THE WORLD VIEW OF REVERENCE FOR LIVE

Selected significant content of VOL III of ALBERT SCHWEITZER'S PHILOSOPHY OF CIVILISATIONTranslated and discussed  by  PERCY MARKPublished by nEST Books in collaboration with Print Tailors & Adam Rei

This work addresses the central issues which need to inform the nature of the next evolutionary step which humankind has to take if it is to find a way to survive the climatic changes, the mass extinctions, the devastation and pollution which the life-style of our species has caused on this planet during the last three centuries.The 25 year old Albert Schweitzer did not share the euphoria which dominated the New Year’s celebrations of 1900 in Europe, and the experience caused him to decide to write a Philosophy of Civilisation. It was to appear in four parts and was to explore the concept of civilisation throughout history and projected into the future. Whilst going in search for the root cause of what he perceived as the decay of civilisation in our time, he found a vacuum at the core of European thought. There was no connection between the prevalent euphoric affirmation of life and the ethical character which to him seemed to be the essential ingredient of a thriving civilisation.He had been a professor of theology and philosophy since his early 20’s - so he knew his subject well - but whilst pondering deeply over this vacuum he found himself at an impasse. Then, in 1915, the realisation came to him that an attitude of reverence towards all life - towards Life itself - had to be the missing link to fill this vacuum and form a bridge that would lead to a new, revitalised concept of civilisation.The first two books of his four-part philosophy were published in German and in English in 1923 under the titles: ‘The Decay and the Restoration of Civilisation’ and ‘Civilisation and Ethics”Part Three, which was to be called “The World View of Reverence for Life” became the focus of his philosophical writing between 1931 - 1945 (whilst raising the funds and building and running a large hospital in the jungle of central Africa). But this work remained incomplete.Part Four, to be called “The Civilised State”, was never started. A selection from the thousands of pages of manuscript for Part Three, which were found after Schweitzer’s death, was published in German in 1999, and it is a further selection from this published work that has been translated and commented on by Percy Mark in this publication.

​ISBN: 979-8615428630