LATER GERMAN PHILOSOPHY 1 33 



problem in the optimistic sense, by means of the 

 principle of compensation : Existence is unques- 

 tionably marred by evil, by real evil ; but its domi- 

 nant tone, its resistless tendency, its net result, 

 is genuinely good. And this solution does not 

 rest on any merely subjective accidents of tempera- 

 ment, but directly on the objective principles of 

 existence itself. It is found, in short, in the Law 

 of Difference and the Law of the Whole, and in 

 the essential necessity, the inevitableness, of the 

 being of the Actual. 



Existence, if it is to be understood, must be 

 judged, not by the morbid cravings of sentimentalism 

 fed on fantasy, but by sound sentiment which is 

 founded on clear comprehension. When we once 

 see distinctly into the nature of the world, and 

 adjust our tone and conduct to that, we shall find 

 a sufficient comfort in life; there is a bracing sat- 

 isfaction in the discriminating insight into that 

 which vmst be. Existence has, too, a charm, in 

 itself, and the secret of it lies in that very variety, 

 or difference, which constitutes the principle of its 

 movement. Moreover, life mounts in differentia- 

 tion, and the increased objective good of the 

 higher levels of consciousness outweighs the in- 

 crease of subjective susceptibility to pain. Fur- 

 ther, contrast not only heightens pleasure, but is 

 the source of it : the sense of resistance overcome 



