Table Of ContentFREEDOM AND SERFDOM
AN ANTHOLOGY OF WESTERN THOUGHT
FREEDOM AND
SERFDOM
AN ANTHOLOGY OF
WESTERN THOUGHT
edited by
ALBERT HUNOLD
D. REIDEL PUBLISHING COMPANY
DORDRECHT - HOLLAND
Selections from
(Europa, Besinnung und Hoffnung' - (Masse und Demokratie'
(Die freie Welt im kalten Krieg' - (Erziehung zur Freiheit'
First published by Eugen Rentsch Verlag AG
Erlenbach-Ziirich, Switzerland
Translated by Lieut.-Col. R. H. Stevens
ISBN 978-94-011-7986-7 ISBN 978-94-010-3665-8 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-94-010-3665-8
Copyright Ig6I by D. Reidel Publishing Company, Dordrecht, Holland
Softcover reprint o/the hardcover 1st edition 1961
No part of this book m'!) be reproduced in any form, by print, photop rint, microfilm,
or any other means without permission from the publisher
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Zurich
ALBERT HUNOLD,
Preface 7
Rome
CARLO ANTONI,
Freedom Indivisible
I 1
Zurich
HANS BARTH,
The Religion of Totalitarianism 2.7
New York
HANS KOHN,
The Decline and Fall of the Free World? 49
Geneva
WILHELM ROPKE,
The Free West 59
Virginia U.s.A.
DAVID MCCORD WRIGHT,
America and Europe 83
Mecosta, Michigan
R U SSE L L K IRK,
Common Patrimony of America and Europe 95
Chicago
FRIEDRICH A. HAYEK,
What is 'Social' - What does it mean? 7
10
Bonn
THEODOR LITT,
Self-Appraisal in the Present Age
119
London
M I C H A E LOA K E S HOT T,
The Masses in Representative Democracy 5
1 1
Heidelberg
ALEXAND ER R USTOW,
Organic Policy (Vitalpolitik) versus Mass Regimentation 171
HANNAH ARENDT, New York
Freedom and Politics
Zurich
WERNER KAGI,
Federalism and Freedom 218
HELMUT SCHOECK, Georgia U.S.A.
Intellectualism and Political Impotence 2;8
Munich
E RI C VOEGELIN,
On Readiness to Rational Discussion
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES
ALBERT HUNOLD
ZUrich
PREFACE
The summit conference in Paris, which collapsed before it had begun
and which transformed what had been conceived as a momentous
international gathering into a communist propaganda burlesque, has
once again exposed to western eyes the true face of totalitarianism -
and in a manner that has had a sobering effect on even the most ardent
advocates of co-existence. It is to be hoped that this latest link in the
chain of fiascos will put a curb on the eagerness of the protagonists
of 'appeasement', and that the hour will be used to convince as wide
a circle as possible that summit talks of this nature offer, as far as the
West is concerned, no prospect of any positive results.
How, then, can we so influence public opinion in this western world
of ours as to ensure that it will never again permit our political
leaders to succomb to those onslaughts of political weakness which
we have witnessed again and again at regular intervals during the
course of the past twenty-five years? To think that this can be achieved
solely by means of propaganda is an illusion, since, for the most part,
those who mould or help to mould public opinion, and in many
instances our intellectual leaders as well, are themselves ignorant of
the real nature of totalitarianism and are therefore incapable of point
ing out the ways and means by which a check can be imposed upon
this 'new Islam' and a policy initiated that is worthy of the dignity
and strength of our western civilisation and culture.
From the time of its inception, and particularly during the last five
years, The Swiss Institute of International Studies has been concerned
primarily with the fundamental problem of our western economic and
social order. As the result of years of endeavour and in collaboration
with authoritative experts on both sides of the Atlantic, a forum has
been erected in Zurich in which, stone by stone, is being gathered
the material for a solid foundation of our western way of life, the
7
ALBER T HUN OLD
very essence of which is freedom and the dignity of man. It quickly
became apparent that without a deep and meticulous analysis of the
moral and intellectual roots of our opponents' doctrine it would not
be possible either to formulate a consistent and deliberate western
policy or to erect a defensive front against subversion. Once the moral
and intellectual principles of the totalitarian doctrine have been clearly
grasped, there immediately arises the question of an effective counter
programme for the free world. If we can succeed in mobilising forces
against the menace from the East and are able also to convince not
only the authoritative circles but also the great masses of the free
world, we shall have gone a long way towards ensuring immunisation
against the blandishments of eastern totalitarianism.
Here, however, we at once run into great difficulties, for we have no
united defensive front against the soul-destroying forces of totalitar
ianism. On the one side we have a doctrine that is comprehensive and
self-confident; on the other, the anti-totalitarian camp, which finds it
difficult to overcome all its internal differences and form a united and
systematic opposition. The West is under the further disadvantage
that, whereas western influence is reduced to a minimum in the her
metically sealed communist countries, for our opponnents everything
is made only too easy, for they know that in the democratic States
public opinion constitutes an important element in the formation of
political will. In a democratic State policy is no longer framed, as in
the past, in the Cabinets and Chancelleries alone, and Governments
are now compelled to pay very considerable attention to public opin
lOn.
While in their own countries the totalitarian dictators suppress the
emergence of public opinion in the most brutal manner, they shrink
from no effort to influence in their own favour public opinion in our
own western world. This infiltration, of which many are quite un
aware, is conducted through the medium of the newspapers, press
agencies, universities, schools, churches and trade unions. The net
work of subversion takes many and varied forms, and its ramifications
reach deep into the institutions and organisations of democratic
society. It can with justice be said that the progress made by com
munism is attributable less to the convincing character of its doctrines
than to the intellectual confusion which these disruptive forces have
8
PREFACE
caused in the western camp. A further factor which operates to our
disadvantage is the fact that in our democracies the role played by the
mass of uprooted humanity is becoming increasingly important, and
the problem of control and guidance of the masses still seems to be
far from being solved.
To all these burning questions an answer is given in this volume,
Freedom and Serfdom, which contains a selection from the best
contributions of world-renowned social economists, sociologists,
philosophers and exponents of the political sciences, published for
the first time in the English language. It is at this very moment that
a work such as this, dedicated to the moral and intellectual struggle
against communism and an analysis of our own democratic institu
tions, is of particular and urgent importance. For it is imperative,
surely, that we should use to the best possible advantage the relatively
short time vouchsafed us by the sobering effects of the Paris con
ference, before our opponents succeed once again in lulling us into
a sense of complacent security. The purpose of this volume is not
only to make a contribution towards the scientific clarification of
some of the burning problems of the age, but also to instil a sense of
urgency and vigilance, particularly in the younger generation, and to
imbue them with courage and an eager readiness to fight for the
ideals of the western world.
9
CARLO ANTONI
~o~e [lniversity
FREEDOM INDIVISIBLE
In Italy, in the years between 1937 and 1941, there raged a spirited
controversy, which was followed with lively interest by the intelli
gentsia and, in particular, by the younger generation. It was an
earnest discussion, which aimed at achieving some measure of
clarity - a controversy conducted with integrity and decorum, such
as Italy had not experienced for many years, and one to which the
fascist regime and its official ethical code could never have given
birth.
It was waged within the framework of that sphere of liberal thought
which people at the time were striving to condemn as 'obsolete',
and it was conducted by the two great figures of Italian liberalism,
Benedetto Croce and Luigi Einaudi, the philosopher and the econ
omist.
This controversy, which has not been forgotten to this day, has
had important repercussions on Italian political life since the collapse
of fascism. Not only was it responsible for the framing of the doc
trine of the new Liberal party in Italy, but it also influenced the
attitude of many of those intellectuals who have since formed, or
at any rate reinforced, the directing caucus of the parties of the left.
The point at issue is, indeed, one of universal significance. It is one
of those fundamental questions with which the civilisation of our
age is afflicted. Nevertheless it was discussed in a manner and with
means that are consonant with our own particular traditions and
which to a certain degree correspond to the character and genius
of our nation. It centred upon the distinction which Benedetto
Croce had drawn between liberalism and 'liberism' - a word for
which there would appear to be no exact counterpart in any other
language. The distinction Croce was drawing was that between
political and economic liberalism - a differentiation to which we
II
CARLO ANTONI
attach so much importance because it is based upon the clear dis
tinction between ethics and economics and because it affects our
fundamental conception of the meaning of the term 'politics'.
As it always has done throughout the centuries of the past, Italian
thought has once again shown that it was pre-eminently qualified
to draw sharp distinctions between the various manifestations of the
activities of the human mind, and the implementation of these
distinctions has been regarded as a duty which no thoughtful, civi
lised and responsible man could avoid. In the past, Italian thought
has been at pains to draw distinctions between the ecclesiastically
religious and the worldly political ways of life, between right and
morality, between morals and politics, between natural science and
metaphysics, between fiction and philosophy. It has always cham
pioned the sovereign independence of each one of these various
forms of activity vis-a.-vis the rest of them; but in spite of the auto
nomy it has thus conceded, it has still succeeded in preserving a
species of humanitarian harmony. In the grievous years during which
Europe pressed onwards towards catastrophe, the two leading ex
ponents of philosophic thought became conscious of an urgent need
to define political and economic freedom and to examine the ques
tion whether the two terms, 'liberalism' and 'liberism', were not
related to one another by the ties of some inevitable and determining
factor.
Croce's attitude towards this issue was the outcome of a profound
process of evolution of his own theory of politics. Initially, in the
Machiavellian tradition, he regarded politics as an unavoidable
conflict between forces and interests, which was waged outside the
confines of the sphere of ethics and which framed its own rules as
circumstances dictated.
Young Croce's leanings towards Hegel and Marx, Sorel and Treit
schke, and the antipathy he expressed in 1914 against the outlook
of the western democracies based upon natural law, stemmed from
the fundamental distinction which he drew between ethics and
politics.
While Croce has never abandoned this distinction, he has, as a
result, among other things, of his struggle against fascist tyranny,
certainly modified his opinions regarding the inter-relationship be-
12
