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Multiplicity and the Social Order1

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 November 2011

J. Loewenberg
Affiliation:
University of California

Extract

It is generally assumed that in fighting Germany we were fighting a specific doctrine of life. Many crusaders are now in search of the doctrine which has brought on this iniquitous war. To hunt down the German philosophy has become a favorite indoor sport. But what is the result? The result threatens to blur all distinctions. The adjective “German” now connotes everything and denotes nothing. If, for instance, the national differentia of both German philosophy and German politics be Egotism, as has been maintained, many doctrines having their origins outside the boundaries of Germany would have to be defined as “German.” Again, if Germany's national trait be “Absolutism” in logic and morals (and this too has been seriously held), what shall we do with Belgium? Shall we call her German because in defiance of all consequences she remained absolutely true to her duty? Not Germany but Belgium is the nation that acted in conformity with Kant's Categorical Imperative. If it is true that America's national philosophy is pragmatism, then the “masters” of Germany are entitled to American citizenship.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © President and Fellows of Harvard College 1919

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Footnotes

1

An address before the Philosophical Union of the University of California, February 22, 1918.

References

2 Race Questions and Other American Problems. New York. 1908. P. 9.Google Scholar

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4 Cf. the writer's Classic and Romantic Trends in Plato, in The Harvard Theological Review for July, 1917. Vol. X, No. 3, pp. 215236.Google Scholar

5 Political Theories of the Middle Age. P. xi.

6 Ibid. P. xxiii.

7 Political Theories of the Middle Age. P. xxvi.

8 Political Theories of the Middle Age. P. xl.

9 The Will to Power; trans, by Ludovici, Anthony M.. 1900. P. 215.Google Scholar

10 Thus Spake Zarathustra; trans, by Common, Thomas. I, XI.Google Scholar

11 Ibid. II, XXXVI.

12 Joyful Wisdom; trans, by Common, Thomas. Sec. 377.Google Scholar

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14 On Nietzsche's anti-nationalism, consult Nietzsche the Thinker, by Salter, William M., New York, 1917Google Scholar; Nietzsche and the Ideals of Modern Germany, by Stewart, Herbert Leslie, London, 1915; and the article on Nietzsche by Havelock Ellis in Vol. IX of Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics. Ed. by J. Hastings.Google Scholar

15 Atlantic Monthly for September, 1917. Pp. 300312.Google Scholar

16 Quoted by E. Barker in Political Thought in England. Home Univ. Lib. P. 22.

17 Quoted by Rose, J. Holland in Nationality in Modern History. New York, 1916. P. 166.Google Scholar

18 Cf. Germany and England, by Cramb, J. A., London, 1914. Pp. 32 ff.Google Scholar

19 Cf. Germany and England, by Cramb, J. A., London, 1914. P. 34.Google Scholar

20 Germany, France, Russia, and Islam (Eng. Ed.). P. 17. (Quoted by J. Holland Rose in op. cit. P. 163.)

21 Translated by Whitelock, W. W., under the title Modern Germany in Relation to the Great War (New York, 1916), from which the quotations are taken.Google Scholar

22 The Spirit of German Kultur, in op. cit. P. 88.

23 Ibid. P. 67.

24 Germany's International Economic Position, in op. cit. P. 140.

25 Ibid. P. 140.

26 Meaning of the War, in op. cit. P. 622.

27 England's Policy of Force, in op. cit. P. 317.

28 Kultur Policy of Power and Militarism, in op. cit. P. 577.

29 The Origin and Nature of German Institutions, in op. cit. P. 217.

30 Belgium and the Great Powers, in op. cit. P. 379.

31 Political Thought in England, Home Univ. Lib. P. 239.

32 Summarized by Rose, J. Holland in Nationality in Modern History. New York, 1916. P. 179.Google Scholar

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34 Perpetual Peace; trans, by Hastie, W.. Pp. 97100.Google Scholar

35 Nationality in Modern History. New York, 1916. P. 183Google Scholar