The personality and works of Professor Rudolf Eucken are at the present
day exercising such a deep influence the world over that a volume by one
of his old pupils, which attempts to interpret his teaching, should
prove of assistance. It is hoped that the essentials of Eucken's
teaching are presented in this book, in a form which is as simple as the
subject-matter allows, and which will not necessitate the reader
unlearning anything when he comes to the author's most important works.
The whole of the work is expository; and an attempt has been made in the
foot-notes to point out aspects similar to those of Eucken's in English
and German Philosophy.

It is encouraging to find at the present day so much interest in
religious idealism, and it is proved by Eucken beyond the possibility of
doubt that without some form of such idealism no individual or nation
can realise its deepest potencies. But with the presence of such
idealism as a conviction in the mind and life, history teaches us that
the seemingly impossible [p.8] is partially realised, and that a new
depth of life is reached. All this does not mean that the individual is
to slacken his interests or to lose his affection for the material
aspects of life; but it does mean that the things which appertain to
life have different values, and that it is of the utmost importance to
judge them all from the highest conceivable standpoint--the standpoint
of spiritual life. This is Eucken's distinctive message to-day. The
message shows that an actual evolution of spirit is taking place in the
life of the individual and of human society; and that this evolution can
be guided by means of the concentration of the whole being upon the
reality of the norms and standards which present themselves in the lives
of individuals and of nations. No one particular science or philosophy
is able to grant us this central standpoint for viewing the field of
knowledge and the meaning of life. The answer to the complexity of the