The unity of the whole body social will spring from the separate, free expansion of its three functions. In the course of the book it is shewn, what form the energies of capital and of the means of production, as well as the use of land, may take under the joint action of these three functions of the social organism. To someone, who is bent on "solving" the social question by a device of economics, by some economic scheme that has come up or been thought out on paper,--to him this book will seem unpractical. But anyone, who is trying from life's experience to promote forms of combination amongst men, in which they may be able to see, what the social problems, and duties are, and how best to fulfil them,--he may perhaps admit, that the writer of this book is endeavouring after a genuine working-practice of life. The book was first published in April, 1919. Since then, I have published a series of articles, explanatory and supplementary to it, which have now appeared as a separate volume. [2] It may be thought, that in both books a great deal is said about the paths that should be pursued in social life, and very little about the "ultimate ends" of the social movement. Anyone, who thinks along the lines of life, knows, that, as a matter of fact, particular ends may present themselves in various forms. It is only those who live in abstract thoughts, who see things in single outline, and who often find fault with the person in practical life for not putting them definitely, "clearly" enough. There are many such abstractionists to be found amongst people who pride themselves on their practicality. They do not reflect, that life can assume the most manifold forms. It is a flowing tide; and if one would travel with it, one must adapt oneself even in thought and feeling to the flux that is its constant feature. Thought of this kind alone can seize and keep its hold on social problems. It is from the observation of life that the ideas in this book have been won; it is from the observation of life that they ask to be understood. I. THE TRUE SHAPE OF THE SOCIAL QUESTION, AS SHEWN IN THE LIFE OF MODERN MAN Does not the modern social movement stand revealed by the great catastrophe of the war, demonstrating in actual facts how inadequate the thoughts were, which for years have been supposed sufficient to an understanding of the working-class movement and its purport? It is a question forced upon us by the demands of the workers and all that these involve,--demands which formerly were kept in suppression, but which at the present time are forcing their way to the surface of life. The powers that were instrumental in suppression are partially destroyed; and the position they took up towards the forces of social growth in a large part of mankind is one that nobody can wish to maintain, who does not totally fail to recognise how indestructible such impulses of human nature are.