nglish
historians, Sir Adolphus Ward and Mr. William Harbutt Dawson, were
narrating the development of Germany in the nineteenth century with a
steadiness of pulse unsurpassed in the piping times of peace. The
historian is a man of flesh and blood and may love his country as
ardently as other men; but, if he is to be worthy of his high calling,
he must trample passion and prejudice under his feet and walk humbly and
reverently in the temple of the Goddess of Truth.

FOR REFERENCE

Gooch, _History and Historians in the Nineteenth Century_ (Longmans).

VI

POLITICAL THEORY

A.D. LINDSAY

Political Philosophy or the philosophical theory of the State has closer
relations with history than any other branch of philosophical inquiry.
It is indeed distinguished from history in that it can disregard the
success or failure, the historical development of this or that state.
For it is concerned not with historical happenings but with ideals, not
with the varying extent to which different states have approximated or
fallen short of their purpose, but with that purpose itself, not, in
short, with states but with _the_ State. Yet this need not involve that
the ideal, _the_ State, is always and everywhere the same. Ideals are
born of historical circumstances and fashioned to meet historical
problems, and the would-be timeless ideals which political philosophers
have put before us have always borne clear marks of the country and time
of their origin. The ideal which men have set themselves in political
organization has varied from time to time. That such variation is
inevitable will be clear if we ask ourselves what we can possibly mean
by an ideal state. That states fall short of their ideal because of the
imperfections of their citizens is clear enough. All political life
demands a certain standard of moral behaviour, of capacity to work for a
common good, and an understanding of the results of our own and other
people's actions. Were human selfishness completely overcome, the state
would still be necessary to correct individual shortsightedness. The
policeman, exempt from the cares of apprehending criminals, would still
be needed to control traffic. But imagine, not that all citizens
attained a certain standard of moral and intellectual behaviour, as the
ideal demands, but that they were all perfectly good and perfectly wise,
should we need any kind of government at all? Is not the supposition of
perfection so far r