This humanity as a whole, and the relation of the individual to it, is discussed in the collections _Briefe zur Beförderung der Humanität_. An emphatic tone regarding personality and individuality as characteristics of the group pervades these letters. Existence as a self-conscious being which develops into group consciousness Herder finds rooted in human frailty. Primitive man, to himself and enigma, he observes, when comparing his visible condition, his natural capacities, his will-power with enduring nature, was forced to a feeling of weakness, to a sense of mortal existence; he finds himself of the earth, a fragile house of clay. Sympathy then and the realization of one’s duty to one’s fellow-men began here. But the consciousness of frailty led also to a knowledge of our powers and abilities, to a sense of our calling and our duties, and brought us to a deep consideration of human nature. The group is always striving toward an ideal pattern which is “the character of the race,” and, again, this character is in the individual; for, says Herder, he who does not make the best of himself cannot assist the sum total of the race. The author states the idea when he says that it is according to the sacred laws of nature that man is a complete unit in himself, and at the same time an important element of groups each a consistent part of larger groups which make the sum total of humanity. Man is friend, citizen, husband, father; fellow-citizen, finally, in the great city of God on earth. CHAPTER VI EIGHTEENTH CENTURY IN HERDER’S CONCEPTION OF _DAS VOLK_ Herder, by numerous references and discussions, in which he is definite and explicit as to name and theories, shows a thorough acquaintance with the various schools of philosophy which were influential throughout the century in which he lived. Among those whose names occur many times in his works are: Roger Bacon Francis Bacon Baumgarten Berkeley Boileau Bolingbroke Condillac Descartes Diderot Hume Kant Leibniz Locke Montaigne Montesquieu Newton Rousseau Shaftesbury Spinoza Voltaire Wolf These are philosophers whose expressions of thought left their traces either vaguely or deeply upon the enlightenment period and, as already said, whom Herder knew well. But the doctrines of many of these men converged. Of others, the principles were developed and amplified by successors. The main ideas of the period which enter into Herder’s conception of _Volk_ are found in three great exponents: Leibniz, Shaftesbury, and Rousseau. The influence of each upon Herder will be examined here. LEIBNIZ AND HERDER IV, 224: Herder calls Leibniz the greatest man that Germany has produced in later times. IV, 361: Herder calls Leibniz and Plato the two greatest heads for hypotheses.