ental rose-water view of the Christian faith which has
been current in some pietistic circles. The Superman, with all its
vagueness, is a noble, inspiring ideal. The problem of the race is to
produce a higher manhood, to realise which there is need for sacrifice
and courage. Nietzsche is the spiritual father and forerunner of the
Eugenics. The Superman is not born, he is bred. Our passions must be
our servants. Obedience and fidelity, self-discipline and courage are
the virtues upon which he insists. 'Be master of life. . . .' 'I call
you to a new nobility. Ye shall become the procreators and sowers of the
future.'

While there is much that is suggestive in Nietzsche's scathing
criticisms, and many passages of striking beauty in his books, he is
stronger in his denials than his affirmations, and it is the negative
side that his followers have fastened upon and developed. Sudermann, the
novelist, has carried his philosophy of egoism to its extreme. This
writer, in a work entitled _Sodom's End_, affirms that there is nothing
holy and nothing evil. There is no such thing as duty or love. Only
nerves exist. The 'Superman' becomes a monster. Such teaching can
scarcely be taken seriously. It conveys no helpful message. It is the
perversion of life's ideal.

As a passing phase of thought it is interesting, but it solves no
problems; it advances no truths. It resembles a whirlwind which helps to
clear the air and drive away superfluous leaves, but it does little to
quicken or expand new seeds of life.

{111}

II

IDEALISTIC TENDENCY

1. Modern Idealism was inaugurated by Kant. Kant's significance for
thought lies in his twofold demand for a new basis of knowledge and
morality. He conceived that both are possible, and that both are
interdependent, and have but one solution. The solution, however, could
only be achieved by a radical change of method, and by the introduction
of new standards of value. Kant's theory of morals was an attempt to
reconcile the two opposing ethical principles which were current in the
eighteenth century. On the one side, the Realists treated man simply as
a natural being, and accordingly demanded a pursuance of his natural
impulses. On the other side, the Dogmatists conceived that conduct must
be governed by divine sanctions. Both theories agreed in regarding
happiness as the end of life; the one the happiness of sensuous
enjoyment; the other, that of divine favour. B