Old ideals and purposes have undergone sweeping revision. The very social
structure has proved obsolete and is being reorganized.
In the general process of readjustment, the various lines of thought and
knowledge have not remained unaffected. Particularly have the more
speculative subjects undergone a decided change in their dominant spirit
and motive. Without exception, they have been brought down from the
ethereal levels of their former dwelling-places and have been made to
deal with the practical things of a practical world. This has been
particularly true of Philosophy.
The present period has, in fact, marked a revolutionary point in the
history of that subject. We have faced many stern crises during the last
few years, and it is natural that they should be reflected in our
thinking. The necessity of meeting these crises has forced our thinking
into definite, practical, and original channels. In our time of need we
found that, while the old formulae had possessed their value, they did
not offer sufficient help for the problems of the new day. There was
nothing to do but to formulate new ones that were vital in their bearing
upon our problems now.
A hint at the new spirit of Philosophy is given in the fact that the
title of the presidential address before the American Philosophical
Association at its 1916 meeting was: “On Some Conditions of Progress in
Philosophical Enquiry.” This title suggests that the new outlook is
forward rather than backward, and that the philosophical searchlight is
now turned outward as well as inward. It indicates the fact that
philosophers feel a growing realization that advancement is the proper
aim of human endeavor, and that the vital problem of Philosophy is
human welfare and progress.
The older Philosophy was scientifically productive only in a measurable
degree. It spent itself somewhat too largely in unprofitable contentions.
It had a great many exceptional minds working at random on many problems,
but it lacked a definite and commonly accepted plan of co-operative
investigation. The old Philosophy was largely an art. The new is
altogether a science.
The last few years, with their turmoil and suffering, have brought the
thinking world to understand that Philosophy holds great potentiality as
a determining factor in national and world affairs. The pressure of the
world conditions which lately existed, and which in a measure still exist,
has generated a proof of this statement. We have had a perfect flood of
books and articles on the subject of Philosophy as it applies in the
social and political fields.
We could not have looked intelligently upon the events of 1914 and the
several years preceding without seeing the power of Philosophy in the
shaping of national ideals. Germany’s policy throughout the war was the
direct result of the philosophy which has for years been taught in the
German schools and encouraged by the German government. A wrong philosophy
can lead a nation to its ruin within the space of a few generations.
A worthy one can as promptly and definitely determine a nation’s
progress and happiness.
Possibly the majority of people dream, as some have long done, of some day
making this a peaceful planet. If we ever achieve such an end, we shall
have to do it through the establishment of a peaceful philosophy. The
thinkers of a nation sow the seeds. The people sooner or later harvest the
fruit. One of the most vital problems now confronting the philosopher is
that of giving to the world a sane basis for peace. This involves a system
of right human and international relationships. It involves also an
adequate plan for social reconstruction.
These are things for which the world must depend upon its thinkers.
Fortunately, its thinkers realize their duty and are already busy at their
task. Philosophical writing in books and periodicals indicates a common
tendency to emphasize the forward look in a spirit of genuine concern for
social progress. This is the normal result of a social unrest which seeks
the realization of a safe and dependable international ideal.
Philosophy has entered very largely into the making of the life of the
various nations. Social life is, however, a sort of chambered nautilus
which one by one outgrows the barriers of earlier customs and conceptions.
The time seems now to have arrived when national ideals can be best
realized through co-operation in some form of international union. This
new social life, organized according to a world plan, Philosophy is
struggling to help actualize.
The fact that this is one of the supreme concerns of present-day thinking
is indicated in the general theme for discussion at the meeting of the
American Association held in December of 1917. It was: “Ethics and
International Relations.”
Nor is America the only country in which this leavening process of
philosophical inquiry has been in progress. It is also very noticeable
in the trend of French thought. Indeed the burden of contemporary French
Philosophy is largely to the effect that the proper goal of the French
Nationalism of yesterday is to be found in the dawning Internationalism
of tomorrow.
If it continues long enough, the thinking of any nation or group of
nations crystallizes into definite and actual form. The material result
of the internationalistic trend of thinking and agitation of the various
countries involved will have been an inciting cause. The present ideal
will remain dominant until a larger and more adequate one is found.
It is interesting to note how the general recasting of philosophical
thought is reflected in the new nomenclature which has now grown familiar
to the philosophical pen. In the vocabulary of the modern philosopher,
such words as democracy, humanity, fraternity, and liberty are apparent.
The modern idea is, moreover, not merely to discuss these things but also
to apply them.
A great nation or a great race is dependent upon the performance of great
actions proceeding from great motives. The fact that Philosophy is more
and more a program of action is indicative of our future. Not all the
questions of Philosophy are political or social, either. It has taken a
fresh hold upon the equally vital problems of Ethics and Religion. Lately,
men have been obliged to face serious questions. The trend of Philosophy
indicates that they are trying to answer them and to gauge their actions
by the truth arrived at. The result will be a more satisfactory, adequate,
and serviceable idea of such facts as those of God, Right, Religion, and
Providence. Each fiber of the social structure will reveal the effects of
the new enthusiasm now evident in the field of the Philosophy of Religion.
Psychology, closely related as it is to Philosophy, presents much the same
present-day aspect. It reveals what is called a behavioristic turn.
Pragmatism seems to be having its day. In this busy, exacting, problematic
time, the world wants results, and it means to cling only to that which
can produce them.
We must not forget, however, that Realism is never wholly at its best when
unmixed with Idealism. The physical and the metaphysical are not only
mutually dependent, but they are two different phases of the same thing.
The basis of the new order will not be exclusively material. In it, both
the seen and the unseen world will have their place and consideration.
Mind and matter will not be rivals. Hope and achievement will be partners.
The things of the spirit and those of sense will be jointly supreme.