7°

Swartbmore Xecture.

made by various sects to build up socialistcommunities. They remained socialist as longas the religious cement proved stronger thanthe utilitarian tendencies which, if they prevailed,meant either failure or success on capitalistic lines.

But mark the difference : compared with thetraditional and authoritative spirit which pervadedthe social structure of the Middle Ages, the sectsas exponents of the " Reform of the Reformation "tried to reconcile Solidarity as the leading principleof community life with Freedom and Equality asinalienable rights of the members. Individualismas the outcome of the official reformation was tobe accepted, but at the same time overcome by ahigher synthesis—it was " aufgehoben " in theHegelian sense of this word.

This view became a foundation stone of theClassical Philosophy of Germany. It is a greaterror to regard Kant as an extreme individualist ;for him mankind is one social unit, which fromanimal life develops in history to a spiritual goal.Therefore he could say, that the animal reaches itsdestination as an individual—a strong and healthyanimal is perfect—whereas man fulfils his destina-tion through the historic evolution of mankind—man is perfect only in a social order where eachmember accepts the rights and interests of thefellow citizens as his own goal. Kant calls thisvision the " state of reason" (Vernunftstaat)which is nothing but the " Kingdom of God "disguised by metaphysics. This conception de-veloped into the German socialism of Fichte ,Marx , Lassalle and Jaurte, the last named, who