Rudolph Eucken | Page 5

idea of a personal God in constant communion with,
and supervision over mankind, fell into disfavour.
And the study of history has caused questions to be raised. Some
historians have endeavoured to show that the idea of an overworld is
merely the characteristic of a certain stage in the evolution of mankind,
and that the ideas of religion are, after all, little more than the mental
construction of a God upon the image of man's own self. History has
attacked the doctrinal form of religion, and has endeavoured to show
that religions have been very largely coloured and influenced by the
prevailing ideas of the time; and the question naturally arises as to
whether there is anything more in religion than these temporary
elements.
And this is not all. In the present age the current of human activity is

strong. Man is beginning to accomplish things in the material world,
and is becoming anxious to accomplish more. His railways cover the
lands, his ships sail the seas, and his aeroplanes fly through the air. He
has acquired a taste for this world, a zest for the conquest and the
utilising for his own pleasure and benefit of the world of nature. And
when this occurs, the overworld sinks into the background--he is
satisfied with the present, and feels no need, except under special
circumstances, of a higher world. The sense world at present makes a
strong appeal--and the stronger it becomes, the less he listens to the call
of an overworld.
The sciences, history, and the special phases of human activity have
drawn attention from a higher, invisible world, and have cast doubts
upon its very existence.
As a result of this, "Religion (in the traditional form), despite all it has
effected, is for the man of to-day a question rather than an answer. It is
itself too much of a problem to interpret to us the meaning of our life,
and make us feel that it is worth the living."
In these words Eucken states his conviction that Christianity in its
orthodox forms cannot solve the problem of the present. This, however,
is not all he has to say concerning religion. He is, in truth, a great
believer in religion, and as will be seen, he believes that later it will
again step forth in a changed form as "the fact of facts" to wield a
power perhaps greater than ever before.
As in the case of religion, Immanent Idealism is a theory that gives life
an invisible basis, but the invisible has been regarded as that which lies
at the root of the present world, and not as a separate higher world
outside our own. The Divine it considers not as a personal being apart
from the world, but as a power existing in and permeating it, that
indeed which gives to the world its truth and depth. Man belongs to the
visible world, but inwardly he is alive to the presence of a deeper
reality, and his ambition must be to become himself a part of this
deeper whole. If by turning from his superficial life he can set himself
in the depths of reality, then a magnificent life, with the widest
prospects, opens out before him. "He may win the whole of infinity for

his own, and set himself free from the triviality of the merely human
without losing himself in an alien world." And if he does so, he is led to
place greater emphasis upon the high ideals of life than upon material
progress. He learns to value the beautiful far above the merely useful;
the inner life above mere existence, a genuine spiritual culture above
the mere perfecting of natural and social conditions. There is brought
into view a new and deeper life in which the emphasis is placed upon
the good, the beautiful, and the true. In this way idealism has inspired
many men to put forth their energies for the highest aims, has lifted the
individual above the narrowness of a life devoted to himself alone, and
has produced characters of exceptional beauty and strength. It claims,
indeed, to be able to shape the world of man more satisfactorily than
religion can, for it has no need for doctrines of the Divine, the Divine
being immediately present in the world. But despite its great influence
in the past, its power has of late been considerably weakened.
The question of the existence of a deeper invisible reality in the world
has become as problematic as the doctrines of religion.
To be a whole-hearted believer in the older forms of idealism it is
necessary that the universe be regarded as ultimately reasonable and
harmonious, and there must be a belief in the possibilities of great
development on the part of the human being. But a