Rudolph Eucken | Page 3

appreciate the work
of Eucken to the extent they should, because they have expected him to
deal in detail with problems which it is not his intention to discuss, and
have failed to appreciate what special problem it is that he attempts to
solve.
Eucken's special problem is that of the reality in the universe, of the
unity there exists in the diversity of things. In so far as he makes this
his problem, he is at one with other philosophers in investigating what
may perhaps be considered to be the most profound problem that the
human mind has ever conceived. The fact that distinguishes Eucken
from a large number of other thinkers is that he starts where they leave
off. At a rule, philosophers begin their investigation with a
consideration of matter, and proceed by slow degrees to attempt to
explain the reality at the basis of it. Some never get further, and
dispense with the question of human life and thought as mere aspects or
manifestations of the material world. But the problem of life is for
Eucken the one problem--he seeks to find the reality beneath the
superficialities of human existence, and he has little to say concerning
the world of matter. And, after all, it is the problem of life that urgently
calls for solution, for upon the solution that is accepted, the life of the
individual is to a large extent based. It is, of course, very interesting to

meditate and speculate upon the material world, its origin and evolution,
but the question is very largely one of mere theoretical interest--a kind
of game or puzzle for studious minds. It is the question of life itself that
is ultimately of practical interest to every human soul. And this is the
problem that Eucken would solve. Hence those who expect to find a
closely reasoned philosophy on matter and its manifestations must look
elsewhere, for Eucken has little for them. Eucken's philosophy is a
philosophy of life, and he only touches incidentally those aspects of
philosophy that are not immediately concerned with his special
problem. He refuses to be allured from the main problem by subsidiary
investigations, and perhaps rightly so, for one problem of such
magnitude would seem to be enough for one human mind to attempt.
Eucken is a philosopher who lays foundations and deals with broad
outlines and principles; it must be left to his many disciples to fill in
any gaps that exist on this account, by attempting to solve the
subsidiary problems with which Eucken cannot for the present concern
himself.
If Eucken's problem differs fundamentally from that of most other
philosophers, perhaps the purpose of his investigations is still a more
striking characteristic. He is anxious to solve the riddle of the universe
in order that there may be drawn from the solution an inspiration which
shall help the human race to concentrate its energies upon the highest
ideals of life. The desire to find a meaning which will explain, and at
the same time infuse zest and gladness into every department of life has
become a passion with him, and in finding that meaning, his great
endeavour is to prove the truth of human freedom and personality. He
wishes to solve the riddle in order that man may become a better man,
the world a better world. His aim is definitely an ethical aim, and his
purpose a practical one of the noblest order, and not one of mere
intellectual interest.
There is much, too, that is original in his methods--this will become
evident in the chapters that follow. He begins with an inquiry into the
solutions that have been offered. After careful investigation he finds
they all fail to satisfy the conditions which a solution should satisfy.
His discussions of these theories are most illuminating, and those who

do not agree with his conclusions cannot fail to admire his masterly
treatment.
Having arrived at this conclusion, he searches the story of the past,
studies the conditions of the present, and gazes into the maze of the
future, and finds revealed in them all an eternal something, unaffected
by time, which was, is, and ever shall be--the eternal, universal,
spiritual his, which then must be the great reality.
Upon this basis he builds a system of philosophy, which he considers to
be more satisfactory than the solutions already offered; with which
contention, there is little doubt, the majority of his readers will be
inclined to agree.
After the brief statement of Eucken's special problem, of the purpose
and methods of his investigation, we can proceed to outline his theories
in greater detail, beginning in the next chapter with his discussion of
the solutions that have in the past been offered and accepted.

CHAPTER II
HAS THE PROBLEM BEEN SOLVED?
What