Page:Philosophical Review Volume 12.djvu/581

No. 5.] must be answered by a broadening of the intellectual horizon. Philosophy may show other possibilities in our nature than those which pessimism recognizes. First, though modern life emphasizes the egoistic tendencies in men, it still offers great scope to altruism. The vast scientific, industrial, and educational enterprises of the present offer an infinite field of labor to which pure egoism cannot give the animus. Second, love is a most important factor in eliminating the ego. Here the personality is absorbed, not in the cause for which we labor, but in regard for humanity. Viewed in the light of this doctrine of labor and love, the problem of happiness assumes a new aspect. True activity elevates us above mere sensation and emotion; we find happiness by merging ourselves in our task. Our relation to the world is also seen in a new light. Labor and love, not a mere soulless nature, become the real actualities. The destiny of man remains hidden, it is true, but we are assured that the being and striving of man stand in an infinite relation to the cosmos.

Optimism may be defined as an unreflective attitude toward life, indicated by high spirits and active impulses. It prompts to action, believing that the action will somehow lead to good results. In order to justify this optimism to reason, we must either hold that the world is eternally perfect, or that it is a process toward some attainable good end. The former hypothesis may be seen in the Substance of Spinoza, or in the Absolute of Hegel. This world of perfection, however, is not the world of experience; evil is too patent. Our activity is directed toward the suppression of evil and the furtherance of good. If everything is eternally good, the root of our activity is taken away. If evil is only so in appearance, we should not contend against it, for in some way this appearance is essential to perfection. Hence it must be admitted that evil and good exist, and that they are real. In evil we have an antagonist, and life is a continual struggle. Now this struggle cannot always be an end in itself, even for the lover of strife. We must rather believe that our efforts produce good, else we ultimately lose heart. But the modern doctrine of progress cannot be a basis for optimism; for the progress of humanity has hindered that of the individual; he has been reduced to a mere means to an end in which he has no share. Optimism demands that the individual participate in the end which he has furthered. Hence we must suppose a good to be attained by the individual after death. For optimism we must postulate that the individual soul has a series of existences, in the course of which it is gradually purified and made fit for heaven, which it ultimately attains.