The Dale Memorial Lectures, 1922. THE DECAY AND THE RESTORATION OF CIVILIZATION THE PHILOSOPHY OF CIVILIZATION PART I BY ALBERT SCHWEITZER D.THEOL.; D.PHIL.; D.MED. (STRASSBURG) TRANSLATED BY C. T. CAMPION M.A. (OXON.) (SOMETIME OF MERTON COLLEGE, OXFORD) A. & C. BLACK, LTD. 4, 5 & 6 SOHO SQUARE, LONDON, W. 1 1923 _Printed in Great Britain by_ THE WHITEFRIARS PRESS,LTD., LONDON AND TONBRIDGE. To ANNIE FISCHER IN DEEPEST GRATITUDE AUTHOR’S PREFACE “The Decay and the Restoration of Civilization” is the first part of a complete philosophy of civilization with which I have been occupied since the year 1900. The second part, entitled “Civilization and Ethics”, will appear immediately. The third is called “The World-View_(_*_)_ of Reverence for Life”. The fourth has to do with the civilized State. That over which I have toiled since 1900 has been finally ripened in the stillness of the primeval forest of Equatorial Africa. There, during the years 1914-17, the clear and definite lines of this philosophy of civilization have been developed. The first part, “The Decay and the Restoration of Civilization”, is a kind of introduction to the philosophy of civilization. It states the problem of civilization. Entering on the question as to what is the real essential nature of civilization, I come to the pronouncement that this is ultimately ethical. I know that in thus stating the problem as a moral one I [pg viii] shall surprise and even disgust the spirit of our times, which is accustomed to move amidst æsthetic, historical and material considerations. I imagine, however, that I am myself enough of an artist and also of an historian to be able to comprehend the æsthetic and historical elements in civilization, and that, as a modern physician and surgeon, I am sufficiently modern to appreciate the glamour of the technical and material attainments of our age. Notwithstanding this, I have come to the conviction that the æsthetic and the historical elements, and the magnificent extension of our material knowledge and power, do not themselves form the essence of civilization, but that this depends on the mental disposition of the individuals and nations who exist in the world. All other things are merely accompanying circumstances of civilization, which have nothing to do with its real essence.