Lectures on the Philosophy of History

to the public in a truly English form, even at the cost of using a roundabout phrasing original: "circumlocution" which must sometimes do injustice to the merits of the original. A few words, however, have necessarily been used in a rather unusual sense; and one of them occurs very frequently. The German word Geist, in Hegel’s system of naming original: "nomenclature", includes both Intelligence and Will—the latter even more explicitly than the former. It embraces, in fact, man’s entire mental and moral being. A little reflection will make it obvious that no term in our metaphysical vocabulary could have been better substituted for the more theological one, "Spirit," as a fair equivalent. It is indeed only the impersonal and abstract use of the term that is open to objection; an objection which can be answered by appealing to the best classical usage, namely, the rendering of the Hebrew Ruach original: רוח and Greek Pneuma original: πνεῦμα in the Authorized Version of the Scriptures. One indisputable instance may suffice as confirmation:

“Their horses (that is, those of the Egyptians) are flesh and not spirit.” (Isaiah 31:3.)

It is relevant to remark here that the comparative lack of use of this term in English metaphysical literature is one result of that separation of theology from philosophy. Continental writers of the most opposite schools agree in accusing the British intellectual spirit of this separation—an alienation which mainly accounts for the gulf separating English from German speculation. It is feared that this will also, for other reasons, be the cause of giving a somewhat uninviting appearance to the following pages.

The distinction which the Germans make between Sittlichkeit and Moralität has presented another difficulty. The former denotes "Social" or "Conventional Morality," while the latter refers to the morality of the "Heart" or "Conscience." Where no ambiguity was likely...