Then I am perfect.
And from this belief the world began gradually to form a new State, a
new body politic, in which the Self should be removed. There should be
no king, no lords, no aristocrats. The world continued in its religious
belief, beyond the French Revolution, beyond the great movement of
Shelley and Godwin. There should be no Self. That which was supreme was
that which was Not-Me, the other. The governing factor in the State was
the idea of the good of others; that is, the Common Good. And the
_vital_ governing idea in the State has been this idea since Cromwell.
Before Cromwell the idea was 'For the King', because every man saw
himself consummated in the King. After Cromwell the idea was 'For the
good of my neighbour', or 'For the good of the people', or 'For the good
of the whole'. This has been our ruling idea, by which we have more or
less lived.
Now this has failed. Now we say that the Christian Infinite is not
infinite. We are tempted, like Nietzsche, to return back to the old
pagan Infinite, to say that is supreme. Or we are inclined, like the
English and the Pragmatist, to say, 'There is no Infinite, there is no
Absolute.
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