1 8 THE WORKING FAITH OF 



quent follows antecedent and necessary law. "Uncon- 

 scious reason" is only a general term, to which no real 

 thing corresponds. The conception it is meant to signify 

 is that of reason operating in a vast multitude of persons, 

 each of whom seeks and achieves ends by conscious 

 methods, but none of whom reflected on these methods, 

 or was even aware of them. And society is the inter- 

 relation of these ends, not one of which can exist for itself 

 alone, but only in vital interaction with all the rest. 



Now, what follows from all this? Evidently, it seems 

 to me, that society, which is the product of reason, or 

 spirit, is the exhibition of the nature of reason, and there- 

 fore itself rational, and capable, so far as its intrinsic 

 character is concerned, of rational interpretation. And 

 there follows, further, the fact, so often overlooked, that 

 the philosopher who attempts to discover the laws of social 

 life, and to reveal the broad principles that should guide 

 the effort after social reform, is not engaged on any new 

 or unheard-of enterprise. Social reflection did not begin 

 with him any more than moral life began with the moral 

 philosopher. Every act that has gone to the building of 

 society has implied someone's attempt to interpret his 

 social environment in relation to his own needs and ends. 

 The philosopher has only to continue the reflection exer- 

 cised by the simplest of men when he tries to determine 

 his own duties and to live his own life. The philosopher's 

 reflection may range wider, and deal with broader issues 

 and problems more profound ; but, in the last resort, he 

 does not stand apart from his fellow-men. For philosophy 

 is only the common consciousness seeking to do justice 

 to all the facts and to think more persistently. The 

 greatest interpreter of his times is the truest child of his 



