Aesops Fables | Page 5

thesis of the double degree of the
practical activity, economic and moral, is one of the greatest
contributions to modern thought. Just as it is proved in the Theory of
Aesthetic that the concept depends upon the intuition, which is the first
degree, the primary and indispensable thing, so it is proved in the
Philosophy of the Practical that Morality or Ethic depends upon
Economic, which is the first degree of the practical activity. The
volitional act is always economic, but true freedom of the will exists
and consists in conforming not merely to economic, but to moral
conditions, to the human spirit, which is greater than any individual.
Here we are face to face with the ethics of Christianity, to which Croce
accords all honour.
This Philosophy of the Spirit is symptomatic of the happy reaction of
the twentieth century against the crude materialism of the second half
of the nineteenth. It is the spirit which gives to the work of art its value,
not this or that method of arrangement, this or that tint or cadence,
which can always be copied by skilful plagiarists: not so the spirit of
the creator. In England we hear too much of (natural) science, which
has usurped the very name of Philosophy. The natural sciences are very
well in their place, but discoveries such as aviation are of infinitely less
importance to the race than the smallest addition to the philosophy of
the spirit. Empirical science, with the collusion of positivism, has
stolen the cloak of philosophy and must be made to give it back.
Among Croce's other important contributions to thought must be
mentioned his definition of History as being aesthetic and differing
from Art solely in that history represents the real, art the possible. In
connection with this definition and its proof, the philosopher recounts
how he used to hold an opposite view. Doing everything thoroughly, he
had prepared and written out a long disquisition on this thesis, which
was already in type, when suddenly, from the midst of his meditations,

the truth flashed upon him. He saw for the first time clearly that history
cannot be a science, since, like art, it always deals with the particular.
Without a moment's hesitation he hastened to the printers and bade
them break up the type.
This incident is illustrative of the sincerity and good faith of Benedetto
Croce. One knows him to be severe for the faults and weaknesses of
others, merciless for his own.
Yet though severe, the editor of La Critica is uncompromisingly just,
and would never allow personal dislike or jealousy, or any extrinsic
consideration, to stand in the way of fair treatment to the writer
concerned. Many superficial English critics might benefit considerably
by attention to this quality in one who is in other respects also so
immeasurably their superior. A good instance of this impartiality is his
critique of Schopenhauer, with whose system he is in complete
disagreement, yet affords him full credit for what of truth is contained
in his voluminous writings.[2]
Croce's education was largely completed in Germany, and on account
of their thoroughness he has always been an upholder of German
methods. One of his complaints against the Italian Positivists is that
they only read second-rate works in French or at the most "the
dilettante booklets published in such profusion by the Anglo-Saxon
press." This tendency towards German thought, especially in
philosophy, depends upon the fact of the former undoubted supremacy
of Germany in that field, but Croce does not for a moment admit the
inferiority of the Neo-Latin races, and adds with homely humour in
reference to Germany, that we "must not throw away the baby with the
bath-water"! Close, arduous study and clear thought are the only key to
scientific (philosophical) truth, and Croce never begins an article for a
newspaper without the complete collection of the works of the author
to be criticized, and his own elaborate notes on the table before him.
Schopenhauer said there were three kinds of writers--those who write
without thinking, the great majority; those who think while they write,
not very numerous; those who write after they have thought, very rare.
Croce certainly belongs to the last division, and, as I have said, always

feeds his thought upon complete erudition. The bibliography of the
works consulted for the Estetica alone, as printed at the end of the
Italian edition, extends to many pages and contains references to works
in any way dealing with the subject in all the European languages. For
instance, Croce has studied Mr. B. Bosanquet's eclectic works on
Aesthetic, largely based upon German sources and by no means
without value. But he takes exception to Mr. Bosanquet's statement that
he has consulted all works of importance on the subject of Aesthetic.
As a matter