Rudolph Eucken

Rudolph Eucken

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Title: Rudolph Eucken
Author: Abel J. Jones
Release Date: December 15, 2004 [eBook #14357]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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EUCKEN***
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RUDOLF EUCKEN
A Philosophy of Life
by
ABEL J. JONES, M.A., B.Sc., Ph.D.
Formerly Member of the University of Jena, Scholar of Clare College,
Cambridge, and Assistant Lecturer at the University College, Cardiff
London: T. C. & E. C. Jack 67 Long Acre, W.C., and Edinburgh New
York: Dodge Publishing Co.

[Illustration]

PREFACE
The name of Eucken has become a familiar one in philosophical and
religious circles. Until recent years the reading of his books was

confined to those possessing a knowledge of German, but of late
several have been translated into the English language, and now the
students of philosophy and religion are agog with accounts of a new
philosopher who is at once a great ethical teacher and an optimistic
prophet. There is no doubt that Eucken has a great message, and those
who cannot find time to make a thorough study of his works should not
fail to know something of the man and his teachings. The aim of this
volume is to give a brief and clear account of his philosophical ideas,
and to inspire the reader to study for himself Eucken's great works.
Professor Rudolf Eucken was born in 1846, at Aurich in Frisia. He
attended school in his native town, and then proceeded to study at the
Universities of Göttingen and Berlin. In 1874 he was invited to the
Professorship of Philosophy at the University of Jena, and here he has
laboured for thirty-eight years; during this period he has been listened
to and admired by many of the more advanced students of philosophy
of all countries and continents.
His earliest writings were historical in character, and consisted mainly
of learned essays upon the classical and German philosophers.
Following upon these appeared valuable studies in the history of
philosophy, which brought out, too, to some extent, Eucken's own
philosophical ideas.
His latest works have been more definitely constructive. In _Life's
Basis and Life's Ideal_, and The Truth of Religion, he gives
respectively a full account of his philosophical system, and of his ideas
concerning religion.
Several smaller works contain his ideas in briefer and more popular
form.
As a lecturer he is charming and inspiring. He is not always easy to
understand; his sentences are often long, florid, and complex.
Sometimes, indeed, he is quite beyond the comprehension of his
students--but when they do not understand, they admire, and feel they
are in the presence of greatness. His writings contain many of the faults
of his lectures. They are often laboured and obscure, diffuse and
verbose.
But these faults are minor in character, compared with the greatness of
his work. There is no doubt that his is one of the noblest attempts ever
made to solve the great question of life. Never was a philosophy more

imbued with the spirit of battle against the evil and sordid, and with the
desire to find in life the highest and greatest that can be found in it.
I have to thank Professor Eucken for the inspiration of his lectures and
books, various writers, translators, and friends for suggestions, and
especially my wife, whose help in various ways has been invaluable.
Passages are quoted from several of the works mentioned in the
Bibliography, especially from Eucken's "The Truth of Religion," with
the kind permission of Messrs. Williams & Norgate--the publishers.
ABEL J. JONES.
CARDIFF.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER
I. THE PROBLEM OF LIFE
II. HAS THE PROBLEM BEEN SOLVED?
III. ANOTHER SEARCH FOR TRUTH
IV. THE PAST, PRESENT, AND THE ETERNAL
V. THE "HIGH" AND THE "LOW"
VI. THE ASCENT TO FREEDOM AND PERSONALITY
VII. THE PERSONAL AND THE UNIVERSAL
VIII. RELIGION: HISTORICAL AND ABSOLUTE
IX. CONCLUSION: CRITICISM AND APPRECIATION
BIBLIOGRAPHY
INDEX

CHAPTER I
THE PROBLEM OF LIFE
Before we proceed to outline Eucken's philosophical position, it will be
well if we can first be clear as to the special problem with which he
concerns himself. Philosophers have at some time or other considered
all the problems of heaven and earth to be within their province,
especially the difficult problems for which a simple solution is
impossible. Hence it is, perhaps, that philosophy has been in disrepute,
especially in English-speaking countries, the study of the subject