POSITIVISM ARRESTS PROGRESS 335 But we wonder if this is what the apostle Paul wanted to say— that strange man: Roman official, persecutor of the first Christianity who became its preacher, philosopher, mystic; the man who "saw God," the bold reformer and moralist of his time, who fought for "the spirit" against "the letter" and was of course not responsible for the fact that he himself was understood by others not in "the spirit," but in "the letter." Is it this that he wanted to say? We do not know. But let us look at these words of the Apocalypse and the Epistles from the standpoint of our usual "positivistic thinking," which sometimes condescendingly agrees to admit the "metaphorical meaning" of mysticism. What shall we see? WE SHALL SEE NOTHING! The flash of mystery, which appeared just for an instant, will immediately disappear. The words will be without any content, nothing in them will attract our wearied attention, which will merely glide over them as it glides over everything. We will indifferently turn the page and indifferently close the book. An interesting metaphor, yes: But nothing else! And we fail to observe that we rob ourselves, deprive life of all beauty, all mystery, all content; and wonder afterwards why everything is so uninteresting and detestable to us, why we do not desire to live, and why we do not understand anything around us; we wonder why brute force wins, or deceit and falsification, though to these things we have nothing to oppose. THE METHOD IS NO GOOD. In its time "positivism" appeared as something refreshing, sober, healthful and progressive, which explored new avenues of thought. After the sentimental speculations of naive dualism "positivism" was indeed a great step forward. Positivism became a symbol of the progress of thought. But we see now that it inevitably leads to materialism. And in this form it arrests thought. From revolutionary, persecuted, anarchistic, free-thinking, positivism became the basis of official science. It is decked-out in full dress. It is given medals. There are academies and universities dedicated to its service. It is recognized; it teaches; it tyrannizes over thought. But having attained to well-being and prosperity, positivism immediately opposed obstacles to the forward march of thought. A Chinese wall of "positivistic" sciences and methods is built up around free investigation. Everything rising above this wall is condemned as unscientific. And seen in this way positivism, which before was a symbol of progress, now appears as conservative, reactionary. The existing order is already established in the world of thought, and to fight against it is declared to be a crime. With astonishing rapidity those principles which only yesterday expressed the highest radicalism in the region of thought have become the basis of opportunism in the region of ideas and serve as blind alleys, stopping the progress of thought. In our eyes this occurred with the idea of evolution, on which it is now possible to build up anything, and with the help of which it is possible to tear down anything. But thought, which is free, cannot be bound by any limits. The true motion which lies at the foundation of everything, is the motion of thought. True energy is the energy of consciousAnd truth itself is motion, and can never lead to arrestment, to the cessation of search. ness. ALL THAT ARRESTS THE MOTION OF THOUGHT IS FALSE. Therefore the true and real progress of thought is only in the broadest striving toward knowledge, that does not recognize the possibility of arrestment in any found forms of knowledge at all. The meaning of life is in eternal search. And only in that search can we find something truly new. |