nd values already referred to. It
is the union of norm and will that constitutes the full action. Life's
greater meaning and value is, therefore, not a ready-made possession; it
is rather something already possessed, and a vision of something _more_
in the distance to be possessed.[73] The presence of the Divine within
the soul is not the same prior to the search and after the search. This
is [p.212] one of the most distinctive features of Eucken's teaching,
and constitutes a necessary supplement to certain presentations of
Immanent Idealism prevalent in various forms to-day.

When we pass to _Materialism_ in its various forms, we find Eucken
conscious of its poverty and its caricature of life. It is caused by
excessive absorption in the sensuous object with all its manifold
relations. But it is possible to believe in all that it states; for it
can never really say anything concerning the deeper meaning of spiritual
life if for no other reason than that it cannot penetrate into life's
deeper experiences. It is a stage in human thought which is passing
away. What will become of it after Professor Haeckel's passing is
difficult to imagine. One thing at least is certain: as a complete
system of the universe or of life it is doomed.[74] A mechanical
interpretation of the universe is legitimate: we may have to adopt more
of such interpretations in the future. But there is no need for any
alarm from the sides of philosophy and religion. Their citadel is not
built upon a _thing_, but upon a _thought_; and the gap between the two
increases in the degree in which our knowledge of Nature and Man
increases. Eucken has many great things to say on this subject in his
larger works. Doubtless he would agree with some of the [p.213]
advocates of _Naturalism_ in regard to the meaning of the physical
universe, but such agreement would not be an admission that _all_ had
been said that could be said concerning the need and the possibility of
a _Metaphysic of Life_.

The one word _More_ constitutes all the difference. This _More_, with
Eucken, is the beginning of a new order of existence and of value where
the physical order ends. His work consists in interpreting this _More_,
and we have already seen whither the _More_ leads us: it leads us into
spiritual norms and their values, and these in their turn led us into
Infinite Love in the Godhead. The failure to see the value of all this
is due to the inattention of the advocates of Naturalis