Vital Circulation Makes Association 97 



The second great social error of the philosophy 

 of force, is in regard to the limits of association. 

 The cause of progress is held to be homicide 

 between societies, but never homicide within 

 societies. Thus General von Bernhardi says': 



The State alone, so Schleiermacher once taught, 

 gives the individual the highest degree of life. . . . 

 To expand the idea of the State into that of humanity, 

 and thus to entrust apparently higher duties to the 

 individual, leads to error, since in the human race 

 conceived as a whole, struggle and, by implication, 

 the most essential vital principle would be ruled out. 

 Any action in favour of collective humanity outside 

 the limits of the State and nationality is impossible. 



The boundaries of a State are supposed to mark 

 the limits of association. Within these limits 

 struggle and collective homicide are harmful, but 

 beyond these limits struggle and collective homi- 

 cide constitute the causes of the progress of the 

 human race. This makes it necessary to consider 

 the nature of association and its limits. 



The true nature of association can best be under- 

 stood by studying it in its simple form in biology. 

 The hydra or fresh- water polyp, for example, 

 which has the form of a simple tube, is furnished 

 with a set of vibrating cilia which force a current 

 of water into the mouth of the tube, and from this 

 water the cells in the interior derive their nourish- 

 ment- This illustrates the most elementary form 



' Germany and the Next War, p. 25. 

 7 



