XI, 220: Herder admires _die Grazien des Platonish-Shaftesbury_ dialogue. XVI, 407: Herder expresses himself by quoting in translation a stanza from Shaftesbury’s _Moralists_. XVI, 158, 159: Article on Shaftesbury; holds him in high esteem, calls him _Virtuoso der Humanität_. Herder declares that Shaftesbury has influenced the best minds of the eighteenth century. XXIII, 143 ff.: Herder shows an intimate acquaintance with the life and works of Shaftesbury as well as the sources of his philosophy. He reminds that Shaftesbury influenced both Diderot and Leibniz. Herder reveals his own inclination to take nature and the feelings as standards: (1) By criticizing Shaftesbury for overlooking an important principle in Greek philosophy in one of his discussions; namely, the principle _der Natur zu folgen_. (2) By saying an honorable feeling for truth and justice is a law of our nature. XXX, 321: Herder calls Shaftesbury the high priest of the temple of _Grazie_. Shaftesbury’s _Characteristics of Men, Manners, Opinions, and Time_ will be used as a reference book. SHAFTESBURY AND HERDER The elevation of human nature, as found in the individual, to something which has a universal value, to something higher and nobler than the interests of self alone was one of the prominent tenets of Shaftesbury’s philosophy. This implied a moral and social system composed of parts nicely adjusted in each single entity, which in turn was a component part of a larger whole; the parts of this greater system were likewise in constant proportion to one another, and so finely and fitly adjusted that any disarrangement could not fail to effect the harmonious blending and the unity of the entire design. Out of this, it follows that man can come to his truest and most natural development in community life only. And thus, if there be found in any creature a more than ordinary self-concernment or regard to private good, which is inconsistent with the interest of the species or public, this must in every respect be esteemed an ill and vicious affection. And this is what we commonly call selfishness, and disapprove so much, in whatever creature we happen to discover it.—_Inquiry_, Book I. When we reflect on any ordinary frame or constitution either of art or nature, and consider how hard it is to give the least account of a particular part without a competent knowledge of the whole, we need not wonder to find ourselves at a loss in many things relating to the constitution and frame of nature herself.—_Inquiry_, Book I. To love the public, to study universal good, and to promote the interest of the whole world, as far as lies within our power, is surely the height of goodness, and makes that temper which we call divine.—_Letter Concerning Enthusiasm_, section 4.