第140章

THE POSITIVE ASPECT.

The affirmative content of this philosophy certainly does not satisfy the requirements of profundity.

A leading characteristic of its teaching， which is found also with the Scottish philosophers and with ourselves， is the assumption of primitive feelings of justice which man has in himself， as for example benevolence and social instincts which should be cultivated. The positive source of knowledge and of justice is placed in human reason and the common consciousness of mankind， in the healthy human reason， and not in the form of the Notion. It is certainly wonderful to find truths expressed in the form of universal thoughts， respecting which it is of infinite importance that they should be assumptions present in the human mind： that man has in his heart the feeling of right， of love to his fellow-creatures： that religion and faith are not matters of compulsion； that merit， talent， virtue are the true nobility， &c. An important question， especially among the Germans， was what is the end and character of man， by which was meant the nature of his mind and spirit， and certainly， as far as the spiritual is concerned， it is to this point that we must return. But in order to find the nature of spirit， to discover what this determination is， a return was made to perception， observation， experience， to the existence of certain impulses. These are certainly determinations in ourselves， but we have not known them in their necessity. Such an impulse is besides taken as natural， and thus it is here indeterminate in itself， it has its limitation only as a moment of the whole. In regard to knowledge， very abstract thoughts are to be found - though of a truth they are quite as good as ours， and more ingenious - which according to their content ought to be concrete， and also were so. But so superficially were they comprehended that they soon showed themselves far from sufficient for what had to be derived from them. They said， for instance， that Nature is a whole， that all is determined by laws， through a combination of different movements， through a chain of causes and effects， and so on； the various properties， materials， connections of things bring everything to pass. Those are general phrases， with which one can fill whole books.

a. SYSTèME DE LA NATURE.

To this philosophy belongs the Système de la Nature， the leading work on the subject， written in Paris by a German， Baron von Hollbach， who was the central figure of all those philosophers.

Montesquieu， d'Alembert， Rousseau， were for a time in his circle； however much these men were moved to indignation at the existing state of things， they were yet in other respects very different from one another. The Système de la Nature may very easily be found tiresome to read， because it treats discursively of general conceptions， which are often repeated； it is not a French book， for vivacity is lacking and the mode of presentation is dull.

The great Whole of Nature (le grand tout de la nature) is the ultimate： “The universe displays nothing but an immense collection of matter and motion” (as with Descartes)， “an unbroken chain of causes and effects， of which causes some directly affect our senses， while others are unknown to us， because their effects， which we perceive， are too remote from their causes. The different qualities of these materials， their manifold connections， and the effects which result therefrom， constitute essences for us. From the diversity of these essences arise the different orders， species， systems， under which things fall， and whose sum total， the great whole， is what we call Nature.”(2)It is like what Aristotle (vide Vol. I. p. 241) says of Xenophanes， that he gazed into the blue， i.e.

into Being. According to Hollbach all is movement， matter moves itself： beer ferments， the soul is moved by its passions.(3) “The manifold variety of natural phenomena， and their incessant rise and disappearance， have their sole ground in the variety of motions and of their material.” Through different combinations and modifications， through a different arrangement， another thing is originated. “Material substances have either a tendency to combine with one another， or else they are incapable of so combining. Upon this are based by physical scientists the forces of attraction and repulsion， sympathy and antipathy， affinity and relation； and the moralists base thereon hatred and love， friendship and enmity.” Spirit， the incorporeal， contradicts or opposes itself to motion， to a change of the relations of a body in space.(4)b. ROBINET.