Freedom and Serfdom: An Anthology of Western Thought PDF
Preview Freedom and Serfdom: An Anthology of Western Thought
FREEDOM AND SERFDOM AN ANTHOLOGY OF WESTERN THOUGHT FREEDOM AND SERFDOM AN ANTHOLOGY OF WESTERN THOUGHT edited by ALBERT HUNOLD D. REIDEL PUBLISHING COMPANY DORDRECHT - HOLLAND Selections from (Europa, Besinnung und Hoffnung' - (Masse und Demokratie' (Die freie Welt im kalten Krieg' - (Erziehung zur Freiheit' First published by Eugen Rentsch Verlag AG Erlenbach-Ziirich, Switzerland Translated by Lieut.-Col. R. H. Stevens ISBN 978-94-011-7986-7 ISBN 978-94-010-3665-8 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-94-010-3665-8 Copyright Ig6I by D. Reidel Publishing Company, Dordrecht, Holland Softcover reprint o/the hardcover 1st edition 1961 No part of this book m'!) be reproduced in any form, by print, photop rint, microfilm, or any other means without permission from the publisher TABLE OF CONTENTS Zurich ALBERT HUNOLD, Preface 7 Rome CARLO ANTONI, Freedom Indivisible I 1 Zurich HANS BARTH, The Religion of Totalitarianism 2.7 New York HANS KOHN, The Decline and Fall of the Free World? 49 Geneva WILHELM ROPKE, The Free West 59 Virginia U.s.A. DAVID MCCORD WRIGHT, America and Europe 83 Mecosta, Michigan R U SSE L L K IRK, Common Patrimony of America and Europe 95 Chicago FRIEDRICH A. HAYEK, What is 'Social' - What does it mean? 7 10 Bonn THEODOR LITT, Self-Appraisal in the Present Age 119 London M I C H A E LOA K E S HOT T, The Masses in Representative Democracy 5 1 1 Heidelberg ALEXAND ER R USTOW, Organic Policy (Vitalpolitik) versus Mass Regimentation 171 HANNAH ARENDT, New York Freedom and Politics Zurich WERNER KAGI, Federalism and Freedom 218 HELMUT SCHOECK, Georgia U.S.A. Intellectualism and Political Impotence 2;8 Munich E RI C VOEGELIN, On Readiness to Rational Discussion BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES ALBERT HUNOLD ZUrich PREFACE The summit conference in Paris, which collapsed before it had begun and which transformed what had been conceived as a momentous international gathering into a communist propaganda burlesque, has once again exposed to western eyes the true face of totalitarianism - and in a manner that has had a sobering effect on even the most ardent advocates of co-existence. It is to be hoped that this latest link in the chain of fiascos will put a curb on the eagerness of the protagonists of 'appeasement', and that the hour will be used to convince as wide a circle as possible that summit talks of this nature offer, as far as the West is concerned, no prospect of any positive results. How, then, can we so influence public opinion in this western world of ours as to ensure that it will never again permit our political leaders to succomb to those onslaughts of political weakness which we have witnessed again and again at regular intervals during the course of the past twenty-five years? To think that this can be achieved solely by means of propaganda is an illusion, since, for the most part, those who mould or help to mould public opinion, and in many instances our intellectual leaders as well, are themselves ignorant of the real nature of totalitarianism and are therefore incapable of point ing out the ways and means by which a check can be imposed upon this 'new Islam' and a policy initiated that is worthy of the dignity and strength of our western civilisation and culture. From the time of its inception, and particularly during the last five years, The Swiss Institute of International Studies has been concerned primarily with the fundamental problem of our western economic and social order. As the result of years of endeavour and in collaboration with authoritative experts on both sides of the Atlantic, a forum has been erected in Zurich in which, stone by stone, is being gathered the material for a solid foundation of our western way of life, the 7 ALBER T HUN OLD very essence of which is freedom and the dignity of man. It quickly became apparent that without a deep and meticulous analysis of the moral and intellectual roots of our opponents' doctrine it would not be possible either to formulate a consistent and deliberate western policy or to erect a defensive front against subversion. Once the moral and intellectual principles of the totalitarian doctrine have been clearly grasped, there immediately arises the question of an effective counter programme for the free world. If we can succeed in mobilising forces against the menace from the East and are able also to convince not only the authoritative circles but also the great masses of the free world, we shall have gone a long way towards ensuring immunisation against the blandishments of eastern totalitarianism. Here, however, we at once run into great difficulties, for we have no united defensive front against the soul-destroying forces of totalitar ianism. On the one side we have a doctrine that is comprehensive and self-confident; on the other, the anti-totalitarian camp, which finds it difficult to overcome all its internal differences and form a united and systematic opposition. The West is under the further disadvantage that, whereas western influence is reduced to a minimum in the her metically sealed communist countries, for our opponnents everything is made only too easy, for they know that in the democratic States public opinion constitutes an important element in the formation of political will. In a democratic State policy is no longer framed, as in the past, in the Cabinets and Chancelleries alone, and Governments are now compelled to pay very considerable attention to public opin lOn. While in their own countries the totalitarian dictators suppress the emergence of public opinion in the most brutal manner, they shrink from no effort to influence in their own favour public opinion in our own western world. This infiltration, of which many are quite un aware, is conducted through the medium of the newspapers, press agencies, universities, schools, churches and trade unions. The net work of subversion takes many and varied forms, and its ramifications reach deep into the institutions and organisations of democratic society. It can with justice be said that the progress made by com munism is attributable less to the convincing character of its doctrines than to the intellectual confusion which these disruptive forces have 8 PREFACE caused in the western camp. A further factor which operates to our disadvantage is the fact that in our democracies the role played by the mass of uprooted humanity is becoming increasingly important, and the problem of control and guidance of the masses still seems to be far from being solved. To all these burning questions an answer is given in this volume, Freedom and Serfdom, which contains a selection from the best contributions of world-renowned social economists, sociologists, philosophers and exponents of the political sciences, published for the first time in the English language. It is at this very moment that a work such as this, dedicated to the moral and intellectual struggle against communism and an analysis of our own democratic institu tions, is of particular and urgent importance. For it is imperative, surely, that we should use to the best possible advantage the relatively short time vouchsafed us by the sobering effects of the Paris con ference, before our opponents succeed once again in lulling us into a sense of complacent security. The purpose of this volume is not only to make a contribution towards the scientific clarification of some of the burning problems of the age, but also to instil a sense of urgency and vigilance, particularly in the younger generation, and to imbue them with courage and an eager readiness to fight for the ideals of the western world. 9 CARLO ANTONI ~o~e [lniversity FREEDOM INDIVISIBLE In Italy, in the years between 1937 and 1941, there raged a spirited controversy, which was followed with lively interest by the intelli gentsia and, in particular, by the younger generation. It was an earnest discussion, which aimed at achieving some measure of clarity - a controversy conducted with integrity and decorum, such as Italy had not experienced for many years, and one to which the fascist regime and its official ethical code could never have given birth. It was waged within the framework of that sphere of liberal thought which people at the time were striving to condemn as 'obsolete', and it was conducted by the two great figures of Italian liberalism, Benedetto Croce and Luigi Einaudi, the philosopher and the econ omist. This controversy, which has not been forgotten to this day, has had important repercussions on Italian political life since the collapse of fascism. Not only was it responsible for the framing of the doc trine of the new Liberal party in Italy, but it also influenced the attitude of many of those intellectuals who have since formed, or at any rate reinforced, the directing caucus of the parties of the left. The point at issue is, indeed, one of universal significance. It is one of those fundamental questions with which the civilisation of our age is afflicted. Nevertheless it was discussed in a manner and with means that are consonant with our own particular traditions and which to a certain degree correspond to the character and genius of our nation. It centred upon the distinction which Benedetto Croce had drawn between liberalism and 'liberism' - a word for which there would appear to be no exact counterpart in any other language. The distinction Croce was drawing was that between political and economic liberalism - a differentiation to which we II CARLO ANTONI attach so much importance because it is based upon the clear dis tinction between ethics and economics and because it affects our fundamental conception of the meaning of the term 'politics'. As it always has done throughout the centuries of the past, Italian thought has once again shown that it was pre-eminently qualified to draw sharp distinctions between the various manifestations of the activities of the human mind, and the implementation of these distinctions has been regarded as a duty which no thoughtful, civi lised and responsible man could avoid. In the past, Italian thought has been at pains to draw distinctions between the ecclesiastically religious and the worldly political ways of life, between right and morality, between morals and politics, between natural science and metaphysics, between fiction and philosophy. It has always cham pioned the sovereign independence of each one of these various forms of activity vis-a.-vis the rest of them; but in spite of the auto nomy it has thus conceded, it has still succeeded in preserving a species of humanitarian harmony. In the grievous years during which Europe pressed onwards towards catastrophe, the two leading ex ponents of philosophic thought became conscious of an urgent need to define political and economic freedom and to examine the ques tion whether the two terms, 'liberalism' and 'liberism', were not related to one another by the ties of some inevitable and determining factor. Croce's attitude towards this issue was the outcome of a profound process of evolution of his own theory of politics. Initially, in the Machiavellian tradition, he regarded politics as an unavoidable conflict between forces and interests, which was waged outside the confines of the sphere of ethics and which framed its own rules as circumstances dictated. Young Croce's leanings towards Hegel and Marx, Sorel and Treit schke, and the antipathy he expressed in 1914 against the outlook of the western democracies based upon natural law, stemmed from the fundamental distinction which he drew between ethics and politics. While Croce has never abandoned this distinction, he has, as a result, among other things, of his struggle against fascist tyranny, certainly modified his opinions regarding the inter-relationship be- 12
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