speculation within the bonds of morality, with nothing but established opinions and established facts, and no reasons but those of authority, so that thinking was copying, and all enjoyment of speech and dialogue consisted in the form. Wherever the intrinsic value is deemed eternal and of universal worth, there is but one great charm, that of variable forms, that is, of fashion. Even in the poets, ever since the time of Homer, and afterwards in the sculptors, the Greek enjoyed the counterpart to originality. It was Socrates who discovered the contrary charm, that of cause and effect, of reason and sequence, and we modern people are so much accustomed to and educated in the necessity of logics that we take it as the normal taste, and cannot help making it as such objectionable to the covetous and conceited ones. That which stands out in bold relief is a matter of delight to these latter: their subtler ambition is but too ready to accept the belief that their souls are exceptions, not dialectic and rational beings, but—well, “intuitive beings," endowed with the “inner sense’’ or with the ‘‘intellectual intuition.” But above all they want to be “artistic natures,” with genius in their heads und a demon in their bodies, and consequently also with special rights in this world and the world to come, especially with the divine prerogative of being incomprehensible. Such as these are pursuing philosophy nowadays! I fear they may one day discover that they have made a mistake—what these require is religion.
