Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 6.djvu/588

 574 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY

influence of social suggestion, of organic relation with the new factors of the present time. For an ethics whose moral sanctions originate in the fundamental tendency of life to broaden and deepen itself indefinitely many of the perplexing problems which con- front Kantian idealism and Spencerian utilitarianism alike are readily solved, or, it may be, do not exist at all. No ultimate and mysterious Absolute needs to be discovered as the source of moral obligation; egoism is no longer a sin it has become an absurdity; the duties and obligations of traditional ethics are no more mere arbitrary commands imposed from without they are the habits which life has wrought out in the long process of its own self-realization. To be sure, there will remain problems which such an ethics is as yet confessedly unable to solve ; but these are the problems of the rare exception and not those of the common majority. In the nature of the case, such problems must always exist, and yet they must be continually yielding up their secrets to an ethics whose ability to solve them depends upon the later stages of the same process the growth of experience whose earlier stages are alone able to bring them to view. The beautiful is essentially social in its nature ; the universal enters into it as a predominant factor. The sense of the beautiful demands for its full enjoyment the presence and sympathy of others. Egoistic pleasures are shallow and short-lived ; only those enjoyments which are shared are worth while ; persons swayed by one emotion are near to being moved by one will. In pedagogy, ethics, and aesthetics the fundamental fact, never to be lost sight of, is the unsatisfiable hunger of life for more life. The same fact is equally worthy of attention in the domain of religion. The infinite amplification of all life constitutes the basis of all religion. Religion expands the self of the individual till it includes the self of all others, establishes a bond among all living creatures, and speaks of life never-ending. It is true that religion in a certain sense must one. day cease to exist, but there will always remain to man the fellowship born of a common origin, a common nature, and a common destiny. Thus, in showing that sociology, as the science dealing with the social relationships in which alone this tendency of life toward its own indefinite expansion can find room for full development and expression, is capable of furnishing new and more fruitful points of view for all other sciences dealing with human life, Guyau demonstrated its fundamental importance and proved its right to the best and the deepest consider- ation of all thoughtful men. For this service his name stands high among those who contributed to the advancement of sociology in France during the nineteenth century.

ALFRED LAMBERT, " L'ceuvre sociologique de Guyau," in Revue Internationale de Sociologie, August-September, 1900. R. G. K.

Antisemitism and Socialism. Can a socialist or an anarchist logically be an antisemite ? Ought such a one even to mingle in an antisemitic movement, in the hope of turning it from its primary end toward a result more in accord with his own aspirations ? Some time ago the question would have been unnecessary, for the soci- alist had in view the liberation of the proletariat without distinction 'of race or nationality. But now the leaders of socialism are concerning themselves with the antisemitic movement in various ways. The history of the movement will, however, show its bearing upon the rise of the proletariat.

After eighteen centuries of persecution the Jew was reinstated in society by the declaration of the rights of man in 1789. Antisemitism was again stirred up by the fanaticism of Napoleon I., but came to an end with the empire. It reappeared under the monarchy of July, and took vague form in the book of Toussenel, Les Juifs Rois deT Epoque. This time, it will be remembered, was one of oppression of the working classes, the time when modern industrialism arose. The second republic was too busy to meddle with the Jews, and Napoleon III. had too much need of them to abuse them. Under the existing regime, so long as the Liberals were in power the Jews were not bothered. But, beginning with the supremacy of the Opportunists in 1885, a reaction began. In 1 886 appeared Drumont's La France juive. It will be noted through all this history that antisemitism appeared in times of counter-revolutionary tendencies. Further, it has been most marked in the most feudal country of Europe

Austria.

Antisemitism is not so much a matter of race or of religion. It is an economic question. The small merchants find their business failing. Instead of attributing this to the present system of industry, they fall under the influence of the nationalist