Rudolph Christoph Eucken is a german philosopher and winner of the 1908 Noble Prize for Literature
Editor's Preface:
EDITOR'S PREFACE
With three exceptions {The Statics of Religion in Germany,
Are the Germans still Thinkers? and The Problem of Immortality
— the translation of which I am not responsible) the essays
included in this volume have not hitherto appeared in English.
The lighter and more popular articles
—in the early portion—
will be found to throw a variety of interesting sidelights on the
philosophy of Rudolf Eucken ; while the heavier essays provide
a material addition to our knowledge of the distinguished
thinker's work.
In spite of the diversity of its contents this work acquires
a certain unity by virtue of the convictions which permeate the
whole. As is well known, Professor Eucken's Activism is based
upon the recognition of an independent spiritual life (Geistesleben)
as the ultimate basis of the whole of reality, and as the sole
principle capable of explaining the sum of our human experience.
This life sustains the entire structure of the universe, from
inanimate matter up to the highest manifestations of man's
intelligence and personality. Logic, mathematics, science, art,
law, morality and religion arc all modes of manifestation of this
central life. Man is essentially a spiritual being, and a partaker
in the originative and eternal reality ; yet at the same time ho
is largely immersed in the life of nature (which is looked upon
as a lower and unevolved stage of reality), and in order to
realise his own being he must endeavour to ascend towards the
higher levels of reality. But this cannot be done without effort
and activity, without a pressing forward and an overcoming of
resistance. Hence the term Activism.
Author's Preface
The following essays treat of widely different subjects ; and it
may at first be thought that many of them show no very
immediate connection with the life of the English-speaking
world. But although the problems in question are handled from
the German standpoint, they are, in themselves, of universal
human interest ; while the personalities dealt with belong to the
literature of the whole world. Moreover, in spite of the variety
of the subject-matter, all the essays give expression to a single
fundamental conviction and are thus inwardly united. In conclusion,
I may voice the hope that the English-speaking public
will bestow upon this book the same friendly goodwill for
which I have been so sincerely grateful in the case of preceding
translations of my works.
MsSVig
Editor's Preface:
EDITOR'S PREFACE
With three exceptions {The Statics of Religion in Germany,
Are the Germans still Thinkers? and The Problem of Immortality
— the translation of which I am not responsible) the essays
included in this volume have not hitherto appeared in English.
The lighter and more popular articles
—in the early portion—
will be found to throw a variety of interesting sidelights on the
philosophy of Rudolf Eucken ; while the heavier essays provide
a material addition to our knowledge of the distinguished
thinker's work.
In spite of the diversity of its contents this work acquires
a certain unity by virtue of the convictions which permeate the
whole. As is well known, Professor Eucken's Activism is based
upon the recognition of an independent spiritual life (Geistesleben)
as the ultimate basis of the whole of reality, and as the sole
principle capable of explaining the sum of our human experience.
This life sustains the entire structure of the universe, from
inanimate matter up to the highest manifestations of man's
intelligence and personality. Logic, mathematics, science, art,
law, morality and religion arc all modes of manifestation of this
central life. Man is essentially a spiritual being, and a partaker
in the originative and eternal reality ; yet at the same time ho
is largely immersed in the life of nature (which is looked upon
as a lower and unevolved stage of reality), and in order to
realise his own being he must endeavour to ascend towards the
higher levels of reality. But this cannot be done without effort
and activity, without a pressing forward and an overcoming of
resistance. Hence the term Activism.
Author's Preface
The following essays treat of widely different subjects ; and it
may at first be thought that many of them show no very
immediate connection with the life of the English-speaking
world. But although the problems in question are handled from
the German standpoint, they are, in themselves, of universal
human interest ; while the personalities dealt with belong to the
literature of the whole world. Moreover, in spite of the variety
of the subject-matter, all the essays give expression to a single
fundamental conviction and are thus inwardly united. In conclusion,
I may voice the hope that the English-speaking public
will bestow upon this book the same friendly goodwill for
which I have been so sincerely grateful in the case of preceding
translations of my works.
MsSVig