III. ECONOMICS AND THE REVOLT AGAINST REASON 1. The Revolt Against Reason is true that some philosophers were ready to overrate the power of human reason. They believed that man can discover by ratiocination the final causes of cosmic events, the inherent ends the prime mover aims at in creating the universe | III. ECONOMICS AND THE REVOLT AGAINST REASON 1. The Revolt Against Reason It is true that some philosophers were ready to overrate the power of human reason. They believed that man can discover by ratiocination the final causes of cosmic events the inherent ends the prime mover aims at in creating the universe and determining the course of its evolution. They expatiated on the Absolute as if it were their pocket watch. They did not shrink from announcing eternal absolute values and from establishing moral codes unconditionally binding on all men. Then there was the long line of utopian authors. They drafted schemes for an earthly paradise in which pure reason alone should rule. They failed to realize that what they called absolute reason and manifest truth was the fancy of their own minds. They blithely arrogated to themselves infallibility and often advocated intolerance the violent oppression of all dissenters and heretics. They aimed at dictatorship either for themselves or for men who would accurately put their plans into execution. There was in their opinion no other salvation for suffering mankind. There was Hegel. He was a profound thinker and his writings are a treasury of stimulating ideas. But he was laboring under the delusion that Geist the Absolute revealed itself through his words. There was nothing in the universe that was hidden to Hegel. It was a pity that his language was so ambiguous that it could be interpreted in various ways. The right-wing Hegelians interpreted it as an endorsement of the Prussian system of autocratic government and of the dogmas of the Prussian Church. The Left-wing Hegelians read out of it atheism intransigent revolutionary radicalism and anarchistic doctrines. There was Auguste Comte. He knew precisely what the future had in store for mankind. And of course he considered himself as the supreme legislator. For example he regarded certain astronomical studies as useless and wanted to prohibit them. He planned to substitute a
