SCIENCE AND REVOLUTION 



god, because the things of this world had no real 

 existence, and because the Absolute Idea alone 

 was real. And the theologians, on their part, had 

 furnished a third proof for the existence of a god 

 by declaring that he must be there, because the 

 world exists in reality. In short, the human mind, 

 in spite of all scientific progress, was still groping 

 around blindly in the same old contradictory cir- 

 cle. But this maze of contradictions was her- 

 alded by the ruling class as the most sublime 

 wisdom, and disseminated by the leaders of 

 thought with the zeal of fanatics. If any prole- 

 tarian thinker attempted to establish the truth of 

 his theories by such methods, he would be con- 

 sidered a fit companion for the inmates of a luna- 

 tic asylum. The most unreal and fantastic ideas 

 were hailed as inspired, and the simplest matter of 

 fact truths assailed as hare-brained imaginations. 

 The classic German school before and after He- 

 gel, represented by men like Schelling, Fichte, 

 and Schopenhauer, never got out of this labyrinth. 

 In one respect, however, Hegel stands entirely 

 by himself as an idealist philosopher. His is 

 the unique distinction of having elaborated 

 idealism into a complete system of monism, by 

 making his absolute idea the lock and key of all 

 science and philosophy, and thus interpreting the 



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