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A German periodical Der Eigene, i. e., "he who is[Pg 113] his own," announced itself as "a journal for all and nobody," and sounded "the slogan of the egoists," by calling on them to "preserve their ownhood."
Another anarchistic periodical that stood under the influence of Nietzsche appeared in Budapest,[3] Hungary, in German and Hungarian under the name Ohne Staat, ("Without Government") as "the organ of ideal anarchists," under the editorship of Karl Krausz.
Perhaps the most worthy exponent of Nietzsche in England to-day is his translator Thomas Common. He does not consider himself an orthodox Nietzsche apostle but thinks that Nietzsche has given the world a very important revelation and that his new philosophy of history and his explanation of the role of Christianity are among the most wonderful discoveries since[Pg 114] Darwin. At the same time Mr. Common pronounces Nietzsche's doctrine of eternal recurrence "very foolish" and believes his use of the terms "good" and "evil" so perverted that he was frequently confused about them and so misled superficial readers. Mr. Common published at regular intervals during the years 1903 to 1909 ten numbers of a small periodical entitled variously Notes for Good Europeans and The Good European Point of View, and expects to resume its publication soon. Its motto is from Nietzsche, "In a word—and it shall be an honorable word—we are Good Europeans ... the heirs of thousands of years of the European spirit." Its purpose is expressed in its first number as follows: "Our general purpose is to spread the best and most important knowledge relating to human well-being among those who are worthy to receive it, with a view to reducing the knowledge to practice, after some degree of unanimity has been attained.... As Nietzsche's works, notwithstanding some limitations, exaggerations and minor errors, embody the foremost philosophical thought of the age, it will be one of our special objects to introduce these works to English readers."
These numbers contain many bibliographical and other notes of interest to friends or critics of the Nietzsche propaganda. Mr. Common has published selections from Nietzsche's works under the title, Nietzsche as Critic, Philosopher, Poet and Prophet.[4]
In America Nietzsche's philosophy is represented by a book of Ragnar Redbeard, entitled Might is Right, the Survival of the Fittest.[5] The author characterizes his work as follows:
"This book is a reasoned negation of the Ten Commandments—the Golden Rule—the Sermon on the Mount—Republican Principles—Christian Principles—and Principles' in general.
"It proclaims upon scientific evolutionary grounds, the unlimited absolutism of Might, and asserts that cut-and-dried moral codes are crude and immoral inventions, promotive of vice and vassalage."
The author is a most ardent admirer of Nietzsche, as may be learned from his verses made after the pattern of Nietzsche's poetry. He sings:
"There is no 'law' in heaven or earth that man must needs obey! Take what you can, and all you can; and take it while you—may.
"Let not the Jew-born Christ ideal unnerve you in the fight. You have no 'rights,' except the rights you win by—might.
"There is no justice, right, nor wrong; no truth, no good, no evil. There is no 'man's immortal soul,' no fiery, fearsome Devil.
"There is no 'heaven of glory:' No!—no 'hell where sinners[Pg 116] roast' There is no 'God the Father,' No!—no Son, no 'Holy Ghost.'
"This world is no Nirvna where joy forever flows. It is a grewsome butcher shop where dead 'lambs' hang in—rows.
"Man is the most ferocious of all the beasts of prey. He rangeth round the mountains, to love, and feast, and—slay.
"He sails the stormy oceans, he gallops o'er the plains, and sucks the very marrow-bones of captives held in—chains.
"Death endeth all for every man,—for every 'son of thunder'; then be a lion (not a 'lamb') and—don't be trampled under."
A valuable recent addition to the discussion of egoism is The Philosophy of Egoism by James L. Walker, (Denver, 1905).
We know of no American periodical which stands for Nietzsche's views, except, perhaps, The Lion's Paw (Chicago) which claims to follow no one. In the last years of the nineteenth century Clarence L. Swartz published at Wellesley, Mass., an egoistic periodical called the I. This magazine is no longer in existence, but Mr. Swartz is very active in the International Intelligence Institute whose aims are universal language, universal nationality and universal peace. He still maintains the same philosophical view which he held as editor of the I, but his philosophical egoism has led him in far different paths from those of Nietzsche—into the paths of peace and not of struggle. He expresses his present conception as follows:
"In the last analysis there is no right but might. Such is the common ordinary rule of every-day life, from which there is no escape, even were escape desirable.[Pg 117] Any attempt to overthrow or circumvent or even dispute the exercise of this prerogative of the mighty is but to assert or oppose a greater might. Expediency always dictates how might should be exercised. Politically, I hold that the non-coercion of the non-invasive individual is the part of wisdom. The individual is supreme, and should be preserved as against society, for in no other way can evolution perform its perfect work."
The Free Comrade edited by J. Wm. Lloyd and Leonard Abbott, an avowedly socialistic and individualistic paper, originally under the sole editorship of Lloyd, stood for Nietzsche and his egoism, but can no longer be said to do so.
[1] A. Tille, Von Darwin bis Nietzsche. R. Steiner, Wahrheit und Wissenschaft; Die Philosophie der Freiheit; and F. Nietzsche, ein Kmpfer gegen seine Zeit.
We have already mentioned the biography of Nietzsche published by the philosopher's sister, Frau E. Frster-Nietzsche. A characterization, disavowed by Nietzsche's admirers, was written by Frau Lou Andreas Salome, under the title F. Nietzsche in seinen Werken. Other works kindred in spirit are Schellwien's Der Geist der neueren Philosophie, 1895, and Der Darwinismus, 1896; also Adolf Gerecke, Die Aussichtslosigkeit des Moralismus; Schmitt, An der Grenzscheide zweier Weltalter; Kroly Krausz, Nietzsche und seine Weltanschauung.
[2] Henri Lichtenberger, La Philosophie de Nietzsche. Paris, Alcan, 1898
[3] We may mention incidentally that a contributor to Ohne Staat reproduced one of the Homilies of St Chrysostom, in which he harangues after the fashion of the early Christian preachers against wealth and power. The state's attorney, not versed in Christian patristic literature, seized the issue and placed the man who quoted the old Byzantine saint behind the prison bars. In the issue of Nov., 1898, Dr. Eugen Heinrich Schmitt mentions the case and says: "Thus we have an exact and historical proof that the liberty of speech and thought was incomparably greater in miserable, servile Byzantium than it is now in the much more miserable and more servile despotism of modern Europe." Does not Dr. Schmitt overlook the fact that in the days of Byzantine Christianity the saints were protected by the mob, which was much feared by the imperial government and was kept at bay only by a nominal recognition of its claims and beliefs?
