Page:Philosophical Review Volume 2.djvu/28

14 of feelings of freedom and dependence. The various types of the religious feelings of humanity depend, therefore, upon the different proportions in which these different elements are combined. Analysis also shows that the completely harmonious unification of both these elements constitutes the religious ideal, just as the corresponding harmony of egoistic and altruistic impulses forms the moral ideal. The religious feelings manifest themselves most immediately in acts of worship, which are, therefore, to be interpreted as the involuntary expressions of emotional motives and as symbols of states of feeling. Acts of worship, however, are not possible without some conception of the objects upon which they are directed. Thus, besides worship, the practical expression of religious feeling, we have the theoretical expression in the form of religious notions, legends and doctrines, dogmas and systems. These are primarily symbolical expressions of the relations in which man feels that he stands to the higher powers. Since religion in these, its twofold forms of expression, is closely connected with moral action and theoretical knowledge, an investigation of its relation to ethics and science is necessary, in order to understand its peculiar nature. An historical survey shows that originally there was no marked distinction between religion and morality or between religion and science. The oldest customs were closely connected with forms of worship, and the oldest attempts at a philosophical cosmology with religious myths. As civilization advanced, their paths diverged. As society was organized and science developed, they severed their connection with religious authority and traditions and before long assumed a hostile attitude towards them. The conflicts between civil society and the Church, between secular science and faith, constitute for centuries the history of civilization. But however strained the relations, however violent the conflicts between these two parties may have been, experience has shown that neither can do without the other. Every attempt of either party to ignore or crush out its rival leads inevitably to its own destruction. When religion seeks to ignore and suppress morality and science, it becomes irreligious superstition and fanaticism. On the other hand, when