by making a clean sweep of all second-hand imitators of Idealist thinkers.
The whole notion of leaving the selection of a Logos-teacher to the caprice or ignorance of individual parents, would be, of course, absurd. The essence of his function is the re-uniting of strains of thought which have been forcibly separated by the school-work. The first condition of his performing it is that he should know something of the methods employed in the School. Properly speaking, the Logos-Class should be held by the Head-Master or Mistress. If that is impossible the substitute should be thoroughly in the confidence of the Head.
A second reason why synthesis is insufficiently taught, is that it gives to the teacher an appearance of mere Nihilism; he seems to be Socratically neutralizing everything and actually teaching Nothing. This Nihilism is only apparent; the general and ultimate effect is in the highest degree both conservative and constructive. But that specialist and positive teachers always feel the work of the synthesizer to be antagonistic to theirs, there is no denying. Long ago it was said that "the heathen" (by which was then meant the antagonists of Logos-teaching) said to the Prophets of the Formless and Invisible Unity: "Where is your God?" (or, where is your Good?) Oken's answer to this question is almost brutal in its cynical audacity:—
God = Zero.
Boole puts his statement into a less startling form; but it comes practically to the same as Oken's: x (1-x) =0; which means:—When you have selected your integral unity, or Universe of Thought (however large or small),