Welsh Journals

POLITICS AND PHILOSOPHY IN ENGLAND AND GERMANY TT is a difficult matter to determine how far philo- sophical or metaphysical systems influence the political life of a nation. To the ordinary man engaged in the practice of life philosophy seems a far away kind of mental activity, fit only for those who can waste their time in idle thinking. The politician would never seek the justification of this or that policy in any system of metaphysics. The historian would explain the course of events from the needs of people, and not from this or that philosophical theory. We can very well believe that when events have run their course, the philosopher may gaze at them and afterwards weave them into his philosophical theories. But to change the course of events-that power we should probably deny to the philosopher and to his philosophy. We in England pride ourselves that we do not drive back possible modes of action to any abstract theories before we begin to build our political structure. We consider that this structure has been built up through that spirit of compromise, which holds together conflicting needs, and which gives to the State that richness and variety of content, and that aspect of freedom and liberty so characteristic of our political life. Nevertheless, it must be recognized that even here in England philosophical theories have had a pro- found influence in shaping our political life and institutions. We may define philosophy as the attempt to discover where in life the ultimate, or the greatest and most real values must be placed. Are there, running through life, moral principles of right and wrong? Do these principles of right possess, in and for themselves, a supreme value, which demands that we should follow them? Is there a real good and a real evil ? Does this good or this evil spring from, and centre in, the life of the individ- ual as such, or does it rest in an over-individual whole constituted by an ideal, by the State, by a religion, or by some universal order of world citizenship? These are primarily philosophical questions, but they have a very real bearing upon political points of view. Until the beginning of the last century history was largely made by the clashing interests of dynasties and of classes. In England to the time of the Stuarts the government of the country was vested very largely in the will of the sovereign. Often, indeed, the sovereign would be opposed by his nobles; but such opposition never proceeded from the view that the people were other than something to be governed by those who could gain power and authority. On the continent, the rivalries of powerful dynasties, such as Burgundy and Orleans, the Hapsburgs, the Hohenstaufens, and very many others culminated in numerous wars and were responsible for the vary- ing boundary lines drawn between different States. Even the political power wielded by the Roman Catholic Church was subordinated to the same ideal of government. The rise of the middle classes in England during the time of the Stuarts gave rise to a new development in history. Parliament had been an instrument by means of which the nobles had curbed the power of the sovereign. The middle class now took possession of this instrument. Through its development they wrested power out of the hands of the sovereign and obtained it for them- selves. At the present time, but under entirely different conditions, the working classes in England are trying to do the same thing. On the continent the struggle towards nationality on the part of the smaller peoples was largely due to the same causes as parliamentary development in England. The sense of national unity may be possessed by peoples who have little education and no literature. But such peoples can never set before themselves the ideal of governing themselves. When education developed so far that it became a matter of national concern. and where there was in possession of the people a growing literature in their own language, the struggle for nationality first became felt. The interdepen- dence of institutions of education and institutions of government led peoples to demand that where they possessed their own language, literature, and system of education, they should also take their government into their own hands. Thus the struggle for nationality on the part of the smaller peoples on the continent can be traced to the rise of the educated and middle classes. So far no philosophic principle has been at work in the shaping of the State. It was in England and Germany during the early part of the last century that political development first became influenced by definite philosophic points of view. In Germany it was sought to mould the State by a definite appeal to philosophic principles. In England philosophic principles exerted their influence in a quite different way. Modern economic and indus- trial conditions ushered in a new phase in political development. Trade and industry have brought increased wealth and resources, and more intense