53. Against Materialism

Gemeinverständliche Flugschriften, edited by Dr. Hans Schmidkunz. Stuttgart 1892 - I. Moriz Carriere, Materialism and Aesthetics. A pamphlet - UI. Gustav Buhr, Thoughts of a Worker on God and the World. With an introduction by Theobald Ziegler. - II. Ola Hansson, Materialism in Literature

This collection of pamphlets against materialism must give sincere satisfaction to every educated person who has not yet been led astray by the seductive siren song of materialism. Hans Schmidkunz has done himself a great service by raising the voices of the idealists against the devastating effects of a world view that is capable of winning a wide circle of followers because it has a basic characteristic that always attracts the crowd: banality. Hans Schmidkunz has also proved through his own writings that his main aim is to oppose materialism with a dam. He has sought to explore the difficult areas of hypnotism and suggestion for psychology, because he believed he could find tasks here that materialism could not tackle with its trivialities. In this sense, we welcome the undertaking as an eminently contemporary one. If we now turn to the first three writings in the series, we must praise Carriere's as by far the best, indeed as a unique achievement of its kind. In his distinguished manner, guided as much by deep philosophical insight as by a fine connoisseurship of art, this outstanding aesthetician demonstrates how materialism will never be able to grasp the essence of beauty and establish an aesthetic. According to him, naturalism and materialism are neither capable of producing beauty nor of understanding it. Those who do not believe in an ideal world have no reason and therefore no justification to contrast the world of nature with that of art. Simply reproducing common reality in art through a kind of photographic process is not a task given by human nature. Only those who have a sense and understanding of an ideal world know why reality necessarily gives birth to a higher realm, that of idealism, of its own accord. With striking words, Carriere shows how the common world of the senses points us beyond itself in each of its points. We do not understand it if we stop at it.

Ola Hansson's writing takes second place. There is a lot of talk about this man today, especially among the younger generation. His essays and writings are always very inspiring. But his whole spiritual being seems to us like an organism without a backbone. All the nerves in his body vibrate in the most active way at the slightest impression of the outside world. Then his mind also feels prompted to make the most varied, always witty remarks. He then also says many a trivial thing, but never in a trivial way. But all his work lacks a center. His individual statements and views do not fit together. There is no common thread running through his whole being. This lack of his whole personality is also apparent here. He says many interesting things, but there is no overall view. Nor do his remarks really culminate in tangible conclusions. What he says about the mechanization of our entire literature, about the displacement of the artist by the writer, the journalist, is apt, but it lacks any depth. The book is a collection of witty apergus, but not at all witty. Anyone who wants to hear the modern, unprincipled polyglot in a typical form after Carriere, the idealist based on profound, deep German philosophy, should read this brochure by Ola Hansson. We write down this sentence in a good sense, because by right every educated person who lives with the present should get to know this type.

Finally, as far as Buhr's writing is concerned, it is interesting to hear what a simple worker - Buhr is one - thinks about God, the world and human nature. But we must confess that we have often, even frequently, heard such views from the mouths of workers. Buhr's only advantage over others is a certain command of language, which enables him to express his thoughts in a clear, comprehensible form. However, this quality should be highly valued given Buhr's limited literacy, as described by Theobald Ziegler in his very readable introduction. Anyone who wants to get to know a worker's individuality in its full depth will find this work very useful.

Thus we would like to recommend the first three writings against materialism to the widest circles as a very noteworthy and commendable phenomenon in our time.