ety is to proceed onward and upward, and
if the energy for such a movement is to be discovered within the soul.
The whole material which enters into consciousness has to obtain a
deeper meaning [p.152] than it hitherto possessed. And this happens on
the level of "Universal" religion. The _spiritual_ is now recognised as
the highest manifestation of life; and this spiritual is seen to be
something which has to be gained through a struggle which calls the
whole nature into activity. Such a movement from the less to the more
spiritual proceeds side by side with the _freedom_ of the individual.
Freedom has now taken a new meaning. Hitherto it meant little more than
the consciousness of the individual moving along the line of least
resistance. The effort to move in such a direction is generally
pleasurable; and when it tends to become painful the individual gives up
the effort. The highest norms were not present with a categorical
affirmation of their reality and value. But when they are present, the
will is turned from the direction of ordinary life and its ease to the
conception of the meaning and value of the highest norms. Something,
appearing as of intrinsic value, now makes itself felt, and stirs the
whole nature. Thus, a _new movement_ begins; the _passive_ attitude of
the soul gives way to an _autonomous_ attitude and movement. The will,
consequently, is conscious of a deeper need than any hitherto
experienced, and therefore calls into being some deeper elements of its
own in order to reach its goal. The whole nature has now affirmed the
_idea of the good_, which had dawned upon it as an imperative. It is in
[p.153] such a moment that the real nature becomes free--it becomes
conscious, through and through, of the possibility of leaving its old
world and of ascending into a new one. This is, in Eucken's words, the
real spiritual evolution (_Wesensbildung_) of human nature. This
evolution, which, prior to this, was considered very largely as a kind
of gift of the environment, is now perceived as capable of realisation
only in so far as the spiritual norms are willed. When we examine the
progress of humanity, we discover that it has taken place in this
manner; a task had to be set and the whole nature had to be called forth
to realise it. The result is that a new creation takes place in the
history of the world. Such a creation becomes a new norm in the moral
world, as well as a possession in the life of the individual wh