An Interpretation of Rudolf Eucken's PhilosophyJones, W. Tudor (William Tudor)
Religion
An Interpretation of Rudolf Eucken's Philosophy
Jones, W. Tudor (William Tudor)
Eucken, Rudolf, 1846-1926
the implications of the neo-Kantian movement so far, he feels compelled
to take the next step. For unless that next step is taken, some of the
deepest potencies of human nature fail to come to flower and fruit. When
the step is taken, they do blossom and bear fruit. Is not this a
sufficient justification for taking the "next step"? It is; for man
cannot allow any potency of his being to remain dormant without
suffering a loss; and on this highest level of all the loss must be
incalculable. "Thou hast created us for Thyself, and our heart will
never find its rest until it rests on Thee." That confession of
Augustine is Eucken's confession also; and it is the implication which
such a confession contains that constitutes the significance of his
message to the world. He is in the line not only of the philosophers but
of the prophets and the mystics. The ladder of knowledge reaches, like
Jacob's ladder, up to heaven itself--to that pure atmosphere where
knowledge, merged in a deeper reality, becomes something so different
from what it was before. An eternal blessedness has now become the
possession of man.
Eucken has a great deal to say regarding the _Historical_ Life-systems
of the present day. [p.219] He is aware that the neglect by German
thinkers of the fundamental importance of Hegel's teaching on this
question has meant a heavy loss. That loss is already perceived, and
Hegel's value in the realm of the Philosophy of History is being
rediscovered. Men are more and more feeling the necessity of conceding a
validity and objectivity to the concepts of History. The work of the
late Professor Dilthey[79] in this respect is of great importance, and
has strong affinities with Eucken's teaching on the same subject. But
Dilthey's objectivity and validity stopped short of religion in the
sense in which religion is presented by Eucken. Dilthey gave the norms
of History a transcendental objectivity and considered them sufficient
for man. But Eucken, as already stated, while granting all this and even
insisting upon it, finds that the norms of History do not include the
whole that human nature needs. The "next step" has to be taken whereby a
reality is revealed beyond the confines of the best collective
experiences of the human race. Once more, we are landed in the
conception of the Godhead. The step became inevitable, because the best
[p.220] historical concepts, in their totality, pointed to something
still beyond themselves.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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