Creative critique and anthropo-philosophy

So in the evolution of Man there have been prophets, philosophers, artists, and geniuses in every field, but we should no longer expect any new notions in philosophy, any new revelations in religion or any fresh inspiration in art, just as there are no more lands to discover or races to give us an infusion of fresh energy. The continent in which future races appear to be in process of development has not a new people but a mixture of all the old ones. The frantic search after novelty and originality and the increasing speed at which fashion succeeds fashion in thought and in art are themselves evidence that there is nothing spontaneously new to be produced.

This is not however a sign of decadence but the sign of a new age, a new level of existence. There is no longer any need for new inspiration from a few great originally creative men and it would be an irresponsible renunciation of our present human maturi for us to expect such inspiration. There is now need of that creativity which is possible to the many. Human development from now on will mean regress in creation and progress in criticism. Man’s creativity must either go into critique or it will die.

Each age has valued the great geniuses of the past from the point of view of its own needs and its own state of development. Each age, civilisation and nation has emphasised particular spheres of cultural attainment and particular men of genius; and a critique of each age, civilisation and nation could be worked out according to the men of genius it has emphasised. In the course of this rejudging, many geniuses now neglected may well be valued more highly, and many who have appeared most significant in our particular age may be found far less significant in Man’s whole evolution.

Critique of this kind is within the reach of anyone who is able to disengage himself enough from the prevailing values of his present surroundings—profession, class, nation or age—so as to look at past history and past genius with a universal judgment.

The legacy of past history and culture is rich and full and is present for the enrichment of the personal life of any individual man or woman. But to experience this wealth requires free imaginative effort on the part of the individual, so that he may, as Rudolf Eucken expresses it, reappropriate the past. He must be

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