  life-denial2 in practice1    
however1 it allows a life-affirmation   
which  has thereby become unnatural and 
sickly to prevail4 ,stripped of all  its

 passion1 then1 ,nietzsche's criticism  
means that only that ethic  deserves to 
be accepted as current which springs    
from independent  reflexion on the      
meaning of life1 and comes to a         
straightforward  understanding with     
reality4    ,individual ethics come     
before social ethics4 ,not what ethics  
mean for  society1 but what they mean   
for the perfecting of the individual1 is
  the first question which has to be put
 to them4 ,do they allow a man to       
become a personality or not8 ,it is     
here1 says ,nietzsche1 that current     
ethics fail4 ,they do not allow men to  
grow straight up1 but trains  them like 
stunted trees on espaliers4 ,they put   
humility and  self-surrender before men 
as the content of perfection1 but to the
  ethical1 which consists in man being  
one with himself1 and veracious  through
 and through1 they contribute nothing4  
,what does 8noble0 mean8 shouts         
,nietzsche to his age with harsh words  
as  being the ethical question which has

 been forgotten4 ,those who1 when  the  
question re-echoed everywhere1 were     
touched by the truth which was          
stirring1 and by the anxiety which was  
trembling within it1 pg #agg  have      
received from that solitary thinker all 
that he had to give to  the world4      
,if life-denial brings with it so much  
that is unnatural and fraught  with     
doubt1 it cannot be ethics4 ,ethics1    
then1 must consist of a  higher         
life-affirmation4    ,nietzsche's ethic 
of higher life-affirmation    ,but what 
is the higher life-affirmation8 ,fichte 
and the speculative  philosophers       
generally make it consist in this1 that 
the will of man  conceives itself within
 the infinite will and in consequence of
 this  no longer belongs to the universe
 in merely natural fashion1 but         
surrenders itself knowingly and         
willingly to the latter as an energy    
which acts in intelligent harmony with  
the infinite will4 ,nietzsche  sees     
clearly that in this way they have not  

arrived at any convincing  idea of the  
content of the higher life-affirmation1 
but are moving in  the region of the    
abstract4 ,he himself means to remain at
 all costs  elemental1 and he therefore 
avoids philosophizing about the         
universe1  showing himself thereby to be
 a true moralist like ,socrates4 ,he    
jeers  at those who1 not content with   
belittling mankind1 proceed further to  
profane the reality of the world by     
declaring that it exists merely in  the 
human imagination4 ,it is only on the   
essential nature of the  will-to-live   
and the way to use it most completely in
 experience1 that  he himself wishes to 
reflect4    ,his original belief was    
that he could conceive the higher       
life-affirmation as the development to a
 higher spirituality of the             
will-to-live4 ,when1 however1 he        
attempted to carry this idea through1   
it took on1 without his being aware of  
it1 another form4 ,higher  spirituality 
means1 of course1 the repressing of     

natural impulses and  natural claims on 
life1 and is thereby connected in some  
way or other  with life-denial4 ,higher 
life-affirmation1 therefore1 can only   
consist  in the content of the          
will-to-live being raised to its highest
  conceivable power4 ,man carries out   
the meaning of his life by  affirming   
with the clearest consciousness of pg   
#agh himself  everything that is within 
him--even his impulses to secure power  
and  pleasure4    ,but the opposition   
between the spiritual and the natural   
,nietzsche  cannot get rid of4 ,just in 
proportion as he emphasizes the natural 
does the spiritual shrink back4 ,under  
the visible influence of the  mental    
disease which is threatening him the    
ideal man grows into the  8superman10   
who asserts himself triumphantly against
 all fate1 and  seeks his own ends      
without any consideration for the rest  
of mankind4    ,from the very outset    
,nietzsche is condemned1 in his thinking
 out of  what life-affirmation means1 to

 arrive at the higher form of it by a   
more or less meaningless living out of  
life to the full4 ,he wants to  listen  
to the highest efforts of the           
will-to-live without putting it  in any 
relation to the universe4 ,but the      
higher life-affirmation can  be a living
 thing only when life-affirmation tries 
to conceive itself  in                  
world-affirmation4 ,life-affirmation in 
itself1 in whichever  direction it      
turns1 can only become enhanced         
life-affirmation1 never a  higher form  
of it4 ,it careers about in circles     
unable to take any  fixed course1 like a
 ship with its steering apparatus tied  
firmly up4    ,nietzsche1 however1      
instinctively shrinks from fitting      
life-affirmation into world-affirmation1
 and bringing it by that  method to     
development into a higher and ethical   
life-affirmation4  ,life-affirmation    
within world-affirmation means devotion 
to the world1  but with that there      
follows somehow or other life-denial    

within the  life-affirmation4 ,but it is
 just this interplay of the two that    
,nietzsche wants to get rid of1 because 
it is there that ordinary  ethics come  
to grief4 4 4 4    ,nietzsche was not   
the first to put forward in ,western    
thought the  theory of living one's own 
life to the full4 ,greek sophists and   
others  after them anticipated him by   
this4 ,there is a great difference1     
however1 between him and his            
predecessors4 ,they are for living a    
full  life because it brings them       
enjoyment4 ,he1 on the other hand brings
 to  the theory the much deeper thought 
that by living pg #agi one's own  life  
victoriously to the full life itself is 
honoured1 and that by  raising life to a
 higher power the meaning of existence  
is brought  out4 ,men of genius and     
strong individuality1 therefore1 should 
be  intent only on allowing the         
greatness that is in them to become an  
actuality47#ge7    ,nietzsche's true    
predecessors are unknown to him4 ,they  

have their  home1 like those of         
,spinoza1 in ,china4 ,in that country   
life-affirmation made the attempt to    
come to clear ideas about itself4  ,in  
,lao-tse and his pupils it is still     
navely ethical4 ,in ,chwang-tse  it     
becomes cheerful resignation2 in        
,lie-tse the will to secret power  over 
things2 in ,yang-tse it ends in an      
all-round living of life to the  full4  
,nietzsche is a synthesis1 showing      
itself in a ,european  mentality1 of    
,lie-tse and ,yang-tse4 ,it is only we  
,europeans who are  capable of producing
 the philosophy of brutality4           
,zarathustra is for ,nietzsche the      
symbol of the thoughts which are        
forming within him3 ,zarathustra as the 
hero of veracity who ventures  to value 
natural life as a good1 and as the      
genius who is far removed  from the     
,judaeo-,christian mode of thought4     
,nietzsche is at bottom no more         
unethical than ,schopenhauer4 ,he is    
misled by the ethical element which     

there is in life-affirmation into       
giving the status of ethics to          
life-affirmation as such4 ,thereby he   
falls into the absurdities which follows
 from an exclusive affirmation  of life1
 just as ,schopenhauer falls into those 
of an exclusive denial  of life4        
,nietzsche's will-to-power should cause 
no more offence than  ,schopenhauer's   
will-to-self-annihilation1 as it is     
explained in the  passages in his works 
which deal with asceticism4 ,it is      
interesting to  note that neither of the
 two men lives in accordance with his   
view of  life4 ,schopenhauer is no pg   
#ahj ascetic but a bon vivant1 and      
,nietzsche does not lord it over his    
fellow men but lives in seclusion4      
,life-affirmation and life-denial are   
both for a certain distance  ethical2   
pursued to a conclusion both are        
unethical4 ,this result1  which was     
reached by the optimistic thought of    
,china and the  pessimistic thought of  
,india1 makes its appearance in ,europe 

in  ,nietzsche and ,schopenhauer because
 they are the only thinkers in this     
continent who philosophise in elemental 
fashion about the  will-to-live1 and    
venture to follow the paths of          
one-sidedness4 ,each  completing the    
other1 they pronounce sentence on the   
ethics of  ,european philosophy by      
bringing into daylight again the        
elemental  ethical thoughts contained in
 life-denial as well as in              
life-affirmation1 thoughts which        
philosophy was keeping buried4          
,arriving as they do at the non-ethical 
by thinking out to a  conclusion1 one of
 them life-denial1 the other            
life-affirmation1 they  corroborate1 if 
taken together1 the statement that the  
ethical  consists neither of life-denial
 nor of life-affirmation1 but is a      
mysterious combination of the two4      
pg #aha    ,,chapter ,,xvi    ,,the     
,,issue ,,of ,,the ,,western ,,struggle 
,,for ,a ,,world-,,view      ,academic  
thinkers3 ,sidgwick1 ,stephen1          

,alexander1 ,wundt1 ,paulsen1  ,hffding 
,,the attempts of speculative philosophy
 to find a foundation for ethics  in    
knowledge of the nature of the world    
have come to grief4 ,ethics  based on   
science and sociology have shown        
themselves powerless4  ,schopenhauer and
 ,nietzsche1 although they bring back   
into general  acceptance some elementary
 questions of ethics1 are unable1       
nevertheless1 to establish a satisfying 
ethic4    ,in the later decades of the  
nineteenth century1 therefore1 ethics   
find  themselves in an unenviable       
position4 ,they remain of good courage1 
however1 being confident that they have 
at their disposal a  sufficiency of     
8scientifically0 recognized results to  
guarantee them  an assured existence4   
,this conviction is produced by a series
 of inter-related works--chiefly        
academic manuals of ethics4 ,their      
authors are of the opinion that  ethics 
can be built1 like the arch of a bridge1
 upon two piers4 ,one of  their piers is

 the natural ethical disposition of man2
 the other they  allow themselves to    
find in those needs of society which    
influence the  spirit and temper of     
individuals4 ,they consider their task  
to be the  bringing into actual         
existence of the arch 7the possibility  
of  completing which they take for      
granted71 with the solid material of    
modern psychology1 biology1 and         
sociology1 and the dividing of the  load
 in the best calculated way between the 
two piers4 ,fundamentally  they do      
nothing beyond restoring with new means 
the standpoint of  ,hume4    ,the       
following writers try to carry through  
this adjustment of the  ethics which    
start from the standpoint of pg #ahb    
ethical personality  and those which    
start from that of society3 ,henry      
,sidgwick  7#ahch-aijj717gf7 ,leslie    
,stephen 7#ahcb-aijd717gg7 ,samuel      
,alexander 7b4 #ahei717gh7 ,wilhelm     
,wundt 7b4 #ahcb717gi7  ,friedrich      
,paulsen 7#ahdf-aijh717hj7 ,friedrich   

,jodl 7b4  #ahdi717ha7 ,georg von       
,gizyki 7#ahea-ahie717hb7 ,harald       
,hffding  7b4 #ahdc717hc7 and others4   
,of these ethical writers who1 in spite 
of the variety of experience they bring 
to bear on the subject1 are  essentially
 related to one another1 the most       
original is ,leslie  ,stephen1 the      
scientifically soundest is ,wilhelm     
,wundt1 the most  ethical is ,harald    
,hffding4    ,hffding makes the ethical 
originate partly out of a consideration 
which limits the sovereignty of the     
present minute4 8,an action 7he  says7  
is good which preserves the totality of 
life and gives fulness  and life to its 
content2 an action is bad which has a   
more or less  decided tendency to break 
into and narrow the totality of life and
 its  content40 ,supporting this        
consideration come also instincts of    
sympathy1 which make us feel pleasure in
 the pleasure of others1 and  pain at   
their pain4 ,the aim of ethics is       
general prosperity4    ,of these ethical

 writers some put the chief emphasis on 
the ethical  disposition of the         
individual1 while others hold that      
ethics are  constituted chiefly by their
 content1 which aims at the good of     
society4 ,what is common to them all pg 
#ahc is that they try to  combine the   
ethic of ethical personality and the    
ethic of  utilitarianism without having 
inquired into their higher unity4 ,that 
is why the chapters in which they touch 
on the problem of the basic  principle  
of the moral are always the part of     
their works which is the  least clear   
and the least living4 ,one is conscious 
of how happy they  feel when they have  
waded through this swamp1 and can launch
 out into  consideration of the         
different ethical standpoints which have
 emerged  in history1 or can face       
questions on single points in ethical   
practice4 ,and when they handle         
practical questions1 it is obvious that 
they are not in possession of any usable
 basic principle of the moral4  ,their  

coming to terms with reality is a mere  
groping here and there4  ,the           
considerations on the strength of which 
they decide are set out  now in this    
sense1 now in that4 ,hence these ethical
 writers frequently  offer very         
interesting discussions on ethical      
problems1 but the  conception of the    
moral never gets from them any real     
explanation or  any deepening4 ,the     
criterion of a real ethic is whether it 
allows  their full rights to the        
problems of personal morality and of the
  relation of man to man1 problems with 
which we are concerned every day  and   
every hour1 and in which we must become 
ethical personalities4  ,these          
academical works do not do this4        
,therefore1 although they may  arrive at
 results which deserve attention1 they  
are not capable of  giving effective    
ethical impulses to the thought of their
 time4    ,the ethic of self-perfecting4
 ,kant's successors3 ,cohen1 ,herrmann  
,this mediating ethic is not left       

uncriticized4 ,in ,germany inheritors   
of the ,kantian spirit like ,hermann    
,cohen 7b4 #ahdb77hd7 and ,wilhelm      
,herrmann 7#ahdf-aibb77he7 oppose pg    
#ahd it1 and in  ,english-speaking      
countries successors of the             
,intuitionists like ,james  ,martineau  
7#ahje-aijj717hf7 ,f4 ,h4 ,bradley 7b4  
#ahdf717hg7 ,t4 ,h4  ,green             
7#ahcf-ahhb717hh7 ,simon ,laurie        
7#ahbi-aiji717hi7 and ,james  ,seth 7b4 
#ahfj747ij7    ,in spite of wide        
differences in detail these thinkers    
agree in  refusing to derive ethics     
either from the ethical disposition of  
man  or from the claims of society4     
,they represent them as produced        
entirely through the ethical            
personality4 ,to become ethical         
personalities1 however1 7so they say7 we
 step out of ourselves and  work for the
 good of the community4    ,cohen and   
,herrmann attempt to reach an ethic     
which is a consistent  unity by using   
logic to put a content into the empty   

categorical  imperative of ,kant4 ,they 
wish to make good what he missed in his 
,grundlegung zur ,metaphysik der ,sitten
 7,foundations for a ,metaphysic  of    
,morals7 and in his ,metaphysik der     
,sitten 7,a ,metaphysic of  ,morals74   
,cohen finds the origin of ethics in the
 pure ,will thinking  out the idea of   
one's fellow-man and that of the        
associating of men to  form a state1 his
 ethical ego being brought into         
existence by this  logical operation4   
,the ethic thus attained consists in    
honesty1  modesty1 loyalty1 justice1 and
 humanity1 and culminates in the        
representation of the state as the      
highest creation of the moral  spirit4  
,but that this ethic is only the        
offspring of mental ability is  betrayed
 by the whole story of its appearance4  
,the 8pure will0 is an  abstraction     
which cannot start anything4    ,instead
 of obtaining an ethic by deduction1    
using abstract logical  methods1        
,wilhelm ,herrmann opens for it the     

back-door of experience4 ,he  does      
indeed make ethics consist in 8the      
bowing of the individual  before the    
power pg #ahe of a something which is   
universally valid in  thought10 but that
 content of ethics which is a necessity 
of thought  we are to reach by seeing   
ourselves in each other as if in a      
mirror1  and deciding what kind of      
conduct makes us mutually 8reliable40   
,the  thought of the unconditional claim
 originates1 therefore1  spontaneously  
in us1 but awakes to the fact that it is
 determined by  its content 8through    
experience of human intercourse1 and in 
the  relation of reliability40          
,herrmann did not carry this philosophic
 ethic through to completion4  ,he      
sketches it as an introduction to a not 
less artificial theological  ethic4 ,his
 conception is allied to ,adam ,smith's 
theory of the  impartial third party    
7see page #hb74    ,martineau1 ,green1  
,bradley1 ,laurie1 ,seth1 and ,royce    
,martineau1 ,green1 ,bradley1 ,laurie1  

and ,seth try to reach an ethic  which  
is a consistent unity by making the     
whole of ethics originate in  the need  
of self-perfecting4 ,of these1          
,martineau goes more on the  lines of   
the moralists of the eighteenth century1
 known as the  ,cambridge ,platonists4  
,ethics consist for him in thinking     
ourselves  into the ideal of perfection1
 which ,god gave us with our life1 and  
letting ourselves be determined by it4  
,t4 ,h4 ,green1 ,f4 ,h4 ,bradley1       
,simon ,laurie1 and ,james ,seth show   
more or less the influence of ,j4 ,g4   
,fichte4 ,the ethical is with them      
founded on the fact that man wishes  to 
live his life out in the deepest way as 
an effective personality1  and thereby  
attain to true union with the infinite  
spirit4 ,this  thought is expounded best
 by ,t4 ,h4 ,green4 ,he is also led at  
the same  time to the relation between  
civilization and ethics1 and lays it    
down  that all the achievements of human
 activity1 especially the political  and

 social perfecting of society1 are      
nothing in themselves1 and have  a real 
meaning only so far as they render more 
thorough inward  perfecting attainable  
by individuals4 ,a spiritualized        
conception of  civilization is therefore
 now struggling pg #ahf for acceptance4 
,an  upholder on ,american soil of this 
ethic of self-perfecting is ,josiah     
,royce 7#ahee-aiaf747ia7    ,in the     
effort to conceive of ethics as a whole 
as being an ethic of  self-perfecting1  
that is to say of conduct which springs 
from inward  necessity1 these thinkers  
express thoughts which belong to a      
living  ethic4 ,to be energetically     
concerned with the basic principle of   
the  moral1 even though one be led in   
the direction of the universal and      
apparently abstract1 always brings with 
it results which are valuable  for      
practice1 even if the solution of the   
problem itself is not  thereby advanced 
beyond a certain point4    ,these       
thinkers go so far on these lines as to 

conceive of ethics as  higher           
life-affirmation1 consisting in devoting
 ourselves to the  activity which the   
world-spirit wills for us4 ,they        
represent the  mysticism of activity    
taught by ,j4 ,g4 ,fichte1 but without  
its  speculative foundation4    ,they   
leave unsolved1 however1 nay1 they do   
not even put the question1  how the     
higher life-affirmation comes to give   
itself a content which  stands in       
contradiction to the course of nature4  
,they conceive of  higher               
life-affirmation as self-devotion1 that 
is to say as  life-affirmation within   
which life-denial is active4 ,but how   
does this  paradox come about8 ,how far 
is this direction of the will1 which    
contradicts the natural will-to-live1 a 
necessity of thought8 ,why must  men    
become different from the world in order
 to exist and work in the  world in true
 harmony with the world-spirit8 ,and    
what meaning has this  conduct of his   
for the happenings which take place in  

the universe8    ,nature-philosophy and 
ethics4 ,fouille1 ,guyau1 ,lange1 ,stern
    ,the thought of ,alfred ,fouille    
7#ahch-aiac77ib7 and ,jean pg #ahg      
,marie ,guyau 7#ahed-ahhh77ic7 also     
circles round the conception of  ethics 
as higher life-affirmation4 ,they too   
conceive of the ethical as  devotion1   
that is to say1 as life-affirmation     
within which life-denial  is present1   
but they dig deeper than the ,english   
and ,american  representatives of the   
ethic of self-perfecting1 in that they  
seek to  conceive of ethics within a    
nature-philosophy4 ,hence questions come
 to  be discussed which remain unnoticed
 in the former4 ,the problems of the    
basic principle of the moral and that of
 the optimistic-ethical  world-view are 
once more opened up and1 for the first  
time1 in a  comprehensive and elemental 
way4    ,fouille philosophises in a     
noble way about the will-to-live4 ,the  
ideas which arise in us1 directed       
towards ethical ideals1 are 7he  says71 

like our ideas generally1 not simply    
something produced by  thought1 but are 
the expression of forces which press    
within us  towards making existence full
 and complete47#id7 ,speaking           
generally1 we must in this matter       
clearly understand that the  evolution  
which in the course of the world        
produces and maintains  existence is the
 work of re-presentative forces         
7ides-forces71 and  is therefore to be  
explained in the last analysis as       
psychic4 ,it  reaches its highest point 
in man's ideas1 which will their ends   
with  clear consciousness4 ,in this     
highest being1 man1 reality gets so far 
as to produce ideals which go out beyond
 reality1 and by their means  to be led 
on beyond itself4 ,ethics are therefore 
a result of the  evolution of the world4
 ,the idea of self-perfecting through   
devotion1  which we experience as the   
puzzling element within us1 is after all
 a  natural manifestation of the        
will-to-live4 ,the ego which has reached

  the farthest height of willing and    
representing enlarges itself by         
overflowing upon other human existences4
 ,devotion is1 therefore1 not a         
surrender of the self1 but a pg #ahh    
manifestation of its  expansion47#ie7   
,the man who analyses himself more      
deeply learns by  experience that the   
highest life-affirmation comes about1   
not by the  natural will-to-live simply 
rising into will-to-power1 but by its   
8expanding40 8,act towards others as if 
you became conscious of them at  the    
same time as you become conscious of    
yourself407#if7    ,jean ,marie ,guyau1 
a pupil and friend of ,fouille's1 in his
 ,sketch of  an ,ethic without          
,obligation or ,sanction1 tries to work 
out the  thought of this ethical        
life-affirmation through expansion4     
,ordinary  ethics1 he says1 stand       
helpless before this insoluble cleft    
between  the ego and other men1 but     
living nature makes no stop at that     
point4  ,the individual life is         

expansive because it is life4 ,as in the
  physical sphere it carries within     
itself the impulse to produce fresh     
life like itself1 so in the spiritual   
sphere also it wishes to widen  its own 
existence by linking it on to other life
 like itself4 ,life  includes not       
feeding only1 but also production and   
fruitfulness2 real  living is not a     
taking in only1 but a giving out of     
oneself as well4  ,man is an organism   
which imparts itself to others2 its     
perfection  consists in the most        
complete imparting of itself4 ,in this  
philosophizing1 then1 ,hume's notion of 
sympathy is given more profound         
expression4    ,fouille and ,guyau1 both
 of them invalids1 lived together at    
,nice and  ,mentone4 ,trying in one     
another's company to realise the ethical
 higher  life-affirmation1 they take    
their exercise on the very shore on     
which  ,nietzsche that same year thought
 out his heightened life-affirmation  of
 ,beyond ,good and ,evil4 ,he knows     

their works1 as they also know  his1 but
 as men they remain personally unknown  
to each other47#ig7    pg #ahi          
,fouille and ,guyau1 because they think 
deeply1 are led to  nature-philosophy by
 their philosophizing about the way in  
which the  will-to-live is to become    
ethical4 ,they wish to conceive ethics1 
within a world- and life-affirming      
nature-philosophy1 as a deepening1      
which is a necessity of thought1 of     
life-affirmation4 ,they thus join  the  
procession of the ,chinese monists4     
,that which these1 like ,spinoza  and   
,fichte1 attempted and failed to do1    
they attempt again in the  confidence   
that their nature-philosophy will be    
fairer to the  conception of living     
existence than that of the others was4  
,navigating the rushing stream of       
heightened life-affirmation1 they try   
with mighty efforts at the oars to reach
 the bank of the ethical4 ,they  believe
 that they will be able to land there 4 
4 4 but the waves carry  them past it1  

as they did all those who attempted the 
journey before  them4    ,that          
life-affirmation in its highest form1 by
 a paradox which lies in  the nature of 
things1 becomes ethical devotion to     
others they cannot  show convincingly4  
,this proposition1 in which they would  
transform the  natural world-view into  
an ethical one1 is truth only for the   
thought  which dares to make the same   
jump because it sees no possibility     
otherwise of reaching land from the     
drifting boat4    ,the ethic of ,fouille
 and ,guyau1 then1 is an enthusiastic   
conception  of life to which man pulls  
himself up when coming to terms with    
reality1 in order to assert himself and 
exert himself in the universe  in       
accordance with a higher value which he 
feels in himself4    ,fouille and ,guyau
 are1 therefore1 elemental moralists    
like  ,schopenhauer and ,nietzsche4     
,they are not1 however1 like the latter1
  making a voyage with their rudder     
tightly lashed in the circle of  world- 

and life-denial or of world- and        
life-affirmation2 they hold on  their   
course with sure feeling towards the    
mysterious union of  world-affirmation1 
life-affirmation1 and life-denial which 
constitutes  ethical life-affirmation4 4
 4 4 ,but this course takes them out    
over  the boundless ocean4 ,they never  
reach land4    pg #aij    ,in order to  
understand themselves as a direction of 
the will-to-live  which is a necessity  
of thought1 and to think themselves out 
to an  ethical world-view1 ethics must  
come to terms with nature-philosophy4   
,we find them1 then1 attempting--as did 
the ,rationalists1 and ,kant1 and  the  
speculative philosophers--to read into  
the world1 in simple or in  detailed    
thought1 an optimistic-ethical meaning1 
or at least1 as with  ,spinoza1 to give 
an ethical character in some way or     
other to the  relation of the individual
 to the universe4 ,these two men also1  
,fouille and ,guyau1 wrestle with       
nature-philosophy in order from it to   

justify ethics and an ethical world-view
 as not without meaning4 ,at  the same  
time1 however1 they dare--and this is   
the new element which  appears in       
them--to look straight in the face the  
possibility that it  will perhaps be    
impossible to carry their undertaking   
through4 ,what  will then become of     
ethics and world-view8 ,although they   
ought really  to totter and fall1 they  
do nevertheless remain standing--so     
,fouille  and ,guyau judge4    ,whether 
the idea of the good can finally claim  
any objective validity  cannot be       
asserted with complete confidence1 says 
,fouille in his  ,morale des            
,ides-forces4 ,man must finally be      
content to force  himself to acceptance 
of the ethically expansive              
life-affirmation1  merely because he    
feels it to be the only thing which is  
capable of  making life valuable4 ,out  
of love for the ideal he triumphs over  
all  doubt1 and sacrifices himself to   
it1 untroubled about whether or no      

anything results from his doing so4     
,guyau's ,sketch of a ,morality without 
,obligations or ,sanctions ends  in     
similar thoughts4 ,an inner force1 he   
says1 works upon us and drives  us      
forward4 ,do we go forward alone1 or    
will the idea eventually win  for itself
 some influence upon nature8 4 4 4      
,anyhow let us go forward6  4 4 4       
8,perhaps the earth1 perhaps mankind1   
will one day reach some as  yet unknown 
goal which they themselves have created4
 ,there is no hand  leading us1 no eye  
watching on our behalf2 the rudder was  
broken long  ago1 pg #aia or rather     
there never was one at all2 it has to be
  provided4 ,that is a big task1 and it 
is our task40 4 4 4 ,ethical men  are   
crossing the ocean of events on a       
rudderless and mastless  derelict1 so to
 say1 hoping nevertheless that they will
 some day and  somewhere reach land4    
,in these sentences there is announced  
from a distance the  disappearance of   
the optimistic-ethical interpretation of

 the world4  ,because they venture on   
renouncing this1 and proclaim in        
principle the  sovereign independence of
 ethics1 ,fouille and ,guyau belong to  
the  greatest thinkers who have had a   
share in shaping our world-view4        
,they do not1 however1 follow to the end
 the path on which they have  stumbled4 
,while they make ethics independent of  
whether its activity  can or cannot     
prove itself legitimate as significant  
and effective in  the totality of       
world-happenings1 they assume the       
existence of a  conflict between        
world-view and life-view1 which         
philosophy down to  their day had       
actually not noticed4 ,but they do not  
investigate its  nature1 and do not show
 how it is that life-view can venture to
 assert  itself in opposition to        
world-view1 and even to exalt itself as 
the  more important4 ,they are content  
to prophesy that ethics and ethical     
world-view will grow green again as     
mighty oases1 fed by subterranean       

springs1 even if the sand-storms of     
scepticism should have turned into  a   
desert the broad territory of the       
optimistic-ethical knowledge of  the    
world1 in which we once wanted to make  
our home4 ,at bottom1  however1 they    
hope that nothing like this will happen1
 and their  confidence that a           
nature-philosophy which deals in the    
proper way with  the nature of ,being   
will after all finally reach an ethic   
and a  world-view1 is not completely    
overthrown4    ,since they at first     
claim only a hypothetical validity for  
their new  view1 and do not carry it    
through as a matter of principle1       
,fouille  and ,guyau do not exercise    
upon the thought of the end of the      
nineteenth century and the beginning of 
the twentieth the influence  which they 
ought to have4 ,their age was1 indeed1  
not ready for that  pg #aib renunciation
 of knowledge for which their writings  
were  preparing the way4    ,a          
forerunner of their ethic is to be found

 in that which ,friedrich  ,albert      
,lange sketches as his own at the end of
 his ,history of  ,materialism 7#ahff74 
,ethics1 he says1 are an imaginative    
creation on  which we determine1 because
 we carry an ideal within ourselves4 ,we
  rise above the actual because we find 
no satisfaction in it4 ,we are  ethical 
because our life thereby obtains a      
definite character such as  we long for4
 4 4 4 ,ethics mean becoming free from  
the world4    ,lange also1 then1 has    
already reached the view that from      
direct  philosophizing about the world  
and life an ethical world-view results1 
not as a necessity of thought1 but as a 
necessity for life4 ,but like  the two  
,french thinkers he just throws out the 
thought instead of  following it out    
into all its presuppositions and        
consequences4    ,a peculiar supplement 
which completes the ethics of ,fouille1 
,guyau1  and ,lange1 without actually   
going back to them1 is provided by the  
,berlin physician1 ,wilhelm ,stern1 in  

an inquiry1 which has attracted  far too
 little notice1 into the evolutionary   
origin of ethics4 ,the  essential nature
 of the moral1 he says1 is the impulse  
to maintenance  of life by the repelling
 of all injurious attacks upon it1 an   
impulse  through which the individual   
being experiences a feeling of          
relationship to all other animate beings
 in face of nature's injurious  attacks 
upon them4 ,how has this mentality      
arisen in us8 ,through the  fact that   
animate beings of the most varied kinds 
have been obliged  through countless    
generations to fight side by side for   
existence  against the forces of nature1
 and in their common distress have      
ceased  to be hostile to one another1 so
 that they might attempt a common       
resistance to the annihilation which    
threatened them1 instead of  succumbing 
in a common ruin4 ,this experience1     
which began with their  first and lowest
 stage of existence and has become      
through thousands  of millions of       

generations more and more pg #aic       
pronounced1 has  given its special      
character to the psychology of all      
living beings4  ,all ethics are an      
affirmation of life1 the character of   
which is  determined by perception of   
the dangers to existence which living   
beings experience in common4    ,how    
much deeper ,wilhelm ,stern digs than   
,darwin did6 ,according to  ,darwin1    
experience of the never-ceasing1        
universal danger to existence  produces 
finally nothing but the herd-instinct1  
which holds together  creatures of the  
same species4 ,according to ,stern1     
there is developed  by the same         
experience a kind of solidarity with    
everything that  lives4 ,the barriers   
fall4 ,man experiences sympathy with    
animals1 as  they experience it1 only   
less completely1 with him4 ,ethics are  
not  only something peculiar to man1 but
 something which1 though in a less      
developed form1 is to be seen also in   
the animal world as such4               

,self-devotion is an experience of the  
deepened impulse to  self-preservation4 
,in the active as well as in the passive
 meaning of  the word the whole animate 
creation is to be included within the   
basic  principle of the moral4    ,the  
fundamental commandment of ethics1 then1
 is that we cause no  suffering to any  
living creature1 not even the lowest1   
unless it is to  effect some necessary  
protection for ourselves1 and that we be
 ready  to undertake1 whenever we can1  
positive action for the benefit of      
other creatures4    ,in ,fouille1       
,guyau1 and ,lange ethics come to terms 
with  nature-philosophy1 but without any
 advance towards making themselves      
cosmic4 ,they fall into the anachronism 
of regarding themselves still1  even at 
that date1 as nothing beyond the        
regulating of the temper and            
disposition of man towards his          
fellow-men1 instead of widening         
themselves out so as to deal with the   
conduct of man towards every  living    

creature and towards ,being in general4 
,in ,stern they take this  obvious1     
further step4    ,no ethic short of one 
that has made itself universal and      
cosmic is  capable of taking in hand the
 investigation of the basic principle of
  the moral2 only such an ethic can pg  
#aid really come to terms in            
intelligible fashion with               
nature-philosophy4    ,nature-philosophy
 and ethics in ,eduard von ,hartmann    
,in ,eduard von ,hartmann               
7#ahdb-aijf77ih7 also1 ethics try to    
comprehend themselves within            
nature-philosophy4 ,his ,philosophy of  
the  ,unconscious is largely in line    
with the thoughts of ,fouille1 but in   
the matter of world-view he goes off in 
another direction4 ,instead of  allowing
 ethics1 when they are coming to terms  
with nature-philosophy1  to experience  
their freedom from it1 he compels them  
to base  themselves on such a           
philosophy4 ,his nature-philosophy is   
pessimistic4  ,it confesses to being    

unable to discover any principle which  
contains  a meaning in the course of    
nature4 ,therefore 7so ,hartmann        
concludes1  as do the ,indians and      
,schopenhauer71 the world-process is    
something  which must come to a         
standstill4 ,everything that exists must
 gradually  enter on the blessed        
condition of will-lessness4 ,ethics are 
the  disposition which brings this      
development into action4    ,in language
 obscure enough von ,hartmann formulates
 at the end of his  ,phenomenology of   
the ,moral ,consciousness his           
pessimistic-ethical  world-view as      
follows3 8,existence in the world of    
matter is the  ,incarnation of the      
,godhead2 the world-process is the      
history of the  ,passion of the         
,incarnate ,god1 and at the same time   
the way to the  ,redemption of ,him who 
is crucified in the flesh2 but morality 
is  co-operation for the shortening of  
this road of suffering and  redemption40
    ,then1 however1 instead of unfolding

 what this ethic is1 and how it is  to  
come into force1 he undertakes to show  
that all ethical standpoints  which have
 ever made their appearance in any way  
in history have their  own              
justification4 ,he wants to house them  
all within an evolution  which          
necessarily leads to a pessimistic      
ethic4    pg #aie    ,every moral       
principle which shows itself in history 
7von ,hartmann  asserts7 changes itself 
by starting on a search for the         
completion  which lies nearest to it4   
,it lives itself out1 and then makes way
 for  the higher moral principle which  
issues logically from it4 ,that is how  
the ethical consciousness in individuals
 and in mankind works itself  up from   
one moral principle to another till it  
reaches the highest  knowledge4 ,from   
the primitive moral principle of aiming 
at individual  pleasure it travels past 
the authoritarian1 the sthetic1 the     
sentimental1 and the intellectual moral 
systems1 which are one and all          

subjective1 to the objective morality of
 care for the general  happiness4 ,but  
still beyond this it is led to the      
evolutionary moral  principle of the    
development of civilisation1 and here it
 learns to  think on supra-moral lines4 
,it grasps the notion that for moral    
consideration there is still something  
higher than the prosperity of           
individuals and of society1 namely      
8contest and struggle for the           
maintenance and enhancing of            
civilization40 ,this according to usual 
ideas unethical conception of ethics has
 to live itself out  completely1 so that
 it may then be resolved into an ethic  
of world-  and life-denial4    ,by this 
insight into the logic of the course of 
ethical evolution1 von  ,hartmann is    
saved from making any protest1 as an    
ordinary ethical  thinker would1 against
 the unethical civilization-ethics of   
the close  of the nineteenth century4   
,he knows1 on the contrary1 that he is  
helping the cause of rightly understood 

ethical progress1 if he treats  them    
with respect as a necessary phenomenon1 
and urges that they be  allowed to live 
themselves out with the utmost          
completeness4 ,we have  learnt 7he      
therefore proclaims7 to see through the 
ethic which aims at  making men and     
peoples happy as being a piece of       
sentimentality1 and  we ought now to    
make up our minds to deal seriously with
 the  supra-ethical ethic of the        
enhancing of life and civilization4 ,we 
must  learn to regard as good whatever  
is necessary for the development of     
civilization1 and we pg #aif are no     
longer at liberty to condemn war  in the
 name of ethics4 8,the principle of the 
development of  civilization compels us 
to recognize all these protests as      
unsound1  since wars are the chief means
 of carrying on the struggle between    
races1 i4e41 the process of natural     
selection within mankind1 and           
preparation for the effective waging of 
war has formed one of the most          

important means of education and        
training for mankind in every phase  of 
the development of their civilization1  
as it will also1 so far as  we can see1 
in the future407#ii7 ,economic misery   
too1 and the  struggles which arise from
 it1 are seen by the ethical spirit     
which  looks further ahead to subserve a
 higher objective4 ,the sufferings      
under the wage system1 which are far    
greater than those under slavery1  are  
necessary for the course of             
civilization4 ,the struggle which they  
evoke calls forces into being and has an
 educative result4 ,the course  of      
civilization needs a favoured minority  
to serve as bearers of its  ideas4      
,beneficence and charity to the poor    
must therefore be practised  with       
moderation4 ,the need which spurs men on
 to active work must not  be banished   
from the world4    ,another element in  
the course of civilization is the taking
 into  possession of the whole earth by 
the race with the highest  civilization1

 which must therefore increase its      
numbers as much as  possible4 ,in order 
to make the female population keen about
 the task  which thus falls to them1    
women must be raised intellectually1    
i4e41  their patriotism and national    
feeling must be increased as much as    
possible1 their historical sense must be
 aroused1 and they must be  filled with 
enthusiasm for the principle of         
civilization which  underlies evolution4
 8,to effect this object1 the history of
  civilization must be made the         
foundation of all instruction in the    
upper classes of girl-schools407#ajj7   
,it is desirable1 therefore1 to make    
efforts to secure the 8improvement  of  
the human type10 and the attainment pg  
#aig of an enhancement of  civilization 
in which 8the world-spirit becomes in   
increasing measure  conscious of        
itself40    ,in his nature-philosophy   
and his philosophy of history1 then1    
,eduard  von ,hartmann reaches a        
supra-ethical world-view in which ,hegel

 and  ,nietzsche drink to brotherhood1  
and the principles of inhumanity and    
relativity1 which underlie              
biologico-sociological ethics1 sit at   
table  with garlands on their heads4    
,how and when the supra-ethical ethic of
 enhanced world- and  life-affirmation  
passes over into the highest ethic of   
world- and  life-denial1 and in what way
 this highest ethic1 in which we        
function  as ,redeemers of the          
,absolute1 is to be carried out in      
practice1 von  ,hartmann is1 however1   
unable to make clear4 ,the abstruse     
modulations  with which1 in the last    
chapters of his work1 he tries to get   
from one  to the other provide us with  
ample proof of the unnatural character  
of  the undertaking4 ,to produce a      
world-view with ,hegel for body and     
,schopenhauer for head1 is an absurdity4
 ,by his resolve to attempt it1  von    
,hartmann admits his inability to make  
enhanced life-affirmation  become in a  
natural way ethical4    ,eduard von     

,hartmann prefers to the profession of  
moralist that of  philosopher of the    
history of morals4 ,instead of serving  
the world  with an ethical system of    
morals1 he makes it happy with the      
discovery  of the principle of inherent 
progress in the history of morals1 and  
thus helps to befool completely the     
thought of his age1 which is  living its
 life in an unethical and unspiritual   
optimism4    ,from the history of ethics
 nothing is to be obtained except a     
certain  amount of clearness about the  
problem of ethics4 ,anyone who discovers
  in it principles which promise        
automatic progress in the ethical       
development of mankind has by his       
miserably faulty construction of  that  
history read these principles into the  
facts without any  justification4    pg 
#aih    ,nature-philosophy and ethics in
 ,bergson1 ,chamberlain1 ,keyserling1   
,haeckel    ,henri ,bergson 7b4         
#ahfj77aja7 renounces altogether the    
attempt to  bring together              

nature-philosophy and ethics4 ,houston  
,stewart  ,chamberlain 7b4 #ahee77ajb7  
and ,count ,hermann ,keyserling 7b4     
#ahhj77ajc7 make the attempt but without
 reaching any result4    ,in his        
philosophizing about nature1 ,bergson   
does not go beyond the  rle of the      
observing subject4 ,he analyses in a    
masterly way the  nature of the process 
of knowledge4 ,his investigations into  
the origin  of our conception of time   
and of the actions of our consciousness 
which are bound up with it1 have taught 
us how to comprehend the  course of     
nature in its living reality4 ,leading  
us on beyond the  science which consists
 in external affirming and calculating1 
,bergson  shows that the true knowledge 
of ,being comes to us through a sort of 
intuition4 ,philosophizing means        
experiencing our consciousness as an    
emanation of the creative impulse which 
rules in the world4 ,bergson's          
nature-philosophy has therefore a close 
inward connexion with that of  ,fouille1

 but he does not find it necessary1 as  
,fouille does1 to  produce from it a    
world- and life-view4 ,he limits himself
 to depicting  it from the standpoint of
 the problem of the theory of knowledge4
 ,he  does not attempt any analysis of  
the ethical consciousness4 ,year after  
year we have waited for him to complete 
his work1 as he no doubt  himself       
intended1 with an attempt at producing  
an ethic on the basis  of               
nature-philosophy4 ,but he pg #aii      
contented himself with  developing in   
ever-new forms his theories about our   
inner knowledge of  the real4 ,he never 
comes to the recognition that all       
deepening of our  knowledge of the world
 acquires its real meaning only so far  
as it  teaches us to comprehend what we 
ought to aim at in life4 ,he lets the   
waves of events roll past us1 as if we  
were seated on an island in the  stream1
 whereas we are in reality obliged to   
exert ourselves as  swimmers in the     
stream4    ,during the war the ,german  

picture-houses were crammed4 ,people    
went to  see the pictures in order to   
forget their hunger4 ,bergson's         
philosophy  brings before us as living  
events the world which ,kant depicted in
  motionless wall-pictures4 ,but to     
satisfy the hunger of to-day for  ethics
 he does nothing4 ,he has no world-view 
to offer us in which we  can find a     
life-view4 ,over the whole of his       
philosophy there prevails  a quietistic1
 sceptical tone4    ,houston ,stewart   
,chamberlain tries to find a world-view 
which is based  on nature-philosophy and
 is at the same time ethical4 ,his work 
entitled ,immanuel ,kant 7#aije71 which 
is really a journey through the         
problems raised by philosophy with      
attempts to solve them1 ends in the     
thought that we have to combine         
,goethe's nature-philosophy1 which      
conceives ,becoming as an eternal       
,being1 with ,kant's judgement about    
the nature of duty1 if we wish to reach 
a real civilization4 ,he finds  himself 

unable1 however1 to carry through to    
completion such a  world-view4          
,roused by ,chamberlain1 ,hermann       
,keyserling goes in the aims of his     
thinking far beyond ,bergson4 ,he wants 
to reach clear ideas not only  about    
knowledge of the world1 but also about  
life and work in the  world4 ,from the  
pinnacle1 however1 to which he mounts1  
he sees only  the field of wisdom2 that 
of ethics is veiled in mist4 ,the       
highest  idea1 so he declares at the    
conclusion of his work ,the ,structure  
of  the ,world1 is that of truth4 ,we   
want to know1 because knowledge1        
8whether it visibly serves life at      
present or not1 already implies in      
itself a purposive reaction to the outer
 world40 ,in correct knowledge  the pg  
#bjj human spirit enters into reciprocal
 relations with the  universe4 ,life    
carries within itself its own purposive 
character4    ,keyserling finds it quite
 in order that the world-view of great  
men  should be superior to ordinary     

moral standards4 ,one must not reproach 
,leonardo da ,vinci for working as      
willingly in the service of the  ,french
 king1 ,francis ,i41 as he had done     
previously in that of the  ,sforzas whom
 ,francis expelled4 8,almost every great
 spirit is a  complete egoist40 ,if any 
one has experience of life in its full  
extent  and depth and living force1 and 
works in reciprocity with the  universe1
 interest in the human race is for him a
 kind of  specialization which is no    
longer incumbent on him4    ,in the     
,preface to the second edition of ,the  
,structure of the ,world  7#aibj71      
,keyserling admits that he has not      
reached a decision about the  ethical   
problem4 ,in his ,philosophy as ,art    
7#aibj71 he declares it to  be the      
foremost duty of our time to 8make the  
wise man a possible  type1 to draw him  
out by education1 and give him all      
necessary  publicity and scope for his  
activities40    ,the wise man is the one
 man who is capable of veracity1 the man

 who  lets all the tones of life sound  
in him1 and seeks to be in tune with    
the fundamental bass-note which is given
 in him4 ,he has no universally  valid  
world-view to impart to others4 ,he has 
not even for himself one  that is       
definite and final2 he has only one     
which is liable to  constant alteration 
for the better4 ,he himself is          
unalterable only in  this1 that he wants
 to live his life in its entirety and in
 the most  vital co-operation with the  
,universe1 and at the same time ever    
strives to be himself4 ,veracious and   
emphatic life-affirmation is  therefore 
the last word of this philosophizing    
about the world and  life4 4 4 4        
,thus does nature-philosophy admit that 
it cannot produce an ethic4    ,with the
 lesser spirits self-deception goes     
further4 ,the ordinary  scientific      
monism1 the greatness of which consists 
in its being an  elemental movement     
towards veracity in an pg #bja age which
 is weary  of veracity1 is still        

convinced that from its insight into the
  essential nature of life1 into the    
development of lower life into  higher1 
and into the inner connexion of the     
individual life with the  life of the   
universe1 it can somehow or other arrive
 at an ethic4 ,but  it is significant   
that its representatives take altogether
 different  roads in the search for an  
ethic4 ,an incredible absence of thought
 and  of plan reigns in the ethical     
philosophizing of the ordinary          
scientific nature-philosophy4 ,many of  
its representatives have before  their  
mind's eye a conception of the moral as 
a becoming one with the  universe1 a    
conception which is related to that of  
the ,stoics and  ,spinoza4 ,others1     
influenced by ,nietzsche1 entertain the 
thought that  true ethics are an        
enhanced and aristocratic               
life-affirmation1 and  have nothing to  
do with the claims of the 8democratic0  
social  ethics47#ajd7 ,others again1    
like ,johannes ,unold in his work       

,monism  and its ,ideals 7#aijh71 try to
 bring together nature-philosophy and   
ethics just in such a way as to let them
 conceive of the human  activity which  
is directed to social ends as the final 
result of the  development of the       
organic world4 ,there are also          
scientific  nature-philosophers who are 
content to put together out of what is  
commonly regarded as moral an ethic     
which is universally accepted1 and  to  
exalt it1 so far as they can1 into a    
product of nature-philosophy4  ,in      
,ernst ,haeckel's 7#ahcd-aiai7 work ,the
 ,riddle of the ,universe  7#ahii71     
there is an ethic of that character     
built on to the palace of               
nature-philosophy like an outside       
kitchen4 ,the basic principle of        
monistic ethical theory is 7so it is    
here maintained7 the equal              
justification of ,egoism and of         
,altruism1 and then a balance between   
them4 ,both are laws of nature4 ,egoism 
serves the preservation of the          

individual1 altruism that of the        
species4 ,this 8golden rule of          
morality0 is said to be of equal        
significance pg #bjb with the rule      
which ,jesus and other ethical thinkers 
before him are said to have  enunciated 
in the demand that we shall love our    
neighbour as  ourselves4 ,spencer and   
water is poured out under a ,christian  
label4    ,the death-agony of the       
optimistic-ethical world-view    ,an    
inexorable development of thought1 then1
 brings it about that the  philosophy of
 the end of the nineteenth century and  
the beginning of  the twentieth1 either 
advances to a supra-ethical world-view1 
or finds  itself living in an ethical   
ruin4 ,what happens in the great ,german
  speculative philosophy of the         
beginning of the nineteenth century is a
  prelude to the dnouement of the drama4
 ,in that philosophy an  ethical        
world-view tries to find itself a       
foundation in speculative               
nature-philosophy1 and in doing so      

becomes1 as stands confessed in  ,hegel1
 supra-ethical4 ,later1 ethics believe  
themselves capable of  providing a      
8scientific0 conception of themselves1  
thanks to the  results reached by       
psychology1 biology1 and sociology1 but 
in  proportion as they effect this1     
their energy decreases4 ,later still1   
when through the growth of science and  
the inward changes in thought a         
nature-philosophy which is in harmony   
with scientific observation of  nature  
becomes the only possible philosophy1   
ethics have once more to  make a real   
attempt to found themselves in a        
nature-philosophy which  is directed    
upon the universe4 ,there is nothing1   
however1 but the  enhancement and       
perfecting of life which                
nature-philosophy can give as  the      
meaning of life4 ,hence ethics must     
struggle to conceive the  enhancement   
and perfecting of life as something     
which comes to pass  within the field of
 ethical ideas1 and it is this that the 

most modern  thought is striving for1 on
 lines of development which are often   
apparently irreconcilable1 without ever 
attaining its goal4    ,whenever ethics 
really rely in any way upon             
nature-philosophy for the  production of
 the convincing1 ethical world-view     
which the age is  longing for1 they get 
wrecked pg #bjc upon it in one way or   
another4  ,either they actually attempt 
to give themselves out to be somehow a  
natural enhancement of life and thereby 
so alter their character that  they     
cease to be really and truly ethics4 ,or
 they abdicate2 perhaps1  as with       
,keyserling1 leaving the field free to  
supra-ethical  world-view1 perhaps1 as  
with ,bergson1 leaving nature-philosophy
 and  ethical questions with it1 to rest
 in peace4    ,thus the sun of ethics   
becomes darkened for our generation1    
nature-philosophy pushing forward like a
 wall of cloud4 ,just as an  inundation 
overwhelms pastures and fields with its 
water-borne  dbris1 so do the           

supra-ethical and the unethical ways of 
thinking  break in upon our mentality4  
,they bring about the most terrible     
devastations without anyone having any  
clear idea of what the  catastrophe     
means1 or indeed being conscious of     
anything wrong beyond  that the spirit  
of the time is rendering all ethical    
standards  powerless4    ,everywhere    
there grows up an unethical conception  
of civilization4 ,the  masses reconcile 
themselves in an incomprehensible way to
 the theory  of the relativity of all   
ethical standards and to thoughts of    
inhumanity4 ,freed from any obligation  
of ethical intention1 the belief  in    
progress suffers a process of           
externalization which increases from    
year to year1 becoming finally nothing  
better than a wooden faade  which       
conceals the pessimism behind it4 ,that 
we have lapsed into  pessimism is       
betrayed by the fact that the demand for
 the spiritual  advance of society and  
mankind is no longer seriously made     

among us4  ,we have now resigned        
ourselves1 as if no explanation of it   
were  needed1 to the fate of being      
obliged to smile at the high-flying     
hopes  of previous generations4 ,there  
is no longer to be found among us the   
true world- and life-affirmation which  
reaches down to the depths of  the      
spiritual nature of man4 ,unavowed      
pessimism has been consuming us  for    
decades4    ,delivered over to events in
 a temper and disposition which is      
powerless because it is entirely without
 any true pg #bjd and ethical  ideals of
 progress1 we are experiencing the      
collapse of material and  spiritual     
civilization alike4    ,by its belief in
 an optimistic ethical world-view the   
modern age made  itself capable of a    
mighty advance towards civilization4    
,its thought1  however1 has not been    
able to show this world-view to be      
founded in  the nature of things1 and we
 have therefore sunk1 consciously and   
unconsciously1 into a condition in which

 we have no world-view at all1  a       
condition of pessimism1 too1 and of     
absence of all ethical  conviction1 so  
that we are on the point of complete    
shipwreck4    ,the bankruptcy of the    
optimistic-ethical world-view was       
announced  beforehand as little as was  
the financial bankruptcy of the ruined  
states of ,europe4 ,but just as the     
latter was gradually revealed as  having
 actually come about by the constantly  
diminishing value of the  paper-money   
that was issued1 so is the former being 
gradually revealed  by the constantly   
diminishing power among us of the true  
and profound  ideals of civilization4   
pg #bje    ,,chapter ,,xvii    ,,the    
,,new ,,way      ,why the               
optimistic-ethical world-view cannot be 
carried through to the  logical         
conclusion    ,,the greatness of        
,european philosophy consists in its    
having chosen the  optimistic-ethical   
world-view2 its weakness in its having  
again and  again imagined that it was   

putting that world-view on a firm       
foundation1 instead of making clear to  
itself the difficulties of  doing so4   
,the task before our generation is to   
strive with deepened  thought to reach a
 truer and more serviceable world-view1 
and thus to  bring to an end our living 
on and on without any world-view at all4
    ,our age is striking out unmeaningly
 in every direction like a fallen  horse
 in the traces4 ,it is trying with      
external measures and new  organisation 
to solve the problems with which it has 
to deal1 but all  in vain4 ,the horse   
cannot get on its feet again till it is 
unharnessed  and allowed to get its head
 up4 ,our world will not get upon its   
feet  again till it lets the truth come 
home to it that its cure is not to  be  
found in active measures but in new ways
 of thinking4    ,but new ways of       
thinking can arise only if a true and   
serviceable  world-view draws           
individuals within its influence4       
,the one serviceable world-view is the  

optimistic-ethical4 ,its renewal  is a  
duty incumbent on us4 ,can we prove it  
to be true8    ,in the struggle of the  
thinkers who for centuries exerted      
themselves  to demonstrate the truth of 
the optimistic-ethical world-view1 and  
kept surrendering themselves comfortably
 to the illusion1 always very  soon     
shattered1 that pg #bjf they had        
succeeded1 the problem with  which we   
are concerned reveals itself in outlines
 which become clearer  and clearer4 ,we 
are now in a position to reckon up why  
those or those  paths1 apparently so    
full of promise1 have led to nothing1   
and can  lead to nothing4 ,by the       
insight into the problem thus won we    
shall be  preserved from entering on    
impassable roads and forced to follow   
the  only one which is practicable4     
,the most general result of the attempts
 made up to the present is  this3 that  
the optimistic-ethical interpretation of
 the world1 by  which it was hoped to   
put the optimistic-ethical world-view on

 a firm  foundation1 cannot be carried  
through to a conclusion4 ,yet how       
logical  and natural it seemed to tune  
up the meaning of life and the meaning  
of the world to the same note6 ,how     
invitingly the path opened out of       
explaining our own existence from the   
nature and significance of the  world6  
,the path rises so naturally to the     
crest of the foothills that  one could  
only believe it led up to the highest   
point of knowledge4  ,but high up in the
 ascent it breaks off with chasms ahead4
    ,the reflexion that the meaning of  
human life must be conceivable  within  
the meaning of the world is such an     
obvious one to thought1  that the latter
 never lets itself be led from its path 
by the failure1  one after another1 of  
all attempts in that direction4 ,it     
merely  concludes that it has not       
tackled the problem in the right way4   
,it  therefore has resort to the        
whisperings of the theory of knowledge1 
and undertakes to impugn the reality of 

the world in order to deal  with it more
 successfully4 ,in ,kant1 in the        
speculative philosophy1 and  in much    
8spiritualistic0 popular philosophy     
which has been current  almost down to  
our own day1 it preserved its hope of   
reaching its goal  by some sort of      
combination of epistemological with     
ethical realism4  ,hence the philosophy 
of academic manuals declaims against the
  unprejudiced thinking which tries to  
reach a world-view without first  having
 been baptised by ,kant with fire and   
the ,holy ,spirit4 ,but this  too is a  
vain proceeding4 ,the refined and       
underhand attempts to form a  pg #bjg   
conception of the world with an         
optimistic-ethical meaning  meet with no
 better success than the nave ones4     
,what our thinking  tries to proclaim as
 knowledge is never anything but an     
unjustifiable  interpretation of the    
world4    ,against the admission of     
this1 thought guards itself with the    
courage  of despair1 because it fears it

 will find itself in that case with no  
idea of what to do in face of the       
problem of life4 ,what meaning can we   
give to human existence1 if we must     
renounce all pretence of knowing  the   
meaning of the world8 ,nevertheless     
there remains only one thing  for       
thought to do1 and that is to adapt     
itself to facts4    ,the hopelessness of
 the attempt to find the meaning of life
 within the  meaning of the world is    
shown first of all by the fact that in  
the  course of nature there is no       
purposiveness to be seen in which the   
working of men1 and of mankind as a     
whole1 could in any way intervene4  ,on 
one of the smaller among the millions of
 heavenly bodies there have  lived for a
 short space of time some human beings4 
,for how long will  they continue so to 
live8 ,any lowering or raising of the   
temperature  of the earth1 any change in
 the inclination of the axis of their   
planet1 a rise in the level of the      
ocean1 or a change in the  composition  

of the atmosphere1 could put an end to  
their existence4 ,or  the earth itself  
may fall1 as so many other heavenly     
bodies have  fallen1 a victim to some   
cosmic catastrophe4 ,we are entirely    
ignorant  of what we mean for the earth4
 ,how much less then may we presume to  
try to attribute to the infinite        
universe a meaning which has us for  its
 object1 or which can be explained in   
terms of our existence6    ,it is not1  
however1 merely the huge disproportion  
between the universe  and human beings  
which makes it impossible for us to give
 the aims and  objects of mankind a     
logical place in those of the universe4 
,any such  attempt is made useless      
beforehand by the fact that we have not 
yet  succeeded in discovering any       
general purposiveness in the course of  
nature4 ,whatever we do find of         
purposiveness in the world is never     
anything but isolated instances of it4  
pg #bjh    ,in the production and       
maintenance of some definite form of    

life nature  does sometimes act         
purposively in a magnificent way4 ,but  
in no way  does she ever seem intent on 
uniting these instances of purposiveness
  which are directed to single objects  
into a collective purpose4 ,she  never  
undertakes to let life coalesce with    
life to form a collective  life4 ,she is
 wonderfully creative force1 and at the 
same time  senselessly destructive      
force4 ,we face her1 absolutely unable  
to form  any notion of what to do4 ,what
 is full of meaning within the          
meaningless1 the meaningless within what
 is full of meaning3 that is  the       
essential nature of the universe        
,life-view independent of world-view    
,these elemental established conclusions
 ,european thought has tried to  ignore4
 ,it can do so no longer1 and it is of  
no use to try4 ,the facts  have silently
 produced their consequences4 ,while the
  optimistic-ethical world-view still   
maintains itself among us as a  dogma1  
we no longer possess the ethical world- 

and life-affirmation  with which it     
ought to provide us4 ,perplexity and    
pessimism have taken  possession of us  
without our admitting it4    ,there     
remains1 therefore1 nothing for us to do
 but to admit that we  understand       
nothing of the world1 and are surrounded
 by nothing but  enigmas4 ,our knowledge
 is becoming sceptical4    ,just as     
thought has hitherto allowed world-view 
and life-view to hang  together1        
mutually connected1 so have we in       
consequence fallen  similarly into a    
sceptical conception of life4 ,but is it
 really the  case that life-view is     
towed along by world-view1 and that when
 the  latter can no longer be kept      
afloat life-view must sink with it into 
the depths8 ,necessity bids us cut the  
tow-rope and try to let  life-view      
continue its voyage independently4      
,this manuvre is not such a surprising  
one as it seems4 ,while people  acted as
 though their life-view were taken from 
their world-view1 the  connexion between

 the two was really just the opposite1  
their  world-view was formed from pg    
#bji their life-view4 ,what they put    
forward as their view of the world was  
an interpretation of the world  in the  
light of their life-view4    ,the       
life-view held by ,european thought     
being optimistic-ethical1 the  same     
character was attributed by everybody to
 their world-view in  defiance of facts4
 ,the will1 without admitting it1       
overpowered  knowledge4 ,life-view      
prompted and world-view recited4 ,the   
belief that  their life-view was derived
 from their world-view was therefore    
only a  fiction4    ,in ,kant this      
overpowering of knowledge1 which had    
till then been just  navely allowed1 was
 worked out systematically4 ,his        
doctrine of the  8,postulates of the    
,practical ,reason0 means just this3    
that the will  claims for itself the    
decisive word in the last pronouncements
 of the  world-view4 ,only ,kant manages
 to arrange the matter so cleverly that 

the will never forces its supremacy on  
knowledge1 but receives it from  the    
latter as a free gift1 and then makes   
use of it in carefully  chosen          
parliamentary ways4 ,it proceeds as if  
it had been invoked by  the theoretical 
reason to provide possible truths with  
reality  belonging to truths which are  
necessities of thought4    ,in ,fichte  
the will dictates to knowledge its      
world-view without any  regard at all   
for the arts of diplomacy4    ,from the 
middle of the nineteenth century onward 
there can be  discerned a tendency in   
natural science no longer to claim that 
world-view shall accommodate itself to  
scientifically established  facts4 ,the 
valuable convictions of the traditional 
world-view are to  hold good1 even if   
they cannot be brought into harmony with
 the  accepted knowledge of the world4  
,after the publication of ,du           
,bois-,raymond's 7#ahah-ahif7 lectures  
8,on the ,limits of our ,knowledge of   
,nature0 it begins with a certain school

 of natural science to be  considered   
almost a part of good manners to declare
 oneself  incompetent in questions of   
world-view4 ,there grows up gradually   
what  one may call a modern doctrine of 
the two-fold nature of truth4 ,to  this 
movement expression is given by the     
8,keplerbund10 which was pg  #baj       
founded in #aijg by representatives of  
natural science1 and goes  so far as to 
declare acceptable to natural science   
the valuable  pronouncements of the     
current world-view1 even when given in  
formulas  provided by ecclesiastical    
authority4 ,this new doctrine of the    
two-fold nature of truth is brought to  
philosophical expression by the  theory 
of the solidity of 8value-judgments40   
,by means of this theory  ,albrecht     
,ritschl 7#ahbb-ahhi7 and his imitators 
try to uphold the  validity of a        
religious world-view side by side with a
 scientific one4  ,almost the whole     
religious world1 so far as it tries to  
remain a  thinking body1 grasps at such 

expedients4 ,next1 in ,william ,james's 
7#ahdb-aiaj7 philosophy of ,pragmatism  
the will admits in half-nave1           
half-cynical fashion that all the       
knowledge professed by its  world-view  
has been produced by itself4    ,that   
the valuable assertions made by the     
world-view are to be traced  back to the
 will which has been determined by      
valuable convictions is  therefore a    
fact1 and since ,kant's day the fact has
 been admitted in  the most varied      
directions4 ,the shock given to the     
feeling for  veracity1 which accompanies
 this no longer nave but half-conscious 
and insidiously employed interpretation 
of the world1 plays a fatal  part in the
 mentality of our time4    ,but why go  
on with this want of candour8 ,why keep 
knowledge in  subservience to the will  
by means of a kind of infamous secret   
police8  ,any world-view deduced        
therefrom must ever be a poor weak      
thing4 ,let  us allow the will and      
knowledge to come together in a relation

 which  is honourable to both4    ,in   
what has hitherto been called world-view
 there are two things  united3 view of  
the world and life-view4 ,so long as it 
was possible to  cherish the illusion   
that the two were harmonious and each   
completed  the other1 there was nothing 
to be said against this combination4    
,now1  however1 when the divergence can 
no longer be concealed1 the wider       
conception of world-view which includes 
life-view organically within  itself1   
must be given up4 ,it is no longer      
permissible to go on navely  believing  
that we get our life-view pg #baa from  
our view of the  world1 or furtively    
elevating in some way or other our      
life-view into  a view of the world4 ,we
 are standing at a turning-point of     
thought4  ,critical action which clears 
away all prevailing navets and          
dishonesties has become necessary4 ,we  
must make up our minds to leave         
life-view and view of the world mutually
 independent of each other1  and see    

that a straightforward understanding    
between the two is  reached4 ,we have to
 admit that because our life-view is    
made up of  convictions which are given 
in our will-to-live but are not         
confirmed  by knowledge of the world1 we
 have allowed it to go beyond the varied
  knowledge which makes up our view of  
the world4    ,this renunciation of     
world-view in the old sense1 that is of 
a unitary  world-view which is complete 
in itself1 means a painful experience   
for  our thought4 ,we come hereby to a  
dualism against which we at every       
moment instinctively rebel4 ,but we must
 surrender to facts4 ,our will  to live 
has to accommodate itself to the        
inconceivable fact that it is  unable   
with its own valuable convictions to    
discover itself again in  the manifold  
will-to-live which is seen manifested in
 the world4 ,we  wanted to form a       
life-view for ourselves out of items of 
knowledge  gathered from the world4 ,but
 it is our destiny to live by means of  

convictions which an inward necessity   
makes a part of our thought4    ,in the 
old rationalism reason undertook to     
investigate the world4 ,in  the new it  
has to take as its task the attaining to
 clarity about the  will-to-live4 ,thus 
we return to an elemental philosophising
 which is  once more busied with        
questions of world- and life-view as    
they  directly affect men1 and seeks to 
give a safe foundation to1 and to  keep 
alive1 the valuable ideas which we find 
in ourselves4 ,it is in a  life-view    
which is dependent on itself alone1 and 
has come in a  straightforward way to an
 understanding with world-knowledge1    
that we  hope to find once more power to
 attain to ethical world- and           
life-affirmation4          pg #bab      
,,chapter ,,xviii    ,,the ,,foundations
 ,,of ,,optimism ,,secured ,,from ,,the 
,,will-,,to-,,live      ,the pessimistic
 result of knowledge    ,,there are two 
things which thought has to do for us2  
it must lead us  up out of the nave     

world- and life-affirmation to a        
deepened one1 and  it must let us go on 
from mere ethical impulses to an ethic  
which is a  necessity of thought4       
,deepened world- and life-affirmation   
consists in this1 that we have  the will
 to maintain our own life and every kind
 of existence that we  can in any way   
influence1 and to bring them to their   
highest value4 ,it  demands from us that
 we think out all ideals of the material
 and  spiritual perfecting of individual
 men1 of society1 and of mankind as  a  
whole1 and let ourselves be determined  
by them to steady activity  and steady  
hope4 ,it does not allow us to withdraw 
into ourselves1 but  orders us to bring 
to bear a living and so far as possible 
an active  interest on everything which 
happens around us4 ,to endure a state of
  unrest through our relation to the    
world1 when by withdrawing into         
ourselves we might enjoy rest2 that is  
the burden which deeper world-  and     
life-affirmation lays upon us4    ,we   

begin our life-course in an             
unsophisticated world- and              
life-affirmation4 ,the will-to-live     
which is in us gives it to us as        
something which is a matter of course4  
,but later1 when thought awakes1  the   
questions crop up which make a problem  
of what has hitherto been a  matter of  
course4 ,what meaning will you give your
 life8 ,what do you  mean to do in the  
world8 ,when1 along with these pg #bac  
questions1 we  begin trying to reconcile
 knowledge and will-to-live1 facts get  
in the  way of this with confusing      
suggestions4 ,life attracts us1 they    
say1  with a thousand expectations1 and 
fulfils hardly one of them4 ,and the    
fulfilled expectation is almost a       
disappointment1 for only anticipated    
pleasure is really pleasure2 in pleasure
 which is fulfilled its  opposite is    
already stirring4 ,unrest1              
disappointment1 and pain are our  lot in
 the short span of time which lies      
between our entrance on life  and our   

departure from it4 ,the spiritual is in 
a dreadful state of  dependence on the  
bodily4 ,our existence is at the mercy  
of meaningless  happenings and can be   
brought to an end by them at any moment4
 ,the  will-to-live gives me an impulse 
to action1 but the action is just as  if
 ,i wanted to plough the sea1 and to sow
 in the furrows4 ,what did  those who   
worked before me effect8 ,what          
significance in the endless  chain of   
world-happenings have their efforts had8
 ,with all its  illusive promises the   
will-to-live only means to mislead me   
into  prolonging my existence1 and      
allowing to enter on existence1 so that 
the game may go on without interruption1
 other beings to whom the same          
miserable lot has been assigned as to   
myself4    ,the discoveries in the field
 of knowledge against which the         
will-to-live knocks when it begins to   
think1 are therefore altogether         
pessimistic4 ,it is not by accident that
 all religious world-views1  except the 

,chinese1 have a more or less           
pessimistic tone and bid man  expect    
nothing from his existence here4    ,who
 will stop us from making use of the    
freedom we are allowed1 and  casting    
existence from us8 ,every thinking human
 being makes  acquaintance with this    
thought4 ,we let it take a deeper hold  
of us  than we suspect from one another1
 as indeed we are all more oppressed  by
 the riddles of existence than we allow 
others to notice4    ,what determines   
us1 so long as we are comparatively in  
our right mind1  to reject the thought  
of putting an end to our existence8 ,an 
instinctive feeling of repulsion from   
such a deed4 ,the will-to-live is       
stronger than pessimistic pg #bad facts 
of knowledge4 ,an instinctive           
,reverence for ,life is within us1 for  
we are will-to-live4 4 4 4    ,even the 
consistently pessimistic thought of     
,brahmanism makes to the  will-to-live  
the concession that voluntary death may 
only come about  when the individual has

 put behind him a considerable portion  
of life4  ,the ,buddha goes still       
further1 rejecting any violent exit from
  existence and demanding only that we  
let the will-to-live within us  die out4
    ,all pessimism1 then1 is            
inconsistent4 ,it does not push open the
 door  to freedom1 but makes concessions
 to the obvious fact of existence4 ,in  
,indian thought1 which tends to         
pessimism1 it attempts to make these    
concessions as small as possible1 and to
 maintain the impossible  fiction that  
merely the bare life is being lived with
 complete  abstinence from any share in 
the happenings which are taking place   
here1 there1 and everywhere about it4   
,with us the concessions are  larger1   
since the conflict between the          
will-to-live and pessimistic            
recognition of facts is to a certain    
extent damped down1 and obscured  by the
 optimistic world-view which prevails in
 the general mode of  thought4 ,there   
arises an unthinking will-to-live which 

lives out its  life trying to snatch    
possession of as much happiness as      
possible1 and  meaning to do something  
active without having made clear to     
itself  what its intentions really are4 
,whether somewhat more or somewhat less 
of world- and life-affirmation  is      
retained matters little4 ,whenever the  
deepened world- and  life-affirmation is
 not reached there remains only a       
depreciated  will-to-live1 which is not 
equal to the tasks of life4 ,thought    
usually  deprives the will-to-live of   
the force lent it by its freedom from   
pre-conceptions1 without being able to  
induce it to adopt a practice  of       
reflexion in which it would find new and
 higher force4 ,thus it  still possesses
 energy enough to continue in life1 but 
not enough to  overcome pessimism4 ,the 
stream becomes a swamp4    ,that is the 
experience which determines the         
character pg #bae of  men's existence1  
without their confessing it to          
themselves4 ,they  nourish themselves   

scantily on a little bit of happiness   
and many vain  thoughts1 which life puts
 in their manger4 ,it is only by the    
pressure  of necessity1 exerted by      
elementary duties which throng upon     
them1  that they are kept in the path of
 life4    ,often their will-to-live is  
changed into a kind of intoxication4    
,spring sunshine1 trees in flower1      
passing clouds1 fields of waving  corn  
provoke it4 ,a will-to-live which       
announces itself in many forms  in      
magnificent phenomena all around them1  
carries their own  will-to-live along   
with it4 ,full of delight1 they want to 
take part in  the mighty symphony which 
they hear4 ,they find the world         
beautiful4 4  4 4 ,but the transport    
passes4 ,horrid discords allow them once
 more to  hear only noise1 where they   
thought they perceived music4 ,the      
beauty  of nature is darkened for them  
by the suffering which they discover    
everywhere within it4 ,now they see once
 more that they are drifting  like      

shipwrecked men over a waste of waters1 
only that their boat is  at one moment  
raised aloft on mountainous waves and   
the next sinks  into the valleys between
 them1 and that now sunbeams1 and now   
heavy  clouds1 rest upon the heaving    
billows4    ,now they would like to     
persuade themselves that there is land  
in the  direction in which they are     
drifting4 ,their will-to-live befools   
their  thinking1 so that it makes       
efforts to see the world as it would    
like  to see it4 ,it compels it also to 
hand them a chart which confirms  their 
hopes of land4 ,once more they bend to  
the oars1 till once more  their arms    
drop with fatigue1 and their gaze       
wanders1 disappointed1  from billow to  
billow4    ,that is the voyage of the   
will-to-live which has abjured thought4 
,is there1 then1 nothing else that the  
will-to-live can do but drift  along    
without thought1 or sink in pessimistic 
knowledge8 ,yes1 there  is4 ,it must    
indeed voyage across this boundless sea2

 but it can hoist  sails1 and steer a   
definite course4    pg #baf    ,the     
world- and life-affirmation of the      
will-to-live    ,the will-to-live which 
tries to know the world is a shipwrecked
  castaway2 the will-to-live which gets 
to know itself is a bold  mariner4      
,the will-to-live is not restricted to  
maintaining its existence on  what the  
ever unsatisfying knowledge of the world
 offers it2 it can  feed on the         
life-forces which it finds in itself4   
,the knowledge which  ,i acquire from my
 will-to-live is richer than that which 
,i win by  observation of the world4    
,there are given in it values and       
incitements  bearing on my relation to  
the world and to life which find no     
justification in my reflexion upon the  
world and existence4 ,why then  tune    
down one's will-to-live to the pitch of 
one's knowledge of the  world1 or       
undertake the meaningless task of tuning
 up one's knowledge  of the world to the
 higher pitch of one's will-to-live4    

,the right and  obvious course is to let
 the ideas which are given in our       
will-to-live  be accepted as the higher 
and decisive kind of knowledge4    ,my  
knowledge of the world is a knowledge   
from outside1 and remains for  ever     
incomplete4 ,the knowledge derived from 
my will-to-live is direct1  and takes me
 back to the mysterious movements of    
life as it is in  itself4    ,the       
highest knowledge1 then1 is the knowing 
that ,i must be true to the             
will-to-live4 ,it is this knowledge that
 hands me the compass for the  voyage ,i
 have to make in the night without the  
aid of a chart4 ,to live  out one's life
 in the direction of its course1 to     
raise it to a higher  power1 and to     
ennoble it1 is natural4 ,every          
depreciation of the  will-to-live is an 
act of unveracity towards myself1 or a  
symptom of  unhealthiness4    ,the      
essential nature of the will-to-live is 
determination to live  itself to the    
full4 ,it carries within it the impulse 

to realise itself  in the highest       
possible perfection4 ,in the flowering  
tree1 in the  strange forms of the      
medusa1 in the blade of grass1 in the   
crystal2  everywhere it strives to reach
 the perfection with which it is        
endowed4 ,in everything pg #bag that    
exists there is at work an  imaginative 
force1 which is determined by ideals4   
,in us1 beings who  can move about      
freely and are capable of               
pre-considered1 purposive  working1 the 
impulse to perfection is given in such a
 way that we aim  at raising to their   
highest material and spiritual value    
both  ourselves and every existing thing
 which is open to our influence4    ,how
 this striving originated within us1 and
 how it has developed1 we  do not know1 
but it is given with our existence4 ,we 
must act upon it1  if we would not be   
unfaithful to the mysterious            
will-to-live which is  within us4       
,when the will-to-live arrives at the   
critical point where its early          

unsophisticated world- and              
life-affirmation has to be changed into 
a  reflective one1 it is the part of    
thought to assist it by holding it  to  
the thinking out of all the ideas which 
are given within it and to  the         
surrender of itself to them4 ,that the  
will-to-live within us  becomes true to 
itself and remains so2 that it          
experiences no  degeneration but        
develops itself to complete vitality1   
that is what  decides the fate of our   
existence4    ,when it comes to         
clearness about itself1 the will-to-live
 knows that  it is dependent on itself  
alone4 ,it is meant to attain to freedom
 from  the world4 ,its knowledge of the 
world can prove to it that its  striving
 to raise to their highest value its own
 life and every living  thing which can 
be influenced by it remains in the      
course of the  world-whole1 something   
problematic4 ,in this it has not been   
misled4  ,its world- and                
life-affirmation carries its meaning in 

itself4 ,it  follows from an inward     
necessity1 and is sufficient for itself4
 ,by its  means my existence joins in   
pursuing the aims of the mysterious     
universal will of which ,i am a         
manifestation4 ,in my deepened world-   
and life-affirmation1 ,i manifest       
reverence for life4 ,with  consciousness
 and with volition ,i devote myself to  
,being4 ,i become of  service to the    
ideals which it thinks out in me2 ,i    
become imaginative  force like that     
which works enigmatically in nature1 and
 thus ,i give  my existence a meaning   
from within outwards4    pg #bah        
,reverence for life means to be in the  
grasp of the infinite1  inexplicable1   
forward-urging ,will in which all ,being
 is grounded4 ,it  raises us above all  
knowledge of things and lets us become a
 tree  which is safe against drought1   
because it is planted among running     
streams4 ,all living piety flows from   
reverence for life and the  compulsion  
towards ideals which is given in it4 ,in

 reverence for life  lies piety in its  
most elemental and deepest form1 in     
which it has not  yet involved itself   
with any explanation of the world or no 
longer  does so1 but is piety which     
comes simply from inward necessity1 and 
therefore asks no questions about ends  
to be pursued4    ,the will-to-live1    
too1 which has become reflective and has
 made its  way through to deeper world- 
and life-affirmation1 tries to secure   
happiness and success1 for as           
will-to-live it is will to the realizing
  of ideals4 ,it does not1 however1 live
 on happiness and success4  ,whatever of
 these it obtains is a strengthening of 
itself which it  thankfully accepts1    
though it is resolved on action1 even if
 happiness  and success must be denied  
it4 ,it sows as one who does not count  
on  living to reap the harvest4    ,the 
will-to-live is not a flame which burns 
only when events provide  suitable fuel2
 it blazes up1 and that with the purest 
light1 when it  is forced to feed on    

what it derives from itself4 ,then1 too1
 when  events seem to leave no future   
for it but suffering1 it still holds    
out as an active will4 ,in deep         
reverence for life it makes the         
existence which according to usual ideas
 is no longer in any way worth  living1 
precious1 because even in such an       
existence it experiences its  own       
freedom from the world4 ,quiet and peace
 radiate from a being like  that upon   
others1 and cause them also to be       
touched by the secret that  we must all1
 whether active or passive1 preserve our
 freedom in order  truly to live4       
,true resignation is not a becoming     
weary of the world but the quiet        
triumph which the will-to-live          
celebrates at the hour of its greatest  
need over the circumstances of life4 pg 
#bai ,it flourishes only in  the soil of
 deep world- and life-affirmation4      
,in this way our life is a coming to an 
understanding between our  will-to-live 
and the world1 along with which we have 

continually to be  on our guard against 
allowing any deterioration in our       
will-to-live4  ,the struggle between    
optimism and pessimism is never fought  
to a  finish within us4 ,we are ever    
wandering on slipping rubble above the  
abyss of pessimism4 ,when that which we 
experience in our own existence  or     
learn from the history of mankind1 falls
 oppressively upon our  will-to-live and
 robs us of our freshness and our power 
of  deliberation1 we might lose hold1   
and be carried away with the moving     
boulders into the abyss below4 ,but     
knowing that what awaits us below  is   
death1 we work our way up to the path   
again4 4 4 4    ,or it may perhaps be   
that pessimism comes over us1 like the  
bliss of  complete rest over those who1 
tired out1 sit down in the snow4 ,no    
longer to be obliged to hope for and aim
 at what is commanded us by  the ideals 
which are forced upon us by the deepened
 will-to-live6 ,no  longer to be in a   
state of unrest when by lessening our   

efforts we can  have rest6 4 4 4 ,gently
 comes the appeal from knowledge to our 
will to  tune itself down to the facts4 
4 4 4    ,that is the fatal state of    
complete rest in which men1 and         
civilised  mankind as a whole1 grow numb
 and die4    ,and when we think that the
 enigmas by which we are surrounded can 
no  longer harm us1 there once more     
rises up before us somewhere or other   
the most terrifying of them all1 the    
fact that the will-to-live can be       
shattered in suffering or in spiritual  
night4 ,this enigma1 too1 before  which 
our will-to-live shudders as before the 
most inexplicable of all  inexplicable  
things1 we must learn to leave unsolved4
    ,thus does pessimistic knowledge    
pursue us closely right on to our last  
breath4 ,that is why it is so profoundly
 significant that the  will-to-live     
rouses itself at last and once for all  
to insist on its  freedom from having to
 understand the world1 and shows itself 
capable  of letting itself be pg #bbj   

determined solely by that which is given
  within itself4 ,with humility and     
courage it makes its way through the    
endless chaos of enigmas1 fulfilling its
 mysterious destiny1 making a  reality  
of its union with the infinite          
will-to-live4          pg #bba          
,,chapter ,,xix    ,,the ,,problem ,,of 
,,ethics1 ,,starting ,,from ,,the       
,,history ,,of ,,ethics      ,an ethic  
of self-devotion1 or an ethic of        
self-perfecting8    ,,thought1 then1    
which reaches bottom1 arrives at an     
unshakeable  world-and-life affirmation4
 ,let it now try whether it can lead us 
to  an ethic4 ,but that it may not      
proceed with us1 as it so often does1   
merely at random1 it shall gather from  
the thought which has hitherto  been    
devoted to ethics all the guidance which
 is there to be found4    ,what does the
 history of ethics teach8    ,as a quite
 general principle we learn from it1    
that the object of all  ethical enquiry 
is the discovery of the universal basic 

principle of  the moral4    ,the basic  
principle of the moral must show itself 
to be a necessity of  thought1 and must 
bring man to an unceasing1 living1 and  
practical  conflict and understanding   
with reality4    ,the principles of the 
moral which have hitherto been offered  
us are  absolutely unsatisfying4 ,this  
is clear from the fact that they cannot 
be thought out to a conclusion without  
leading to paradoxes1 or losing  in     
ethical content4    ,classical thought  
tries to conceive of the ethical as that
 which  brings rational pleasure4 ,it   
did not succeed1 however1 from that     
starting-point in arriving at an ethic  
of active devotion4 ,shut up  within the
 egoistic-utilitarian1 it ends in an    
ethically-coloured  resignation4    ,the
 ethical thought of modern times is from
 the outset  social-utilitarian4 ,it is 
to it a matter of course that the       
individual  must devote himself in every
 respect to his fellow-individuals1 and 
to  society4 ,but when it tries to pg   

#bbb give a firm foundation to this     
ethic of devotion which seems to it so  
much a matter of course1 and to  think  
it out to a conclusion1 it is driven to 
the most remarkable  consequences1 which
 are inconsistent with each other in the
 most  varied directions4 ,at one time  
it explains devotion as a refined       
egoism2 at another as something which   
society forcibly imposes on             
individuals2 at another as something    
which it develops in him by  education2 
at another1 as in ,bentham1 as something
 which he adopts as  one of his         
convictions on the ground of the urgent 
representations of  society2 at another 
as an instinct which he obeys4 ,the     
first  assumption cannot be carried     
through2 the second1 third1 and fourth  
are unsatisfying because they allow     
ethics to reach men from the  outside2  
the last leads to a cul-de-sac4 ,if1 for
 example1 devotion  is an instinct1 it  
must1 of course1 be made conceivable how
 thought  can work upon it1 and raise it

 to the level of a considered1 widely   
inclusive1 voluntary activity at which  
level it first becomes ethical4  ,this1 
which is its peculiar problem1          
utilitarianism does not  recognise1 much
 less solve4 ,it is always in too much  
of a hurry to  come to practical        
results4 ,at last it gives its bond to  
biology and  social science1 which bring
 it to conceiving itself as             
herd-mentality1  wonderfully developed  
and capable of still further            
development4 ,it  thereby bring itself  
to a halt far below the level of real   
ethics4    ,the ethic of devotion fails 
therefore most remarkably1 although it  
starts from what is most elementary and 
essential in ethics1 to shape  itself in
 a way which satisfies thought4 ,it is  
as if it had the true  basic principle  
of ethics within its reach1 yet always  
grasped to  right or left of it4    ,by 
the side of these two attempts to       
understand ethics as effort to  procure 
rational pleasure1 or as devotion to    

one's fellow-men and to  society1 there 
is a third1 which tries to explain      
ethics as effort  after self-perfecting4
 ,this attempt has in it something      
abstract and  venturesome4 ,it disdains 
to start from a universally acknowledged
  content of the ethical1 as            
utilitarianism does1 and in contrast to 
that pg #bbc sets before thought the    
task of deriving the whole  content of  
ethics from the effort after            
self-perfecting4    ,plato1 the first   
representative in the ,west of the      
ethics of  self-perfecting1 and         
,schopenhauer try to solve the problem  
by setting  up1 as do the ,indians1     
world- and life-denial to be the basic  
principle of the ethical4 ,that1        
however1 is no solution4 ,world- and    
life-denial1 if consistently thought out
 and carried through1 does not  produce 
an ethic but reduces ethics to          
impotence4    ,kant1 the modern restorer
 of the ethic of self-perfecting1 sets  
up the  conception of absolute duty1 but

 without giving it any content4 ,he     
thereby admits his inability to derive  
the content of ethics from the  effort  
after self-perfecting4    ,if the ethic 
of self-perfecting tries really to      
acquire a content1 it  must allow that  
ethics consist either in world- and     
life-denial or in  higher world- and    
life-affirmation4 ,the first need not be
 considered2  there remains1 therefore1 
only the other4    ,spinoza conceives   
the higher world- and life-affirmation  
as a thinking  absorption in the        
universe4 ,he does not1 however1 arrive 
thereby at a  real ethic1 but only at an
 ethically-coloured resignation4        
,schleiermacher uses much art to lend   
this ethical colouring a more  brilliant
 tone4 ,nietzsche avoids the paths of   
resignation1 but reaches  thereby a     
world- and life-affirmation which is    
ethical only so far as  it feels itself 
to be an effort after self-perfecting4  
,the only thinker who succeeds to some  
extent in giving to  self-perfecting    

within world- and life-affirmation an   
ethical content  is ,j4 ,g4 ,fichte4    
,the result1 however1 is valueless1     
because it  presupposes an              
optimistic-ethical view of the nature of
 the universe  and of the position of   
man within it1 which is based upon      
inadmissible  speculation4    ,the ethic
 of self-perfecting is therefore not    
capable of so  establishing the basic   
principle of the moral1 that it has a   
content  which is ethically satisfying2 
the ethic of devotion1 on the other     
hand1 starting from the content which it
 pg #bbd presupposes1 cannot  reach a   
basic principle of ethics which is      
grounded in thought4 ,the  attempt made 
by antiquity to conceive ethics as that 
which brings  rational pleasure we need 
no longer consider4 ,it is only too     
clear  that it does not take            
sufficiently into account the enigma of 
devotion1 and can never solve it4 ,there
 remain1 therefore1 for  consideration  
only the two undertakings1 so strangely 

opposed to one  another1 one of which   
starts from devotion as a generally     
accepted  content of the ethical in     
order to conceive it as belonging to the
  self-perfecting of man1 while the     
other starts from self-perfecting  and  
seeks to conceive devotion as an item in
 its content which is a  necessity of   
thought4    ,is there a synthesis of    
these two8 ,in other words1 do devotion 
and  self-perfecting belong together in 
such a way that the one is  contained in
 the other8    ,if this inward unity has
 not been visible hitherto1 may not the 
cause  be that reflexion1 whether upon  
devotion or upon self-perfecting1 did   
not go deep enough and was not          
sufficiently inclusive8    ,ethics and a
 theory of knowledge4 ,ethics and       
natural happenings4 ,the  enthusiastic  
element in ethics    ,before thought    
attempts to investigate more deeply and 
completely the  nature of devotion and  
that of self-perfecting1 it must proceed
  further to put clearly before itself  

what there is offered to it in  the way 
of different kinds of knowledge and     
other considerations on  its journey    
through the ,western search for ethics4 
,it may be accepted as something fully  
recognised that ethics have  nothing to 
expect from any theory of knowledge4    
,depreciation of the  reality of the    
sensible world brings them merely       
apparent profit4  ,thought believes it  
can draw from the possibility of a      
spiritualising  of the world some       
advantage for the optimistic-ethical    
interpretation  of it4 ,it has been1    
however1 established by this pg #bbe    
time that  ethics can no more be derived
 from an ethical interpretation of the  
world than world- and life-affirmation  
can be referred back to an  optimistic  
interpretation of it1 and that they must
 instead of that  find their foundation 
in themselves in a world which is       
recognised as  absolutely enigmatic4 ,at
 once and for ever1 then1 all attempts  
to  bring ethical and epistemological   

idealism into connexion with one        
another have to be recognised as useless
 for ethics4 ,ethics can let  space and 
time go hang4    ,in epistemological    
investigations into the nature of space 
and time  ethics feel a satisfaction    
which is strong but uninterested4 ,they 
view  them as efforts after knowledge   
which must be made1 but they know that  
the results can never touch what is     
essential in any world- and  life-view4 
,it suffices them to know that the whole
 world of sense is a  manifestation of  
forces1 that is to say of an            
enigmatically manifold  will-to-live4   
,in this their thought is               
spiritualistic4 ,it is  materialistic1  
however1 so far as it presupposes       
manifestation and  force to be connected
 in such a way that any effect produced 
upon the  former influences the force   
which lies behind it4 ,ethics feel that 
if  it were not thus possible for one   
will-to-live to produce through the     
manifestation effects on another        

will-to-live1 they would have no  reason
 for existing4 ,but to investigate how  
this relation between  force and its    
manifestation is to be explained from   
the standpoint of  epistemology1 and    
whether it can be explained at all1     
ethics can leave  undecided as being    
none of their business2 they claim for  
themselves1  just as does natural       
science1 the right to remain free from  
preconceptions4    ,in this connexion it
 is interesting to observe that it is   
among the  representatives of scientific
 materialism that enthusiastic ethical  
idealism is often to be met with1 while 
the adherents of  spiritualistic        
philosophy are usually moralists with an
 unemotional  temperament4    ,with     
renunciation of all help from           
epistemological pg #bbf idealism1  it   
follows that ethics ask for nothing and 
expect nothing from  speculative        
philosophy4 ,they declare they have     
nothing to do with any  kind of ethical 
interpretation of the world4    ,thought

 gathers1 further1 from the history of  
ethics that the latter  cannot be       
conceived as being merely a natural     
happening which  continues itself in    
man4 ,in the ethical man natural        
happenings come  into contradiction with
 themselves4 ,nature knows only a blind 
affirmation of life4 ,the will-to-live  
which animates natural forces  and      
living beings is concerned to work      
itself out unhindered4 ,but in  man this
 natural effort is in a state of tension
 with a mysterious  effort of a         
different kind4 ,life-affirmation exerts
 itself to take up  life-denial into    
itself in order to serve other living   
beings by  self-devotion1 and to protect
 them1 even eventually by               
self-sacrifice1  from injury or         
destruction4 ,it is true that           
self-devotion plays a  certain rle in   
non-human living beings4 ,as a temporary
 instinct it  rules in sexual love and  
in parental love2 as a permanent        
instinct it  is found in certain        

individual members of animal species    
7e4g41  ants1 bees7 which1 because      
sexless1 are incomplete individualities4
  ,these manifestations are in a certain
 way a prelude to the interplay  of     
life-affirmation and life-denial which  
is at work in the ethical  man4 ,they do
 not1 however1 explain it4 ,that which  
is active elsewhere  only as a temporary
 instinct1 or as an instinct in         
incomplete  individualities and that1   
too1 always within special relations of 
solidarity with others1 becomes now1 in 
man1 a steady1 voluntary1  unlimited    
form of action1 a result of thought1 in 
which individuals  endeavour to realise 
the higher life-affirmation4 ,how does  
this come  about8    ,here one is faced 
once more by the problem of the rle     
which thought  plays in the origin of   
ethics4 ,it seizes on something of which
 a  preliminary form is seen in an      
instinct1 in order to extend it and     
bring it to perfection4 ,it comprehends 
the content of an instinct1 and  tries  

to give it practical application in new 
and consistent action4    pg #bbg    ,in
 some way or other the rle of thought   
lies in the fulfilment of               
life-affirmation4 ,it rouses the        
will-to-live to recognise as in  analogy
 with the life-affirmation which is in  
itself1 the  life-affirmation which     
shows itself in the manifold life which 
is  everywhere around it1 and to join in
 its experiences4 ,on the  foundation of
 this world-affirmation life-denial     
takes its place as a  means of helping  
forward this affirmation of other life  
than its own4  ,it is not life-denial in
 itself that is ethical1 but only such  
as  stands in the service of            
world-affirmation and becomes purposive 
within it4    ,ethics are a mysterious  
chord in which life-affirmation and     
world-affirmation are the ground-note   
and the fifth2 life-denial is  the      
third4    ,it is important1 further1 to 
know what is to be gathered from ethical
  inquiry down to the present time about

 the intensity and the extension  of the
 life-denial which stands in the service
 of world-affirmation4  ,again and again
 the attempt has been made to establish 
this  objectively4 ,in vain6 ,it belongs
 to the nature of devotion that it  must
 live itself out subjectively and       
without reservations4    ,in the history
 of ethics there is downright fear of   
what cannot be  subjected to rules and  
regulations4 ,again and again thinkers  
have  undertaken to define devotion in  
such a way that it remains rational4    
,this1 however1 is never done except at 
the cost of the naturalness and  living 
character of ethics4 ,life-denial       
remains something irrational1  even when
 it places itself at the service of a   
purposive policy4 ,a  universally       
applicable balance between              
life-affirmation and  life-denial cannot
 be established4 ,they remain in a state
 of continual  tension4 ,if any         
relaxation does take place1 it is a sign
 that ethics  are collapsing1 for in    

their real nature they are unbounded    
enthusiasm4 ,they originate indeed in   
thought1 but they cannot be  carried    
through to a logical conclusion4 ,anyone
 who undertakes the  voyage to a true   
ethic must be prepared to be carried    
round and round  in the whirlpool of the
 irrational4    pg #bbh    ,the ethic of
 ethical personality1 and the ethic of  
society    ,together with the           
subjectively enthusiastic nature of     
ethics goes the  fact that it never     
wishes to succeed in developing the     
ethic of  ethical personality into a    
serviceable ethic of society4 ,it seems 
so  obvious1 that from right individual 
ethics right social ethics should       
result1 the one continuing itself into  
the other like a town into its  suburbs4
 ,in reality1 however1 they cannot be so
 built that the streets  of the one     
continue as those of the other4 ,the    
plans of each are drawn  on principles  
which take no account of that4    ,the  
ethic of ethical personality is         

personal1 incapable of regulation1  and 
absolute2 that which is established by  
society for its own  prosperous         
existence is supra-personal1 regulated1 
and relative4 ,hence  the ethical       
personality cannot surrender to it1 but 
lives always in  continuous disputation 
with it1 obliged again and again to     
oppose it  because it finds its focus   
too short4    ,in the last analysis the 
antagonism between the two arises from  
their  differing valuations of          
humaneness4 ,humaneness consists in     
this--that  no human being is ever      
sacrificed to a purpose4 ,the ethic of  
ethical  personality aims at preserving 
humaneness4 ,that which is established  
by society is impotent in that respect4 
,when the individual is faced with the  
alternative of having to  sacrifice in  
some way or other the happiness or the  
existence of  another1 or else to bear  
the loss himself1 he is in a position to
 obey  the demands of ethics and to     
choose the latter4 ,but society1        

thinking  impersonally and pursuing its 
aims impersonally1 does not allow the   
same weight to consideration for the    
happiness or existence of an            
individual4 ,in principle humaneness is 
not an item in its ethic4 ,but          
individuals come continually into the   
position of being in one way or  another
 executive organs of society1 and then  
the conflict between the  two points of 
view becomes active4 ,that this may     
always be decided in  its own favour1 pg
 #bbi society exerts itself to limit as 
closely as  possible the authority of   
the ethic of personality1 although      
inwardly  it has to acknowledge its     
superiority4 ,it wants to have servants 
who  will never oppose it4    ,even a   
society the ethical standard of which is
 relatively high1 is  dangerous to the  
ethics of its members4 ,if those things 
which form  precisely the defects of a  
social ethic develop strongly1 and      
society  exercises1 further1 an         
excessively strong spiritual influence  

on  individuals1 then the ethic of      
ethical personality is ruined4 ,this    
happens in present-day society1 the     
ethical conscience of which is  becoming
 fatally stunted by a                   
biologico-sociological ethic and this1  
moreover1 finally corrupted by          
nationalism4    ,the great mistake made 
by ethical thought down to the present  
time is  that it fails to admit the     
essential difference between the ethic  
of  ethical personality and that which  
is established from the standpoint  of  
society1 and always thinks that it      
ought1 and is able1 to cast them  in one
 piece4 ,the result is that the ethic of
 personality is  sacrificed to the ethic
 of society4 ,an end must be put to     
this4 ,what  matters is to recognise    
that the two are engaged in a conflict  
which  cannot be made less intense4     
,either the ethic of personality raises 
the social ethic1 so far as it can1 to  
its own level1 or it is dragged  down by
 the latter4    ,but to get rid of the  

present unhealthy state of opinion it is
 not  enough to bring individuals to a  
consciousness that if they are not to   
suffer spiritual harm they must be in a 
state of continual conflict  with the   
ethics of society4 ,what matters is to  
establish a basic  principle of the     
moral1 which will put the ethic of      
personality in a  position to come with 
consistency and success to discussion   
and  agreement with the ethic of        
society4 ,hitherto there has been no    
possibility of putting this weapon into 
its hands4 ,ethics have1 as we  know1   
always been regarded as the most        
thorough-going possible  devotion to    
society4    ,the ethic of ethical       
personality1 then1 and the ethic pg #bcj
 which  is established from the         
standpoint of society cannot be traced  
back  the one to the other1 and are not 
of equal value4 ,the first only is a    
real ethic2 the other is improperly so  
called4 ,thought must aim at  finding   
the basic principle of absolute ethics1 

if it is to reach the  condition of     
being ethics at all1 and it was because 
it was not clear  on this point that it 
made so little progress4 ,progress in   
ethics  consists in our making up our   
minds to think pessimistically of the   
ethic of society4    ,the ethic which is
 established from the standpoint of     
society  consists1 in its essential     
nature1 in this1 that society appeals to
  the moral disposition of the          
individual in order to secure from it   
what cannot be forced upon it by        
compulsion and law4 ,it only comes      
nearer to real ethics when it comes to  
an agreement with the ethic of          
personality and tries to bring its own  
demands on the individual into  harmony 
as far as possible with the latter's4   
,in proportion as society  takes on the 
character of an ethical personality1 its
 ethic becomes an  ethic of ethical     
society4    ,the problem of a complete  
ethic    ,in general1 thought should    
have busied itself with the question of 

what is included in the whole field of  
ethics1 and how the different  elements 
within it are connected with each other4
    ,in ethics are included the ethic of
 passive self-perfecting1 which is      
effected by inward self-liberation from 
the world 7resignation72 the  ethic of  
active self-perfecting effected by means
 of the mutual  relations between man   
and man2 and the ethic of ethical       
society4  ,ethics are thus an extensive 
gamut of notes4 ,they start from the not
  yet ethical1 where the vibrations of  
resignation begin to make  themselves   
perceptible as notes of ethical         
resignation4 ,with  increasingly rapid  
vibrations they pass from the ethic of  
resignation  into that of active        
self-perfecting4 ,rising still higher   
they emerge  into the notes of the ethic
 of pg #bca society which are already   
becoming more or less harsh and noisy1  
and they die away finally into  the     
legal commands of society which are     
never more than conditionally  ethical4 

,up to now all ethical systems have been
 thoroughly fragmentary4 ,they  confine 
themselves to this or that octave of the
 gamut4 ,the ,indians  and1 following in
 their train1 ,schopenhauer are1 on the 
whole1  concerned only with the ethic of
 passive self-perfecting2 ,zarathustra1 
the ,jewish prophets1 and the great     
moralists of ,china only with that  of  
active self-perfecting4 ,the interest of
 modern ,western philosophy  is fixed   
almost exclusively on the ethic of      
society4 ,in consequence of  the        
starting-point which they chose1 the    
thinkers of antiquity in the  ,west     
cannot get any further than an ethic of 
resignation4 ,the deeper  thinkers among
 our moderns--,kant1 ,j4 ,g4 ,fichte1   
,nietzsche1 and  others--have inklings  
of an ethic of active self-perfecting4  
,european thought is characterised by   
almost always playing in the  upper     
octaves1 and not in the lower ones4 ,its
 ethic has no bass  because the ethic of
 resignation plays no part in it4 ,an   

ethic of  duty1 that is an activist     
ethic1 appears to it to be a complete   
one4  ,it is because he is a            
representative of the ethic of          
resignation that  ,spinoza remains such 
a stranger to his own age4    ,inability
 to understand resignation and the      
relations prevailing  between ethics and
 resignation1 is the fatal weakness of  
modern  ,european thought4    ,in what1 
then1 does a complete ethic consist8 ,in
 an ethic of passive  self-perfecting1  
together with one of active             
self-perfecting4 ,the  ethic which is   
established from the standpoint of      
society is a  supplementary one which   
has to be corrected by that of active   
self-perfecting4    ,in view of that    
fact1 a complete ethic must be put      
forward in a shape  which compels it to 
seek to come to terms with the ethic of 
society4          pg #bcb    ,,chapter  
,,xx    ,,the ,,ethic ,,of ,,devotion   
,,and ,,the ,,ethic ,,of                
,,self-,,perfecting      ,the widening  

of the ethic of self-devotion into a    
cosmic ethic    ,,being sufficiently    
informed about the questions which have 
called for  solution and the results    
attained in the search for an ethic down
 to  the present time1 the ethic of     
self-devotion and that of               
self-perfecting can now try to combine  
their ideas1 with a view to             
establishing together the true basic    
principle of the moral4    ,why do they 
not succeed in combining their ideas8   
,on the side of the ethic of            
self-devotion the fault must somehow lie
  in the fact that it is too narrow4 ,as
 a matter of principle social           
utilitarianism is concerned only with   
the relations of man to man and  to     
human society4 ,the ethic of            
self-perfecting on the other hand is    
something universal4 ,it has to do with 
the relation of man to the  world4 ,if  
the ethic of self-devotion1 therefore1  
wishes to agree with  that of           
self-perfecting1 it must become1 like   

the latter1 universal1  and let its     
devotion be directed not only towards   
man and society but  somehow or other   
towards all life whatever in the world4 
,but ethics hitherto have been unwilling
 to take even the first step in  this   
universalizing of devotion4    ,just as 
the housewife who has scrubbed out the  
parlour1 takes care  that the door is   
left shut so that the dog may not get in
 and spoil  the work she has done by the
 marks of his paws1 so do ,european     
thinkers watch carefully that no animals
 run about in the fields of  their      
ethics4 ,the stupidities they are guilty
 of in trying to maintain  the          
traditional narrow-mindedness and to    
raise it to a principle pg  #bcc border 
on the incredible4 ,either they leave   
out altogether all  sympathy for        
animals1 or they take care that it      
shrinks to a mere  afterthought which   
means nothing4 ,if they admit anything  
more than  that1 they think themselves  
obliged to produce elaborate            

justifications1 or even excuses1 for so 
doing4    ,it seems as if ,descartes    
with his dictum that animals are mere   
machines had bewitched the whole of     
,european philosophy4    ,so important a
 thinker as ,wilhelm ,wundt mars his    
ethic with the  following sentences3    
8,the only object for sympathy is man4 4
 4 4 ,the  animals are for us           
fellow-creatures1 an expression by which
 language  already hints at the fact    
that we acknowledge here a kind of      
co-ordination with ourselves only with  
reference to the ultimate  ground of    
everything that happens1 viz41 creation4
 ,towards animals  also1 then1 there can
 arise within us stirrings which are to 
a certain  extent related to sympathy1  
but as to true sympathy with them there 
is  always wanting the fundamental      
condition of the inner unity of our     
will with theirs40 ,to crown this wisdom
 he ends with the assertion  that of    
rejoicing with animals there can at any 
rate be no question1  as if he had never

 seen a thirsty ox drink4    ,kant      
emphasises especially that ethics have  
to do only with duties of  man towards  
men4 ,the 8human0 treatment of animals  
he thinks himself  obliged to justify by
 putting it forward as a practising of  
sensibility which helps to improve our  
sympathetic relations with  other human 
beings4    ,bentham1 too1 defends       
kindness to animals chiefly as a means  
of  preventing the growth of heartless  
relations with other men1 even  though  
he here and there recognises it as      
something obviously right4    ,darwin in
 his ,descent of ,man notices that the  
feeling of sympathy  which is dominant  
in the social impulse1 becomes at last  
so strong  that it comes to include all 
men1 and indeed even animals4 ,but he   
does  not pursue the problem and the pg 
#bcd significance of this fact any      
further1 and contents himself with      
establishing the ethics of the  human   
herd4    ,thus it ranks with ,european  
thought as a dogma that ethics have to  

do  properly only with a man's relation 
to his fellows and to society4 ,the     
motives which emanate from              
,schopenhauer1 ,stern1 and others1 for  
throwing down the antiquated line of    
circumvallation1 are not  understood4   
,this backward attitude is the more     
unintelligible seeing that both  ,indian
 thought and ,chinese1 even when they   
have only scarcely begun to  develop1   
make ethics consist in a kindly relation
 to all creatures4  ,moreover1 they have
 come to this view quite independently  
of each  other4 ,the subtle and         
far-reaching commands concerning regard 
for  animals in the popular ,chinese    
ethics of the book ,kan ,yin ,pien      
7,concerning ,rewards and ,punishments7 
cannot be referred back1 as is  commonly
 supposed1 to ,buddhist                 
influences47#aje7 ,they have no         
connexion with metaphysical discussions 
about the mutual relationship  of all   
beings1 such as became effective as the 
ethical horizon widened  in ,indian     

thought1 but originate in a living1     
ethical feeling which  dares to draw the
 consequences which seem to it to be    
natural4    ,when ,european thought     
refuses to make self-devotion universal1
 the  reason is that its efforts are    
directed to reaching a rational ethic   
which deals with universally valid      
judgments1 and it sees a prospect  of   
that only when it can keep its feet upon
 the solid ground of  discussion of the 
interests of human society4 ,but an     
ethic which  busies pg #bce itself with 
the relations of man to the whole       
creation  forsakes it4 ,such an ethic is
 driven into discussions about existence
  as such4 ,whether it will or not1 it  
has to plunge into the adventure  of    
coming to terms with nature-philosophy1 
and the result of such an  adventure    
cannot be foreseen4    ,this is a       
correct conclusion4 ,but it has already 
been shown that the  ethic of society1  
which guides men from the outside1      
supposing it can  be drawn up in this   

way at all1 is never a true ethic1 but  
merely an  appendix to ethics4 ,it has  
been established further that true      
ethics  are always subjective1 that they
 have an irrational enthusiasm as  their
 very breath of life1 and have to come  
to terms with  nature-philosophy4 ,the  
ethic of self-devotion has1 therefore1  
no  reason for shrinking from this in   
any case unavoidable adventure4 ,its    
house has been burnt down4 ,let it go   
out into the world to seek its  fortune4
    ,let it1 then1 venture to accept the
 thought that self-devotion has to  be  
practised not only towards men but      
towards all living creatures1  yes1     
towards all life whatever that exists in
 the world and is within  the reach of  
man4 ,let it rise to the conception that
 the relation of  men to each other is  
only an expression of that in which they
 all  stand to ,being and to the world  
in general4 ,having thus become cosmic1 
the ethic of devotion can hope to meet  
the ethic of self-perfecting1  which is 

fundamentally cosmic1 and to unite      
itself with it4    ,the ethic of        
self-perfecting and mysticism    ,but in
 order that the ethic of self-perfecting
 may combine with that  of              
self-devotion1 it must first become     
cosmic in the right way4    ,it is      
indeed fundamentally cosmic1 because    
self-perfecting can consist  of nothing 
but this1 that man comes into his true  
relation to the  ,being that is in him  
and outside him4 ,his natural1 outward  
connexion  with ,being he means to pg   
#bcf change into a spiritual1 inward    
devotion to it1 letting his passive and 
active relation to things be  determined
 by this devotion4    ,in this effort1  
however1 he has never yet got further   
than a passive  devotion to ,being4 ,he 
is always driven past active devotion to
 it4  ,this one-sidedness is what makes 
it impossible for the two ethics of     
self-perfecting and of self-devotion to 
penetrate each other1 and to  produce   
together the complete ethic of passive  

and active  self-perfecting4    ,but    
what is the reason that the ethic of    
self-perfecting1 in spite of  all its   
efforts1 cannot get out of the circle of
 the passive8 ,it is  that it allows the
 spiritual inward devotion to ,being to 
be directed  to an abstract notion of   
,being instead of to real ,being4 ,thus 
it  approaches nature-philosophy in a   
wrong way4    ,whence this error8 ,it is
 a result of the difficulties which the 
ethic  of self-perfecting meets when it 
attempts to comprehend itself in        
nature-philosophy4    ,in a fashion     
which is deep1 though it strikes us as  
unfamiliar1  ,chinese thought undertakes
 to arrive at this agreement4 ,it thinks
 that  it is somehow or other in the    
8impersonal0 element of the world's     
activity that the secret of the truly   
ethical lies4 ,it accordingly  makes    
spiritual devotion to ,being consist in 
this1 that we look away  from the       
subjective stirrings within ourselves1  
and relate ourselves  to the laws of    

objectivity which we discover in the    
course of nature4    ,it is with this   
deep 8becoming like the world0 that the 
thought of  ,lao-tse and that of        
,chwang-tse are concerned4 ,the motifs  
of such an  ethic make themselves heard 
in a wonderful fashion in ,lao-tse's    
,taoteking2 but they cannot be made to  
produce a complete symphony4  ,the      
meaning of what happens in the world is 
a thing we cannot  investigate4 ,what we
 do understand of it is that all life   
tries to  live itself out4 ,the true    
ethic of life1 therefore1 8in the spirit
 of  what happens0 would seem to be that
 of ,yang-tse and ,friedrich            
,nietzsche4 ,on the other hand the      
assumption pg #bcg of an  objectivity1  
dominant in the course of nature1 which 
can be a pattern  for our activity is   
nothing else than an attempt1 undertaken
 with the  palest of colours1 to paint  
the world as ethical4 ,correspondingly1 
this existence in the spirit of the     
world means with ,lao-tse and           

,chwang-tse an inward liberation from   
the rule of passion and from  outward   
occurrences1 which is accompanied by    
marked depreciations of  all tendencies 
to activity4 ,whenever life in the      
spirit of the world  leads to a really  
activist ethic as with ,confucius1      
,mo-,di1 and others1  there has been a  
corresponding interpretation of the     
meaning of the  world4 ,whenever1 in    
general1 human thinking raises          
being-like-the-world to an ethic1 the   
ethical willing of mankind has  read    
somehow or other into the world-spirit  
an ethical character in  order to be    
able to find itself in it later4        
,since no motives to ethical activity   
are to be discovered in the  course of  
nature1 the ethic of self-perfecting    
must allow both the  active and the     
passive ethic to originate side by side 
in the bare  fact of spiritual inward   
self-dedication to ,being4 ,it must     
derive them  both from the act as such1 
without any presupposition of any sort  

of  ethical quality in ,being4 ,then    
first will thought have reached a       
complete ethic without having been      
guilty of any sort of nave or  tricky   
proceedings4    ,that is the problem at 
which the ethical searching of all      
peoples and  all ages vainly toils1 so  
far as it ventures to think in the      
spirit of  true nature philosophy4 ,with
 the ,chinese and the ,indians1 in      
,stoicism1  with ,spinoza1              
,schleiermacher1 ,fichte1 and ,hegel1   
and in all mysticism  of union with the 
,absolute1 it reaches only an ethic of  
resignation1  consisting of inward      
liberation from the world1 never at the 
same time  an ethic of working in the   
world and upon the world4    ,it is true
 that it only seldom ventures honestly  
to admit to itself  the unsatisfactory  
result4 ,as a rule it seeks to widen it1
 and to  maintain in some measure an    
activist ethic in spite of it1 letting  
this ethic be combined in some form or  
other with the ethic of  resignation4   

,the more pg #bch consistent the        
thinkers1 the more  modest is the space 
occupied by the piece thus hooked on4   
,with ,lao-tse and ,chwang-tse1 with the
 ,brahmans and the ,buddha1 with  the   
,stoics of antiquity1 with ,spinoza1    
,schleiermacher1 and ,hegel1 and  with  
the great monist mystics the activist   
ethic is reduced to little  more than   
nothing4 ,with ,confucius and ,meng-tse1
 with the ,hindoo  thinkers1 with the   
representatives of the ,later ,stoicism1
 and with ,j4  ,g4 ,fichte it makes     
strenuous efforts to assert itself1 but 
it can do  so only so far as it takes   
either nave or sophisticated thought to 
help it4    ,every world-and-life-view  
which is to satisfy thought is          
mysticism4 ,it  must seek to give to the
 existence of man such a meaning as will
  prevent him from being satisfied with 
being a part of the infinite  existence 
in merely natural fashion1 but will make
 him determine to  belong to it inwardly
 and spiritually also1 through an act of

 his  consciousness4    ,the ethic of   
self-perfecting is in inmost connexion  
with mysticism4  ,its own destiny is    
decided in that of mysticism4 ,thinking 
out the  ethic of self-perfecting means 
nothing else than seeking to found      
ethics on mysticism4 ,mysticism1 on its 
side1 is a valuable  world-and-life-view
 only in proportion as it is ethical4   
,and yet it finds it cannot succeed in  
being ethical4 ,experience of  becoming 
one with the ,absolute1 of existence    
within the world-spirit1  of ascent into
 ,god1 or whatever one may choose to    
call the process1 is  not in itself     
ethical2 it is only spiritual4 ,of this 
deep distinction  ,indian thought has   
become conscious4 ,with the most varied 
phrasing it  proclaims the statement3   
8,spirituality is not ethics40 ,we      
,europeans  have remained nave in       
matters of mysticism4 ,what appears     
among us as  mysticism is usually       
mysticism with a more or less           
,christian1 that is  to say ethical1    

colouring4 ,hence we are inclined to    
deceive ourselves  about the ethical    
content of mysticism4    ,if one        
analyses the mysticism of all peoples   
and all ages to find out  its ethical   
content1 we find that this is pg #bci   
extraordinarily  small4 ,even the ethic 
of resignation1 which seems after all to
 belong  naturally to mysticism1 is in  
it more or less afflicted with          
impotence4 ,through the absence of the  
activist ethic with which it  should    
normally be bound up1 it to a certain   
extent loses its hold1  and pushes      
itself more and more into the region of 
no longer ethical  resignation4 ,there  
then arises a mysticism that no longer  
helps the  effort for self-perfecting1  
which is the deeper work to which it is 
called1 but allows absorption into the  
,absolute to become an aim in  itself4  
,the purer the mysticism1 the further   
has this evolution  developed4          
,mysticism becomes then a world- and    
life-view of the merging  of the finite 

existence in the infinite1 if indeed it 
does not get  reversed1 as with the     
,brahmans1 into the lofty mysticism of  
the  existence of infinite existence    
within the finite4 ,the ethic of        
self-perfecting1 which should arise out 
of mysticism1 is therefore  always in   
danger of perishing in mysticism4       
,the tendency of mysticism to become    
supra-ethical is quite natural4 ,as  a  
matter of fact its connexion with an    
,absolute which has neither  qualities  
nor needs has nothing more to do with   
self-perfecting4 ,it  becomes a pure act
 of consciousness1 and leads to a       
spirituality which  is just as bare of  
content as the pre-supposed ,absolute4  
,feeling its  weakness1 mysticism does  
all it can to be more ethical than it   
is1 or  at any rate to appear so4 ,even 
the ,indian form of it makes efforts in 
this direction1 although again1 on the  
other hand1 it has courage to  be       
veracious enough to rank the spiritual  
above the ethical4    ,in order to judge

 what mysticism is worth ethically one  
must count  only what it contains in    
itself in the way of ethics1 not what it
 does  or says beyond that4 ,then1      
however1 the ethical content of even    
,christian mysticism is terrifyingly    
small4 ,mysticism is not a friend  but a
 foe of ethics2 it devours it4 ,and yet 
the ethic which is to  satisfy thought  
must be born of mysticism4 ,all deep    
philosophy1 all  deep religion1 are     
ultimately a struggle for ethical       
mysticism and  mystical ethics4    pg   
#bdj    ,dominated by efforts to secure 
an activist ethical world- and          
life-view1 we ,westerners do not allow  
mysticism to come into its own4  ,it    
leads among us a furtive1 intermittent  
existence4 ,we feel  instinctively that 
it stands in antagonism to activist     
ethics1 and we  have therefore no inward
 relationship to it4    ,our great      
mistake1 however1 is thinking that we   
can reach without  mysticism an ethical 
world- and life-view1 which shall       

satisfy thought4  ,up to now we have    
done nothing but fabricate world- and   
life-views4  ,they are good because they
 keep men up to activist ethics1 but    
they  are not true1 and therefore they  
are always collapsing4 ,moreover they   
are not deep4 ,hence ,european thought  
makes men ethical indeed1 but           
superficial1 and the ,european1 because 
he is surfeited with world-view  which  
has been fabricated with a view to      
activist ethics1 has no  collectedness  
and no inward personality1 nor indeed   
any feeling of  need for these things4  
,it is indeed time for us to abandon    
this error4 ,depth and stability in     
thinking come to the world- and         
life-view of activist ethics only when  
this springs from mysticism4 ,the       
question of what we are to make of  our 
life is not solved by our being driven  
out into the world with an  impulse to  
activity1 and never being allowed to    
collect ourselves for  thought4 ,it can 
be really answered only by a world- and 

life-view which  brings man into a      
spiritual inward relation to ,being1 out
 of which  there results of natural     
necessity an ethic both passive and     
active4    ,the hitherto accepted       
mysticism cannot effect this because it 
is  supra-ethical4 ,the struggle of     
thought has therefore to direct itself  
upon ethical mysticism4 ,we must rise to
 a spirituality which is  ethical1 and  
to an ethic which includes within itself
 all  spirituality4 ,then only do we    
become profoundly qualified for life4   
,ethics must resolve to originate in    
mysticism4 ,mysticism1 on its side1     
must never think that it exists for its 
own sake4 ,it is not a flower1  but only
 the calyx4 ,ethics are pg #bda the     
flower4 ,mysticism which  exists for    
itself only is the salt which has lost  
its savour4    ,the hitherto accepted   
mysticism leads into the supra-ethical  
because  it is abstract1 and abstraction
 is the death of ethics1 for ethics are 
a living relation for a living life4 ,we

 must therefore abandon  abstract       
mysticism1 and turn to the mysticism    
which is alive4    ,abstract mysticism  
and the mysticism of reality4           
,supra-ethical1 and  ethical mysticism  
,the ,essence of ,being1 the ,absolute1 
the ,world-spirit1 and all similar      
expressions denote nothing actual1 but  
something conceived in  abstractions    
which for that reason it is also        
absolutely impossible to  represent to  
the mind4 ,the only reality is the      
,being which manifests  itself in       
phenomena4    ,how does thought come to 
such a meaningless proceeding as making 
man  enter into a spiritual relation    
with an unreal creation of thought8 ,by 
yielding to temptation in two ways1 one 
general1 one particular4    ,thrown back
 upon the necessity of expressing itself
 in words thought  adopts as its own the
 abstractions and symbols which have    
been coined  by language4 ,but this     
coinage should have no more currency    
than allows  it to represent things in  

an abbreviated way1 instead of putting  
them  forward with all the detail in    
which they are given4 ,but in time it   
comes about that thought works with     
these abstractions and symbols as  if   
they represented something really       
existing4 ,that is the general          
temptation4    ,the particular          
temptation lies in this case in this1   
that man's  devotion to infinite ,being1
 effected with the help of abstractions 
and  symbols1 is thereby given          
expression in an enticingly simple way4 
,it  is taken to consist of entrance    
into relation with the totality of      
,being1 that is to say1 with its        
spiritual essence4    ,that looks very  
well in words and in thought4 ,reality1 
pg #bdb  however1 knows nothing about   
the individual being able to enter into 
connexion with the totality of ,being4  
,as it knows of no ,being except  that  
which manifests itself in the existence 
of individual beings1 so  also it knows 
of no relations except these of one     

individual being to  another4 ,if       
mysticism1 then1 means to be honest1    
there is nothing for  it to do but to   
cast from it the usual abstractions1 and
 to admit to  itself that it can do     
nothing rational with this imaginary    
essence of  ,being4 ,the ,absolute may  
be as meaningless to it as his fetish is
 to a  converted negro4 ,it must in all 
seriousness go through the process of   
conversion to the mysticism of reality4 
,abandoning all stage  decorations and  
declamation1 let it try to get its      
experience in  living nature4    ,there 
is no ,essence of ,being1 but only      
infinite ,being in infinite             
manifestations4 ,it is only through the 
manifestations of ,being1 and  only     
through those with which ,i enter into  
relations1 that my being  has any       
intercourse with infinite ,being4 ,the  
devotion of my being to  infinite ,being
 means devotion of my being to all the  
manifestations of  ,being which need my 
devotion1 and to which ,i am able to    

devote myself4    ,only an infinitely   
small part of infinite ,being comes     
within my reach4  ,the rest of it drives
 on past me1 like distant ships to which
 ,i make  signals they do not           
understand4 ,but by devoting myself to  
that which  comes within my reach and   
needs me1 ,i make spiritual1 inward     
devotion  to infinite ,being a reality  
and thereby give my own poor existence  
meaning and richness4 ,the river has    
found its sea4    ,from devotion to the 
,absolute there comes only a dead       
spirituality4 ,it  is a purely          
intellectual act4 ,no motives to        
activity are given in it4  ,even the    
ethic of resignation can only eke out a 
miserable existence  on the soil of such
 an intellectualism4 ,but in the        
mysticism of  reality devotion is no    
longer a purely intellectual act1 but   
one in  which everything that is alive  
in man has its share4 ,there is         
therefore dominant in it a spirituality 
which carries in itself pg  #bdc in     

elemental form the impulse to action4   
,the gruesome truth that  spirituality  
and ethics are two different things no  
longer holds good4  ,here the two are   
one and the same4    ,now1 too1 the     
ethic of self-perfecting and the ethic  
of devotion can  interpenetrate each    
other4 ,they now become1 we see1 cosmic 
in  nature-philosophy1 which leaves the 
world as it is4 ,hence they cannot  but 
meet each other in a thought 7which     
satisfies in every direction  the laws  
of thinking71 of living devotion to     
,being which lives4 ,in  this thought   
lie passive and active self-perfecting  
in mutual  agreement and perfect union4 
,they comprehend each other as the      
working  out of one and the same inner  
compulsion4 ,having become one they no  
longer need first of all to exert       
themselves to establish by joint        
efforts the completed ethic of          
influencing the world through           
liberation from the world4 ,the         
completeness is now automatically       

attained4 ,now there ring out in        
wonderful harmonies all the notes in    
the gamut of ethics1 from the vibrations
 in which resignation begins  to be     
audible as ethics1 up to the higher     
notes in which ethics pass  over into   
the harsh noises of the commands which  
are proclaimed by  society to be        
ethical4    ,subjective responsibility  
for all life which comes within his     
reach1  responsibility which widens out 
extensively and intensively to the      
limitless1 and which the man who has    
become inwardly free from the  world    
experiences and tries to make a reality1
 that is ethics4 ,it  originates in     
world- and life-affirmation4 ,it makes  
itself a reality in  life-denial4 ,it is
 completely bound up with optimistic    
willing4 ,never  again can the          
belief-in-progress get separated from   
ethics1 like a  badly-fastened wheel    
from a cart4 ,the two turn inseparably  
on the same  axle4    ,the basic        
principle of ethics1 that principle     

which is a necessity of  thought1 which 
has a definite content1 which is ever   
bringing itself  into steady1 living1   
and practical agreement with reality1   
proclaims  itself to be3 ,devotion to   
life out of reverence for life4         
pg #bdd    ,,chapter ,,xxi    ,,the     
,,ethic ,,of ,,reverence ,,for ,,life   
,the basic principle of the moral       
,,complicated and laborious are the     
roads along which ethical thought1      
which has mistaken its way and lost     
itself1 must be brought back4 ,its      
course1 however1 maps itself out quite  
simply if1 instead of taking  apparently
 convenient short cuts1 it keeps to its 
right direction from  the very          
beginning4 ,for this three things are   
necessary4    ,it must have nothing to  
do with an ethical interpretation of the
  world4    ,it must become cosmic and  
mystical1 that is1 it must seek to      
conceive  all the devotion which rules  
in ethics as a manifestation of an      
inward1 spiritual relation to the world4

    ,it must not go astray into abstract
 thinking1 but must remain  elemental1  
understanding self-devotion to the world
 to be  self-devotion of human life to  
every form of living being with which   
it can come into relation4    ,the      
origin of ethics is that ,i think out   
the full meaning of the                 
world-affirmation which is given by     
nature together with the                
life-affirmation in my will-to-live1 and
 try to make it a reality4    ,to become
 ethical means to begin to think        
sincerely4    ,thinking is the agreement
 between willing and knowing which is   
come to  within me4 ,its course is a    
nave one1 if the will demands of the    
knowledge to be shown a world which     
corresponds to the impulses which  it   
carries within itself1 and if the       
knowledge attempts to satisfy  this     
requirement4 ,the place of this         
dialogue1 a dialogue which is  doomed   
beforehand to produce no result1 must be
 taken by a correct  one1 in which the  

will demands from the knowledge only    
what it really  knows4    pg #bde    ,if
 the knowledge answers solely with what 
it knows1 it is always  teaching the    
will one and the same fact1 viz41 that  
in and behind all  phenomena there is   
will-to-live4 ,knowledge1 though ever   
becoming  deeper and more inclusive1 can
 do nothing except take us deeper into  
the enigmatic fact that all that is1 is 
will-to-live4 ,progress in  science     
consists only in increasingly accurate  
description of the  phenomena in which  
life in its innumerable forms appears   
and passes1  letting us discover life   
where we did not previously expect it1  
and  putting us in a position to turn to
 our own use in this or that way  what  
we have learnt of the course of the     
will-to-live in nature4 ,but  what life 
is1 no science can tell us4    ,for our 
world- and life-view1 then1 the gain    
derived from knowledge is  only that it 
makes it harder for us to be            
thoughtless1 because it  forces upon our

 attention ever more strongly the       
mystery of the  will-to-live which we   
see stirring everywhere4 ,hence the     
difference  between learned and         
unlearned is an entirely relative one4  
,the  unlearned man who1 at the sight of
 a tree in flower1 is overpowered by    
the mystery of the will-to-live which is
 stirring all round him1 knows  more    
truly than the learned one who studies  
under the microscope or in  physical and
 chemical activity a thousand forms of  
the will-to-live1  but who1 with all his
 knowledge of the life-course of these  
manifestations of the will-to-live1 is  
unmoved by the mystery that  everything 
which exists is will-to-live1 while he  
is puffed up with  vanity at being able 
to describe exactly a fragment of the   
course of  life4    ,all true knowledge 
passes on into experience4 ,the nature  
of the  manifestations ,i do not know1  
but ,i form a conception of it in       
analogy  to the will-to-live which is   
within myself1 and thus my knowledge of 

the world becomes experience of the     
world4 ,the knowledge which is  becoming
 experience does not allow me to remain 
in face of the world a  subject who     
merely knows2 it forces upon me an      
inward relation to the  world1 and fills
 me with reverence for the mysterious   
will-to-live  which is in everything4   
,by making pg #bdf me think and wonder1 
it  leads me ever upwards to the heights
 of reverence for life4 ,there it  lets 
my hand go4 ,it cannot accompany me     
further4 ,my will-to-live must  now find
 its way about the world by itself4     
,it is not by informing me what this or 
that manifestation of life  means in the
 sum-total of the world that knowledge  
brings me into  connexion with the      
world4 ,it goes about with me not in    
outer circles1  but in the inner ones4  
,from within outwards it puts me in     
relation to  the world by forcing my    
will-to-live to feel everything around  
it as  also will-to-live4    ,with      
,descartes1 philosophy starts from the  

dogma3 8,i think1 therefore  ,i exist40 
,with this poverty-stricken1 arbitrarily
 chosen beginning1 it  is landed        
irretrievably on the road to the        
abstract4 ,it never finds  the entrance 
to ethics1 and remains entangled in a   
dead world- and  life-view4 ,true       
philosophy must start from the most     
immediate and  comprehensive fact of    
consciousness1 which says3 8,i am life  
which  wills to live1 in the midst of   
life which wills to live40 ,this is not 
a cleverly composed dogmatic formula4   
,day after day1 hour after hour1  ,i    
live and move in it4 ,at every moment of
 reflexion it stands fresh  before me4  
,there bursts forth again and again from
 it as from roots  that can never dry   
up1 a living world- and life-view which 
can deal  with all the facts of ,being4 
,a mysticism of ethical union with      
,being  grows out of it4    ,as in my   
own will-to-live there is a longing for 
wider life and for  the mysterious      
exaltation of the will-to-live which we 

call pleasure1  with dread of           
annihilation and of the mysterious      
encroachment on the  will-to-live which 
we call pain2 so is it also in the      
will-to-live all  around me1 whether it 
can express itself before me1 or remains
 dumb4    ,ethics consist1 therefore1 in
 my experiencing the compulsion to show 
to all will-to-live the same reverence  
as ,i do to my own4 ,there we  have     
given us that basic principle of the    
moral which is a necessity  of thought3 
,it is good to maintain and to promote  
life2 it is bad to  destroy life or to  
obstruct it4    pg #bdg    ,as a matter 
of fact everything which in the ordinary
 ethical valuation  of the relations of 
men to each other ranks as good1 can be 
brought  under the description of       
material and spiritual maintenance or   
promotion of human life1 and of effort  
to bring it to its highest  value4      
,conversely1 everything which ranks as  
bad in human relations is  in the last  
analysis material or spiritual          

destruction or obstruction  of human    
life1 and negligence in the effort to   
bring it to its highest  value4         
,separate individual categories of good 
and evil which lie far  apart and have  
apparently no connexion at all with one 
another fit  together like things which 
belong to each other1 as soon as they   
are  comprehended and deepened in this  
the most universal definition of  good  
and evil4    ,the basic principle of the
 moral means1 however1 not only an      
ordering  and deepening of the current  
views of good and evil1 but also a      
widening of them4 ,a man is truly       
ethical only when he obeys the          
compulsion to help all life which he is 
able to assist1 and shrinks  from       
injuring anything that lives4 ,he does  
not ask how far this or  that life      
deserves one's interest as being        
valuable1 nor1 beyond that1  whether and
 how far it can appreciate such         
interest4 ,life as such is  sacred to   
him4 ,he tears no leaf from a tree1     

plucks no flower1 and  takes care to    
crush no insect4 ,if in summer he is    
working by  lamplight1 he prefers to    
keep the window shut and breathe a      
stuffy  atmosphere rather than see one  
insect after another fall with singed   
wings upon his table4    ,if he goes    
into the street after a shower and sees 
an earthworm which  has strayed on to   
it1 he bethinks himself that it must get
 dried up in  the sun1 if it does not   
get back soon enough to ground into     
which it  can burrow1 and so he lifts it
 from the deadly stone surface1 and puts
  it on the grass4 ,if he comes across  
an insect which has fallen into a       
puddle1 he stops a moment in order to   
hold out a leaf or a stalk on  which it 
can save itself4    ,he is not afraid of
 being laughed at as sentimental4 ,it is
 the fate of  every truth to be a       
subject for laughter until pg #bdh it is
  generally recognized4 ,once it was    
considered folly to assume that men  of 
colour were really men and ought to be  

treated as such1 but the  folly has     
become an accepted truth4 ,to-day it is 
thought to be going  too far to declare 
that constant regard for everything that
 lives1  down to the lowest             
manifestations of life1 is a demand made
 by  rational ethics4 ,the time is      
coming1 however1 when people will be    
astonished that mankind needed so long a
 time to learn to regard  thoughtless   
injury to life as incompatible with     
ethics4    ,ethics are responsibility   
without limit towards all that lives4   
,the definition of ethics as a relation 
to things within a disposition  to      
reverence for life1 strikes one in its  
absolutely universal extent  as cold4   
,but it is the only complete one4       
,sympathy is too narrow to  rank as the 
essence of the ethical4 ,it denotes1 of 
course1 only  interest in the suffering 
will-to-live4 ,but ethics include also  
feeling as one's own all the            
circumstances and all the aspirations of
  the will-to-live1 its pleasure1 too1  

and its longing to live itself  out to  
the full1 as well as its urge to        
self-perfecting4    ,love means more1   
since it includes fellowship in         
suffering1 in joy1  and in effort1 but  
it shows the ethical only in a simile1  
although in  a natural and deep one4 ,it
 makes the solidarity produced by ethics
  analogous to that which nature calls  
forth on the physical side1 for  more or
 less temporary purposes between two    
beings which complete each  other       
sexually1 or between them and their     
offspring4    ,thought must strive to   
bring to expression the nature of the   
ethical  in itself4 ,to effect this it  
comes inevitably to defining ethics as  
devotion to life which is inspired by   
reverence for life4 ,even if the  word  
reverence for life sounds so general as 
to seem somewhat  lifeless1 what is     
signified by it is nevertheless         
something which the  man into whose     
thought it has made its way can never   
get rid of4  ,sympathy1 and love1 and   

every kind of valuable emotion are given
  within it4 ,with a restless living    
force pg #bdi reverence for life  works 
upon the disposition into which it has  
entered1 and throws it  into the unrest 
of a feeling of responsibility which at 
no place and  at no time ceases to      
affect it4 ,just as the screw which     
burrows  through the water drives the   
ship along1 so does reverence for life  
the man4    ,arising1 as it does1 from  
an inner compulsion1 the ethic of       
reverence  for life is not dependent on 
the extent to which it is able to think 
itself out to a satisfying life-view4   
,it need give no answer to the  question
 of what significance the ethical man's 
work for the  maintenance1 promotion1   
and exalting of life can have in the    
total  happenings of the course of      
nature4 ,it does not let itself be      
misled  by the calculation that the     
maintaining and completing of life which
  it practises is hardly worth          
consideration beside the tremendous1    

unceasing destruction of life which goes
 on through natural forces4  ,having the
 will to action1 it can leave on one    
side all the problems  of the success of
 its work4 ,full of significance for the
 world is the  fact in itself that in   
the ethically developed man there has   
made its  appearance in the world a     
will-to-live which is filled with       
reverence  for life and devotion to     
life4    ,in my will-to-live the        
universal will-to-live experiences      
itself  otherwise than in its other     
manifestations4 ,in them it shows itself
 in  a process of individualising which1
 so far as ,i can see from the  outside1
 is bent merely on living itself out to 
the full1 and in no  way on union with  
any other will-to-live4 ,the world is a 
ghastly drama  of will-to-live divided  
against itself4 ,one existence makes its
 way at  the cost of another2 one       
destroys the other4 ,one will-to-live   
merely  exerts its will against the     
other1 and has no knowledge of it4 ,but 

in  me the will-to-live has come to know
 about other wills-to-live4 ,there  is  
in it a longing to arrive at unity with 
itself1 to become  universal4    ,why   
does the will-to-live experience itself 
in this way in me alone8  ,is it because
 ,i have acquired the capacity of       
reflecting on the  totality of ,being8  
,what is the goal of this evolution     
which has begun  in me8    pg #bej      
,to these questions there is no answer4 
,it remains a painful enigma for  me    
that ,i must live with reverence for    
life in a world which is  dominated by  
creative will which is also destructive 
will1 and  destructive will which is    
also creative4    ,i can do nothing but 
hold to the fact that the will-to-live  
in me  manifests itself as will-to-live 
which desires to become one with  other 
will-to-live4 ,that is for me the light 
that shines in the  darkness4 ,the      
ignorance in which the world is wrapped 
has no existence  for me2 ,i have been  
saved from the world4 ,i am thrown1     

indeed1 by  reverence for life into an  
unrest such as the world does not know1 
but  ,i obtain from it a blessedness    
which the world cannot give4 ,if in the 
tenderheartedness produced by being     
different from the world another  person
 and ,i help each other in understanding
 and pardoning1 when  otherwise will    
would torment will1 the division of the 
will-to-live is  got rid of4 ,if ,i save
 an insect from the puddle1 life has    
devoted  itself to life1 and the        
division of life against itself is got  
rid of4  ,whenever my life devotes      
itself in any way to life1 my finite    
will-to-live experiences its union with 
the infinite will in which all  life is 
one1 and ,i enjoy a feeling of          
refreshment which prevents me  from     
pining away in the desert of life4    ,i
 therefore recognize it as the destiny  
of my existence to be obedient  to this 
higher revelation of the will-to-live in
 me4 ,i choose for my  work the removal 
of this division of the will-to-live    

against itself1  so far as the influence
 of my existence reaches4 ,knowing now  
the one  thing needful1 ,i leave on one 
side the enigma of the world and of my  
existence in it4    ,the surmisings and 
the longings of all deep religiousness  
are  contained in the ethic of reverence
 for life4 ,this religiousness1         
however1 does not build up for itself a 
completed world-view1 but  resigns      
itself to the necessity of leaving its  
cathedral unfinished4  ,it finishes the 
choir only1 but in this choir piety     
maintains a living  and never-ceasing   
divine service4    pg #bea    ,the ethic
 of resignation4 ,an ethic of veracity  
towards oneself1 and an  activist ethic 
,the ethic of reverence for life shows  
its truth also in that it  includes in  
itself the different elements of ethics 
in their natural  connexion4 ,hitherto  
no ethic has been able to present in    
their  parallelism and their interaction
 the effort after self-perfecting1 in   
which man acts upon himself from outside

 without deeds1 and the  activist ethic4
 ,the ethic of reverence for life can do
 this1 and  indeed in such a way that it
 not only answers academic questions1   
but  also produces a deepening of       
ethical insight4    ,ethics are         
reverence for the will-to-live within me
 and without me4  ,from the former comes
 first the profound life-affirmation of 
resignation4 ,i apprehend my            
will-to-live as not only something which
  can live itself out in happy          
occurrences1 but also something which   
has  experience of itself4 ,if ,i refuse
 to let this self-experience  disappear 
in thoughtlessness1 and persist in      
feeling it to be  valuable1 ,i begin to 
learn the secret of spiritual           
self-assertion4 ,i  win an unsuspected  
freedom from the various destinies of   
life4 ,at  moments in which ,i had      
expected to find myself overwhelmed1 ,i 
find  myself exalted in an inexpressible
 and surprising happiness of freedom    
from the world1 and ,i experience       

therein a clearing of my life-view4     
,resignation is the vestibule through   
which we enter ethics4 ,only he  who in 
deepened devotion to his own            
will-to-live experiences inward  freedom
 from outward occurrences1 is capable of
 devoting himself in  profound and      
steady fashion to the life of others4   
,just as in the reverence for my own    
will-to-live ,i struggle for  freedom   
from the destinies of life1 so ,i       
struggle too for freedom from  myself4  
,not only in face of what happens to me1
 but also with  attention to the way in 
which ,i deal with the world1 ,i        
practise the  higher self-maintenance4  
,out of reverence for my own existence  
,i place  myself under the compulsion of
 veracity towards myself4 ,everything pg
  #beb ,i acquired would be purchased   
too dearly by action in defiance of  my 
convictions4 ,i fear that if ,i were    
untrue to myself ,i should be  wounding 
my will-to-live with a poisoned spear4  
,the fact that ,kant makes1 as he does1 

veracity towards oneself the  centre    
point of his ethic1 testifies to the    
depth of his ethical  feeling4 ,but     
because in his search for the essential 
nature of the  ethical he fails to find 
his way through to reverence for life1  
he  cannot comprehend the connexion     
between veracity towards oneself and  an
 activist ethic4    ,as a matter of fact
 the ethic of veracity towards oneself  
passes  imperceptibly into that of      
devotion to others4 ,such veracity      
compels  me to actions which manifest   
themselves as devotion in such a way    
that  ordinary ethics derive them from  
devotion4    ,why do ,i forgive anyone8 
,ordinary ethics say1 because ,i feel   
sympathy  with him4 ,they allow men to  
seem to themselves1 when they pardon    
others1 frightfully good1 and allow them
 to practise a style of  pardoning which
 is not free from humiliation of the    
other4 ,they thus  make forgiveness a   
sweetened triumph of self-devotion4     
,the ethic of reverence for life does   

away with this unpurified view4  ,all   
acts of forbearance and of pardon are   
for it acts forced from one  by veracity
 towards oneself4 ,i must practise      
unlimited forgiveness  because1 if ,i   
did not1 ,i should be wanting in        
veracity to myself1 for  it would be    
acting as if ,i myself were not guilty  
in the same way as  the other has been  
guilty towards me4 ,because my life is  
so liberally  spotted with falsehood1 ,i
 must forgive falsehood which has been  
practised upon me2 because ,i myself    
have been in so many cases wanting  in  
love1 and guilty of hatred1 slander1    
deceit1 or arrogance1 ,i must  pardon   
any want of love1 and all hatred1       
slander1 deceit1 or arrogance  which    
have been directed against myself4 ,i   
must forgive quietly and  without       
drawing attention to it2 in fact ,i do  
not really pardon at  all1 for ,i do not
 let things develop to any such act of  
judgement4 ,nor  is this any eccentric  
proceeding2 pg #bec it is only a        

necessary  widening and refinement of   
ordinary ethics4    ,the struggle       
against the evil that is in mankind we  
have to carry on  not by judging others1
 but by judging ourselves4 ,struggle    
with oneself  and veracity towards      
oneself are the means by which we work  
upon  others4 ,we quietly draw them into
 our efforts after the deep spiritual   
self-assertion which springs out of     
reverence for one's own life4  ,power   
makes no noise4 ,it is there1 and works4
 ,true ethics begin where  the use of   
language ceases4    ,the innermost      
element then1 in activist ethics1 even  
if it appears as  self-devotion1 comes  
from the compulsion to veracity towards 
oneself1  and obtains therein its true  
value4 ,the whole ethic of being other  
than the world flows pure only when it  
comes from this source4 ,it is  not from
 kindness to others that ,i am          
tender-hearted1 peaceable1  forbearing1 
and friendly1 but because by such       
behaviour ,i prove my own  deepest      

self-assertion to be true4 ,reverence   
for life which ,i apply to  my own      
existence1 and reverence for life which 
keeps me in a temper of  devotion to    
other existence than mine1              
interpenetrate each other4    ,ethics   
and thoughtlessness4 ,ethics and        
self-assertion    ,ordinary ethics1     
because they are without any basic      
principle of the  ethical1 are obliged  
to engage at once in the discussion of  
conflicting duties4 ,the ethic of       
reverence for life has no such need  for
 hurry4 ,it takes its own time to think 
out in all directions its  own principle
 of the moral4 ,knowing itself to be    
firmly established1  it then settles its
 position with regard to these          
conflicts4    ,it has to come to terms  
with three adversaries3 these are       
thoughtlessness1 egoistic               
self-assertion1 and society4    ,to the 
first of these it pays usually          
insufficient attention1 because  no open
 conflicts arise between them4 ,this    

adversary does1  nevertheless1 obstruct 
it imperceptibly4    ,there is1 however1
 a wide field which our ethic can take  
pg #bed  possession of without any      
collision with the troops of egoism4    
,man can  accomplish much that is good1 
without having to require of himself any
  sacrifice4 ,and if there really goes  
with it a bit of his life1 it is        
something so insignificant that he feels
 it no more than if he were  losing a   
hair or a piece of dead skin4    ,over  
wide stretches of conduct the inward    
liberation from the world1  the being   
true to oneself1 the being different    
from the world1 yes1  and even devotion 
to other life1 is only a matter of      
giving attention  to this particular    
relation4 ,we fall short so much1       
because we do not  keep ourselves up to 
it4 ,we do not stand sufficiently under 
the  pressure of any inward compulsion  
to be ethical4 ,the steam hisses at  all
 points out of the leaky boiler4 ,the   
resulting losses of energy are  as high 

as they are in ordinary ethics1 because 
these ethics have at  their disposal no 
single basic principle of the moral     
which works upon  thought4 ,they cannot 
repair the boiler2 they do not1 indeed1 
ever even  examine it4 ,reverence for   
life1 however1 being something which is 
ever  present to thought1 penetrates    
unceasingly and in all directions men's 
observation1 reflexion1 and resolutions4
 ,a man can keep himself clear  of it as
 little as the water can prevent itself 
from being coloured by  the dye-stuff   
which is dropped into it4 ,the struggle 
with  thoughtlessness is started1 and is
 always advancing4    ,but what is the  
relation between ethics and reverence   
for life in the  conflicts which arise  
between inward compulsion to devotion1  
and  necessary self-assertion8    ,i too
 am subject to division of my           
will-to-life against itself4 ,in a      
thousand ways my existence stands in    
conflict with that of others4 ,the      
necessity to destroy and to injure life 

is imposed upon me4 ,if ,i walk  along  
an unfrequented path1 my foot brings    
destruction and pain upon  the tiny     
creatures which populate it4 ,in order  
to preserve my own  existence1 ,i must  
defend myself against the existence     
which injures  it4 ,i become a hunter of
 the mouse which inhabits my house1 a   
murderer  of the insect which wants to  
have its nest there1 a mass-murderer of 
the bacteria which pg #bee may endanger 
my life4 ,i get my food by  destroying  
plants and animals4 ,my happiness is    
built upon injury done  to my           
fellow-men4    ,how does our ethic      
assert itself in the tragic necessity to
 which ,i am  subjected through the     
division of my will-to-live against     
itself8    ,ordinary ethics seek        
compromises4 ,they try to lay down how  
much of my  existence and of my         
happiness ,i must sacrifice1 and how    
much of them ,i  may preserve at the    
cost of the existence and happiness of  
other  lives4 ,with this distinction    

they produce an experimental1 relative  
ethic4 ,they offer as ethical what is in
 reality not ethical but a  mixture of  
non-ethical necessity and ethics4 ,they 
thereby establish a  huge confusion1 and
 allow the starting of an               
ever-increasing  obscuration of the     
conception of the ethical4    ,the ethic
 of reverence for life knows nothing of 
a relative ethic4 ,it  allows to rank as
 good only the maintenance and promotion
 of life4 ,all  destruction of and      
injury to life1 under whatever          
circumstances they  take place1 it      
condemns as evil4 ,it does not keep in  
store adjustments  between ethics and   
necessity all ready for making up4 ,it  
is always  again and again and in ways  
that are always original coming to terms
  in men with reality4 ,it does not     
abolish for man all ethical  conflicts1 
but compels him to decide for himself in
 each case how far  he can remain       
ethical and how far he must submit      
himself to the  necessity for           

destruction of and injury to life1 and  
therewith incur  guilt4 ,it is not by   
receiving instruction about agreement   
between  ethical and necessary1 that a  
man makes progress in ethics1 but only  
by coming to hear more and more plainly 
the voice of the ethical1 by  becoming  
ruled more and more by the longing to   
preserve and promote  life1 and by      
becoming more and more obstinate in     
resistance to the  necessity for        
destroying or injuring life4    ,in     
ethical conflicts man can arrive only at
 subjective decisions4 ,no  one can lay 
down for him at what point1 on each     
occasion1 lies the  extreme limit of    
possibility for pg #bef his persistence 
in the  preservation and promotion of   
life4 ,he alone has to decide1 by       
letting  himself be guided by a feeling 
of the highest possible responsibility  
towards other life4    ,we must never   
let ourselves become blunted and dull4  
,we are living in  truth1 when our      
experience in these conflicts is ever   

deepening4 ,the  good conscience is an  
invention of the devil's4    ,man and   
other living creatures    ,what does    
reverence for life say about the        
relations between men and  the animal   
world8    ,whenever ,i injure life of   
any sort1 ,i must be quite clear whether
 it  is necessary4 ,beyond the          
unavoidable1 ,i must never go1 not even 
with  what seems insignificant4 ,the    
farmer who has mown down a thousand     
flowers in his meadow to feed his cows1 
must be careful on his way  home not to 
strike off in thoughtless pastime the   
head of a single  flower by the         
roadside1 for he thereby commits a wrong
 against life  without being under the  
pressure of necessity4    ,those who    
experiment with operations or the use of
 drugs upon animals1  or inoculate them 
with diseases1 so as to be able to bring
 help to  mankind with the results      
gained1 must never quiet any misgivings 
they  feel with the general reflexion   
that their gruesome proceedings aim at  

a valuable result4 ,they must first have
 considered in each individual  case    
whether there is a real necessity to    
force upon any animal this  sacrifice   
for the sake of mankind1 and they must  
take the most careful  pains to ensure  
that the pain inflicted is made as small
 as possible4  ,how much wrong is       
committed in scientific institutions    
through neglect  of ansthetics1 which to
 save time or trouble are not           
administered6  ,how much1 too1 through  
animals being subjected to torture      
merely to  give to students a           
demonstration of perfectly understood   
phenomena4 ,by  the very fact that      
animals have been subjected to          
experiments1 and  have by their pain won
 such valuable results for suffering pg 
#beg  men1 a new and special relation of
 solidarity has been established        
between them and us4 ,from that springs 
for each one of us a compulsion  to do  
to every animal all the good we possibly
 can4 ,by helping an  insect when it is 

in difficulties ,i am thereby attempting
 to cancel  part of man's ever new debt 
to the animal world4 ,whenever an animal
 is  in any way forced into the service 
of man1 every one of us must be         
concerned with the suffering which it   
has thereby to undergo4 ,none of  us    
must allow to take place any suffering  
for which he himself is not             
responsible1 if he can hinder it in any 
way1 at the same time quieting  his     
conscience with the reflexion that he   
would be mixing himself up  in something
 which does not concern him4 ,no one    
must shut his eyes and  regard as       
non-existent the sufferings of which he 
spares himself the  sight4 ,let no one  
regard as light the burden of his       
responsibility4  ,while so much         
ill-treatment of animals goes on1 while 
the moans of  thirsty animals in railway
 trucks sound unheard1 while so much    
brutality prevails in our               
slaughter-houses1 while animals have to 
suffer in our kitchens painful death    

from unskilled hands1 while  animals    
have to endure intolerable treatment    
from heartless men1 or  are left to the 
cruel play of children1 we all share the
 guilt4    ,we are afraid of making     
ourselves conspicuous1 if we let it be  
noticed  how we feel for the sufferings 
which man brings upon the animals4 ,we  
think at the same time that others have 
become more 8rational0 than we  are1 and
 that they take as being usual and as a 
matter of course1 what  we are excited  
about4 ,yet suddenly they will let slip 
a word which  shows us that they too    
have not yet learnt to acquiesce4 ,and  
now1  though they are strangers1 they   
are quite near us4 ,the mask in which   
we misled each other falls off4 ,we know
 now1 from one another1 that we  are    
alike in being unable to escape from the
 gruesome proceedings that  are taking  
place unceasingly around us4 ,what a    
happy making of a new  acquaintance6    
,the ethic of respect for life guards us
 from letting each other  believe       

through our silence that we no longer   
experience pg #beh  what1 as thinking   
men1 we must experience4 ,it prompts us 
to keep each  other sensitive to what   
distresses us1 and to talk and to act   
together  without any feeling of        
shyness1 just as the responsibility we  
feel  moves us to4 ,it makes us keep on 
the look-out together for  opportunities
 of bringing some sort of help to       
animals1 to make up for  the great      
misery which men inflict on them1 and   
thus to step for a  moment out of the   
incomprehensible horror of existence4   
,the ethic of the relation of man to man
    ,in the matter also of our relation 
to other men1 the ethic of  reverence   
for life throws upon us a responsibility
 so unlimited as to  be terrifying4     
,here again it offers us no rules about 
the extent of the  self-maintenance     
which is allowable2 again1 it bids us in
 each case  come to terms with the      
absolute ethic of self-devotion4 ,i have
 to  decide in accordance with the      

responsibility of which ,i am conscious1
  how much of my life1 my possessions1  
my rights1 my happiness1 my time1  and  
my rest ,i must devote to others1 and   
how much of them ,i may keep  for       
myself4    ,in the question of          
possession1 the ethic of reverence for  
life is  outspokenly individualist in   
the sense that wealth acquired or       
inherited must be placed at the service 
of the community1 not through  any      
measures taken by society1 but through  
the absolutely free  decision of the    
individual4 ,it expects everything from 
a general  increase in the feeling of   
responsibility4 ,wealth it regards as   
the  property of society left in the    
sovereign control of the individual4    
,one man serves society by carrying on a
 business in which a number of          
employees earn their living2 another by 
giving away his wealth in  order to help
 his fellows4 ,between these two extreme
 kinds of service  let each decide      
according to the responsibility which he

 finds  determined for him by the       
circumstances of his life4 ,let no one  
judge  his neighbour4 ,the one thing    
that matters is that each shall value   
what he possesses as means to action4   
,whether this is pg #bei  accomplished  
by his keeping and increasing his       
wealth1 or by surrender  of it1 matters 
little4 ,wealth must reach the community
 in the most  varied ways1 if the latter
 is to profit by it in the best way4    
,those who possess little wealth to call
 their own are most in danger  of       
holding what they have in a purely      
selfish spirit4 ,there is  profound     
truth in the parable of ,jesus which    
makes the servant who had  received     
least the least loyal to his duty4      
,my rights too the ethic of reverence   
for life does not allow to belong  to   
me4 ,it forbids me to quiet my          
conscience with the reflexion that as   
the stronger1 but by quite legitimate   
means1 ,i am advancing myself at  the   
cost of one who is weaker than ,i4 ,in  

what the law and public  opinion allow  
me it sets a problem before me4 ,it bids
 me think of  others1 and makes me      
ponder whether ,i can allow myself the  
inward  right to pluck all the fruit    
that my hand can reach4 ,thus it may    
happen that in obedience to             
consideration for the existence of      
others  ,i do what seems to ordinary    
opinion to be folly4 ,yes1 it may even  
show  itself to be folly by the fact    
that my renunciation has not been of    
the slightest benefit to him for whom it
 was made4 ,and yet ,i was  right4      
,reverence for life is the highest court
 of appeal4 ,what it  commands has its  
own significance1 even if it seems      
foolish or  useless4 ,we all look1 of   
course1 in one another1 for the folly   
which  indicates that we have higher    
responsibilities making themselves felt 
in ourselves4 ,yet it is only in        
proportion as we all become less        
rational1 in the meaning given it by    
ordinary calculation1 that the  ethical 

disposition develops in us1 and allows  
problems to become  soluble which have  
hitherto been insoluble4    ,nor will   
reverence for life grant me my happiness
 as my own4 ,at the  moments when ,i    
should like to enjoy myself without     
restraint1 it wakes  in me reflexion    
about misery that ,i see or suspect1 and
 it does not  allow me to drive away the
 uneasiness thereby caused to me4 ,just 
as  the wave cannot exist for itself1   
but is ever a part of the heaving       
surface of ocean1 so must ,i never live 
my life for itself1 but pg  #bfj always 
in the experience which is going on     
around me4 ,it is an  uncomfortable     
doctrine which the true ethic whispers  
into my ear4 ,you  are happy1 it says2  
therefore you are called upon to give   
much4  ,whatever more than others you   
have received in health1 natural gifts1 
working capacity1 success1 a beautiful  
childhood1 harmonious family            
circumstances1 you must not accept as   
being a matter of course4 ,you  must pay

 a price for them4 ,you must show more  
than average devotion of  life to life4 
,to the happy the voice of the true     
ethic is dangerous1 if they venture  to 
listen to it4 ,when it calls to them1 it
 never damps down the  irrational which 
glows within it4 ,it assails them to see
 whether it  can get them out of their  
rut and turn them into adventurers of   
self-devotion1 people of whom the world 
has too few4 4 4 4    ,reverence for    
life is an inexorable creditor6 ,if it  
finds anyone with  nothing to pledge but
 a little time and a little leisure1 it 
lays an  attachment on these4 ,but its  
hardheartedness is good1 and sees       
clearly4 ,the many modern men who as    
industrial machines are engaged in      
callings in which they can in no way be 
active as men among men1 are  exposed to
 the danger of merely vegetating in an  
egoistic life4 ,many  of them feel this 
danger1 and suffer under the fact that  
their daily  work has so little to do   
with spiritual and ideal aims and does  

not  allow them to put into it anything 
of their human nature4 ,others          
acquiesce2 the thought of having no     
duties outside their daily work  suits  
them very well4    ,but that men should 
be so condemned or so favoured as to be 
released  from responsibility for       
devotion as men to men1 the ethic of    
reverence  for life will not allow to be
 legitimate4 ,it demands that every one 
of  us in some way and with some object 
shall be a man for men4 ,to those  who  
have no opportunity in their daily work 
of giving themselves as  man to men1 and
 have nothing else that they can give1  
it suggests  their offering something of
 their time and leisure1 even if these  
have  been granted to them in scanty    
measure4 ,find for yourselves some      
secondary pg #bfa work 7it says to      
them71 an inconspicuous one1  perhaps a 
secret one4 ,open your eyes and look for
 a human being or  some work devoted to 
human welfare which needs from some one 
a little  time or friendliness1 a little

 sympathy1 or sociability1 or work4     
,there may be a solitary or an          
embittered fellow-man1 an invalid or an 
inefficient person to whom you can be   
something4 ,perhaps it is an old  person
 or a child4 ,or some good work needs   
volunteers who can offer a  free        
evening1 or run errands4 ,who can       
enumerate the many ways in which  that  
costly piece of fixed capital1 a human  
being1 can be employed6  ,more of him is
 wanted everywhere6 ,hunt1 then1 for    
some situation for  your humanity1 and  
do not be frightened away if you have to
 wait1 or  to be taken on trial4 ,and do
 not be disturbed by disappointments4   
,anyhow1 do not be without some         
secondary work in which you give        
yourself as a man to men4 ,there is one 
that is marked out for you1 if  you only
 truly will to have it4 4 4 4    ,thus  
does the true ethic speak of those who  
have only a little time  and a little   
human nature to give4 ,well will it be  
with them if they  listen to it1 and are

 preserved from becoming stunted        
natures1 because  they have neglected   
this devotion of self to others4    ,but
 to everyone1 in whatever state of life 
he finds himself1 the ethic  of respect 
for life does this3 it forces him ever  
and again to be  inwardly concerned with
 all the human destinies and all the    
other  life-destinies which are going   
through their life-course around him1   
and to give himself1 as man1 to the man 
who needs a fellow-man4 ,it  will not   
allow the learned man to live only for  
his learning1 even if  his learning     
makes him very useful1 nor the artist to
 live only for  his art1 even if by     
means of it he gives something to many4 
,it does  not allow the very busy man to
 think that with his professional       
activities he has fulfilled every demand
 upon him4 ,it demands from all  and    
every that they devote a portion of     
their life to their fellows4  ,in what  
way and to what extent this is laid down
 for him the  individual must gather    

from the thoughts which arise in pg #bfb
 him1  and from the destinies in which  
his life moves4 ,one man's sacrifice is 
outwardly unpretentious4 ,he can        
accomplish it while continuing to live  
a normal life4 ,another is called to    
some conspicuous devotion1 and  must    
therefore put aside regard for his own  
progress4 ,but let neither  judge the   
other4 ,the tasks of men have to be     
decided in a thousand  ways to let the  
good become actual4 ,what he has to     
bring as an  offering is the secret of  
each individual4 ,but one with another  
we  have all to recognize that our      
existence reaches its true value only   
when we experience in ourselves         
something of the truth of the saying3   
8,whoever shall lose his life1 the same 
shall find it0 7,s4 ,matt4 x4  #ci74    
,personal and supra-personal            
responsibility4 ,ethics and humanity    
,the ethical conflicts between society  
and the individual arise out of  the    
fact that the latter has to bear not    

only a personal1 but also a             
supra-personal responsibility4 ,when my 
own person only is concerned1 ,i  can   
always be patient1 alway forgive1 use   
all possible consideration1  always be  
tender-hearted4 ,but each of us comes   
into a situation when  he is responsible
 not for himself only1 but also for some
 undertaking1  and then is forced into  
decisions which conflict with personal  
morality4    ,the industrialist who     
manages a business1 however small1 and  
the  musician who undertakes public     
performances1 cannot be men in the way  
they would like to be4 ,the one has to  
dismiss a worker who is  incapable or   
given to drink1 in spite of any sympathy
 he has for him  and his family2 the    
other cannot let a singer whose voice is
 the worse  for wear perform any longer1
 although he knows what distress he thus
  causes4    ,the more extensive a man's
 activities1 the oftener he finds       
himself in  the situation of having to  
sacrifice something of his humanity to  

his  supra-personal responsibility4 ,out
 of this conflict consideration  brings 
the average person to the decision that 
the wider  responsibility does1 as a    
matter of principle1 annul the personal4
 ,it  is with this idea pg #bfc that    
society addresses the individual4 ,for  
the quieting of consciences for which   
this decision is too categorical  it    
perhaps lays down a few principles which
 undertake to determine in  a way that  
is valid for everybody1 how far in any  
case personal  morality can have a say  
in the matter4    ,to the current ethic 
no course remains open but to sign this 
capitulation4 ,it has no means of       
defending the fortress of personal      
morality1 because it has not at its     
disposal any absolute notions of  good  
and evil4 ,not so the ethic of reverence
 for life4 ,that possesses1  as we can  
see1 what the other lacks4 ,it therefore
 never surrenders the  fortress1 even if
 the latter is permanently invested4 ,it
 feels itself  in a position to         

persevere in holding it1 and by         
continual sorties to  keep the besiegers
 on the qui vive4    ,only the most     
universal and absolute purposiveness in 
the maintenance  and promotion of life1 
which is the objective aimed at by      
reverence  for life1 is ethical4 ,all   
other necessity or expediency is not    
ethical1 but only a more or less        
necessary necessity1 or a more or  less 
expedient expediency4 ,in the conflict  
between the maintenance of  my own      
existence and the destruction of1 or    
injury to1 another1 ,i can  never put   
the ethical and the necessary together  
to form a relative  ethical2 ,i must    
choose between ethical and necessary1   
and1 if ,i choose  the latter1 must take
 it upon myself to be guilty through an 
act of  injury to life4 ,similarly ,i am
 not at liberty to think that in the    
conflict between personal and           
supra-personal responsibility ,i can    
balance the ethical and the expedient to
 make a relative ethical1 or  even annul

 the ethical with the purposive2 ,i must
 choose between the  two4 ,if under the 
pressure of the supra-personal          
responsibility ,i  yield to the         
expedient1 ,i become guilty in some way 
or other through  failure in reverence  
for life4    ,the temptation to combine 
with the ethical into a relative ethical
 the  expedient which is commanded me by
 the supra-personal responsibility  is  
especially strong1 because it can pg    
#bfd be shown1 in defence of  it1 that  
the person who complies with the demand 
of this  supra-personal responsibility1 
acts unegoistically4 ,it is not to his  
individual existence or his individual  
welfare that he sacrifices  another     
existence or welfare1 but he sacrifices 
an individual  existence and welfare to 
what forces itself upon him as expedient
 in  view of the existence or the       
welfare of a majority4 ,but ethical is  
more than unegoistic4 ,ethical is       
nothing but the reverence felt by my    
will-to-live for every other            

will-to-live4 ,whenever ,i in any way   
sacrifice or injure life1 ,i am not     
within the ethical1 but ,i become       
guilty1 whether it be egoistically      
guilty for the sake of maintaining  my  
own existence or welfare1 or            
unegoistically guilty for the sake of   
maintaining a greater number of other   
existences or their welfare4    ,this so
 easily made mistake of accepting as    
ethical a violation of  reverence for   
life if it is based upon unegoistic     
considerations1 is  the bridge by       
crossing which ethics enter             
unintentionally the  territory of the   
non-ethical4 ,the bridge must be broken 
down4    ,ethics go only so far as      
humanity does1 humanity meaning respect 
for  the existence and the happiness of 
individual human beings4 ,where         
humanity ends pseudo-ethics begin4 ,the 
day on which this boundary is  once for 
all universally recognized and marked   
out so as to be visible  to everyone1   
will be one of the most important in the

 history of  mankind4 ,thenceforward it 
can no longer happen that ethics which  
are  not ethics at all are accepted as  
real ethics1 and deceive and ruin       
individuals and peoples4    ,the ethics 
hitherto current have hindered us from  
becoming as earnest  as we must be by   
the fact that they have utterly deceived
 us as to the  many ways in which each  
one of us1 whether through              
self-assertion1 or  by actions justified
 by supra-personal responsibility1      
become guilty  again and again4 ,true   
knowledge consists in being gripped by  
the  secret that everything around us is
 will-to-live and seeing clearly  how   
again and again we incur guilt against  
life4    ,fooled by pseudo-ethics1 man  
stumbles about in his pg #bfe guilt like
  a drunken man4 ,if he becomes         
instructed and earnest he seeks the road
  which leads him least into guilt4     
,we are all exposed to the temptation of
 lessening the guilt of  inhumanity     
which comes from our working under      

supra-personal  responsibility1 by      
withdrawing as far as possible into     
ourselves4 ,but  such freedom from guilt
 is not honestly obtained4 ,ethics start
 with  world- and life-affirmation1 and 
therefore will not allow us this  flight
 into negation4 ,they forbid us to be   
like the housewife who  leaves the      
killing of the eels to her cook1 and    
compels us to  undertake all duties     
involving supra-personal responsibility 
which  fall to us1 even if we should be 
in a position to decline them for       
reasons more or less satisfactory4      
,each one of us1 then1 has to engage1 so
 far as he is brought to it by  the     
circumstances of his life1 in work which
 involves supra-personal                
responsibility1 but we must do it not in
 the spirit of the collective  body1 but
 in that of the man who wishes to be    
ethical4 ,in every  individual case we  
struggle therefore to preserve as much  
humanity as  is ever possible in such   
work1 and in doubtful cases we venture  

to  make a mistake on the side of       
humanity rather than on that of the     
object in view4 ,when we have become    
instructed and earnest1 we think  of    
what is usually forgotten3 that all     
public activity of whatever  sort has to
 do not with facts only1 but also with  
the creation of that  spirit and temper 
which is desirable in the collective    
body4 ,the  creation of such a spirit   
and temper is more important than       
anything  directly attained in the      
facts4 ,public work1 in which the utmost
  possible effort is not made to        
preserve humanity1 ruins the            
disposition4 ,he who under the influence
 of supra-personal  responsibility      
simply sacrifices men and human         
happiness when it seems  commanded1     
accomplishes something4 ,but he has not 
reached the highest  level4 ,he has only
 outward1 not spiritual influence4 ,we  
have spiritual  influence only when     
others notice that we do not decide     
coldly in  accordance with principles   

laid down once and for all1 but in each 
individual case fight for humanity4     
pg #bff    ,there is too little among us
 of this kind of struggling4 ,from the  
smallest who is something in the        
smallest business1 right up to the      
political ruler who holds in his hands  
the decision for peace or war1  we act  
too much as men who in any given case   
can prepare without  effort to be no    
longer men1 but merely the executive of 
general  interests4 ,hence there is no  
longer among us any trust in a          
righteousness lighted up with human     
feeling4 ,nor have we any longer  any   
real respect for one another4 ,we all   
feel ourselves in the power  of a       
mentality of cold1 impersonal1 and      
usually unintelligent  opportunism1     
which stiffens itself with appeals to   
principle1 and in  order to carry out   
small interests is capable of the       
greatest  inhumanity and the greatest   
folly4 ,we therefore see among us one   
temper of impersonal opportunism        

confronting another1 and all problems   
are executed in a useless conflict of   
force against force because  there is   
nowhere at hand such a spirit and temper
 as will make them  soluble4    ,only   
through our struggles for humanity can  
forces which work in the  direction of  
the truly rational and expedient become 
powerful1 while  the present spirit and 
temper prevails4 ,hence the man who     
works under  supra-personal             
responsibilities has to feel himself    
answerable not  only for the successful 
result which is to be realized through  
him1  but for the general spirit and    
temper which has to be created4    ,we  
therefore serve society without losing  
ourselves in it4 ,we do not  allow it to
 be our guardian in the matter of       
ethics4 ,that would be as  if the solo  
violinist allowed his bowing to be      
regulated by that of  the double-bass   
player4 ,never for a moment do we lay   
aside our  mistrust of the ideals       
established by society1 and of the      

convictions  which are kept by it in    
circulation4 ,we always know that       
society is  full of folly and will      
deceive us in the matter of humanity4   
,it is an  unreliable horse1 and blind  
into the bargain4 ,woe to the driver if 
he  falls asleep6    ,all this sounds   
too hard4 ,society serves ethics by     
giving legal  sanction to its most      
elementary principles1 and handing pg   
#bfg on  the ethical principles of one  
generation to the next4 ,that is much1  
and it claims our gratitude4 ,but       
society is also something which  checks 
the progress of ethics again and again1 
by arrogating to itself  the dignity of 
the ethical teachers4 ,to this1 however1
 it has no  right4 ,the only ethical    
teacher is the man who thinks ethically1
 and  struggles for an ethic4 ,the      
conceptions of good and evil which are  
put  in circulation by society are      
paper-money1 the value of which is to be
  calculated not by the figures printed 
upon it1 but by its relation to  its    

exchange value in gold of the ethic of  
reverence for life4 ,but so  measured1  
its exchange value reveals itself as    
that of the paper-money  of a           
half-bankrupt state4    ,the collapse of
 civilization has come about through    
ethics being left  to society4 ,a       
renewal of it is possible only if ethics
 become once  more the concern of       
thinking human beings1 and if           
individuals seek to  assert themselves  
in society as ethical personalities4 ,in
 proportion  as we secure this1 society 
will become1 instead of the purely      
natural  entity1 which it naturally is1 
an ethical one4 ,previous generations   
have made the terrible mistake of       
idealizing society as ethical4 ,we do   
our duty to it by judging it critically1
 and trying to make it1 so far  as is   
possible1 more ethical4 ,being in       
possession of an absolute  standard of  
the ethical1 we no longer allow         
ourselves to make  acceptable as ethics 
principles of expediency or even of the 

vulgarest  opportunism4 ,nor do we      
remain any longer at the low level of   
allowing  to be current as in any way   
ethical meaningless ideals1 of power1 of
  passion1 or of nationalism which are  
set up by miserable politicians  and    
maintained in some degree of respect by 
bewildering propaganda4  ,all the       
principles1 dispositions1 and ideals    
which make their  appearance among us we
 measure1 in their showy pedantry1 with 
a rule  on which the measures are given 
by the absolute ethic of reverence for  
life4 ,we allow currency only to what is
 consistent with the claims of          
humanity4 ,we bring into honour again   
regard for life and pg #bfh for  the    
happiness of the individual4 ,sacred    
human rights we again hold  high2 not   
those which political rulers exalt at   
banquets and tread  underfoot in their  
actions1 but the true ones4 ,we call    
once more for  justice1 not that which  
purblind authorities have elaborated in 
a  legal scholasticism1 nor that about  

which demagogues of all shades of       
colour shout themselves hoarse1 but that
 which is filled to the full  with the  
value of each single human existence4   
,the foundation of law  and right is    
humanity4    ,thus we bring the         
principles1 dispositions1 and ideals of 
the  collective body into agreement with
 humanity4 ,at the same time we  shape  
them in accordance with reason1 for only
 what is ethical is  truly rational4    
,only so far as the current disposition 
of men is  animated by ethical          
convictions and ideals is it capable of 
truly  purposive activity4    ,the ethic
 of reverence for life puts in our hands
 weapons for fighting  false ethics and 
false ideals1 but we have strength to   
use them only  so far as we--each one in
 his own life--preserve our humanity4   
,only when  those men are numerous who  
in thought and in action bring humanity 
to  terms with reality1 will humanity   
cease to be current as a mere           
sentimental idea and become what it     

ought to be1 a leaven in the  spirit and
 temper of individuals and of society4  
pg #bfi    ,,chapter ,,xxii    ,,the    
,,civilizing ,,power ,,of ,,the ,,ethic 
,,of ,,reverence ,,for ,,life           
,civilization as a product of reverence 
for life    ,,the reverence for life    
which has grown up in the will-to-live  
which  has become reflective1 contains  
world- and life-affirmation and ethics  
side by side and interpenetrating each  
other4 ,it therefore cannot but         
continually think out and will all the  
ideals of ethical civilization1  and    
bring them into agreement with reality4 
,reverence for life will not allow to   
pass as current the purely              
individualistic and inward conception of
 civilization as it rules in  ,indian   
thought and in mysticism4 ,that man     
should make efforts for  self-perfecting
 by withdrawing into himself is to it a 
deep1 but an  incomplete1 ideal of      
civilization4    ,in no way does        
reverence for life allow the individual 

to give up all  interest in the world4  
,it is unceasingly compelling him to be 
concerned about all the life that is    
round about him1 and to feel  himself   
responsible for it4 ,whenever life is in
 question the  development of which we  
can influence1 our concern with it1 and 
our  responsibility for it1 are not     
satisfied by our maintaining and        
promoting its existence as such2 they   
demand that we shall try to  raise it to
 its highest value in every respect4    
,the being that can be influenced in its
 development by us is man4  ,reverence  
for life compels us1 therefore1 to      
picture to ourselves and  to will every 
kind of progress of which man and       
humanity are capable4  ,it throws us    
into a restless condition of ever       
picturing to ourselves  and willing     
civilization1 but as ethical men4       
,even a not yet deepened world- and     
life-affirmation pg #bgj produces  this 
picturing and willing of civilization1  
but it leaves a man to  exert himself   

more or less without guidance4 ,in      
reverence for life1  however1 and the   
willing which accompanies it1 to raise  
men and  humanity to their highest value
 in every respect1 he possesses the     
guidance which leads him to complete and
 purified ideals of  civilization which 
with full consciousness of their goal   
come to terms  with reality4    ,defined
 from outside and quite empirically1    
complete civilization  consists in      
making actual all possible progress in  
discovery and  invention and in the     
arrangements of human society1 and      
seeing that  they work together for the 
inward perfecting of individuals which  
is  the real and final object of        
civilization4 ,reverence for life is in 
a  position to complete this conception 
of civilization and to supply a         
foundation for its most inward elements4
 ,this it does by defining what  is     
meant by the inward perfecting of man1  
and making it consist in  reaching the  
spirituality of an ever deepening       

reverence for life4    ,in order to give
 a meaning to the material and spiritual
 progress  which is to be made actual by
 the individual man and mankind1 the    
ordinary representation of civilization 
has to assume an evolution of  the      
world1 in which such progress has a     
meaning4 ,but to do so1 it puts  itself 
in dependence on a play of phantasy     
which reaches no result4 ,it  is        
impossible to depict an evolution of the
 world in which the  civilization       
produced by the individual man and      
mankind means  something4    ,in        
reverence for life1 on the contrary1    
civilization recognizes that  it has    
nothing at all to do with the evolution 
of the world1 but  carries its meaning  
in itself4 ,the essence of civilization 
consists in  this1 that the reverence   
for life which in my will-to-live is    
struggling for recognition does get     
stronger and stronger in  individuals   
and in mankind4 ,civilization1 then1 is 
not a phenomenon of  any                

world-evolution1 but an experience of   
the will-to-live within us1  which it is
 neither possible nor necessary to bring
 into pg #bga  relation with the course 
of nature as we know it from outside4   
,as a  perfecting of our will-to-live it
 is sufficient for itself4 ,what the    
development that takes place in us means
 in the totality of the  development in 
the world we leave on one side as       
something  undiscoverable4 ,that as a   
result of all the progress which men and
  mankind can make there shall exist in 
the world as much as possible of        
will-to-live1 putting reverence for life
 into practice on all life  which comes 
within reach of its influence1 and      
seeking perfection in  the spiritual    
atmosphere of reverence for life3 this  
and nothing else  is civilization4 ,so  
completely does it carry its value in   
itself that  even the certainty of the  
human race ceasing to exist within a    
calculable period1 would not be able to 
lead us away from our efforts  to attain

 to civilization4    ,as a development  
in which the highest experience of the  
will-to-live  lives itself out1         
civilization has a meaning for the world
 without  needing any explanation of the
 world4    ,the four ideals of          
civilization4 ,the struggle for a       
civilized mankind  in the machine age   
,the will-to-live which is filled with  
reverence for life is interested  in the
 most lively and persevering way that   
can be imagined in all  kinds of        
progress4 ,moreover1 it possesses a     
standard by which to  assess their value
 correctly1 and can create a spirit and 
temper which  allows them all to work in
 with one another in the most effective 
way4    ,three kinds of progress come   
within the purview of civilization3     
progress in knowledge and power2        
progress in the social organization  of 
mankind2 progress in spirituality4      
,civilization is made up of four ideals3
 the ideal of the individual2  the ideal
 of social and political organization2  

the ideal of spiritual  and religious   
social organization2 the ideal of       
humanity as a whole4  ,on the basis of  
these four ideals thought comes to terms
 with  progress4    ,progress in        
knowledge has a directly spiritual      
significance pg #bgb  when it is        
interpreted by thought4 ,it makes us    
recognize1 ever more  completely1 that  
everything which exists is power1 that  
is to say1  will-to-live2 it is ever    
making larger the circle of the         
will-to-live  of which we can form      
conceptions by analogy with our own4    
,what a  significance it has for our    
meditation on the world that we have    
discovered in the cell an individual    
existence1 in the capacity of  which for
 activity and suffering we see repeated 
the elements of our  own vitality6 ,by  
our ever-growing knowledge we are roused
 to ever  greater astonishment at that  
secret of life which surrounds us on    
every hand4 ,from simple simplicity we  
arrive at a more profound  simplicity4  

,from our knowledge comes also power    
over the forces of nature4 ,our  powers 
of movement and of action are increased 
in an extraordinary  way4 ,there comes  
about a far-reaching change in the      
circumstances of  our life4    ,the     
progress which accompanies it1 however1 
is not to the same extent  an advantage 
for the development of man4 ,by the     
power we obtain over  the forces of     
nature we do indeed free ourselves from 
nature1 and make  her serviceable to us1
 but at the same time we thereby also   
cut  ourselves loose from her1 and slip 
into conditions of life1 the  unnatural 
character of which brings with it       
dangers of many sorts4    ,we press the 
forces of nature into our service by    
means of machines4  ,there is a story in
 the writings of ,chwang-tse of how a   
pupil of  ,confucius saw a gardener who1
 to get water for his flower-beds1 went 
down to the spring with his bucket every
 time4 ,so he asked him whether  he     
would not like to lessen his labour4    

8,how can ,i80 replied the  other4 8,you
 take a long piece of wood for a lever10
 said ,confucius'  pupil1 8weighted     
behind1 but light in front2 with this   
you dip for the  water and it comes up  
without the least trouble4 ,they call   
this device  a draw-well40 ,but the     
gardener1 who was something of a        
philosopher1  answered3 8,i have heard  
my teacher say3 #8,if a man uses        
machines1 he  carries on all the affairs
 of life like a machine2 whoever pg #bgc
  carries on his affairs like a machine 
gets a machine-like heart2 and  when    
anyone has a machine-like heart in his  
breast1 he loses true  simplicity4'0    
,the dangers that were suspected by that
 gardener in the fifth century  ,b4,c4  
are active among us in full force4      
,purely mechanical labour has  become   
the lot of numbers among us to-day4 ,cut
 loose from their own  house and from   
any ground of their own which might feed
 them1 they  live in a depressing1      
materialist unfreedom4 ,as a result of  

the  revolution which the machine has   
produced1 we are almost all of us       
subjected to an existence of labour     
which is far too much governed by  rule1
 too limited in its nature1 and too     
trying to the system4  ,reflexion and   
collectedness are made difficult for us4
 ,family life and  the upbringing of our
 children are impoverished4 ,we are all 
more or  less in danger of becoming     
human things instead of personalities4  
,many  sorts of material and spiritual  
injury to human existence form          
therefore the dark side of the          
achievements of discovery and           
invention4    ,even our capacity for    
civilization is endangered4 ,claimed    
entirely for  so severe a struggle for  
existence1 many of us are no longer in a
  position to think about ideals which  
make for civilization4 ,such men  cannot
 reach the objective mood which is      
necessary for it4 ,all their  attention 
is directed to the improvement of their 
own existence4 ,the  ideals which they  

set up for this latter object they      
proclaim to be  ideals of civilization1 
and thus they start confusion in the    
general  picture of what civilization   
is4    ,in order to fit ourselves to the
 state of things produced by the        
results of these achievements of        
discovery and invention which are1      
indeed1 desirable although injurious1 we
 must think out the ideal of  humanity  
and wrestle with circumstances to make  
them hinder as little1  and help as much
 as possible the development of man up  
to this ideal4    ,the ideal of         
civilized man is none other than that of
 a man who in  every relation of life   
preserves true human nature4 ,to be     
civilized  men means for us almost this3
 pg #bgd that in spite of the conditions
  of modern civilization we remain      
human4 ,it is only taking thought for   
everything which belongs to true human  
nature that can preserve us1  amid the  
conditions of the most advanced external
 civilization1 from  going astray from  

civilization itself4 ,it is only if the 
longing to  become again truly man is   
awakened in the man of to-day1 that he  
will  be able to find his way out of the
 confusion in which1 blinded by  conceit
 at his knowledge and pride in his      
powers1 he is at present  wandering4    
,only then1 too1 will he be in a        
position to work against  the pressure  
of those relations of life which        
threaten his human  nature4             
,reverence for life demands1 therefore1 
as the ideal of the material  and       
spiritual being of man1 that with the   
completest possible  development of all 
his faculties and in the widest possible
 freedom1  both material and spiritual1 
he strives to be honest with himself and
  to take a sympathetic and helping     
interest in all the life that is  around
 him4 ,in earnest concern about himself 
he must ever keep in mind  all the      
responsibilities which are his lot1 and 
so1 as sufferer and as  actor1 preserve 
in his relation to himself and to the   

world a living  spirituality4 ,there    
should ever be before him as true human 
nature the  duty of being ethical in the
 profound world- and life-affirmation of
  reverence for life4    ,if it is      
recognized as the aim of civilization   
that every man shall  attain to true    
human nature in an existence which is as
 fully as  possible worthy of him1 then 
the uncritical overvaluing of the       
external elements of civilization which 
we have taken over from the  end of the 
nineteenth century can no longer prevail
 among us4 ,we are  forced more and more
 into a reflexion which compels us to   
distinguish  between the essentials and 
the unessentials of civilization4       
,unspiritual pride in civilization loses
 its power over us4 ,we dare to  face   
the truth that with the progress of     
discovery and invention  civilization   
has become not easier1 but more         
difficult4 ,we become  conscious of the 
problem of the mutual relations between 
the material  and pg #bge the spiritual4

 ,we know that we all have to wrestle   
with  circumstances on behalf of our    
human nature1 and make it an object of  
our care to transform the almost        
hopeless struggle which many have to    
carry on to preserve their human nature1
 into one which offers some  hope4      
,as a spiritual help in this struggle we
 offer them the spirit and  temper which
 will allow no man ever to be sacrificed
 to circumstances1  as if he were a mere
 human thing4 ,formulated by so-called  
thinkers and  popularized in all        
possible forms1 the conviction is       
general that  civilization is the       
privilege of an lite1 and that man in   
the mass  is only a means for realizing 
it4 ,at the same time the spiritual help
  which they can claim is denied to     
these men who have to wrestle to        
preserve their human nature4 ,that is   
the effect of the devotion to  reality  
to which we have surrendered ourselves4 
,but reverence for life  rebels against 
it1 and produces a spirit and temper in 

which there is  offered to every man in 
the thoughts of others the human value  
and the  human dignity which the        
circumstances of life would deny him4   
,the  struggle has thus lost its extreme
 bitterness4 ,man has now to assert     
himself only against his circumstances1 
and no longer against his  fellow-men at
 the same time4    ,further1 the temper 
of reverence for life helps those who   
have to  struggle hardest on behalf of  
their human nature by keeping alive the 
conception of human nature as the       
privilege which must be preserved at    
any price4 ,it keeps them from engaging 
with one-sided aims in their  struggle  
for the diminishing of their material   
unfreedom1 and bids  them bethink       
themselves that much more of human      
nature and inward  freedom can be       
combined with their actual              
life-circumstances than they  actually  
secure4 ,it leads them on to preserve   
recollectedness and  inwardness when    
they have hitherto given them up4       

,there must come about a spiritualizing 
of the masses4 ,the mass of  individuals
 must begin to reflect about their      
lives1 about what they  want to secure  
for their lives in the pg #bgf struggle 
for existence1  about what makes their  
circumstances difficult1 and about what 
they  themselves renounce4 ,they are    
wanting in spirituality because they    
have only a confused conception of what 
spirituality is4 ,they forget  to think1
 because elementary thought about       
themselves has become  something        
unfamiliar to them4 ,in what is in our  
day cultivated as  spirituality and     
practised as thought1 there is          
absolutely nothing  that comes directly 
home to them as necessary for them4 ,but
 if it  comes about that the thoughts   
suggested by reverence for life become  
common among us1 there will be a mode of
 thought provided which will  work in   
everybody1 and a spirituality aroused   
which will show itself  in everybody4   
,even those who are engaged in the      

hardest struggle on  behalf of their    
human nature will then be led to        
reflexion and  inwardness1 and will     
thereby obtain powers which they did not
 before  possess4    ,though all of us  
are alike aware that the maintenance of 
civilization  is dependent first and    
foremost on the breaking out of the     
fountains  of spiritual life in us1 we  
shall nevertheless zealously take in    
hand  our economic and social problems4 
,the highest possible material  freedom 
for the greatest possible number is a   
requirement of  civilization4    ,the   
recognition that we evidently have so   
little power over economic  relations   
does not discourage us4 ,we know this to
 be to a considerable  extent a result  
of the fact that hitherto facts were    
contending with  facts1 and passions    
with passions4 ,our powerlessness comes 
from our  feeling for reality4 ,we shall
 be able to deal with things much more  
effectively1 if we resolve to try to    
solve our problems by a change of       

spirit and temper4 ,and we are at length
 ready for the recognition of  this4    
,the efforts for control which were made
 on the strength of  economic theories  
and ,utopias were in every respect      
failures1 and have  brought us into a   
terrible condition4 ,there remains      
nothing for us to  do but to try a      
radical change of policy1 pg #bgg viz41 
the solution  of our problems by means  
of a helpful understanding and          
confidence in  a way that will prove    
effective4 ,it is reverence for life    
alone which  can create the spirit and  
temper needed for this4 ,the            
understanding  and confidence which we  
mutually accord to each other with a    
view to  what is most purposive1 and by 
means of which we obtain the utmost     
power that is possible over             
circumstances1 can be enjoyed only if   
everyone can assume in everyone else    
reverence for the existence of  the     
other and regard for his material and   
spiritual welfare as a  spirit and      

temper which influences them to the     
depths of their being4  ,only through   
reverence for life can we attain the    
standards of  economic justice1 about   
which we have to come to an             
understanding with  each other4    ,will
 it be possible to bring about this     
development8 ,we must1 if we  are not to
 be ruined together1 materially and     
spiritually4 ,all  progress in discovery
 and invention works itself out at last 
to a  fatal result1 if we do not        
maintain control over it through a      
corresponding progress in our           
spirituality4 ,through the power which  
we  gain over the forces of nature we   
get in an inexplicable way as human     
beings control over other human beings4 
,with the possession of a  hundred      
machines a single man or a company is   
given a supremacy over  all who work the
 machines4 ,some new invention makes it 
possible for  one man by a single       
movement to kill not merely a hundred1  
but ten  thousand of his fellow-men4 ,in

 no sort of struggle is it possible to  
avoid becoming ruinous to one another by
 economic or physical power4  ,at best  
the result is that the oppressor and the
 oppressed exchange  rles4 ,the only    
thing that can help is that we renounce 
the power  which is given us over one   
another4 ,but that is something to be   
done  by spirituality4    ,intoxicated  
by the progress in discovery and        
invention with which our  age has been  
flooded1 we forgot to trouble ourselves 
about men's  progress in spirituality4  
,in the absence of all thought we slid  
without knowing it into pg #bgh         
pessimism1 believing1 that is1 in all   
sorts of progress1 but no longer in the 
spiritual progress of the  individual   
and of mankind4    ,facts call us now to
 bethink ourselves1 just as movements of
 their  capsizing vessel drive the crew 
up on to the deck and into the  rigging4
 ,belief in the spiritual progress of   
the individual and of  mankind has      
already become almost impossible for us1

 but with the  courage of despair we    
must force ourselves into it4 ,that we  
shall all  unanimously again will this  
spiritual progress and again hope for   
it3  that is the reversal of the helm   
which we must succeed in making1 if  our
 vessel is at the last moment to be     
brought once more before the  wind4     
,only through thoughtful reverence for  
life shall we become capable of  this   
achievement4 ,if that reverence begins  
anywhere to work in our  thinking and in
 our spirit and temper1 then the miracle
 is possible4  ,the power of the        
elementary and living spirituality that 
is to be  found in it is beyond         
calculation4    ,church and ,state as   
historical entities1 and as ideals of   
civilization    ,state and ,church are  
only modified forms of the organization 
of men  towards humanity4 ,the ideals of
 social-political and religious         
organization are therefore determined by
 the necessity of these  entities being 
made effective aids to the              

spiritualizing of men1 and  to their    
organization towards humanity4    ,the  
fact that the ideals of ,state and      
,church among us are not at work  in    
their true form is due to our historical
 sense4 ,the men of the  8,aufklrung0   
assumed that ,state and ,church had come
 into existence by  reason of estimates 
made of their usefulness4 ,they sought  
to  comprehend the nature of these two  
entities by means of theories about     
their origins1 but in this proceeding   
they did nothing but read back  their   
own view into history4 ,not feeling the 
least reverence for any  natural        
historical entity1 they pg #bgi found it
 easy to approach  them with demands    
suggested by a rational ideal4 ,we1 on  
the contrary1  have such a measure of   
this reverence that we feel shy of      
wishing to  transform in accordance with
 theoretical ideas what had a quite     
different origin4    ,but ,state and    
,church are not merely natural          
historical entities2 they  are also     

necessary ones4 ,the only way in which  
reflexion can deal with  them is to be  
always at work1 transforming them from  
what they are as  received1 into        
organisms which are in accordance with  
reason and  effective in every respect4 
,only in this capacity for development  
is  their existence fully apprehended   
and justified4    ,the natural          
historical entity presents us always    
only with initial  facts which lead on  
to corresponding further happenings1 but
 never  with facts in which the nature  
of the society1 that is to say the way  
in which we are to behave towards it and
 to belong to it1 can be  determined4   
,if one allows that in the conception of
 the natural entity  there is also given
 one of a self-determined purpose1 there
 arises a  fundamental confusion in     
people's notion of the organization4    
,the  individual and humanity as a      
whole1 which are just as truly natural  
entities as the two historical ones1 are
 robbed of their rights and  sacrificed 

to the latter4 ,the increased           
understanding with which we  now study  
the natural policy of societies with    
historical origin can  therefore not    
alter at all our demand that ,state and 
,church shall  direct their course more 
and more with reference to the ideal of 
man  and of humanity as their natural   
poles1 and be obliged to find in them   
their higher effectiveness4             
,civilization demands1 then1 that ,state
 and ,church become capable of          
development4 ,this presupposes that the 
relations of influence between  the     
collective body and individual members  
of it will become different  from what  
they have been4 ,in the last few        
generations the individual  has in face 
of ,state and ,church surrendered more  
and more of his  spiritual independence4
 ,he received his spirit pg #bhj and    
temper  from them1 instead of the spirit
 and temper that was growing within  him
 working as a shaping force upon ,state 
and ,church4    ,this abnormal relation 

was unavoidable4 ,the individual had1 of
 course1  nothing in which he could be  
spiritually independent4 ,he had1       
therefore1 no spirit and temper in which
 he could come to terms with  the       
entities of real life4 ,nor was he in a 
position to think out  ideals which     
could work upon reality4 ,there was no  
course left for him  but to adopt as an 
ideal an idealized reality4    ,but in  
the world- and life-view of reverence   
for life he obtains the  means to a firm
 and valuable self-determination4 ,it is
 with a will and  a hope which he       
carries ready shaped within himself that
 he faces  reality4 ,it is to him       
something self-evident that every       
society that  is formed among men must  
serve towards the maintenance1 the      
advancement1 and the higher development 
of life1 and the production of  true    
spirituality4    ,that which is decisive
 for the commencement of a development  
of ,state  and ,church which has        
civilization for its aim and object1 is 

that the  mass of men belong to these   
two entities in the spirit and temper of
  reverence for life and the ideals     
which grow out of it3 when that is  the 
case there arises in ,state and ,church 
a spirit which works for  their         
transformation into something ethical   
and spiritual4    ,a forecast of the    
course this process will take cannot be 
made1 nor is  one needed4 ,the spirit   
and temper of reverence for life is a   
force  which works effectively in every 
direction4 ,the important thing is  that
 it shall be present with a strength and
 a steadiness which will  suffice to    
bring about the transformation4    ,the 
moralizing of the religious and         
political community    ,if the ,church  
is to accomplish its task1 it must unite
 men in  elementary1 thoughtful1 ethical
 religiousness4 ,this pg #bha it has    
done hitherto very imperfectly4 ,how far
 it is from being what it ought  to be1 
its absolute failure in the war         
revealed4 ,there devolved on it  the    

duty of summoning men out of the        
struggle of national passions to        
reflexion1 and to keep them in the      
spirit and temper of the highest        
ideals4 ,it was not able to do this1 and
 indeed did not seriously  attempt to4  
,only too completely historical1 and too
 well organized1  and too little a      
directly religious association1 itself  
succumbed to  the spirit of the time and
 mixed up with religion the dogmas of   
nationalism and pragmatism4 ,there was  
only one tiny church1 the  community of 
the ,quakers1 which attempted to defend 
the unconditional  validity of reverence
 for life1 as it is contained in the    
religion of  ,jesus4    ,the spirit and 
temper of reverence for life is able to 
work for the  transformation of the     
,church to the ideal of a religious     
association1  because it is itself      
deeply religious4 ,in all historically  
formulated  belief it seeks to bring    
into general acceptance as the elemental
 and  essential thing in piety the      

ethical mysticism of oneness with the   
infinite ,will1 which experiences itself
 in us as the will to love4 ,by  putting
 in the very centre of things the most  
living and universal  element of piety1 
it leads the different religious        
associations out of  the narrowness of  
their historical past1 and paves the way
 for  understanding and union between   
them4    ,but this spirit and temper    
does even more than that4 ,besides      
bringing  the existing historical       
religious associations out of their     
historical  existence into a development
 towards the ideal of a religious       
association1 it works also where they   
can do nothing1 in the sphere of        
non-religion4 ,there are many           
non-religious people among us4 ,they    
have  become so partly through          
thoughtlessness and absence of any      
world-view1 and partly because as a     
result of honest thinking they  could no
 longer be content with a traditional   
religious world-view4  ,the world- and  

life-view of reverence for life enables 
these  non-religious minds to pg #bhb   
learn that every world- and life-view   
which begins to think honestly          
necessarily becomes religious4 ,ethical 
mysticism reveals to them the necessity 
to thought of the religion of  love1 and
 leads them back to paths which they    
believed they had  abandoned for ever4  
,just as the transformation of the      
religious association must be the       
result primarily of an inward change1 so
 must that of the social and  political 
community also4    ,it is true1 indeed1 
that to believe in the possibility of   
transforming  the modern state into the 
civilized state is a piece of heroism4  
,the  modern state finds itself to-day  
in an unprecedented condition of        
material and spiritual penury4          
,collapsing under the weight of debts1  
torn by economic and political          
struggles1 stripped of all moral        
authority1 and scarcely able any longer 
to maintain its authority in  practical 

matters1 it has to wrestle for its      
existence in a succession  of fresh     
troubles4 ,whence is it to get power to 
develop1 in the face  of all these      
things1 into a truly civilized state8   
,what crises and catastrophes the modern
 state is still destined to go  through 
cannot be foreseen4 ,its position is    
further endangered  especially by the   
fact that it has far overstepped the    
limits of its  natural sphere of        
operation4 ,it is an extraordinarily    
complicated  organism which intervenes  
in all social relationships1 which tries
 to  regulate everything1 and therefore 
in every respect functions              
ineffectively2 it tries to dominate     
economic life as it dominates  spiritual
 life2 and for its activities over this 
extensive field it  works with machinery
 which in itself at once constitutes a  
danger4    ,at some time and in some way
 or other the modern state must emerge  
from its financial trouble1 and reduce  
its activity to a normal  standard1 but 

by what methods it can ever again get   
back to a natural  and healthy condition
 remains still a riddle4    ,the tragic 
thing is1 then1 that we have to belong  
to the unsympathetic  and unhealthy     
modern state while cherishing pg #bhc   
the will to  transform it into a        
civilized state4 ,there is demanded from
 us an  absolutely impossible           
achievement of faith in the power of the
 spirit4  ,but the ethical world- and   
life-view gives us strength for the     
task4    ,living in the modern state and
 thinking out the ideal of the civilized
  state1 we first of all put an end to  
the illusions which the former          
cherishes about itself4 ,only by the    
majority of its members taking up  a    
critical attitude towards it can it come
 to itself again in  reflexion about    
itself4 ,the absolute impossibility of  
the continuance  of the state in its    
present condition must become the       
universal  conviction before things can 
become in any way better4    ,but at the

 same time1 through meditation on the   
civilized state1 the  perception must   
become common property that all merely  
external  measures for raising and      
making healthy the modern state1 however
  effective they may be in themselves1  
will have only a quite imperfect  result
 unless the spirit of the state becomes 
quite different4 ,let us1  then1        
undertake to drive the modern state1 so 
far as the power of our  thought        
reaches1 into the spirituality and the  
morality of the  civilized state as it  
is to be1 by following the ideas        
contained in  reverence for life4 ,we   
demand from it that it shall become more
  spiritual and more ethical than any   
state has hitherto been called on  to   
become4 ,only with efforts to reach the 
true ideal do we get  progress4    ,the 
objection is raised that1 according to  
all experience1 the state  cannot exist 
by relying merely on truth1 justice1 and
 ethical  considerations1 but has in the
 last resort to take refuge in          

opportunism4 ,we smile at this          
experience4 ,it is refuted by the dreary
  results it has produced4 ,we have1    
therefore1 the right to declare the     
opposite course to be true wisdom1 and  
to say that true power for the  state as
 for the individual is to be found in   
spirituality and the  ethical4 ,the     
state lives by the confidence of those  
who belong to it2  it lives by the      
confidence felt in it by other pg #bhd  
states4  ,opportunist policy may have   
temporary successes to record1 but in   
the  long run it assuredly lands itself 
in failure4    ,thus ethical world- and 
life-affirmation lays upon the modern   
state  the requirement that it shall    
aspire to making itself an ethical      
personality4 ,it presses this           
obstinately upon the state1 and does not
  let itself be deterred by the smiles  
of superior persons4 ,the wisdom  of    
to-morrow has a different tone from that
 of yesterday4    ,only by a new spirit 
and temper ruling within it can the     

state attain  to peace within its       
borders2 only by a new spirit and temper
 arising  between them can different    
states come to understand each other1   
and  cease to bring destruction upon    
each other2 only by treating the        
overseas world in a different spirit and
 temper from that of the past  and of   
to-day1 can the modern state cease to   
load itself in that  quarter with guilt4
    ,such moral talk about the civilized
 state has often been produced in  the  
past4 ,certainly it has4 ,but it        
acquires a special tone at a time  when 
the modern state is perishing in misery1
 because it refused in  the past to     
continue to be in any way spiritually   
ethical4 ,it  possesses a new authority1
 too1 to-day because in the world- and  
life-view of reverence for life there is
 revealed the significance of  the      
ethical in its full extent and its full 
profundity4    ,we are therefore freed  
from any duty of forming a conception of
 the  civilized state which accords with

 the declarations of nationalism and    
national civilization1 and we are at    
liberty to turn back to the  profound   
navet of thinking it to be a state which
 allows itself to  be guided by an      
ethical spirit and temper4 ,with        
confidence in the  strength of the      
civilized spirit and temper which       
springs from  reverence for life we take
 upon ourselves the task of making this 
civilized state an actuality4    ,we    
look round beyond peoples and states    
upon humanity as a whole1  feeling      
ourselves responsible to the civilized  
spirit and temper4 ,to  anyone who has  
surrendered himself pg #bhe to ethical  
world- and  life-affirmation the future 
of men and of mankind is an object of   
care  and of hope4 ,to become free from 
this care and hope is poverty2 to be    
wholly surrendered to it is riches4     
,thus it is our consolation1 that  in a 
time of difficulty and without knowing  
how much we may still  experience of a  
better future1 we are paving the way1   

solely by our  confidence in the power  
of the spirit1 for a civilized mankind  
which  is to come4    ,kant published1  
with the title ,towards ,perpetual      
,peace1 a work  containing rules which  
were to be observed with a view to      
lasting  peace whenever treaties of     
peace were concluded4 ,it was a mistake4
  ,rules for treaties of peace1 however 
well intended and however ably  drawn   
up1 can accomplish nothing4 ,such       
thinking as brings power to the  spirit 
and temper produced by reverence for    
life is the only thing  which can bring 
to mankind perpetual peace4    ,,finis  
,,footnotes      ,preface ,notes    #a  
,translator's ,note4--,weltanschauung4  
,this compound word may be  translated  
8theory of the universe10               
8world-theory10  8world-conception10 or 
8world-view40 ,the first is misleading  
as  suggesting1 wrongly1 a scientific   
explanation of the universe2 the  second
 and third as suggesting1 less          
ambitiously but still wrongly1 an       

explanation of how and why our human    
world is what it is4 ,the last          
indicates a sufficiently wide knowledge 
and consideration of our  corner of the 
universe to allow all factors to be     
taken into  consideration which bear on 
the question at issue4    ,there may be 
passages in which it is desirable to    
vary the  translation1 and others in    
which it is possible to give the meaning
 in  more elegant ,english1 for good    
,english style does not take kindly to  
such compound words4 ,but this latter   
consideration can be only a  secondary  
one in the translation of a             
philosophical work1 the first  object of
 which must be to ensure that the       
author's meaning shall be  reproduced as
 clearly as possible4      ,,chapter    
,,iii ,notes    #b ,friedrich ,jodl3 ,a 
,history of ,ethics as ,philosophical   
,science1 #bnd  ed41 #b vols4 7,vol4    
,i41 #aijf2 ,vol4 ,,ii41 #aiab74 ,it    
treats of the ethics  of ,western       
philosophy only4      ,,chapter ,v      

,notes    #c ,very important for our    
knowledge of the old philosophy and     
ethics  are the ten books entitled ,the 
,lives and ,teaching of ,famous         
,philosophers1 ,diogenes ,laertius in   
the third century after ,christ4  ,just 
because they are purely anecdotal1 ,they
 have preserved for us  much information
 and many views which otherwise--for the
 works on the  philosophers treated of  
have all been lost--we should not       
possess4    #d ,xenophon1 one of the    
generals who led the ten thousand back  
out of  ,asia1 wrote down his           
recollections of ,socrates after the    
latter's  death4 ,by his report of the  
simple conversations of the master he   
seeks to render impotent for all time   
the accusation that he corrupted  the   
youth and taught atheism1 for even after
 his death teachers of  rhetoric did in 
fact draw up formal complaints against  
him4 ,xenophon's  straightforward1      
realistic portrait of ,socrates is      
extraordinarily  valuable4    #e ,the   

most important dialogues in this        
connexion are the ,protagoras1  the     
,gorgias1 the ,phdrus1 the ,symposium1  
the ,phdo1 and the  ,philebus4    #f ,of
 the writings of the ,cyrenaics and the 
,cynics1 of ,democritus1  ,epicurus1    
,zeno1 and the older ,stoics hardly     
anything has come down to  us4 ,our     
knowledge of them is derived mostly from
 ,diogenes ,laertius4    ,the ,cyrenaics
 were known as the philosophers of      
pleasure because  ,aristippus1 the first
 preacher of the world-wisdom of joy1   
hailed from  ,cyrene4 ,the ,cynics1 or  
dog-philosophers1 derived their name    
from the  fact that they despised the   
amenities of life and often delighted in
 a  coarse naturalness4 ,the best known 
of them is ,diogenes of ,sinope 7died   
#cbc ,b4,c474    ,zeno's philosophy was 
called ,stoicism because he taught at   
,athens in a  colonnaded portico called 
the ,stoa ,poikile 7i4e41 the painted   
portico74    #g ,translator's           
,note4--,irony is intentional           

self-depreciation or  disclaiming what  
one really possesses4    #h ,of ,seneca 
quite a series of ethical treatises have
 come down to us4  ,we mention here3 ,on
 ,clemency 7,de ,clementia1 addressed to
 ,nero72  ,on ,benefits 7,de            
,beneficiis72 ,on ,tranquillity of ,soul
 7,de  ,tranquillitate ,animi71 ,on     
,anger 7,de ,ira74    ,our knowledge of 
the teachings of ,epictetus we owe to   
his pupil1  ,flavius ,arrianus1 the     
historian4 ,the latter has recorded a   
number of  his master's lectures in     
eight books1 of which four have         
survived4 ,in  addition to these he     
collected and published a number of his 
sayings  on morality in the             
,enchiridion4    ,in the popular        
philosophizings of ,cicero 7#ajf-dc     
,b4,c47 as well1 we can  see an attempt 
to produce a new ethic which is really  
living4      ,,chapter ,,vi ,notes    #i
 ,bacon was ,lord ,chancellor under     
,james ,i4 of ,england1 but was in #afba
  deprived of his office because found  

guilty of corruption4 ,his two  chief   
works are the ,novum ,organum           
,scientiarum 7#afbj7 and ,de  ,dignitate
 et ,augmentis ,scientiarum 7#afbc74 ,of
 the ,new ,atlantis only  a fragment has
 survived4    #aj ,see the writer's     
books3 ,das ,messianitts- und           
,leidensgeheimniss4  ,eine ,skizze des  
,lebens ,jesu 7#aija74 ,english version3
 ,the ,mystery of  the ,kingdom of ,god 
7#aiad ,a4 amp2 ,c4 ,black74 ,geschichte
 der  ,leben-,jesu ,forschung 7#aijf2   
new edition1 #aibb74 ,english version3  
,the  ,quest of the ,historical ,jesus  
7#aiaa2 #crd impression1 #aibb ,a4 amp2 
,c4  ,black74    #aa ,gassendi3 ,de     
vita1 moribus1 et doctrina ,epicuri     
7#afdg7 and  ,syntagma philosophi       
,epicuri 7#afdi74      ,,chapter ,,vii  
,notes    #ab ,d4 ,hartley3             
,observations on ,man1 his ,frame1 his  
,duty1 and his  ,expectations 7#agdi2   
#fth ed41 #ahcd74    #ac ,d4 von        
,holbach3 ,systme de la nature ou des   
lois du monde physique  et du monde     

moral 7#aggj74    #ad ,thomas ,hobbes3  
,elementa philosophica de cive 7#afdb72 
,leviathan1  or the ,matter1 ,form1 and 
,authority of ,government 7#afea72 ,de  
homine4    #ae ,john ,locke3 ,an ,essay 
concerning ,human ,understanding 7#b    
vols41  #afij74    #af ,adrien          
,helvetius3 ,trait de l',esprit 7#ageh74
    #ag ,jeremy ,bentham3 ,an           
,introduction to the ,principles of     
,morals and  ,legislation 7#aghj74 ,e4  
,dumont 7#agei-ahbh7 of ,geneva1 an     
admirer of  ,bentham who was domiciled  
in ,england1 reproduced this work in    
,french  in a free abbreviation as      
,traits de lgislation civile et pnale   
7#ahjb74 ,frederick ,edward ,beneke     
followed this abbreviation when he      
produced a ,german translation with the 
title3 ,grundstze der ,civil-  und      
,criminalgesetzgebung 7#ahcj74    #ah   
,translator's ,note4--,german           
8enthusiastisches ,handeln40 ,the       
explanatory periphrasis is added once   
for all1 since 8enthusiastic0  implies a

 kind and degree of feeling which is not
 implied in these  philosophical        
passages4    #ai ,david ,hume3 ,a       
,treatise of ,human ,nature3 ,being an  
,attempt to  introduce the ,experimental
 ,method of ,reasoning into ,moral      
,subjects  7#agdj74 ,german translation 
by ,heinrich ,jacob 7#b vols41 #agia73  
,inquiry  ,concerning the ,principles of
 ,morals 7#agea74    #bj ,adam ,smith3  
,the ,theory of ,moral ,sentiments      
7#agei72 ,inquiry into  the ,nature and 
,causes of the ,wealth of ,nations      
7#aggj74 ,german  translation of ,the   
,theory of ,moral ,sentiments by ,l4    
,th4 ,kosegarten  7#agia74 ,adam ,smith 
was ,professor of ,moral ,philosophy at 
,glasgow4    #ba 8,l'amour de la gloire 
est inn dans les belles mes2 il n'y a   
qu'  l'animer1 il n'y a que l'exciter1  
et des hommes qui vgtaient  jusqu'alors1
 enflamms par ce heureux instinct1 vous 
paratront  changs en demi-dieux40--uvres
 de ,frdric le ,grand1 vol4 ix41 p4     
#ih4    #bb ,r4 ,cudworth3 ,intellectual

 ,system of the ,universe 7#afgh72      
,treatise concerning ,eternal and       
,immutable ,morality 7postumous1        
#agca74    #bc ,h4 ,more3 ,enchiridium  
,ethicum 7#affg74    #bd ,s4 ,clarke3 ,a
 ,discourse concerning the ,unchangeable
 ,obligations of  ,natural ,religion1   
and the ,truth and ,certainty of the    
,christian  ,revelation 7#agjf74    #be 
,r4 ,cumberland3 ,de legibus natur      
disquisitio philosophica 7#afgb74    #bf
 ,w4 ,wollaston3 ,the ,religion of      
,nature ,delineated 7#agbb74    #bg     
,characteristics of ,men1 ,manners1     
,opinions1 ,times 7#c vols41 #agaa74    
,in the second volume there is included 
his ethical treatise entitled1  ,inquiry
 concerning ,virtue or ,merit1 which    
appeared first1 in #afii1               
independently4 ,it was published in     
,french in #agde by ,denis ,diderot4    
#bh ,f4 ,hutcheson3 ,an ,inquiry into   
the ,original of our ,ideas of ,beauty  
and ,virtue 7#agbe72 ,a ,system of      
,moral ,philosophy 7#agee1 posthumous74 

#bi ,joseph ,butler3 ,fifteen ,sermons  
upon ,human ,nature1 or ,man  considered
 as a ,moral ,agent 7#agbf74            
,,chapter ,,viii ,notes    #cj ,the     
freely thinking1 anti-dogmatic          
religiousness of ,socinianism had       
maintained itself chiefly in ,poland1   
,holland1 ,hungary1 ,england1 and       
,north ,america4 ,its closer adherents  
called themselves also                  
,latitudinarians1 the more distant ones 
,unitarians4 ,the fact that  religious  
rationalism had already existed in a    
literary form made its  appearance in   
the eighteenth century easier4    #ca   
,tindal's work bears the title          
,christianity as ,old as the ,creation  
7#agcj74 ,pierre ,bayle's famous        
,dictionnaire historique et critique    
appeared for the first time in two      
volumes in #afie4    #cb ,the most      
impressive1 and perhaps the most        
profound document of the  religion of   
reason is the confession of faith which 
,rousseau in his  novel ,emile 7#agfb7  

puts into the mouth of a country        
minister from  ,savoy4    #cc ,f4 ,v4   
,reinhard3 ,essay concerning the ,plan  
which the ,founder of the  ,christian   
,religion drew up for the ,benefit of   
,mankind 7#agia2 #dth ed41  #agih74 ,k4 
,h4 ,venturini3 ,natural ,history of the
 ,great ,prophet of  ,nazareth          
7#ahjj-ahjb74 ,see for an account of    
them the writer's work3  ,the ,quest of 
the ,historical ,jesus 7#aijf2 #dth ed41
 #aibb 7,german72 #ast  ,english ed41   
#aiaj2 #crd1 #aibb74    #cd ,expulsion  
of the ,jesuits from ,portugal1 #agei2  
from ,france1 #agfd2  from ,spain and   
,naples1 #agfg2 from ,parma1 #agfh4     
#ce ,short ,theses upon the ,sin of     
,witchcraft and the ,practice of ,trial 
,therefor4    #cf ,see ,g4 ,lentre3     
8,les ,agents ,royalists sous la        
,revolution0 7,revue  des ,deux ,mondes1
 #aibb74    #cg ,her dictum is given in 
the ,english periodical1 ,the ,atlas1 in
 its  issue of ,january #bgth1 #ahbh4   
#ch ,esquiss d'un tableau historique des

 progrs de l'esprit humain4  ,it was    
published in #agie1 after the author's  
death1 at the expense of  the ,national 
,convention4      ,,chapter ,,ix ,notes 
#ci ,immanuel ,kant3 ,kritik der reinen 
,vernunft 7#agha72 ,grundlegung  zur    
,metaphysik der ,sitten 7#aghe72 ,kritik
 der praktischen ,vernunft  7#aghh72    
,kritik der ,urteilskraft 7#agij72 ,die 
,religion innerhalb der  ,grenzen der   
blossen ,vernunft 7#agic72 ,metaphysik  
der ,sitten 7#agig74      ,,chapter ,x  
,notes    #dj ,tractatus                
theologico-politicus 7anonymous1 #afgj72
 ,ethica ordine  geometrico demonstrata 
7posthumous and anonymous1 #afgg2       
,german  translation by ,johann ,lorenz 
,schmidt1 #agdd72 ,tractatus politicus  
7posthumous and anonymous1 #afgg74      
,first complete edition of ,spinoza's   
works1 #ahjb-c4    #da ,lao-tze 7born1  
circa4 #fjd ,b4,c473 ,taoteking2        
,chwang-tse 7fourth  century ,b4,c473   
,the ,true ,book of the ,southern       
,flower ,land2 ,lie-tse  7fourth century

 ,b4,c473 ,the ,true ,book of the       
,primitive ,water-spring4    #db ,g4 ,w4
 ,leibniz3 ,systme nouveau de la nature1
 et de la  communication des substances 
7#afie72 ,nouveaux ,essais 7#agjd72 ,la 
,monadologie 7#agad74      ,,chapter    
,,xi ,notes    #dc ,the greatest        
representatives of ,gnosticism are      
,basilides1  ,valentinus1 and ,marcion1 
all three living in the first half of   
the  second century ,b4,c4 ,at the      
beginning of that century all sorts of  
,gnostic systems spring up1 as did      
speculative ones at the beginning of    
the nineteenth4 ,the two great          
,christian teachers of ,alexandria1     
,flavius ,clemens at the end of the     
second century ,a4,d41 and ,origen at   
the beginning of the third1 try to bring
 the ,gnostic speculations into  harmony
 with the doctrine of the ,church4      
#dd ,j4 ,g4 ,fichte3 ,the ,foundations  
of ,all ,scientific ,theories 7#agid72  
,the ,system of ,moral ,teaching        
,according to the ,principles of        

,science  7#agih72 ,the ,destiny of ,man
 7#ahjj72 ,how to ,attain to the ,happy 
,life  7#ahjf72 ,addresses to the       
,german ,nation 7#ahjh74    ,a complete 
edition of ,j4 ,g4 ,fichte's works was  
edited by his son1 ,j4  ,h4 ,fichte1 in 
#ahde and the following years4 ,a good  
selection has been  published by ,f4    
,medicus 7#aijh to #aiab74    #de ,this 
and the following quotations are from   
,the ,destiny of ,man4      ,,chapter   
,,xii ,notes    #df ,d4 ,e4             
,schleiermacher3 ,discourses on         
,religion for the ,educated  among its  
,contemners 7#agii72 ,monologues        
7#ahjj72 ,outlines of a  ,critique of   
,moral ,philosophy down to the ,present 
,day 7#ahjc72  ,christian ,belief       
7#ahba-bc72 ,draft of a ,system of      
,moral ,philosophy  7posthumous1 #ahce74
      ,,chapter ,,xiii ,notes    #dg    
,friedrich ,hegel3 ,phenomenology of the
 ,spirit 7#ahjg72 ,the ,science  of     
,logic 7#c vols41 #ahab-bf72            
,encyclopdia of the ,philosophical      

,sciences 7#ahag72 ,the ,philosophy of  
,law 7#ahba72 ,the ,philosophy of       
,history 7posthumous1 #ahdj74 ,complete 
edition of his works in eighteen        
volumes1 prepared by his pupils1        
#ahcb-de4    #dh ,the ,encyclopdia1     
,part ,,iii4 7#ahde ed471 p4 #chf4      
#di ,the ,encyclopdia of ,philosophical 
,sciences1 ,part ,,iii4 7#ahde ed471  p4
 #cei4      ,,chapter ,,xiv ,notes      
#ej ,f4 ,e4 ,beneke3 ,prolegomena to a  
,physiology of ,morals 7#ahbb72 ,the    
,natural ,system of ,practical          
,philosophy 7#c vols41 #ahcg-dj74 ,by   
his  appearance as a champion of        
utilitarianism and his consequent       
attitude  of hostility to ,kant1 ,beneke
 drew upon himself the enmity of ,hegel1
  and was compelled in #ahbb to stop the
 course of lectures which he was  giving
 as a ,privat-dozent at ,berlin         
,university4 ,after ,hegel's death  he  
filled a professorship at ,berlin4      
#ea ,l4 ,a4 ,feuerbach3 ,what is        
,christianity8 7#ahda72 ,divinity1      

,freedom1 and ,immortality from the     
,standpoint of ,anthropology 7#ahff74   
#eb ,ernst ,laas3 ,idealism and         
,positivism 7#c vols41 #ahgi-hd74    #ec
 ,the ,physiology of ,society is the    
fourth volume of ,comte's ,course  of   
,positive ,philosophy 7#f vols41        
#ahcj-db74    #ed ,john ,stuart ,mill3  
,principles of ,political ,economy 7#b  
vols41  #ahdh72 ,utilitarianism 7#ahfa74
 ,there is a ,german translation of his 
works by ,th4 ,gomperz 7#ab vols41      
#ahfi-hf74 ,it was ,j4 ,s4 ,mill who    
introduced into philosophy the word     
8utilitarian0 as the descriptive  title 
of this particular school of ethic4     
#ee ,charles ,darwin3 ,the ,descent of  
,man and ,selection in ,relation to     
,sex 7#ahga74    #ef ,herbert ,spencer3 
,social ,statics 7#ahea72 ,the ,data of 
,ethics  7#ahgi72 ,the ,principles of   
,ethics 7#ahib74    #eg ,henri de       
,saint-,simon3 ,l',organisateur         
7#ahai-bj72 ,catchisme des  ,industriels
 7#ahbc-bd74    #eh ,charles ,fourier3  

,le nouveau monde industriel et         
socitaire  7#ahbi74    #ei ,p4 ,j4      
,proudhon3 ,qu'est-ce que la ,proprit8  
7#ahdj74    #fj ,robert ,owen3 ,a ,new  
,view of ,society 7#ahac72 and ,book of 
the ,new  ,moral ,world 7#g parts1      
#ahcf-di74    #fa ,ferdinand ,lassalle3 
,das ,system der erwonbenen ,rechte 7#b 
vols41  #ahfa72 ,offenes                
,antwortschreiben an das ,centralkomitee
 zur ,berufung  eines allgemeinen       
deutschen ,arbeiterkongresses 7#ahfc74  
#fb ,karl ,marx3 ,manifesto of the      
,communist ,party 7#ahdh1 in            
collaboration with ,friedrich ,engels72 
,capital 7vol4 i41 #ahfg2 the  second   
and third volumes were published in     
#ahhd and #ahid by ,friedrich  ,engels74
    #fc ,the same spirit pervades the   
work of the national economist1 ,gustav 
,schmoller of ,berlin3 ,concerning ,some
 ,questions of ,law and ,national       
,economy 7#ahge74 ,schmoller was the    
leader of the so-called 8,socialists  of
 the ,chair40    #fd ,the first to set  

before ,christendom its duty to take    
part in the  solution of the social     
question is ,flicit de ,lamennais       
7#aghb-ahed7  in his ,paroles d'un      
croyant 7#ahcc74 ,this book was         
condemned by the  ,pope in #ahcd4    #fe
 ,the ,english public was made familiar 
with working-class misery by            
,kingsley's novel ,yeast 7which appeared
 in #ahdh in ,fraser's  ,magazine1 and  
in #ahea was printed as a book71 and by 
two articles of  ,henry ,mayhew's in the
 ,morning ,chronicle 7,december #adth   
and #ahth1  #ahdi74 ,that ,christian    
,socialism made its appearance first in 
,england  and ,france is connected with 
the fact that the industry which creates
  social problems developed earliest in 
these countries4    #ff ,leo ,tolstoi3  
,my ,confessions2 ,german translation as
 ,worin besteht  mein ,glaube 7#ahhd72  
,french as ,ma ,religion 7#ahhd72       
,english as  ,christ's ,christianity    
7#ahhe74 ,see also ,what then shall we  
do8  7,german1 #ahhf74 ,the fact that   

,tolstoi's ethical ,christianity        
associates itself with contempt for     
civilization brings it near to          
primitive ,christianity4 ,but the       
all-important question1 how the power   
of the ethical thoughts of ,jesus are to
 work in the temper and the             
circumstances of modern times1 it does  
not answer4 ,tolstoi is a great         
stimulator but no guide4    #fg ,eduard 
,bernstein3 ,the ,presuppositions of    
,socialism1 and the ,tasks  of ,social  
,democracy 7#ahii74      ,,chapter ,,xv 
,notes    #fh ,what ,schopenhauer wrote 
after this1 his chief work1 which was   
printed when he was thirty1 are only    
appendixes and popular  explanations of 
it3 ,concerning the ,will in ,nature    
7#ahcf71 ,the ,two  ,fundamental        
,problems of ,ethics 7#ahdj71 ,parerga  
and ,paralipomena 7#b  vols41 #ahea74   
#fi ,in #ahjb-ahjd ,anquetil ,duperron  
7#agca-ahje7 published in two  volumes1 
with a ,latin translation1 the          
,oupnek'hat1 a collection of  fifty     

,upanishads1 which he had brought back  
from ,india in a ,persian  text4    #gj 
,the ,world as ,will and ,idea1 vol4    
ii41 chap4 xli4    #ga ,the ,world as   
,will and ,idea1 vol4 i41 chap4 lxix4   
#gb ,that the man who has won through to
 complete world- and life-denial        
remains holy even if he commits actions 
which according to accepted  ideas are  
unethical1 is taught by the             
,bhagavadgita as well as by the         
,upanishads4    #gc ,the ,world as ,will
 and ,idea1 vol4 i41 chap4 lxviii4      
#gd ,friedrich ,nietzsche3              
,old-fashioned ,reflexions 7#d parts1   
#ahgc-ahgf71 ,human and ,all too ,human 
7#c vols41 #ahgh-ahhj71 ,joyous         
,science 7#ahhb71 ,thus spake           
,zarathustra 7#d parts1 #ahhc-ahhe71    
,beyond ,good and ,evil 7#ahhf71 ,on the
 ,genealogy of ,morality 7#ahhg71  ,the 
,will to ,power 7posthumous1 #aijf74    
#ge ,max ,stirner 7#ahjf-ahef71 whose   
real name was ,kaspar ,schmidt1 has     
recently been regarded as a predecessor 

of ,nietzsche's on account of  his book1
 ,the ,individual and ,his ,property    
7#ahde71 in which he  supports the      
theory of merciless egoism4 ,but he is  
not one4 ,he has  provided no really    
deep philosophical background for his   
anarchistic  egoism4 ,he speaks as a    
mere logician1 and does not rise above  
the  level of the ,greek sophists4 ,a   
religious reverence for life1 such as   
,nietzsche feels1 is not to be found in 
him4      ,,chapter ,,xvi ,notes    #gf 
,h4 ,sidgwick3 ,the ,method of ,ethics  
7#ahgd74 7,german translation by  ,c4   
,bauer1 #aiji47    #gg ,leslie ,stephen3
 ,the ,science of ,ethics 7#ahhb74      
#gh ,s4 ,alexander3 ,moral ,order and   
,progress3 ,an ,analysis of ,ethical    
,conceptions 7#ahhi74    #gi ,wm4       
,wundt3 ,ethics3 ,an ,examination of the
 ,facts and ,law of the  ,moral ,life   
7#ahhg74    #hj ,friedrich ,paulsen3 ,a 
,system of ,ethics 7#ahhi74    #ha      
,friedrich ,jodl3 ,a ,history of ,ethics
 as ,philosophical ,science 7#b  vols41 

#bnd ed41 #aijf and #aiab74    #hb      
,georg von ,gizyki3 ,moral ,philosophy1 
expounded so as to be  intelligible to  
all 7#ahhh74    #hc ,harald ,hffding 7a 
,dane73 ,ethics 7#ahhg74 7,german       
translation1  #ahhh47    ,georg ,simmel 
7#aheh-aiah7 adopts a critical attitude 
towards modern  8scientific0 ethics in  
his ,introduction to ,moral ,science    
7#ahib74    #hd ,h4 ,cohen3 ,kant's     
,foundation given to ,ethics 7#ahgg72   
,the ,ethic of  the ,pure ,will 7#aijd74
    #he ,w4 ,herrmann3 ,ethics 7#aija74 
,in ,france ,charles ,renouvier         
7#ahch-aijc7 tries1 in his ,science of  
the  ,moral 7#ahfi71 to restore the     
,kantian system of ethics4    #hf ,jas4 
,martineau3 ,types of ,ethical ,theory  
7#b vols41 #ahhe74    #hg ,f4 ,h4       
,bradley3 ,ethical ,studies 7#ahgf74    
#hh ,t4 ,h4 ,green3 ,prolegomena to     
,ethics 7posthumous1 #ahhc74    #hi     
,simon ,laurie3 ,ethica1 or the ,ethics 
of ,reason 7#ahhe74 7,a ,french         
translation by ,georges ,remack1 #aijb47

    #ij ,james ,seth3 ,study of ,ethical
 ,principles 7#crd ed41 #ahid74    #ia  
,josiah ,royce3 ,the ,spirit of ,modern 
,philosophy 7#ahib72 ,religious         
,aspects of ,philosophy 7#dth ed41      
#ahib74    #ib ,a4 ,fouille3 ,critique  
des systmes de morale contemporaine     
7#ahhc72 ,evolutionisme des ides-forces 
7#ahij2 ,german translation1  #aijh72   
,la morale des ides-forces 7#aijg74     
#ic ,jean ,marie ,guyau3 ,la morale     
anglaise contemporaine 7#ahgi72         
,esquisse d'une morale sans obligation  
ni sanction 7#ahhe72  ,l'irreligion de  
l'avenir 7#ahhf74 ,a ,german version of 
his works  appeared in #f vols4 in      
#aiab4    #id 8,toute ide enveloppe un  
lment impulsif2 nulle ide n'est un tat  
simplement reprsentatif40 7,every idea  
contains an element of impulse2  no idea
 is merely a condition of re-presenting 
something in thought47    #ie 4 4 4     
8notre conscience de nous-mme tendant   
sa plnitude par son  expansion en       
autrui40 7 4 4 4 our consciousness of   

ourselves1 which  presses on to its full
 growth by expanding into others47      
#if 8,agis envers les autres comme si tu
 avais conscience des autres en  mme    
temps que de soi40    #ig ,fouille      
reveals his attitude towards ,nietzsche 
in a work entitled  ,nietzsche and      
,immoralism4 ,notes on the works of     
,fouille and ,guyau  have been preserved
 by ,nietzsche4    #ih ,eduard von      
,hartmann3 ,philosophy of the           
,unconscious 7#ahfi72  ,phenomenology of
 the ,moral ,consciousness 7#ahgi74     
#ii ,phenomenology1 p4 #fgj4    #ajj    
,phenomenology1 p4 #gjj4    #aja ,henri 
,bergson3 ,sur les donnes immdiates de  
la conscience  7#ahhh74 7,english       
translation by ,f4 ,l4 ,pogson1 #aiaj3  
,time and  ,freewill2 ,an ,essay on the 
,immediate ,data of ,consciousness47    
,matire  et memoire4 ,essai sur la      
relation du corps et de l'esprit        
7#ahif74  7,english translation by ,n4  
,m4 ,paul and ,w4 ,s4 ,palmer3 ,matter  
and  ,memory1 #aiaa47 ,l'nvolution      

cratrice 7#aijg74 7,english translation 
by ,a4 ,mitchell3 ,creative ,evolution1 
#aiaa47    #ajb ,h4 ,s4 ,chamberlain3   
,the ,foundations of the ,nineteenth    
,century  7#ahii74 7#adth impression1   
#aibb47 ,immanuel ,kant 7#aije72 ,goethe
  7#aiab74    #ajc ,count ,hermann      
,keyserling3 ,the ,structure of the     
,world 7#aijf72 ,a  ,philosopher's      
,travel-,diary 7#b vols41 #aiai72       
,philosophy as ,art  7#aibj74    #ajd   
,so ,otto ,braun in his essay 8,monism  
and ,ethics0 in the volume  entitled    
,monism ,expounded in ,contributions    
from its ,representatives  7edited by   
,arthur ,drews2 vol4 i41 #aijh74 ,the   
poverty of this ethic is  clearly       
revealed when the editor tries to       
indicate its content4      ,,chapter    
,,xx ,notes    #aje ,this book dates    
from about the eleventh century ,a4,d4  
,it has been  translated into ,english  
by ,james ,legge 7,sacred ,books of the 
,east1  #ahia7 and by ,t4 ,susuki and   
,p4 ,carus 7,chicago1 #aijf72 into      

,french by ,m4  ,a4 ,rmusat 7,le livre  
des rcompenses et des peines1 #ahaf71   
and by  ,stanislas ,julien 7#ahce72 into
 ,german by ,w4 ,schler 7,zeitschrift fr
  ,missionskunde1 #aiji74    8,be human 
with animals1 and do no harm to insects1
 plants1 and trees10  is the command of 
one saying in this book4 ,the following 
acts are  condemned3 8,hunting men or   
animals to death2 shooting with bow and 
arrow at birds2 hunting quadrupeds2     
driving insects out of their  holes2    
frightening birds which are asleep in   
the trees2 blocking up  the holes of    
insects1 and destroying birds-nests40   
,to delight in  hunting is described as 
a serious moral perversion4          pg 
#bhf    ,,index      ,alexander the     
,great1 #ej  ,alexander ,,ii41 #ajc     
,alexander1 ,samuel1 #ahb  ,amos1 #ba   
,antisthenes1 #cf                       
,anti-,utilitarians7ism71 #hf1 #hg1 #ajg
  ,aristippus1 #cf n4  ,aristotle1      
#ba1db1dd ff41 #fe  ,arrian1 #ec n4     
,augustine1 #eh    ,bach1 ,j4 ,s41 #ia  

,bacon1 ,lord ,verulam1 #fd  ,basilides1
 #abe n4  ,bayle1 #ic  ,beneke1 #aea    
,bentham1 #ge1 #gg1 #gi1 #hc1 #if1 #ajc1
  #add1 #aea1 #aei1 #bbb1 #bcc          
,bergson1 #aih f41 #bjc  ,bernstein1    
#afc  ,bodin1 #fh  ,bradley1 #ahd f4    
,braun1 #bja n4  ,buddha1 #ba1 #be1 #bg1
 #acc1 #agb1 #agd1 #bad1 #bch  ,butler1 
,bp41 #hi    ,carus1 ,p41 #bcd n4       
,chamberlain1 #aih f4  ,charron1 #fh    
,cherbury1 ,lord ,h4 of1 #ic            
,chwang-tse1 #bg1 #ed1 #aah1 #abj f41   
#aca1 #acc1 #aci1 #agi1 #bcf f41 #bgb   
,cicero1 #eb n41 #fe  ,clarke1 #hf      
,clemens1 ,flavius1 #abf n4  ,clement   
,,xiv41 #ie  ,cohen1 #ahc f4  ,collins1 
#ic  ,comte1 #aeb1 #aed  ,condorcet1    
#hi1 #ajd  ,confucius 7,kung-tse71 #ba1 
#bg1 #cd1  #ed1 #ia1 #ajd1 #aci1 #bcg   
f41 #bgb  ,copernicus1 #fa1 #aad        
,cudworth1 #hf  ,cumberland1 #hf        
,cynics1 #cd1 #cf1 #dc  ,cyrenaics1 #cd1
 #cf1 #dc    ,darwin1 ,chas41 #ad1aec   
ff41 #aic1 #bcc  ,democritus1 #cf f4    
,descartes1 #ac1 #fb1 #aaf1 #abc1 #acg1 

#bcc1 #bdf  ,diderot1 #hg n41 #hi       
,diogenes ,laertius1 #cb n41 #cf n4     
,diogenes of ,sinope1 #cf n4  ,domitian1
 #eb  ,drews1 #bja n4  ,du              
,bois-,raymond1 #bji    ,engels1 #afa   
,epictetus1 #eb-f1 #eh1 #fj1 #fe        
,epicurus7ism71 #ba1 #cf-i1 #ea1 #eh1   
#fh  ,erasmus1 #ff f4  ,ernesti1 #ic    
,essenes1 ,the1 #ih    ,feuerbach1 #aeb 
,fichte1 ,j4 ,g41 #ba1 #abf ff41        
#acf-ade1  #adg1 #aej f41 #aff-aga1     
#agg1 #ahe1  #ahi1 #bji1 #bbc1 #bca1    
#bcg f4  ,fichte1 ,imm4 ,h41 #abf n41   
#aff  ,firmian1 ,archbishop1 #ie        
,fouille1 #ahf-aic1 #aih  ,fourier1 #afa
  ,frederick the ,great1 #ha1 #if       
,freemasons1 #ig    ,galileo1 #fb       
,gassendi1 #fh  ,giordano1 ,bruno1 #fb1 
#hh  ,gizyki1 von1 #ahb  ,gnostics1 #fj1
 #abe f4  ,goethe1 #hi1 #acf ff41 #adj1 
#aii  ,gomperz1 #aec n4  ,green1 ,t4    
,h41 #ahd ff4    pg #bhg    ,grotius1   
#fh1 #if  ,guyau1 #ahg-ic    ,haeckel1  
#bja  ,hartley1 #gb1 #aeb  ,hartmann1   
#aid-aig  ,hegel1 #ba1 #ajb1 #abf1      

#ada-adi1 #aej1  #afb1 #afg1 #agj1 #agc1
 #aig1 #bjb1  #bcg f4  ,helvetius1      
#ge-gi  ,heraclitus1 #cb  ,herbart1 #aff
  ,herder1 #hi  ,herrmann1 #ahc-ahe     
,hobbes1 #ge-gi1 #he1 #abj  ,hffding1   
#ahb  ,holbach1 von1 #gb1 #aeb          
,humanism1 #ib  ,hume1 #hj-hd1 #ic1     
#aeb1 #aee1 #aha1  #ahh  ,hutcheson1 #hi
    ,illuminati1 ,the1 #ig  ,indian     
,philosophy1 #aa1 #ad1 #ag1 #be1  #bg1  
#bh1 #cj1 #cd1 #db1 #ed1 #ff1 #hh1      
#aac1 #aag f41 #aba1 #abc1 #ade f41     
#aeh1 #aff1 #aga1 #aid1 #bad1 #bbc1     
#bca1 #bcg1 #bci  ,intellectualists1    
#hg1 #ajf  ,intuitionists1 #hg1 #ajf1   
#ahd  ,isaiah1 #ba    ,jacobi1 #aaf     
,james1 #baj  ,jenner1 #ig  ,jesuits1   
#ie1 #ih  ,jesus1 #ba1 #be1 #bg1 #cd1   
#fc1 #fd1 #fe1  #ff1 #fg1 #id1 #ih1     
#aeh1 #bjb  ,jodl1 #bd1 #ahb  ,joseph   
,,ii41 #ii  ,josephus1 #ih    ,kant1    
#ac1 #ba1 #bc1 #be1 #da1 #hg1  #ajf-aae1
 #abb1 #abg-abi1 #acd1  #acf1 #acg1     
#adj1 #adg1 #aej1 #aea1  #aff1 #afi1    
#ahd1 #aij1 #aii1 #bjf1  #bji1 #bbc1    

#bca1 #bcc1 #beb  ,kepler1 #fb          
,keplerbund1 #bji  ,ketteler1 #afb      
,keyserling1 #aih-bjj1 #bjc  ,kingsley1 
,charles1 #afb f4    ,laas1 #aeb        
,lamennais1 #afb n4  ,lange1 #afb1 #aib 
f4  ,lao-tse1 #ba1 #bg1 #cd1 #cg1 #aah1 
#abj1  #aba1 #acc1 #aci1 #agi1 #bcf f4  
,lassalle1 #afa1 #afd  ,latitudinarians1
 #ic n4  ,laurie1 #ahd f4  ,legge1 #bcd 
n4  ,leibniz1 #ic1 #aaf1 #abb-abd1 #acg 
,leonardo da ,vinci1 #fa1 #bjj  ,lentre1
 #if n4  ,lessing1 #hi1 #ic  ,lie-tse1  
#aah1 #abj1 #agi  ,locke1 #ba1 #ge-gi1  
#he    ,machiavelli1 #fh  ,marcus       
,aurelius1 #eb-fj1 #fe1 #fh  ,marcion1  
#abe n4  ,martineau1 #ahd f4  ,marx1    
#afa f4  ,maurice1 ,f4 ,d41 #afb        
,mayhew1 #afc n4  ,mendelssohn1 ,moses1 
#hi1 #ic1 #aaf  ,meng-tse1 #bg1 #dg1    
#ea1 #ed1 #bcg  ,michaelis1 #ic  ,mill1 
,james1 #aec  ,mill1 ,john ,stuart1     
#aej1 #aec  ,mo-di1 #bcg  ,mohammed1 #bg
  ,monism1 #fj1 #ij1 #aad1 #ach1 #ahi1  
#bja  ,montaigne1 #fg  ,more1 ,henry1   
#hf    ,napoleon ,buonaparte1 #ajj1 #ajb

  ,neoplatonism1 #fj                    
,neopythagoreanism1 #fj  ,nero1 #eb     
pg #bhh    ,newton1 ,isaac1 #fi1 #hf    
,nicolai1 #abi  ,nietzsche1 #ba1 #bc1   
#afe1 #agd-ahj1  #ahh f41 #aig1 #bja1   
#bbc1 #bca1 #bcf  ,origen1 #abf n4      
,orphism1 #db  ,owen1 ,robert1 #afa     
,paracelsus1 #fb  ,paulsen1 #ahb  ,paul 
7the ,apostle71 #ba  ,plato1 #ba1       
#cc-ce1 #dj-eb1 #he1 #bbc  ,plotinus1   
#fj  ,positivism1 #aeb  ,prophets1 the  
,jewish1 #ba1 #bg1 #cd1 #bca  ,proudhon1
 #afa  ,pythagoreanism1 #db             
,rationalists 7ism71 #f1                
#ij-aje1abd-aca1  #ace1 #aci1 #adg1 #aej
 f41 #aij1  #baa  ,reformation1 #ff     
,reimarus1 #ic  ,reinhard1 #id          
,renaissance1 #ba1 #fa f41 #fi          
,renouvier1 #ahc  ,ritschl1 #baj        
,rousseau1 #ic  ,royce1 #ahf    ,saint  
,simon1 #afa  ,schelling1 #abf          
,schiller1 #acf-ach1 #adj               
,schleiermacher1 #ach-adj1 #ade         
,schmoller1 #afb  ,scholasticism1 #fa   
,schopenhauer1 #aa1 #ac1 #ba1 #bc1 #cj1 

#afe-agd1 #agi f41 #ahi1 #aig1 #bbc1    
#bca1 #bcd  ,schweitzer1 ,albert1 #fg   
n41 #id n4  ,semler1 #ic  ,seneca1      
#eb-fj1 #fe  ,seth1 #ahd f4  ,sforza1   
#bjj  ,shaftesbury1 ,lord1 #ba1 #he-hg1 
#ach  ,sidgwick1 ,h41 #ahb  ,simmel1    
#ahb n4  ,smith1 ,adam1 #hj-hd1 #hg1    
#aeb  #aee f41 #ahe  ,socinians1 #ib    
,socrates1 #ba1 #cc-dg1 #eb1 #ga1 #gd1  
#agg  ,sophists1 #cb1 #dh1 #agh         
,spencer1 ,h41 #aec-aeh1 #bjb  ,spinoza1
 #ac1 #ba1 #be1 #hh1 #ajd  #aaf-abd1    
#acc1 #acg-adj1 #adc  #afg1 #ahi1 #bbc1 
#bcg f4  ,stal1 ,madame de1 #ajc        
,stephen1 ,leslie1 #ahb  ,stern1 #aib   
f41 #bcd  ,stirner1 #agi n4  ,stoics1   
#ba1 #ce-i1 #ed1 #eg1 #bcg    ,taoism1  
#cg  ,telesio1 #fb  ,thomasius1 #ie     
,tindal1 #ic  ,toland1 #ic  ,tolstoi1   
#afc    ,unitarians1 #ic  ,unold1 #bja  
,utilitarianism1 #hj-hc1 #hg-hi1 #ajg   
#aji1 #aej-afd1 #aff1 #bba1 #bcb        
,valentinus 7,gnostic71 #abe n4         
,venturini1 #id1 #ih  ,voltaire1 #hi1   
#ij1 #ic1 #abb    ,wieland1 #hi         

,wollaston1 #hf  ,wolff1 #ic1 #abd      
,wundt1 #ahb1 #bcc    ,xenophanes1 #cb  
,xenophon1 #cc1 #ci    ,yang-tse1 #agi1 
#bcf    ,zarathustra1 #ba1 #bg f41 #agi1
 #bca  ,zelter1 #ia  ,zeno1 #cf f41 #ed1
 #eg  ,zwingli1 #ib                     
,,transcriber',s ,,notes      ,the      
formatting of both the 4htm and 4txt    
files followed that of three  similar   
books1 ,the ,quest of the ,historical   
,jesus1 ,the ,mystery of the  ,kingdom  
of ,god and ,the ,decay and ,restoration
 of ,civilization already  in ,project  
,gutenberg4 ,i have included page       
numbers in the format pg  xxx for both  
4htm and 4txt4    ,i made several       
hyphenation choices1 forced by          
de-hyphenation at  the ends of lines3   
#a4 ,will-lessness p4 #aid4  #b4        
birds-nests note #aje p4 #bcd4    ,cases
 of inconsistent use 7both hyphenated   
and unhyphenated are  present7 were left
 as they are3 two-fold1 non-sensible1   
,kung-tse1  un-civilization1            
pre-conceptions1 pre-suppositions1      

thorough-going1  re-fashion1            
present-day1 world-view1 driving-force1 
sum-total1  will-to-power1              
belief-in-progress1 nature-philosophy1  
rationally-pleasurable1 ever-new1       
general-notion1 world-and-life          
affirmation1 matter-of-fact1            
wage-system1 fellow-men1 bass-note1     
world-religions1 so-called1             
will-to-action1 ready-made1 all-round1  
optimistic-ethical4    ,i left the      
misspelled word 8postumous0 in footnote 
#bb from p4 #hf1 the  misspelled word   
8alway0 from p4 #bfb but ,i corrected   
the birth date for  ,henri ,bergson from
 #aefj to #ahfj on p4 #aih1 ,i corrected
 the spelling of  the translator of     
,mill in the ,index to 8,gomperz01 the  
spelling of the  ,german philosopher    
8,leibniz0 on p4 #ic and the ,index and 
the spelling  of the ,german philosopher
 8,nietzsche0 on p4 #age and #agf4 ,i   
eliminated  the small caps used for the 
first name of each starting letter in   
the  ,index4    ,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