s higher ranges, in the regions of conduct and
faith, that is, where conscience has become the guide and the
necessities of the soul the law, we do possess the power in
enfranchising obediences and splendid adventures of faith to make a
world rich in goodness, power and peace. And here, once more, there is a
strangely modern note. Life is a pilgrim's progress. We are set out to
discover "whether there might be some real good, the discovery and
attainment of which would enable us to enjoy continuous, supreme and
unending happiness." And we do possess the power within ourselves, if
only we may discover the controlling laws and release effective forces,
to come at least a stage nearer our goal. All this makes for that
exaltation of the creative self which is so marked a characteristic of
present-day attitudes and which is perhaps the distinctive affirmation
of New Thought.

_Utilitarianism, Deism and Individualism the Practical Outcome of a
Great Movement_

But it needed time for all this to work itself out. The philosophic
basis for it had been supplied but it is a far cry from philosophy to
the practical conduct of life. Kant's transcendental philosophy needed a
deal of working over before it became practicable for the man in the
street. And to begin with what was deepest in the philosophy of the
Enlightenment led in unexpected directions. "While the practical
tendencies of all speculative thought inevitably appear in the opinions
and customs of a general public far removed from their sources, it is
particularly true of the philosophy of the Enlightenment, that its
influences had no small part in shaping the popular point of view
concerning the moral, religious and political convictions of that
age."[61] Utilitarianism, Deism and Individualism were, says Hibben, the
popular and practical outcome of the whole movement,--Utilitarianism in
Ethics, Deism in Religion, Individualism in Politics. These three
growths--and they have borne a deal of bitter fruit in the last one
hundred years--grow out of one soil. In general they are due to Locke's
sensationalism, Hume's skepticism, a new emphasis upon reason as opposed
to revelation and the self-sufficiency of the individual. If conscious
life is nothing but sensation worked over and built up, then pleasurable
sensations are the best we can aspire to, happiness is the end of the
quest. So Utilitarianism defined goodness in terms of happiness and gave
to conduct generally a gr