The Dominion. SATURDAY, DECEMBER 31, 1910. THE OLD AND THE NEW.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1013, 31 December 1910, Page 4

The Dominion. SATURDAY, DECEMBER 31, 1910. THE OLD AND THE NEW.

. The past, the present, and the future naturally occupy a considerable araoimt of our thinking time at the close of tho ojd year and tho opening of tho new. These times of reflection, of momentary rest beforo making tbe next stop forward, aro important factors- in our development: as individuals, jis citizens of New. Zealand, and as members of tho British Empire. We are living in wonderful times—one of those great periods of transition when from' certain points of view men's hearts are filled with anxious forebodings, while from othor standpoints tho ojitlqok is full of hopo and inspirar tion. The political world is in a state of great unrest, and, at times, of upheaval, and no one can a't present say how the far-reaching social problems, with which, wo are at pror sent somewhat . blindly, grappling, will eventually, be settled. There arc forces at work which some people believe must eventually bring about the downfall of our Empire, and later on tho extinction of the present European civilisation. This, no ■doubt, is an unduly pessimistic view of tho situation, for there aro good reasons for holding that out of the unrest and unsottleinent which must inevitably accompany tho changing of tho old order, a new and noblor state of things will arise, making the world a bettor place for the majority of men to live in, and incroasing in breadth, and depth, and richness of life. It has been truly said that in tho, rise of an individual or nation in the scale of its own being—in tho passage from one stago to another— "there is always a look uf crisis, always a surging of conflict, of disorder, and yet of newness of life. Our race rises tumultuously, . unevenly, with many a fall, in the same scale, and under the same penalties, and trials as each man." ' Howovcr wo may account for it, | and whatever we may hope v or fear

cfeny that we are living in a time .of almost universal unrest. Modern thought in its various phases is challenging every traditional idea to justify itself at the bar of reason, and at the samo time, and with ■ a strange contradictoriness, tho reasoning faculty itself is being challenged, for a now school of philoso- ■ phers has arisen which contends that the fundamental instincts of humanity have a far greater validity than mere reason. Modern science has built up wonderful theories about matter and motion, the processes of evolution, and the so-called laws of Nature. Surely here, if anywhere, wo aro in touch witli reality. But no, the scientists and philosophers themselves undermine, the whole structure by the admission that it is all merely a mental map or picture. One of them frankly states that wLdn "confronted with tho mystery of the universe we are driven to ask if the model our minds have formed at all corresponds with the reality— if, indeed, there be any reality behind the image." Another very distinguished leader of thought does not hesitate to declare that the universe is "wild," Referring to these attacks on tho intellectual side of our nature, Dr. Inge sta,tes that "a positive'dislike is felt, towards the atr tempt to establish a systematic coherence' in tho world of experience. We aro told that there is no. universal system, but only, finite particular'facts and events. Ma,n, we are reminded, is widor than mere intellect." This contemptuous treatment of logic, and reasoning, and intellect is a vary significant sign of the times. It points to tho fact that the Avorld of thought is being turned upside down; and a similar state of Unrest is to be found in the family, in tlio State, and in international affairs. .Thero are. tendencies at work which threaten to undermine family life; traditional social ideas and customs are being broken down, and existing political institutions are undergoing radical changes. The coming year may see momentous alterations in the British Constitution, tho full effects of which no man can forecast or define. /.Nor"can.anyone tell what is to be tho outcome of the present: state of international affairs. ■ What, one may; ask, is to be the end of this building of battleships and moro battleships,, of universal military training, and pther preparations for war on land, on sea, and in the air? Hero again no one can speak with certainty, though every riglit-thinking man must feel that to provoko a war between two great civilised Christian nations like Britain and Germany would be a crime against humanity, and yet the very_ possibility ,of it compels the British Empire to spend over £60,000, a year on armaments. Thon, again, we are faced with a decreasing birth-rate, an increase in insanity, and the continuous multiplication of the-unfit..' Theso are some: of tho great problems ■ which will have to be faced by tho statesmanship. of tho Txveutieth Century. Notwithstanding all theso apparently adverse facts, we.need,not look forward to the futuro with feelings of pessimism or despair. Our nation has passed' through other periods transition when the outlook, was even gloomier, and eventually reached .a highor plano_ of social, and national: life. The Middle Ages closed in almost impenetrable gloom, 'yet, as Dr. Stobbs tells us in his great history, ''tho dawn'is approaching.' Here, as every whore, else'; the'evil is destroying itself, and the remaining good, lying dcop down and having yet to wait long before it reaches the surface, is already striving towards tho-sunlight that is to come." We in'our day and generation are passing through a similar experience. Tho present "inner contradiction" of things cannot bo permanent. In his; "Problem' of Human Life" EucKen remarks that thd period; in which.we live .

"not only contains individual problems without number; its .whole being is'.- a problem; it is" continually absorbed in the. struggle to understand its own nature, its own meaning. As a consequence tho life of the modern individual is incomparably moro unfinished, unstable, and prono to disturbance than was tho case in earlier epochs.. . ; . . Tho upheavals of tho ago have brought into' view a wholo new realm of fact, and'tho entire character of life has fundamentally changed. Wo all, without distinct tion of party, accept and profit by tho great .results of the new "\\'ajr of thinking; and this we cannot do without honouring the will and . the effort which inspiro it. . . . And if there has been a loss in .certainty, peace, and comfort, thore has beon a 'corresponding'gain, in .freedom, 'breadth, and largeness. . . . So, in spite of its uncertainty and contradictions, in spite of , its mistakes, we "Will' rejoice in'the new ago' as embodying a higher-form of life, and in this spirit trace its. strivings upward' 6tep by step, - not-in slavish v.'obpisancß^-.to everything 'modern,' but in eager "search fpv the vein of 'truth, which, runs through .jll: human error!" <

Unless we are to accept the thoory of a ''wild world," we seem compelled to think that there is intelligence and purpose at the heart-of the universe, and that, though nations and civilisations may rise. a,hd fall, .mankind as a whole is mpving on to some great goal. Wo have to. thank the new philosophy for giving us back our dignity and our free will. Bergson tells us that human life alone has been able to leap into freedom, and that man is tho one free being in creation. This philosophy, with-its keyword" of "life,"via. very bracing and uplifting, 1 for instead of Nature's iron lav/ we;havo a fountain of . unfettered-'life. This' rebellion against the. tyranny of the intellect,' which treats the world as a mechanical process, and ;can neyor fathom the mystery of inner being, is quite refreshing. "If wo want to know life, and not merely about objects,'' writes one of tho rebels, "it must be by sympathy and ingfcinct, by replunging ourselves into tho flux of Doing, not by sitting in our studies and framing in them theories which always break-down because they miss the crucial points." Though''the philosophy of tho futuro ; may not fully endorse the' present attacks on intellectualism, . yet time will assuredly confirm tho main contribution of the new school to tho'thought of the age, which has been summed up by a distinguished Italian historian as insistence on the great fact "that man has need, not merely of philosophic and scientific truth, but also of neace, ' happiness, moral balancc, and" serenity; that no doctrine can suffice him, however solid its rational foundations, unless it satisfies tho profound aspirations of his • consciousness."