m
does not remain static in regard to its own content. But its growth of
content depends upon the contributions made to it by individuals in
their will-relations. Something over-individual issues out of all these
relations, and this enters into the still higher over-individual norms
which are the heritage of society. Eucken consequently shows that
history itself is dependent upon something which works within
it--interpreting its events, and absorbing into itself something that is
of value. What other can this be but a spiritual life higher not only
than physical things but even than the will-relations which accrue from
moment to moment? It has already been noticed that on these lower levels
the spiritual life is ever present--present as a potency and experience
when viewed from the standpoint of the individual's creativeness, and
present as norms and values when viewed as an object of thought brought
forth through general conclusions founded on situations beyond any
single situation of the individual. Thus, we get in Eucken's teaching
the over-historical as the power which operates within the events of
history. It is what philosophy has termed the Ideal, and what religion
has termed the revelation of God. It is not correct, then, to say that
we are dependent upon the content of the moment apart from the presence
of the [p.76] content of the past in that moment in order to grasp
reality. The Past does not mean a mere series of events which occurred
some hundreds or thousands of years ago, and before which we bend and
towards which we try to turn back the world, for that would mean what
Eucken terms "mere historism." The Past has rolled its meaning down to
the Present: the Past mingled with the content of the Present is at each
point of its course something other than it was before.[22] But in any
case this aspect of the Past as presented by Eucken shows that human
life requires a great span of time which has already run in order to
create its ideals and to be raised from the triviality of the mere
moment. Goethe perceived the importance of the same truth:--

"Wer nicht von drei tausend Jahren sich weiss
Rechenschaft zu geben,
Bleib' im Dunkeln unerfahren, mag von Tag
Zu Tage leben!"

At certain epochs in the history of the world great events have
happened. Often such epochs are followed by epochs of inertia. Men bask
in the sunlight of the glory that was revealed to humanity; they receive
hel