one doctrine but on three, which have grown one upon another during centuries and are now fused together into an awful deceit,—or humbug2 as the English call it,—which hides from men their unrighteousness.
The oldest of these, which justifies3 the treason of men against the fundamental duty of labour to earn their own living, was the Church-Christian doctrine, which asserts that men by the will of God differ one from another as the sun differs from the moon and the stars, and as one star differs from another. Some men God has ordained4 to have dominion5 over all, others to have power over many, others, still, over a few, and the remainder are ordained by God to obey.
This doctrine, though already shaken to its foundations, still continues to influence some men, so that many who do not accept it, who often even ignore the existence of it, are, nevertheless, guided by it.
The second is what I cannot help terming the State-philosophical6 doctrine. According to this, as fully7 developed by Hegel, everything that exists is reasonable, and the established order of life is constant, and is sustained not merely by men, but as the only possible form of the manifestation8 of the spirit, or, generally, of the life of mankind.
This doctrine, too, is no longer accepted by the men who direct social opinion, and it holds its position only by the power of inertia9.
The last doctrine, which is now ruling the minds of men and on which is based the justification10 of leading statesmen, men of business, and science and art, is a scientific one, not in the evident sense of the word (meaning knowledge generally), but in the sense of a knowledge peculiar11 in form as well as in matter, termed Science. On this new doctrine, the justification of man's idleness and the hiding from him his treason against his calling, is particularly based.
This doctrine appeared in Europe contemporaneously with a large class of rich and idle people who served neither the church nor the state and who were in want of a justification of their position.
Not very long ago, before the French revolution in Europe, all non-working people, in order to have a right to utilize12 other men's labour, were obliged to have some definite occupation,—to serve in the church, the state, or the army.
The men who served the government, “governed the people”; those who served the church, “taught the people
divine truths”; and those who served the army, “protected the people.”
Only these three classes of men—the clergy13, the statesmen, and the military men—claimed for themselves the right of utilizing14 labour, and they could always point out their services to the people: the remaining rich men who had not this justification, were despised, and, feeling their own want of right, were ashamed of their wealth and their idleness. But as time went on, this class of rich people, who belonged neither to the clergy, to the government, nor to the army, owing to the vices15 of these other three classes, increased in number and became a powerful party. They were in want of a justification of their position. And one was invented for them. A century had not elapsed before the men who served neither the State nor the Church and took no part whatever in their affairs, received the same right to live on labour as the former classes; and they not only left off being ashamed of their wealth and idleness but began to consider their position quite justified16. And the number of such men has increased, and is still increasing in our days.
The most wonderful of all is this, that these men whose claims to be freed from labour were unrecognized not long ago, now consider themselves alone to be fully right and are attacking the former three classes,—the servants of the Church, State, and Army,—alleging their exemption17 from labour to be unjust and often even considering their activity directly pernicious. What is still more wonderful is this, that the former servants of Church, State, and Army, do not now lean on the divinity of their calling, nor even on the philosophy which considers the state necessary for individual development, but setting aside these supports which have so long maintained them, they are now seeking the same supports on which the new reigning18 class of men, who have found a novel justification, stand, and at the head of which are the men of Science and Art.
If a statesman now sometimes, appealing to old memories, justifies his position by the fact that he was set in it by God, or by the fact that the state is a form of the development of personality, he does it because he is behind the age, and he feels that nobody believes him.
In order to justify19 himself effectually, he ought to find now neither theological nor philosophical but new and scientific supports.
It is necessary to point to the principle of nationalities, or to that of the development of an organism; and to gain over the ruling class, as in the Middle Ages it was
necessary to gain over the clergy; and as at the end of the last century, it was necessary to obtain the sanction of philosophers, as seen in the case of Frederick the Great and Catherine of Russia. If now a rich man, after the old fashion, says sometimes that it is God's providence20 which makes him rich, or if he points to the importance of a nobility for the welfare of a state, he does it because he is behind the times.
In order to justify himself completely he must point to the way he furthers progress by improving the modes of production, by lowering the prices of consumption, by establishing intercourse21 between nations. A rich man must think and speak in scientific language, and, like the clergy formerly22, he must offer sacrifices to the ruling class: he must publish magazines and books, provide himself with a picture-gallery, a musical society, a kindergarten or technical school. The ruling class is the class of learned men and artists of a definite character. They possess the complete justification for having freed themselves from labour; and on this justification (as in former times on the theological justification, and afterwards on the philosophical one) everything is based: and it is these men who now give the diploma of exemption to other classes.
The class of men who now feel completely justified in freeing themselves from labour, is that of men of science, and particularly of experimental, positive, critical, evolutional science, and of artists who develop their ideas according to the same tendency.
If a learned man or an artist of the old style speaks nowadays about prophecy, revelation, or the manifestation of the spirit, he does so because he is behind the age, and he will not succeed in justifying23 himself: to stand firm he must try to associate his activity with experimental, positive, critical science, and he must make this science the fundamental principle of his activity. Only then will the science or the art with which he is occupied appear true, and he will stand on firm ground, and then there will be no doubt as to his usefulness to mankind. The justification of all who have freed themselves from labour is now based upon this experimental, critical, positive science.
The theological and philosophical explanations have had their day: now they timidly and bashfully introduce themselves to notice and try to humour their scientific usurper24, who, however, boldly knocks down and destroys the remnants of the past, everywhere taking its place, and, assured of its own firmness, lifts aloft its head.
The theological justification maintained that men are
predestined,—some to govern, others to obey; some to live sumptuously25, others to labour: and therefore those who believed in the revelation of God could not doubt the lawfulness26 of the position of those men, who, by the will of God, are called to govern and to be rich.
The state-philosophical justification used to say, “The state with all its institutions and differences of classes according to rights and possessions, is that historical form which is necessary for the right manifestation of the spirit in mankind; and therefore the situation which everyone occupies in state and in society according to his rights and to his possessions must be such as to ensure the sound life of mankind.”
The scientific theory says, “All this is nonsense and superstition27: the one is the fruit of the theological period of thought, and the other of the metaphysical period. To study the laws of the life of human societies, there is only one sure method,—that of a positive, experimental, critical science. It is only sociology, based on biology, in its turn based on all the other positive sciences, which is able to give us new laws for the life of mankind. Mankind, or human societies, are organisms either already perfect, or in a state of development subject to the laws of the evolution of organisms. One of the first of these laws is the division of labour among the portions of the organs. If some men govern and others obey, some live in opulence28 and others in want, then this is so, neither according to the will of God nor because the state is the form of the manifestation of personality, but because in societies as in organisms a division of labour takes place which is necessary for the life of the whole. Some men perform in societies the muscular part of labour, and others, the mental.”
On this doctrine is built the ruling excuse of the age.
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1
doctrine
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| n.教义；主义；学说 | |
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humbug
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| n.花招，谎话，欺骗 | |
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justifies
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| 证明…有理( justify的第三人称单数 )； 为…辩护； 对…作出解释； 为…辩解（或辩护） | |
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ordained
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| v.任命（某人）为牧师( ordain的过去式和过去分词 )；授予（某人）圣职；（上帝、法律等）命令；判定 | |
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dominion
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| n.统治，管辖，支配权；领土，版图 | |
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philosophical
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| adj.哲学家的，哲学上的，达观的 | |
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fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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manifestation
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| n.表现形式；表明；现象 | |
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inertia
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| adj.惰性，惯性，懒惰，迟钝 | |
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justification
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| n.正当的理由；辩解的理由 | |
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peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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utilize
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| vt.使用，利用 | |
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clergy
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| n.[总称]牧师，神职人员 | |
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utilizing
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| v.利用，使用( utilize的现在分词 ) | |
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vices
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| 缺陷( vice的名词复数 )； 恶习； 不道德行为； 台钳 | |
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justified
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| a.正当的，有理的 | |
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exemption
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| n.豁免，免税额，免除 | |
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reigning
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| adj.统治的，起支配作用的 | |
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justify
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| vt.证明…正当(或有理)，为…辩护 | |
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providence
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| n.深谋远虑，天道，天意；远见；节约；上帝 | |
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intercourse
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| n.性交；交流，交往，交际 | |
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formerly
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| adv.从前，以前 | |
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justifying
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| 证明…有理( justify的现在分词 )； 为…辩护； 对…作出解释； 为…辩解（或辩护） | |
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usurper
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| n. 篡夺者, 僭取者 | |
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sumptuously
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| 奢侈地，豪华地 | |
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lawfulness
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| 法制，合法 | |
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superstition
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| n.迷信，迷信行为 | |
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opulence
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| n.财富，富裕 | |
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