C ONTENTS

What Is Philosophy ?
S ources Of Philosophy
The Comprehensiv e
The Idea of G od
The Unconditional Imperative
M an
The World
Faith and E nlightenment
The History of Man
The Independent Philosopher
The Philosophical L ife
The History of Philosophy

APPENDI C ES
Philosophy and S cience
O n R eading P hilosophy
Bibliograp hy
Index
 WAY T O WISD OM
doubt we are far more advanced than Hip p ocrat
,

the Greek physician But we are scarcely entitled

.

say that we hav e progressed

only adv anced beyond his m aterials beyond ,

scientific findings of which he made use In p hilo so .

itself we have scarcely regained his level .

It lies in the very nature Of philosophy as ,

t in gu ish e d from the sciences that in any Of its for

,

must dispense with the unanimous recognition

The certainty to which it a spires is not Of the Obj
scientific sort which is the same for every mind ;
,
’
inner certainty in which a man s whole bei
pates Whereas science always pertains to
.

Objects the knowledge Of which is by no means

,

pe ns able to all men philosophy deals with the

,

of being which concerns man as man with a

, ,

which wherever it is manifested moves us mor

, ,

deeply than any scientific knowledge .

S yste m atic philosophy is indeed bound up with t h '

sciences It always reckons with the m ost adv an ce c

.

scientific findings O f its time But essentially philosop h

.

Springs from a di ff erent source It emerges before an

“

science wherev er m e n achiev e awareness

, .

The existence of such a philosophy without science i

revealed in several striking ways :
First : In p hilosophical matters almost e v ery o n '

believes hi m self capable of judgm ent Whereas it i .

recognized that in the sciences study training metho c , ,

are indispensable to understanding in philosophy me! ,

generally assu m e that they are competent to form a !

Opinion without preli m inary study O ur O W! .

8
 WHAT IS P HILOSOPHY ?
manity o ur own destiny o ur o w n experience strike
, ,

as a su fficient basis fo r philosophical opinions .

notion that philoso p hy m ust be accessible to all

u st ifi e d The circuitous paths travelled by specialists
.

phi losophy have meaning only if they lead man to

awareness o f being and O f his place in it .

S econd : Philosophical thought m ust always spring

‘

Om free creation E very man must accomplish it fo r

.

im se lf .

’
A marvellous indication o f man s innate disposition
3 philosophy is to be found in the questions asked by

hildre n It is not uncommon to hear from the mouths

.

f children words which penetrate t o the very depths

f philosophy A few examples : .

A child cries o u t in wonderment I keep trying to ,

” ’
hink that I am somebody else but I m always mysel f , ,
.

his boy has touched o n one o f the universal sources O f

ert ain t y awareness of being through awareness o f
,

elf He is perplexed at t h e mystery of his I this

.
,

oystery that can be apprehended through nothing

lse ! uestioningly he stands before this ultimate

.
,

e alit y .

Another boy hears the story Of the C reation : In the

beginnin God made heaven and earth and
g
”
mm e diat ely asks What was before the beginning
,
?
”
( his child has sensed that there is no end t o question
ng that there is no stopping place for the mind that
, ,

[0 conclusive answer is possible .

A little girl o u t walki ng in the woods wi th her father

ist e ns to his stories about the elv es that dance in the
l e arin gs at night
“
But there are no elves
Ier father shifts over to realities describes the motion ,

9
 WAY T O WISD OM
doubt we are far more advanced than Hip p ocrat
,

the Greek physician But we are scarcely entitled

.

say that we have progressed beyond Plato We ha .

only adv anced beyond his materials beyond t ,

scientific findings of which he m ade use In p hilo so p .

itself we have scarcely regained his level .

It lies in the very nature Of philosophy as di ,

t ingu ish e d from the sciences that in any of its forms

,

m ust dispense with the unanimous recognition Of a

The certainty to which it aspires is not o f the o bj e ct iv
scientific sort which is the same for ev ery mind ; it is
,
’
inner certainty in which a man s whole being partie
pates Whereas science always pertains to p articul
.

objects the knowledge o f which is by no means indi

,

pensable to all men philosophy deals with the w h o l

,

Of being which concerns man as man with a trut

, ,

which wherever it is m anifested moves us mor

, ,
‘

deeply than any scientific knowledge .

Sys te m atic philosophy is indeed bound up with t h '

sciences It always reckons with the m ost adv ance :

.

scientific findings Ofits time But essentially philosop h

.

springs from a di ff erent source It emerges before an

.
‘

science wherev er men achieve awareness

, .

The existence o f such a philosophy without science i

rev ealed in several striking ways :
First : In philoso p hical m atters almost e v ery o n .

believes hi m self capable O f judgment Whereas it i .

recognized that in the sciences study training metho ( , ,

are indispensable to understanding in philosophy m e ! ,

generally assu m e that they are co m petent to form a !

Opinion without preli m inary study O ur O W! .

8
 WHAT IS P HILOSOP HY ?

manity o ur own destiny o ur own experience strike

, ,

as a su fficient basis for philosophical Opinions .

notion that philosophy m ust be accessibl e to all

u st ifi e d The circuitous paths travelled by specialists
.

p hi losophy have meaning only if they lead man to

awareness o f being and o f his place in it .

d : Philosophical thought must always spring

free creation E very man must accomplish it for
.

m se lf
.

’
A marvellous indication Of man s innate disposition
philosophy is to be found in the questions asked by
ildre n I t is not uncommon to hear from the mouths
.

children words which penetrate to the very depths

philosophy A few examples :
.

o u t in wonderment I keep trying to ,

”
somebody else but I m always mysel f ,
’
,
.

boy has touched o n o ne o f the u ni versal sources o f

int y awareness Of being through awareness Of
,

He is perplexed at t h e mystery Of his I this ,

ery that can be apprehended through nothing

! uestioningly he stands,
before this ultimate

Another b o y hears the story O f the Cr eation : In the

b egin ni ng God made heav en and earth and
immediat e ly asks Wh at was before the beginni ng ?
,

This child has sensed that there is no end to question

ing that there is no stopping place for the m ind that
, ,

no conclusive answer is possible .

A little girl out walking in the woods wi th her father

listens to hi s stories about the elves that dance in the
“
clearings at night But there are no elves
Her father s hi fts over to realities describes the motion ,

9
 WAY TO WI SD O M _

of the sun discusses the question o f whether it is

,

sun or the earth that revol ves and explains the reas ,

for supposing that the earth is round

”
axis O h that isn t so says the little girl
“
,
’
,

stamps her foot The earth stands still I o nl y be!

. .

” ”
what I see Then says her father
.
“

y o u
,
d ,
“

believ e in G o d you can t see Him either The 1

,
’
.

girl is puzzled for a m o m ent but then says with g ,

’
assurance If there weren t any God we wouldn t
,
’
,

here at all This child was seized with the won der
.

existence : things do not exist through themselves A n .

she understood that there is a di ff erence b et w e e

q uestions bearing o n particular Obj ects in the worl

and those bearing on o u r existence as a whole .

A nother little girl is climbing the stairs o n her

v isit her aunt S he begins to reflect o n how
.

changes flows passes as though it had n

, , ,
“
But there must be something that
I m climbing these stairs o n my
’
sa m e
—
my aunt that s so m ething I ll never forget
’ ’
.

ment and terror at the universal transience Of t hi ng

here seek a forlorn evasion .

Anyone who chose to collect these stories m igh

’
co m pile a rich store Of children s philosophy It i .

so m etim es said that the children m ust have heard

this fro m their parents or so m eone else but such ,

objection Obviously does not apply to the child s re ’

serious questions To argue that the se children do .

continue to philosophize and that consequently s

utterances must be accidental is to overlook the
that children Often possess gifts which they lose as
grow up With the years we seem to
.

IO
 WHA T rs E HIL OSOP HY ?

conve ntions and opinions concealments an d u n

,

est io n e d acceptance and there we lose the candour of

,

The child still reacts spontaneously t o the

O f life ; the child feels and s ees and inquires
which soon disappear from his vision He .

t for a moment was revealed to him and is

when grownups later tell him what he said
questions he asked .

S pontaneous philosophy is found not only in

dren but also in the insane S ometimes — rarely
.

v eils o f universal occlusion seem t o part and

e t rat in g truths are ma ni fested The begin ni ng of
.

rt ain mental disorders is Often distinguished by

at t e rin g metaphys ical re v elations though they are
,

u ally formulated in terms that cannot achieve

fi can c e : exceptions are such cases as HOlderli n and

Gogh But anyone witnessing these revelations
.

o t help feeling that the mists in which we ordin

live o ur lives hav e been torn asunder A nd many .

people have in awaking from sleep experienced

, ,

gely revealing insights which vanish with ful l

wakefulness ,
leaving behind them only the im
pression that they can nev e r be recaptured There is .

pro f ound mea n i ng in the saying that children and fools

tell the truth But the creative originality to which we
.

ow e great philosophical ideas is not to be sought here

bu t among those great m inds — and in all history there

have been only a few Of them—who preserve their
candour and independence .

Fourth : S ince man canno t av o id philosophy it is

‘ ‘

always present : in the prov erbs handed down by

tradition in popular philosophical phrases in do m inant
, ,

I I
 WAY T O WISD OM
convictions such as are embodied in the idiom Of
“
e m ancipated in political Opinions but most o f
, ,

since the very beginnings of history in myths T here ,

.

no escape from philosophy The question is o n .

whether a philosophy is conscious or not whether it ,

good or bad muddled or clear A nyone who rej e c

, .

philosophy is him self unconsciously practising

philosophy .

What then is this philosophy which manifests itse ,

so univ ersally and in such strange forms ?

The Greek word for philosopher (philosophas) con

notes a distinction fro m sophos I t signifies the lover O .

wisdom ( knowledge ) as distinguished from him

considers himself wise in the possession of k
This meaning O f the word still endures : the essence
p hiloso p hy is not the pos s ession o f truth but the sear

for truth regardless of how many philosophers m

,

belie it with their dogmatis m that is with a body , ,

didactic principles purporting to be definitiv e a

co m p lete Philo sophy means to be on the way
. .

questions are m ore essential than its answers and cv ,

answer becomes a new question .

But this o n the w ay n es s— m an s destiny in

- -
’

contains within it the possibility o f deep s atis

and indeed in exalted moments Of perfection This
, ,
.

perfection nev er re sides in formulable knowledge in ,

dogmas and articles of faith but in a historical con

,

summation O f m an s essence in which being itself is

’

rev e aled To app rehend this reality in m an s actual

.
’

situation is the aim Of philosophical endeavour .

TO be searchingly on the way o r to find peace and ,

12
 WAY T O WI SD OM
ofreason in the presence of failure and in the prese
o f that which seems alien to it .

Philosophy is the principle Of concentration thro ng

whi ch man becomes himsel f by partaking o f reality
,
.

Although philosophy in the form of simple st irri

, ,

ide as can move every man and even ch ildren

, ,

scious elaboration is never compl e te must for ,

undertaken anew and must at all times be

as a living whole —it is manifested
great philosophers and echoed in the
sophers It is a task which man will face in one form
.

another as long as he remains m an .

Today and not for the first time philosophy i

, ,

radically attacked and totally rejected as sup e rfi u o u

o r harmful What is the good o f it ? It does not help u
.

in a ffliction .

Authoritarian church thought has c o n de m n e

independent phil osophy on the ground that it is
worldly temptation which leads man away from
destroys his soul with v ain preoccupations Pol .

totalitarianism has attacked it o n the ground

philosophers hav e merely interpreted the worl
various ways when the i m portant thing was to ch
,

it Both these schools Of thought regard

.

as dangerous for it undermined order prom

, ,

spirit of independence hence o f rev olt delude

, ,

and dis tracted him from his practical tasks Tho .

uphold another world illumined by a revealed

those who stand for the exclusive power of a
here and n o w would equally wish t o ext
philosophy .

14
 WHAT IS P HILOSOP H Y ?

d everyday common sense clamours for the simple

tick of utility measured by which philosophy
,

T hales who is regarded as the first of Greek

,

o so p h ers was ridiculed by a slav e girl who saw him

,

into a well while observing the sky Why does he .

ch the remote heavens when he is so awkward in

ngs with the things Of this worl d ?

philosophy then justify itself? That is im

I t cannot j ustify itself o n the basis o f a some
e for which it is useful I t can only appeal to th e
.

every man which drive him toward philo

h o u gh t I t is a disinterested pursuit to which
.
,

Of utility or inj uriousness have no relevance ,

endeavour proper t o man as man and it will con ,

u e to fulfil this striving as long as there are men alive .

en those groups which are hostile to it cannot help

their own peculiar ideas and b ringing forth
p ragmatic systems which are a substi t ute fo r philo

;op h y
,
though subservient to a desired end — such as
Marxis m or fascism The existence of even these
.

iy st e m s shows how indispensable p hilosophy is to man .

Philosophy is always with us .

P hilosophy cannot fight it cannot prove its truth

, ,

bu t it can comm unicate itself I t o ff ers n o resistance.

where it is rej ected it does not triumph where it gains

,

a hearing It Is a living exp ression o f the basic univ er

.

sali t y of man o f t h e bond between all men

, .

Great systematic philosophies have existed for t w o

an d o n e half millennia in the West in C hina and in
-
, ,

India A great tradition beckons to us Despite the

. .

w ide variety o f philosophical thought despite all the ,

contradictions and mutually exclusiv e claims to truth ,

15
 WAY T O WISD OM
re is in all philosophy a O ne which no m
,

sse sse s but about which all serious e ff orts have at

es gravitated : the o n e eternal phi losophy ,

losophia p erennis We must seek this historical fou

.

n Of o u r think ing if we would think cl e arly

an ingfully .
 WAY T O WI SD OM
about the greater matters e g about , . .
,

o f the moon and those Of the sun and o f t h e stars

, , ,
”
about the genesis o f the universe .

Wonder impels man to seek knowledge In .

wonderment I become aware o f my lack O f k n o w le d

I seek knowled ge but for its o w n sake and n o t
,
”
satisfy any common need .

In philosophical thought man awakens from

bondage to practical needs Without ulterior purp
.

he contemplates things the heav ens

, ,

asks what is all this ? Where does it co m e

,

the answers to his questions he expects no profit but

intrinsic satisfaction .

S econd : O nce I have satisfied my wonderment an

admiration by knowledge of what is doubt arises ,
.

have heaped up insights but upon critical ex a m in at io

,

nothing is certain S ensory perceptions are conditione

.

by o ur sense organs and hence deceptive ; in any event

they do not coincide with what exists in itself outside
me independently o f my perception O ur categories
, .

are those o f our hum an understanding T hey become .

entangled in hopeless contradictions Everywhere .

proposition stands against proposition In my p h ilo so .

p hi c a l progress I Seize upon doubt and attempt t o

apply it radically to ev erything either taking pleasure ,

in the sceptical negation which recognizes nothing but

by itselfcannot take a single step forward or inquiring ,

Where then is there a certainty that rises above all

doubt and withstands all critique ?
Descartes famous proposition
’ “
I think th erefore , ,
”
I am was for him a solid certainty though he
, ,

doubted every thing else For even a total fallacy in m y

.

18
 SOURCES OF PHILOSOPHY
nk ing, a fallacy which may be beyond my under
nding cannot blind me t o the realization that in
,

be deluded in my thinking I must be .

al doubt gives rise to a critical examina

knowledge and without radical doubt

,

e no true philosophical thought But th e .

question is : Ho w and where has a foundation

tainty been gained through doubt itself?
third : While I concentrate my energies upon
o w le dge o f t hings in the world while I am
,

d in doubt as a road to certainty I am im ,

sed in things ; I do not think o f myself of my aims

, ,

happiness my sal v ation In forgetfulness o f my

,
.

elf I am content with the attainment o f this know

edge .

This changes when I become aware o f mys e lf in my

it uat io n .

The S toic E pictetus said Philosophy arises when

,
”
we become aware of our own weakness and help lessness .

Ho w Shall I help myself in my weakness ? His ans w er

was : By looki ng upon every thing that is n o t within
my power as ne cessary and indifferent to me but by ,

raising what does depend o n me namely the mode

,

and content Of my ideas t o clarity and freedom by

,

thought .

A nd now let us take a l ook at o ur human state We .

are always in situations S ituations change opportuni

.
,

ties arise If they are m issed they nev er return I

. .

myself can work t o change the Situation But there .

are situations which remain essentially the same even

if their momentary aspect changes and their shattering
19
 WAY T O WI SD OM
force is obscured : I must die I must su ffer , ,

struggle I am subject to chance I involve

, ,

inexorably in guilt We call the se fundamenta .

ti ons o f o ur existence ultimate situations That is

!
.

say they are situations which we cannot evade

,

change Along with wonder and doubt awaren

.
,

o f these ultimate situations is the most

sourc e o f philosophy In our day t o day live .

- -

evade them by closing o u r eyes and living

,

did no t exist We forget that we must die

.
,

guilt and forget that we are at the mercy o f chance

,
.

We face only concrete situations and m aster the m to

o ur profit we react t o the m by planning and acting in
,

the world under the impulsion Of o ur practical

,

interests But t o ultimate sit uations we react either by

.

Obfuscation o r if we really apprehend them by , ,

despair and rebirth : we become ourselves by a change

in o ur consciousne ss o f being .

O r we may define o ur human situation by saying

th at no reliance can be p laced in worldly ex istence .

Ingenuously we mistake the world for being as

such In happy situations we rej oice at o u r strength
.
,

we are thoughtlessly confident we know nothing but ,

o ur actuality In pain and weakness we despair But

. .

if we come o u t Of this situation alive we let ourselves

slip back into forgetfulness of self and a life Of hap
p m e ss .

Th et m h t nl t d
er ltim t it tio i G mz it ti Thi
e re ra s a e as u a e s ua n s r s ua on . s
i o pt of t l im po t
s a c nce f
cen ra th d t di g of j p tho ght
r an ce or e un ers an n as e rs
’
u
as f th
or d t ding f E i t ti li m A th o t t bov how th
e un ers an o x s en a s . s e c n ex a e s s,
,

e
ul tim t it ti o
a e s ua th i p bl
ns are liti in l tio to whi h lo
e n esca a e re a es re a n c a ne
hum lif n b m d g i ly m i gf l U ltim t it tio
an e ca e a e nnot b
e nu n e e an n u . a e s ua ns ca e
h ng d
c a e u m o n t d ; th y
or s r o ly b knowl dg d
u e e can n e ac e e .

20
 WAY T O WISD OM
unreliabili ty of the world : there are in the world thin
worthy o f faith things that arouse confidence ; the
,

is a foundation which sustains us : home and co

parents and ancestors brothers and sisters an ,

friends husbands and wives There is a fo u n dat io

, .

o f historical tradition in native language in faith i

, , ,

the work of thinkers poets and artists , ,

.

tradition also gives no security it is ,

reliable For we encounter it always

.

man ; God is nowhere in th e world Traditi .

imp l ies a question Keeping sight o f the tradition

.

man must always derive what for him is certainty

being the reliable from his own primal source
, ,

But the precariousness Of all worldly existence is

warning to us it forbids us t o content ourselves w i
,

the world ; it points to someth ing else .

The ultimate situations—death chance guilt and , ,

the uncertainty o f the world —confront me wit h the

,

reality o f failure What do I do in the face of this

.

absolute failure which if I am honest I canno t

,

fail t o recognize ?

The advice O f the S toic to withdraw to our o w n ,

freedom in the independence of the mind is no t ,

’
adequate The S toic s perception of man s weaknes s
.
’

was not radical enough He failed t o see that the min d

.

in itself is e m pty dependent on what is put into it

, .

and he failed to consider the possibility o f madness .

The S toic le aves us without consolation ; the indep en

dent mind is barren lacking all content He leaves u s
, .

without hope because his doctrine a ff ords us n c

,

opportunity of inner transformation no fulfilmen t ,

22
 S OURCES OF PHILOSOPHY
self conquest in love no hopeful exp e ctation
-
,

o ssib le .

’
A nd yet the S toics striving is toward true phil
o p hy Their thought because its source is in
.
,

tim ate situations expresses t he basic drive

,

find a revelation o f true being in human

al
for man is his attitude toward failure
it remains hidden from him and Over
him only obj ectively at the end o r whether
erce iv e s it unobscured as the constant limit o f his

ence ; whether he snatches at fantastic solutions

consolations o r faces it honestly in silence ,

unfathomable The way in which man .

hes h is fail ure determines what h e wil l b e

Inultimate situations man either perceives nothing

ness or s enses true bein g in spite o f and above all

h e m e ral worldly existence Even despair by the very

p .
,

fact that it is possible in the world points beyond the ,

world .

O r diff erently formulated man seeks redemption

, , .

Redemption is O ffered by t h e great universal religions ,

of rede m ption They are characterized by an obj ective

.

guarantee o f the truth and reality o f redemption .

Their road leads to an act Of individual conversion .

This philosophy cannot provide And yet all phil

'

osophy is a transc e nding of the world analogous to ,

redemption .

To sum up : The source o f philosophy is to be sought

in wonder in doubt in a sense o f forsakenness In
, , .

23
 WAY T O WI SD O M
any case it begins with an inner uphe aval w hi ,

determi nes I t s goal .

Plato and Ar istotle wer e moved by wonder to se

the n atur e o f being .

A mid infinite uncertainty Descartes sought co

pelling certainty .

Amid the su ff erings o f life the S toics sought t

repose o f the mind .

E ach o f these experiences has i ts o w n truth clothe ,

always in historical conceptions and language I .

making these philosophies o ur o w n we penetrate

historical husk to the primal sources that are a
within us .

The inner drive is toward firm foundations depth ,

being eternity
,
.

But for us perhaps none o f these is the most fund

mental absolute source The discov ery that
, .

can be rev ealed t o wonder is a source o f inspiration

but beguiles us i nto withdrawing from the world an d
succumbing to a pure m agical metaphysic Compel
, .

ling certainty is lim ited t o the scientific kn owledge

by which we orient ourselv es in the world S toic .

imperturbability serve s us only as a makesh ift ir

distress as a r efuge fro m total ruin but in itse l
, ,

r e mains without content and life .

These three motives wonder leading to know

-

ledge doubt leading to certainty forsakenness leading

to t h e se lf—cannot by themselves account fo r o uJ
, ,

present philosophical thought .

In this crucial turning point in history in this agt ,

o f unprecedented ruin and of potentialities that c ar

only be darkly surmised the tlu ee motives we hav a

,

24
 WAY '

T O WI SD O M
to existence is only a medium for impersonal
,

ings and values Defence and attack then b

.

means not by which m e n gain power but by

they approach one another T he contest is a .

contest in which each man surrenders his wea

to the other T he certainty of authentic being re
.

only in unreserved communication between men

live together and vie with one another in a
co m m unity who regard their association with
,

another as but a preliminary stage who take n o t ,

for granted and question everything O nly .

m u n ic at io n is all other truth fulfilled only ,

m u n ic a t io n am I myself not merely living but

life God manifests Him self only indirectly
.
,

through man s love Of m an ; co m pelling certainty

’

particular and relative subordinated to the Wh o l

,

T he S toical attitude is in fact e m pty and rigid .

T he basic philosophic al attitude of which I an

speaking is rooted in distress at the absence o f co m
m u nic at io n in the drive to authentic comm unication
,

and in the possibility of the loving contest w h icl

profoundly uni tes self and self .

A nd this philosophical endeav our is at the same

tim e rooted in the three philosophical experience
we have m entioned which m ust all be considered it
,

the light of their meaning whether favourable O J ,

hostile for comm unication fro m man to m an

, .

A nd so we may say that wonder doubt the ex , ,

.

erie n c e O f ultimate situations are indeed sources

p , 0

philosophy but the ultim ate source is the will t <

,

authentic co m m unication which e m braces all t h c

,

rest T his beco m es apparent at the v ery outset fO

.
,

26
 SO URCES OF P HILOSOPHY
s not all philosophy strive for communication ,

re ss itself de m and a hearing ? A nd is n o t its v e ry

I
,

communicability which is in turn inseparable

,

uth ?
(Communication then i s the aim o f phi l osophy and
,

communication a ll its other aims are ultimately

ot e d : awarenes s o f being illumination through
,

a t tainme nt o f peace .
 THE CO MPREHENS IVE

HE R E IS H O U L D like to speak of o ne o f t h
difficult philosophical ideas It is an in disp
.

idea because it forms the foundation

,

thinking It must be intelligible

.

form though its elaboration is a comp

,

I shall atte m pt to give an intimation o f this id

Philosophy bega n with the question : What
first sight there are m any kinds of being
, ,

the world the forms o f the animate and

,

all the infinitely many things that come and go .

what is true being that is the being which h

, ,

everything together lies at the base of ev erything

, ,

being from which everything that is issues ?

TO thi s there are curiously many answers T he first .

v enerable answer of the first philosopher is : Every

thing is water and co m es fro m water L ater thinkers .

said that everything is funda m entally fire or air o r

the indeterminate or matter or ato m s ; o r that life
,

is primal being from which inanimate things have

,

merely degenerated ; or that the mind is true being

and tha t things are mere appearance s its ideas which , ,

it produces as thou gh in a drea m T hus we find a .

great nu m ber of m etaphysical attitudes which hav e ,

been known as m aterialis m ( everything is m atter and

m echanical p roces s) ,spiritualism ( ev erything is
spirit) hylozois m ( the cos m o s is a living s p iritual
,

28
 THE C OMPREHENSIVE
ce ),
and so o n In e v er
.
y case being w as

as something existing in the world from ,

all other things sprang .

which then is the correct view Tlu o ugh ?

nds o f years the warring schools have been

t o demonstrate the truth of any o n e o f them .

each view some truth is manifested na m ely an ,

tude and a method o f inquiry which teach men to

something in th e worl d But each o ne becomes .

lse when it lays claim to exclusiveness and strives

explain all exist e nce .

Why is this so ? All these views have o n e thing in

o m m o n : they apprehend being as something whi ch

o nfro n t s me as an Obj ect which stands apart from

,

I t hi nk it This b as ic phenomenon o f o ur
.

u sne ss is to u s so se l f evident that we barely

-
-

suspect the riddle it presents because we do not ,

inquire into it T he thing that we think o f which we

.
,

speak is always something other than ourselves it is

, ,

the Object toward which we as subject are oriented .

If we make ourselves into the obj ect o f o u r thinking ,

we ourselves become as it were the O ther and yet at ,

the same time we remain a thinking I which thinks ,

about itself but cannot aptly be thought as an Obj ect

because it determines the o bj e ct n e ss o f all objects .

We call this basic condition Of o ur thinking the subj ect

object dichotomy A s long as we are awake and
.

conscious we are always involved in it Twist and t u rn .

as we will we are always in this dichotomy always ,

oriented toward an obj ect whether the Object be the

,

reality o f o ur sense perception whether it be the con ,

cept o f ideal Obje cts such as numbers o r geometrical

,

29
 WAY TO WISD OM
figures o r whether it be a fantasy o r ev en an imp ossib
,

imagining We are always confronted outwardly

.

inwardly by obj ects which are the content o f

,

consciousness A s S chopenhauer said there is

.
,

obj ect without a subject and no subject without a

obj ect .

What is the meaning o f this ever present subj e c -

Obj e ct dichotomy ? I t can only mean that being as

whole is neither subject nor Object but must
Com prehensive which is manifested in this dich
,

Cl early being as such cannot be an Object .

thing that becomes an Obj ect for me

from the Co m prehensive in confronting me ,

break away from it as subj ect Fo r the I t h .

,

is a determinate being The Comprehensive .

obscure to m y consciousness It becomes clear only .

through Objects and takes o n greater clarity as the

,

Obj ects beco m e m ore conscious and more clear The .

Comprehe n siv e does n o t itself become an object but is

m anifested in t he dichotomy o f I and Obj ect It .

remains itself a background it boundlessly illumines ,

the pheno m enon but it is always the Compre

,

h e n siv e .

But there is in all thinking a second dichoto m y .

Every determinate Object is thought in reference to

other obj ects Determ inacy i m plies differentiation of
.

the o n e from the other A nd ev en when I think Of thentica

llysi
'

. u
a

being as such I have in mind nothingness as its

,

antithesis .

T hus ev ery Object every thought content stands in

,

a twofold dichotomy first in reference t o me the , ,

30
 TH E C OMP REHENSIVE
ing subject an d secondly in reference to other
,

ts A s thought content it can never be every

.

r the whole of being never being itself , .

u gh t must break out O f the Co m pre

It is a particular j uxtaposed both to the I ,

to other Obj ects .

hus in o u r thinking we gain only an intimation Of

Co m prehensiv e It is not manifest e d to us but
.
,

r t h in g else is manifested in it
y .

What are the implicatio ns O f this idea ?

Measured by o ur custo m ary understanding in
elation t o things i t seems unnatural O ur under
,
.

g attuned to the practical resists it

, , .

basic operation by which we raise ourselves

eve rything that is thought is perhaps not
It but it seems strange because it does not
,

bring knowledge Of a new Object which we then

apprehe n d but aspires with the help of the idea to
,

transform o ur consciousness o f being .

Because it shows us no new Obj ect the idea , ,

meas ured by o u r customary worldly knowledge is ,

empty But by its form it opens up to us infinite

.

possibilities in which being may manifes t itself to us ,

and at the same tim e lends transparency to e v erything

that is It transforms the meaning o f the world of
.

Obj ects by awakening in us a faculty o f sensing what

,

authentically is in the phenomenon .

L et us attempt a further step toward the elucidation

of the Co m prehensiv e .

To philosop hi ze concerning the Comprehens ive

‘

3 1
 WAY T O WISD OM
would mean to pe netrate into being itself This .

only be done indirectly Fo r even as we speak we

.

engaged in Object thinki ng Through Object t h .

we must gain indices to t h e n o n o bj e c t t hat is t o ,

Co m prehensiv e .

An example is the thou ght operation we have j

performed T he moment we state the subject Obj
.
-

dichotomy in which we always find ourselves

which we cannot see from outside we make it ,

an Obj ect But this is basically incongruous

. .

dichotomy is a relation between things in the w

which confront m e as Obj ects This relation beco .

an i m ag e by which to express what is not visible

can itself never become Obj ect .

S till thinking in i m ages we ascertain through the

,

source that is present within us a polyvalence in this”

subject Object d ichotomy It is fundamentally dif

-
.

fe re n t depending o n wheth er I as understanding am

,

oriented toward objects ; as Dasein being there toward ,

-
,

my env ironment ; or as existence toward G o d .

A s understanding we confront tangible t hings and ,

t o a certain measure we succeed in Obtaining c o m

pelling and uni versally valid knowledge but always ,

O f determ inate Objects .

A s being there as men liv ing in o ur environment

-
, ,

we experience in it what we perceiv e with o ur senses ,

what achieves reality for us as the presence which

cannot be reduced to univ ersal knowledge
As existence we are oriented toward G o d—trans
.

c e n d e n c e —and this through the language o f things ,

which existence uses as hieroglyphics o r symbols .

Neither our understanding n o r o u r vital se ns ualism

32
 WAY T O WI SD O M
consciousness o f profound and inexhaustible meaning .

Fo r him who has experienced it this becoming o n e is

,

the true awakening and the awakening to conscious

,

ness in the subject Obj ect dichotomy is mor e in the

-

nature o f s l eep P lotinus the greatest mystical phil

.
,

o so p h er o f the West writes ,

“
O ften when I awaken t o myself from the slu m ber
o f the body ,
I behold a wondrous beauty : I then
believe firmly that I belong to a better and higher
world I call forth the most glorious life within me I
, ,

have becom e o ne with the godhead .

We cannot doubt the existence o f mys tical

experience nor can we doubt that mystics have
,

always been unable to co m m unicate what is

most essential in the n experience The mystic is .

immersed in the Comprehensiv e The co m m unicable .

partakes of the subj ect Obj ect dichotomy and a clear

-
,

consciousness seeking to penetrate the infinite can

never attain the fullness Of that source We can speak .

only of that which takes o n Object form A ll else is .

incommunicable But its presence in the background

.

o f those philosophical ideas which we call speculative

constitutes their cont e nt and meaning .

O n the basis of o ur philosophical inquiry into the

Comprehensive we Shall be better able to understand
,

the great m etaphysical theories o f history the theori e s ,

o f fire matter the m ind the world process etc Fo r in

, , , , .

reality they were n o t solely the Object knowledge as

which they are Often interpreted and considered as ,

which they are co m pletely false ; they were h iero gly

phie s o f being devised by the philosophers o ut o f the
,

34
 THE C OMP RE HENSIVE
p resence o f the Comprehensive for the elucidation
,
o f
th e self and O f being— and then at once m istaken for

p ositiv e objectivizations o f authentic being .

When we move a m id the phenomena o f the world ,

we come to realize that we possess being itself neither

in the Object which becomes continuously more
,

restricted nor in th e horizon Of our always lim ited

,

w orld taken as the sum o f phenomena but only in ,

th e Comprehensive which transcends all Obj ects and

horizons ,
which transcends the subj ect Obj ect -

dichotomy .

O nce we have ascertained the Co m prehensive

through o ur basic philosophical operation we realize ,

that all the metaphysics we have listed all those ,

supposed insights into being are in error as soon ,

as they interpret anything that is in the world however ,

i m portant and significant as being itself But they are

,
.

the only language in which we can speak when we

transcend all obj ects ideas world horizons phe
, , ,

n o m e n a t o perceive being it self

, .

For w e do n o t attain this goal by leaving the world ,

except in incommunicable m ysticism O nly in art icu .

late obj ect knowledge can o ur consciousness remain

clear O nly in Obj ect knowledge experiencing its
.
,

limits through what it surmises at the limit can o u r ,

consciousness achieve content Even in the thinking .

which transcends Object knowledge we remain in it .

Even when we see through the phenomenon it holds

us fast .

Through metaphysics we Obtain an intimation o f

the Comprehensive in transcendence We understand .

t hi s metaphysics as a symbol .

35
 WAY T O WI SD O M
But we lose it s meaning if we succu m b to irresp o
sible aesthetic enj oyment o f its ideas For its content .

manifested to us only if we perceiv e the reality

symbol A nd we perceive it only o ut of the rea
.

o u r existence and n o t out o f mere

wh ich in this sphere declines to see any meaning at

But above all we must not look on the sym bol
reality as a physical reality like the things which
grasp live with and consume T o regard the Obj
, ,
.

as being is the essence Of all dogmatis m and ,

mistake the materiality o f symbols for reality

specifically the essence Of superstition For sup .

st it io n is chained to the Obj ect faith is rooted in t h

,

Comprehensive .

A nd now the last methodological consequence 0

our experience o f the Co m prehensive : the conscious
ness of the discontinuity of o ur philosophical thinking .

When we think Of the Comprehensive in phil

oso p h ic al terms we are making an Obj ect o f what is
,

essentially not an Object Hence we must always make

.

a reservation : we must retract the obj ect content o f

what has been said if we would arrive at that
,

experience o f the Comprehensive which is not a

co m municable content resulting from inquiry but an
attitude Of o ur consciousness I t is not m y knowledge
.

but my consciousness o f being that changes .

But this is a basic trait o f all true philosophical

thought Man soars to the Co m prehensiv e in the
.

medium Of determ inate object thinking and only in ,

that mediu m He actualizes in consciousness the

.

foundation o f o ur life in being the guidance from that

,

36
 THE C OMP RE HE NSIVE
sphere the basic mood and meaning o f our life and
,

ac t iv it y ; h e frees us fro m the fetters o f determinate

~

thinking not by relinquishing i t but by carrying it to

,

the extreme In the general philosophical idea he

.

leav es roo m fo r its realization in the present .

Being can only be fo r us o n condition that it b e

come present t o the mind in the dichotomy Of subject
and Object Hence o ur drive toward clarity That
. .

which is present only obscurely must be apprehended

in object form o u t of the essence o f the I fulfilling
,

itself Being itself the foundation Of all things the

.
, ,

absolute presses upon o ur consciousness in Obj ect

,

form which because as Object i t is inadequate dis

, ,

integrates leaving behind the pure c l ari ty o f the

,

presence o f the Comprehens ive .

A wareness Of the subject Obj ect dichotomy as the -

fundamental fact Of o u r thinking existence and o f the

Comprehensive that becomes present in it gives us the
freedom needed for philosophy .

I t is an idea that frees u s from every existent It .

co m pels us to turn back from the i m passe of ab so lutiz a

tion It is as it were an idea that turns us about
. .

For those who found support in t h e absoluteness o f

things and in a theory o f knowledge confined to
Objects the loss o f the m is nihilism Exclusiv e reality
, .

and truth cannot be i m puted to that which dis

course and Object thinking have made determinate
and hence finite .

O ur philosophical thinking passes through this

n ihilis m which is in truth a liberation fo r authentic
,

being By o ur rebirth in philosophy the m e aning and

.

37
 WAY T O WI SD OM
va lue o f all finite things though always limited
, ,

enhanced ; we are made fully aware that o u r rO

must lead through them but at the same time
,

achieve the onl y possible basis fo r freedom in

dealings with these things .

The fall from absolutes which were after a

illusory becomes an ability to soar ; what seemed a
aby ss becom es space for freedom ; apparent N othi
ness is transform ed in to that which au t h e n t i
being speaks to us .
 T H E I DE A O F GOD

UR W E S T E R N I D E A Of God spring s from two

t oric al roots : the Bible and Greek philosophy .

When Jeremiah saw the ruin Of ev erything for which

he had worked all his life when his country and h is
,

people were lost when in E gypt the last remnants o f

,

his people turned aside from their faith in Yahweh

and O ff ered sacrifices to Isis and when his disciple ,
“
Baruch despaired I fainted in my sighing and I
, ,
” “
find no rest Jeremiah answered
,
Behold that , ,

which I hav e built will I break down and that which ,

I have planted I will pluck up even this whole land ,

.

?
A nd seekest thou great things fo r thyself s e ek them
”
not .

In such a situation th ese words mean : I t is e nough

that God is DO no t ask whether there is immortality ;
.

the question of whether God forgives is no longer

important Man no longer matters his defiance as
.
,

well as his concern for his o w n beatitude and eternity

is extinguished It is also impossib l e that the worl d
.

should have a purpose susceptible o f fulfilment that ,

it should endure in any for m ; for everything has been

created o u t o f nothing by God and is in His hand .

When everything is lost but o n e thing remains : God

,
’
is If a life in this wo rld even with faith in G od s
.
,

guidance has failed this overpowering reality still

, ,

remains : God is If man fully renounc e s himself and

.

39
 WAY T O WISD OM
his aims this reality can be manifested to him
,

only reality But it does not m anifest itself in a dv a

.

it does not m anifest itself abs t ractly but descends ,

the existence O f the world and only here mani ,

itself at the limit Jeremiah s words are hard w o

.
’

T hey are no longer bound up with any will to his

ical effi cacy in the world though such a will ,

preceded them throughout a lifeti m e and u lt im a t

through total failure m ade them possible T hey
,
.

simple words free from i m aginativ e flight and they

, ,

contain unfathomable truth precisely because they ,

are without finite content or any fixation in the world .

The Greek philosophers expressed a similar thought

in di ff erent terms .

A t about 500 ! enophanes proclaimed : There

is only one God resembling m ortals neither in h is
,

aspect nor in his thoughts Plato conceiv ed o f the god

head—h e called it the Good—as the source o f all
.

knowledge N ot only is the knowable known in the

.

light Of the godhead ; it also deriv es its being from

the godhead which excels being both in rank and
power .

The Greek philosophers understood that the many

go ds were decreed merely by custom whereas in ,

nature there was only o n e G o d ; that God is not seen

with our eyes that he rese m bles no o n e and can be
,

recognized in no i m age .

God is conceiv ed as cosmic reason or cosmic law o r ,

as fate and providence o r as de m iurge , .

But this God O f the Greek thinkers is a God o rigin at

ing in thought not the living G o d Of Jere m iah In
, .

essence the two coincide From this twofold root .

40
 WAY T O WI SD OM
But if the proofs for the exi stence o f G o d a
construed as scientifically co m pelling proofs such
we find in mathematics o r the empirical sciences ,

are false In this light Kant r

.

Then came the reverse proposition : S ince

proofs o f the existence o f God can be refut e d the ,

no G o d .

Thi s inference is false Fo r the nonexistence o f

.

can be prov ed no more than his existence T .

proofs and their confu t ations show us only that a

proved God would be no God but merely a t hi ng in
the world .

The truth as agai nst all supposed proofs and refuta

,

tions o f the existence o f God seems to be this : T he so

,

called proofs of the existence o f God are funda

mentally no proo fs at all but methods of achieving
,

certainty through thought All the proofs o f the exist

.

ence o f God and their v ariants that hav e been devised

through the centuries diff er essentially from scienti fic
proofs They are attempts t o express the experience o f
'

’
man s ascent to God in terms O f tho ug ht There are .

roads o f thought by which we come to limits at which

the consciousness o f G o d suddenly b ecomes a natural
presence .

L et us consider a few examples

The oldest of proofs is the cosmological proof .

From the existence o f the cosmos ( the Greek name for

u ni verse ) we infer that G o d ex ists ; from the world
process in which ev erything is e ff ect we infer a last
, ,

cause ; from motion the source of all motion ; from the

accident o f the particular the necessity o f the whole .

42
 THE IDEA OF G OD
If by this syllogism we mean to infer the existence
f one t hi ng from the existence Of anoth e r thi ng as we ,

for example in inferring from the existence o f the

o f the moon which faces us the existence o f the

r side whi ch we never see it is inapplicable In

, .

manner we can only infer the existence of things

world from the existence o f other thi ngs The .

as a whole is not an obj ect because we are ,

s in it and we never confront the world as a

Hence we cannot from the existence Of the

,

as a whole infer the existe nce Of something

,

than the world .

t his notion takes o n a new meaning when it is no

proo f Then metaphorically in
.
,

it expresses awareness Of the

inherent in the existence o f the world and
selves in it If we venture the thought that there
.

might be nothing and ask with S chelling : Why is

,

?
there something and n o t nothing we find that o ur
certainty o f existence is such that though we cannot
determine the reason for it we are led by it to the C o m
prehensive which by this v ery essence is and cannot
,

not be and th rough which ev erything else is

,
.

True men hav e looked on the world as eternal and

,

said that it existed out of itself and hence was identical

w ith God But t his is not poss i ble :

.

E verything in the world which is beautiful appro ,

p ri a,
t e ordered and,
embodies a certain perfection
th e vast abundance O f things that fill us with emotion
m
in o ur immediate conte plation Of nature all this —
cannot be apprehended through any fully knowable

w orldly thing through matter for example The design

, , .

43
 WAY T O WISD OM
Of organic life the beauty of nature in all it s forms
,

order o f the universe in general become incre asi

mysterious as o ur knowledge advances .

But iffrom all this we infer that G o d th e b e nev ,

creator exists we must call to m ind all that is

, ,

disordered base in the world A nd this gives r

,
.

fundamental attitudes fo r which the world is

frightening terrible and it seems as plausible t
, ,

the existence of the devil as o f God The mystery .

transcendence is not thereby solved but merely grows

deeper .

But what clinches the matter is the imperfectibility

o f the world The world is not finished but in co n
.
,

t inu o u s change ; our knowledg e o f the world cannot be

completed the world cannot be apprehended through
,

itself
.

Far from proving the existence o f G od these so ,

called proofs mislead us into placing God Wi thin the

real world or second cosmos which is as it were
, ,

ascertained at the limits o f the cosmos Thus they .

Obscure the idea Of God .

But they mov e us deeply when leading t hr ough th e,

concrete phenomena o f the cosmos they confront ,

N othingness and imperfectibility For then they seem .

to admonish us not to content ourselves with the world

as the sole meaning o f our life in the world .

A gain and again it is brought ho m e to us that God is

n o t an object ofknowledge of compelling evidence He
,
.

cannot be experienced by the senses He is invisible .

,

He cannot be seen bu t only believed in .

But whence com es this faith ? I ts source is not in the

limits o f worldly experience but in the freedom Of man .

44
 THE IDEA OF GOD
e man who attains true awareness o f his freedom
n s certainty Of God Freedom and G od are in .

parable Why ? .

This I know : in my freedom I am n o t through m y

s elf but am given to myself for I can fail myself and f
, ,

cannot force my freedom Where I am authentically .

myself I am certain that I am not through myself The

,
.

highest freedom is experienced in freedom from the

world and this freedom is a profound bond with
,

transcendence .

’
We also call man s freedom his existence My .

certainty of God has the force o f my existence I can .

have certa inty O f Him not as a content O f science but as

presence for existence .

If certainty o f freedom encompasses certainty Of

God s existence there must be a connection between
’
,

th e ne g atio n o f fre edom and the negation of God If I .

do no t experience the miracle o f se lf h o o d I need no , ,

relation to G o d I am content with the empirical

,

exist e nce o f natur e many gods demons , , .

There is o n the other hand a connection b e tween

, ,

the belief that there can be freedom without God and

the deifi c at io n Of man This is an illusory arbitrary .
,
’
freedom in which man s will is taken to be absolute
,

and independent I rely in the force O f my will and in a

.

defiant acceptance o f death But t his delusion that I .

am through myself alone turns freedom into perplexity

and emptiness A savage drive for self assertion turns
.
-

’
t o a despair in which Kierkegaard s
,
desperate will to
” ”
be oneself and desperate will not t o be oneself b e
come one .

G od exists for me i n th e degree to which I in freedom

45
 WAY T O WISD O M
authentically become mysel f He does not exist as a .

scientific content but only as openness to existence .

But t h e illumination o f our existence as freedo m does

not prove the existence o f G o d ; it merely points one ,

m ight say to the area in which certainty Of his ex

,

ist e n c e is possible .

The thought that striv es for compelling certainty

’
cannot realize its aim in any proof of God s existenc e .

But the failure o f thought does not result in nothing

ness It points to tha t which resolves into an in
.

exhaustible forever questioning Co m prehensive con

,
-
,

scio u sn e ss o f God .

God never becomes a t angible object in the world

and this means that man must not abandon his free
do m to the tangibil ities authorities powers o f
, ,

the world ; that he bears responsibility for himself ,

and must not evade this responsibility by r en o un

cing freedom ostensibly for the sake o f freedo m H e .

must owe his decision and the road he chooses to

himself Kant has said that God s unfathomable
.
’

wisdom is as admirable in what it gives us as in what it

’
denies us For if God s wisdom in its majesty were
.

always before o ur eyes if it were an absolute authority

, ,

speaking unequivocally in the world we should be ,

puppets o f its will But G o d in his wisdom wanted us t o

.

be free .

Instead o f the knowledge o f G o d which is un at t ain ,

able we gain through philosophy a Comprehensive

,

consciousness o f G o d .

“ ”
God is The e ssential in this proposition is th e
.

46
 THE IDEA OF GOD
reality t o which it points We d o n o t encompass this
.

reality In thinking the proposition ; merely to think it

le av es us empty Fo r it means nothing to the under
.

standing and to sensory experience We apprehend its .

meaning only as we transcend as we pass beyond the ,

world o f Objects and through it discover authentic

reality Hence the climax and goal o f o ur life is the
.

point at which we ascertain authentic reality that is , ,

God .

This reality is accessible to existence through th e

orientation toward God that lies at its source Hence .

faith in G o d springing as it does from the source

, ,

resists any mediation This faith is no t laid down in any

.

definite articles of faith app l icable t o all men o r in any

historical reality which mediates between man and
God and is the same fo r all men The individual .
,

always in hi s own historicity stands rather in an ,

i mmediate independent relation to G o d that re

,

quires no interm ed iary .

This historicity which can be communicated and

,

described is in this form n o t absolute truth for all and

, ,

yet in its source it is absolutely true .

God is reality absolute and cannot be encompassed

, ,

by any of the historical manifestations through which

H e speaks t o men If He is man as an individual mu st
.
,

be able t o apprehend Him directly .

The reality o f God and the immediacy o f o ur his

t o ric al relation t o G o d exclude any un iversally c o m
pelling knowledge of God ; therefore what matters is
n o t our knowledge Of God but o u r attitude towards

God From time immemorial G o d h as been co nc el v e d

.

in e mpirical forms including a personification aft e r

,

47
 WAY TO WISD OM
t heimage of man A nd yet every such conception is
.

the sa m e time in the nature Of a veil G od is not w h .

we may se e with o ur eyes .

O ur true attitude toward G o d has found its p ro

foundest expression in a few bibli cal injunctions
Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image or 127:
This m eant, to be gin with , that
invisible man must not worship Him in statues i ,

e ffi gie s Gaining in depth this tangible p ro h ib

.
,

developed into the idea that G o d is not only invisible

but also inconceivable unthinkable NO symbol o r
, .

metaphor can describe Him and none may take His

place A ll metaphorical representations of G o d without
.

exception are myt hs meaningful as such when under

,

stood to b e mere hints and parallels but they beco m e ,

superstitions when mistaken fo r the reality OfGod Him

self .

S ince every image conceals as much as it discloses ,

we co m e closest to God in the negation O f i m ages But .

even in the Bible this O ld Testament command m ent

was not fulfilled : the image O f God s personality ’

remai ned —’

His wrath and His love His justice and His ,

mercy It is a command m ent that cannot be fulfilled

. .

P armenides and Plato with their speculative doctrines

,

o f being the Indian Brahman philosophers the Chinese

, ,

T aoists attempted to apprehend without images the

s up ra erso n a l pure intangible reality f God — but in
p , ,
O

this they did n o t succeed Human thought and human.

vision cannot dispense with the i m age A nd though in .

philosophical thinking sensation and Obj ect almost

’
vanished perhaps ulti m ately some wisp o f God s
,

presence remains with power to engender life

,
.

4 8
 WAY T O WI SD OM
enduring problem fo r man as actual as it w ,

thousands o f years ago .

A third biblical saying : Thy will be done .

fundamental attitude toward G o d means : B o w

before that which defies understanding co nfi de n ,

it is situated above and not below the u n derst an da

Thy thoughts are not o ur thoughts thy ways are no ,
”
o ur ways .

Trust in thi s basic attitude makes possible an all

encompassing sense o f thankfulness a w ordle s ,

impersonal love .

Man stands before the godhead as the hid

and can accept what is most terrible as His decision ,

fully aware that in whatever finite form he expresses

this God it is spoken in human terms an d hence false .

To sum up : O ur attitude toward the godhead is

defined by the command m ents N o image and no “

” “ ”
likeness,
N o other god and by the attitude O ,
”
acceptanc e expressed in the words Thy will be done .

Reflection on G o d clarifies o u r faith But to believe is .

no t to see G o d remains in the distance and remains

.

question TO liv e by God does not m ean to base o ne

.

self o n calculable knowledge but to live as though we

staked o ur existence o n the assumption that God is .

To believe in G o d m eans to live by something which

is not in the world except in the polyv alent language o f
,

phenomena which we call the hieroglyphs o r symbols

,

o f transcendence .

The G o d Offaith is the distant G o d the hidd e n G o d , ,

the indemonstrable G o d .

Hence I must recognize no t only that I do no t know

 THE IDEA OF GOD
t even that I do not know whether I believe .

no possession It confers n o secure knowledge

.
,

ives certainty in the practice Of life .

Thus the believer lives in the enduring ambiguity of

e Obj ective in enduring willingness to hear He
, .

tens patiently and yet he is unswerving in his resolve .

fweakness he is strong he is open though

, ,

he is resolute
.

on God is typical Of all significant

thought : it does n o t bring secure know
self hood it gives a free area fo r
-

the whole emphasis is o n love in the world ,

adin g o f the symbols Of transcendence o n the ,

d breadth O f that which is illumined by reason .

why all philosophical discourse is so in

I t calls for completion out o f the being o f
m who hears it
P hilosophy does not give it can only a wak e n—i t can
.

remind and help t o secure and preserve

, .

In it each o f us understands what he actually kn e w

before “

5 1
 T H E U N C O NDI T I O NA L I M P E RAT I VE

IN L o v E I N battle in pursuing lofty tasks m

, , ,

act without regard fo r consequences u n co n dit io n a ,

When a man acts unconditionally his life is n o t

ultimate he subordinates it to something else
,
.

When we Obey the unconditional imperative ,

empirical existence becomes in a se nse the raw mate

Ofthe idea oflove o f a loyalty It is e n co m p as
, ,
.

eternal aim it is as it were consumed and it is

, ,

allowed drift at random in the stream o f life O nly .

the limit in extreme situations can the call Of t

, ,

unconditional lead to loss o f life to acceptance ,

inevitable death while in bondage to the conditional

,

we wish first last and at any price to preserve o ur

, ,

physical existence .

Men have for example risked their lives in a

, ,

com m on struggle fo r a comm on life in the world .

S olidarity was then the ultimate condition .

O riginally such communities were built upon trust

but later they came to be based o n the inspiring com
mand of an authority in which men believed so that ,

faith in this authori t y became a source o f the absolute .

This faith freed men from uncertainty spared the m the ,

need to inquire for themselves However the u n co n .

,

dit io n al in this form was subject to a tacit condition ,

namely the success Of the authority The believer .

desired t o live th rough his Obed ience If th e au t hori ty .

52
 THE UNC OND ITIONAL IMPE RATIVE
d t o b e successful as a power and m en lost th e ir
,

in it a ruinou s emptiness arose

, .

the only escape from this empti ness Is for man

to wi n authentic being as the
!AT IV Efoundation o f his decisions .

This h as happened in history when individuals

staked their lives through obedience t o an absolute
imperative : they remained loyal where disloyalty
would have destroy ed everything where a life saved ,

through disloyalty would have been poisoned where a ,

betrayal o f absolute being would have made a save d

life wretched .

The purest examp l e is perhaps S ocrates L iving in .

the lucidity o f h is reason out Of the Comprehensive Of

,

nonknowledge he went his way unswervingly nu

, ,

deterr e d by the passions Of anger hatred selfrigh t , ,

e o u sn e ss ; he made no concession refused t o avail him

,

self o f the Opportunity for flight and died happy , ,

staking everything o n his faith .

Certain martyr s like Thomas M ore have displayed

, ,

ives in th e purest moral energy in their faith The martyr dom .

he worl o f some others is subj ect to question To die for some .

thing in order t o bear witness to it is to give an aim to

’
p or
t one s death hence t o make it impure Where martyrs
, .

ing have actually been inspired by a longing t o die ,

i so
, perhaps in imitation o f Christ by a death urge which
,

not infrequently darkens the soul with symptoms o f

hysteria the impurity is still greater
, .

6 UH COII R are are the phil osophers w h o without firm alle ,

J nd lflOfl i n to a community o f faith standing alone before

,
g a ce ,

believer God have realized the maxi m : To philosophize Is to

,

UtllOlli) learn how t o die S eneca for ye ars awaiti ng his death
’
L .
,

53
 WAY T O WISD OM
h
t e 1
(1e
1si
to
e
sentence overcame the dea n t o escape d i ctated by ba
ecus
,

understanding ; in t he end he did not betray h im n

a dWh t
a [or
’

l h
t e im pf
Or ese
unworthy actions and he preserved his co ,
”hm ’

when N ero demanded his death Boethius l

W
“
.

“se t
if
nocently sentenced by a barbarian : he died mo
m
,
m
m n
E
’ ’ u ’
h iz in g in full lucidity turned toward
p ,
h m era
‘

Allsuc P
being Bruno overca m e his doubts and
d n
.

t
ned epenen o
what concessions h e had made in the high resolve ,

stand fast fo r no purpose ev en if it meant death at the ,

stake .

S en e ca Boethius Bruno were m e n with their

, ,

weaknesses their failures men such as ourselves They

, ,
.

had to conquer themselves A nd this is why they can .

point the way for us For saints after all are fi gures who
.

for us can live only in the twilight o r in the unreal ,

light O f myth but cannot stand up under realistic

,

scrutiny T he unconditional acts Of which men as m e n om

c m
andofm
y
.

were capable giv e us true encouragement while the xisten

e ce . l beco
,

I magi nary provide s only empty e difi ca t io n .

mys
elfam,
b u
eca

n
essisobscu
rea

We have recalled historical exa m ples o f men who O

m
f
know h o w to die Let us n o w attempt t o elucidate the i P
O hc“ ilaf“

m bung
.

unconditional im perative fi
.
Of
When I ask m yself: What shall I do I arrive at an i ewbegn
? ntern

m m
’

Situ t
answer by adducing finite aims and m eans by which to a
ff
oi

atta i n them I must obtain food and for this work is

.
Th lslmera
p fi ‘

d
needed I m ust liv e with m en in a comm unity : here I ttrn lla
'

e n
n esa
.

a m helped by certain rules o f conduct In every case an ourW 11

1 hiltits9 .

a im determines the means appropriate t o it T he uncondn .

hen
But my basis for recognizing these aims lies either I n ce110i an01
some unquestioned practical interest or in utility .

E mpirical existence however is no ultimate end aCt“infla min

, , ,

54
 THE UNC OND ITIONAL IMP ERATIVE
e cau se questions remain : What k i nd Of exist e nce
th e ?

What for ?
th e imperative is grounded in an authority
Obey because someone else has willed it
”
It is written . But such authority
mains unquestioned and hence unex am ined
‘

A ll such imperatives are conditional For they make

.

e dependent on something outside me On practical ,

n c o n dit io n al i m peratives o n the

4
have their source in m yself Conditional
“

confront me as fixed but transient prin

which I can outwardly sustain myself .

Unconditional imperatives come fro m wi thin m e ,

susta i ning me inwardly by that which in myself is no t

only myself .

The unconditional i m perative co m es t o me as t h e

command o f my authentic self to my mere empirical
existence I beco m e aware of myself as Of that which I
.

myselfam because it is what I ought to be This aware

,
.

ness is obscure at the beginning and lucid at the end

Of m y un c o n dit io n al action When we become aware
_ .

o f the i m perat ive o u r questioning ceases in the c e r

tainty of being—though in temporal life there is at

once a new beginning O f questioning and in a changed
,

s i tuation certainty must forever be gained anew .

This imperative precedes ev ery aim it is that which

,

determ ines all aims Accordingly it is not an Obj ect Of

.

o u r will but its source .

The unconditional is a foundation Of action and

hence not an Object of knowledge but an element Of
faith In so far as I know the reasons and aims o f my
.

action I am in the finite I am subject to cond itions

, , .

55
 WAY T O WISD OM
O nly when I liv e by something that can no longe
explained by Object knowledge do I live by the
conditional .

A few propositions may suggest th e meaning of t

un conditional imperative .

First : as opposed to passive acceptance Of things

they are the unconditional attitude implies a de c isio
,

lucidly taken o ut o f an unfathomable depth a deci

, ,

sion with which I myse l f am identical What does thi .

mean ?
It means to partake in the eternal in being ,

A ccordingly it implies absolute reliability and loyalty

,

which deriv e not from nature but from o ur decision .

The decision is arrived at only through lucidity which

is the product Of reflect i on Expressed in psychological .

terms the unconditional attitude does n o t lie in the

,

momentary state o f any man E ven though he may .

reveal ov erpowering energy in his momentary act iv ity , I

it suddenly slackens he grows forgetful and unreliable

,

N or does the unconditional decision reside in the innate

character for the character can be transformed in
,

reb ir th N or does it reside in what we call in m y t h o lo

.

i l ter m s a man s de m on for this demon is without

’

g ca ,

loyalty O verpowering as it may be n o mode Of

.
,

passion o f v ital will o f self assertion is un c o n

, ,
-
,

dit io n al in the moment ; all are relative and hence

perishable .

T hus the unconditional demands an existential

d e cision that has passed through reflection This .

means that it does not arise fro m any natural state but
o u t Of freedom which cannot help being what it is
, ,

5 6
 WAY T O WISD OM
passion habit and fidelity to a promise Th e p o ssib il
, ,
.

o f authentic co m m unication in lo v ing contest can

denied That which is demonstrable is by that sa

.

token not unconditional .

Third : T he unconditional i s timeless in time .

The unconditional impe rativ e is no t given lik

e m pirical existence It grows within man in time
. .

when man conquers himself and goes

decision unerringly leads h im does the u n
come into its o w n S t e adfastn e s
'
.

Singlemindednes s mere persev erance in man are

,

convincing signs that he lives by the u nco ndit i

imperativ e .

In o ur temporal existence the unconditional

is manifested in the experience O f extreme S i
and in situations wh en we are in danger Of becoming
untrue to ourselves .

But the unconditional itse l f is never entirely tem

poral Whenev er it may be it also cuts across time
.
,
.

R egardles s Of when it is conquered it is eternal , ,

existing in ev ery new moment through recurrent

rebirth fro m the source Hence : Where a dev elop m ent
.

in ti m e seems to hav e giv en us possession O f it all can ,

’
still be betrayed in a moment Conversely where a man s .
,

past seems to be mere factuality weighing him down ,

under endless contingencies to the point Of annihila

tion he can nev ertheless at any mo m ent begin as it
,

were from the beginning through sudden awareness o f

the unconditional .

These propositions it is true suggest the m eaning o f

, ,

the unconditional i m perative but do n o t elucidate its

58
 E U N C O ND ITI ONA L IM PE RATIV E
Which becomes clear only through the
s Of good and evil .

heeding the command Of the unconditional we

a choice A decision becomes the substance of the
.

an He has chosen what he understands as the good

.

the decision between good and e v il

Good and evil are diff erentiated o n three levels .

I
. We regard as evil the i m mediate and u n
strained surrender to passions and sensual impulses ,

the pl e asure and happiness Of this world t o em ,

ric al existence as such ; in short evil is the life o f the

,

h o remains in the sphere Of the contingent who ,

lives from day to day like an animal well o r ,

adly in the unrest Of change — a life in which there is

,

O decision .

Good in contradistinction is t h e l ife Of the man who

n o t rej ect the happiness o f this world but sub

ates it to the morally admissible seen as the ,

rsal law Of just action This morally admissible

.

Olute .

as distinguished from mere weakness ,

rs to the natural bent consists in what,

perversion : I do good only if it does me no

harm o r does no t cost m e too much ; o r stated abstractly :
although I will the unconditiona l embodied in the
moral imperativ e I follow the law Ofthe good only in so
,

far as it is co m patible with undisturbed sensual pleasure

only o n this condition and in no unconditional sense
,

do I w ish t o be good This pseudo v irtue might be

.
-

called a luxury Of fortunate circu m stances in which I

can a ff ord to be good In the case of conflic t be t w een
.

moral imperative and my v ital interest I may , ,

59
 WAY T O WI SD O M
according to the magnitude O f this interest be sec ,

capable o f any v illainy In order to avert my .

death I may Obey orders t o commit murder O r I

,
.

allow my fav oured position which saves me from co

fl ict to blind me to my ev il .

It is good in contradistinction to lift oneself o ut

, ,

this condition o f contingency wherein the un ,

t io n al is subordinated to the requirements Of v

happiness and return to an authentic life In
,

unconditional T his is a conversion from continu

.

selfbetrayal and impurity Of motives to the serious

o f the unconditional .

—
.
3 O n this level ev il is only the will to evil the
,

to destruction as such the urge to inflict tort ,

cruelty annihilation the nihilistic will to ruin cv

, ,

thing that is and has value .

Good in contradistinction is the un co ndit io na

, ,

which is love and hence the will to reality .

L et us compare these three level s .

O n the first lev el the relation between good and evi

,

is m oral : the question is whether o u r natural incl

tions are governed by a will subservient to m oral laws .

’
In Kant s words duty is opposed to inc l ination
,
.

O n the se cond lev el the relation is ethical : the ,

.

essential is the authenticity O f our motives The purity ! .

o f the unconditional is O posed to an impurity which ;

p
consists in the reversal of the relation o f contingency ,
.

in which the unconditional is made contingent o n

practical conditions .

O n the third lev el the re l ation becomes meta ,

physical : here the essential lies in the m otives the m

selv es L ov e is opposed to hate L ov e impels to being
. .
,

60
 THE UN C OND ITI O NA L IMP E RATIVE
to nonbeing L ove grows in bond w ith trans
.

ence ; hate severed from transcendence dwindles

, ,

abstract punctuality of the ego L ov e works as .

building in the world ; hate as a loud catas

submerging being i n empirical existenc e and
n g empirical existence itself .

each level an alternative is revealed a decis i on ,

ed for A man can only want o n e thing o r th e

.

if he is authentic He follows inclination or duty

.
,

iv es in perversion o r in purity o f motive he lives ,

Of hate o r out o f love But he can fail to decide

. .

tead of deciding we vacillate and stu m ble through

,

combine the one with the other and even accept

h a state o f things as a necessary contradiction .

indecision is in itse l f evil M an awakens only .

he distinguishes between good and evil He .

becomes himself when he decides which way he is

going and acts accordingly We must all continuously .

recapture ourselves from indecision We are so little .

capable Of fulfilling ourselves in goodness that th e very

force O f the passions that drive us headlong through
_

life is indispensable to the lucidity o f duty ; when we

really l ove we cannot help hating whatever threatens
o ur lo v e ; and it is precisely when we feel certain that

o u r motiv es are pure that we succumb to the per v er

sion o f impurity .

The decision has its special character o n each o f the

three lev els M orally man seeks to base his decision on
.
,

thought E thically he rehabilitates himself from

.
,

perversion throu gh a rebirth o f his good will M eta .

phys ically he achieves awareness o f being given to

,

hi mself in his ability to l ove He chooses the right his .

,

61
 WAY T O WISD OM
motives become authentic he lives o u t o f love
,
.

when the three lev els become o n e is the un co n dit

realized .

To live out o f love seems to include all the rest .

lov e giv es certainty regarding the ethical truth

acts S t Augustine says : L ove and do what thou
. .

But it is i m possible for us men to live solely by

this force o f the highest level fo r we fall const
,

into errors and m isunderstandings Hence we .

not rely blindly in o u r love at every moment but

elucidate it A nd for the same reason we finite b
.

need the discipline by which we conquer o ur

and because o f the impurity o f our motiv es w
distrust o f ourselv es When we feel sure Of o urselv e
.

that is precisely when we are going astray .

O nly the unconditional character Of the good fi l

mere duties with content purifies o u r ethical motive
,

dis solves the destructiv e will of hatred .

But the foundation Of love in which the unco ndl

,
e t

t io n al is grounded ,
is identical with the will to ’

authentic reality I want what I love to be A nd I!

. .

cannot perceive what authentically is without loving

it
.
 MAN

Is M A N ? Physiology st udies him as body ,

gy as soul sociology
,
as a social being We .

man as nature which we investigate as we do

,

o f other liv ing creatu r es and as history , ,

,

critical sifting O f tradition by an ,

g Of the purpose pursued by man in his

hts and actions and by the elucidation o f ev ents
,

e basis o f motives situations natural realities

, , .

study o f man has brought us many kinds

w le dge but not the knowledge o f man as a

question rises : C an man be fully apprehended

which is knowable concerning him ? O r is there
ing above this na m ely freedom which ev ades
, , ,

o w le dge but is always pres e nt in him as

T he truth is that man is accessible to himself in two

ways : a s object o f inquiry and as existence endowed
,

with a freedom that is inaccessible to inquiry In the .

o n e case man is conceiv ed as Object in the other as the ,

n o n o bj ec t which m an is and o f which he becomes

aware when he achieves authe n tic awareness Ofhimself .

’
We cannot exhaust m an s being in knowl edge O f him ,

we can experience it only in the pri m al source o f our

thought and action M an is fundamentally more than
.

he can know about himself .

63
 WAY TO WISD OM
We are conscious Of o u r freedom when we
cognize imperativ es addressed to us It is up to .

whether we carry them out or evade them We can .

seriously deny that we m ake a decision by which ,

decide concerning ourselves and that we are

,

sponsible .

N0 on e who attempts t o deny this can logica

confront other men with an i m perative O nce .

accused man in court said he was not to blame beca

he was born that way an d could not help doing as
did and could accordingly not be held re sp o nsib
and the good humoured j udge replied that it might
-

just as reasonable to say that the judge who

t e n ce d h im could do no di ff erently since that was
he was and he could n o t help acting in accordance wit
the laws .

O nce we have achieve d awareness of o ur fre e dom w

may take a second step toward the apprehension
ourselves : M an is a being who exists in re l ation to
God What does this mean ?
.

We did not create ourselves E ach man can think

.

that he m ight possibly not have been This we have in

.

co m m on with the anim als But at the sam e tim e where

.
,

in o ur freedo m we decide through ourselves and are

not automatically subordinated to a natural law we ,

are n o t through ourselves but by v irtue O f being given

to ourselves in o ur freedom If we do not lov e we do
.
,

not know what we should do we cannot force o u r

,

freedo m When we decide freely and conceive o f o ur

.

lives as meaningful we know that we do not owe

,

ourselves to ourselves At the summit Of freedom upon

.
,

64
 WAY T O WI SD O M
never man as a whole When these methods o f
.

lay clai m to absolute knowledge O f the whole

and this they have all done— they lose sight
m an and go far toward extinguishing their proponents
consciousness o f man and even their o w n hu m anity ,

the humanity which is freedom and relation to God .

The study o f man is of supreme interest and i ,

pursued in a spirit of scientific criticis m rewarding I , .

this is done we know methodically what

,

within what limi ts we know a thing and

know in terms of what is possible and how radically
, ,

inaccessible t o this knowledge authentic hu m anity

r e mains And we avert the danger of obscuring man by
.

pseudo knowledge o f him

-
.

O nce we know the limits o f knowledge we Shall ,

entrust ourselves all the more clearly to the guidance

which freedom itself O ffers to our freedom if it is ,

oriented toward God .

Thi s is the great question Of humanity : Whence

does m an obtain guidance ? Fo r it is certain that his
life does not flow along like that Of the animals from
generation to generation constantly repeating itself
,
’
in accordance with natural law ; man s freedom Opens
up to him along with the uncertainty o f hi s being an
, ,

opportunity to become that whi ch he can authentically

be It is given to man to work in freedom upon his
.

e m pirical existence as u pon a material Hence man .

alone has a hi story that is he does not live only by

, ,

hi s biological heritage but also by tradition M an s

’
.

li fe is not merely a natural process A nd hi s freedom

.

calls for guidan ce .

 MAN
We shall n o t discuss h ere the cases in whi ch the
power o f man over man becom es a substitute fo r this
guidance What we have i n mind is the ultimate
.

guidance o f man Th e thesis Of philosophical faith

.

is : M an can live by God s guidance What does thi s

’
.

mean ?
We beli ev e that we have in th e unconditi onal
imp e rative an intimation o f God s guidance But how
’
.

is this poss i bl e when G o d is n o t corporeal when there ,

is no unmistakable form in which he exists as G od ?

If God lends guidance how does man know what G o d
,

wills ? Is there an encounter betwe en m an and G od ?

And if so how does it occur ?
,

We have autobiograp hi cal records telling us how ,

in men faced by critical problems long doubt h as ,

sudd enly giv e n way to certainty Thi s c e rtainty is the

.

freedom to act after perplexity and vacillation But .

the freer man knows himself to be in this lucid

certain t y the more aware he b e comes Of the trans
,

ce n de n c e through which he is .

’
Kierkegaard reflected each day upon God s g uid
ance and in such a way that he knew himself t o be
,
’
always in God s hand : through that which he did and
that which happened to him in the world he heard
G o d and yet in e v erything he heard he found many
meanings The guidance he receiv ed was n o t tangible
.
,

it provided no clear command ; it was guidance

through freedom itself which knows decision because
,

it knows itself rooted in the transcendent foundation .

Guidance through transcendence is diff er e nt from

any guidanc e in the world for God s gui dance is o f
,
’

only o n e ki nd I t is given through fre e dom its elf

. .

67
 WAY T O WISD O M
The voice o f G o d lies in the self awareness that daw nSiz -

in th e individual when he is open to ev erything tha t i

,

comes t o him from his tradition and environment .

The medium in which man is guided is his judg -w

ment regarding his o w n actions T hi s judgmen t .

restrains or i m pels corrects or confirms T he v oice O f

,
.

God as j udg m ent regarding man s actions has n ot ’

other expression in ti m e than in this j udgment O f man

himself with regard to his emotions motiv es actions , , .

In the free and forthright self awareness Of j udgment -

in self accusation in self a ff irmation m an indirectly

-
,
’
finds God s judgment which I s never definitiv e and ,

always equivocal .

Consequently human judgment is in error from the

,

outset wh en m an expects to find in it God s final ’

word upon which he can absolutely rely We must

, .

mercilessly unmask the self will that lies in our moral -

self satisfaction and self righteousness

- -
.

A ctually no man can ever be fully and definitiv ely

satisfied with himself; he cannot be entirely self
contained in his judgm ent Of himself He requires the .

judgment Of his fellow m e n concerning his actions .

He is particularly sensitiv e to the j udgment Of those he

respects He is less mov ed by that o f the av erage man
.

and the crowd of inert individualized institutions but

, ,

ev en here he is not indi fferent Yet the judgment that .

is ultimately decisiv e for him is n o t ev en that Of the

men he respects although this is the only judgment
,

accessible in the world ; only the judgment o f God can

be decisiv e .

The individual is neve r entirely independent in his

j udgm ent o f hims elf He always attach es importance
.

68
 MAN
j udgment Of another Ev en the primi tiv e hero
.
,

to hi s death in unswerving for titude has in ,

the judgment o f other men : undying fame is the

n Of the dying h e ro e s o f the E ddas .

re is also a truly soli tary h eroism which is ,

based on the community and has n o eye to fame .

S authentic independence is sustained perhaps by

inner harmony o f a w ell favoured nature it -
,

e rh ap s unconsciously from the historical

Of a remembered community yet i t s ,

ness finds nothing in the present world to

can hold But if this heroism does not sink
.

nothingness it may be presumed to hav e deep

,

in authentic being and this stated explicitly

, , ,

d be the judgment o f God rather than Of men .

gh the truth Of the judgment by which man is

is ma ni fested only through self conviction -
,

takes two forms : the universal imperative and the

is torical inj unction .

The uni v ersal ethi cal imperativ es carry intuitive

o nv ic tio n. Ev er since the ten commandments they
’
been a form Of God s presence These imperati v es
.

indeed be recognized and followed without

t h in God by a drastic li mi tation Of their meaning
,

what man can do out Of himself But whole .

a rt e d Obedience to th e ethical commandment

le arly heard in freedom is usually bound
the perception of transcendence precisely in

Howev er ,
action in concrete situations cannot
de q u at ely be deriv ed from universal commandm e nts
69
 WAY TO WI SD OM
and prohibiti ons In ev ery historically actual situati
.

guidance lies in an immediate necessity o f doing - -

which cannot be deriv ed But what the individual .

this case perceiv es as his duty remains q u estio n ab

howev er certain he may be o f it in his o w n mind T .

very nature Of this hearkening to

imp lies the risk Of error hence humil ,

reliance o n o u r certainty forbids us ,

o w n acts as an i m perativ e for all ,

fanaticism Even the purest clarity as t o t h

.

’
hav e seen under God s guidance must n o t ther
giv e rise to a certainty that this is the only tru e roa d
fo r all .

For it is always possible that ev erything will lo o ki

entirely di ff erent later In all lucidity we can choose ai
.

false road Ev en th e certainty Of decision in so far as

.
,

it is manifested in the world must retain a certain ,

element Of suspension For the most dev astating t h re atq

.

to truth in the world is the ov erweening claim t o the

absolutely true In the certainty o f the moment the
.

humility Of the enduring question is indispensable .

O nly in retrospect are we filled with the wonder o f

an unfatho m able gui dance But even here it carries .

’
no certainty God s guidance cannot be made into a
,

possession .

Psychologically speaking the v oice o f God can be,

heard only in sublime moments It is o u t Of such .

moments and toward such moments that we live .

I fman experiences guidance through transcendence ,

is transcendence rea l fo r him ? What is hi s relation t o

it ?
 MA N

Even in the bareness o f abstraction o ur r el ation t o ,

an sce n de n ce can take on a crucial seriousness But as .

en in o u r world we seek support for o ur certai nty in

’
e concrete M an s supreme achievement i n this
.

o rld is commu ni cation from persona li ty t o p e rson

li ty A ccordingly o ur r elation to transcend e nce if

.
, ,

e may speak in paradox b e comes sensibly present ,

o u r encounter with the personal God The godhead .

drawn to u s in it s aspect Of p e rsonality while at th e ,

ame time we rai se ourselv es to th e level o f beings

ap ab le o f speaking wi th thi s G o d .

I n the world thos e powers which have flung u s to

,

he ground strive to dominate u s : fear o f the future ,

n x io u s attachment to present possessions care in the ,

ace Of dire possib ilities O ppos in g the m man can

.

e rh a p s i n the face o f death gain a confidence whi ch

ill enable him even in the most extrem e inexplicable

, , ,

meaningless situation to die in peace , .

Trust in the foundation o f being can mani fest

itself as disinterested grati tude as peac e in the beli e f,
’
in God s being .

In life freedom giv es us a sens e Of r e ceivi ng help

,

from transcendence .

For polytheism helpers and adversaries become

,
”
gods and demons A god did it expresses the poly
.

theist s consciousness Of ev e nts and h is own ac t ions

’
,

which are thereby hallowed and endowed with

significance but at the same time dispersed into
innumerable vital and spiritual pow e rs conceived as ,

exi stents .

’
As against this God s help i n the authentic self
, ,

hood that knows itself t o be radically dependent ,

7 1
 WAY T O WISD OM
is the help o f th e O n e I f God is th ere are n .
,

demons .

O ften God s help is narrowed to a finite cont ent a

’

thus lost A s for exam p le when prayer—as enco n

.

—
with the invisible God degenerates from
conte m plation tending towards silence su ccu m ,

the passion of seeking the hand o f the personal God

and beco m es an inv ocation Of this God for practica
ends .

To the m an who sees through the opaqueness 0

life God sends all possibilities including the situations ,

O f hopeless annihilation Then ev ery situati on b e

.

’
co m es a task for man s freedom and in this task he ,

stands grows and falls T he task howev er cannot be

, ,
.
, ,

adequately defined as pursuit Of earthly happiness

but can only be understood clearly through tran
sc en de n c e this sole reality and the unconditional
, ,

comm andment O f lov e that is manifested in it which , ,

infinitely Open by virtue Of its reason sees what is and ,

reads the symbols Of transcendence in the realities of

the world .

P riests it is true accuse the individual who orients

, ,

hi m self to God through philosophy Of arrogance and

self will They demand Obedience to the rev ealed God
-
. .

I n reply to them this may be said : the individual

engaged in p hilosophical thought if he has drawn a ,

decision from the primal source believ es that he is ,

obeying God not with any Objectiv e guarantee that

,

he knows God s will but rather as a continuous

’

v enture God works through the free decisions o f the

.

individual .

72
 T H E WO R L D

W E C A L L R E A L I T Y that which is present t o

us in practice that which in o ur dealings with t hi ngs
, ,

with living creatures and with men is resistance or

,

becomes matter We learn t o know reality through our

.

daily association with people, through the handling Of

tools through techni cal kn owledge through contact
, ,

with organized bodies o f men .

That which is encountered in practice is clarified by

scientific knowledge and as knowledge o f r e ality
,

made av ailable for ne w practice .

But by its very nature the knowledge o f r e a lity

transc ends the immediate interests of practical life .

Practi ce which is always at the same time struggle

, ,

mastery of resistance is only o n e o f its sources M an

, .

wants to know what is real regardless o f any practical

,

interest A profounder source Of the sciences is pu re

.
,

dev oted contemplation lucid passion a listening

, ,
’
fo r the world s answers .

Knowledge becomes scientific through method a ,

systematic u ni ty is ascertained in what is known ; the

scientist looks beyond the multiple and disparate t o
unifying principles .

This knowledge o f reality seem s t o find completion

in the world system The world system purports to
.

disclose reali ty as a whole in o ne world a cosmos , ,

74
 THE WORLD
part of which is related t o ev ery other part .

gh it has always bee n recognized that such a

st be imperfect and will require constant

ne v ertheless the world system h as been
ed as a product O f knowledge and in principle ,

form in which being as total reality becomes

ble to us The world system is expected to
.

pass the whole Of coherent knowledge World .

are as Old as human knowledge ; and

at all times have stri v en for world systems
eans Of attaining a u ni fied awareness O f the

it is significant that the search for an all

ing world system in which the u ni verse
,

3 a self contained w hole

-
this so self evident
,
-

g for a total world view is based o n a funda

,

ental fallacy which h as only been understood in

e c e n t times
'
.

For scientific critique teaches us not only that ev ery

wo rl d system up to now has collapsed under the weight
> f its o w n contradictions but that the systematic

I ni ties o f knowledge w hi ch are indeed the goal O f

:ci e n c e have been div erse and sprung from essen tially

l iff e re n t roots T hi s beco m es increasingly evident

.

Nlt h the advance of science Ev en as the u ni ties

— particularly in physics—the
.

J e co m e more univ ersal

n ore marked become the cleav ages between the

J h y si c al world the world o f life the world of the soul

, , ,

:h e world o f the mind These worlds are indeed con

.

l CCt . They are arranged in an order of dev elop

n ent ; the reali t y of the later stage presu poses that o f
p
zh e e arlier while the reality of the earlier seems able
‘

75
 WAY T O WISD OM
to stand wi thout that o f th e later ; for
can be n o life wi thout matter but ther
without life Vain attempts hav e been
.

the later stage from the earlier but ,

becomes more evident The one totality in the world

.
,

to whi ch all the unities susceptible o f exploration by

knowledge belong is itself no unity such as might b e
,

subsumed in an all e m bracing theory o r whi ch as

-
,

idea might serve as a beacon for scientific inquiry .

Ther e is no world system but only a systematization o f

the sciences .

World systems are always a particular sphere o f

knowledge erroneously absolutized and univ ersalized
, .

Di fferent scientific ideas gi v e rise to special per

sp e c t iv es Ev ery world system i s a segment taken o u t
.

o f the world T he world itself cannot become a system

. .

“ ”
A ll scientific cosmologies hav e been mythi cal
cosmologies built on scientific methods and scant
,

remnants Of myth .

The world is no Object we are always in the world, ,

we confront Objects in it but nev er have the world

itself as an Object Far as our horizons o f methodical
.

inquiry extend particularly in o u r astronomical

,

conceptions Of the nebulae o f whi ch our Galaxy , ,

with its billions o f suns is only one among mi llions and

, ,

in the mathematical conception o f univ ersal matter ,

all that we see here is aspects o f phenomena and

not the foundation o f things not the univ erse as ,

a whole .

The univ erse is not self contained I t cannot be -

.

explained out o f itself but in it one thing can be

,

explained by another ad in fi nit u m N0 one knows to .

7 6
 THE WORLD
li mi ts future res e arch may y e t atta i n what ,

ses will still open b e fore it .

A criti cal approach to science calls for the abandon

ent Of world systems which is also a prerequisite to
,

phi losophi cal apperception Of being True the .

,

t Of being demands a familiarity

t h every branch of scientific inquiry But it seems to .

the hi dden aim Of science t o attain through inquiry

a limit at which the area Of nonknowl e dge is opened
the most lucid knowledge Fo r only fulfilled .

o w le dge can lead to authentic nonknowledge .

tic being is r evealed n o t in any world

uilt on knowledge but in fulfilled n o n
o w le dge which can be achiev ed only through
,

e n tifi c cognition not without it and n o t before it

,
.

is the supreme striving Of knowledge t o reach the

point where cognition fails Fo r o u r consciousness
. Of
being finds an indispensable source in nonknowledge ,

bu t only in fulfilled conquered nonknowledge

, .

We approach the reality o f the world from a dif

fe re n t angle S cientific knowledge can be included in
.

th e general proposition : A ll knowledge is interpreta

tion T he method we apply to the study o f texts may
.

be taken as a parallel to our study O f being A nd th e .

analogy i s n o t accidental .

For we possess being only in its interpretations To .

speak Of it is to interpret it and only that whi ch is

,

apprehended in speech falls under the head O f the

knowable But even in the p rep h ilo so p hi c stage the

.

’
language o f men s practical dealings with things

77
 WAY T O WISD OM
contains an interpretation of being ; being is always
defined in reference to something els e Being is for us .

only in an interpreti v e context Being and the know .

ledge O f being the ex istent and what we say Of it are

, ,

accordingly a texture of div erse interpretations A ll .

being is for us an interpretation .

Interpretation diff erentiates b e tween somethi ng

that is and something whi ch it means for example , ,

betwe e n th e Sign and what it stands for If being is .

taken as that whi ch is to be interpreted it would ,

seem that we must di fferentiat e in the same way :

i nterpretati on concerns something other than itself;
what confronts us in interpretation is being itself .

But o ur atte m pted diff erentiation is n o t success

ful Fo r nothi ng enduring remains nothing purely
.
,

knowable whi ch n eed only be interpreted and is not

,

itself interpretation Whatever we know is only a

.

beam Of light cast by our interpretation into being ,

o r we might say the capture of an opportunity for

, ,

interpretation The power to make possible all these

.

interpretations must lie in the v ery nature Of being as

a whole .

But the interpretation is not arbitrary If it is .

sound it has an objectiv e character Being compels

, .

these interpretations True all modes O f being are

.
,

for us modes Of interpretation but they are also ,

modes of necessary interpretation Consequently the .

,

doctrine Of the categories as structures Of being sees the

modes o f being as modes Of interpretation thus fo r ,
”
example breaking down the Objectiv e categories “

into identity relation cause and e ff ect freedom or

, , ,

expressi on etc , .

78
 WAY T O WISD OM
remain unfulfilled and henc e fundam e ntally n o t
understood .

It is not only the absolute world systems that are

gone The world is not self contained and fo r o ur
.
-

knowledge it breaks down into div erse perspecti v es ,

because it cannot be reduced to a single principle .

The reali ty o f the world as a whole is n o obj ect o f

knowledge .

In the light o f what we hav e said o f God and exist

ence we may sum up o ur experience Of the world in
,

th e proposition : The reality o f the world subsis t s

ephemerally between God and existence .

Ev eryday life seems to teach us the contrary : that we

men take the world o r something in the world as an
absolute A nd Of the man who has made so many
.

things the ulti m ate content Of his existence we may

say with Luther : that whi ch you hold t o upon whi ch ,

you stake your existence that is truly your G o d M an

,
.

cannot help taking something as an absolute whether ,

willi ngly and knowingly whether accidentally and

,

fi t fu lly or resolutely and steadfastly M an has a kind Of .

home in the absolute He cannot ev ade it In that home

. .

he m ust liv e .

History down through the c e nturies reveals awe

inspiring figures Of men who hav e transcended the
world Indian ascetics certain monk s in China and the
.
,

West left the world in order to partake Of the absolute

,

in worldless meditation It was as though the world had

—
.

vanished ; being fro m the viewpoint Of the world

nothingness—was ev erythi ng
,

Chinese mystics freed the m selves from th e toils Of

80
 WAY T O WISD OM
in the temporal course o f his life Thi s w illingn .

i m plies two fundamental experiences :

’
First the experience Of God s absolute transcend
ov er the world : the hidden G o d recedes farther
farther into the distance if I atte m pt to seize
apprehend Him univ ersally and forever ; He is
calculably near through the absolutely hi
form o f His speech in a situation whi ch is
unique .

S econd the experi ence o f God s speech in

,
’

world : the world is not in itself but in it G o d spe ,

always with many meanings and this speech can ,

become clear historically in the existential mom ent an

cannot be g eneralized .

Freedom for being does not see the ultimate i n th e

world as such In the world eternal being and temporal
.

manifestation meet .

Y et we do not experience eternal being outside 0

that which is empirically m an ifested t o us in time .

S ince that which is for us must be manifested in the

temporality o f the wo rld there can be n o direct
,

knowledge Of G o d and existence T here can only .

be faith
The principles Of faith—G o d is ; there is an un co n
.

ditio n al i m perati v e ; m an is finite and imperfectible ;

man can liv e in God s guidance— enable us t o sense
’

the truth only in SO far as they embody their fulfilment

in the world as speech o f God If as though passing the
.
,

world by God should directly approach existence the

, ,

ev ent would be incomm unicable T he truth o f all .

universal principles speaks in the form o f a tradition

82
 THE WORLD
of a p articularity acquired in life ; these are th e
s in which the individual consciousn ess h as
ened t o the truth : o ur parents told u s so Ther e is .

vast hi storical depth in such formulas as for Thy

’ ” “ ” ” “
O ly name s sake immortality
,
love ,
.

As principles o f faith become more universal they

their historicity They rise to the level o f pure
.

rac t io n But with such abstractions alone no man

.

live ; wher e concret e fulfilment is lacking th ey

only a minimal v alue as guides t o memory and
They have at th e same time a cleansing power :
free us from the fetters Of pur e mat eriality and
superstiti ous narrowness h e lping u s to adapt th e
,

reat tradition to present r e alization .

Unlimit e d devotion to God is the authenti c mod e o f

ist e n ce That to which I devot e myself in the world
.
,

to the point ofstaking my life must be constantly tested

,

in relation to God under the condition o f God s will in

’

whi ch we believe For in blind de v otion man heedlessly

.

serves the power which is o v er him only factually and

—

which h e does not elucidate and he may even serve

,
”
th e devil through hi s failure to see question think ,

—
.
,

In devotion to reality in the world the in disp en s

able mediu m o f devotion to God —grows selfhood ,

which at the same time asserts itselfin that t o which it is

:l e v o t e d But if all empirical existence h as been reduced
.

:0 reality family people profession state world and

, , , , , ,

f this reality fails then we can conquer the despair o f

,

10thingness only through the self assertion which -

:ran sce n ds the reality o f the world which s tands alon e

,

J e fo re God and exi sts o u t o f God O nly in dev otion t o

.

83
 WAY TO WISD OM
0d and the world is thi s selfhood granted a
not to

eceiv e d as th e freedom t o ass e rt it in the world

.

Th e e phemeral subsistence o f the world between G

n d existence is the burden o f a myth

ib lical categories—conceiv es the world as the m

e st a tio n o f a transcendent history : from the crea

h ro u gh the fall o f man and the redemption t o the

f the world and the resurrection o f all things In
!

y t h the world does not exist o u t Of itself but

assing stage in a transcendent process .

ran sie n t but the rea lity in this transience

,

x istence T he eternal is manifested in the

.

o rld It is thus that man as an indiv idua

.

edge o f hi mself A nd in this m anifestation o f t

.

ternal there lies a paradox : for in it that whi ch

ternal as such is once again decided .
 FA I TH A ND E N L I GHTEN MENT

H A V E S T A T E D th e principles o f philosophi cal

God i s ; there is an unconditional imperative ;
is fi ni t e and imperfec t i ble ; man can liv e in God s
’

reality o f th e world subsists ephemerally

11 G o d and existence These five propositions re
.

n fo rc e and l e nd imp e tus t o o n e another But each h as .

t s o w n source in a fundamental experience O f exist e nce .

N one Of these five principles is d e monstrable in th e

ense o f a limited insight into Obj e cts in the world .

” “ ”
only be pointed o u t elucidat e d
,
”
r e asoning recalled to mi nd They do
, .

n st it u t e a cr e ed fo r despite th e force o f the fai th

,

placed i n them they remain in the susp e nsion o f

o w le dge I follow them not b e cause I accept a
.

die n ce to an authority but b e cause by my

cannot e lud e their truth .

b statem e nts Of principles fill us wi th misgivi n g .

are t o o readily treated like a body o f knowledge ,

his vitiates their purpos e They are t oo readily

.

into a dogma which is subs tituted for r e ality .

should b e commu nicated in order that m e n may

,

rst a n d o n e another through th e m in order that ,

may be confirmed by communicati on i n order ,

they may awaken men wh e n cond i ti ons are

. e But by the defi nit eness o f their statement
ris e to ps e udo kn owledge
-
.

85
 WAY TO WISD OM
S tatement demands discussion For when we think .

there are always tw o possibilities : we may arriv e at th

truth o r we may miss it Thus ev ery positive st at e m en
.

demands safeguards against error and side by sid ,

with the ordered building up Of thought we find per

version Consequently all positive exposition must b
.
,

permeated by negative j udgments limitation an , ,

critique But in philosophical thought this battle 0

.

discussion is not a struggle for power ; it is a struggle fO

lucidity through questioning a struggle for clarity an
,

truth in which we allow our adv ersary all thos

,

weapons of the intellect with which we defend o ur o w

faith.

In philosophizing I hav e recourse to direct state

ment where a direct question is asked Is there a G o d .

Is there an unconditional imperativ e in our life ? I

man i m perfectible ? Is there guidance by God ? Is th
reality o f the world suspended and ephemeral ? I an
compelled to answer whe n I am confronted by t h t
,

principles characterizing lack of faith which are mor < ,

or less as follows :

First : There is no G o d for there is only the w o rlc

,

and the laws gov erning its process ; the world is God .

S econd : There is no unconditional imperativ e ID! ,

the imperatives which I Obey originated in time an t

are in process of change They are determ ined b
. x

custom habit tradition Obedience ; ev erything

, , ,

contingent upon somethi ng else ad in fi nit um .

T hird : M an is perfectible for man can be just a

,

perfect in his way as the animal ; it w ilf b e possible t< '

breed a perfect man There is no inherent funda

.
,

m ent al i mperfecti on o r frailty in man Man is n( .

86
 F AITH AND E NLIGHTENMENT
r m e diat e
being but complet e and whole True .
,

ev erything else in the world he is transient but he ,

ed in himself independent adequate t o , ,

his world .

There is no guidance by God This guid .

e is an illusion and a self deception M an has the -

.

n gt h t o follow himself and can rely o n h is o w n

n gt h .

The world is ev erything its reality is the sole ,

enti e reality S ince there is no transcendence .

,

in the world is indeed transient but the ,

elfis absolute it is eternal and not ephemeral , ,

transition and suspension .

dealing with such statements Of lack Of faith

osophy has a twofold task : to apprehend their
igin and to elucidate the truth o f faith .

L ack o f faith is generally regarded as a product Of

e Enlightenment But what is enlightenment ?
.
!

T he teachings Of enlightenment are directed against

e blindness which accepts ideas as true without
sti o h in g them ; against actions—c g magical ,

o n s—which cannot accomplish what they are

to accomplish since belief in their e fficacy ,

o n assumptions whi ch can be pro v ed false ;

gainst restrictions on questioning and inquiry ;

gainst traditional prejudices E nlightenment de m ands .

n unlimited striving for insight and a critical aware

p im ily not r ar

E li ght m t A n en en . s a
i g ifi t philo ophi l ttit d
s n can li ght m
s t i oppo d to
ca a u e, en en en s se
rsti t io n, p j di
re u d yt hi g l th t ob t t th d p t p p h
c e , an an n e se a s ru c s e ee es a re en
n of and res po to lity
ns e rea .
 WAY T O WISD OM
Ma n striv es understand what he bel
to
desires and does He wants to think for hims
,
.

wishes to grasp with his understanding and ,

possible to hav e proof of what is true He wants .

knowledge t o be based o n experience which is fun

mentally accessible to ev eryone He seeks paths t o
.

source o f insight instead o f permitting it t o be s

before him as a finished product whi ch he need on
accept He wishes to understand to what degree
.

proof is v alid and at what limits the understanding

frustrated A nd he would like also to hav e a re
.

basis for the indemonstrable premise which h ,

ultimately take as the foundation Of his life ,

authority he follows of the v eneration he

,

respect in w h ich he holds the thoughts an

‘

great men of the trust which he

,

which whether only at this p artic

,

particular situation o r in
unfathomable .

why he obeys .

true and ev ery t

right to this condition ; he
it inwardly A nd such participation must be
.

self conviction In short : enlightenment i

-
.

’
words Of Kant man s departure from the conditio
”
Of immaturity for which he himself is responsible I .

t ruth it is the path by which man comes to himself .

But the demands Of enlightenment are so eas

misunderstood that the ve ry term is ambiv alent T .

can be true and there can be false enlightenment A n . Tru eenlightening,

accordingly the fight agains t enlightenment is itsel otfrom
n tsid
ou e by
,

88
 WAY T O WISD OM
limit upon questioning is aware Of the factua l li mi
,

Fo r it n o t only elucidates prejudices and

beliefs which were hitherto unquestioned
elucidates itsel f It does not confound the m
.

the understanding with the contents o f h

In it s view these contents can be elucidated b
rational understandi ng but they cannot b e base
upon the understanding .

L et us now discuss som e ofthe attacks that hav e be

made on enlightenment I t has been called the
.

e ro ga t io n o f man who wishes t o o w e only

,

what has been besto wed upon him by grace .

Those who make t hi s accusation fail to reco g

that God does not speak through the commands
’
rev elations of other men but in man s selfhood
through his freedom not from without
,
’
within A ny restriction o n man s freedom
.
,

G o d and oriented toward God is a rest rict io v ersal h um a n W l

i l
,

v e ry thing through which G o d theyreject our(on

enemies Of enlightenment rebel against God W t ttainlm
P O o a

fav our Of supposedly divi ne but actually h

p p il
o seh i
c al u
s icié
cont e nts o f faith i njunctions prohi bitions i
, ,
lnoppositiontot
,

and rules Of conduct wherein as in all thi n therecanbelt

, ,

folly and wisdom are inextricably W iflw utatrucsdc

cease questioning these things is to renounce the hum situationmakethis;
mission The rejection Of enlightenment is a kind 0 manfallsintothem
.

treason against man .

Offanaticaldecisim
O ne O f the m ain ele m ents of enlightenment i Barriersareerette
science
,
a science free from preconceiv ed n o tio
whose searching and questioning are not limited W hytheseam
ai m s and truths set forth in adv ance ( apart from such N ot infrequent!
 F AITH AND ENLIGHTENMENT
cal humanitarian restrictions as those forbi ddi ng
, ’

use O f m e n as objects Of experiment ) .

We hav e heard the outcry : S cience d estroys faith .

reek science could be built into faith and was useful

r its elucidation but modern science is utterly
,

s I t is a pur ely historical phenomenon resulting

.

catastrophic world crisis We may expect i ts end

.

d should do o u r utmost t o hasten it These critics .

u b t the eternal truth which shines forth i n modern

enc e They deny the dignity Of man which is today

.

lo n ge r p o ssib le without a scientific attitude They

‘

philosophical enlightenm e nt which they as ,

ate only with the flatness o f the und e rstanding and

with the breadth o f reason They turn against .

ralism ,
seeing only the congealed liberalism Of
and superficial faith in progress n o t the ,

force o f liberality They attack toleranc e as

.

indi fference and fail to recognize the uni

,

man readiness fo r communication In short .

r foundati on in human dignity in the ,

power to attain knowledg e in freedom and adv ocate

, ,

hil o sOp hi c al suicide

p .

In opposition t o thes e beliefs we are certain that today

there can be no integrity reason o r human dignity
, ,

without a true scientific attitude where tradition and,

situation make this attitude possible Where science is lost .

man falls into the twilight o f v agu ely edifying sentiments ,

Of fanatical decisions arriv ed at in self willed blindness -

.

Barriers are erected man is led into new prisons

, .

Why these attacks o n enlightenment ?

No t infrequently they grow o u t o f an urge to
9 1
 WAY TO WISD OM
absurdity a driv e to set men up as m o u th p ie
,

and Obey them They arise out of passion fo r

.

whi ch no longer follows the laws Of the day

the experience O f the botto m le ss builds a s
saving pseudo order without foundation A nd
-
.

grow out of the unfaith of those who in their desir

,

faith persuade themselv es that they hav e a faith

,
.

o u t of a will to power which fosters the belief that

are more compliant when they are blindly su

to an authority which is an instrument Of thi s power
O ften the enemies o f enlightenment hav e invoke
Christ and the N ew T esta m ent—rightly SO if they ha
in mind certain churches and theologies down thron g
the centuries but u nj ust ifi ab ly if they were thi nki
,

of the source and tr uth of the biblical religion as such ,

for these are aliv e in true enlightenment they are ,

elucidated by p hilosophy which helps perhaps to pre

,

serv e the m fo r humanity in the new technological world .

If the attacks on enlightenm ent Often seem meaning

ful it is because O f the perv ersions O f enlightenment
, ,

which are indeed Open to attack What makes the

.

p er v ersions possible is the di ff iculty Of the task It is

.

true that the enthusiasm with which ev ery newly

awakening man attains freedom an d through it a
greater sense o f Openness t o the godhead goes hand in
h and with enlighten m ent But soon enlightenment may
.

become an unwarranted aspiration For God is not .

heard unequiv ocally o u t O f freedo m but only in the

course Of lifelong e ff ort through m oments when man is
granted what he could nev er attain by thought M en .

cannot always bear the burden Of critical non

knowledge in mere readiness to listen at the proper
 FAITH AND ENLIGH TENMENT
ment He desires defini te knowledge Of the ulti
.

h e h as rejected faith he abandons himself to

,

lect as such and from it falsely expects c er

,

e decisiv e questions o f life But since

.

t provide such certainty his expecta,

y by deceptions : the finite and

te so m etimes this sometimes that and 8 0 o n
, , ,

variations is absolutized into the whole A

, .

category is taken fo r cognition as such The .

O f persevering self examination gives way

-

ov erweening trust in a definitiv e pseudo certainty -

.

en claim absolute truth for opi ni ons based o n acci

nt and situation and in their pseudo lucidity
,
-

m b to a new blindness In its assertion that man

.

now and think everything o n the basis of his o w n .

such enlightenment is indeed arbitrary I t .

rts this impossible claim by undisciplined half

cannot combat all these perv e rsions o f e nligh t en

by abolishing thought but only by a realization
u gh t with its full potentialities with its critical
,

ness Of limi ts and its v alid accomplishments

sustain the test Of knowledge O nly a develop
.

Of thought ac hi ev ed through the self education -

whole man can prev ent any body Of thought

whatsoever from becoming a poison ; can prevent
enlightenment from becoming an agent o f death .

The purest enlightenment recognizes that it cannot

dispense with faith T he five propositions of p hi lo so
.

p hic al fa i th cannot be demonstrat e d li ke scienti fic

93
 WAY T O WISD OM
theses It is not possible to impose faith by ration
.

means by any science o r philosophy

,
.

It is a fallacy o f false enlightenment to suppose

the understanding by itself alone can know truth
being T he understanding is dependent o n somet
.

else A s sci e ntific cognition it is dependent o n

.
,

experience A s philosophy it is dependent o n c

.
,

o f faith .

The understanding can inde e d clarify ,

dev elop thought but that which lends its Opinion

,

O bj ectiv e significance its thought fulfilment it , ,

action purpose its philosophy authentic content m us

,

be giv en t o it .

The s ource Of these premises upon which t ho ugh t t

must depend is ultimately unknowable They are; .

rooted in the Comprehensive out o f which w e live If f .

the force o f the Comprehensive fails us we incline to ; ,

the fiv e negativ e propositions Of unfaith .

The pre m ises Of sensory experience com e from th e :

world the premises Offaith hav e their source in histo ri
,

cal tradition In this outward form the premises are

.

merely guides by which we find o ur way to the

authentic premises Fo r the outward premises are.

subject to constant testing not only by the under ,

standing as a judge who Of himself knows what is true

but by the understanding as an instrument : the
understanding tests experience by other experience ;
it also tests traditional faith by traditional faith and in ,

so doing tests all tradition by the original awakening Of

its contents out Of the primal source Of o u r o w n self
hood T he sciences provide those necessary insights
.

into experience which no o n e following the pr escribed

94
 FAITH AND EN LIGHTENMENT
1 b’ r
l ati e t h o ds can elude ; while philosophy through its
,

aso n e d a ro ac h to tradition makes possible our

pp
‘

cannot combat unfaith directly but we can

t the demonstrably false claims of rationalistic
se u dO knowledge and the claims o f faith that ass um e
-

falsely rational form .

The principles o f p hi losophical faith become false

when they are taken as communication o f a content .

For none of these principles implies an absolute O bj ect ;

they are to be taken as the symbol o f an infinity b eco m
i ng concrete Where th i s infini ty is present in faith the
.
,

endl ess reality Of the world takes on meaning as its

ma ni festation But thi s meani ng must sti ll be inter
.

p re t e d .

When the philosopher utters these principles Of

faith they assume an analogy t o a creed The p hi lo
,
.

sopher should n o t exploit his nonknowledge in order to

ev ade all answers He must be circumspect in his
.

philosophizing and repeat : I do not know ; I do not

ev en know whether I believe ; however such faith , ,

expressed in such propositions strikes me as meani ng

,

ful ; I will venture to believ e in this way and I hope I

,

shall have the strength to live by my faith In philo .

Sophy there wi ll always be a tension between the

seemi ng indecision Of the susp ended utterance and the
reality of resolute conduct .

95
 !
T HE H I S T O RY O F MAN

NO R E A L I T Y I s more essential to our s elf aw aren e -

than history It shows u s the b ro ade

.

ki nd brings us the contents Of tr

,

o u r life is built shows us standards by which

,

measure the present frees us from u n co nscio u

,

bondage to o u r o w n age teaches us to see man in hi

,

highest potentialities and hi s imperishable creations .

We can make no better use of leisure tha

familiarize ourselv es and keep ourselv es familiar
the glories o f the past and the catastrophes in
everything has be en shattered We gain a .

understanding Of o ur present experience if we see it in

the m irror o f history A nd hi story becomes aliv e for us
.

when we regard it in the light of our own age O ur life .

becomes richer when past and present illumine on e i

another .

It is only the concrete parti cular history which is ;

,

close to us that truly concerns us Yet in our p hilo so .

p hi c al approach t o history we inevitably deal in

certain ab st ractio n S u

History sometimes appears t o be a chaos o f acci

dental happeni ngs an eddying flood It passes o n
, .
,

fro m o n e turm oil from one catastrophe to the next with

, ,

brief intervals of happiness little islands which it ,

I thi
n h pt
s c t in p g f om my book V m U p g d Zi l d
a er cer a assa es r o rs run an e ef
G hi ht h
esc c e b p od d b tim
av e ee n re r uce v er a .

96
 WAY T O WISD OM
as is shown by painting s and remains of tools Bu .

only for the last fiv e to six thousand years that we h

had a documented coherent hi story , .

History breaks down into four basic s egm e nts :

First : We can only infer the first great steps towar
the use of language the invention o f tools the kin
, ,

and use o f fir e This is the P romethean

.

tion Of all hi story through which man became

,

distinction to a purely biologically defined

speci es o f which we can scarcely conceive
,
.

this was over what v ast periods of time the p ro

,

tended we do not know But this age

, .

in the v ery remote past and it must have been many

times longer than the comparatively insignificant
span o f time cov ered by o ur documented historica l
era.

S econd : The ancient high civilizations grew up

between 5000 and 3000 in E gypt M esopotamia , ,

and o n the Indus somewhat later o n the Hwang ,

River in China These are little islands o f light amid

.

the broad mass of mankind which already populated

the whole planet .

Third : In the years centring around 500 B C . .

from 8 00 to 2 00—the spiritual foundations o f huma nity

were laid Simultaneously and independently in China
, ,

India P ersia P alestine and Greece A nd these are

, , , .

the foundations upon which hu m anity still subsis t s

today .

Fourth : S ince then there h as been only o n e entirely

new spiritually and materi ally incisiv e ev ent equal t o
, ,

the others in historical significance : the age o f science

a n d tec h nology I t was foreshadowed in E urope at the
.

98
 THE HISTORY OF MAN
ofthe M iddle A ges ; its theoretical groundwork
laid in the se v enteenth century ; at the end o f the
t e e n th century it entered on a period Of broad
rowth and in the last few decades it has advanced at
,

headlong pac e .

L et us cast a glance at the third s egm e nt that o f the,

ears around 500 Hegel h as said A ll hi story

,
“

5 toward Christ and from Christ T he appear

.

o f the S o n of God is the axis o f hi story O ur .

re m inds us every day o f thi s Christian

of history The flaw in this view Of history is
.

can have meaning only for belie v ing Christians .

ev en Western Christians hav e n o t built their em

cal view Of history o n their faith but have drawn
essenti al distinction between sacred and profane
story .

If there is an axis in history we must find it em

,

p i ric all
y in profane history as a set o f circumstances
,

significant for all men including Christians I t must

, .

carry conviction for Westerners A siatics and all men

, , ,

without the support o f any particular content of

faith a n d thus provide all men with a common his
,

t o rical fra m e o f reference .

The spiritual process which took place between 8 00

and 2 00 seems to constitute such an axis I t was .

then that the man with whom we liv e today came into
“ ”
being L et us designate this period as the axial age
. .

E xtraordinary ev ents are crowded into this period In .

China li ved Confucius and Lao T se all the trends in

,

Chinese philosophy arose it was the era o f M O Tse

, ,

Chuang Tse and countless others In India it was the

.
 WAY TO WISD OM
age of th e Upanishads and o f Buddha ; as i
philosophical trends including skepticism ,

a lism sophistry and nihilism were de v eloped In Ira

, , .

Z arathustra put forward his challengi ng c o n cep tio

o f the cosmic process as a struggle between good an

evil ; in P ales t in e prophets arose : E lij ah ,

Jeremiah Deutero Isaiah ; Gr e ece produced

,
-

th e philosophers P arm e nides Heraclitus P l , ,

tra gi c po e ts Thucydides and A rchimedes A ll

, ,
.

d eve l opment o f which these names are a mere inti

tion took plac e in these few centuries independe ,

and almost s i multaneously in China India and t h , ,

West .

The n ew el e ment i n thi s a ge is that man ev ery w h ered

became aware o f bein g as a whole of himself and his ! ,

limits He experi e nced the horror Of the world and his

.

o w n helplessn e ss He raised radical questions ap

.
,

ro ac h e d th e abyss in his dri v e for liberation and

p
redemption A nd in consciously apprehending his
.

li mi ts h e set hi mself the highest aims He experienced .

the absolute in the depth of s elfhood and in the clarity

Of transcendence .

Conflicting poss i bi lities were explored Discussion .

,

partisans hi p intell e ctual schi sms ( though wi thin a

,

common frame of refer e nce ) gave rise t o mov e ment

and unrest borderi ng o n spiritual chaos .

This era produced the basic categories in which we

still thi nk and created th e world r eligions o u t of which
men still live .

The opinions customs conditions whi ch had

, ,

hi therto enjoyed unconscious acceptance came to be

questi oned The world w as thrown into turmoil
. .

I OO
 WAY T O WISD OM
And the sociological conditi ons o f all three re gi
rev eal analogies : innumerable pet ty states and cities
struggle of all against all and yet at first an ast o ni shi
,

prosperity .

But these centuries in which so much h

were not characterized by a simple asc ending
ment There was destruction and creation at 0
.

there was no fulfilment The supreme .

reali zed in individuals did not become

heritage What started o u t as freedom 0
.

became anarchy in the end O nce t h e .

creative impetus ideas congealed into

,

levelling occurred in all three spheres A s the diso .

grew intolerable men sought new bonds and

,

stability .

T he end w as first characterized by political dev

ments Vast despotic empires arose almost si
.

o u sly in C hi na
( T sin S hi Huangti
, ) in India
, ( t,
h
M aurya dynasty) in the West ( the He llenist i
,

empires and the Imperium R omanum) Ev e ry w h er .

systematic order and technical organization emerge

from the collapse .

T he spiritual life of men is still oriented toward the ‘

axial age China India and the West hav e all wit
.
, ,

n e sse d conscious attempts to restore it renaissances .

,

True there hav e been great new spiritual creations

,

but they have been inspired by ideas acquired in the

axial age .

Thus the main line o f history runs fro m the birth Of

humanity through the civilizations of high anti
u i
q t y to the axial age and its o ffshoots which ,

10 2
 THE HISTO RY O F MAN
ayed a cr e ativ e role up to th e dawn of our ow n

S ince then a new li ne would se e m to hav e be gun .

ag e Of science and technolo gy is a kind o f second

able t o the first i nventi on o f tools

If we may venture a pr e sumption by analogy we ,

hall pass through vast planned organizations analogous

0 those of E gypt and the other ancient high civi liza

from whi ch the ancient Jews emigrated and o n

when they laid a new foundation they look e d ,

hatred as a place Of forc e d labour P erhaps .

kind will pass through these giant organizations

new axial age still remote invisible and in
, , ,

eiv ab le an axial age Of auth e ntic human upsurge

, .

ay we are livi ng in an era o f the most

at ast ro p h e s
. It seems as though everything
ad been transmitted t o u s were being melted
and yet there is no convinci ng s i gn that a new
is in the making .

is new is that in o ur day history is for the

becoming world wide in Scope M easured by
-
.

which modern communications hav e given

,
be all previous history is a mere a ggreg ate o f
cal histories
—
.

What we formerly called history is ended an

t e rm e diary m oment o f five thousand years between
prehistoric centuries in which the globe was p o p u
d and the world history which is now be ginning .

millennia measur e d by the preceding era o f

,
’
an s existence and by future possibilities ar e a ,

in u t e i n terval In t hi s inte rval m e n may be said t o

.

103
 WAY TO WISD OM
have gathered together t o hav e mustered t
,

forces for the ac ti on o f world history to hav e acquire

,

the intellectual and technical equipment they neede

for the journey which is just be ginning .

We must look to horizons such as these when

incline to take a dark view o f the realities of o u r
and to regard all hum an history as lost We .

j ustified in believing in the future pote

humani ty In the short view al l is gloom in the 1
.
,

view it is not But this becomes evident only in

.

light o f history as a whole .

T he more fully we realize ourselv es in the pres

seeki ng the truth and ascertaining the criteria
humanity the more confidently we may look to t h
,

future .

A nd now as to the meaning of history Those w h o 1

, .

believ e that the historical process h as an aim Often ,

striv e to reali ze it by planning .

But we become aware o f o ur helplessness when we ‘

seek t o p lan and organize history as a whole T he: .

overweening plans of rulers based upon a supposed

,

total knowledge o f history hav e always ended in

,

catastrophe The plans devised by indivi duals in their

.

restricted circles fail o r else contribute to unleashing

quite di ff erent unplanned complexes of ev ents T he
,
.

historical process can be seen either as an irresistible

mechanism or as an infinitely interpretable meaning
which manifests itself by unexpected n ew ev ents ,

which remains always equivocal a meaning which , ,

ev en when we entrust ourselves to it is never known ,

to us.

104
 WAY T O WISD OM
ev erything if partaking o f the primal sourc e
, ,

entrust myself t o transcendence .

We cannot define the ultimate aim o f his t ory but

can posit an aim which is itself a p re m ise fo r
realization of the highest human potentiali ties A n .

that is the unity of mankind .

Unity cannot be achieved t h rough any ratio n a

scientific univ ersal T his would produce a unity
.

understanding but not o f mankind No r does .

reside in a univ ersal religion such as might be arriv e

,

at through discussion at religious congresses N or ca .

it be realized through a conv entional language base

o n reason and common sense Unity can be gained 0
.

from the depth of historicity n o t as a comm ,

knowable content but in boundless c o m m unic at

o f the historically di ff erent in never ending dia log -

rising to heights of noble e m ulation .

A dial ogue Of thi s sort which will be worthy

,

man requires an area o f freedom from violenc e

, .

practical unity o f men striving for such an area

nonviolence seems conceiv able and many ,

already taken it as their goal This goal o f uni .

manki nd at least o n the basic lev els of life which does ,

not imply a common and univ ersal faith does no ti ,

seem entirely utopian Its reali zation will require a

'

stubborn political struggle against the powers that

be — and o ur v ery situation may well drive us into such
a struggle.

P rerequisite for such a uni ty is a political form upon

which all can agree since it provides the best possibl e
,

basis of freedom fo r all This form which only in the

.
,

106
 THE HISTORY OF MAN
st h as been developed in theory and in part
ed , is the constitutional state built on
elections
law s which are subject t o modifica tion solely
means In such a state men battle to gain
.

on for the just cause to win public opinion

,

widespread and enlightened education and

served dissemination o f news .

would be no wars in a constituti onal world

r where no state would possess absolute sovereignty
mankind itself acting through it s constituti onal
,

n s would be sovereign
, .

desires communication and aspires

through a constitutional order
ust is moving toward justice we
, ,

not be helped by an optimism born o f e n t h u

for such ideas which sees the future as all
,

t For we hav e every reason to take the opposite

.

We see each o f us in ourself th e self will the

, ,
-
,

sist a n c e to self elucidation the sophistry with which

-
, ,

is used as an instrument o f o b fusc a

we see rej ection of the unfamiliar in the place o f
m u n ic atio n We see the pleasure men take in
.

er and violence ; we see how the masses are swept

war ; stricken with blind lust for gain and ad
ure willing to sacrifice e v erything even their
, ,

O n the other hand we see the unwillingness o f

masses to depriv e themselves to save to work
, ,

and quietly toward the building o f stable

and we see the passions which force their
ost unobstructed into the background o f the

10 7
 WAY T O WI SD O M
A nd quite apart from the charact e r of men we ,

the irremediable inj usti ce o f all insti tutions w e ,

situations which cannot be solv ed by j usti ce ,

situations arising for example from the increase

r e distrib u tl o n o f the population or from t h

possession by o n e group o f somethi ng

desire and which cannot be divided .

Hence there seems almost to be an

limi t at which vi olence in some form must a
through O nce again we are faced with the qu es
.

is it God or the devil who governs the world ? A n

though we may believ e that ultimately the d evil is i
th e s e rvi ce o f G od th ere is no proof o f i t
, .

Wh e n in o ur isolati on we se e our li ves s eeping

a s a mere succession o f moments tossed ,

about by accidents and overwhelming events ;

we contemplate a history that seems to be at an
leav i ng only chaos behi nd it then w e ar e imp elle
,

raise ourselv es abov e hi story .

Y et we must remain aware Of o u r e poch and

situation A modern p hi losophy cannot d ev
.

without elucidati ng its roots in time and in a p

t i ons o f o u repoch it is not from thes

,

we draw o ur p hi losophy but now as at al l

,

the C omprehensiv e We must n o t adjust

.

t i aliti es to the low level of o u r age not 5 ,

Ourselves t o o ur epoch but attempt by elu ci

, ,

the age to arriv e at the poi nt wh e re w e can live o u

,

o u r primal source .

N or must we deify hi story We need not acc ept

.

108
 THE
I N DE P E N DE N T P H I L O S O P H E R

TH E I N D E P E N D E N C E O F man is rejected by al
totali tarianism by the totalitarian religion w h icl
,

claims exclusiv e truth as well as by the t o t alit ariar

state which melting down all humanity into materia
,

for its edifice o f power leav es no room for individuality

,

and ev en controls leisure activities in acco rdan c r

with an ideological line Today independence seem
.

to be silently disappearing beneath the inundation 0

all life by the typical the habit ual the u n q u est io n e c
, ,

commonplace .

But to philosophize is to fight for our inner

p e n d e n
,
ce under all conditions What . is inne
ind ependence ?

S ince late antiquity the philosopher h as bee

represented as an independent man Th e p o .

has certain salient features : This philosoph

independent first because he is without needs
, ,

fro m the world of possessions and the rule Of pass

he is an ascetic ; second because he is without
,

for he has seen through the illusory terrors

religions ; third because he takes no part in
,

ment and politics and liv es without ties in p e ac ,

retirement a citizen o f the world In any case

, .

I IO
 THE INDEPENDENT PHILOSOPHER
phi losopher believes that he has attain e d to a posi
t ion o f absolute independence a vantage point o u t ,

sid e o f things in which he cannot be mov ed o r

,

shaken .

This philosopher has become an obj ect Of admira

ti on but also o f distrust True numerous philosophers
.
,

o f thi s type have disclosed rare independence through

pov erty celibacy aloofness from business and politics ;

, ,

they hav e manifested a happiness which did not

spring from anything eternal but from awareness
that life is a j ourney and from indi ff erence to the
blows o f fate B u t some of these figures also reveal
.

egoism and ambition pride and vanity a coldness in

, ,

human dealings and an ugly hostility to other phil

o so p h e rs A nd dogmatism is common to all o f them
. .

Theirs is an impure independence which seems very

much akin to an ununderstood and sometimes
ridiculous dependence .

N evertheless side by side with biblical religion

,

t hese phi losophers do O ff er a historical source o f

possible independence A cquaintance with them .

encourages our o w n striving for independence perhaps ,

precise ly by showing u s that man cannot sustain him

self ih isolation and detachment This ostensible .

absolut e freedom turns automatically into a new

dependence outwardly o n the world whose re co gni
, ,

tion is courted inwardly on u n clarifi e d passions The

,
.

road o f the philosophers of lat e antiquity o ff ers us no

promise A lthough some were magnificent personali
.

ties they created in their fight fo r fre e dom rigid

, , ,

figures and masks without background .

We see that ind ependence turns into it s Opposite

III
 WAY T O WISD OM
if it is held to be absolute A nd it is n o t easy
. to say i
what sense we can striv e fo r indep endence .

The concept of independence is almost hopel ess

ambivalent Fo r example
.

The philosoph e r and the m e taphysician

,

particular sets up thought structu res like gam es

,

which he remains superior because o f hi s unlimit

power over the m But this gives rise to the q ue stio
.

Is man master o f his thoughts because he

and can carry on his creative game without
to a foundati on arbitrarily according to ru
, ,

he himself h as devi sed enchanted by its form

, ,

conversely because he is oriented toward G o d a

,

thus remains superior to the discourse in which

m ust inevitably clothe absolute being whi ch ,

never fit the absolute and hence needs t o be

,

adjusted ad in fi nit u m ?
Here the independence o f the philosopher cou si
in his n o t succumbing to his ideas as dogmas but
maki ng himself master o v er them But mastery .

one s ideas remains ambivalent— does it mean

’

arbitrary freedom from ties o r does it imply ti es in

t ranscendence ?
A nother example : In order t o gain o ur in dep e n d
ence we seek an A rchimedean point outside o f the
world This is an authentic quest but the question is
.
,

Is this A rchimedean point an outsideness which makes

m an a ki nd o f God in his total independence o r is it the
outside point where he truly meets G o d and ex p er
ie n ce s his only complete independence which alon e ,

can mak e him independent in the world ?

1 12
 WAY T O WISD OM
e loquent turns o f phrase and striki ng imag es i n dis
regard o f communication—all this dictatori al languag e
,

o f wi sdom and prophecy is n o t enough .

Thus those w h o are deluded i nto supposin g that

they possess being as such often e nd e av our t o make man
forget himself M an is dissolved in ficti ons o f b ei ng
.

and yet these ficti o ns thems elv es always conceal a

possibl e road back to man ; hidden dissati sfaction may
lead t o the r e cov ery o f the authentic seriousness which
becomes real only in existential pr esence and casts o ff
the ruinous attitude o f those w h o tak e life as it is and
do what they pleas e .

This irresponsible type o f indep e ndence i s also

manifested in intellectual opportunism A n irre sp o n
.

sible playing with contradictions permi ts such a man

to take any position he finds conv enient He is versed .

in all methods but adheres strictly to non e H e espouses .

an unscientific attitud e but makes scientific gestures .

H e is a Proteus wriggling and changing you cannot

, ,

grasp hold o f him he actually says nothing but seems

,

to be promising something extraordinary He exerts .

an attraction by vague hints and whi sperings which

give men a sense o f the mysterious N o authentic
.

discussion with him is possible but only a talking

”
back and forth about a wide variety o f interesti ng “

things Conversation with him can be n o more than an

.

aimless pouring forth o f false emotion .

Irresponsibl e independence can take th e form o f

indi ff erence t o a world that has grown intolerable .

What does death matter ? It will come What is .

ther e to be p e rturbed about ?

We live in the j oy o f o ur vitality and the pai n of its
 THE INDEPENDENT P HILOSOPHER
b b ing away A natural Y es permits u s at all times t o
.

ee l and to think according to circumstance We are .

np ole m ic al What is the good o f taking sides ? L ove

t .

n d tend erness are possible but they are at the mercy

f time , o f the ephemeral , of the transient as such

i .

l othing is unconditional .

We drift along without desire to do o r to be any

,

hing in particular We do what is asked o f us o r what

.

ee m s appropriate Genuine emotion is absurd We are

. .

l Cl
p l in our e v e ryday dealings with men .

N o horizon no distance neither past nor future

, ,

ust ain this life which expects nothing and liv es only

[ ere and now .

The many forms of illusory independenc e to whic h

ve can succumb cast suspicion upon independence

tself This much is certain : in order to gain true

.

nde e n de n c e we must not onl

p y elucidate these various
orms of independence but achiev e awareness o f the
imi ts o f all independence .

A bsolute independence is impossible In thinki ng we .

we d ependent on experience which must be given us ,

11 living we are dependent on others with whom we

tand in a relation of mutual aid As selfhood we ate

‘

le p en de n t on other selfhood and it is only in com ,

n u nic a t io n that we and the others come truly to

m rselv e s There is no isolated freedom Where there is

. .

re e do m it struggles with unfreedom and if unfreedom ,

NCI C fully o v ercome through the elimination of all

‘

e sist an c es freedom itself would cease .

A ccordingly we are independent only wh en we are

,

i t the same t ime enmeshed in the world I cannot .

1 15
 WAY T O WISD OM
achi e v e independence by abandoning the worl
Indeed independence i n the world i m plies a par
,

attitude toward the world : to be in it and yet n o t in

to be both inside it and outside it This thought .

shared by great thinkers o f the m ost v ary ing trends :

“

With regard to all experiences pleasures states , ,

happiness and unhappiness Aristippus says ,

but I am not had ; S t P aul tells hi s followers h o w to t

.

part in earthly li fe : have as though y o u had n o t ;

B h agav ad Gita admo ni shes us to perform the task b
-

not to striv e after its fruits ; Lao Tse counsels man

act through inaction .

These imm ortal sayings might be interpr e ted

infi nit u m Here we need only say that they all expr
.

inner independence O ur independence o f the

.

is inseparable from a mode o f dependenc e o n

world .

A second limi t to independence is that by itself alon

it negates itself
Independence has been negatively formulat e d as
freedom from fear as indi ff erence to fortune good or
, ,

bad as the imperturbability of the thinker as mer e

,

spectator as i m m u ni ty to emotions and impulses But

, .

the self who achi ev es such independence is reduced t o

the abstract punctuality o f the ego .

Independence does n o t derive its content from itself .

It is no t any innate gift it is not vi tality race t he will

, , ,

to power it is not self cre ation

,
-
.

Phi losophical thought grows o u t of an independence

i n the world an independence signifyi ng an absolute
,

attachment to the world through transcending o f the

world A supposed independence without attachment
.

1 16
 WAY TO WISD OM
w e do good only under the tacit conditi on that 0
good action will n o t be too harmful to o u r h ap p in e
and that this makes our good deed impure This is .

ra di cal evi l that we cannot ov ercome .

dc S
C u
S
O ur independence itself requires help We can o n!
.
sn u
aS

do o ur best and hope that somethi ng within is C q

on
se f
u l

invisible to th e world — will in some unfathomable hindu sro om

come to o ur aid and lift us o ut o f o ur li m itati ons . som eto ou s
r!

only independ e nce possible for us is dependence o an dthen do 1

transcend e nce .
independen t

ing, despair
I should li ke t o give some i ntimation o f how a butnot over
measure o f independence can be achiev ed i n p h iloso g p
row su in

hi al thought today Philosoph

p c

L et u s not pledge ourselve s to any philosophi cal

school o r take formulable truth as such for the o n e and
exclusiv e truth ; let u s b e master of our thoughts ;
l et u s n o t heap up philosophical possessions but ,

apprehend philosophical thought as mov ement and

s e ek t o deepen it ;
let u s battle for truth and humanity in u n co n
ditio n al communication ;
let us acquir e the power t o learn fro m all the past
by making it o u r own ; let u s listen to o ur con
temporaries and remain open to all possibilities ;
let each o f us as an individual immerse hi ms elf in
his o w n historicity in hi s origin in what he has done ;
, ,

let him possess himself of what he was of what he ,

has become and of what has been giv en to hi m ;

,

l et u s n o t cease to grow through our own historicity

into the historicity o f man as a whole and thus make
ours e lves into citi zens of the world .

1 18
 THE INDEPENDENT PHILO SOPHER
We l end littl e cr e dence to a philosopher who is
b able ,
r e rt u r
p we do not believ e in the calm o f the
oic ,we do not even desire to be unm ov ed for it is our
,

[ manity itself which drives us into passion and fear

rd causes us in tears and rejoicing t o experience what

Consequently only by rising from the chains that

a d us to o u r emotions not by destroying them do we
, ,

m e t o oursel v es H e nce w e must venture to be me n

.

rd th e n do what we can to mo v e forward t o o u r true

dependence Then we shall su ff er without complain
.

g despair without succumbing ; we shall be shaken

,

i t not ov e rturned fo r the inner independence that

,

ows up in u s will sustain us .

P hilosophy is the school of thi s independ e nce it is

,

DI the possession o f ind epend e nce

. .

1 19
 THE PHI LOSO PHI CAL LIFE

IF O U R L I V E S are no t t o b e d iff us e and m eaningless

they must find their place in an ord e r In o u r .

a ff airs w e must be sustained by a co

principl e we must find mea ni ng in an edifice o f w
,

fulfilment and sublime mom e nts and by repeti

, ,

we must g ai n in depth Then o ur liv es even in t .

,

p e rformance o f monotonous tasks wi l l be p erm eat ,

by a mood arising from o ur conscious parti cipati on

a m e ani ng Then we shall be sustained by an awareness
.

o f the world and o f o urselves by th e history o f which ,

we are a part and in o u r o w n lives by m e mory and

, , ,

loyalty .

A n order o f thi s sort may com e t o the indivi dual fro m r

the world in whi ch he w as born from the church ,

whi ch shapes and ani mat es the g reat steps from birth to
death and the little steps o f eve ryday life He will then .

spontaneously fit hi s daily experience into that order

No t so i n a crumbling world whi ch puts less and less ,

faith in traditi on in a world whi ch subsists only as

,

outward order without symbolism and transcendence

, ,

which l e aves the soul empty and is n o t adequate to

man which when it leav es him free thrusts him back
, , ,

upon his o w n resources in lust and boredo m fear and

, ,

indi fferenc e Here the in di vidual can rely only in him

.

se lf By li v i ng p hi losophically h e se e ks t o build up by
.

12 0
 WAY TO WISD OM
mere work in whose aims we immerse ourse lv es as
itself a road to self forgetfulness omission and gui
-
, ,

A nd to lead a philosophical life means also to

seriously our experience o f men of happiness and,

o f success and failure of the obs c ure and the

,

It means not to forget but to possess ourselv e s

of our experience not t o let ourselves be distracted
,

t o think problems through n o t to take things

,

granted but to elucidate them .

There are two paths o f philosophi cal life : the p

of solitary meditation in all its ramifications and
path o f communication with men o f mutual under ,

standing through acting speaki ng and keeping

, ,

silence together .

We men cannot do wi thout o u r daily moments o f

profound reflection In them we recapture o ur self
.

awareness lest the pres ence o f the primal source be

,

lost entirely amid the inevitable distractions o f daily

life
.

What the religions accomplish in prayer and w o r

ship has its phi losophical analo gy in explicit im
mersion in inner commu ni on with being itself This
,
.

can take place only in times and moments ( regardless

whether at the beginning o r end o f the day o r in
between ) when we are not occupied in the world with
worldly ai m s and yet are n o t left empty but are in
contact with what is most essential .

Unlike religious contemp lation philosophical con ,

t e m p la t io n h as no holy obj ect no sacred place no

, ,

fixed form T he order which we giv e to it does n o t

.

become a rule it remains potentiality in free motion

,
.

12 2
 THE P HIL OSOPHICAL LIFE
contemplation unlike religious worship de
, ,

ands solitude .

What is the possible content of such meditation ?

Firs t self refl ection I call to mind what I hav e done
,
-
.
,

ought felt during the day I ask myself wherein I

, .

erred wherein I hav e been dishonest with m y

,

wherein I hav e ev aded my responsibilities ,

ein I ha v e been insincere ; I also try to discern

good qualities I have displayed and seek ways in
t o enhance them I reflect o n the degree o f
.

n scio u s control o v er my actions that I ha v e exerted

the course of the day I j udge myself— with regard

.

my particular conduct not with regard to the whole

,

an that I am for that is inaccessible to me —

,
I find
les in accordance with whi ch I resolv e to judge
perhaps I fix in my m ind words that I plan to
t o myself in anger in despair in boredom and
, , ,

states in which the self is lost magic words as it ,

re m inders ( such as : observ e moderation think of ,

ther b e patient G o d is ) I learn from the tradition

, ,
.

runs from the P ythagoreans through the S toics

tians to Kierkegaard and Nietzsche with its ,

t o self re fl ection I realize that such '

-

can nev er be conclusiv e and that it is

infinitely susceptible to error .

S econd transcending refl ection

,
Guided by philos .

o p h ica l methods I gain awareness of authentic being

, ,

o f the godhead I read the sy m bols of being with the

.

help of literature and art I gain understanding of .

the m by p hi losophical scrutiny I seek to ascertain .

that which is independent of time or that which is

eternal in time seek to touch upon the source of my
,
 WAY T O WISD OM
freedom and through it upon being i tself; I se ek as i t
were to partake of creation .

Third I reflect o n what should be done in the p resent

, .

R emembrance o f my own life with men is the back

ground against which I clarify my present task down
to the details of this particular day when in the ,

inevitable intensity o f practical thinking I lose my

awareness o f th e Comprehens ive m e aning .

What I gain fo r myself alone in refl e cti on would —

i
it were all—b e as nothing gained .

What is n o t realised in communication i s not yet ,

what is not ultimately grounded in it is without

adequate foundation The truth begins with two
. .

Consequently p hi losophy demands : seek constan

co m munication risk it without reserv e renounce the
, ,

defiant self assertion which forces itself upon you in

-

ev er new disguises live in the hope that in your very

,

renunciation you will in some incalculable way be

giv en back to yourself .

Hence I must constantly draw myself into doubt I ,

must n o t grow secure I must not fasten o n to any

,

ostensible light withi n m yself in the belief that it w ill

,

illumine me reliably and judge me truly S uch an .

atti tude toward the self is th e most seductiv e form

o f inauthentic self assertion
-
.

If I meditate in these three forms—self re fl ectio n -

,

transcending meditation contemplation o f my task

,

and open myself to unlimited communication an ,

imponderable presence which can nev er be forced

may come to me : the clarity o f my love the hidden and,

12 4
 WAY T O WI SD OM
world into transcendence without hearing any di,

and unequiv ocal word of God but reading ,

symbols o f the polyvalent language o f things and y

living with the certainty o f transcendence .

O nly transcendence can make this q u estio n ab

life good the world beautiful and existence itself a
, ,

fulfilment .

Ifto philos ophize is to learn how t o die then we must ,

l earn h o w to die in order to lead a good life To learn to .

live and to learn h o w to die are one and the same thing .

M editation teaches us the p ower of thought .

Thought is the beginning o f human existence In .

accurate knowledge of obj ects I experience the power

o f the rational as in the operations o f mathematics in
, ,

the natural sciences in technical planning A s my

, .

method grows purer the logic ofmy syllogi sms becomes

,

more co m pelling I gain greater insight into chains o f

,

causality my experience becomes more reli able

, .

But p hilosophical thought begins at the limits o f

this rational knowledge R ationality cannot help us in
.

the essentials : it cannot help us to posit aims and

ultimate ends to know the highest good to know G o d
, ,

and human freedom ; thi s inadequacy o f the ra ti onal

giv es ri s e to a kind o f thinking which whi le working ,

with the tools o f the understanding is m ore than ,

understanding Philosophy presses to the limits o f

.

rational knowledge and there takes fire .

He who believ es that he understands ev erything is no

longer engaged in philosophical thought He who .

takes scientific in sight for knowledge o f being itself and

as a whole has succumbed to scientific superstition .

12 6
 THE PHILOSOPHICAL LIFE
who has ceased to be astonished has ceased to
stion He who acknowledges no mystery is no
.

seeker Because he humbly acknowledges the

.

f possible knowledge the philosopher remains

the unknowable that is revealed at those limits .

cognition c e ases but not thought By tech

,
.

applying my knowledge I can act outwardly ,

n kn o w le dge makes possible an inner action by

I transform myself This is another and deeper

.

f thought ; i t is not detached from being and

toward an obj ect but is a process of my
rm o st self in which thought and being become
,

tical M easured by outward technical power

.
, ,

thought o f inner action is as nothing i t is no ,

o w le dge that can be possessed it cannot be ,

according to plan and purpose ; it is an

tic illumination and growth into being .

understanding ( ratio) broadens our horizons ;

es obj ects reveals the tensions o f the existent
, ,

p e rmits what it cannot apprehend to stand

full force and clarity The clarity of the.

understanding makes possible clarity at its limits and ,

arouses the authenti c impulses which are thought and

action inward and outward act in o n e
,
.

The philosopher is expected t o liv e according to h is

doctrine This maxim expresses poorly the thought
.

that lies be h ind it For the philosopher h as no doctrine

.

if by doctrine is meant a set of rules under which the

particular cases of empirical existence might be
subsumed as things are subsu m ed under e m pirical
,

species o r men s acts under j uridical norms P hilos

’
.

o h ic al ideas cannot be applied ; they are a reality in

p
12 7
 WAY TO WISD OM
themselv es so that we m ay say : in the fulfilment 0
,

these thoughts the man him self liv es ; o r life is p er

meated with thought That is why the p hi lo so
.

and the man are inseparable ( while man can be

sid ere d apart from his scientific knowledge ) ; and

is why we cannot explore philosophical ideas in

selv es but must at the same time gain awareness o f t h
philosophical humanity which conceived t h e m .

P hilosophical life is in constant p eril o f straying int

perv ersions in justification o f which phi
propositions are inv oked The formulae
.

date existence are distort e d by the vital will

P eace of mind is confu sed with passivity con ,

with an illusory faith in the harmony o f all

knowing how to die is mistaken for flight from
world reason for total in difl e ren ce The best
, .

perv erted to the worst .

The wi ll to communication is pervert e d i nto self

contradictory attitudes : we wish to be undisturbed ,

yet demand absolute self certainty in self illumination

- -
.

We wish to be excused because of o u r nerves and yet

ask t o be recognized as free We ar e cautiou s and taci
.

turn and secretly o n our guard even while pro fessing

,
6

unreserved readiness for communication We think o f

.

ourselves whi le we ar e supposedly speaking o f the

idea.

Th e p hi losopher who strives to understand and over

come these p erversions in himself knows his u m
certainty ; he is always o u the lookout for criticism he ,

seeks opposition and wishes to be called to question ;

he desires to list en not in order to submit but in order
,

12 8
 WAY T O WISD OM
attained perfect O ur states of being are only manifesta overtheWW
, .

fl
tions o f existenti al striving or failure It lies in ou thetog
.
o 0“

nature to be o n the way We strive to cut

- -
neth ig
n w lU C
.
o
time That is possible only in polarities
.
sxistencc H 6 1 .

O nly when we exi st entirely in this time o f hil

osp
O hlcal t
p
hi storicity can we experi e nc e som e thin g o f the ete ship w i
hch h e s

pr esent .
hest gg
ru l
es to h

O nly as d e t e rmi nate men e ach in his specificity ca andreeling

, ,
.

we exp erienc e humanity as such .

W e r
ae trea t :

O nly wh e n we exp erience o ur own age as o ur relinquishour

Comprehensive r e ali ty can we apprehend t h is ag e as arenot egnieu
part o f the unity o f history and this unity o f history as flutterings are
,

part of eterni ty .
nthoscwhosit
In o ur ascending journey the primal source grows arcintelhgihlec
cl e ar e r for us behind o ur empirical states but ther hesam e “m
, e
g
constant danger that it will return to obscurity departure for .

The ascent of philosophical life is the ascent o f d epen ds which ,

i ndivi dual man He must accomplish it as

.
thoughincom
in communicati on and cannot shift responsibility n everbeeom et}
others .

We achiev e this ascent in the historically co ncre

elective acts of our life n o t by electing any so
,

weltanschauung laid down in propositions .

A nd now in conclusion let u s v enture a metaphor

, ,

that may characterize the situation o f philosophy in

the temporal world
Having o riented himself on secure dry land
through realistic observ ation through the special
—
,

sciences ,
through logic and methodology the
phi losopher at the limits o f this land explores the
, ,

world o f ideas over tranquil paths A nd now like a .

butterfly he flutters ove r th e ocean shore darting o ,

130
 THE PHILOSOPHICAL LIFE
v er the water ; he spies a ship in which he would
k e t o go o n a v oyage o f discove ry to seek o u t the
,

n e thing which as transcendence is present in his

xistenc e .He peers after the ship— the method o f

hiloso p hical thought and philosophical life— the
1i
p which he sees and yet can never fully reach ; and
e struggles to reach it sometimes strangely staggering
,

nd reeling .

We are creatures o f this sort and w e are lost if we

,

linquish o u r orientation to the dry land But we .

re n o t content t o remain there That is why o u r

.

utterings are so uncertain and perhaps so absurd

those who sit secure and content o n dry land and ,

re intelligible only to thos e who hav e been seized by

1e same unrest For them the world is a point o f

.

ep art u re fo r that flight upon whi ch ev ery thing

ep e n ds which each man must venture o n his o w n
,

ro u gh in common with other men and which can

,

ever become the object o f any doctri ne .

13 1
 THE H I S TO RY O F PH I LO S O PHY

P H I L O S O P H Y I S A S o ld as reli gion and o ld

than the churches In the stature and purity
.

champions and in the integrity o f its spirit i

usually though n o t always been o n a l ev el wi th t
, ,

world o f the church whose rights it recognizes in

,

speci fic sphere But wi thout sociological form o f

.

o w n it has been helpless in its confrontati on with t

church It has enjoyed the accidental protection

.

powers in the world including the

,

favourable sociological situations in order to r

itself in objective works Its authentic reality is
.

to ev ery man at all times and it is in some

,

omnipresent wherever there are men .

The churches are for all philosophy for individu

,

The churches are visible orga ni zations wield ,

power ov er masses of m en in the world Philosophy is .

an expression o f a realm o f minds linked with o n e

another through all peoples and ages ; it is represented
by no institution whi ch excludes or welcomes .

A s long as the churches ha v e ti es with the E ternal ,

their outward power exploits the innermost energies .

A s they draw the E ternal into the servi ce o f their power

i n the world this power like every other power in the
, ,

world grows si ni ster and evil

, .

A s long as p hi losophy remains in contact wi th eternal

truth i t inspires without violence it brings order t o
,

13 2
 WAY TO WISD OM
aristocrat who felt that he could not engage in t
political activity befitti ng hi s rank because o f
moral degeneration : Bruno Descartes S pin , ,

were solitary thinkers without any in stit u t io

,

them seeki ng the truth for its own sake ; A nselm

,

the founder o f an ecclesiastical aristocracy ; Thom

serv ant of the church ; Nicholas o f G usa a card
whose ecclesiastical and philosophical life
M achiavelli an unsuccessful statesman ; Kan
S chelling professors who dev eloped their philos
,

in connection with their teachi ng .

We must rid ourselv es of the idea that p hiloso

activity as such is the a ff air o f professors It .

see m to be the a ff air of man under all conditions

,

circumstances o f the slav e as o f the ruler We u m

, .

stand the hi storical manifestation o f the truth o nly i

examine it in conjunction with the world
arose and the destinies of the men w h o c
If these manifestations are remote and alien to us
in itselfis illuminating We m ust seek the philosophical
.

idea and the thinker in their physical reality The .

truth does not hover all alone in the air o f abstraction .

The history o f p hi losophy comes aliv e f o r us when ,

by thorough study o f a work and of the world in which

it was produced we participate as it were in that work
, .

After that we seek perspectiv es which will accord

us a view of the hi story o f philosophy as a whole i111 ,

schemas which though questionable serve as guid es

, ,

by which to orient ourselv es in so v ast a region .

The whole of the history of philosophy throughout :

t w o and a half millennia is like a single vast moment .

134
 THE HISTORY OF P HILO SO P HY
the growing self awaren ess o f man Thi s moment
-
.

ay be look e d upon as a never ending discussion -

,

sclo sin clash e s o f forces questions that seem in

g ,

luble sublime works and regressions profound

, ,

and a turmoil of error .

our study o f the history o f philosophy we seek a

which to situate philosophical ideas .

through the history o f philosophy as a whole can

arn h o w philosophy dev eloped in relation to the
div erse social and politica l conditions and
rso n al situations .

P hilosophy dev eloped independently in Chi na ,

dia and the West Despite occasional int ercom

,
.

these three worlds were so sharply

own to the ti m e of Christ s birth that e ach ’

in the main be studied in its o w n terms .

date the strongest influence was that o f

Indian Budd hi sm o n China comparable to that o f ,

Christianity on the Western world .

I n the three worlds the development follows a

si m ilar curv e A fter a preliminary hi story whi ch
.

it is difl i cult to clarify the fundamental ideas rose

,

ev erywhere in the axial age ( 8 oo—2 oo A fter t his

there was a period o f dissolution in the course o f
'

which the great religions o f redemption were con

solidated ; there were recurrent periods o f renewal ;
there were all embracing systems ( S cholasticism) and
-

logical speculations of subli m e metaphysical i m port ,

carried to the utmost extreme .

What was the specific Western character o f this

synchronistic dev elopment ? First it consisted in a
greater dynami s m bringing with it constant crises and
,

135
 WAY TO WISD OM
developments ; second in the greater div e rsity
,

languages and peoples m anifesting the ideas ; a

thi rd in the unique dev elopment of Western sci
,

Western philosophy falls historically into four

periods :
First : Greek philosophy trav elled the path from myth
to logos created the basic Western concepts the
, ,

categories and fundamental conceptions of being

whole of the world and m an For us it remains the
,
.

archetype of si m plicity ; in making it o ur o w n we

preserv e our clarity .

S econd : Chris tian medieval philosophy trav elled the

-

path fro m biblical religion to its conc eptual under

standing from rev elation to theology It was more than
,
.

a conser v ativ e pedagogic S cholasticis m Creativ e .

thinkers chief a m ong them S t P aul S t A ugustine

,
.
, .
,

M artin Luther disclo sed a world which in its source

,

was religious and philosophical in one For u s it .

re m ains to preserv e aliv e in our m inds the secre t of

Christianity as manifested in this wide real m o f
though t
T hird : M odern E uropean philosophy arose hand in
hand with m odern natural science and m an s new ’

personal rejection of all authority Kepler and .

Galileo on the one hand Bruno and S p inoza on the

,

other represent the new roads For us it remains to .

prese rve the true m eaning of science as they ap p re

hended it—although it was also perv erted fro m the
v ery outset— and of spiritual freedo m .

Fourth : The philosophy of German idealism From .

L essing and Kant to Hegel and S chelling w e hav e a

series o f thinkers who p erhaps excel all previous
13 6
 WAY T O WISD O M
endured for a thousand years was drawing to a cl
The r ep rese n t at w e philosophers o f the epoch
Kierkegaard and Nietzsche thinkers of a typ ,

had formerly not existed clearly related to the

,

thi s age ; and M arx who intell ectually a world

,

from them excelled all mod ern philosophers in

,

influence .

A n extreme thinking became poss i ble w hi ,

questioned everything in order to penetrate t o t

profoundest source which shook O ff all encu m
,

in order to free the vision fo r an insight into existe

the unconditional and actuality in a world that
, ,

been radically transformed by th e technological

We draw up schemas o f thi s sort in env isagi

history o f philosophy as a whole They are 5 .

fi cial I n o ur search for deeper meanings we may

.

touch o n such questions as these :

Firs t : Is there a unity in the his tory of philosophy ? This
unity is no t fact but idea We seek it but attain only t o
.

particul ar uniti es .

Certain problems ( such as the relation betw e en

body and soul ) co m e into focus at v arious ti mes but ,

the historical factors coincide only partially with a

logical construction o f the ideas Progressions o f .

systems can be shown ; it can be shown fo r example , ,

how as Hegel saw it German philosophy and

, ,

ultimately all philosophy culminated in his o wn

system But constructions o f this sort do violence to the
.

facts they fail t o take into account those elements in

,

earlier philosophical thought which are fatal to

Hegelian thinking and are hence ignored by He gel ;
13 8
 THE HISTORY OF P HILOS OP HY
p h e rswho erect them tend to neglect the
sse n ce o f other m en s thinking N 0 construction
’
.

h istory o f philosophy as a logically coherent

of positions coincides with historical fact .

construction we can giv e t o the history

( 1by the geni us of the indi v idual

h ilo so p h e r Despite all de m onstrable ties and in

.

u e n c es greatness remains an incompa r able miracle

, ,

uite apart from the dev elopment that is accessible

o u r understanding .

The idea o f a unity in the history o f philosophy may

l to that peren ni al phi losophy which is internally
pp y
me which creates i t s historical organs and structures
, ,

garments and tools but is not identical with them

, .

( 1: The beginning and i ts s ignificance The b e .

is the first appearance o f an idea at some ,

in ti me The sourc e is the fundamental truth

.

lw ay s present .

misunderstandings and perversions o f thought

at all times return to the source Instead of .

this source by following the guidance of

mea ni ngful transmitted texts some thinkers fall
, ,

into the error o f seeking it in temporal beginnings :

e g
. . i n the first pre S ocratic philosophers
,
-
in early ,

Christianity in early Buddhism The journey to the

, .

source which is always necessary assumes the false

form o f a search for the beginnings .

I t is true that those beginnings which are still

attainable exert a powerful spell But an ab solute .

beginning cannot be found What passes in our

.

tradition for a beginning is a relative beginning and

was itself th e product of earli er development .

139
 WA Y TO WISD OM
Henc e it is a fundamental p rinciple o f hi storic
study that in exami ning transmitted texts we re st ri
ourselv es to their real content O nly thr ough a hi s .

ical at titude can we deepen o u r insight into what

been preserved There is nothing to be gained
.

reconstituting what has been lost by reco nstructi ,

earlier phases by filling in gaps

, .

Third : Can we speak of develop ment and p rogress

philosophy We can observ e certain lines o f develop
?

ment for example : from S ocrates to Plato and

,

A ristotle from Kant to Hegel from L ocke t o Hume

, , .

But even such sequences are false if we take them t o

mean that the lat er thi nker preserved and transc e nded
the truth of his predecessor E ven whe re generati ons
.

are thus visibly linked the new is not encompassed in

,

what went before The successor often relinquishes the

.

essence o f the e arlier thought someti mes h e no longer

,

ev en understands it .

Th ere are worlds o f intellectual exchang e whi ch

endure for a time to whi ch the indivi dual thinker
,

contributes his word as for example G re ek philos

, ,

o p hy
,
S cholas tic philosophy the German p hi los,
”
0p hi c al move m ent from 1 7 60 to 18 4 0 These are .

ep ochs of living co m munion in original thought .

T here are other epochs in which phi losophy endur es

as pedagogy others in whi ch it almost see ms t o have
,

v anished .

The total view of the history o f philosophy as a

progressiv e develop m ent i s mi sleading The hi story .

of p hi losophy res e mbles the history o f art in that it s

sup reme works are irreplaceable and unique It .

resembles the history o f science in that its tools

14 0
 WAY T O WISD O M
Certain thinkers and epochs make it plain t hat
history of phi losophy has its gradations It is no level .

field in whi ch all works and thi nkers stand o n an

equal footing There are heights of vision t o which
.

only a few hav e attained A nd there are great men

.
,

suns amid the hosts of stars But this does n o t mean

.

that we can set up a definitiv e hierarchy which would

carry conviction for ev eryone .

It is a far remov e from the Opinions held generally

in a giv en epoch to the content of the philosophical
works created in that epoch That whi ch the un der.

standing o f all men looks upon as self evident hence -

,

requiring no interpretation can be expressed in the

,

form o f p h ilosophy just as well as the great philosophic

ideas that are susceptible of endless interpretation A .

tranquil limited vision and contentment with the

,

world thus seen ; the yearning for the unknown ; and

questioning at the li m its all these are philosophy
-
.

We have spoken o f an analogy between the history

o f philosophy and the authority o f religious traditi on .

True philosophy has no cano ni cal books such as

,

those possessed by the religions no authority which ,

need simply be followed no definitiv e truth which

,

simply exists But the historical tradition o f philosophy

.

a s a whole thi s deposit o f inexhausti ble truth shows

, ,

us the roads to o ur present p hi losophical endeavour .

The tradition is the profound truth of past thought ,

toward which we look with never ending expectancy ; -

it is so m ethi ng unfathomable in the few great works ;

it is the reality of the great thinkers received wi th ,

rever ence .

14 2
 THE HISTORY OF P HILOS OPHY
The tradition is an authority that cannot be ob eyed
vi th certainty It is incumbent upon us to come to
.

n urselv e s through it by o u r o w n experience to find ,

su r o w n s ource i n l t s source .

O nly in the seriousness of present philosophical

hi nki n g can we gain contact with eternal philosophy
1 1 i t s historical ma ni festation It is through the his
.

o ri cal manifestation that we gain the profound ties

hat can unite u s in a common present .

Thus historical research is conducted o n various

ev e ls In his approach t o the texts the conscientious
.

t u de n t o f philosophy knows o n which plane he is

no v i n g .He must gain intelligent mastery o f the
‘
facts But the end and summit o f hi storical study
.

ie s in th e mo ments o f communion in the source It is .

hen that the light dawns whi ch gives mea ni ng and

i nity to all factual research Without this centre t hi s
.
,

> hilo so hi c al source the history o f philosophy would

p ,

) 6 a m e re record o f fallacies and curiosities .

O nce it has awakened me history becomes the,

n irro r o f what is my o w n : in its image I see what I

n y se lf think .

The h istory o f philosophy— a space in whi ch I

:h i nk and breathe — rev eals in inimi table perfection
p rototypes fo r my own searching By its atte m pts its
.
,

successes and failures philos o phy raises the question

,
.

It encourages me through the example o f those men

wh o hav e unswervi ngly followed its arduous path .

To take a past philosophy as o ur own is no more

ossible than to produce an old work o f art for a
p
second t ime A t best we can produce a deceptive copy
. .

We hav e n o text like pious Bible readers in which we

, ,

14 3
 WAY T O WI SD O M
may hope to find absolute truth We love the Old texts
.

a s we lo v e o ld works o f art our hearts go o u t t o them

, ,

we immerse ourselves in their truth but there re ,

mains in them something remote and unattai nable ,

unfathomable though it is somethi ng with which we

,

always liv e something whi ch starts u s o n the way to

,

o u r present p hi losop hi zing .

For philosophy is essentially concern e d w i th t h e

present We hav e only o n e reality and that is h e re an d
.
,

n o w What we miss by o ur evasions will ne v er return

.
,

but if w e squander ourselv e s then too we lose being

, .

E ach day is precious : a moment can be eve rything .

We are r e miss in our task if we lose ourselv es in the

past o r future O nly through present reali ty can we
.

gain access to the timel ess ; only in apprehendi ng

tim e can we attain to that sphere wh e r e all ti me
extinguished .
 APPEND IX 1

PHILOS OPHY A ND SCIENCE!

1L o s o P H Y H A s F R o M its very beginnings looked

e lf as science indeed as science par excellence
, .

animated its devotees .

Ho w its scientific character came to be questi oned

n be understood only in the light o f the development
the specifically modern sciences These sciences made .

des in the nineteenth century largely ,

lo so p hy often in opposition t o philosophy

, ,

in an atmosphere of indi fference t o it If .

was still expected to be a science it was in a ,

nse than before ; it was now expected to be a

he same sense as those modern sciences that
their acco m plishments If it were .

it was argued it had become pointless

,

8 well die o u t .

ago the opinion was widespread that

o p h y had had its place up to the moment when

the sciences had become independent of it the ,

in al univ ersal science N ow that all possible fields

g .

research have been marked o ff the days of philo ,

N ow that we know how science obtains

v alidity it has beco m e evident that philo
,

cannot stand up against judgment by these

ri t eria
. It deals in emp t y ideas because it sets up
R p i t d by p m i io of th P ti R i w
e r n e er ss n e ar san ev e .

14 7
 WAY TO WISD OM
undemonstrable hypotheses it disregards experi enc e , ,

seduces by illusions it takes possession o f e n ergi

,

needed for genuine investigation and squand ers th e

in empty talk about the whole .

This w as the picture of p hi losophy as se e n

science conceived as methodical cogent univers , ,

valid insight Under such circumstances could

.

philosophy legi timately claim t o be scientific ? To this

situation p hi losophy reacted in t w o ways
1 The attack w as regarded as justified P hilosophers
) .

withdrew t o limited tasks If philosophy is at an end .

because the sciences hav e taken o v er all it s subject

matter there remains nev ertheless the knowledge o f its
,

history first as a fac t or in the hi story o f the scienc es

,

themselves then as a pheno m enon in the hi story of

,

thought the history o f the errors the anti cipated in

, ,

sights the process o f liberation by which philosophy

,

has made itself superfluous Finally the history of .

,

philosophy must preserve the knowledge o f th e

philosophical texts if only for their aesthetic interest
,
.

Although these texts do not make any serious contri

b u t io n to scientific truth they are nevertheless worth
,

reading for the sake o f their style and the intellectual

attitude they reflect .

O thers paid tribute to the m odern scientific trend by

rejecting all previous philosophy and striving to give
philosophy an exact scientific foundation They seized .

upon questions which they claimed were reserv ed for

, ,

p hi losophy because they concern all the sciences ;

namely logic episte m ology pheno m enology In
’

, , , .

e ff ort to refurbish its reputation philosophy became a ,

servile imi tator a handmai den t o the scienc e s It

,
.

14 8
 WAY T O WI SD O M
m
d
if
s
T o m
of philosophy Whether it is the slav e o f science
.
ulO
w ‘
whether it denies all science it has in either c ulll laa ’
,
d m m l all
a
tafl
c e ased t o be philosophy dsian
.

W w
lullc F V W
The seeming triumph of the sciences ov er philos
l un rue m l m
h as for some decades created a situation in ppu
h i
m t b c
philosophers go back to v arious sources in sea N othig
n us
m
i m l lf m a
true philosophy If such a thing is found the
.
,
[wih g
rr u S

l/id em
tion o f the relation between philosophy and s fi
will be answered both in a theoretical and in
,
bec
aue
s ll PM
nce100
concrete sense It is a practical question o f the u t m o ruen
er tscr
e

m
.

urgency .
sfi
a l
n ;
sl
lCd 1
15 a

d
hortlive ,
s
n
a d u us

We shall appreciate the full weight o f this p ro b le u

onscrougs oal l
‘lOd
z
if we consider its historical origin It dev eloped fro .
m
mau es
e b r
a rn “1

three complexly intertwined factors These are a . o th

du atesrsls[rou

spirit o f modern science ; b ) the ancient and ibl hw ld u

or sys
t
-
s e

recurrent attem pt to achiev e univ ersal p h ilo so p hi

knowledge ; c ) the philosophica l concept of truth a ,
n
adparticulars a
n

w as first and fo r all time elucidated in P lato n

u ed
rec entedsa
ss
.
p
Ad a ) The m odern sciences dev eloped only ,
m
odernphysic
s c

last few centuries hav e brought into the world a

,
hroughthemrte
T
scientific attitude which existed neither in A sia nor in split up and dep .

heloreseemedtot
'

antiquity nor in the M iddle A ges .

Ev en the Greeks to be sure conceiv ed of science as

, ,
l
petenessof the n
—
methodical cogently certain and univ ersally v alid
, ,
G reekcosmos .

knowledge But the m odern sciences not only hav e

.
3) Theancienrs
brought o u t these basic attributes of science with tooneanother l
greater purity ( a task which has not yet been com m g
ll-e bracin bod
‘

p l e t e d)
,
they ha v e also gi v en new form and new mod
ernseiencesst
foundation to the purpose scope and unity o f their
, ,
hamooireference
fields of inquiry I shall indicate certain o f their longer ossiblelor
.
p
fun dament al characteristics conceiva
ble Our
.

1 0
5
 P HIL OS OP HY AND SCIENCE
nothing is indifi rent In it s ey e s
)1 To modern science .

ery fact ev en the smallest and ugliest the most

, ,

ant and most alien is a legi timate Object o f inquiry

,

the very reason that it exists S cience has become .

ly univ ersal There is nothing that can evade it

.
.

thing must be hidden o r passed over in silence ;

e m al n a mystery .

science is by defini ti on unfinished ,

progresses toward the infinite whereas ,

ent science in ev ery o n e o f its forms pr esent e d itself

finished ; its actual d evelopment w as in ev ery case
ort lived and it never se t its o w n dev elopment as its
,

n scio u s goal M odern scientists ha v e understood that

.

al l e mbracing world syst e m which d e duces every

- -
,

n g that exists from o n e o r a few p rinciples is im p o s ,

le A world system h as other sources and can only

.
-

u n1v e rs al v alidity if scientific critique is relaxed

s are mistaken fo r absolutes S uch .

e n t e d systemati zations as those achieved by

physics co v er only o n e aspect o f reality .

ugh them reality as a whole h as become mor e

up and deprived o f foundations than it ev er
e seemed to the human mind Hence the in co m .

ness
—
o f the modern world as compared t o the

k cosmos .

The ancient sci e nces remained scattered unrelated

3) ,

t o one another They did n o t aim at consti tu ti ng an

.

all embracing body of specific knowledge whereas the

-
,

modern sciences striv e to be integrated into a univ ersal

frame o f reference Though a true world system is n o
.
-

longer possible fo r them a cosmos o f the sciences is s till

,

conceivable O ur sense o f the inadequacy Of each

.

1 1
5
 WAY T O WISD OM
special branch o f knowledge demands that e ach scien
be connected wi th knowledge as a whol e .

4) The modern sciences attach little value t o

p ossibilities o f thought ; they recognize the idea

definite and concrete knowledge after it ,

worth as an instrument o f discovery and

t o infinite modifications in the process o f invest
True th ere is a certain similarity between anci
,

mod e rn atomic theory in so far as the general

,

is conc e rned But the ancient theory w as merely

.

intrinsically finished interpretation o f p o ssib ili t

based o n plausible explanations o f av ailable
eri e n ce while the modern the
p ,

tion wi th experi ence undergoes perpetual

,

confirmati on and disproof and is itself an i mplem ent

investi gation .

5) T o day a sci e ntific atti tud e h a s becom e

p o ssi b
an atti tude o f inquiry toward all phenomena ; t o d
the scienti st can know certain thi ngs
definit ely he can distingui sh between w h
,

and what he do es n o t kn ow ; and he h as

unprec e dented abundance o f knowledge
li ttle the G reek physician o r the Greek tech
by The moral imp erativ e
science is to search for reliable kn o w le dg
o f unprejudic e d inquiry and critique ,

preconceived ideas When we enter into

.

have the sensation o f breathing clean air o f le av i ,

behind us all vague talk all plausible opinions

, ,

stubborn prejudice and blind faith .

Ad b) M odern science sh ares t h e age o ld striving -

total phi l osophi cal kn owledge Phi losophy had from

.

1
52
 WAY T O WISD O M
the cave and touches on in his dialectic thi s truth tha t ,

applies to being and to that which is abov e all being

how funda m entally di fferent it is from the truth o f t h e
sciences which m ov e only amid the manifest
,

b e ing without e v er attaining to b eing itself an ,

di ff erent from the truth o f the dogmatic system

holds itself to be in possession of the whole of
What a distance between the truth which can
'

be set down in writing but which accord ,

sev enth epistle tho ugh it can only be

,

thought is kindled in a favourable moment

,

m u nic at io n among men o f understanding ,

truth which is written univ ersally cogent ,

t e lligib le distinct and av ailable to all t hi n kin

,

creatures !

Thr e e so di ff erent conceptions o f scientific kno

ledge—the first patterned on the method o f
science the second deriv ed fro m the idea
,

philosophical system and the third related t

,

truth which is directly apprehended by the in

( P lato
’
s truth being an exa m ple ) — all contribute t
present confusion A n example : .

Its inquiries and inv estigations in the econo m ic field

have made M arxism an important force in scientific
dev elop m ent But this it shares with many other trends
.
,

and its scientific contribution does n o t account for it s

influence M arxism al so represents a philosophical
.

thesis regarding the dialectical course of histo ry as a

total process which it pu rports to understand T hus it .

constitutes a philosophical doctrine but o n e with a

claim to univ ersal scientific v alidity It has the same .

15 4
 P HIL O S O P HY AND SCIENCE
i e m o lo gic al basis as Hegel s philosophy whose
’

p s t ,

ec t ic al m ethod remains its implement The diff er .

only that for Hegel the core o f the historical

”
s lies in what he calls the idea while for “
,

it lies in the mode o f production of man w ho ,

the animals obtains h is sustenance through

,

Both Hegel and M arx derive all

hat they regard as the core M arx .

clai m s to hav e stood Hegel o n his

ead ; t hat however is only in content for he did not ,

e p a rt from Hegel s method o f constructing reality

’

y the dialectic o f the concept .

N ow this identification of economic knowledge ,

5 gained by scientific method hence inducti v ely

, ,

is subject to constant
with the dialectical knowledge of the
which passes fo r essentially definitiv e
is the so u rce of the fallacy co m mitted by
Hegel and in a di ff erent form by the type o f modern
philosophy that began with Descartes and was repeated
by M arx M arx s absolute excl u siv e clai m therefore
.
’
,

originates in a conception of philosophy as total ,

syste m atic knowledge ; but at the sa m e time his ,

doctrine is presented as a result o f m odern science ,

f rom which it does n o t at all follow .

In addition to the conceptions patterned o n modern

science and total philo sophy there op erates in M arxis m
,

also a third conception reflecting the lofty idea of an

,

absolute truth that fulfils m an s will and aspiration s

’
,

analogous to the P latonic idea of truth although ,

entirely di fferent in character M arxis m c o nceiv es of

.

itself as the true consciousness of the classless m an .

I
S5
 WAY T O WISD O M
This quasi religious postulate is the source o f a
-

kind of fanaticis m which invokes n o t faith but mo

science which charges its opponents with stupi
,

malice o r inability to ov ercome class prejudice

,

contrasts these with its own univ ersal human truth

is free from class bondage and hence absolute .

S imilar intellectual tendencies which u n cri ti ,

hypostatize a field of investigation that is

within it s limits into a total science and infuse
religious attitude hav e been manifested in the
,

of racial theory and psychoanalysis and in many

fields .

T he false confusion o f heterogeneous eleme

produces here o n a large scale results that are
, ,

familiar o n a small scale in ev ery d

o f never being at a loss for an

m ere plausibility stubbornly uncritical statements a

‘

a ffi rmations inability to explore in a genuine sense t

, ,

listen analyse test and reflect o n principles

, , , .

The infuriati ng part o f it is that science is invoked t

defend somethi ng that runs directly counter to t
scienti fic spirit For science leads us to the un d erst a
.

ing of the principles limitations and meani ng o f , ,

knowledge It teaches us to know in full

.
,

o f the m ethods by which each stage o f knowledge

achi eved It produces a certainty whose relativity i e

.
, . .

dependence on presu p p ositions and methods 0

inv estigation is its crucial characteristic
, .

Thus we are today confronted with an am b iv ale

concept of science Genuine science can as has alw.
,

been the case ap p ear to be occult ; it is in the nature

,

a public secret It is public because it is accessible

.

15 6
 WAY TO WI SD OM
to test the truth meaning o f scientific knowledge
-
,

auscultate it so to speak must participate in the

, ,

work o f these scientists .

Third a pure philosophy must be worked o u t

,

new conditions that have been created by the

sciences This is indispensable fo r the sake o f the scie
.

themselv es Fo r philosophy is always alive in

.

sciences and so inseparable from them that the puri

both can be achiev ed only joi

of a bad philosophy The concrete work o f .

is guided by his conscious or unconscious

and this philosophy cannot be the object o f
method .

Fo r example : It is impossible t o prove scie n ti fi

that there should be s u ch a thing as science O r : .

choice of an object o f science that is made from amo

an infinite number o f existing objects o n th e basis
this obj ect itself is a choice that cannot be j ustifi
scientifically O r : Th e ideas that guide us are tested
.

the systematic process o f

selves do not become an
S cience left t o itself as
less The intellect is a whore
.
,

it can prostitute itself to anything S cience is a whore .

’

said L eni n for it sells itself to any class interest For

, .

Nicholas of C u sa it is R eason and ulti m ately the ,

knowledge o f God that giv es mea ni ng certainty and

, , ,
“

truth to intellectual knowledge ; fo r L enin it is the ,

classless society that promotes pur e science Be that as .

it may awareness o f all this is the business o f p hilo so

,

p hi c al reflection P h i losophy is.inher e nt i n th e actual

15 8
 P HILOSO P HY AND SCIENCE
themselv es ; it is their inner meaning that
the scientist with sustenance and guides his
cal work He who consolidates this guidance
.

reflection and becomes conscious o f it has

the stage o f explicit philosophizing If this .

e fails science falls into gratuitous conv ention

, ,

rrec t n e ss aimless busy ness and spine

,
-
,

ss se rvi tude .

A pure science requir es a pure p hi losophy .

But h ow can p hi losophy be pure ? Has it not always

”
ci e n ce ? O ur answer is : It is science “

such a sort that in the sense of modern

r
y it i s both less and more than science .

can be called science in so far as it

oses the sciences There is no tenable philo .

u t side the sciences A lthough conscious of its .

character p hi losophy is inseparable from

,

I t refuses t o transgress against univ ersally

insight A nyone who philosophizes must be
.

with scientific method .

is n o t trained in a scienti fic
to keep his scientific interests
alive wi ll inevitably bungle and stumble
ke uncritical rough drafts for definitiv e
Unless an idea is sub m itted to the coldly
at e test o f scientific inquiry it is rapidly ,

in the fi re o f emotions and passions o r else

-
.
,

withers into a dry and narrow fanaticism .

M oreover anyone w h o philosophizes striv es for

,

ie n tifi c knowledge for it is the only way to genuine

,

n kn o w le dg e it is as though the most magnificent

,

15 9
 WAY TO WISD OM
insights could be achiev ed only through man s q ’

for the limit at which cognition runs aground -

see m ingly and temporarily but genuinely and

fi nitiv e ly n o t with a sense of loss and despair but
,

a sense of genuine i
knowledge can m ake definitive n o nkno w le
it alone can achieve the authentic failure which o p e
up a vista n o t merely upon the discoverable existe
,

but upon being itself .

In accomplishing the great task of dispelling

magical conceptions m o dern sc ience enters upon
,

path that leads to the intuition o f the true dept h ,

authentic m ystery whi ch becomes present 0

,

through the most resolute knowledge in th e co n su

tion o f nonknowledge .

Consequently philosophy turns against those w h

despise the sciences against the sham prophets w h
,

deprecate scientific inquiry who mi stake the erro ,

scie nce for science itself and who would ev en hold

,

science modern science responsible for the evils and

, ,

the inhu m anity o f our era .

R ejecting superstitious belief in science as Well as

conte m pt of science philosophy grants its u n co n di
,

t io n al recognition to m odern science In its eyes .

science is a marvellous thing which can be relied upon

m ore than anything else the most significant achiev e
,

ment of man in his histo ry an achievement that is the

,

source o f great dangers but ofev en greater opportunities

and that from now on must be regarded as a pre
requisite o f all hu m an dignity Without science the .
,

philosopher knows his o w n pursuits ev entuat e in

,

nothing .

160
 WAY TO WISD OM
Yet in thi s intellectual transcendence which ,

proper to p hi losophy and which is analogous

scienti fic forms philosophy is less than sci e nc e Fo r
, .

does not gain any tangible results o r any intellectual

binding insight There is no overlooki ng th e simp
.

fact that while scientific cognition is identical throu gh

o u t the world p hi losophy despite i t s claim t o univer
, ,

s ality is n o t actually uni v ersal in any shape o r form

, .

T hi s fact is the outward characteris tic o f the peculiar

nature o f philosophical t ruth Al t hough scientific truth
.

is universally valid it remai ns relative t o method and

,

assumptions ; philosophical truth is absolute for him

who conquers it in historical actuality but it s state
“

ments are n o t univ ersally valid S cientific truth is one

.

and the same f o r all—philosophical truth wears

mul tipl e historical cloaks each o f these is the mani festa
ti on o f a uni que reality each h as it s justificati on but
, ,

they are not identically trans m issible .

The o n e philosophy is the philosophia perennis around

which all philosophies revolv e whi ch n o one possesses
, ,

in which every genuine philosopher shares and which ,

nev ertheless can never achiev e the form o f an int ellec

tual edifice valid for all and exclusively true .

Thus philosophy is n o t only less but also more than

science namely as the source o f a truth that is in
, ,

accessible to scientifically binding knowledge It is th is .

philosophy that is meant in such defi nitions as : To

phi losophize is t o l earn how to di e o r to ri se t o god
head—o r t o know being qua being The meaning o f .

such definitions is : P hilosophical thought is inward

ac t ion ; it appeals to freedom ; it is a summons t o
transcendence O r the same thing can be formulated
.

162
 PHILOSOPHY AND SCIE NCE
ly z P hi losophy is th e act of becomi ng con
—
genuine being o r is the thi nki ng o f a faith in
be infinitely elucidated—o r is the way
sertion thr ough t hi nking .

But none of these propositions is properly spea king a

e fi n it io n There is no definition ofp hi losophy because
.
,

hilo so p h y cannot be determined by something out

There is no genus above philosophy und e r ,

it can be subsumed as a species Philosophy .

itself relates itself directly to godhead and

, ,

f utility It grows out

.

primal source in which man is giv en to himself .

To sum up : The sciences do not encompass all of the

ruth but only the exact knowledge that is binding to
he intellect and uni v ersally v alid Truth h as a greater
.

cope and part o f it can rev eal itself only to p hi loso

,

a l reason Throughout the centuries since the early

.

dle A ges philosop hi cal works hav e been written

,
“ ”
under the title O n the Truth ; today the same task
still remains urgent i e to gain insight into the essence
, . .
,

o f truth in its full scope under the present conditions

o f scientific knowledge and hi storical experience .

The foregoing considerations also apply to the

relation between science and philosophy O nly if the .

t w o are strictly distinguished can the inseparable

connection between them re m ain pure and truthful .

Through research and study the univ ersity strives to

achieve the great practical u ni ty of the sciences and
philosophy A t the univ ersity a philosophical View of
.

the world has always been made mani fest through

scientific method .

163
 WAY T O WISD OM
The university is the meeting place o f all sciences .

so far a s these remain an aggregate the u ni v ersi

,

resembles an intellectual warehouse ; but in so far

they striv e toward unity o f knowledge it resembles ,

never fi nish e d temple

-
.

A century and a half ago this w as still self ev id -

the philosophical ideas that were assumed by

scientists in the various disciplines were brought to
h ighest light o f consciousness by the philosophers .

th e situation has changed The science .

fragmented by specialization It has c .

lie v e d that scientific cognition m arked by the ne

,

o f uni v ersally v alid particular knowledge could ,

away fro m philosophy .

Is the present dispersion of the sciences the ulti

and necessary stage ? O ne might wish fo r a philosophy
that would enco m pass and assi m ilate the whole
tradition that would be equal to the intellectual
,

situation o f o u r ti m e that would express the contents

,

co m mon to all o f us and this both in subli m e in t e llec

,

tual constructions and in si m ple propositions capable '

o f finding resonance in e v ery man T oday we hav e n O.

'

such p hilosophy .

O ld univ ersity seals dating fro m the fifteenth century

rev eal figures wro ught in gold which represent Christ ‘

distributing their tasks to the faculties Ev en where .

such seals are still in use they no longer express the

modern reality ; yet they still bear witness to the task o f
unifying the whole .

Today neither theology n o r philosophy creates a

whole Does the univ ersity still hav e a co m m on spirit ?
.

A s regards its organization it still seems to constitute

,

164
 WAY T O WISD OM
embodied in the totality o f a sp e cific sci enc e T .

phi losophy thus becomes in a sense the spokesman

knowledge in general provi ded that constant care
,

taken to see this particular domai n in relation to all t

knowable and thereby t o anchor it in depth .

The teach e r o f philosophy in the service o f suc

e fforts is n o t a leader w h o lays down the law but a
attentiv e and patient listener eager t o find meani ng i
,

the broadest interrelations .

The teacher o f philosophy reveres the ind

great philosophers w h o are not specimens o f a type b u t
,

creators ( such do n o t exist today) but he rej ects the

,

idolization o f men which began ev en in the academy

,

o f P lato for even the greatest ar e m e n and err and n o

, ,

one is an authority w h o must be obeyed by right .

And the teach er o f philosophy h as respect for each r

science w hose insights are bin ding—but he condemns r .

the scientific pride whi ch imagines that everythi ng can )

be known in its ultimate foundati on o r ev en goes so far ‘

as to suppose that it is known .

His ideal is that o f a rational being coexisting wi th

other rational beings He wants to doubt he thirsts fo r
.
,

objections and attacks he striv es to become capable of

,

playing his part in the dialogue o f ev er deepening -

communication whi ch is the prerequisite o f all truth s

,

and without whi ch there is no truth .

His hope is that in the same measure as he beco m es

a rational being he may acquire the profound contents
which can sustain man that his will in so far as his
, ,

striving is honest may become good through the

,

direct help o f the transcendent without any human

,

mediation .
 P HIL OSOP HY AND SCIEN CE
a teach e r o f p hi losophy however he fe els that it
, ,

duty n o t t o l e t his stud e nts forget th e great mi nds

e past t o preserve the various philosophi cal
,

as an obj e ct o f instruction and t o see t o it

,

sci e nc e s influ e nce philosophical t hi nking ; t o

ci dat e th e pres e nt age and at the sam e tim e to join

S s tud e nts in conquering a vi ew o f th e e t erna l .

167
 APPEND IX 11

O N READI N G PH I L O S O PHY

IF I T I S true that phi losophy concerns man as man 1t ,

must lie wi thin o u r power to make it generally l n

t e lligib le I t must be possible t o communi cate briefly
.

certain fund amental ideas though n o t of course the

,

co m plex operations o f systemati c phi losophy It h as .

been my intention to gi v e an inti mation o f those

elements in phi losophy which are the concern of ev ery
man But in so doing I hav e endeav oured n o t to
.

disregard the essential ev en where it seemed in

,

t ri n sic ally di ffi cult .

The present lectures are little more than sketches ,

cov ering but a s m all segmen t o f the possibilities o f

philosophical thought M any great ideas are not ev en
.

touched upon M y aim h as been to encourage my

.

listeners to reflect o n these matters for themselv es .

Fo r those who m ay seek guidance in their p hilo so

hi c al reflections I append what follows
p .

1 . O N THE S TU DY O F PH ILO S OPH Y

P hilosophi cal thought is concerned with the ulti
mate the authentic whi ch beco m es present in real life
, .

Ev ery man as man philosophizes .

But the dev elop m ents o f this thought cannot be

understood at a glance S ystematic p hi losophy calls for
.

study S uch study m ay be divided into three parts :

.

First : P articip ation in scientific inquiry From its two.

168
 WAY TO WISD OM
I venture these maxi ms : proceed resolutely but do
n o t run aground ; t e st and correct n o t haphazardly
,

o r arbitrarily but in a constructi ve spirit retaini ng ,

ev ery experience as an e ff ective force in your thinking .

2 . O N PH ILO SOPH I CA L R E ADING

When I read I wish first o f all t o understand what
the author meant to say But in order to un der
.

stand what he mean t I must understand n o t only

his languag e but hi s subject matter as well M y .

understanding will depend o n my knowledge o f th e

subject .

I t is through the understanding o f texts that we se t

o u t to acquire o ur knowledge of the subject Hence we .

must thi nk o f the subj ect itself and at the sam e ti me o f

what the author meant O ne without the other mak e s
.

the reading fruitless .

S ince when I study a text I have the subject in mind ,

my understanding o f the text undergoes an involuntary

transformation Fo r a sound understanding both are
.

necessary : immersion in the subject matter and return

’
to a clear understanding o f the author s meaning In .

the first process I acquire philosophy in the second ,

historical insight .

R eading should be undertaken in an attitude co m

pounded o f confidence in the author and lov e fo r th e
subject he has taken up A t first I must read as though
.

ev erythi ng stated in the text were true O nly after I .

have allowed myself to be completely carried away ,

after I hav e been in the subj ect matter and then re

e m erged as it were from it s centre can meaningful
,

criticism begin .
 O N READ IN G P HILOS OPHY
How i n studying the history o f philosophy we make
, ,

past philosophy o ur own may be elucidated on the

basis o f the thre e Kantian imperativ es : thi nk for your
self; in your thinki ng put yourself in the place of ev e ry
other man ; think in una ni mi ty with yourself These .

imperativ es are endless tasks A ny anticipated solution

.

making it appear that we have already fulfilled them is

a delusion ; we are always on o u r way to a solution .

And in thi s hi story helps us .

Independent thinking does not spring from the void .

What we t hi nk must have roots in reali t y The .

authority o f tradition awakens in us th e sources

anticipated in faith by contact with them in the
,

be ginni ngs and in the historical fu lfilm e n ts of p hi lo so

hi
p cal thought A ny further study presupposes this
.

confidence Without it we should not take upon our

.

selv es the trouble o f studyi ng Plato or Kant .

O ur o w n philosop hi cal thi n king twines upward as it

were round the historical figures T hrough the under
.

standing of their texts we ourselv es become phi losophers .

But thi s confident learni ng is not Obedience In thi s .

“ ”
following we test o u r o w n essence This ob e dience
.

is a trusting to guidance ; we begin by accepting

somethi ng as true ; we do not break in immediately and
constantly with critical reflections which paralyse
what is o u r o w n true though guided mov e m ent A nd
, , .

t hi s Obedience is the respect which does not allow of

easy criticism but only of a criticism which through our
own conscientious e ffort comes closer and closer to the
core o f the matter until it is able to cope with it .

The limit o f obedience is that we recognize as true

only what through o ur independent thi nking has
17 1
 WAY TO WISD O M
become o u r o w n conviction N o philosopher not e ven
.
,

the greatest is in possession o f the truth Amicus P lato

, .
,

magis amica veritas .

We arrive at the truth in independent thi nking only

if in o ur thinking we strive constantly to p ut ourselves in
the p lace of ever y other man We must lear
. n t o know what
is possible fo r man By seriously attempting to thi nk
.

what another h as thought we broaden the potential

iti es o f o ur o w n truth even where w e bar ourselves t o
,
’
the other s thinking We learn t o know it only if we
.

v enture to put ourselv es entirely into it The remote .

and alien the extreme and the exception even the

, ,

anomalous all enjoin u s to negl e ct n o ori ginal thought ,

to miss n o truth by blindness o r i n difi ere n ce A ccord .

ingly the student o f philosophy turns not only t o th e

,

p hi losopher of hi s choice whom he studies without

stint as hi s own ; he turns also t o the hi story o f philo
sophy in order t o learn what w as and what men have
,

thought
The study o f history involv es the danger o f disp er
sion and n o n co m rnit m en t The imperative to think in
.

unanimity w ith ourselves is direct against the te mptati on

to indulge to o long in curiosity and the pleasure o f

contemplati ng div ersity What we learn from history
.

should becom e a stimulus ; it should either make us

attentiv e o r call u s to question The elements o f history
.

should n o t lie indi ff erently side by side in o ur minds .

We ourselv es must create fricti on between these

elements which hi storical fact itself h as not brought
into exchange and contact We must create a relation
.

even among th e most disparate elements .

All elements come together by being recei v ed into

17 2
 WAY T O WISD O M
becomes apparent that Hegelian thi nking cuts t h
heart o u t o f them and buries their remains in t h
v ast grav eyard o f history Hegel was finished with t h
.

past because he believ ed he had encompassed th

whole of it His ra t ional penetration is n o t candid
.

exploration but destructi v e surgery it is not e n durm g,

questioning but conquest and subjection it is n o t a ,

li ving with but domination

-
.

It is always advisable to read sev eral accounts o f

hi story side by side in order t o safeguard ours e lv es
against accepting any o n e View as self evi dent If we -
.

read only o n e account it s classifications force th em

selv es upon us involuntarily .

It is also advisable to read no ac count without at

least sampling the related original texts .

Finally hi stories of philosophy may be used as

,

reference works for literary orientation and various ,

philosophical lexicons are also useful .

4 . TE ! TS
For individual study it is worthwhi le t o acquir e a
limited library containing the really important texts .

A ny list upon which such a library might be based will

be subject to personal modification But there is a core.

which is almost universal though even here the

,

accent will vary ; there is no univ ersal acc e nt that will

be accepted by all .

It is a good idea to begin by sp e cializing in o ne

philosopher It is o f course desirable that this should be
.

one of the great philosophers but it is possible to find

,

the way to philosophy through a philosopher o f second

or third rank A ny p hi losopher thoroughly studied
.
, ,

17 4
 ON READ IN G P HIL O SOP HY
leads step by step to p hi losophy and the history of
philosop h y as a whole .

Fo r antiquity any bibliography is limited by the

small number o f extant texts particularly of compl ete ,

works that have been preserved Fo r more recent

, .

centuries the texts are so abundant that quite on the ,

contrary the di ffi culty lies in selecting o n e

, .

L I ST O F NA M E S I .

WES TERN PHI L O S O P HY

AN C IEN T PH IL O S O PHY
Frag m ents o f t h e Pr e S o crati cs ( 600 -

P l at o ( 4 2 8
Arist o tle ( 3 84
Fra g m e n ts o f t h e O ld S to ics ( 300 S e n eca ( d A D . . .

E p ic te tu s ( ca A D 50 . . M arcu s Au re lius ( ru le d
. A D
. .

16 1

Frag m en ts o f E p icu ru s ( 34 2 Lu c re ti us ( 96
Th e S c e p tic s S ex tu s E m p iric u s ( ca A D Cicero
—
. . . .

( 1 0 6 -
4 3 P l u t a rc h
( ca A D 45 2 5 )
I . . . .

P l o ti n u s ( A D 2 03
. .

B oe thius ( A D 4 8 0. .

C HRIS TI AN P H IL O S O PH Y
C h u rch Fat h e rs : S t Au gusti n e ( 354
.

Middl e A ge s : J o h n S co t u s E rige n a ( 9t h c e n tu ry) Ansel m

103 3—
.

A e l ard 107 — T
( 1 b ( 9 1 14 2
) S t h (
o m as 12 2 5 .

J o h n D u n s S co t u s (d M aste r E c k h art ( 1 2 60
.

Willi a m o f O c kh am ( ca 13o o 5o ) Nic h o l as o f Gu sa .

~
.

( 1 4 0 1 L u t h e r
( 14 8 3 C al vi n ( 1509

M ODERN P H IL O S O PH Y
l 6t h c e n t u ry : lV Iac h iav elli Th o m as M o re ,
P arac e lsu s , ,

Mo nt aign e B ru n o J aco b B oh m e B ac o n
, , ,
.

1 7 t h c e n tu ry : De sc art es H o bb es S p in o z a Lei b n itz P asc al

, , , , .

18 t h ce n tu ry

I 75
 WAY T O WISD OM
E N G LISH RA TI O N A LIS T S : L o cke Hu m e , .

F RE N C H A ND E N G LI SH M O RA LIS T S
i7th La Ro c h e fo u c auld , La B ru y ere
ce n t ury : .

18 t h c e n t ury : S h aft e sb ury , Va u v e n argu e s , C h am fo r t .

G ER PH
M AN I O O L S PHY: K a nt , F ich t e , He ge l , S ch e llin g .

I 9t h ce n tu ry :
G ERMA N A CADEM IC PHIL O S O PHY , e .
g .
,
Th e Y ou ng er Fich t e ,

Lo t z e .

TH E O RIGINA L P H IL O SO P H E R s : K ie rke gaard, N ie t z sch e .

M o dern i
sc e n c es as an area o f p h il o so p h y :
PO e IC A L A ND E CO N OM IC PHIL O S O PHY : To c q u evi lle , L o re
v on S t e in , M arx .

PH IL O S O PHY OF HIS TO RY : R ank e B u rckh ardt M ax We b er , , .

NA TU RA L PHIL O S O PHY ; K E v o n B aer Darw in. .

,
.

PSY C H O L O G ICA L PH IL O S O PHY : F e ch n e r F re u d ,

.

In roughly characterizing these men I shall venture

a number o f inadequate remarks In no cas e do I .

expect to classify o r dispose o f any philosopher ,

although m y statements will inevitably sound as if I

did I should like m y remarks to be taken as questions
. .

They are intended merely to call attention to certain

things and p erhaps to hel p some readers to find o u t
where their o w n inclinations lead .

O N A N C I E NT PHI L OSO PHY

The Pre S ocr atics hav e the unique magic that lies
-

”
in the beginnings T hey are unco m monly difl i c u lt
.

to understand correctly We must attempt to dis .

”
regard all the phi losophi cal education which v eils
“

their immediacy in current habits o f th ought and

speech In th e Pre S ocratics thought is worki ng its way
.
-

o u t o f the original intuitiv e experience o f being In .

reading the m we participate in m an s first intellectual ’

illuminations T he work o f each of these great t hi nkers

.

1 7 6
 WAY TO WISD OM
whether Aristotelian or anti A ristotelian o r co nc ei -

as transcending this entire plane o f thinking .

Plotinus used the whole tradition o f ancient

sophy as a means ofexpressing a wonderful
original in mood which has come down ,

ages as the true metaphysic M ystical .

communicated in the music o f a speculation w

remains unequalled and which re echoes wherev er 111 -

hav e thought metaphysically .

The S toics E picurea ns and S ceptics the Plat o ni

, , ,

and A ristotelians ( the later Acade m ics and

t e tics) created the universal p h ilosophy o f the e ducate
classes o f late antiquity for whom Cicero and Plu t arc
also wrote Despite all the conflicting positions an
.

constant polemics among them they represent ,

world in common P articipation in all it s aspe

.
intellectualan
amounted to eclecticism but it also characterizes
,

specifically li mi ted fundamental attitude o f

ancient centuries the personal dignity the contin
, ,

o f a world in whi ch th e essentials were merely repea

a world which w as strangely finished and barren ,

in which men understood o n e another This is .

home o f the cos m opolitan philosophy that sti ll

currency today Its last captiv ati ng figure is Boethi us
.

whose Consolatio philosophiae by virtue of its mood ,

beauty and authenticity is among the basic works 0

, ,

philosophy .

S ince then philosop hi cal commu ni ties of educatio

,

concepts style and attitude have been realized by

, ,

clergy o f the M iddle A ges the Humanists Since the ,

R enaissance and in a weaker sense by the speculativ e

, ,

i dealisti c German philosophers betwee n 1770 and

17 8
 WAY T O WISD OM
S cotus E rigena conceive d an e difice o f being ,

prising G o d nature and man in N eo p lato nic

, ,

o ri e s with dialectic freedom of development

g .

contributed a new mood o f self awareness and o p e

-

t o the world A man o f learning h e knew Greek

.
,

translated Dionysius A reopagita Working with tr .

tio n al concepts he erected a magnificent

,

ori gi nal in it s atti tud e He sought t o define

.

nature and founded a new speculative

,

which h as enjoyed influence down t o the present

work is a product o f ancient tradition blend ed , hnorr
d e ep Christian and philosophical fai th .
m ethodofa dp
a dn

The methodical thi nking o f the M iddle A ges birnonluinhis c

becomes ori ginal with A nselm Immediate me .
minim ofhis
revelati ons are expressed in th e dry languag e lbiseomplctcsh
uil
and ju risprudence While his logical argu m e
.
onhefoundinl
and particularly his dogmatic propositi ons are a lien to DS
n
us cotu
san .

u s hi s ideas are still alive in so far as we disregard

, , thestructureof rs
their historical cloak o f Christian dogmatism and take m om entwhenit s
them in their univ e rsal human import as we do thos e lbatpa sseda son
o f P armenides .
bythe profound
A belard teach es the energy of reflec ti on the roads o f ,
questionolwilla
the logically possible th e method o f dialectic co n tra dic
, H ere a ndN ow
epistem
.

tion as a means o f exploring problems By this extreme .

~
olo and
gy
questi oning through the confrontation o f opposites he theoryofknowle
became the founder o f the S cholastic method which sen seolhu manl
achi eved it s summit in Thomas Aquinas ; at the
'

st for LO
same ti me h e sowed the seeds of disintegration in the ofthe ch
nai v e Christianity which had sustai ned men befor e works ha
believerinChrb
Thomas Aquinas erect e d th e grandiose system which are k n ow n to
h as b e en ove rwhel m ingly accepted in the Catholic (m tation
u s) T o
18 0
 WA Y TO WISDOM
’
O ckham s works They have no t be e n t ranslat e d i
.

G erman This is perhaps the only great gap still to

.

filled in the history o f philosophy .

Nicholas o f C usa is the first phi losoph e r o f the M i d

Ages whom we encounter in an atmosph ere w hic
to us o ur o w n True h e remains entirely
.
,

his faith fo r in him the

,

sti ll unbroken the trust t h ,

Church wi ll o n e day e m b r
philosophy he n o longer projects o n e system ;
Thomas h e does not make use o f th e S cholastic met
,

which lo gi cally apprehends all tradition in i ts

t radicti o n s but turns directly t o the matter in h
,

wh e ther it be metaphysical ( transcendant ) or empi

( immanent ) Thus he employs
. special methods bas
o n his o w n intuitions and finds a wonderful divi
,

being which in these Speculations is revealed

,

a new way In this b eing o f the godhead he s e es t

.

realities of the world and in such a way ,

tion opens the path to e

insights which becom e the instruments o f the
o f God . His is an all embracing though t -
,

close to reality and yet transcending it The .

n o t circumvented but itself S hi nes in the light

transc e ndence This is a metaphysic which is s

.

indispensable The time spent in e p O Ii ng it may

.

counted among the happy hours o f the philosopher .

With L uther it is di ff erent To study him .

pensable He is a theological thinker who

.

philosophy speaks o f the whore reason yet he hims

, ,

thought out the basic ex istential ideas without which

present phi losophy would scarcely be possible The .

18 2
 O N READ IN G P HIL O S O P HY
of
passionate seriousness o f faith and o f
shrewdness of depth and hatred o f , ,

t rat io n and coarse bluster makes it a duty ,

rm e n t to study him T his man giv es forth a .

o u n dly antip hi los ophical atmosphere .

’
alvin s greatness lies in disciplined methodic form , ,

logic unswerving and dauntless adherence to

,

ip le s But hi s lo v eless intolerance makes him in his

.
,

as in h is practical activities the repellent ,

h esiS of philosophy I t is good to have looked him

.

e face in order t o recogni ze this spirit wherever in ,

d o r fragmentary form i t is manifested in the ,

He is the supreme incarnation o f that Christian

n t o le ran c e against which there is no weapon but

n t o le ra n c e .

O N M ODE RN PHI L O SO PHY

In contrast t o ancient and medi eval phi losophy ,

Odern philosophy forms no comprehensiv e whole but

an agglomeration of the most disparate unrelated ,

rts full of fine systematic structures none of which

, ,

is actually dominant It is extraordinarily rich full o f

.
,

the concrete and of bold free abstractions in constant, ,

relati on to new science Its works are di ff eren tiated

.

along national lines written in Italian German, , ,

French and E nglish in addition to those carry overs

, ,
-

from the M iddle A ges that were still composed in L atin .

We Shall attempt a characterization o f modern

p hi losophy in chronological order .

The sixteenth century is rich in heterogeneous ,

ext raordinary personal creations which mov e us by ,

their immediacy They re m ain rich sources

. .

18 3
 WAY TO WISD OM
In the politi cal sphere M achiavelli and M
initiated the modern approach to history as a ch
causes and e ffects Despite their outmoded tr
.

their works are still graphic and inter esting .

P aracelsus and B ohme Show us that world equa ,

rich in profundity and supersti tion wi th clarity and ,

uncritical confusion which today is known

,

theosophy anthroposophy cosmosophy Rich in

, , .

tuitions and images the y lead into a maze

, .

discern the rational structure that lies hidden in

cabbalistic quaintness and particu larly wi th B o b
,

in dialecti cal subtleties .

M ontaigne is the type o f man grown in dep e n d

without desire for realization in the world .

morality and opinions integrity and shrewd

,

s ceptical openness and sense of the practical

expressed in m odern form The reading o f M ontai
.

is immediately captiv ating philosophically it i ,

perfect expression for this form o f life but at the 8 ,

tim e it is in a sense paralysing His earthbound .

su fficiency is a delusion .

Bruno in contrast is the infinit ely struggl

p hi losop her consumi ng himself in inade q uacy
, .

has knowledge o f the limi ts and believes in

supreme His dialogue o n the eroici f urori is a b
.

work of the philosophy o f enthusiasm .

Bacon is known as the founder o f m o dern e m p ir

and o f the modern sciences Both erroneously . .

did not understand true modern science the ,

m atic al science o f nature then at it s b e gin ni n

,

this science would nev er hav e come into being by

methods But in an enthusiasm fo r the new charac
.
,

18 4
 WAY TO WISD OM
without the greatness that com es o f a basic at tit u
which is profoundly human .

The eighteenth century Shows for the first time

broader stream o f philosophical literature addressed
a general public It is the century ofthe E nlighten
.

The E nglish E nlightenment has its first repr

ative figur e i n L ocke He provided the E
.

society growing o u t of the revolution o f 1688 with

intellectual and political groundwork Hume is t .

brilliant analyst ; an intelligent writer even w h ,

tedious he does not strike us as commonplace

, .

scepticism is the bold unflinchi ng integrity o f

,

who dares to stand at the limits and face the

fathomable without speaki ng o f it
,
.

Both in France and in E ngland there w as a litera

o f aphorisms and essays by Observers of men
”
society whom we call moralists They strove t o b
,
.

a p hi losop hi cal attitude into psychology In .

seventeenth century the work o f L a Rochefoucauld

L a Bruyere in the eighteenth century that
,

Vauvenargues and C h am fo rt grew out o f the worl ,

of the court S haftesbury was the philosopher o f a

.

aesthetic discipline o f life .

A long with a systematic energy and an openness

what is deepest and what is most remote the gre ,

German philosophers hav e an intellectual vigour

wealth of ideas that m ake them an in disp ensab
foundation for all serious philosophical though
Kant Fich t e Hegel S chelling
, , , .

Kant : for us the decisive step toward awareness

being ; precision in the intellectual operation o f trans
c e n ding ; an ethos growing out o f o u r inadequacy ;

18 6
 O N READING PHILOS OPHY
ofconception and humanitarian feeli n g ; like
a personification of radiant reason A noble .

hte : speculation carried to the point o f fanatic

frantic attempts at the impossible brilliant ,

on, moral eloquence He initiated a

.

e trend of extremism and intolerance .

mastery and m any sided elaboration o f the

-

categories ; explored the full range o f intel

l at t i tudes e ff ected the most compreh e nsive
,

ation o f Western history .

elli n g : indefatigable p o n derings on the ulti

broached d i squieting mysteries ; failed as creator
opened up new paths .

t e e n t h century represents transition dis ,

tion and consciousness o f dissolution expansion of ,

material world scientific scope The p h ilosophical

, .

e t u s d w i ndled in philosophers turned professor ,

ing pale arbitrary unconvincing systems and

, ,

ies o n the history o f philosophy which fo r the

time made the whole h istorical material acce ssible .

authenti c philosophical driv e surv iv ed in ex c ep

ely recognized by their contemporaries and ,

academic philosophy is instructi v e full of ,

u sn e ss and zeal ; howe v er it no longer ,

essenc e of man but deriv es fro m the

world with its cultural ideals its well ,

ri o u sn ess and its li mi tations Ev en its m ore

,
.

figures such as the younger Fichte and

,

will be studied for their e difi c at io n not for ,

u b st a n c e .

18 7
 WAY TO WISD OM
Th e original philosophers o f this era are Kierkega
and Nietzsche Both without system both .
,

and victi m s They are aware of th e c at astr

.

astounding truths and Show no way o u t In the , .

age is documented by the most merciless self cri -

in human history .

Kierkegaard : forms o f spiri tual action p ro ,

i ntellectual commitment In him everything .

,

t ic ularly congealed Hegelian thought is mad e ,

again Violently Christian

. .

N ietzsche : endless reflection auscultation a ,

questioning o f all things ; digs deeply but discov ers

foundations except for new paradoxes Violen
, .

anti Christian
-
.

The modern sciences become vehicles of a phi l

o p hical attitude not in their general concerns but i
,

numerous though separate personalities H er e are .

few names only as examples .

Political and social philosophy : Tocquevi lle a

pr e hended the course o f the modern world t o w
democracy through sociological knowledge o f
,

ancien reg ime o f the French R evolution and o f

’

, ,

United S tates o f A merica His p reo ccup atio .

freedom his sense o f human dignity and o f au t h o

,

l e d him to inquire realistically into the inevi table

the possible He was a man and scientist o f th e
.

order O n the basis o f the political actions and id e

.

the French since 17 8 9 L orenz v o n S tein i n terpr e ted,

the e v ents o f the first half o f the nineteenth century in

terms o f the polarity betwe e n state and society He .

’
considered the question o f E urope s destiny M arx .

utilized these insights developed th e m in econom i c ,

188
 WAY TO WISD OM
Psychological philosophy : Fechn e r established
methodical experimental study o f the relation b e tw e
,

the psychological and physical factors in

perception ( psychophysics ) ; th i s he conceived a
o f a logical but actually fantastic theory o f the a

tion Of all life and all things In his deb .

psychology Freud naturalized and trivialized

subli m e insights o f Kierkegaard and Nietzsche .

barren hateful weltanschauung masked by h u m

,

it arian forms was indeed appropriate to an age w h

hypocrisy it pitilessly dissected but Freud failed t o s ,

that this world was n o t the whole world .

L I ST O F NAM E S II .

CHINA AND IND IA

C HINESE PH IL O S O PHY
Lao Tse ( 6t h c e ntu ry B C ) . . C o nfu ci u s ( 6t h t yB
ce n u r .
)
C .

Tse h alf of e n tu ry T
( seco n d th e 5 t h c Ch u an g
( 4th t y
c en ur

I NDIA N PH IL OS OPHY
U p anish ads ( ro u gh ly 1000— 4 00 P al i C an o n o f B u
dh ism ; tex ts fro m t h e M ah ab h arat a ( 1st c e nt u ry
B h agav a d G ita e t c ; K au t ily a s A rth ash ast ra ; S h an k a
’
-
.
,

( 9t h centu ry

As thus far accessible to us in translations an

interpretations Chinese a nd Indian p hi losophy s
,

far inferior to Western philosophy in scope in dev ,

ment and in inspiring formulations Fo r us

,
.

philosophy re m ains the main object o f study It .

indeed an exaggeration to say that all we understan

o f A s i ati c philosophy is what we would understan

190
 O N RE AD IN G P HI L O S O P HY
out it through o u r o w n philosophy But it is true .

most interpretations lean so heavily on t h eWest ern

that even for those who do not understand
n t a l languages the error is perceptible .

e though the parallel between the three

,

ments— China India the West—is historically

, ,

it giv es us a distorted picture in that it seems to

e equal emphasis o n al l three For us this is not the .

Despite those indispensable insights which we

to A siatic t h in km g the main ideas which animate
,

re those o f Western philosophy O nly in Western .

phy do we find the clear distinctions th e ,

formulati o n s of problems the scientific orienta ,

the thorough discussions the sustained thought , ,

ch t o u S are indispensable .

L I ST O F NAM E S III .

PH IL O S O PHY IN RE LIG I ON , L ITERA TU RE , A ND AR T

ligio n : Th e B ible ; the texts co lle cte d in so u rc e bo o ks of
o ry .

t
a u re : H o mer ; Aeschylu s S o p h oc le s Eu rip ide s ; Dante ;
, ,

akesp e a re , G o eth e Dostoyevsky

,
.

Le o n ardo , Mich e l an ge lo Re m brandt

,
.

ord er to possess ourselv es o f the cont e nts o f

Sophy do w n through its history we must read and
d the philosophers in the restricted sense ; we
obtain a clear view o f the dev elopment o f the
and we must allow ourselv es to be mov ed by
t works of religion literature and art We , ,
.

not keep turning t o new and v aried works but

se ourselv es in those which are truly great .

19 1
 W AY TO WISD OM

Th e G reat Works
S om e few works of philosophy are in their o w n
as infinite as great works o f art They contain m .

thought than the author himself knew True cv .

,

profound idea implies consequences o f which

thinker is not immediately awar e But in the .

philosophies it is the totality itself which conceals

infinite A n astonishing harmony pervades the v
.

contradictions so that ev en they become an express

,

o f truth The complex ity o f thought

.
,

clarity in the foreground rev eals ,

depths The more patiently we study

.

more wonderful they seem to us S uch .

Plato o f Kant Hegel s Phenomenology

, ,
’

each for reasons of it s own In Plato we .

form supre m e lucidity the keenest

, ,

method artistic expression o f philosophical

,

without sacrifice of clarity and force In Kant w .

the greatest integrity scu p u lo us weighing o f

,

word the most subli m e clarity Hegel is I

,
.

occasionally carried away by his

these defects are counterbalanced b
creativ e genius whi ch rev eals deep
,

does not integrate them in his own

is full o f violence and deception ,

toward dogmatic scholasticism and aestheticism .

P hilosophies v ary exceedingly in rank and in ki n

It is a question of philosophical destiny whether or n
in my youth I entrust mys elf to the study of a gre
philosopher and to which of the great philosophers
entrust myself .
 WAY TO WISD OM
contrary when you study o n e great philosopher
, ,

should also cons i der another who is v ery di ff e

from him If y o u restrict yourself t o o n e ev en the
.
,

unprejudiced philosopher the result will be

,

P hilosophy is incompatible wi t h any deifi c ati o n o f

in which o n e m an is regarded as an exclusive
A nd the very essence o f philosophical thought
openness t o the truth as a whole n o t to barren abstr
, ,

truth but t o truth in the div ersity o f its supre

realizati ons .

194
 APPEND IX III
B I B L I O GRAPHY

H O S E R E A D E R S W H O wi sh to look mor e clos ely

t o my philosophical writi ngs may consult the follow
g brief bibliography .

M y two principal p hi losophical works are

I . P hilosophie 2 cd H eidelberg B erlin
. .
,
-
,

S pringer Verlag 194 8 -

, .

2 Von der Wahrheit M unich R Piper 194 8

. .
, .
, .

S hort works treating the subject matt e r o f thes e

adio talks in g reater detail :
1 Der philosophische Glaube M uni ch R Pip e r
. .
, .
,

194 8 ; Z ii ri ch A rtemis V erlag 194 8 ,

-
, .

E nglish e d : The P erennial Scope of P hilos

.

ophy trans
,
by R alph M anheim . Ne w .

York P hilosophical Libra ry 194 9 ;

, ,

L ondon R outledge and Kegan P aul

, ,

1
950 .

Vernunf t und E xis tenz . 2 cd .

, Bre men ,

S torm Verlag 194 7

-
,
.

3 . P hilosophie und Wissens chaf t . Z urich , Artemis

V erlag 194 8 ,
.

O n contemporary philosophy
I . Die ge s tigie S ituation der Zeit 7 . cd .
,

Berlin W de Gruyter
,
.
, 194 9 . E nglish ed :.

195
 BIB LIOGRAPHY
M an in the M odern Age Lo ndon , Ro .

ledge and Kegan P aul 1934 , .

2 . Vom Ursprung und Ziel der Geschichte Z uri .

A rtemis Verlag 1949 ;

-
M unich , ,

Piper 194 9 E nglish e d : The Origin

,
. .

Goal of His tory L ondon R outl e dge a , ,

K egan P aul ( i n preparation ) .

3 . Vom E uropaischen Geist M unich R Pip .

, .

194 7 E nglish e d : The E uropean Sp

. .

L ondon S O M P r ess 194 8

, . . .
, .

Works d evoted i ndividual philosophers

to

I . Descartes und die Philosophie 2 cd B e rli . .

,

W d e G ruyter 194 7
.
, .

2 . Nietzsche 3 cd Berlin W d e Gruy t

. .
, , .

194 9

Nietzsche und das Chris tentum . Ham el

B ii ch erst u b e S eifert , 194 6 .

3 . M ax Weber . 2 ed , Brem en ,
. S tor
Verlag , 194
7 .

O n philosophy as ma nifested in the concret

scienc e s :

I . Allgemeine P sy chop athologie 5 c d , H e id . .

b erg Berlin , S pringer Verlag, 194 7

- -
.

2 . S trindberg und van Gogh 3 c d , Brem e . .

S torm V erlag -
,
194 9 .

A rti cl es in E nglish
“
R ededication o f G erman S cholarship trans , .

by M Z uckerlan dl American Scholar 15 ( April

.
, , ,

N o 2 18 0 188 .
,
-
.

196
This book origi nated in twelv e radio lectures
comm issioned by Basel radio station .

199
 INDE X
C omm ni tio f t th 3 5— Di l ti l m th od of M
H g l 54 —
u ca n: o
7; ru , 1 , 2 a ec ca e arx
m y ti i m s t om m i bl 35 ;
c s no c 6 u n ca e, e e , 1
iv lh m di f 9 ; Di hotom y bj t obj t 9 t
ki d 6—
un ersa u an re a n ess o r, 1 c : su ec -
ec , 2 e
an d i ty of m un 8; i m an i g n , 10 n e an n

th philo op hi
e l lif t q ca e , 12 2 e se
—
s .

C omm i tio b fo Ch i ti
u n ca ns 3 3; e lt of w
re r s an 1 resu a are ness

e ra, 1 35 Di ff ti tio l v l of e re n a n, e e s ,

C om m ity un ity i secu r good d il 59 6 n, 2 1 an ev -

2
—
, ,

Com p h iv t h re en s3 8 38 ;
e, Di g i ty of m 9 e, 1 , 2 n an, 1
h d th o gh t in t y Di io d m nd d by t
re ac
it
ex s e n c e , 43 ;
e
d philo op h i
r u
l 8 6 —an
7
cer a
s ca
sc uss n, e a e s

f ith 94 ; w
a ,
f 5 a Di i t g tio i ibl ign
aren ess O , 12 s n e ra n, v s e S s
C om p h iv o io
G d 4 6—
re ens e c nsc us n ess
o 7 ,

C o ditio l im p tiv 55
n na D ogm ti m of ind p d
e ra es, a s e en e nc e , 11
Co d t im d 54—
C nf m
o
n uc
u ( 55 47 8
us
,

—
a5
99
s an

33
1-
Do bt
D
8 —,

9 4 B
S ot Joh ( 65
o
c
of philo ophy
, 1 ,
u
1 1
,

,
a
2
s urce s ,

— 75
1 0 uI S us, n 12 1
é
9 c

C o ionsc 33 3 6
usn ess, , 1 1 2
Co t m pl tio p of m y ti
8 —
n e a n: u re , s cs ,

0 1 li gio d phi lo ophi

re E kh t M t ( 6
us an 75 s c, c ar , as er 12 0 1

12 2 e t q se .
gyp t i viliz tio of 98 , c a n ,

Co m ologi l p oof of i t of Elij h th p oph t

God 4 — —
s ca r ex s en ce a e r e , I oo

3 , 2 l i gh t m t f i th d 8 5 95 ; n en en : a an ,

Cosm ologi i tifi 7 6 es, sc en l k of f ith d th 8 7 ; d m d

c ac a an e, e an s

C tio f o of philo ophi l of 8 7 ; d fi nitio f 88 ; m biv

of 88— —
rea n, re e , s u rce s ca ,
e n o ,
a a

tho ght 9 u ,
l 9 ; tt k 8 9 9 ; en c e , 0 a ac s o n, 0
C tiv o igi lity
re a e r na t of 89
, II n a u re ,

C lt
u g owth of 9 7
ures , r th i m
, 84 n u s as , 1
E vi o m t D i ( b i g th ) n r n en , as e n e n -
e re

D t Alighi i ( 65
an e , 8
er o i t d tow d 3
12 1 1, r en e ar ,

1 9 1 Epi t tu ( D 5 75 ; c e s A . . 0 1 on

D wi Ch l ( 8 9
ar n, 76
ar es o of phi lo ophy 9
1 0 1 , s u rce s , I
89 Epi 78 cu reans, 1
—
1
D in ( b i g th
ase !
) o i t
e nd to E-
pi e re ( 34 , 7 75r en e cu rus 2 2 1 1
w d vi o m t 3
ar en r n E m D id i ( 466
en , 2 79 ras us , es er u s 1 1

D th ; d wi tn 53
ea , 20 an Et l to p t k i th 56
ess, e rn a ,
ar a e n e,

D th g 53 Ethi l l l of diff ti tio b

tw good d vil 59 —
ur e , ca ev e e ren a n e

6 6 —
ea
D i io i t ti l d m d d by
n, ex s e n e an e e en an e 0, 1 2
E ipid ( 4 84—
ec s a , ,

unc no ditio l im p tiv 56 na e ra 4 7 9

e, ur es 0 1 1
philo ophy m od
D i fi ti
D
e ca of m 4 5
t R é ( 596
on
8 9
an , p
il d fi itio of 59 ; t —
36
59 6 ;
u ro ean s ,
e rn , 1

tith i of good d 59—

escar es, en 1 1 -
1 , v : e n n ,
ru e , 0
6 an es s an , 2
D pi
es a r, 2 0 E it wo d of ; o i t d x s e n ce : n er , Io r en e
D poti Em pi
es c i of tow d God 3 3 ; d f dom
res , r se , 102 ar , 2 -
an re e ,

D t mi y im pli tio of 3
e er nac , 45 ; m pi i l
ca ns d th di
, 0 e r ca , an e u n c on

D t oI i h
e u er -
sa a ,
ti
100 l im p tiv 5 ona era e, 2
D v lopm t d p og i philo E i t ti li m
e e en an r ress n x s en a s 2 on
ophy 4 —
.
,

s , 1 0 1
D vil vi g th 8 3
e , s er n F il
e, lity of 3 a ure , rea , 2 2-
D votio
e lim it d to God th F ith
n, un e ; ,
oot d i th C om p , e a , 22 r e n e re
th ti m od f i t
au en c 83 4 h e o i 36 ; t of 5 ; d
ex s e n ce , -
e n s v e, n a u re , 1 an

2 02
 INDEX
Hi to y of philo ophy 3 — 44 ; fo I t ll tu l p i ity of
p iod of 36 —
s r s , 1 2 ur n e ec a ass v
8 ; id of nity in t y 37
—
er s , 1 ea u , cen ur , 1
b gi ni g 39 4 ; I t p t tio ll knowl dg i 7
3 9 ; th
8
—
1 e e n n . 1 -
0 n er re a n, a e e s,
d lopm t d p og en 4 0 ;an ress, 1 1
—
ev e r
l ifi tio of philo oph
c ass ca n 4 I pon ibility ind p nd ns e rs, 1 1 2 rres s , e e e ce
Hobb Thom ( 588
es, 75 as 3 4 1 1 , 11 -
1

85
1 I i h th P oph t 00 sa a e r e , 1

H ld li Joh nn Ch i ti n ( 77
o er n , a rs a 1 0
1!
J p di ion of th as ers s cuss :

Hom e r, 100, 1
9 1 it tio ; of th S ua n, 2 on . e
m t 87
H m i t 7 8—
H g ti Em pi of 02
u an re 1
m i h th P oph t th li ing
en , n .

J
—
, ,
e re a e r e e v
u an s s, 9 1 ,

H m D vid ( 7
u e, a 4 76 1
f 39 4
11 1 0, 1 o . 0, 100

86
1
J dgm t of m n nd of God 6 ,
u en , a a ,

H m ility i i vi ng God guid

’
u n rece
K nt I mm l ( 74 s an ce,
a , anu e 1 2
7 0
Hw g Riv i iliz ti on 98
Hylozoi m 8—
an er, c v a on ,
s 9 , 2

Id p l tiv 34
e as , s e cu a e,
79 ; nli ght m t 88 ; on e en en on
Im g a es, g tio of in lo t
ne a
gn
ood —
7 8;
,
t d yin g
c ses
11 1 on s u
,

pp o h to God 48
a r ac
ophy ,
7 3 s
,

1 1-
I m p tiv un o ditio l 5 6 K til y 33 9
era e, c n na , 2 -
2 .

au a, 1
,

1 0
A d n U onditio l im p tiv K pl Joh
see nc na era e
e e r, ann
,

Im p ti v ni v l S Uni
e ra e, u l Ki k g d S 0
ersa . ee v e rs a
er e a ar r
im p tiv e ra e
38 ; 76 88 1 1
,

1
I m p tiv o ditio l 55
era es , c n
will to b o na ,
,

e nes
,

Im p f tibility of th wo ld 44
er ec
g id e
67 ; r ,
u an ce ,
I dp d
n e en j t d by tot lit
e n ce : re ec e
m 7
a
an, i 1
i im
ar an s ; ,pp t di p Kn owl d g
110 a are n sa
e e:
of m biv l of
— of
p e aran c e ; 1I O a a e n ce
, th m y se n se e s
o pt of
c n ce 5 ; b ol t i d
,
I 12
lw y1
o ditio a
l s u e n e
a a s c n na
p d
en im po ibl
en c e 5 li m it Kn owl d g
ss
f l fi ll d
e, I1 a
e e, u e
,

ti on of 5 8 ; how to hi v
,

— o k owl d g
s 11 -
1 ac e e a
,
77 n n n e e,
m of 8 9
easur e , 11
Kn owl d g 1
i tifi o mp d e e , sc en c: c are
I d p d t phi lo oph th
n e en en
philo ophy 7 5 7
s er, e, 1 10
s , . 1
9
I di pi it l found tio l id i
n a, s r ua
p n b l 8 ; th o gh m th od 74
a ns a n,
e sa e, r u e ,

98 d lopm t of ind p d nt L ye J n d ( 64 5
g 76
ev e en e en e a ru re, ea e 1 1 ,

Phil Ph yoso 3 5 , I 6 1
I di ph lo ophy t t
n an i s 9 L i zf i 9
, ex s o n, 1 0- 1 a ss e -
a re , 1
I divid l l tio of to God 4 7
n ua , re a L ng g n , of 98 , a u a e , us e ,

I d Riv i iliz tio

n us, er, c v 98 L T ( p m C onf i ) 99
a n o n, 6 19 ao se - u c us , , 11 , 0
If
n e ren ce th t God i t 4 3 a L Ro h fo ld F g i d
ex s s , a c e u cau , ran o s e
I j tio hi to i l S Hi to i l
n un c n, s ( 6 3
r ca .
76 86 ee s r ca 1 1 1 , 1
i j tio
n un c n L ibnitz Gottf i d Wilh lm ( 646 e , r e e 1
I n po t n ou philo ophy f
ns a e , s n a e s75 85 6 s o t , 1 -
E
th e, 1 1 L i V l dimi Ily i h Uly no e n n, a r c a v
I tit tio
ns u i m di bl inj ti
ns , rre ( 8 70 e a i e 58 us ce 1 o n sc e nce , 1
of ,
8 10 L i g Gotthold Eph i m ( 7 9 es s n , ra 1 2
I t ll t nd f ith 93
n e ec a a , 36 8 7 1 , 1
I t ll t l oppo t ni m 4
n e ec ua Li b li m 9
r u s , 11 e ra s , 1
 INDEX
P arace s us, l Th oph t e ras u s ( 14 90 50 ; how it b om ec es

P a rm e m d es
r7 5 , 1
1
o
84
f El ( ea czrca 539 4 74 — 15 9 et
16 1 ;
q obj t
se

both l d
d m .

ess
ec s an
an in
no ) ,
100, 1 0 8 ; p l ti s ec u a ve do ct ri n i
s c e n ce , 16
of b i g 48 e n ,

P l Bl i ( 6 3
as ca ,
a se75 85 1 2 1 , 1
P au l S t 6 7 36
, .
, 11 , 11 , 1
i t h b li f i God b i g 7
’
P e ac e n e e e n s e n , 1
P f l
e ace u n es s o f t h philo oph e s er, 1 10 Phy i i f tio of 9
s c an, unc n , 12
P f tio
er ec n , 12 Pi o d ll M i dol Giov nn i ( 1
c e a ran a, a
P ip t ti 78
Pl to ( 4 8—
er a e cs , 1 79 1

P i pi it l fo d tio l id i
e rs a, s r ua un a ns a n, a 34 8 33
2 100, 1 ,

98 66
il 5 9—
1 7 , 75 77 1
9 3; 1, l , 1 , I 2-
P v io t 6 ; f p og b yo d 8 ; m o d
light m t 9 —
er e rs n: or ru e ev ,
0 o r ress e n , ve

3; d g of in wo d 4 ; t hi g God
l lif 8—
en en en , 2 an e rs n er, 2 e ac n on
t h philo ophi
e s 9 ca e , 12
Ph om lity f m pi i l i t
en en a o e r ca ex s en ce , b i g 48 ; philo ophi l o
e n , s ca c nc

79 tio of i n 5 3 4
n sc e ce , 1 -

Ph n
eno ieno ol gy of M ind ( H g l) 2 Plo ti us (A D 2 04 34 , 17
g
9 e e , 1 . .

Phi lo oph s th id p d t 0
er : e n e en en , 11 I7

9; t i i g i
1 ra n n i tifi di ipli n sc en c sc ne Pl t h ( D 45
u a rc A75 78
. . 1 , 1
ess e nti l 5 9 a ,
1 P olyt h i m 7 e s , 1
P hilo oph s th fi t e rs, e rs , 10 1 Poly l v a enc e,
3 2
P hil phi p oso m 6 6
a ey erz
'

s, 1 , 1 2 P tirac o of lity 7 4
ce a s u rc e re a ,

P hi lo ophi l f ith th i of 6 7 P gm ti b tit t f philo

0—
s ca a , es s ,
ra a c su s u e or s
P hilo ophi l lifs th ca 3 ; p th e, e, 12 1 a s 51
f
o ,
t q ; go l of
12 2 e 9 3 se . a , 12 -
1 P y dg
ra e r, tio of 7 2
e e n e ra n ,

Phi lo ophi l tho ght d tio l P mi of f ith nd of

—
sens

—
s ca u an ra na re ses a a
k owl d g
n 6 e e , 12 p i
ex e r en ce ,
94 5
Philo ophiz to i to l
s e, how to s earn P S o ti 7 5 76 7
re- c ra cs, 1 1
di 5 3—
, ,

P opo itio to gg t m ni g of
o ditio l i m p tiv 56—
e, 4 r s ns su es ea n
P h lo ophy
i s t h t i z d by
: no c arac er e th e un c n 8 na e ra e,

p og iv d v lopm t 7—
r ress 8;
e e e en ,
co n P d k owl d g 85
seu o- n e e,

d with t h whol of b i g P y ho ly i
‘ ”
c e rn e e e e n , s c 56
an a s s, 1
8; tk o t f i tifi
a es ac c un o sc e n c P y hoth
s c py g o nd d in phil o
er a , r u e
k owl d g
n 8; e wi tho t i e, u sc e n c e ophy 9
s , 12

( po t o phi lo ophy) i P ity ti l in i d

f 8—
! s n an e u s s , ex s ur esse n a sc ence an
t e n ce o ibl to ll 9 ; 12 : acc ess e a philo ophy 5 7 63s 1
t —;m i g d
-
, , ,

v p
e er- rese n 11 12 e an n an
of —6 ; im f
,

t
n a u re 3 4;
12 1 a o 12 , 1 1 ! tio i g
u es ti l to philo ophy
n n : essen a s
of 7—7 ; l tim t o
-
, , ,

o ; th fi t q tio 8
6—
s u rc es , 1 2 u a e s u rce 12 e rs u es n, 2
f
o , 7 ; th fi t q
2 tio f 8 ; e rs u es n o , 2
p l tiv id
s e cu a 34 ; d t t
e eas, an s a e R i l th o y 56
ac a e r , 1
m t ofl k f f i t h 8 7 ; hi to y f
en s ac o a s r o R dia tho ght nd 49
an c e, u a
— , , ,

3 44 ( d
1 2 Hi to y of philo
an see s r R k L opold
an e, ( 7 95
e v on 1
ophy) ; th fo m of t dy f
s re e r s s u o , 76 89
1 , 1

33 ; m t b
1 t di d with t h
us e s u e e R tio li ti p do knowl d g 95
a na s c s eu -
e e,

wo ld i whi h it w p od d n as u ce R lity to fi d d pp h d 3 ;
ea n an a re en 1
—
r c r , , ,

d ll ti m f f il 3 ; y m bol of 3 6
phy i l 3 6 f G d 46—
34 ; t
en 4 ;
u r es a a es , 1 1 o a u re, 22 s
—
1 ,

an d i 47 67 ; th
s c e n ce , i 1 e sc en c e s ca , 7 ( nd o o , a see
ll ff t of o ditio l im p ti v
p
m od n
ar

i ntifi t d
er
ex ce47 ;
sc e
en ce,

48 c
1
ren s
e

on ,
ec s

1
G d) ;
nd
a
o
6—
5 7;
,
u nc n
d fi ni tion of 74 ; e
na e ra

,
e
DEX
S lf will d g of 68
e -
, an e rs ,

S e n e ca (d 75 77 ;
. A O . . 1 , 1
m ty dom of 5 4
ar r ,

S t Em p i i
ex u s
75 r cus , 1

S h ft b y A tho y A hl y Coop
a es ur , n n s e e r,
thi d E l f ( 67
r ar
76 8 6 o 1 1 1 , 1
Sh k an a ra , 1 0
9
S hi Em pi
, of re , 102
S it tio
ua ltim t 9 ns , u a e, 1 -
2 0, 2 071 .

S o iologi l o ditio f t h i l
c ca c n ns o e ax a

g a e, 102
S o t ( 4 7 399
cra es 4 ; d 0- 1 0 an
ob di to b ol t im p tiv 53
S olit d t th i 5—
e en ce a s u e era e,
u e, 6 ru n, 2
S opho l ( 495— 4 6
c es
9 0 1 1
Sp h God i th wo ld 8 ’
e ec , s, n e r , 2
S p gl O w ld ( 88
en e r,
97 s a 1 0
S pi oz B di t 1 ( 63
n a, en e c us ( 0 1 2

S p t l fo d tio l i d ( 8
i ri u a un a ns a 00- 2 00
8
9 99
— , 102
S pi it li m 8
io 8 6—
r ua s , 2
St t m t
a e d di en 7an s cuss n,
St ie n, Lo z 76 88 re n v on, 1 , 1
S till of b i g th 4 9
n ess e n e,

S toi i m —3 4 ; m pty d i gid

,

c s , 22 , 2 e an r ,

S bj t obj t di hotom y 9 t q ;
u ec ec c 2 e se
i g f 3 —; i m pli tio
-
.
,

m e an n f o , 0 1 ca ns o ,

3 ; th 1 m od of 3 3 ;
ree lt f es ,
1- res u o
aw of 3 7 8
aren ess ,
-

S ff i g
u er n , 20
S p titio ym bol d 36
u e rs n, s s an

S ym bol m t phy i ,
—
35 6 e a s cs a ,
,

Sym boli logi 4 9 c c, 1

S ym bol f t d
s o 5 ransc e n e n ce , 0
Sy t m tiz tio of t h i
s e a a 76 n e sc en ces,

T oi t tt m pt to pp h d God
a s s, a e a re en ,

48
T h ofphilo ophy 65 7
Th l of M il t ( 64 —
e ac ers s , 1 -

546 5 e us 0 1
Th ology d philo ophy 64—
a es

e , an5 s ,
1

Thom S t f Aq i ( 5
—
as , .
,
o u n as 12 2

341 75 8, 1 8 ,
1 0 1, 1 2
Tho ght God o i gi ti g i 4 t
u ,
r na n n, 0 e
seq ; d di an 49 ; pow f ra an ce , er o

6—
.
,

12 8
Th ydid ( b i 4 7
uc es . c rca 0 100
Tim o ditio l i tim l i 58
e , un c n na s e ess n,

To q vill Com t d ( 8 5
c ue e, e e 1 0

1 7 6, 18 8
 INDEX
Tol e ran ce ,
9 1 Up ni h d ( i 000 4 0 a s a s c rca 1 -
0
Tool i v tio of 98
s, n en
.

n ,

Tot lit i i m
a ar an s d i d p d t , Utility d philo ophy 5
an n e en en , an s , 1
philo ophy 4 s , 1 , r 10

Toy b A old Jo ph 97
n ee , rn V lidity niv l t p od d
se , a , u e rsa ,
no r u ce
T ditio d ni v l phi lo ophy 7
p i ipl 8 —
ra ; n, 22 an u ersa s ,

r nc 3 es, 2 V Gogh Vi nt ( 853 an nc e 1

— , 11
T rans c e n d 2
3 3 m y t y of
e n ce , V v g M q i d ( 7 s er , au e na r u es, ar u s e 1 1
d f dom 4 5 ; hi oglyph 76 86
of Vi io d b i g 3—4
44 ; an re e , er s 1 1
ym bol of 5 d w
th o gh 67—
or s s ,
0 , an a a re n ess s n an e n , 11 1
self 64 ; g i d
,
u 8;an ce r u ,

d ob di l tio W lth i fi nit 49

to 7 —
69 ; m
’
an e en c e , an s re a n ea ,
n e,

3 ; b ol t
0 of God 8 2 Wlu e, M ( 8 64 97 7 e er, ax 1
—
,
a s , , 1
T ransce n di g fl tio n 3 4 re ecé 9 n , 12 1
T i
rans e nce , ni v l f thi g W tu ersa h t of d l
, o n s, es e rn c arac er ev e o
10 C h i ti 35 t q rs an e ra, 1 e se .

T th
ru ,
hfse arc ; f l fi ll d o l y i
or, 12 Whol bo di tio to t h 2 6
u e n n e , su r na n e,
comm ni tio 6 b ol t u ca d Will of God 5
n, 2 ,
a s u e , an , 0
th b ol t ly t 4 7 ; th t d Will to omm i tio th ltim
e a s u e ru e , re a en e c u n ca n, e u a
by ov w i g l im to t h er ee n n o of philo ophy 2 6 7
c a s e s u rce s ,
-

ab ol t ly t
s u e 7 0; i tifi d Will to il 6
ru e , s c en c an ev , 0
philo ophi l 63 s ca , 1 Will to lity 6 re a , 0
T i Em pi of 2 Wil m of O kh m ( 30
g— 7
s n, re , 10 a c a 1 0 1
1 1 2
Ultim t tt i m t of th 4 9
a e, a a n Wi dom
en ; of God 4 6 e, s , 12 ,

U o ditio l im p tiv th 5 2 6 ; Wo d of ; th o
im pli d i io 56—
nc n na era e, e, -
n e r, s e nse , 10 e s urce
lity philo ophy 7 4
— 7 h
es a ec s n, as re a s r 2
—
, ,

i m tim l i tim W o ld 74 8 4 ; p io
8 i h
—
n 57 an ,; n s t e ess e, r ,
e, re car us n ess
8
5 ; i ti
anm tio of Go
n d thi a g i n ; t t n l 43 4 ; t
’
s n s n, 2 2 no e er a ,

g id ph om lity of m pi i
n
u
e rs an
67an ce ,
U d t di g o i t d tow d n , e r en e
79 ; lity of 8 — ar
en

n ce ,
e na

re a
e

, 0 1
r c

obj t 3 e c s, 2 Wo ld t l 8 r e e rn a , 2
U ity i t h hi to y of philo ophy Wo ld y t m d oh nt
n

q tio
u es f
n
8
3 9
—
n o
e

,
1
s r
l dg 75
s ,

e
r
e,
s s e s an c e re

U ity of m ki d im of hi to y Wo hip li gi o
6—
n an n , a 3 s r , rs , re u 8 , 12 2 -
11s

U iv l im p tiv 69—
10 8
n e rs a 70 era X oph n of C olopho ( i th
e, en a es n s x

U iv ity t i vi g f to hi
n e rs , s r n t y o ,
t hi g God 4 ac ev e ce n u r eac n on , 0
uni ty f i o d phil o ophy
sc en ces an s ,

163 t q e se . Z thu t 00 ara s ra, 1