Of course one would prefer absolute clarity and exactness, but we must
guard against allowing the absence of these things to prejudice us
against the profound truths of a philosophical position, which are not
vitally affected by that absence.

Frequent criticism is directed towards the incompleteness of Eucken's
philosophy. He does not introduce his philosophy with a systematic
discussion of the great epistemological and ontological problems.
Philosophers have often introduced their work in this way, and it has
been customary to expect an introduction of the kind. To do so, however,
would be quite out of keeping with Eucken's activistic position, as it
would necessarily involve much intellectual speculation, and he does not
believe that the problem of life can be solved by such speculation. It
is unfortunate that he has so little to say concerning the world of
matter. Beyond insisting upon the superiority of the spiritual life,
which he calls the "substantial," over matter, which he calls the merely
"existential," he tells us very little about the material world. Rightly
or wrongly, thinkers are deeply interested in the merely existential, in
the periphery of life, in the material world, but for the solution of
this problem Eucken contributes little or nothing. His sole concern is
the spiritual world, and although we should like an elaboration of his
views on the mere periphery of life, we must not let the fact that he
does not give it, lead us to undervalue his real contributions. Another
serious incompleteness lies in the fact that he pays little attention to
the psychological implications of his theories. Until he does this, his
philosophy cannot be regarded as complete. Eucken, however, would be the
last to claim that his solution is a finished or final one; he is
content if his work is a substantial contribution to the final solution.